History Of Mongolia Research Articles

The Ties and Contacts between Ancient Mongolian Nomads and other Asian Civilizations

Abstract History is the study of people– specifically how people existed, lived, thought, and created in the past. It is very interesting to study how our ancestors, the nomadic Mongolians, lived on this land and the origin of our great grandparents for generations. Most of the time, people have been interested in the origin of their ancestors since ancient times, and they have explained it mostly through myths and religious views. The Mongolian plateau has been a home to nomads throughout its history. Mongolia is a heartland of nomadic empires that are famous not only in the steppes of Europe and Asia but also in the world. The large river basins and steppes of Mongolia are ideal areas for nomadic livestock farming, and the nomads who conquered these areas became a dominant force in the Eurasian steppes. Therefore, the history of the ancient states of Mongolia is the history of the empires that dominated the Eurasian plains. Scientists and researchers have proved that many states established by nomads existed on Mongolian territory and left a deep and undeniable trace on the history of Mongolia as well as the history of the world. They have done research on the topic from different perspectives which based on the specific theories. This research is based on the qualitative method. In this article, I will examine how the ancient nomadic civilization of Mongolia connected with some Asian civilizations.

МОНАСТЫРЬ САРЬДАГИЙН ХИЙД УНДУР ГЭГЭНА ДЗАНАБАЗАРА И ИСКУССТВО ГЛИНЯНЫХ БУДДИЙСКИХ СКУЛЬПТУР

Within the framework of the project «The settlements of Mongolia of the XVII century», led by the academician S. Chuluun, the expedition of the Institute of History and Ethnology of the Academy of Sciences of Mongolia worked in the Erdene somon of the Central aimag in 2013-2020. As the result of the archaeological expeditions, the materials connected with the history of Mongolia in the XVII century as the Mongolian Buddhism, urban planning, architecture and art history were rediscovered and explored. The results were introduced into scientific circulation and conributed significantly to the research of this period. The article considers the sculptural works of Undur Gegen Dzanabazar on the basis of the data from the written sources and results of the archaeological research. The construction of the Ribogejaylin Gandan Shadduvlin Monastery (in Tib.: རི་བོ་དགེ་རྒྱས་དགའ་ལྡན་བཤད་སྒྲུབ་གླིང་།; Wylie: ri bo dge rgyas dga’ ldan bshad sgrub gling), now known as Сарьдагийн хийд monastery, dates back to 1654-1686. The monastery was built by the first Khalkha Bogdo Gegen Zhavzandamba hhutugt Undur Gegen Dzanabazar. The article considers the problem of the clay sculptures of the Buddhist deities connected with the creativity and works of Undur Gegen Dzanabazar, which were discovered during the archaeological excavations made at the site of the monastrery ruins. It is suggested that this monastery had been the main artistic center of the creativity of Undur Gegen Dzanabazar.

Silk Road and Trade of the Mongol Empire

Abstract Our ancestors once said, “A person who does not know his history is like a monkey lost in the forest.” In the framework of this work, it was intended to study the historical development of the Silk Road and the characteristics of trade during the Mongol Empire in comparison with the principles of modern trade. According to the findings, ancient nations traded with each other to satisfy their unlimited needs with limited resources and laid the foundations of the Silk Road. On the other hand, the country that dominated the road became the most powerful country at that time, fighting with each other through geopolitical policies to maintain its influence in the area along this road. It can be said that the idea of logistics supply chain and the concept of free trade was created during the time of the powerful Mongolian empire, one of the strongest empire in the history of Mongolia as well as the world.

“Brief history of Mongols” Compiled by A. Dorzhiev (1853–1938)

The article provides a source analysis of the historical work by Agvan Dorzhiev entitled as “A brief history of the Mongols according to the Mongolian chronicle Huhe Debter (Blue Book)”. Two editions of A. Dorzhiev’s work have been analyzed and their comparison with the chronicle “Huhe Debter” (Blue Book) from the collections of the library of St. Petersburg University was carried out. The methods of source studies, historical-descriptive and historical-comparative methods are used in the work. It is revealed that the text of A. Dorzhiev almost completely repeats the logic of the narration, as well as the history and genealogy of the Mongolian khans according to the third part of the handwritten chronicle “Huhe Debter”. In the publication of A. Dorzhiev, minor corrections and additions are observed. Separate insertions relate to the religious merits of the Mongolian Khagans, their activities in spreading the Buddhist religion, as well as the history of the Olets and their genealogies, which are given in two versions. This work has been strongly influenced by Buddhist ideology, for example, for confirming the idea of the incarnation of Bodhisattva Ochirvani in Genghis Khan, a small excursion into Buddhist doctrine is given. In substantiating the heavenly predestination of the birth of Genghis Khan, the formation of the cult of Genghis Khan, and the appointment of the descendants of Boorchu as caretakers of the tomb of Genghis Khan in Ordos are outlined. The dating of some historical events can also be attributed to Buddhist influence. This publication of “A Brief History of the Mongols” by A. Dorzhiev draws attention to the little-known Mongolian chronicle “Huhe Debter”. Both texts are interesting as historical and literary works, as sources on the Mongolian chronicles, the history of Mongolia and Mongolian Buddhism.

Первый в Сибири: из истории диссертационного совета по историческим наукам при ИГУ. Часть 4: Научные исследования по специальности «всеобщая история»

This article, completing the series of publications on the Council for Historical Sciences at ISU, focuses the reader's attention on dissertations devoted to the problems of world history. Attention is paid to researchers who most fruitfully studied the issues of modern European history, the history of Mongolia, the South Pacific, the history of the United States, Russian-Polish and RussianJapanese relations. In conclusion, general quantitative indicators of the work of the council from 1942 to 2022 are given.

Саясирепрессияқарсаңы,ХХғасырдың20-30жылдарындағыМоңғолияныңаймақтықсаясаты

TodescribetheexternalregionalsituationofMongoliaontheeveofpoliticalrepressions,it is necessary to cover the time period from the beginning of the 20th century, because the events of theseyears were one of the most important turning points in the new history of Mongolia and marked thebeginningofanewperiodofitsdevelopment.Mongoliahasachievedstatesovereigntyinitsdevelopment,thesocialstructure,culturalandeconomicappearanceofthecountryhaschanged,newadministrativeand political institutions have appeared. In this regard, although almost a century has passed since theMongolian revolution of the 1920s, a comprehensive historiographic study of these events is of particularimportance.Recently, significant works have been published on individual events that took place in Mongoliaduring theseyears, on the nature of the development of Mongolia after the revolution, relations with otherforeigncountries,especiallywithneighboringRussianandChinesepowers,andtheirimportantroleinthe history of the country. Thus, there is a need for a special historiographic study of the development ofMongolianpoliticalrelationsduringthisperiod.Therelevanceofthisresearchtopicisduetotheneedto compare and analyze the validity and objectivity of various conflicting assessments of the events wedescribeintheworksofRussian,MongolianandWesternauthors.The above questions allow you to determine the research tasks and goals facing the work. Theimportance and content of the topic, based on the works of Russian and foreign historians, isto study themaineventsthattookplaceinOuterMongoliaandallowustodescribethetransformationsthattookplacein the country at that time and show their political results. Through the use of literature related to thisspecific historical situation, we try to compare different assessments and positions regarding the natureand results of various events that took place in Mongolia in 1921-1924, to determine the depth of theirdifferences and similarities, and also to show their causes. It should benoted that the historiography ofKazakhstan has not fully studied the political history and life of neighboring Mongoliaover the past 100years.Basically,thistopicisoftenconsideredinconnectionwiththeKazakhdiasporainMongolia.

Khalkhas Tsogtu Khuntaiji: Dissonance of Assessments in Historiography

The article presents an analysis of the political and religious activities of Tsogtu Khuntaiji, one of the controversial personalities in the history of Mongolia. In the analysis of the activities of Tsogtu Khuntaiji, the historical-biographical method was applied. It made it possible to trace the origins of the political views of Tsogtu Khuntaiji. The application of the comparative historical method revealed common features and similarities in the political trends of Inner (Southern) and Khalkha (Northern) Mongolia. Analytical comparison of the main circumstances of the political struggle among the ruling stratum showed that the religious factor has become the main dividing line of the warring parties. Using the materials of written and folklore sources, the motives and reasons that prompted Tsogtu Khuntaiji to come out as a supporter of Ligden Khan are traced. The latter was the bearer of the title of Great khan and sought to revive a single Mongolian state. To resolve this issue, the nature of the relationship between Tsogto Khuntaiji and the influential princely houses of Khalkha is considered. It is shown that the general dissatisfaction of the nobility with the activities of Tsogto Khuntaiji was expressed in the person of the rulers of large Mongolian specific possessions: Sain-noyon, Tushetu-khan and Setsen-khan. The support of Tsogto Khuntaiji for the policy of centralization of power in the hands of the Chakhar Ligden Khan led, in the conditions of the specificity of the Mongol rulers of Khalkha, to his gradual isolation, which eventually turned into expulsion from his native lands. An external factor was added to the complex tangle of interweaving of internal political conditions and religious relations ‒ the emerging state of the Manchus, which, having become the center of attraction for the Mongolian elite, was interested in the fragmentation of the Mongolian political space. It is possible that the political position of Tsogto Khuntaiji acquired its final features precisely under the influence of this circumstance.

Long Song Type Classification based on Lyrics

Mongolian folk songs are inspired by Mongolian labor songs and are classified into long and short songs. Mongolian long songs have ancient origins, are rich in legends, and are a great source of folklore. So it was inscribed by UNESCO in 2008. Mongolian written literature is formed under the direct influence of oral literature. Mongolian long song has 3 classes: ayzam, suman, and besreg by their lyrics and structure. In ayzam long song, the world perfectly embodies the philosophical nature of world phenomena and the nature of human life. Suman long song has a wide range of topics such as the common way of life, respect for ancestors, respect for fathers, respect for mountains and water, livestock and animal husbandry, as well as the history of Mongolia. Besreg long songs are dominated by commanded and trained characters. In this paper, we proposed a method to classify their 3 types of long songs using machine learning, based on their lyrics structures without semantic information. We collected lyrics of over 80 long songs and extracted 11 features from every single song. The features are the name of a song, number of the verse, number of lines, number of words, general value, double value, elapsed time of verse, elapsed time of 5 words, and the longest elapsed time of 1 word, full text, and type label. In experimental results, our proposed features show on average 78% recognition rates in function type machine learning methods, to classify the ayzam, suman, and besreg classes.

Зөвлөлт, оросын монголч эрдэмтэн П. Балданжаповын монголын түүхийн сурвалж судлалд оруулсан хувь нэмэр (= О вкладе советского, российского ученого П. Б. Балданжапова в изучение монгольских исторических источников)

Introduction. In 1958, the Mongolian Academy of Sciences launched the “Monumenta Historica” series, which was to become the main venue of modern historical science in Mongolia for over fifty years of research in the field. Several factors were influential for the series reputation: i) leading Mongolian scholars, as well as scholars outside of Mongolia, worked hard in the country and abroad to collect a large amount of material on Mongolian sources; ii) the Mongolian-Soviet team of scholars published “History of Mongolia”, which contributed to the study of research methods of historical sources; and iii) a large number of sources and scholarly works were published by Russian and Soviet scholars at the time, including such authors as A. M. Pozdneev, Ts. Zh. Zhamtsarano, L. S. Puchkovsky, N. P. Shastina, S. D. Dylykov, etc. whose contribution to the development of the source studies was invaluable. Among these scholars, we would like to single out Purbo B. Baldanzhapov. The present article aims to describe Baldanzhapov’s contribution to the study of Mongolian historical sources. Materials and methods. The main research methods employed for the study were biographical, historical-problematic, and historical-descriptive. Baldanzhapov’s major publications in the field and a wide range of published sources on Mongolian history were the materials selected for the undertaken research. Results. The scholar’s studies were focused on the main sources on the history of Mongolia, such as Galdan’s “Erdeniin Erikhe” (Precious Rosary), “Tsagaan tukhe” (White History), “Altan Tobchi” (Golden History) by Mergen-gegen, etc. He had an excellent command of Mongolian script, perfectly understood the content of the original monuments, and was a master of the source analysis. Baldanzhapov made several visits to Mongolia and during his stays copied many sources, including “Tsagaan tukhe” from the collection in the library of the Gandantegchenlin monastery. Conclusions. Granted a close friendly relationship between Baldanzhapov and the first editor-in-chief of the “Monumenta Historica”, Sh. Natsagdorj, who knew each other since their postgraduate days in Moscow, it may be assumed that the latter’s knowledge of his friend’s research methodology, as well as of Baldanzhapov’s published works had an overall influence on the methodology of publications in the series. Baldanzhapov’s studies of Mongolian sources have not lost their relevance, his elaborate contributions to Mongolian history and written tradition studies have served as a methodological guide for young Mongolian scholars.

Outstanding Discoveries of Mongolian Historians and Archaeologists: Excavations of the Sar’dag Monastery

Mongolia is rich in a unique cultural heritage presented by a variety of discovered artifacts that continue to amaze now. Among them, it is quite deservedly possible to include the findings discovered by a complex group of researchers on the ruins of the Sar’dag monastery, which was one of the earliest and largest Mongolian monastic complexes, the de factor center of the religious and political life of the Mongols. The review provides an overview of the works included in the collective monograph “The Sar’dag monastery of Undur-gegen Zanabazar: the Centre of artistic creativity”, published under the editorship of Sampildondovyn Chuluun, the Academician of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. This work is the result of six years of archaeological excavations conducted by a large scientific team in 2013–2018. The results obtained made it possible to restore the structure of the monastery complex, opened new, previously unknown pages of the activity of Undur-gegen Zanabazar. The artifacts found indicate the existence of wide external relations of the Mongols of that period with foreign countries. Articles on the preservation, restoration and digital documentation of found artifacts are of great scientific interest and relevance. In general, the results of the conducted works provide a new rich source material for a more in-depth study of the history of Mongolia of the period under consideration.

Pandemics in the history of Mongolia and Eurasia

Abstract Throughout humankind history, various plagues and epidemics spread annihilated millions of people and destroyed entire civilizations and whole tribes, as well. Historical sources show that many infectious diseases have occurred in Mongolia's history and caused great damage. In particular bubonic plague pandemic and smallpox. Despite the rapid development of science and technology and the rapid development of the health sector, various epidemics continue to pose a threat to humanity. Nowadays the world has been combating COVID-19 pandemic for the last 2 years, which started in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. As of November 03, 2021, there were 235,435,786 registered cases totally. The pandemic is not only threatening the health and lives of the population, but also causes enormous damage to social and economic situations of the countries worldwide. The economic downturn due to Covid-19 is pushing millions of people into poverty. Countries all over the world are taking all possible measures to counter this, but so far they have not been able to contain the spread of the pandemic. The world economy is expected to revive in 2021; however, the full recovery is expected to take much longer time. Furthermore, the effects of pandemic are expected to be long-lasting. In this article, I want to compare the history of infectious diseases that have caused great harm to Mongolians and the current situation.

The area of the Nart in the toponymy of Mongolian

Despite the fact that the study of Alanian history in Mongolia and China has been going on for a century and a half, it has not been systematic until recently. Moreover, researchers traditionally focus on the Yuan period of the Alans’ presence in this territory. The longer period after the fall of the Yuan Empire in 1368 and up to the twentieth century remains poorly understood. So far, no direct traces of the Alans’ presence in Mongolia, who assimilated after the 17th century, have been found. This article is devoted to a small story related to the first identified traces of the cultural presence of the medieval Alans on the territory of Mongolia, which was the Northern part of the Yuan Empire. We are talking about the toponym Nart, identified on the ground thanks to the consultations of Mongolian researchers, in the area of recorded historical settlement of the Alans-Asas or Asuts, as they were called by the Mongols. The Nart area is located on the territory of the Gov-Sumbar aimag, in a semi-desert area dotted with natural rock outcrops that resemble cyclopean buildings made of huge and carefully fitted stone slabs, as if they were built by heroes. The name Nart does not have any semantic meaning in the Mongolian language, but it is lexically well connected with the heroes of the Scythian-Alanian epic, the bearers of which lived in this area in the late middle ages. This conclusion confirms the Iranian theory of the origin of the term nart, which raises it to the Iranian basis nara -, ‘male, man’, meaning’ warrior, hero, strongman, hero’ and contradicts the long-disputed Mongolian theory of the origin of the word nart from the Mongolian nara, ‘sun’, nar-tæ – ‘children of the sun’. The considered plot shows the prospects for further research that will reveal other traces of the Alans ‘ stay in Mongolia and China.

Обзор личного фонда А. В. Бурдукова и Т. А. Бурдуковой (по материалам Научного архива КалмНЦ РАН)

The documentary materials of the personal fund of Aleksei Vasilievich Burdukov and his daughter Taisiya Alekseevna Burdukova, stored in the Scientific Archive of the Kalmyk Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, include valuable sources on the history of Mongolia, the language, life and culture of the Mongolian people, folklore and other aspects that reveal those sides of the life of Mongolian society, that are not recorded in official documentation. These materials are an integral part of the documentary heritage of the Kalmyk Scientific Centre of the RAS. Thanks to these sources, it is possible to restore the time specific details and signs during which Russian and Soviet Mongolian scholar, public figure, philologist, researcher, teacher of the Mongolian language, organizer of the first Soviet school in Mongolia — A. V. Burdukov lived and worked (1883–1943). Purpose. This article provides an overview of documents from the Scientific Archive of the Kalmyk Scientific Center of the RAS based on the materials of the personal fund of A. V. Burdukov and T. A. Burdukova (F. 21). Results. The composition and contents of the Fund 21 of the Scientific Archive of the Kalmyk Scientific Centre of the RAS containing the materials related to the life and work of A. V. Burdukov have been analyzed. Despite the fact that the results of the many-sided scientific activity of A. V. Burdukov are only partially reflected in the composition of the archival documents that have been deposited in the archive, they cause a constant and unremitting interest of researchers in them. All this determines the value and significance of the documents of the personal fund of A. V. and T. A. Burdukov.

The description of red clothing in the “Secret History of Mongolia”

In the “Secret History of Mongolia” there are lots of descriptions of clothing such as traditional Mongolian over coat called a “deel”, hats, belts, shoes, tops, baby underclothes, outfits, capes, gowns etc and in fact national clothes connected to their culture and lifestyle and represents those nationalities mindset in regards to their clothing choice. But in this article we aim to highlight the meaning of the word “red” in these three examples “a woman in red deel”, “Al deel” (red deel) and “red degelen” taken from the “Secret History of Mongolia”. As we did a research of the usage of the word “red” in those phrases, we considered other scholars’ views on this word and how it’s expressed, explained or translatedand transcribed phonetically by them, and eventuallywe compared them with our research which is explained by cultural and cognitive linguistics.As the result of my research we aim to represent the mentality of how Mongolian people express and use different meanings of the word “red” and highlight the general meanings of the word “red”.

Response to An Effective Response to the Lessons of History in Mongolia

Response to An Effective Response to the Lessons of History in Mongolia

An Effective Response to the Lessons of History in Mongolia

INTRODUCTION: Garamtseren Bayarjargal’s Article “Re-Establishment Of The Christian Church In Mongolia: The Mongolian Standard Version Translation By National Christians” Describes A Past Christian Presence Among Mongolians And Asserts That Post-1990 Mongolian Christianity Is Not New, But Is In A Process Of “re-establishment.” The Article Also Describes Mongolian Bible Translation History With Special Emphasis Given To The Author’s Mongolian Standard Version Bible Translation Project.

Climate-Driven Changes in Lake Areas for the Last Half Century in the Valley of Lakes, Govi Region, Southern Mongolia

This study presents the changes in lake areas in the Valley of Lakes, the Govi region, southern Mongolia. The recent changes in lake areas show decreases depending on vulnerability of lake basins and response of Govi landscape to the present climatic warming. During the recent 44 - 45 years (from 1970 to 2014 or 2015), modern lakes have encountered the present rapid increase in temperature, water evaporation and drying up that induced the reduction in lake areas in the Valley of Lakes. The finding of the reduction in lake areas is consistent with the trends on increasing in temperature since 1995 and fluctuating precipitation since 1975. Investigations with detailed chronology of lake sediment are needed from the lakes to review a more complete evolution of lake basins during the Late Quaternary paleoclimatic history in Mongolia and Central Asia.

Инфраструктура монголоведных исследований в Великобритании и США

The article is devoted to the problem of formation, functioning and evolution of university centers of Great Britain and the USA in studying of Mongolia. Investigation phases of history of Mongolia are defined by British and American scientists, features of Mongolia studies in Great Britain and the USA are revealed, the comparative characteristic of university centers of Great Britain and the USA in studying of history of Mongolia and the adjacent states is submitted. The process of formation of Mongolia studies as separate research direction is shown. Mongolia studies, which have originally arisen as the branch of sinology in France and Germany, in the second half of XX century were transformed to the independent direction. After World War II organizationally studying of Mongolia was issued in Great Britain and the USA. In the late forties the number of university centers, which were engaged in research of Mongolia, including studying of Mongolian, has increased. Today in university centers of Great Britain and the USA seminars, research conferences are held, programs of exchange of scientists are open, works of British and American authors in the field of Mongolia studies are published.

“МОНГОЛЫН НУУЦ ТОВЧООН” ДАХЬ “ШАРГА АГТ ТАН” ХЭМЭЭХ ХЭЛЛЭГИЙН УТГА УЧИР

Horses are loved by Mongolians in their culture and nomadic lifestyle. Mongolian horses made a great contribution to Mongolian history.The art work of ‘The Eight Steed of Genghis’ is well known by us. While Chinese artist Xu Beihong (1895-1953) great work ‘Eight Chun map’ has its root in West Zhou Dynasty’s (B.C. 1046-B.C. 661) art work which was drawn by fifth king Zhou Muwang (B.C. 1054-B.C. 949). Similarly there maybe a connection between the ‘Lucky Eight Horses’ in art works even sculptures with the Mongolian art called ‘The Eight Steed of Genghis’.This article aims to explain the meaning of the word ‘Sharga agt tan’ as used in “The Secret History of Mongolia” which was written in the 13th century, is considered to have no outside influences and believed to be an accurate account of Mongolian history. It especially aims to explain the meaning of the suffix tan that is used in the phrase ‘Sharga agt tan’ in “The Secret History of Mongolia”. The suffix tan was used in the middle aged Mongolian language and in our study you can see the comparison of the suffix tan and its similar meaning in contemporary Mongolian language. This article also aims to determine the actual number of horses in the phrase such as ‘Sharga agt tan 9 morid’ (meaning of nine yellowish/ light bay horses), ‘Sharga agt tan 8 morid’ (meaning of eight yellowish/ light bay horses), as well it attempts to explain that in the mongolian language the word sharga means yellowish/light bay colour in cognitive linguistic understanding. This study also explores the meaning of the expression ‘The Eight Sharga Steed of Genghis’.

The ‘Third Spreading’

Christianity has had a long and often turbulent history in Mongolia. When socialism crumbled finally, in 1990, there were no more than 20 Christians in the whole nation. Today, there are up to 100,000 adherents, 90 per cent of whom are Protestant evangelical. Prominent Mongolian Christian leader, Purevdorj Jamsran, suggests that there are three distinct periods in this development: formation (1991–1995); growth and transition (1996–2005); and identity (2006–present). Through analysing primary and secondary materials, conducting three field trips to gather oral interviews and using a Pentecostal case study, I explore these three periods. I argue that Protestant evangelicalism exploded onto the scene assisted by political upheaval, international allure, youthful enthusiasm and the use of mass media. Growth and transition progressed via contextualisation, ecumenical unity and community engagement. Finally, a sense of identity was established through accelerated maturation processes.