History

Traces of the early inhabitants

Archaeological finds have confirmed that almost the entire territory of Mongolia was settled in prehistoric times. From the 1920s, archaeological excavations around Mongolia unearthed many interesting and important sites, a large number of them prehistoric. Of particular interest are settlements with graves and semi-subterranean dwellings near the town of Choibalsan, Dornod Aimag, the eastern province of Mongolia, and finds in the area around Bayanzag, Omnogobi Aimag, the southern province. These were discovered in the 1920s by the third Central Asiatic Expedition led by American Roy Chapman Andrews. Excavations of these settlements and graves showed that the bodies were interred in a seated position in narrow pits, with bone knives and pearl beads. Read more

First nomadic tribes and states

Although people have inhabited Mongolia since the Stone Age, Mongolia only became politically important after iron weapons entered the area in the 3rd century BC. In general, Mongolia at this point had a similar history to the rest of the nomadic steppe that lies between Siberia Northern Russia to the North, China, and, the Middle East and Central Asia to the South. Read more

All Periods

Hunnu Period The establishment of the Hunnu in Mongolia in the 3rd century BC landmarks the beginning of the statehood on the territory of Mongolia. The founder of the Hunnu Kingdom was Tumen. He was succeeded by his son Modun Shanyu whose Unified Kingdom stretched from Lake Baikal in the north to the Great Wall of China in the south and from the Erchis river in the west to the Greater Khyangan mountains in the east. Read more

The Great Mongolian State

The difficult process of establishing the Mongol state is described in the famous Mongolian manuscript called 'The Secret History of the Mongols'. Temuujin defeated and subjugated the Mergid confederation in 1189 with the support of Tooril Khan of Khereid, the blood brother of his father. Another ally, who helped Temuujin in this venture, was his own blood brother Jamuka of Jadaran clan. The Mergids had attacked the home of Temuujin and captured his wife Burte of Hongirad tribe revenging for a much earlier event in which Temuujin's father Yesukhei deprived a Mergid man Chiledu his bride Oelun of Olkhonud tribe, who became mother of Temuujin. The striving of Temuujin to free his wife became a reason for the campaign against the Mergids.

After the defeat of the Mergid, the reputation of Temuujin raised rapidly and the leading members of the Khamag Mongol aristocracy enthroned him with title Chinggis Khaan, as the ruler of Khamag Mongol in 1206. Read more

The Era of Chinggis Khaan

After the migration of the Jurchen, the Borjigon Mongols had emerged in central Mongolia as the leading clan of a loose federation. The confederations of core Mongol tribes were transforming into a statehood in the early 12th century and became to be known as Khamag Mongol. They occupied one of the most fertile lands of the country--the basins of the river Onon, Kherlen and Tuul in the Khentii mountains. Read more

Successors of Chinggis Khaan

In compliance with the will of the dead Khaan, a Grand Khurildai at Kharkhorum in 1229 selected Ogedei, third son of Chinggis, as Khaan. The Grand Khurildai also decided to launch a campaign against the Bulghars, Turks in the region of Kazan on the middle Volga River, and to complete the conquest of the outlying Western Xia territories. By 1229 Batu Khan, grandson of Chinggis, had defeated most of the Bulghar outposts, and in 1231 Ogedei sent an expedition to conquer the Korean Peninsula. Read more

The European Expedition

The European expedition was to be a major Mongol effort, comparable in scope to the war against China. It was to become a catastrophe of monumental proportions for medieval East Europeans, who were confronted with devastating wars and serious social disruption. Nominal command was to be exercised by Batu son of Zuchi, because this was the part of the world he had inherited from Chinggis. The actual commander was the aging, but still brilliant, Subeedei. He was probably the most gifted of all Mongol generals, after Chinggis himself, and he had been one of the commanders of the momentous reconnaissance that had swept through southern Russia fifteen years earlier. Read more

All The Kings

Guyug Khaan

It was not until the summer of 1246 that a Grand Khurildai assembled at Kharkhorum to select a successor to Ogedei. This was mainly because of political maneuvering by Batu and other royal princes who had hopes of being elected. While deliberately stalling in Bulghar in 1241, Batu founded Sarai on the lower Volga River, as the capital of his Khanate of Kipchak, best known to history as the Golden Horde. Read more

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