Mongols
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia and China, as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of Mongolic peoples. The Oirats and the Buryats are classified either as distinct ethno-linguistic groups or as subgroups of Mongols.
The Mongols are bound together by a common heritage and ethnic identity, descending from the Proto-Mongols. Their indigenous dialects are collectively known as the Mongolian language. The contiguous geographical area in which the Mongols primarily live is referred to as the Mongol heartland, especially in discussions of the Mongols' history under the Mongol Empire.
Definition
Broadly defined, the term includes the Mongols proper, Buryats, Oirats, the Kalmyks and the Southern Mongols. The latter comprises the Abaga Mongols, Abaganar, Aohans, Arkhorchin, Asud, Baarins, Chahars, Darkhan, Dörvön Khüükhed, Eastern Dorbets, Gorlos Mongols, Ikhmyangan, Jalaids, Jaruud, Kharchins, Khishigten, Khorchins, Khuuchid, Muumyangan, Naimans, Onnigud, Ordos, Sunud, Tumed, Urad and Üzemchins.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.
Etymology
There are several proposals for the ethnonym Mongol's etymology:- A change from Mongkhe-tengri-gal ;
- A derivation from the personal name, transcribed in Chinese-language sources as 木骨閭 Mùgǔlǘ, of the progenitor of Rouran Khaganate.
History
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 Donghu neighboured the Xiongnu, whose identity 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. It has been suggested that the language of the Huns was related to the Xiongnu.
The Donghu, however, can be much more easily labeled proto-Mongol since the Chinese histories trace only Mongolic tribes and kingdoms from them, although some historical texts claim a mixed Xiongnu-Donghu ancestry for some tribes.
In the Chinese classics
The Donghu are mentioned by Sima Qian as already existing in Inner Mongolia north of Yan in 699–632 BCE along with the Shanrong. Unofficial Chinese sources such as Yi Zhou Shu and the Classic of Mountains and Seas project the Donghu's activities back to the Shang dynasty. However, the Hu were not mentioned among the non-Shang fang in the extant oracle bones from the Shang period.The Xianbei formed part of the Donghu confederation, and possibly had in earlier times some independence within the Donghu confederation as well as from the Zhou dynasty. During the Warring States the poem "The Great Summons" in the anthology Verses of Chu mentions small-waisted and long-necked Xianbei women, and possibly also the book Discourses of the States, which states that during the reign of King Cheng of Zhou the Xianbei came to participate at a meeting of Zhou subject-lords at Qiyang but were only allowed to perform the fire ceremony under the supervision of Chu since they were not vassals by enfeoffment and establishment. The Xianbei chieftain was appointed joint guardian of the ritual torch along with Chu viscount Xiong Yi.
These early Xianbei came from the nearby Zhukaigou culture in the Ordos Desert, where maternal DNA corresponds to the Mongol Daur people and the Tungusic Evenks. The Zhukaigou Xianbei had trade relations with the Shang. Liu Song dynasty commentator Pei Yin, in his Jixie, quoted Eastern Han dynasty scholar Fu Qian 's assertion 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 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 was the ancestor of the proto-Mongolic Kumo Xi. 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 raided and defeated the Xiongnu, killing 2000, after having received generous gifts from Emperor Guangwu of Han. The Xianbei reached their peak under Tanshihuai who expanded their vast but short lived confederation.
Three prominent groups split from the Xianbei state as recorded by the Chinese histories: the Rouran, the Khitan people and the Shiwei. 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. 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 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 First 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 Göktürks 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 Khitans, who were independent after their separation from the Kumo Xi in 388, continued as a minor power in Manchuria until one of them, Abaoji, established the Liao dynasty.
Mongol Empire
The destruction of the 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. 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. Beginning in the 10th century, the Khitans, under the leadership of Abaoji, prevailed in several military campaigns against the Tang dynastys border guards, and the Xi, Shiwei and Jurchen nomadic groups.Remnants of the Liao dynasty led by Yelü Dashi fled west through Mongolia after being defeated by the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty and founded the Qara Khitai in 1124 while still maintaining control over western Mongolia. In 1218, Genghis Khan incorporated the Qara Khitai after which the Khitan passed into obscurity. Some remnants surfaced as the Qutlugh-Khanid dynasty in Iran and the Dai Khitai in Afghanistan. With the expansion of the Mongol Empire, the Mongolic people settled over almost all Eurasia and carried on military campaigns from the Adriatic Sea to Indonesian Java and from Japan to Palestine. They simultaneously became Padishahs of Persia, Emperors of China, and Great Khans of the Mongols, and one became Sultan of Egypt. The Mongolic peoples of the Golden Horde established themselves to govern Russia by 1240. By 1279, they conquered the Song dynasty and brought all of China proper under the control of the Yuan dynasty.
With the breakup of the empire, the dispersed Mongolic peoples quickly adopted the mostly Turkic cultures surrounding them and were assimilated, forming parts of Afghanistan's Hazaras, Azerbaijanis, Uzbeks, Karakalpaks, Tatars, Bashkirs, Turkmens, Uyghurs, Nogais, Kyrgyzs, Kazakhs, Caucasus 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, remnants of the Yuan imperial family retreated north 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 the Ming dynasty.
Northern Yuan
After the fall of the Yuan dynasty in 1368, the Mongols continued to rule the Northern Yuan in northern China and the Mongolian steppe. However, the Oirads began to challenge the Eastern Mongols under the Borjigin monarchs in the late 14th century and Mongolia was divided into two parts: Western Mongolia and Eastern Mongolia. The earliest written references to the plough in Middle Mongol language sources appear towards the end of the 14th c.In 1434, Eastern Mongol Taisun Khan's Oirat prime minister Togoon Taish reunited the Mongols after killing Adai Khan in Ejin. Togoon died in 1439 and his son Esen Taish became ruler of Northern Yuan dynasty. Esen later unified the Mongol tribes. The Ming dynasty attempted to invade the Northern Yuan in the 14–16th centuries, however, the Ming dynasty was defeated by the Oirat, Southern Mongol, Eastern Mongol and united Mongol armies. Esen's 30,000 cavalries defeated 500,000 Chinese soldiers in the 1449 Tumu Crisis. Within eighteen months of his defeat of the titular Khan Taisun, in 1453, Esen himself took the title of Great Khan of the Great Yuan.
The Khalkha emerged during the reign of Dayan Khan as one of the six tumens of the Eastern Mongolic peoples. They quickly became the dominant Mongolic clan in Mongolia proper. He reunited the Mongols again. In 1550, Altan Khan led a Tumed Mongol raid on Beijing. The Mongols voluntarily reunified during Eastern Mongolian Tümen Zasagt Khan rule for the last time.
Eastern Mongolia was divided into three parts in the 17th century: Outer Mongolia, Inner Mongolia 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.