Great Khaganate of Mongolia![]() Mongol Ulsyn Ikh khaant OTE Equivalent: Mongolia, Buryatia, Tuva |
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Motto: ![]() "Khar Luu Khaanchilj Baina" ("The Black Dragon Reigns") |
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Capital | Urga | ||||
Largest city | Karakorum | ||||
Official languages | Mongolian | ||||
Other languages | Locals Khalkha, Buryat, Kazakh, Chuvash, Evenki Working languages Chinese, Russian |
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Ethnic groups | Mongols (90%) Han Chinese (5%) Others (5%) |
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Demonym | Mongolian | ||||
Government | Constitutional theocratic monarchy, parliamentary democracy | ||||
- | Khan | Batjargal | |||
- | Prime Minister | Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh | |||
Legislature | Khurultai | ||||
- | Upper House | Senate | |||
- | Lower House | Assembly | |||
Population | |||||
- | estimate | 39,310,000 |
The Great Khaganate (or Khanate) of Mongolia (Mongolian: ) also known as the Royal Abode of the Northern Yuan or just Mongolia is a landlocked country located in East and North Asia. It borders China to the south, Russia to the north and nearly borders Central Asia to the west.
Lake Baikal and mountains to the north and west and the Gobi Desert to the south. Karakorum is the largest city by population and much of the country's population, wealth and economic activity is in Karakorum and the Baikal region. Mongolia is the largest territorial administration by land area in China.
Mongolia is divided into two Principalities and one Province, the Southern Principality or "Outer Mongolia" and the Principality of Buryatia, as well as the Province of Tuva.
The territory of modern-day Mongolia has been ruled by various nomadic empires, including the Xiongnu, the Xianbei, the Rouran, the First Turkic Khaganate, the Second Turkic Khaganate, the Uyghur Khaganate and others. In 1206, Genghis Khan founded the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous land empire in history. His grandson Kublai Khan conquered China proper and established the Yuan dynasty. After the collapse of the Yuan, the Mongols retreated to Mongolia and resumed their earlier pattern of factional conflict, except during the era of Dayan Khan and Tumen Zasagt Khan. In the 16th century, Tibetan Buddhism spread to Mongolia, being further led by the Manchu-founded Qing dynasty, which absorbed the country in the 17th century. By the early 20th century, almost one-third of the adult male population were Buddhist monks.
Although no longer nomadic; horse culture remains integral and nomadic culture is still celebrated in Mongolian folklore. Buddhism is the majority religion (51.7%), with the Tengrists being the second-largest group (40.6%). Islam is the third-largest religious identification (3.2%), concentrated among ethnic Kazakhs. Mongols form the majority of the population, at 57.4%, while Han Chinese form 33.5% of the population, Manchus, Kazakhs, Tuvans, Siberians and other Central Asians form the rest.
History[]
Interwar Period[]
During the Interwar Period, the Bogd Khaganate of Mongolia successfully became independent from China, as the Zhanhou Emperor had no interest in keeping Mongolia. However, both China and Russia sent White forces into Mongolia to fight the Red Mongolians, and establish a pro-Chinese and pro-Chinese Bogd Khaganate.
Via the convincing of the Zhanhou Emperor and Tsar Cyril, Buryatia joined the new Mongolian state, but Russia continued exert economic influence in Buryatia. Mongolia remained a "buffer ally" between China and Russia, with both countries exerting extensive cultural, political and economic influence in the country.
Urzhin Garmaev Government[]
Buryats began to dominate economic and political life, and they enforced modernization and industrialization. Urzhin Garmaev, an ethnic Buryat, became the military dictator of Mongolia, and spearheaded the modernization. Garmaev had very cold relations with the Tibetan Buddhists and nomads, since he passed a law banning nomadic life, and forcing Mongols to work in urban centers, to develop the cities of Urga and the ancient city of Karakorum.
Garmaev is often-known as the "Mongolian Meiji", the Bogd Khan, the Head of State of Mongolia according to Buddhist tradition, wasn't even alive to begin with.
Second World War[]
During the Second World War, Mongolia was able to avoid the horrors of the war, and was known to be a refuge. Demchugdongrub, a descendent of Genghis Khan himself, fled into Mongolia as the Japanese forces were closing in, where he advocated for a constitutional monarchy. However, the Chinese government found him, captured him, charged with being a deserter, and on the orders of Zhang Zongchang, he would become a penal officer within the Inner Mongolian Army. Although Demchugdongrub was the titular commander of the Inner Mongolian Army, he had little true control as his punishment for deserting, and his direct control were leading armies of prisoners, and soldiers - armed only with swords and not modern guns.
Rather than waiting for the next reincarnation of the Bogd Khan to come to the Mongolian throne, Urzhin Garmaev actually supported that Demchugdongrub become the next Khagan of Mongolia.
The meeting between Prince Demchugdongrub and Urzhin Garmaev became known as the "First Seed to Unification of the Mongols". Zongchang, as well as the Zhanhou Emperor stipulated that if Demchugdongrub survives the war, he would be recognized as the Khagan of Mongolia. However, the Zhanhou Emperor still opposed the for the integration of Inner Mongolia into Greater Mongolia.
Post-World War II[]
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Greater Mongolia, along with Thailand, remained the least-devastated in East Asia and the victorious powers were eager to pull it within their sphere of influence. Marshal Urzhin Garmaev continued the status quo of Mongolia as an ally of the Chinese and Russian Empires. However, while the early Mongolian state was under Buryat and Russian economic influence, China finally began to exert more economic influence, via the Mongols of Inner Mongolia, who too, like the Buryats, had a hatred for the nomadic lifestyle and helped promote the modernization and urbanization of Mongolia.
However, after the Chita Affair, in which Mongolian spies in Chita uncovered plans by Russian officers of Prime Minister Taboritsky's plan to invade Mongolia, cleanse it of the native population, settle it with ethinc Russians, and forcefully convert the remaining natives to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Marshal Garmaev's successor, Tsagaanlamyn Dügersüren, officially called off Mongolia's alliance with Russian Empire, and did not want anything to do with the Russian Empire.
Therefore, Urzhin Garmaev's successor, Tsagaanlamyn Dügersüren contemplated on either having Mongolia became a Chinese or U.S. ally, and invited officers from both countries into Mongolia. However, the Americans proved themselves no friendlier than the Russians, and the Marshal expelled American military advisors from Mongolia. After the Chinese successes against the Russians and Americans in the North China War and South China War, Dügersüren felt secured being under Chinese alliance, as he finally respected China as being a solidified state. Chinese leaders were impressed by the well-preparedness of the local forces in Buryatia.
Dügersüren also armed every able-bodied male 17 and up to learn how to carry a rifle, and he established the Mongolian Home Force, a national paramilitary.
As the Empire of China and the Russian Empire fought the North China War, Mongolia found itself on the Chinese side.
After the Sino-Russian conflict, Mongolia continued its relations with the Russian Empire, and although while it considered itself an ally of China, still considered Moscow a friend, more-so a secondary ally. Realistically however, Mongolia was still under the economic influence of the Russian Empire as it was the superpower of the Eastern Hemisphere at the time. It underwent a rapid process of modernization and industrialization, as many Mongol elite started to model the transformation of the state after the Meiji era in Japan. In Traditional Chinese maps, Buryatia was known as Heilong Zhija (黑龍之家, lit. "Home of the Black Dragon"), an allusion to Chinese mythology where Lake Baikal was where the Black Dragon King ruled. This saw the construction of the Grand Temple and Monastery of the Black Dragon, which wasn't a Buddhist temple, or belonging to any well-known, but part of a mysterious group calling themselves the Society of the Black Dragon, today the Hei-Tao religion.
Marshal Dügersüren - Eradication of Nomadic Lifestyle[]
Under the leadership of Minister-General Tsagaanlamyn Dügersüren - who regarded the nomadic lifestyle of the Mongols of old as being outdated, dangerous, antiquated and subhuman. Dügersüren worked to economically integrate the rest of Mongolia with the rest of the Eastern Bloc, whilst keeping with Mongol tradition and continued Fujibayashi Akimatsu's anti-nomadic purges, where troops forced nomadic families to attend re-education centers. It was common for military police helicopters to circle the Gobi Desert and perform aerial patrols. In order to comprise, Dügersüren order a public holiday in Mongolia known as "Earth Feast", a nomadic festival and also allowed designated spaces across Mongolian cities for nomads to settle in. Families resettled into urban areas were not confiscated of their belongings either.
Buryatia and Karakorum become a tourist haven for Mongolia, where travelers from elsewhere in China, as well as Russia, would visit Buryatia, particularly Lake Baikal. One of General Kaishi's most famous projects was the restoration of the ancient city of Karakorum, as well as the building of Ulan Khar Luu, literally "City of the Black Dragon" along Lake Baikal. Russians considered it the "Saint Petersburg of Asia", and considering Karakorum as the "Moscow of Asia", as General Kaishi embarked on an urbanization campaign similar to Peter the Great and the development of Saint Petersburg. He had a hostile relation with Tibetan Buddhists, of who considered in a very antagonistic view, and regarded him as an incarnation of an evil demon in Tibetan Buddhist mythology and one of the servants of Mara. However, the 14th Dalai Lama retracted his views, and considered Marshal Kaishi an ally.
While Urga remained the political capital city, much attention was fixated on the south, or the "Inner" (OTE: Inner Mongolia), as well as Buryatia ("Far-Northern Mongolia") where nomadic lifestyle was discouraged, and all nomad "squatters" were required to attend sedentary education, funded for by the government, and in bilingual Mongolian and Chinese environment, or Buryat and Chinese in the case of Buryatia. The Inner Mongolians were much quicker to adopt to Modern Chinese lifestyle, and integrating large parts of Traditional Chinese folk lifestyle.
This started to form somewhat of a divide between the Khalkhas, and the Buryats and southern/inner, where many of the latter saw themselves as elite and civilized, a key divide that would contribute to Inner Mongolia remaining part of China in the 1990s. These rapid changes were felt especially in 1972, the Year of the Rat, or "New Beginnings" in the Chinese Zodiac. As a result, Marshal Kaishi was crowned the Prince of Karakorum, for helping revive the ancient city into its glory days as a capital of Asia. It again, developed into a haven of not only the various Mongols, but even Kalmyks, Siberians and Central Asians from Russia frequented, migrated and worked in Karakorum.
Under this rule, aspects of Mongolian culture became popularized in China, and Karakorum one of the most important cities of China. In addition, due to the rich natural resources Mongolia held, it became a huge attraction to bossiness ventures from Chinese mining companies. As per a deal with the local Mongolian Khurultai, the companies were to hire Mongols as workers. Such as the sport of shuāijiǎo, in which the name is a translation from Mongolian "bokh" or Mongolian wrestling.
Economy[]
Mining, tourism and the textile industry is perhaps Mongolia's most important local commodity. The main centers of economic activity are Karakorum, Ulan Ude, Ulan Khar Luu and Urga, however of all of them, Karakorum is considered the largest economic center and hub of Mongolia. Lake Baikal is extremely rich in sources, and the Principality of Khalkha is rich in gold, tin and iron. Thanks to the addition of Lake Baikal and the restoration of Karakorum, tourism is now one of the most important commodities of the Mongolian economy as well, attracted visitors from China, as well as Russia, as well as other Asian countries, most notably Japan. The city of Karakorum, considered the "true capital" of Mongolia, also attracts and has communities of Han Chinese, Inner Mongolians and Uyghurs, as well as Kalmyks, Tuvans, Siberians and Central Asians from Russia, many of whom hold dual citizenship with both countries. The local Karakorum Church, a Russian Orthodox church, was found and is currently staffed by Yakuts, who are native to Yakutia in Siberia.
In addition, many followers of the Hei-Tao religion, Tengrism (and its Chinese variant, the Tiandi-Chao religion) make pilgrimages to the Grand Temple and Monastery of the Black Dragon in the city of Ulan Khar Luu (literally "city of the Black Dragon").
Textile industry[]
However, there are some domestically-produced products in Mongolia, mostly animal products. Such as that of "Mongolian cashmere", which is used from goat hair, which is considered one of the most prized and expensive products in East Asia. This product is produced in both Mongolia and northern China. Thanks to the large-scale reliance on animal husbandry and livestock grazing in Mongolia, textiles have become one of Mongolia's economic commodities, producing some of the most prized textile products in Asia.
Leather is also one of the most prized commodities in Mongolia, or "Mongolian leather". This is also not only sold in high-end retailers around Mongolia, but also in China, as well as Tuva and Kalmykia in Russia. It also made and sold in many black markets and open-air markets in the region. It is very common for Mongolian leather vendors to do business in China, and the term "Mongolian leather" has become symbol of wealthy status in China. Mongolia is currently East Asia's second-largest exporter of leather products, which the latter is mostly produced in It often a common saying, "You get silk from China, wool, cashmere and leather from Mongolia".
Transportation[]
Mongolia's wealth is also owed to its extensive transportation and rail system to and from the surrounding countries of China, Russia and Chagatai. The three major transit routes in Mongolia are the Buryatia Line, the Gobi Line and the Triangle Transit.
Language[]
Currently, Standard Mongolian is the national language, and is based off of the Khalkha dialect. However, Standard Mongolian and Khalkha are considered two different languages and enjoy separate status. Buryat is spoken in the north in Buryatia. Other dialects are Oirat. All three are currently written in the Mongolian alphabet, which is based off of Old Uyghur Script. Due to centuries of Imperial Russian rule, the Buryat language was formerly written in Cyrillic, until the 1970s through 1980s when the Mongolian government mandated that all Mongolic languages spoken in the country are written in the Traditional Classical Mongolian script. Other native languages spoken in Mongolia include Kazakh, Chuvash and Kalmyk, mostly foreigners and their descendants from Russia. Kalmyk however, is still written in the Cyrillic alphabet.
Chinese and Russian are both designated as working languages, used in economy and industry, but are still not official on a national level.
For Chinese, this is due to the overwhelming cultural Chinese influence during the course of Mongolian history, as well as the Cold War, as well as the centuries-long ties between Mongols and Chinese, as well as the large presence of Mongols in Inner Mongolia, where inter-border relations between Mongols in Inner Mongolia were firmly established and solidified. After the Bogd Khanate became independent, although Mongolian was the national and official language, Chinese still remained widely-understood and used. In the city of Karakoroum and many southern Mongolian cities such as Zamyn-Üüd, where is is twinned with the neighboring Chinese city of Erenhot, home to a majority Mongolic-Chinese population. Chinese is taught alongside Mongolian at a very young age in many public schools in southern Mongolia.
Russian remains a working language alongside Chinese due to the large number of Russian-speakers in Buryatia and Tuva, regions with centuries-long Russian rule, their people who have continued their fluency in Russian, additionally, there is also large-scale economic relations with Mongolic-speaking peoples from Russia, such as Kalmykia, where many Kalmyks have migrated permanently and have raised entire families in Mongolia. Like the Chinese language situation in southern Mongolia, Russian is a common business language in Buryatia, where it can commonly be heard in the streets as much as Buryat, or Chuvash and Mongolian. Children learn Russian at a young age in public schools in Buryatia and Tuva.
Territorial administrations[]
Mongolia is divided into the three principalities, the Khalkha Principality (where the capital city Urga is located, OTE: Republic of Mongolia) and the Principality of Buryatia, namesake of the native Buryats as well as the Southern or Inner Principality (Inner Mongolia).
Random facts[]
- Mongolia has one of the least strictest gun laws in Asia, a gun license is a lifetime license (unless proven that the holder in incapable), and no reason is required to be given. Gun owners in Mongolia can also obtain a Public Carry Permit. Sport-shooting and hunting are very popular sports in Mongolia, as guns have also supplemented bows in the "Mongol hunting sport", although AK-47s and AR-15s are still illegal.