Mongolia is often reduced to a handful of superlatives. These ten facts are more useful: each is specific, historically grounded and connected to a place, tradition or living conservation story. A broad view of the landscape and pastoral culture that shape Mongolia. 1. Mongolia is one of the world’s least densely populated countries With a […]

Ulaanbaatar did not begin as a fixed modern capital. Its predecessor was a mobile religious and political centre whose location changed with pasture, patronage, security and trade. Understanding those moves explains why the city’s history is larger than one founding date. Editorial illustration: a mobile monastic camp on the steppe. Örgöö: a mobile seat The […]

These ten turning points are often remembered with pride because they shaped sovereignty, public life, international recognition, sport and science. “Grateful for” is a cultural framing rather than a claim that every consequence was simple or universally celebrated. Editorial illustration linking several eras; it is not a documentary scene. 1. The National Liberation Revolution The […]

Ten evidence-based facts about Genghis Khan, from the uncertainty around his birth to the empire’s organization, religious policy and global legacy.

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 […]

Before 1206, the Mongolian Plateau was a shifting political world of clans, tribes and confederations—not a single united nation.

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 […]

The Mongol Empire did not appear from nowhere. Leadership, disciplined organization, steppe mobility, intelligence networks and favorable environmental conditions combined to transform divided tribes into a Eurasian power.

The Soviet Union declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945, and at 12:10 midnight on August 9, the First and Second War Eastern Fleet of the Red Army, the South Baikal Front, the Pacific Fleet, and the Amur Fleet invaded northern Manchuria and Korea. The Soviet army numbered 1,685,000 with 5,250 tanks and 5,200 […]

Dayan Khan’s youngest son Gersenzed assumed command of the central heartland of Mongolia, which to is called Khalkha. After his death, his widow divided Mongolia among her seven sons, which brought about the so-called doloon Khalkha hoshuu (referred to in historical literature as “seven khalkha bunners”). A hoshuu is a territorial division, sometimes translated “banners”; […]

It was to this time that the distinction between Halh and Oirat Mongols can be traced. Mongols were now split into two parts, the Halh, and the Oirat. Western Mongolia received the name of Dorvon Tumen Oirat or, Dorvon Oirat. The origin of the word oirat is still unclear. While some claim that is derived […]