History: Brief History of Mongolia

Mongolia's history spans 500,000 years. From nomads herding the Central Asian steppe to the formation of the powerful Mongol empire and the gradual emergence of the Mongolian Republic, its history is steeped in conflict.

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, best known as Chinggis Khan was born into the Yesukhei in 1162. His father, Yesukhei, a chieftain of one of the numerous tribes was killed by the Tartars when he was at his 9 years old.
With the support of his father's fellows, 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 offsprings.

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.

Socialist and 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.

Religion

Traditionally, Mongols practiced Shamanism, worshipping the Blue Sky. However, Tibetan Buddhism (also called Vajrayana Buddhism) gained more popularity after it was introduced in 16th century. Tibetan Buddhism shared the common Buddhist goals of individual release from suffering and reincarnation. Tibet's Dalai Lama, who lives in India, is the religion's spiritual leader, and is highly respected in Mongolia.
As part of their shamanistic heritage, the people practice ritualistic magic, nature worship, exorcism, meditation, and natural healing.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Mongolia had hundreds of Buddhist monasteries and about 30 percent of all men were monks. Communists led an anti-religious campaign in the 1930s, which nearly destroyed the extensive system of monasteries. Under Communist rule, atheism was promoted and monasteries were closed, although shamanistic practices survived. From 1945 to 1990, only one monastery (Gandan in Ulaanbaatar) was allowed to operate. Democratic reform that started in 1990 allowed freedom of religion; well over 100 monasteries have reopened, and Qazaq Muslims are allowed to practice Islam. Many young people are receiving an education through these traditional centers of learning, and the people are once again able to practice cherished traditions.

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