Mongols

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This article is about the ethnic group. For other uses, see Mongols
(disambiguation).
Mongols
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Mongolchuud
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MONGOLS.jpg
Mongol family, late 19th century
Total population
9.510 million (2010)
China (Inner Mongolia) 5,981,840 (2010)[1]
Mongolia 2,921,287[2]
Russia 647,417[3]
South Korea 34,000[4]
United States 15,00018,000[5]
Kyrgyzstan 12,000[6]
Czech Republic 6,804[7]
Japan 5,401[8]
Canada 5,350[9]
Germany 3,852[8]
United Kingdom 3,701[8]
France 2,859[8]
Turkey 2,645[8]
Kazakhstan 2,523[8]
Austria 1,955[10]
Malaysia 1,500[8]
Languages
Mongolian language
Religion
Predominantly Tibetan Buddhism, background of shamanism.[11][12][13][14] minority
Sunni Islam, Eastern Orthodox Church, Taoism, Bn and Protestantism.
Related ethnic groups
Proto-Mongols, Khitan people
The Mongols (Mongolian ??????????, Mongolchuud, ['m??.g??.t????t]) are an East-
Central Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia and China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region. They also live as minorities in other regions of China (e.g. Xinjiang), as
well as in Russia. Mongolian people belonging to the Buryat and Kalmyk subgroups
live predominantly in the Russian federal subjects of Buryatia and Kalmykia.

The Mongols are bound together by a common heritage and ethnic identity. Their
indigenous dialects are collectively known as the Mongolian language. The ancestors
of the modern-day Mongols are referred to as Proto-Mongols.

Contents [hide]
1 Definition
2 History
2.1 In the Chinese classics
2.2 Era of the Mongol Empire and Northern Yuan
2.3 Qing-era Mongols
2.4 Post-Qing era
3 Language
4 Religion
5 Military
6 Kinship and family life
7 Historical population
8 Geographic distribution
8.1 Subgroups
8.2 Mongolia
8.3 China
8.4 Russia
8.5 Elsewhere
9 Gallery
10 See also
11 References
12 External links
Definition
Broadly defined, the term includes the Mongols proper (also known as the Khalkha
Mongols), Buryats, Oirats, the Kalmyk people and the Southern Mongols. The latter
comprises the Abaga Mongols, Abaganar, Aohans, Baarins, Gorlos Mongols, Jalaids,
Jaruud, Khishigten, Khuuchid, Muumyangan and Onnigud.

The designation Mongol briefly appeared in 8th century records of Tang China to
describe a tribe of Shiwei. It resurfaced in the late 11th century during the
Khitan-ruled Liao dynasty. After the fall of the Liao in 1125, the Khamag Mongols
became a leading tribe on the Mongolian Plateau. However, their wars with the
Jurchen-ruled Jin dynasty and the Tatar confederation had weakened them.

In the thirteenth century, the word Mongol grew into an umbrella term for a large
group of Mongolic-speaking tribes united under the rule of Genghis Khan.[15]

History of the Mongols

Wind Horse of Mongolia.svg
Timeline History Rulers Nobility

Culture Language Proto-Mongols

States[show]
Flag of Mongolia.svg Mongolia portal
v t e
History
Main article History of Mongolia
In various times Mongolic peoples have been equated with the Scythians, the Magog
and the Tungusic peoples. Based on Chinese historical texts the ancestry of the
Mongolic peoples can be traced back to the Donghu, a nomadic confederation
occupying eastern Mongolia and Manchuria. The identity of the Xiongnu (Hnn) is
still debated today. Although some scholars maintain that they were proto-Mongols,
they were more likely a multi-ethnic group of Mongolic and Turkic tribes.[16] It
has been suggested that the language of the Huns was related to the Hnn.[17][18]

The Donghu, however, can be much more easily labeled proto-Mongol since the Chinese
histories trace only Mongolic tribes and kingdoms (Xianbei and Wuhuan peoples) from
them, although some historical texts claim a mixed Xiongnu-Donghu ancestry for some
tribes (e.g. the Khitan).[19]

In the Chinese classics

The Donghu are mentioned by Sima Qian as already existing in Inner Mongolia north
of Yan in 699632 BCE along with the Shanrong. Mentions in the Yi Zhou Shu (Lost
Book of Zhou) and the Classic of Mountains and Seas indicate the Donghu were also
active during the Shang dynasty (16001046 BCE).

The Xianbei formed part of the Donghu confederation, but had earlier times of
independence, as evidenced by a mention in the Guoyu (??? section), which states
that during the reign of King Cheng of Zhou (reigned 10421021 BCE) they came to
participate at a meeting of Zhou subject-lords at Qiyang (??) (now Qishan County)
but were only allowed to perform the fire ceremony under the supervision of Chu
since they were not vassals by covenant (??). The Xianbei chieftain was appointed
joint guardian of the ritual torch along with Xiong Yi.
These early Xianbei came from the nearby Zhukaigou culture (22001500 BCE) in the
Ordos Desert, where maternal DNA corresponds to the Mongol Daur people and the
Tungusic Evenks. The Zhukaigou Xianbei (part of the Ordos culture of Inner Mongolia
and northern Shaanxi) had trade relations with the Shang. In the late 2nd century,
the Han dynasty scholar Fu Qian (??) wrote in his commentary Jixie (??) that
Shanrong and Beidi are ancestors of the present-day Xianbei. Again in Inner
Mongolia another closely connected core Mongolic Xianbei region was the Upper
Xiajiadian culture (1000600 BCE) where the Donghu confederation was centered.

After the Donghu were defeated by Xiongnu king Modu Chanyu, the Xianbei and Wuhuan
survived as the main remnants of the confederation. Tadun Khan of the Wuhuan (died
207 AD) was the ancestor of the proto-Mongolic Kumo Xi.[20] The Wuhuan are of the
direct Donghu royal line and the New Book of Tang says that in 209 BCE, Modu Chanyu
defeated the Wuhuan instead of using the word Donghu. The Xianbei, however, were of
the lateral Donghu line and had a somewhat separate identity, although they shared
the same language with the Wuhuan. In 49 CE the Xianbei ruler Bianhe (Bayan Khan)
raided and defeated the Xiongnu, killing 2000, after having received generous gifts
from Emperor Guangwu of Han. The Xianbei reached their peak under Tanshihuai Khan
(reigned 156181) who expanded the vast, but short lived, Xianbei state (93234).

Three prominent groups split from the Xianbei state as recorded by the Chinese
histories the Rouran (claimed by some to be the Pannonian Avars), the Khitan people
and the Shiwei (a subtribe called the Shiwei Menggu is held to be the origin of the
Genghisid Mongols).[21] Besides these three Xianbei groups, there were others such
as the Murong, Duan and Tuoba. Their culture was nomadic, their religion shamanism
or Buddhism and their military strength formidable. There is still no direct
evidence that the Rouran spoke Mongolic languages, although most scholars agree
that they were Proto-Mongolic.[22] The Khitan, however, had two scripts of their
own and many Mongolic words are found in their half-deciphered writings.

Geographically, the Tuoba Xianbei ruled the southern part of Inner Mongolia and
northern China, the Rouran (Yujiul Shelun was the first to use the title khagan in
402) ruled eastern Mongolia, western Mongolia, the northern part of Inner Mongolia
and northern Mongolia, the Khitan were concentrated in eastern part of Inner
Mongolia north of Korea and the Shiwei were located to the north of the Khitan.
These tribes and kingdoms were soon overshadowed by the rise of the Turkic
Khaganate in 555, the Uyghur Khaganate in 745 and the Yenisei Kirghiz states in
840. The Tuoba were eventually absorbed into China. The Rouran fled west from the
Gktrks and either disappeared into obscurity or, as some say, invaded Europe as
the Avars under their Khan, Bayan I. Some Rouran under Tatar Khan migrated east,
founding the Tatar confederation, who became part of the Shiwei. The Khitan, who
were independent after their separation from the Kumo Xi (of Wuhuan origin) in 388,
continued as a minor power in Manchuria until one of them, Ambagai (872926),
established the Liao dynasty (9071125) as Emperor Taizu of Liao.

Era of the Mongol Empire and Northern Yuan

Main articles Mongol Empire and Northern Yuan dynasty

Asia in 500, showing the Rouran Khaganate and its neighbors, including the Northern
Wei and the Tuyuhun Khanate, all of them were established by Proto-Mongols
The destruction of Uyghur Khaganate by the Kirghiz resulted in the end of Turkic
dominance in Mongolia. According to historians, Kirghiz were not interested in
assimilating newly acquired lands; instead, they controlled local tribes through
various manaps (tribal leader). The Khitans occupied the areas vacated by the
Turkic Uyghurs bringing them under their control. The Yenisei Kirghiz state was
centered on Khakassia and they were expelled from Mongolia by the Khitans in 924.
The Khitan fled west after their defeat by the Jurchens (later known as Manchu) and
founded the Qara Khitai (11251218) in eastern Kazakhstan. In 1218, Genghis Khan
destroyed the Qara Khitai after which the Khitan passed into obscurity. The modern-
day minority of Mongolic-speaking Daurs in China are their direct descendants based
on DNA evidence[23][24] and other Khitans assimilated into the Mongols (Inner
Mongols), Turkic peoples and Han Chinese.

The Shiwei included a tribe called the Shiwei Menggu (Shivei Mongol).[25] Bodonchar
Munkhag the founder of the House of Borjigin and the ancestor of Genghis Khan is
held to be descended from the Shiwei Menggu. The early Shiwei paid tribute to the
Tuoba Wei (386534) and submitted to the Khitans. After the Khitans left Mongolia
the Khamag Mongols rose to prominence, when from the 1130s there were reciprocally
hostile relations between the successive khans of the Khamag Mongol confederation
(Khaidu, Khabul Khan and Ambaghai Khan) and the emperors of the Jurchen's Jin
dynasty. The Jin dynasty fell after their defeat against the rising Mongol Empire,
a steppe confederation that had formerly been a Jurchen vassal. Mongolic Khitans
and Tuyuhuns or Monguor people (1227) came under rule of the Mongol Empire after
conquest of the Western Xia and Jin Empires. The Qara Khitai submitted to Genghis
Khan in 1218.

Mongols using Chinese gunpowder bombs during the Mongol Invasions of Japan, 1281
With the expansion of the Mongol Empire, the Mongolic peoples settled over almost
all Eurasia and carried on military campaigns from the Adriatic Sea to Indonesian
Java island and from Japan to Palestine (Gaza). They simultaneously became
Padishahs of Persia, Emperors of China, and Great Khans of Mongolia, and one became
Sultan of Egypt (Al-Adil Kitbugha). The Mongolic peoples of the Golden Horde
established themselves to govern Russia by 1240.[26] By 1279, they conquered the
Song dynasty and brought all of China under control of the Yuan dynasty.[26]

With the breakup of the empire, the dispersed Mongolic peoples quickly adopted the
mostly Turkic cultures surrounding them and were assimilated, forming parts of
Azerbaijanis, Uzbeks, Karakalpaks, Tatars, Bashkirs, Turkmens, Uyghurs, Nogays,
Kyrgyzs, Kazakhs, Caucasaus peoples, Iranian peoples and Moghuls; linguistic and
cultural Persianization also began to be prominent in these territories. Some
Mongols assimilated into the Yakuts after their migration to Northern Siberia and
about 30% of Yakut words have Mongol origin. However, most of the Yuan Mongols
returned to Mongolia in 1368, retaining their language and culture. There were
250,000 Mongols in Southern China and many Mongols were massacred by the rebel
army. The survivors were trapped in southern china and eventually assimilated. The
Dongxiangs, Bonans, Yugur and Monguor people were invaded by Chinese Ming dynasty.

After the fall of the Yuan dynasty in 1368, the Mongols continued to rule the
Northern Yuan dynasty in Mongolia homeland. However, the Oirads began to challenge
the Eastern Mongolic peoples under the Borjigin monarchs in the late 14th century
and Mongolia was divided into two parts Western Mongolia (Oirats) and Eastern
Mongolia (Khalkha, Inner Mongols, Barga, Buryats).

In 1434, Eastern Mongolian Taisun Khan's (14331452) prime minister Western

Mongolian Togoon Taish reunited the Mongols after killing Eastern Mongolian another
king Adai (Khorchin). Togoon died in 1439 and his son Esen Taish became prime
minister.Esen carried out successful policy for Mongolian unification and
independence. The Ming Empire attempted to invade Mongolia in the 1416th
centuries, however, the Ming Empire was defeated by the Oirat, Southern Mongol,
Eastern Mongol and united Mongolian armies. Esen's 30,000 cavalries defeated
500,000 Chinese soldiers in 1449. Within eighteen months of his defeat of the
titular Khan Taisun, in 1453, Esen himself took the title of Great Khan (14541455)
of the Great Yuan.[27]

The Khalkha emerged during the reign of Dayan Khan (14791543) as one of the six
tumens of the Eastern Mongolic peoples. They quickly became the dominant Mongolic
clan in Mongolia proper.[28][29] He reunited the Mongols again. The Mongols
voluntarily reunified during Eastern Mongolian Tmen Zasagt Khan rule (15581592)
for the last time (the Mongol Empire united all Mongols before this).

Eastern Mongolia was divided into three parts in the 17th century Outer Mongolia
(Khalkha), Inner Mongolia (Inner Mongols) and the Buryat region in southern
Siberia.

The last Mongol khagan was Ligdan in the early 17th century. He got into conflicts
with the Manchus over the looting of Chinese cities, and managed to alienate most
Mongol tribes. In 1618, Ligdan signed a treaty with the Ming dynasty to protect
their northern border from the Manchus attack in exchange for thousands of taels of
silver. By the 1620s, only the Chahars remained under his rule.