Wikijunior:Ancient Civilizations/Mongolians
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
The Mongols are an ethnic group that originated in what is now Mongolia, Russia, and China. Mongols descended from the Huns, which was also the origin of the Turks. Mongolian originated ethnic groups are Hazaras in Afghanistan and minorities in Europe.
According to Chinese historical records, Mongols descended from the single lineage of Xianbei, who was defeated by Xiongnu. However, Mongols are a different ethnic group from the Chinese.
They lived on the continent of Asia but they didn’t live in one spot. They were nomadic people that traded with the Chinese and Persians. They would set up tents when they stopped in an area. The tents were made out of felt, cone shaped, and called steppes.
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[edit] What Countries Did They Live In?
Many including Mongolia, China, Japan, Iran and Russia.
By 1279 the Mongol Empire had expanded to its farthest point going from Moscow, Russia to the South China Sea.
By 1294 the Mongol Empire had broken into four separate khanates or regions. To the north west was the Golden Horde, to the south west was the ll-khanate,in the center was Chagatai Khanate, to the east was the Yuan Dynasty or Great Khanate.
[edit] What did their buildings look like?
Mongolians lived in dwellings called yurts which are round and had a collapsible wooden frame covered in felt, somewhat like tepees used by North American Indians.
[edit] What did they eat?
During the Mongolian Empire there were two different groups of food, “white foods” and “red foods”. “White foods” were usually dairy products and were the main food source during the summer. The main dairy product that Mongols lived on during the summer was “Koumiss” or fermented mare’s milk which is still widely drunk today. The Mongolians rarely drank milk fresh but often used it to create other foods, including cheese and yoghurt. “Red foods” were usually meat and were the main food source during the winter. Any time meat was served in the Empire it was usually boiled and served with wild garlic or onions.
[edit] What did they wear?
The boys and girls wore the same clothes, a del. This is like a dress that they wrap around themselves. Boys' dels are shorter than girls'. They sewed fur in their clothes to keep them warm.
They wore leather boots. They also wore hats and head-dresses all year round. Some were made of sable and others were made of silver fox for cold weather and in the summertime the hats were made of colorful fabrics. They made hats for special occasions too. They love hats. [1]
[edit] What did their writing look like?
[edit] What did they believe?
The Mongols believed and supported many religions, often they followed more than one religion at a time.
The major religions they followed were Christianity, Islam and Buddhisim. In smaller numbers Mongols also followed Taoism, Shamanisim, Tengriism and Manichaeism.
[edit] Are some of them famous even today?
Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan, the first and last rulers of the Mongol Empire are known worldwide. Genghis Khan united the arguing Mongol tribes under one banner and set about conquering new lands for their people. The Mongols had lived on the Steppes, the barren infertile mountains of Mongolia and northern China for many years. They grazed animals for food and generally lived a nomadic life.
Khan rallied the troops into a formidable army, made up of mostly highly skilled horse archers who devastated the kingdoms of the Chinese and Persians. Khan was known for his cruelty, when in one Persian city, he killed every man, woman and child and had their skulls piled up into a great pyramid to warn others not to resist him. Khan's campaign stretched across the vast wastes of Asia, into China, and deep into the Persian empire, ending up (when succeeded by his son) at what is now modern Hungary. Thankfully for the Europeans, they were spared the Mongol invasion when the army disintegrated and the unified army began fighting amongst itself.
[edit] What is left of them today?
The Mongolians currently number about 8.5 million and speak the Mongol language. There are approximately 2.7 million Mongols in Mongolia, 5 million Mongols living in Inner Mongolia which is in China, and 1 million Mongols live in Russia. Ethnic subgroups of Mongols are: Khalkhas, Daurs, Buryats, Evenks, Dorbots, Kalmyks, Oirats, Kazakhs, Chakhars, Tumeds, Ordoses, Bayad, Dariganga, Urianhai, Uzemchin and Zakhchin.
[edit] When did their civilization exist?
The Mongol Empire lasted from 1206 when Gengis Khan was named khagan or ruler to 1368 when the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty was overthrown by the Chinese-led Ming dynasty
