Mongolic peoples

The Mongolic peoples are a collection of East Asian originated ethnic groups in East, North, South Asia and Eastern Europe, who speak Mongolic languages. Their ancestors are referred to as Proto-Mongols. The largest contemporary Mongolic ethnic group is the Mongols.^[1] Mongolic-speaking people, although distributed in a wide geographical area, show a high genetic affinity to each other,^[2] and display continuity with ancient Northeast Asians.^[3]

A Buryat man in traditional clothing, Russia

Not to be confused with Mongols.

Geographic distribution of the Mongolic languages

A map of the places that Mongolic peoples live. The orange line shows the extent of the Mongol Empire in the late 13th century. The red areas are the places dominated by the Mongolic groups.

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List of ethnic groups

Contemporary ethnic groups

TABLE OF THE CONTEMPORARY MONGOLIC PEOPLES
Ethnonym	Population	Primarily regions	Religion
Mongols^[note 1]	11,000,000	Mongolia,   Inner Mongolia,   other Mongolian autonomous divisions of China,   Buryatia (Russia),   Kalmykia (Russia),   Agin-Buryat Okrug (Russia),   Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug (Russia)	Tibetan Buddhism, Tengrism (Mongolian shamanism)
Mughals	3,000,000	North India,   Pakistan	Sunni Islam
Dongxiangs	621,000	Dongxiang Autonomous County, Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar Autonomous County	Sunni Islam
Monguor	290,000	Qinghai, Gansu	Tibetan Buddhism, Tengrism (shamanism)
Daurs	132,000	Morin Dawa Daur Autonomous Banner, Meilisi Daur District	Tibetan Buddhism, Tengrism (shamanism)
Khatso	>60,000?	Tonghai County	Tibetan Buddhism
Sogwo Arig	40,000?	Qinghai	Tibetan Buddhism, Bon
Sichuan Mongols	29,000	Muli Tibetan Autonomous County, Yanyuan County	Tibetan Buddhism
Bonan	20,000	Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar Autonomous County	Sunni Islam, Tibetan Buddhism
Hamnigans	>10,000?	Zabaykalsky Krai,   Northeastern Mongolia,   Hulunbuir	Tibetan Buddhism, shamanism
Yugurs	6,000	Sunan Yugur Autonomous County	Tibetan Buddhism, Tengrism
Moghols	2,000	Herat Province	Sunni Islam
Kangjia	2,000	Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture	Sunni Islam

In addition, Mongolized Soyots live in Buryatia. Their population is 3600 people. A number of orientalists (Nanzatov, Baldaev and others) traditionally consider modern Soyots as a sub-ethnos within the Buryat people.^[4][5]

Ethnic groups of Mongolian origin

A large Mongolian component took part in the ethnic formation of the Hazaras.^[6] Even in the 16th century, according to Babur, the Mongolian language was widespread among the Hazaras, and a small part of them, apparently, spoke a language close to Mongolian as early as the 19th century.^[7] The high frequency of haplogroup C2-M217 is consistent with the purported Mongolian origin of many of the Hazaras.^[8] Modern Hazaras speak the Hazaragi, one of the dialects of the Dari/Persian language.

The Mughals, descendants of the Barlas and other Mongol tribes, currently speak Urdu.^[9]

Historical ethnic groups

Main article: Proto-Mongols

• Donghu
• Xianbei — founders, in the 1st century CE, of the first Mongolic empire, namely Xianbei state
• Wuhuan
• Rouran
  • Yujiulü
• Duan
• Yuwen
• Kumo Xi
• Murong
• Tuyuhun
• Tuoba
• Qifu
• Tufa
• Shiwei
• Didouyu
• Khitan
  • Yelü
• Zubu

General characteristics

Languages

Main article: Mongolic languages

Languages of the Mongolic peoples belong to the Mongolic language family.^[10] The Mongolic languages are a language family spoken in Eastern Europe (Kalmykia), Central Asia, North Asia and East Asia. The best-known member of this language family, Mongolian, is the primary language of most of the residents of Mongolia and the Mongol residents of Inner Mongolia and Buryatia, with an estimated 5.7+ million speakers.^[11]

The Mongolic ethnicities possibly related to the Turkic and Tungusic peoples,^[12] whom languages together would include into the hypothetical Altaic language family.^[13]

Religions

The Mongolic peoples are predominantly followers of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1576 the Gelug Tibetan school which was founded by the half-Mongol Je Tsongkhapa became the state religion of the Mongolia. Some groups such as Dongxiangs and Bonan people adopted Sunni Islam, as did Moghols in Afghanistan and Mughals in India. Among a part of the population, the ethnic religion, namely Tengrism (Mongolian shamanism) is preserved. A small number of Christians emerged under the influence of the Russian Church and Western missionaries.^[14]

Mongolian shamanism, more broadly called the Mongolian folk religion, or occasionally Tengerism, as refers to the animistic and shamanic indigenous religion that has been practiced in Mongolia and its surrounding areas (including Buryatia and Inner Mongolia), as well as among Daur and other peoples, at least since the age of recorded history. In the earliest known stages it was intricately tied to all other aspects of social life and to the tribal organization of Mongolian society. Along the way, it has become influenced by and mingled with Buddhism.^[15] Tengrism was transformed into a monotheistic religion only at the imperial level within aristocratic circles.^[16]

Culture

Further information: Culture of Mongolia

The Culture of Mongolia has been heavily influenced by the Mongol nomadic way of life and shows similarities to other East Asian and Central Asian cultures. The various Mongolic ethnic groups share a highly similar culture and traditions, but have specific differences in clothing styles and cuisine. Although Mongolian traditional clothing (deel) has changed little since the days of the empire, there have been some changes in styles which distinguish modern Mongolian dress from historic costume. Each tribe or clan has its own deel design distinguished by cut, color, and trimming. Mongolian cuisine is primarily based on meat and dairy, with some regional variations. The most important public festivals are the Naadam. A Naadam involves horse racing, wrestling, and archery competitions. For families, the most important festival is Tsagaan Sar (Lunar New Year), which is roughly equivalent to the Chinese New Year and usually falls into January or February. Mongolia has a very old musical tradition. Key traditional elements are throat-singing, the Morin Khuur (horse head fiddle) and other string instruments, and several types of songs. Mongolian melodies are typically characterized by pentatonic harmonies and long end notes.

Genetics

Mongols and other Mongolic-speaking groups, show high genetic affinity to each other, as well as to other East Asian populations. The analysis of 175 Mongolic samples, representing 6 ethnic groups, incorporating results of the 1000 Genomes Project panel, revealed genetic homogeneity between different Mongolic groups, and strong affinity between North, East, and Southeast Asian populations. Furthermore, derived allele sharing between Finns and Mongolians/Siberians, suggest substantial gene flow from East Asian-related groups westwards into a population ancestral to modern Finns.^[2]

A 2014 paper investigated Mongolian geneflow into populations of Europe and South Asia, which can be mostly traced back to the time of the Mongol empire. The study analyzed the genome of a Mongolian individual from Inner Mongolia, and compared the sample to worldwide populations. The Mongolian individual showed expected high affinity to other East Asian and Native American populations. The highest affinity of the Mongolian sample was to Oroqen in Russia. A relative large amount of ancestral alleles shared with Native Americans (Maya) most likely have resulted from the Mongolians’ ancestors contribution to the peopling of the Americas. Europeans had a low, but relatively higher allele sharing with Mongolians and other East Asians, than Middle Easterners, suggesting greater impact of Mongolian geneflow towards Europeans during the Mongol Empire. Indians also show evidence of minor geneflow from Mongolians, associated with the Mughal dynasty.^[17]

A 2020 study based on ancient DNA found that West Eurasian autosomal ancestry declined significantly in Mongolia during the Mongol empire period. The authors detected a male-mediated rise in East Asian ancestry in the late medieval Mongolian period, noting also the increase in haplogroup C2b, the presumed lineage of Genghis Khan.^[18]

A 2020 study based on ancient DNA found that West Eurasian autosomal ancestry declined significantly during the Mongol empire period. The authors detected a male-mediated rise in East Asian ancestry in the late medieval Mongolian period, noting also the increase in haplogroup C2b, the presumed lineage of Genghis Khan.^[19]

A 2021 paper analyzed 42 individuals from different Mongolic sub-populations and found that all Mongolic groups have dominant East-Eurasian (East Asian-related) ancestry, specifically a Northeast Asian hunter-gatherer component (ANA, represented by DevilsCave_N or Mongolia/Baikal_N_North), and a Yellow River millet farmers component (YR_LN). A proportion of West-Eurasian-related ancestry, related to Western Steppe Herders (WSH), was found in the gene pool of modern Mongolians ranging from 5.6% to 11.6%. The admixture event was estimated to have taken place in the period ranging from Tang dynasty to Yuan dynasty.^{[note 2]}

Another 2021 paper analyzed 611 Mongolian individuals. The geographically different Mongolian populations were found to share a common genetic heritage, and also showed high affinity to acient and medieval Mongolians, suggesting genetic continuity with the Slab Grave Culture.^[3] Mongolian samples from different geographical regions have slightly different ancestry make-up: Mongolians generally have mostly dominant East Asian-related ancestry, with a strong genetic affinity to the "Ancient Northeast Asians lineage" (ANA).^[3]

A 2022 paper based on mtDNA noted that ancient Mongolians had a mixed West and East Eurasian origin, while modern Mongolians are characterized by substantially less West Eurasian ancestry. The authors suggested that most West Eurasian mtDNA haplogroups in modern Mongolians are believed to have arrived around 2,500-5,000 years ago, or the Mongolian bronze age. A smaller number arrived in the early iron age.^[21] During the medieval period, a continuous increase in East Asian mitochondrial lineages was detected, which these authors attribute to Genghis Khan's Pax Mongolica.^[22]

Notes

1. Such subgroups of the Mongols as the Buryats and the Kalmyks are recognized in Russia as distinct ethnolinguistic groups (see 2010 Census and other).
2. "The gene flow from Western Eurasian was preliminarily detected in Mongol population of TreeMix-based phylogenetic tree; the ancestral source was finally identified in qpAdm, ranging from 5.6 to 11.6% in those Mongolian subgroups; ALDER and GLOBETROTTER supported that the west-east admixture event was recently estimated in the period ranging from Tang Dynasty to Yuan Dynasty."^[20]

References

Citations

1. Ochir 2008; Zhukovskaia 2007, p. 354; Nimaev 2011.
2. Bai; et al. 2018.
3. Wang; et al. 2021.
4. Nanzatov, B. Z. (2003). "Племенной состав бурят в XIX веке" [Buryat tribe composition in the 19th century]. Народы и культуры Сибири. Взаимодействие как фактор формирования и модернизации (in Russian). Irkutsk. pp. 15–27.
5. Балдаев С. П. (1970). Родословные легенды и предания бурят. Ч. 1 (in Russian). Улан-Удэ. p. 166.
6. Bacon, Elizabeth Emaline (1951). The Hazara Mongols of Afghanistan: A Study in Social Organization. Berkeley: University of California.
7. Массон В. М., Ромодин В. А. (1964). История Афганистана. Том I. С древнейших времен до начала XVI века. Москва: Наука. pp. 289–290. In Russian: "Еще в XVI в., по сообщению Бабура, среди хазарейцев был распространен монгольский язык, а небольшая часть их, по-видимому, и в XIX в. говорила на языке, близком к монгольскому."
8. Жабагин М. К. (2017). Анализ связи полиморфизма Y-хромосомы и родоплеменной структуры в казахской популяции Москва. p. 71. In Russian: "...за счет высокой частоты гаплогруппы С2-М217, что согласуется с монгольским происхождением хазарейцев."
9. Сабитов Ж. М., Баймуханов Н. Б. (2015). "Y-STR гаплотипы узбеков, уйгуров, таджиков, пуштунов, хазарейцев, моголов из базы данных Family Tree DNA". The Russian Journal of Genetic Genealogy (in Russian) (2): 22–23.
10. Janhunen 2003.
11. Svantesson et al. 2005.
12. Pettazzoni 1956.
13. Starostin, George (2016-04-05). "Altaic Languages". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.35. ISBN 978-0-19-938465-5.
14. Heissig 1980.
15. Pettazzoni 1956; Humphrey & Onon 1996; Shimamura 2004, pp. 649–51; Schlehe 2004, pp. 283–96; Balogh 2010, pp. 229–38; Bumochir 2014, pp. 473–91; Quijada, Graber & Stephen 2015, pp. 258–72.
16. Bira 2011, p. 14.
17. Bai; et al. 2014.
18. Jeong, Choongwon; Wang, Ke; Wilkin, Shevan; Taylor, William Timothy Treal; Miller, Bryan K.; Bemmann, Jan H.; Stahl, Raphaela; Chiovelli, Chelsea; Knolle, Florian; Ulziibayar, Sodnom; Khatanbaatar, Dorjpurev; Erdenebaatar, Diimaajav; Erdenebat, Ulambayar; Ochir, Ayudai; Ankhsanaa, Ganbold; Vanchigdash, Chuluunkhuu; Ochir, Battuga; Munkhbayar, Chuluunbat; Tumen, Dashzeveg; Kovalev, Alexey; Kradin, Nikolay; Bazarov, Bilikto A.; Miyagashev, Denis A.; Konovalov, Prokopiy B.; Zhambaltarova, Elena; Miller, Alicia Ventresca; Haak, Wolfgang; Schiffels, Stephan; Krause, Johannes; Boivin, Nicole; Erdene, Myagmar; Hendy, Jessica; Warinner, Christina (12 November 2020). "A Dynamic 6,000-Year Genetic History of Eurasia's Eastern Steppe". Cell. 183 (4): 890–904.e29. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.015. ISSN 0092-8674. PMC 7664836. PMID 33157037.See Figure S2. "We also observed that this East Asian-related ancestry was brought into the Late Medieval populations more by male than female ancestors. ... Overall, Mongol period individuals characterized by a remarkable decrease in Western Eurasian ancestry compared to the preceding 1,600 years. They are best modeled as a mixture of ANA-like and East Asian-like ancestry sources, with only minor Western genetic ancestry. In addition, nearly a third of historic Mongol males (12/38) have Y haplogroup C2b, which is also widespread among modern Mongolians (Figure S3; Table S6); C2b is the presumed patrilineage of Genghis Khan (Zerjal et al., 2003)."
19. Jeong, Choongwon; Wang, Ke; Wilkin, Shevan; Taylor, William Timothy Treal; Miller, Bryan K.; Bemmann, Jan H.; Stahl, Raphaela; Chiovelli, Chelsea; Knolle, Florian; Ulziibayar, Sodnom; Khatanbaatar, Dorjpurev; Erdenebaatar, Diimaajav; Erdenebat, Ulambayar; Ochir, Ayudai; Ankhsanaa, Ganbold; Vanchigdash, Chuluunkhuu; Ochir, Battuga; Munkhbayar, Chuluunbat; Tumen, Dashzeveg; Kovalev, Alexey; Kradin, Nikolay; Bazarov, Bilikto A.; Miyagashev, Denis A.; Konovalov, Prokopiy B.; Zhambaltarova, Elena; Miller, Alicia Ventresca; Haak, Wolfgang; Schiffels, Stephan; Krause, Johannes; Boivin, Nicole; Erdene, Myagmar; Hendy, Jessica; Warinner, Christina (12 November 2020). "A Dynamic 6,000-Year Genetic History of Eurasia's Eastern Steppe". Cell. 183 (4): 890–904.e29. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.015. ISSN 0092-8674. PMC 7664836. PMID 33157037.See Figure S2. "We also observed that this East Asian-related ancestry was brought into the Late Medieval populations more by male than female ancestors. ... Overall, Mongol period individuals characterized by a remarkable decrease in Western Eurasian ancestry compared to the preceding 1,600 years. They are best modeled as a mixture of ANA-like and East Asian-like ancestry sources, with only minor Western genetic ancestry. In addition, nearly a third of historic Mongol males (12/38) have Y haplogroup C2b, which is also widespread among modern Mongolians (Figure S3; Table S6); C2b is the presumed patrilineage of Genghis Khan (Zerjal et al., 2003)."
20. Yang; et al. 2021.
21. Cardinali; et al. 2022"Finally, a very few haplogroups originated in more recent times (<3 kya) and could be linked to historical events." [...] "A post-glacial expansion in eastern Asia was already proved for another mtDNA post-glacial marker, haplogroup U5b (Achilli et al., 2005). A later expansion can be probably connected to the climatic amelioration of the early Holocene that was accompanied by the development of farming and pastoralism and more sedentary communities. A mixed ancestry between Yamnaya and European farmers was recently identified by analyzing ancient Bronze Age Mongolians (Jeong et al., 2020; Wang C. C. et al., 2021). [...] The lack of Mongolia-specific sub-branches might also suggest that the WEu lineages arrived in the Eastern Steppe in more recent times. Certainly, the ages of some WEu lineages between 5 and 3 kya could be linked to Bronze Age migrations across the Eurasian steppes that probably involved also the Afanasievo first (ca. 3300–2500 BCE) and later the Sintashta culture (ca. 2100–1800 BCE). Finally, by searching the available database of ancient mitogenomes for WEu lineages identified in our modern Mongolians, we identified 13 different sub-lineages among remains excavated in Mongolia and dated after the Bronze Age. They might testify for small population movements from the west less than 3,000 ya that can be probably related to commercial routes. Actually, the migration path from western Eurasia to Mongolia marked by some of these mitochondrial sub-lineages (H5a1, J1b2, T2g, U2e1b, U4b1a1a1, and U4b1a4) occurred about 2,500 ya, thus temporally and geographically overlapping with the Silk Route, while other sub-haplogroups, such as J1b1b1 and U2e1a1, seem to have arrived in Mongolia later."
22. Cardinali; et al. 2022"Finally, rather than finding long-distance traces of the Mongol Empire expansion to the west, we identified continuous and recent (female-mediated) connections with neighboring Eastern Asian populations. The geographically restricted sharing of haplotypes from typical EAs mtDNA lineages might represent an outcome of Genghis Khan’s so-called Pax Mongolica still detectable in present-day Mongolians."

Sources

General

• Nimaev, Daba (2011). Монгольские народы: Этническая история и современные этнокультурные процессы [The Mongolic Peoples: Ethnic History and Contemporary Ethnocultural Processes] (in Russian). Lambert Academic Publishing. ISBN 978-3843324403.
• Ochir, Taĭzhiud Ai︠u︡udaĭn (2008). Sh. Choĭmaa (ed.). Монголчуудын гарал, нэршил [On the origin of Mongolian family: clan names and ethnonyms] (in Mongolian). Ulaanbaatar: International Institute for the Study of Nomadic Civilizations. ISBN 9789992959978. OCLC 505674246.
• Zhukovskaia, Natalia L. (2007) [1998]. "Монгольские народы" [Mongolic peoples]. In L.M. Mints (ed.). Народы мира: Энциклопедия [Peoples of the World: an Encyclopedia] (in Russian). Moscow: OLMA Media Group. pp. 354–356. ISBN 978-5-373-01057-3.

Genetic researches

• Bai, Haihua; Guo, Xiaosen; Zhang, Dong; Narisu, Narisu; Bu, Junjie; Jirimutu, Jirimutu; Liang, Fan; Zhao, Xiang; Xing, Yanping; Wang, Dingzhu; Li, Tongda (2014-12-01). "The Genome of a Mongolian Individual Reveals the Genetic Imprints of Mongolians on Modern Human Populations". Genome Biology and Evolution. 6 (12): 3122–3136. doi:10.1093/gbe/evu242. ISSN 1759-6653. PMC 4540083. PMID 25377941.
• Bai, Haihua; Guo, Xiaosen; Narisu, Narisu; Lan, Tianming; Wu, Qizhu; Xing, Yanping; Zhang, Yong; Bond, Stephen R.; Pei, Zhili; Zhang, Yanru; Zhang, Dandan (December 2018). "Whole-genome sequencing of 175 Mongolians uncovers population-specific genetic architecture and gene flow throughout North and East Asia". Nature Genetics. 50 (12): 1696–1704. doi:10.1038/s41588-018-0250-5. ISSN 1546-1718. PMID 30397334. S2CID 53222895.
• Cardinali, Irene; Bodner, Martin; Capodiferro, Marco Rosario; Amory, Christina; Rambaldi Migliore, Nicola; Gomez, Edgar J.; Myagmar, Erdene; Dashzeveg, Tumen; Carano, Francesco; Woodward, Scott R.; Parson, Walther (2022). "Mitochondrial DNA Footprints from Western Eurasia in Modern Mongolia". Frontiers in Genetics. 12: 819337. doi:10.3389/fgene.2021.819337. ISSN 1664-8021. PMC 8773455. PMID 35069708.
• Wang, Mengge; He, Guanglin; Gao, Shuang; Jia, Fuquan; Zou, Xing; Liu, Jing; Wang, Shouyu; Ye, Ziwei; Hou, Yiping; Wang, Zheng (2021-07-01). "Molecular genetic survey and forensic characterization of Chinese Mongolians via the 47 autosomal insertion/deletion marker". Genomics. 113 (4): 2199–2210. doi:10.1016/j.ygeno.2021.05.010. ISSN 0888-7543. PMID 34022340. S2CID 235126419.
• Yang, Xiaomin; Sarengaowa; He, Guanglin; Guo, Jianxin; Zhu, Kongyang; Ma, Hao; Zhao, Jing; Yang, Meiqing; Chen, Jing; Zhang, Xianpeng; Tao, Le (2021). "Genomic Insights Into the Genetic Structure and Natural Selection of Mongolians". Frontiers in Genetics. 12: 735–786. doi:10.3389/fgene.2021.735786. ISSN 1664-8021. PMC 8693022. PMID 34956310.

Linguistics

• Janhunen, Juha, ed. (2003). The Mongolic languages. Routledge Language Family Series. London; New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-7007-1133-8.
• Svantesson, Jan-Olof; Tsendina, Anna; Karlsson, Anastasia; Franzén, Vivan (2005). The Phonology of Mongolian. New York: Oxford University Press.

Religious studies

• Balogh, Matyas (2010). "Contemporary shamanisms in Mongolia". Asian Ethnicity. 11 (2): 229–38. doi:10.1080/14631361003779489. S2CID 145595446.
• Bira, Shagdaryn (2011). Монголын тэнгэрийн үзэл: түүвэр зохиол, баримт бичгүүд [Mongolian Tengerism: selected papers and documents] (in Mongolian). Ulaanbaatar: Sodpress. ISBN 9789992955932.
• Bumochir, D. (2014). "Institutionalization of Mongolian shamanism: from primitivism to civilization". Asian Ethnicity. 15 (4): 473–91. doi:10.1080/14631369.2014.939331. S2CID 145329835.
• Heissig, Walther (1980) [1970]. The religions of Mongolia. Translated by G. Samuel. London; Henley: Routledge; Kegan Paul. ISBN 0-7103-0685-7.
• Humphrey, Caroline; Onon, Urgunge (1996). Shamans and Elders: Experience, Knowledge, and Power among the Daur Mongols. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Pettazzoni, Raffaele (1956) [1955]. "Turco-Mongols and Related Peoples". The All-Knowing God. Researches into Early Religion and Culture. Translated by H. J. Rose. London.
• Quijada, Jastine B.; Graber, Kathryn E.; Stephen, Eric (2015). "Finding "Their Own": Revitalizing Buryat Culture Through Shamanic Practices in Ulan-Ude". Problems of Post-Communism. 62 (5): 258–72. doi:10.1080/10758216.2015.1057040. S2CID 143106014.
• Schlehe, Judith (2004). "Shamanism in Mongolia and in New Age Movements". In Rasuly-Paleczek, Gabriele (ed.). Central Asia on Display: Proceedings of the VIIth Conference of the European Society for Central Asian Studies. Vol. 1. Vienna: LIT Verlag. pp. 283–96. ISBN 3-8258-8309-4.
• Shimamura, Ippei (2004). "Yellow Shamans (Mongolia)". In Walter, Mariko Namba; Neumann Fridman; Eva Jane (eds.). Shamanism: An Encyclopedia of World Beliefs, Practices, and Culture. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, Ca: ABC-Clio. pp. 649–51. ISBN 9781576076453.