Languages Languages of the Mongolic peoples belong to the
Mongolic language family. 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.
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 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. 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. Tengrism was transformed into a
monotheistic religion only at the imperial level within aristocratic circles.
Culture 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.
Origin The ethnogenesis of Mongolic peoples is largely linked with the expansion of
Ancient Northeast Asians. They subsequently came into contact with other groups, notably
Sinitic peoples to their South and
Western Steppe Herders to their far West. The Mongolians pastoralist lifestyle, may in part be derived from the Western Steppe Herders, but without much geneflow between these two groups, suggesting cultural transmission.
Genetics Mongols and other Mongolic-speaking groups, show high genetic affinity to each other, followed by genetic proximity to
Central and
East/Southeast Asian peoples. 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 that Northeast, East, and Southeast Asian populations are closer to each other than to other Eurasian populations.
Maternal lineages Mongolic peoples maternal lineages are primarily shared with East Asians (54%) and Southeast Asians (28%), while around 14% are shared with Europeans and other West Eurasian populations. The remaining 4% are distributed throughout Eurasia and not associated with a specific group. A study based on
mtDNA noted that ancient populations in Mongolia had a mixed West and East Eurasian origin, while modern Mongolians are characterized by substantially less West Eurasian maternal ancestry. It is suggested that many 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. Research by Rogers, et al. provides evidence that some West Eurasian maternal lineages had made it to Mongolia east of the Altai mountains prior to the Bronze Age. During the medieval period, a continuous increase in
East Asian mitochondrial lineages was detected, which these authors attribute to Genghis Khan's
Pax Mongolica.
Paternal lineages An analysis of the paternal genetic diversity of Mongolians (
n=95 from
Ulaangom,
n=100 from
Dalandzadgad,
n=97 from
Ulaanbaatar,
n=84 from
Undurkhaan,
n=117 from
Choibalsan) performed by Toshimichi Yamamoto
et alii at the Department of Legal Medicine and Bioethics, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University, Japan revealed a mean frequency of 59.0%
Haplogroup C-M217 (49.5% Ulaanbaatar, 57.1% Undurkhaan, 59.0% Choibalsan, 61.0% Dalandzadgad, 68.4% Ulaangom), 13.9%
Haplogroup O-M175 (4.2% Ulaangom, 11.0% Dalandzadgad, 13.1% Undurkhaan, 15.4% Choibalsan, 25.8% Ulaanbaatar), 11.3%
Haplogroup N-M231 (8.2% Ulaanbaatar, 8.4% Ulaangom, 10.3% Choibalsan, 14.0% Dalandzadgad, 15.5% Undurkhaan), 6.2%
Haplogroup R (3.1% Ulaanbaatar, 3.4% Choibalsan, 3.6% Undurkhaan, 7.0% Dalandzadgad, 13.7% Ulaangom), 3.5%
Haplogroup D-M174 (1.1% Ulaangom, 3.4% Choibalsan, 4.0% Dalandzadgad, 4.1% Ulaanbaatar, 4.8% Undurkhaan), and 2.8%
Haplogroup Q1b (2.0% Dalandzadgad, 2.4% Undurkhaan, 3.1% Ulaanbaatar, 3.2% Ulaangom, 3.4% Choibalsan). The authors noted that "at least 4 major male ancestors with Y-hg-C3 have affected the gene pool of Mongolian males at the different periods," producing star-like clusters of Y-STR haplotypes. Research published in 2016 suggested that Genghis possibly belonged to the haplogroup
Haplogroup R1b (R1b-M343). Five bodies, dating from about 1130–1250, were found in graves in
Tavan Tolgoi, Mongolia. The authors suggested they were members of the
Golden Family, and linked the spread of R1b-M343 to the former territories of the Mongol Empire. The authors also suggested that the Tavan Tolgoi bodies are related either to the female lineages of Genghis Khan's
Borjigin clan, or to Genghis Khan's male lineage, rather than the
Ongud clan.
Autosomal DNA Genetic studies on Mongolic populations found them to be "well-fitted by a three-way admixture" of
Ancient Northeast Asian-like (ANA) ancestry, with variable amounts of
Yellow River Farmer-like, and
Western Steppe Herders ancestries. Mongols of Inner Mongolia were found to display genetic continuity with "Late Medieval Mongol" samples, and can be modeled as 46% Ancient Northeast Asian, 44% Yellow River Farmer, and 10% West Eurasian (
Andronovo-like).
Mongol Empire period samples carried between 55 and 64% Ancient Northeast Asian ancestry, 21–27% Yellow River Farmer-like sources, and 15–18% Western Steppe Herder (
Sarmatian or
Alan-like) sources. One autosomal study on
Oirat-speaking Kalmyks living in
Kalmykia,
Eastern Europe, found them to be derived from a Western Mongolian source population. Despite their long-distance migration, Kalmyks still display a predominant East Asian genetic profile. Kalmyks derive around 80% East Asian ancestry and 20% Western Eurasian ancestry. Two autosomal genetic studies on
Inner Mongolians found that they are best modeled as a mixture of Ancient Northeast Asian-like (ANA) and 10% to 25% East Asian Yellow River Farmer ancestry sources (increasing among Khorchins to around 62%), with only minor Western Eurasian genetic contributions (5.6–11.6%). Mongolic peoples display genetic continuity to the
Devil's Gate Cave specimen (7,000 BP) and the Amur13K specimen (13,000 BP). The Neolithic Northeast Asian ancestry, is shared with other "putative
Altaic-speaking peoples" specifically
Turkic, and
Tungusic-speaking peoples, together with shared "IBD fragments" in haplotype variation, supporting a Northeast Asian origin of these three groups. Turkic and Western Mongolic populations display the relatively highest amounts of West Eurasian admixture, inline with historical contacts between Ancient Northeast Asians and West Eurasian populations of the Eurasian Steppes, and evidence from linguistic borrowings. In comparison, Eastern, Central and Southern Mongolic peoples as well as Tungusic peoples had considerable less West Eurasian ancestry but higher Yellow River farmers ancestry.
Sinitic peoples largely lacked any West Eurasian-derived ancestry and displayed primarily affinity with historical Yellow River farmers. == Notes ==