The History of Mongolia

Mongolian history spans 500,000 years. From nomads herding the Central Asian steppe to the formation of the powerful Mongol empire and the gradual emergence of the Mongolian Republic, its history is immersed in conflict.

Ancient Mongolian States

The first Mongolian state was established in 209 B.C. by the Hunnu people. The name Hunnu comes from two ancient Mongolian words. Hun means man and Nu translates as sun. The Hunnu’s first king was Modun Shan Yui, whose father Tumen was chieftain of the Hunnu’s most influential tribe.
The Hunnu’s territory stretched from Korea in the Far East to Tian Shan Mountain in northern China, and from the southern section of the Great wall to Lake Baikal in southern Siberia. From 200 B.C. until its collapse in 98 A.D., the Hun state was the most powerful nomadic nation residing in the Central Asian steppes and mountains. However, after three hundred years of domination, the Hunnu state imploded, ruined by internal conflicts between powerful chieftains.

After the Hunnu state collapsed, several other ambitious clans established their own states and dominated Mongolian territory up until 1200 A.D. The first dominant state after the Hunnu’s collapse was the Sumbe State, which lasted until the 3rd century B.C. The Toba finally took over the Sumbe state in 250 A.D. and established its own state with a number of tribal allies. In turn the Tobas were defeated by the Nirun, who were forced to hand the state over to Turkic tribes who established the Tureg Kingdom in Mongolia 552 A.D. Thousands of Turkic people had arrived from the far west via the Altai mountains during the 4th century A.D. They extended the ancient feudal system, but were also defeated by their own internal conflicts 745 A.D.

Uigur tribe that became the most powerful tribe in Central Asia after the Turkic tribes was unable to dominate the whole of Mongolia. It was the Kidans, who had peacefully coexisted with several previous ruling tribes, who took over Mongolia in 907 A.D. Their dominance lasted until the 12th century when a number of central Asian tribes invaded at the same time. There was now no ruler in Mongolia and this vast territory was divided and subdivided into tribal areas.

The Mongol Empire

Temuujin, best known as Chingis Khan, was born in 1162. His father was a leader of one of the numerous tribes and was killed by the Tartars when Temujin was just 9 years old.

With the support of his mother and his father’s friends, Temuujin established the Great Mongol State in 1189. By 1206 he united 81 different Mongolian tribes and established the Great Mongolian Empire. It was then that he was crowned as Chingis Khan. He died in 1227. Subsequent Mongolian Khans were chosen from following generations of Chingis Khan’s children.

During the 13-14th centuries, Mongolia developed in terms of its economy, culture, military strength and politics. It was a huge, sprawling empire, which encompassed many separate Asian and European nations. Still known as the golden era of Mongolian history, during this time the Mongol Empire was the most powerful nation on earth.

By 1368, the Mongol Empire began to fall apart. This was due to the collapse of the Mongolian Yuan dynasty, which had been established in China after Kublai Khan named Beijing as the new Capital of the Mongol Empire.

The Manchurians conquered Mongolia in 1691, and the Manchurian colonization lasted for 220 years. By the beginning of the 20th century Mongolians were embroiled in struggle for national liberation, which finally bore fruit in December 1911, when the Manchurians withdrew and Mongolia’s independence was proclaimed in Urguu (as Ulaanbaatar was previously known). Mongolia’s theocratic ruler Bogd Khan was awarded power across the entire country.

Socialist and Democratic Mongolia

On July 11, 1921, the socialist revolution, known as People’s Revolution took place. In 1924, The Mongolian People’s Party proclaimed Mongolia as the People’s Republic. The congress endorsed the Republic’s first constitution. As Mongolia maintained strong links with the former Soviet Union, the socialist era continued until 1990, when democratic changes first started in Mongolia.

In 1990, Mongolian former communist Politburo resigned and a multi-parliamentary system was installed. The country’s first multi-party election was held in June 1990. The new parliament adopted Mongolia’s first democratic constitution in January 1992. In February 1992, the newly-created constitution officially changed the country’s name from the Mongolian People’s Republic to “Mongolia.” This constitution defined Mongolia as a democratic parliamentary republic operating with a President. Both the parliament and the president have to be directly elected by the public. This new constitution also guarantees democracy, justice, freedom, equality and national unity for Mongolian people. Throughout these political changes, Mongolia has been slowly paving its way towards a free market economy and away from the old centrally planned economy.