Ancient history

History of the warriors started 750000 years ago from now on, and that is subdivided into 8 parts according to historians:
1. Clan Structure- This generation covers the time of from t he first men lived on the current land of the Mongols till the 3rd Century BC.
2. Ancient Empires of the Mongols- The first Mongol and the first nomadic empire Khunnu was established 209 BC on the vast land of Central Asia for the first time- till the 13th Century AD.
3. Great Mongolian Empire and Mongol Empire- 13th Century- 14th Century
4. Political Splitting of the Empire- 15th Century to the 17th Century
5. Colony of Manchu Qing- 18th Century to the 19th Century
6. The Authonomy of Mongolia- 1911-1919
7. The Communist Revolution and the communist regime- 1921-1990
8. Democratic Revolution and Democratic Rules- 1990-till now on

Ancient Mongolian States

The first Mongolian state was established in 209 BC by Huns or Hunnu people. The name Hunnu comes from two ancient Mongolian words. Hun means man and Nu translates as sun. The Hun's first king was Modun Shan Yui, whose father Tumen was chieftain of the Hun's most influential tribe.
The Huns territory stretched from Korea in Far East to Tian Shan Mountain in northern China and from the southern section of the Great wall to Lake Baikal in southern Siberia. From 200 B.C until its collapse in 98 AD, the Hun state was the most powerful nomadic nation residing in the sprawling Central Asian steppe and mountain. But, after three hundred years of domination the Hun state imploded, ruined by internal conflicts between powerful chieftains.

After the Huns state collapsed several other ambitious clans established their own states and dominated Mongolian territory up until 1200 AD. The first dominant state after the Hun's collapse was the Sumbe State, which lasted until the 3rd century BC. The Toba finally took over the Sumbe state in 250 AD and established its own state with a number of tribal allies. In turn the Tobas were defeated by the Nirun, who were forced to hand the state over to Turkic tribes who established the Tureg Kingdom in Mongolia 552 AD. Thousands of Turkic people had arrived from the far west via the Altai mountains during the 4th century AD. They extended the ancient feudal system, but were also defeated by their own internal conflicts 745 AD. The

Uigur tribe then became the most powerful in Central Asia, were unable to dominate the whole of Mongolia. It was the Kidans, who had peacefully coexisted with several previous ruling tribes, who took over Mongolia in 907. Their dominance lasted until the 12th century when a number of central Asian tribes invaded at the same time. There was now no ruler in Mongolia and this vast territory was divided and subdivided into tribal areas.

The Mongol Empire

Temujin was born into the Esugui in 1162 and who is best known as Chingis Khan. His father was a chieftain of one of the numerous tribes and was killed by the Tartars when Temujin was just 9 years old.
With the support of his father's friends, Temujin established the Great Mongol State in 1189. By 1206 he united 81 different Mongolian tribes and established the Great Mongolian Empire in 1206, when he was crowned as Chingis Khan. Chingis Khan died in 1227. Subsequent Mongolian Khans were chosen from following generations of Chingis Khan's children.

During the 13-14th centuries, Mongolia developed in terms of its economy, culture, military strength and politics. It was a huge, sprawling empire which encompassed many separate Asian and European nations. Still known as the golden era of Mongolian history, during this time the Mongol Empire was the most powerful nation on earth. Chingis Khan was a great military general, statesman and Mongolian national hero.

The Mongol Empire began to fall apart in 1368. This was bound up with the collapse of the Mongolian Yuan dynasty, which had been established in China after Kublai Khan named Beijing as the new Capital of the Mongol Empire.
The Manchurians conquered Mongolia in 1691 and the Manchurian colonisation lasted for 220. By the beginning of the 20th century Mongolians were embroiled in struggle for national liberation, which finally bore fruit in December 1911, when the Manchurians withdrew and Mongolia's independence was proclaimed in Urguu (as Ulaanbaatar was previously known). Mongolia's theocratic ruler Bogd Khan was awarded power across the entire country.

Socialistand Democratic Mongolia

On 11 July 1921, the socialist revolution, known as People's Revolution took place. In 1924, The Mongolian People's Party proclaimed Mongolia a People's Republic. The congress endorsed the Republic's first constitution. As Mongolia maintained strong links with the former Soviet Union, the socialist era continued until 1990, when democratic changes first started in Mongolia.
In 1990 the Mongolia former communist Politburo's resigned and a multi-parliamentary system was installed. The country's first multi party election was held in June 1990. The new parliament adopted Mongolia's first democratic construction in January 1992. This constitution defined Mongolia as a democratic parliamentary republic operating with a President. Both parliament and president have to be directly elected by the general public. Throughout these political changes, Mongolia has slowly been paving its way towards a free market economy and away from the old centrally planned economy.

Timeline of history of Mongolia

· BC 750000- Man existed on the land of Mongolia
· BC 750000- 100000- Lower Paleolitics
· BC 100000- 40000- Middle Paleolitics
· BC 4000000- 12000- Upper Paleolitics
· BC 12000- 4000- Neolit
· BC 4000- 1000- Bronze Age
· BC 2000- People started having animal husbandry
· BC 1000- Iron Age
· BC 8-6th Century- Clan Structure
· BC 6-3th Century- The Great Wall was established in order to mark the borders between Chinese Han and Khunnu
· BC 3-1st Century- The first Mongolian Empire Khunnu existed
· BC 1st Century to 320 AD- The second Mongolian Empire Syanbi existed
· AD 330- 402- The 3rd Mongolian Empire Nirun existed
· AD 402-555- The 4th Mongolian Empire Jujan existed
· AD 555-745- The 1st Turkic Empire existed on Mongolian Land
· AD 745- 840- Uigur Empire existed
· AD 840- Powerful Kirgiz nomads came to Central Asia
· AD 10-12th Century- Kidan Empire existed
· AD 12th Century- Khamag Mongol Tribe established
· 1162, the black horse year- Temujin the later became Chinggis Khan is born as a prince of Khamag Mongol Tribe
· 1170- Temujin is engaged to Borte, the princess of Khongirad Tribe
· 1177- Temujin marries to Borte
· 1179- Temujin wins in the war with Gurvan Merghid Tribe, his first son Zuchi is born
· 1183- Second son Tsagaadai is born
· 1186- Third son Ogoodei is born
· 1189- Temujin becomes the king of United Mongolia and is given the title of Chinggis Khaan ( Ocean or Sea Khaan)
· 1193- His 4th son Toului is born
· 1206- Chinggis Khaan becomes the Great Khaan of Greater Mongolia
· 1206- Uighur Mongolian Script ( the traditional Mongolian script) becomes the official system of writing in Mongolia
· 1206- Mongolia produces coins showing the portrait of a horseman brandishing a sword
· 1215- Chinggis Khaan conqueres China
· 1219- Chinggis Khaan conqueres Southern countries
· 1220- The construction of Kharakhorum starts as the caopital of Great Mongolian Empire on the orders of Chinggis Khaan
· 1224- Chinggis Khaan sterts invading Middle East , Arabics, Western Countries, India
· 1224- The 'Chinggis Stone', the oldest known example of Mongolia script was erected
· 1227- Chinggis Khaan passes away.
· 1228- Ogoodei was given the throne
· 1234- Ogoodei Khaan established the ortoo horse-relay courier system
· 1235- Tumen Amgalant Palace was built at Khahakhorum
· 1236- On the orders of Ogoodei Khaan, the world's first paper money was put into circulation
· 1240- The Secret History of Mongols was completed
· 1235-1259- The construction of Kharakhorum was completed
· 1246- Guyug became the Khaan.
· 1251- Munkh became the Khaan
· 1260- Arigh Bukh became the King
· 1261- War between Arigh Bukh and Khubilai started
· 1270- Khubilai Khaan established schools in the provinces, districts, and in the capital of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty.
· 1274- Khubilai Khaan attacked Japan for the first time
· 1305- Great Mongolian philosopher Choiji-Odser wrote his famous work " Zurkhen Tolit".
· 1368- Mongolian rule in China failed and collapse of Mongolian Yuan Empire
· 1369- History of Yuan Empire was written
· 1370- Kharakhorum was renamed as the capital of the Empire
· 1382, 1408, 1439- The Mongols attacked Moscow
· 1466- Batmunkh Dayan Khaan became the Khaan
· 1577- Altan Khaan and Abtai Khaan accepted Buddhism
· 1586- Construction of Erdene Zuu, the 1st Buddhist Monastery was started
· 1616- The first Embassy of Russia was opened in Mongolia
· 1635- Zuunghar Empire established
· 1636- Inner Mongolia was captured by Manchu Qing.
· 1639- Zanabazar, the prince of Tusheet Khan Aimag was instated as the head of Buddhist Yellow Faith in Mongolia& the corner stones of Ikh Khuree (Ulaanbaatar) were placed in Shireet Tsagaan Nuur, in current Burd Sum of Ovorkhangai Aimag
· 1671- Galdan became the king of Zuungar
· 1686- Zanabazar created Soyombo script
· 1688-1697- The war between Zuunghar and Khalkha
· 1691- Khalkha Mongolia surrendered its autonomy into Manchu Qing Empire
· 1754- Zunghar was captured by Manchu Qing, Mongolia was captured completely
· 1754-1911- Under Manchu's Colony
· 1778- Capital Ikh Khuree found its current location on the bank of the River Tuul
· 1911- Mongolian Monrchy was declared with 8th Bogd as its head
· 1913- The first regular newspapers in Mongolia began to be published
· 1919-China invaded Mongolia
· 1921- Mongolia gained its independence with the help of Red Russians
· 1924- Bogd Khaan passes away and Mongolia became a republic
· 1937- Religious activities were banned and nearly all of Mongolian monasteries were destroyed by the communists
· 1990- Democratic Revolution, failure of Communist Regime
1996- Mongolian Democratic Coalition won in the Parlianmentary Election
2000 - Mongoliam Communist Party wins in the general parliamentary elections
2004- Mongolian democratic Coalition wins in the general parliamentary elections

Culture

The Mongolian way of life is nomadic and intimately connected with the ways of animals. Despite urbanization, the traditions of the steppes live on. Even in the cities, most Mongolians continue to live in a ger, a large, white felt tent that can be moved easily and has a universal layout: the door always faces south; towards the back and a little to the west is the place of honour set aside for guests; the back of the ger, the khoimor, is the place for elders and most treasured possessions; and on the back wall is the family altar, with Buddhist images, family photos and suitcases. Get a local to explain the dozens of traditional, religious and superstitious rules and customs associated with gers.

Mongolians have always taken wholeheartedly to Tibetan Buddhism and the links between Mongolia and Tibet are old and deep. Once in a lifetime, every devout Buddhist Mongolian tries to reach the holy city of Lhasa; the Tibetans in turn have relied on various Mongolian tribes to sustain their power. In Mongolia at the time of the communist takeover in 1921, there were 110,000 lamas (monks) living in about 700 monasteries. Beginning in the 1930s, thousands of monks were arrested, sent to Siberian labor camps and never heard from again. Monasteries were closed and ransacked and all religious worship and ceremonies outlawed. Not until 1990 was freedom of religion restored. Since then, there's been a phenomenal revival of Buddhism (and other religions). Monasteries have reopened, and even some ex-Communist Party officials have become lamas. Monasteries and temples (sum) always have Tibetan names. There's a significant minority of Sunni Muslims in the far western regions of Mongolia, most of whom are ethnic Kazaks.

Mongolia's paintings, music and literature are dominated by Tibetan Buddhism and nomadism. Tsam dances are performed to exorcise evil spirits and are influenced by nomadism and Shamanism. Outlawed during communism, they're beginning to be performed again. Traditional music involves a wide range of instruments and singing styles. In Mongolian khoomii throat singing, carefully trained male voices produce harmonic overtones from deep in the throat, releasing several notes at once. Traditional music and dance performances aren't complete without a touch of contortionism, an ancient Mongolian tradition.

Mongolian, the official language, is a member of the Ural-Altaic family of languages, which includes Finnish, Turkish, Kazak, Uzbek and Korean. Since 1944, the Russian Cyrillic alphabet has been used to write Mongolian. The country has produced a huge literature, almost none of which is known to speakers of European languages. Only recently have scholars translated the most important text of all - Mongolun Nigucha Tobchiyan (The Secret History of the Mongols) - which celebrates Mongolia's days of greatness.

An old Mongolian saying goes something like: "Breakfast, keep for yourself; lunch, share with your friends; dinner, give to your enemies". The biggest and most important meals for Mongolians are breakfast and lunch, which will usually consist of boiled mutton with lots of fat and flour and maybe some dairy products or rice. The Kazaks in western Mongolia add variety to their diet with horse meat. The Mongolians are big tea drinkers and the classic drink is suutei tsai (salty tea with milk). Men who refuse to drink arkhi (vodka) are considered wimps, while herders make their own unique home brew airag, which is fermented horse's milk with an alcoholic content of about 3%. Many Mongolians distill it further to produce shimiin arkhi, which boosts the alcohol content to around 12%.

Cultural tips

You are almost inevitably going to encounter the residents of the countryside. Things move slowly here and the standards of living you are used to are not the same. Part of Mongolia's charm is its ancient customs and traditions. If you can learn and respect them before you step into the countryside, then you may get a more welcome reception. You may also become a small part in helping to preserve these traditions for future visitors. Don't
· let a post or fence come between you if you are walking with Mongolians
· whistle inside a ger or house belonging to a Mongolian
· let your feet point in the direction of the altar (which will be in the north side) when sitting in a ger
· let people walk over your outstretched legs
tread on the threshold of the ger when you walk over it
· lean against a support column furniture or wall of the ger
stamp out a fire or put water or any rubbish on it; fire is sacred
· walk in front of an older person
· turn your back to the altar and religious objects at the back of the ger
· touch other people's hats
· have long conversations in your own language in front of hosts who don't understand it
· point a knife in the direction of anyone
· pass anything to a Mongolian with just two fingers
· take food from a plate with your left hand
· wave you sleeve as it is a mark of protest or extend the little finger of your right hand, as this is a sign of disrespect
Do
· keep your hat on when entering a ger, if you are wearing one, but lift it as a sign of greeting
· receive things with the right hand or both hands and ensure that your sleeves are rolled down
· ensure you remove your gloves when shaking hands, if you are wearing them
· walk round inside the ger in a clockwise direction
· receive food, a gift or anything similar from a Mongolian with both hands or with the right hand supported at the wrist or elbow
· take at least a sip or nibble of the delicacies offered pick up things with an open hand, with your palm facing upwards
· grab the hand of a Mongolian if you have accidentally kicked their feet sit with your feet underneath you of cross-legged
· leave a small gift, other than money, for your hosts

Religions

Interest in Buddhism as a national religion began with Chinggis Khan. He employed the Buddhist Uigur people as teachers and state officials. The Uigur were a respected people and had great cultural influence over the Mongols. Chinggis Khan also held meetings with Buddhist leaders during his reign. In his will, he instructed his successor, Ogedei Khan to invite a Tibetan lama to conduct Buddhist services at Kharakhorum. This engaged practicing Shamans in Kharakhorum, as pantheistic Shamanism was the traditional faith of the Mongols.

Buddhism was not fully adopted as a state religion until the rule of Kubila Khan. He declared Buddhism to be the Yuan empire's official religion. Kubila Khan appointed the lama Lodijaltsan as spiritual leader and state teacher for the country. Lamas were officially exempted from military service and paying taxes. Despite these efforts by Kubila Khan, Buddhism did not become a widely-accepted religion in Mongolia. It was the religion of the aristocracy, and following the Tibetan empire's downfall, Buddhism lost its support and Shamanism was revived through to the mid sixteenth century.

In the second half of the sixteenth century, Yellow Hat sect Buddhism or Lamaism became prominent in Mongolia. Lamaism was adopted for political as well as social reasons. Politically, Lamaism was favoured because (1) Mongol aristocrats wanted their positions reinforced by religious figures, (2) Tibetan Yellow Hat proponents sought allies among the Mongol rulers against the Red Hat sect, and (3) the Ming empire in China saw Lamaism as a means of pacifying their warlike Mongol neighbours.

In 1577, Altan Khan invited the religious head of Tibet to Mongolia, as Altan Khan was intent upon unifying Mongolia under Lamaism. Altan Khan incorporated Buddhist beliefs into laws which made for a legal basis to abolish the practices of Shamanism. Altan Khan's campaign was continued by Avtai Sain Khan, who met with the third Dalai Lama in 1586. At this meeting, it was decided that the Zuu temple in Kharakhorum would be established as the Mongol Centre of Lamaism. Soon thereafter, the other monasteries and schools for Lamaism opened under the directive of Zanabazar, the head of the Lamaist religion in Mongolia. Zanabazar worked diligently to spread Lamaism to all people, nobles and commoners alike. Lamaism continued to gain popularity for the following 200 years, or until the Mongol People's Revolution.

During the period referred to as the "Left Deviation" (1929-1932) approximately 300 monasteries were closed in an effort to increase Mongolia's workforce by encouraging lamas to work outside of the monasteries. Some lamas left in fear of persecution, only to return to the monasteries in 1932, the beginning of the New Turn movement: a movement in which efforts were directed towards persuasion, education and propaganda. By 1936 there were 767 monasteries - including more than 300 closed during 1929-1932 - and over 100,000 lamas, including an increase of 10,000 during the period immediately following the Left Deviation. At this time, the adult lamas represented over forty percent of the adult male population - a problem for a socialist country.

In the mid 1930s, the communist party implemented the "liquidation of the church as an organisation" due, in part, to rumours of the political uprisings against the government being rooted in the monasteries. At this time, lamas were 'strongly encouraged' to leave the monasteries and begin secular lifestyles. By 1938, approximately 20,000 of the lamas had become herders, 5,000 were organised into government cooperatives, young lamas were enlisted in the military and child lamas were returned to their families. And the rest? Many were victims of the burning and bombing of monasteries during the mid 1930s. 1937 is said to be one of the worst years in Mongol history, as hundreds of monasteries were destroyed, tens of thousands of Buddhist books were burned, and most of the 100,000 lamas were persuaded into secular lifestyles or killed.

Over the next 40 years, Mongols worshipped in fear. Older Buddhists continued to attend the central monastery, the Gandan, which averaged 100 lamas, or the Gobi's monastery, which averaged 40 lamas. Younger people worshipped in the privacy of their homes or ceased to worship altogether.
Now that Mongolia is an independent country, the Buddhists are experiencing a revival. Young males are attending the monastery schools and many of the lamas who were forced into secular lives during the 1930s have returned to the monasteries to continue lifestyles they originally chose to pursue. In 1990, the women's monastery was opened in Ulaanbaatar by a group of 20 Buddhist women.

However, all is not calm on the religious front: missionaries are spreading across the country, attempting to convert the Mongols to western religions.

Language

Mongolian, belongs to the Altai group of languages (which include Finnish, Turkish, Kazak, Uzbek and Korean. It is spoken by about 7 million people in the world including Mongolians, Inner Mongolians, Buriyats, Kalkmycks and Tuvinians. In Mongolian speech organs such as the nose and larynx take relatively less participation but tongue, teeth, palate and lips take an active part in producing sounds. It is a language rich in vocabulary so it has an ample opportunity to translate from any foreign language rendering the meaning of different expressions and ideas.

Because of the specific mode of life, customs and environments, there are a lot of terms and expressions not easy to translate into other languages and render their meanings. There are also many proverbs relating to Mongolian life (for example – While your father is alive, get acquainted with people, while you have horses, go and see far away lands.)

The Mongol script has five main vowels and 22 consonants and is written vertically. It can be written quickly and therefore considered similar to shorthand. In many cases, the Mongolian writing system does not correspond with pronunciation. In this respect it is similar to written and spoken English. Because of these complications, Mongols tried to adopt the Square (Pags-pa) script in 1269, the Todu Script in 1648, the Soyombo Script in 1686 and the Cyrillic Script in 1941.

The latter, Cyrillic Script was successfully adopted unlike the others, and helped to erase illiteracy among the population. The Mongolian Cyrillic Alphabet has 35 letters. There have been attempts to revive the old Mongolian Script but so far, there has been little success.