The unwritten laws of the mongolian steppes

So I'm no expert but I think they go like this:

The 1st law is you do not talk about the laws.
The 2nd law is you do not talk about the laws!!!

And the 3rd law is you do not write down the unwritten laws (even on thorntree) :)

Anyway, if you are interested in Mongolian history and social systems then start by reading the Secret History of the Mongols (Mongoliin Nuuts Tovchoo).

The Secret History is a beautiful 13th Century epic about the history of the Mongol people, Chinggis's ancestry and the rise of his empire. It also showcases a barbaric but effective moral code that may be what you are looking for. The best translation (in my opinion) is Igor De Raschewlitz's in which he kind of invented a new transliteration technique for Mongolian names and places which is very helpful for speakers of European languages. If you don't want to spend loads of money on a copy of that though then you can read a very decent translation pdf here http://jigjids.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/the_secret_history_of_the_mongols_the_life_and_times_of_chinggis_khan1.pdf

Additionally the Danish National Library has a specialist collection of rare Mongolian manuscripts some of which they have digitised here http://www.kb.dk/en/nb/samling/os/central/digcentral.html If you read down this page you actually come across an old legal text that may be of interest.

Hope you enjoy it!

ps. If you are really interested then Ulaanbaatar State University used to offer short courses to foreigners who would like to study Mongolian language, culture and history in english and many european universities also offer specialised undergraduate courses in Mongolian studies.

thanks!