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]
In addition, Mongolized Soyots live in Buryatia. Their population is 3600 people. Soyots are one of the indigenous minority peoples of Russia. They are descendants of Turkified Samoyeds. At the same time, a number of orientalists (Zhukovskaia, [4] Nanzatov, [5] Baldaev [6] and others) consider modern Soyots as a sub-ethnos within the Buryat people: "... here the ethnic composition of the population was formed, which remains relatively stable to this day - Bulagats, Khongodors, Soyots, who (some earlier, others later) became subethnic groups of the Buryats." [4]
A large Mongolian component took [ citation needed ] in the ethnic formation of the Hazaras. [7] The high frequency[ citation needed ] of haplogroup C2-M217 is consistent[ citation needed ] with the purported Mongolian origin of many of the Hazaras. [8] Modern Hazaras speak Hazaragi, one of the dialects of the Dari/Persian language.
The Mughals, descendants of the Barlas[ citation needed ] and other Mongol tribes[ citation needed ], currently speak Urdu. [9]
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] whose languages together would include in the hypothetical Altaic language family. [13]
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. [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]
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.
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. [17] [18]
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. [2]
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. [19]
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. [20] 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. [21] [22] During the medieval period, a continuous increase in East Asian mitochondrial lineages was detected, which these authors attribute to Genghis Khan's Pax Mongolica. [23]
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). [24] 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. [24] Most numerous on average are the members of C3*: 11.6% Ulaangom, 14.4% Ulaanbaatar, 28.6% Undurkhaan, 29.9% Choibalsan, 48.0% Dalandzadgad. Second most numerous on average are the members of Haplogroup C3c: 2.0% Dalandzadgad, 16.7% Undurkhaan, 17.1% Choibalsan, 23.7% Ulaanbaatar, 53.7% Ulaangom. Third most numerous on average are the members of Haplogroup C3d i.e. C-M407: 3.2% Ulaangom, 8.0% Dalandzadgad, 8.5% Choibalsan, 10.7% Undurkhaan, 11.3% Ulaanbaatar.
A study based on ancient DNA and Y-DNA found that ancient populations in the region of modern-day Mongolia had a mixed West and East Eurasian origin during the Xiongnu period. Male-mediated Western Steppe Herders ancestry increased by the establishment of Türkic and Uyghur rule in Mongolia, which was accompanied by an increase in the West Eurasian haplogroups R and J. [25] There was a male-mediated rise in East Asian ancestry in the late medieval Mongolian period, paralleling the increase of haplogroup C2b. [26]
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). [28] Mongol Empire period samples carried between 55–64% Ancient Northeast Asian ancestry, 21–27% Yellow River Farmer-like sources, and 15–18% Western Steppe Herder (Sarmatian or Alan-like) sources. [29]
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. [30]
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%). [3] [18] [lower-alpha 2]
Mongolic peoples display genetic continuity to the Devil’s Gate Cave specimen (7,000 BCE) and the Amur13K specimen (13,000 BCE). 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. [33] [34]
The Göktürks, Celestial Turks or Blue Turks were a Turkic people in medieval Inner Asia. The Göktürks, under the leadership of Bumin Qaghan and his sons, succeeded the Rouran Khaganate as the main power in the region and established the First Turkic Khaganate, one of several nomadic dynasties that would shape the future geolocation, culture, and dominant beliefs of Turkic peoples.
The Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West, Central, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.
The Buryats are a Mongolic ethnic group native to southeastern Siberia who speak the Buryat language. They are one of the two largest indigenous groups in Siberia, the other being the Yakuts. The majority of the Buryats today live in their titular homeland, the Republic of Buryatia, a federal subject of Russia which sprawls along the southern coast and partially straddles Lake Baikal. Smaller groups of Buryats also inhabit Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug and the Agin-Buryat Okrug which are to the west and east of Buryatia respectively as well as northeastern Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, China. They traditionally formed the major northern subgroup of the Mongols.
The Kyrgyz people are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia. They primarily reside in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan. A Kyrgyz diaspora is also found in Russia, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. They speak the Kyrgyz language, which is the official language of Kyrgyzstan.
The Kazakhs are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia and Eastern Europe, mainly Kazakhstan, but also parts of northern Uzbekistan and the border regions of Russia, as well as northwestern China and western Mongolia. The Kazakhs arose from the merging of the medieval tribes of Turkic and Mongolic origin in the 15th century.
The Yamnaya culture or the Yamna culture, also known as the Pit Grave culture or Ochre Grave culture, is a late Copper Age to early Bronze Age archaeological culture of the region between the Southern Bug, Dniester, and Ural rivers, dating to 3300–2600 BCE. It was discovered by Vasily Gorodtsov following his archaeological excavations near the Donets River in 1901–1903. Its name derives from its characteristic burial tradition: Я́мная is a Russian adjective that means 'related to pits ', as these people used to bury their dead in tumuli (kurgans) containing simple pit chambers. Research in recent years has found that Mikhaylovka, in lower Dnieper river, Ukraine, formed the Core Yamnaya culture.
The Ashina were a Turkic tribe and the ruling dynasty of the Göktürks. This clan rose to prominence in the mid-6th century when the leader, Bumin Qaghan, revolted against the Rouran Khaganate. The two main branches of the family, one descended from Bumin and the other from his brother Istämi, ruled over the eastern and western parts of the Göktürk confederation, respectively, forming the First Turkic Khaganate (552–603).
The Altai people, also the Altaians, are a Turkic ethnic group of indigenous peoples of Siberia mainly living in the Altai Republic, Russia. Several thousand of the Altaians also live in Mongolia and China but are not officially recognized as a distinct group and listed under the name "Oirats" as a part of the Mongols, as well as in Kazakhstan where they number around 200. For alternative ethnonyms see also Tele, Black Tatar, and Oirats. During the Northern Yuan dynasty, they were ruled in the administrative area known as Telengid Province.
Tungusic peoples are an ethnolinguistic group formed by the speakers of Tungusic languages. They are native to Siberia, China, and Mongolia.
The Tagar culture was a Bronze Age Saka archeological culture which flourished between the 8th and 1st centuries BC in South Siberia. The culture was named after an island in the Yenisei River opposite Minusinsk. The civilization was one of the largest centres of bronze-smelting in ancient Eurasia.
In the course of the peopling of the World by Homo sapiens, East Asia was reached about 50,000 years ago. The "recent African origin" lineage of 70 kya diverged into identifiable East Eurasian and West Eurasian lineages by about 50 kya. The East Eurasian ancestors of East Asians used a southern route to reach South and Southeast Asia, along which they rapidly diverged into the ancestors of Indigenous South Asians (AASI), Papuans, East Asians and Andamanese peoples. This early East Asian lineage diverged further during the Last Glacial Maximum, contributing outgoing from Mainland Southeast Asia significantly to the peopling of the Americas via Beringia about 25 kya. After the last ice age China became cut off from neighboring island groups. The previous phenotypes of early East Asians became either replaced or prevailed among more geographically distant groups.
The Khitan people were a historical nomadic people from Northeast Asia who, from the 4th century, inhabited an area corresponding to parts of modern Mongolia, Northeast China and the Russian Far East.
The nations which make up Central Asia are five of the former Soviet republics: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, which have a total population of about 76 million. Afghanistan is not always considered part of the region, but when it is, Central Asia has a total population of about 122 million (2016); Mongolia and Xinjiang is also sometimes considered part of Central Asia due to its Central Asian cultural ties and traditions, although geographically it is East Asian. Most central Asians belong to religions which were introduced to the area within the last 1,500 years, such as Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Ismaili Islam, Tengriism and Syriac Christianity. Buddhism, however, was introduced to Central Asia over 2,200 years ago, and Zoroastrianism, over 2,500 years ago.
Population genetics research has been conducted on the ancestry of the modern Turkish people in Turkey. Such studies are relevant for the demographic history of the population as well as health reasons, such as population specific diseases. Some studies have sought to determine the relative contributions of the Turkic peoples of Central Asia, from where the Seljuk Turks began migrating to Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, which led to the establishment of the Anatolian Seljuk Sultanate in the late 11th century, and prior populations in the area who were culturally assimilated during the Seljuk and the Ottoman periods.
The Slab-grave culture is an archaeological culture of Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Mongolia. The Slab-Grave culture formed one of the primary ancestral components of the succeeding Xiongnu, as revealed by genetic evidence. The ethnogenesis of Turkic peoples and the modern Mongolian people is, at least partially, linked to the Slab-Grave culture by historical and archaeological evidence and further corroborated by genetic research on the Slab Grave remains.
In archaeogenetics, the term Ancient North Eurasian (ANE) is the name given to an ancestral component that represents the lineage of the people of the Mal'ta–Buret' culture and populations closely related to them, such as the Upper Paleolithic individuals from Afontova Gora in Siberia. Genetic studies also revealed that the ANE are closely related to the remains of the preceding Yana Culture, which were dubbed as 'Ancient North Siberians' (ANS). The Ancient North Eurasians represent a Paleolithic Siberian population having arrived via the "northern route" and being deeply related to Paleolithic and Mesolithic European hunter-gatherers, but also derive a significant amount of their ancestry from an East Eurasian source, having arrived to Siberia via the "southern route".
This article summarizes the genetic makeup and population history of East Asian peoples and their connection to genetically related populations such as Southeast Asians and North Asians, as well as Oceanians, and partly, Central Asians, South Asians, and Native Americans. They are collectively referred to as "East Eurasians" in population genomics.
The Scytho-Siberian world was an archaeological horizon that flourished across the entire Eurasian Steppe during the Iron Age, from approximately the 9th century BC to the 2nd century AD. It included the Scythian, Sauromatian and Sarmatian cultures of Eastern Europe, the Saka-Massagetae and Tasmola cultures of Central Asia, and the Aldy-Bel, Pazyryk and Tagar cultures of south Siberia.
The Chandman culture, also known as Chandmani culture, was a nomadic culture that existed in northwestern Mongolia and southern Siberia during the Iron Age, and is also known as the "Sagly-Bazhy culture" on the Russian side of the frontier. It is associated with the Eastern Scythian/Saka horizon, and is part of the more general Saka Uyuk culture.
In archaeogenetics, the term Ancient Northeast Asian (ANA), also known as Amur ancestry, is the name given to an ancestral component that represents the lineage of the hunter-gatherer people of the 7th-4th millennia before present, in far-eastern Siberia, Mongolia and the Baikal regions. They are inferred to have diverged from Ancient East Asians about 24kya ago, and are represented by several ancient human specimens found in archaeological excavations east of the Altai Mountains. They are a sub-group of the Ancient Northern East Asians (ANEA).
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Here, we found that western Mongolians shared a similar ancestry history with late Medieval Mongols, which was descended 0.440 ancestry from YRB farmers, 0.4592 from ARB Hunter-Gatherers, and 0.1008 from western Eurasian Andronovo (Fig. 7G∼H). We also confirmed that early Medieval Turkic derived 68% ancestry from Neolithic Amur people. Ancient Turkic people also contributed 30% of genetic materials to western Mongolians whose remaining ancestry derived from eastern Mongolian-related ancient sources (Fig. 7I).
Mongol-era individuals as a group can be modeled with only 15%–18% Western Steppe ancestry (Alan or Sarmatian) but require 55%–64% Ulaanzuukh_SlabGrave and 21%–27% of Han-related ancestry (Table S5I). _ Since the fall of the Mongol empire in 1368 CE, the genetic profile of the Mongolian populations has not substantially changed.
Most modern Siberian speakers of Neosiberian languages genetically fall on an East- West cline between Europeans and Early East Asians. Taking Even speakers as representatives, the Neosiberian turnover from the south, which largely replaced Ancient Paleosiberian ancestry, can be associated with the northward spread of Tungusic and probably also Turkic and Mongolic. However, the expansions of Tungusic as well as Turkic and Mongolic are too recent to be associable with the earliest waves of Neosiberian ancestry, dated later than ~11 kya, but discernible in the Baikal region from at least 6 kya onwards. Therefore, this phase of the Neosiberian population turnover must initially have transmitted other languages or language families into Siberia, including possibly Uralic and Yukaghir.
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