Ancient States of Mongolia
1. Xiongnu state or Hunnu (209 BC–93 AD)
Founded in the 3rd century BC, the Hunnu Empire (Xiongnu state) was the first powerful nomadic state in Mongolia and also recognized as the most prominent of the nomads bordering the Chinese Han empire.
Origin of state: The identity of the ethnic core of Xiongnu has been a subject of varied hypotheses and some scholars, including Paul Pelliot and Byambyn Rinchen, insisted on a Mongolic origin. The root word of Hunnu, Hun means human in Mongolian word. However, the Hunnu state was not merely a Mongol state, but the state of nomadic people of Central Asia.
The founder of the Hunnu state: Modun Shanyu established the Xiongnu, uniting various Hun aimags and organizing the state successfully. However, the Father of Modun Shanyu was Tumen who was Khaan of Hunnu statehood. Tumen belonged to the aristocratic family of the Khian tribe.
At its height: At its height, it occupied Turkestan to the west, the Liao River, now Ordos, to the east, Lake Baikal to the north, and the Great Wall to the south.un Shanyu established the Xiongnu, uniting various Hun aimags and organizing the state successfully. However, the Father of Modun Shanyu was Tumen who was Khaan of Hunnu statehood. Tumen belonged to the aristocratic family of the Khian tribe.
In 200 BC, the military battle fought between the Xiongnu statehood and the Chinese Han Empire. However, the Xiongnu forces ambushed and encircled the Han Emperor Gaozu, the first Han emperor at Baideng for seven days. Emperor Gao was forced to submit to the Xiongnu, and then a peace treaty was signed in 198 BC.
The treaty recognized all the territories to the north from the Great Wall should belong to the Xiongnu, while the territory to the south of the Great Wall should belong to the Han. In addition, China was obliged to marry princesses and pay annual tribute to the Xiongnu for 50 years, and Hunnu controlled the Silk Road.
After the death of Modun Shanyu in 174 BC, Laoshang (174–161 BCE), whose personal name was Jiyu succeeded his father Modun Chanyu. Under his reign, the Xiongnu Empire continued to expand against the Yuezhi and the Xiongnu thus gained control of the Hexi Corridor.
Southern Xiongnu and Northern Xiongnu: The Xiongnu were divided into northern and southern parts by internal conflict and foreign aggression, and the southern part came under the Han dynasty, while the northern Xiongnu became independent and at war with each other. The Southern Huns repeatedly defeated their northern counterparts and were under the protection of the Han Dynasty, but deteriorated year by year, ending in about 155 AD with the conquest of the Xianbei.
2. Xianbei (93-234)
Origin of state: Xiangbi is a Mongol nomadic origin nation that had strong kinship relations with Xiongnu that once resided today in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. Xiangbei is mentioned in the Tibetan scriptures as Sumbe. The ancestors of the Xiangbi are called Donghu, or eastern hu.
At its height: During Tanishikhuai reign, Xiangbi territory reached the Great Wall to the south, Lake Baikal to the north, Turkmenistan to the west, and the Korean Peninsula to the east. After the death of Emperor Tanshihuai, the Xiangbei state quickly disappeared.
3. Nirun state or Rouran state (330–555)
In the 4th and 6th centuries AD, the state of Zhujan or Nirun existed in Mongolia. Nirun means "born again", naming the tribe people after Alungua and her husband Dobu. In other words, Queen Alungua’s three sons’ descendants called Nirun. Therefore, the Niruns are the direct ancestors of the original Mongols. During the Nirun Dynasty, the people served in the military, border guards, etc., and received iron tributes from the Turkic provinces.
The founder of State: In 402, Shelung established himself as Khaan From that time on, the nomads called their leader kagan or Khaan.
At its height: The Rouran ruled Mongolia, eastern Kazakhstan, part of Gansu, northern Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, parts of Northeastern China and southern Siberia.
Fall of state: Rouran, which was weakened by the Ashina-Turkic invasion in 552, is believed to have disintegrated around 555. Thus, the state tradition of the Mongol-speaking ethnic groups, which had existed in Central Asia and Mongolia was broken, and the state of the Turkic ethnic groups, which had lasted for more than 310 years, began.
The Rourans that stayed in Mongolia became the ancestors of the Thirty Tatar tribes. The Tatars and other Mongol tribes lived in the eastern part of Mongolia during the Turkic period. Other Mongols that migrated east returned in the 8th century.
4. Turkic Khaganate (552–745)
The Altai Turkics that were subjects of the Rouran revolted in 552 establishing the Turkic Khaganate. All citizens were divided into two main categories, the common people were called "black buduun" and the other part was called "Gokturk" or "celestial nobility".
The founder of State: The first Khaan was Buman, who united the many tribes under Nirun and founded the Turkic state.
Fall of state: During the reign of Tonyukuk, a wise minister who served the last Turkic kings, Elteres, Kapkan, and Bilge, Turkey maintained its power for some time, but did not last long. In 745, it was overthrown by the Uighur uprising.
5. Uyghur state (744–840)
After the collapse of the Turkic state, it was replaced by the Uighurs, who lived in Mongolia in the eighth and ninth centuries. In addition to the capital Ordu-Baliq in 751, a number of cities were established, such as Baibalig (Baibalig means “Bayanbalgas”) and Khatun, the ruins of which are still present in Mongolia. These Uighur cities were burned down by the Yenisei Kyrgyz in 840.
The culture and economy of the Uyghur Kaganate were more advanced than those of its predecessors. The Uyghurs used a 12-month calendar and calculated the dates of solar and lunar eclipses. The Uyghurs developed their own writing system based on the Sogdian script.
The founder of State: In 745 A.D., Pailo ascended the throne with the title of "Kul Bilge" and was succeeded by his son Moyunchur (747-759), who made a significant contribution to the strengthening and development of the Uighur state.
Fall of state: The Tang dynasty surreptitiously encouraged the Yenisei Kirghiz and the Karluks to attack the Uyghurs and the Uyghur Khaganate fell under an invasion of the Yenisei Kirghiz in 840.
Khitan state Liao dynasty (901- 1125)
The Khitans were proto-Mongol people whose language was related to the Mongolic language and were originally nomadic pastoralists. The territory of the empire consisted of two parts: one populated by pastoral herders in the north and the other populated by croppers in the south. The two parts of the empire actively traded with each other.
The founder of Khitan: In 901, Ambagyan established Khitan as the basis of the eight former Khitan provinces.
At its height: The Khitan bordered with the Chinese Song Dynasty in Shanxi Province to the south and lasted for about 200 years until the establishment of the Altan state.
Its khagan Yelü Abaoji claimed the imperial title in 916 and established the Liao dynasty. The Liao dynasty covered a significant portion of what is now Mongolia including the basins of the three rivers Kherlen, Tuul, and Orkhon. The Khitans occupied the areas vacated by the Turkic Uyghurs bringing them under their control.
The Liao dynasty soon grew strong and occupied parts of Northern China, including modern-day Beijing. By 925, the Khitans ruled eastern Mongolia, most of Manchuria, and much of China proper north of the Yellow River. By the middle of the 10th century, Khitan chieftains had established themselves as emperors of northern China, and the Liao dynasty is considered a dynasty of China.
Fall of state: A Tungusic people, the Jurchens, ancestors of the Manchus, formed an alliance with the Song dynasty and reduced the Liao dynasty to vassal status in a seven-year war (1115–1122). The Liao dynasty fell in 1125.
Some Khitans fled west under the leadership of Yelü Dashi after their defeat by the Jurchens and founded the Western Liao dynasty (1124–1218) in present-day Xinjiang and eastern Kazakhstan with capital in Balasagun, modern Kyrgyzstan.
In addition, the Western Liao also controlled some highly autonomous vassal states, such as Khwarezm, the Eastern and the Western Kara-Khanids, etc. In 1218, Genghis Khan destroyed the Western Liao, after which the Khitans passed into obscurity. The modern-day minority of Mongolic-speaking Daurs in China are their direct descendants based on DNA evidence and other Khitans assimilated into the Mongols (Southern Mongols), Turkic peoples, and Han Chinese.
