Spells and Incantation Spells and incantations are the forms of ancient folklore. They endeavour to achieve their ends through the supernatural powers of words, sounds, and gestures. Mongolian spells and incantations can be divided into ordinary and special forms. Ordinary spells and incantations are those that can be enchanted by anyone; special spells and incantations, […]
Due to its poor relations with the Mongols, Russia then began seeking direct contacts with Qing China and the Dzungar Khanate. On August 27, 1689, Romanov’s Tsarist Russia and the Qing Dynasty signed a treaty at Ford Nerchinsk on the Nevchuu river. It was the first document of its kind in the history of Russo-Chinese […]
The Mongols had a new neighbor in the north. In 1558 Tsar Ivan IV [Ivan the Terrible] gave land west of the Ural region, including the Kama River basin, to a merchant by the name of Grigorii Stroganov. Setting his lands with very kind of trader and peasant, Stroganov gradually expended both his territory and […]
By this time the Halh, though not the Oirad, were effectively controlled by the Qing, as is evident from the case of a Mongol noble named Tengis Van. The Sonid, earlier the subjects of Setsen Khan, became Qing vassals in 1639. The Setsen Khan Sholoi tried to regain control of his former subjects, finally inciting […]
In the early thirteen century the native land of the Mongols- a vast territory stretching from Lake Baikal past the great Gobi and from the Khinggan mountains to the Altai Mountains- had no integrated system of administration, and was inhabited by independent tribes who were constantly at war. These tribes, mostly of Mongol, […]
During the 17th century the central Asian nomads were ruled by the Dzungar Khanate of the Oirad Mongols. Baatar Huntaij (or Prince Baatar) was a leader who devoted his life to unifying the Oirad. On his death his fifth son Senge, with the help of his mother, seized the Oirad throne and occupied it from […]
The Mongols, this spirited people who for generations had led lives of wars, victories, and defeats, began to degenerate. Where once they had gone big game hunting to maintain their combat skills even in peaceful times, they now indulged in idleness and entertainment. They shot at motionless targets from motionless positions, and the tips of […]
Perhaps no one could have imagined that one day Mongolians would drum upon the world with the beating of horses’ hooves and build one of the largest empires known to history. How the Mongols in the 12th century, mocked by the neighboring nomadic tribes for their weakness and limited manpower, suddenly rose to power and […]
Gaining control of the southern part of Mongolia had not been much trouble for the Manchu. But it would take them more than fifty years to do the same with the Halh, and more than a hundred years to subjugate the Oirad. The Manchu army alone could not conquer Mongolia. Therefore, the Qing, in addition […]