Mongolic peoples explained

Mongolic peoples should not be confused with Mongols.

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. Mongolic-speaking people, although distributed in a wide geographical area, show a high genetic affinity to each other, and display continuity with ancient Northeast Asians.

List of ethnic groups

Contemporary ethnic groups

Ethnonym Population Primarily regions Religion
10,000,000 Mongolia, Inner Mongolia (China), other Mongolian autonomous divisions of ChinaTibetan Buddhism, Tengrism (Mongolian shamanism)
3,000,000
621,000 Sunni Islam
556,000 Buryatia, Agin-Buryat Okrug, Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug (Russia) Tibetan Buddhism, Orthodox Christianity, Tengrism (Mongolian shamanism)
290,000 Qinghai, Gansu (China) Tibetan Buddhism, Tengrism
200,000 Kalmykia (Russia) Tibetan Buddhism
132,000 Tibetan Buddhism, Tengrism (shamanism)
>60,000? Tibetan Buddhism
40,000? Qinghai (China)
29,000 Tibetan Buddhism
20,000 Sunni Islam, Tibetan Buddhism
Hamnigans 10,000? Zabaykalsky Krai (Russia), Northeastern Mongolia, Hulunbuir (China) Tibetan Buddhism, shamanism
Yugurs6,000 Sunan Yugur Autonomous CountyTibetan Buddhism, Tengrism
2,000 Herat Province (Afghanistan) Sunni Islam
2,000 Sunni Islam

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, Nanzatov,[1] Baldaev[2] 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."[3]

Ethnic groups of Mongolian origin

A large Mongolian component took in the ethnic formation of the Hazaras. The high frequency of haplogroup C2-M217 is consistent with the purported Mongolian origin of many of the Hazaras.[4] Modern Hazaras speak Hazaragi, one of the dialects of the Dari/Persian language.

The Mughals, descendants of the Barlas and other Mongol tribes, currently speak Urdu.[5]

Historical ethnic groups

See main article: Proto-Mongols.

General characteristics

Languages

See main article: Mongolic 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.

The Mongolic ethnicities possibly related to the Turkic and Tungusic peoples, whose languages together would include in the hypothetical Altaic language family.[6]

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.[7] [8]

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.[9]

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.[10] [11] 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).[12] 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. 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. There was a male-mediated rise in East Asian ancestry in the late medieval Mongolian period, paralleling the increase of haplogroup C2b.[13]

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).[14] 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.[15]

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.[16]

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 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.[17] [18]

References

Sources

General

Genetic researches

Linguistics

Religious studies

. Heissig . Walther . Walther Heissig . The religions of Mongolia . G. Samuel . London; Henley . Routledge; Kegan Paul . 1980 . 1970 . 0-7103-0685-7.

Ethnic groups

Notes and References

  1. Book: Nanzatov . B. Z. . Племенной состав бурят в XIX веке. . Buryat tribe composition in the 19th century . https://www.academia.edu/4344018 . Народы и культуры Сибири. Взаимодействие как фактор формирования и модернизации . Irkutsk . 2003 . 15–27 . ru.
  2. Book: Балдаев С. П. . Родословные легенды и предания бурят. Ч. 1 . ru . Улан-Удэ . 1970 . 166.
  3. Natalia Zhukovskaia (2005)."Бурятские шаманки на международной конференции (тункинский опыт, июль 2004 г.) // Женщина и возрождение шаманизма.". Москва: Российская академия наук. Институт этнологии и антропологии имени Н. Н. Миклухо-Маклая. Page 129. In Russian: "... здесь сформировался тот этнический состав населения, который относительно стабильно сохраняется до сегодняшнего дня - булагаты, хонгодоры, сойоты, которые (одни раньше, другие позже) вошли как субэтносы в состав бурят."
  4. Жабагин М. К. (2017). Анализ связи полиморфизма Y-хромосомы и родоплеменной структуры в казахской популяции. Moscow. p. 71. In Russian: "...за счет высокой частоты гаплогруппы С2-М217, что согласуется с монгольским происхождением хазарейцев."
  5. Сабитов Ж. М., Баймуханов Н. Б. . Y-STR гаплотипы узбеков, уйгуров, таджиков, пуштунов, хазарейцев, моголов из базы данных Family Tree DNA . The Russian Journal of Genetic Genealogy . 2015 . 2 . 22–23 . ru.
  6. Web site: Starostin, George . 2016-04-05 . Altaic Languages . Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics . Oxford University Press . 10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.35. 978-0-19-938465-5 .
  7. Web site: Population dynamics and the rise of empires in Inner Asia: Genome-wide analysis spanning 6,000 years in the eastern Eurasian Steppe gives insights to the formation of Mongolia's empires . 2023-06-04 . ScienceDaily . en.
  8. Yang . Xiaomin . Sarengaowa . He . Guanglin . Guo . Jianxin . Zhu . Kongyang . Ma . Hao . Zhao . Jing . Yang . Meiqing . Chen . Jing . Zhang . Xianpeng . Tao . Le . Liu . Yilan . Zhang . Xiu-Fang . Wang . Chuan-Chao . 2021 . Genomic Insights Into the Genetic Structure and Natural Selection of Mongolians . Frontiers in Genetics . 12 . 735786 . 10.3389/fgene.2021.735786 . 34956310 . 8693022 . 1664-8021 . free .
  9. Cheng . Baoweng . Tang . Wenru . He . Li . Dong . Yongli . Lu . Jing . Lei . Yunping . Yu . Haijing . Zhang . Jiali . Xiao . Chunjie . October 2008 . Genetic imprint of the Mongol: signal from phylogeographic analysis of mitochondrial DNA . Journal of Human Genetics . en . 53 . 10 . 905–913 . 10.1007/s10038-008-0325-8 . 18769869 . 6841794 . 1435-232X. free .
  10. Rogers . Leland L. . Honeychurch . William . Amartuvshin . Chunag . Kaestle . Frederika A. . U5A1 Mitochondrial DNA Haplotype Identified in Eneolithic Skeleton from Shatar Chuluu, Mongolia . Human Biology . 2020 . 91 . 4 . 213–223 . 10.1353/hub.2017.0079 . 32767893 . 1534-6617.
  11. Rogers . Leland Liu . Kaestle . Frederika Ann . Analysis of mitochondrial DNA haplogroup frequencies in the population of the slab burial mortuary culture of Mongolia (ca. 1100–300 BCE) . American Journal of Biological Anthropology . April 2022 . 177 . 4 . 644–657 . 10.1002/ajpa.24478 . 246508594 . en. free . The K hg may represent an ancient addition from early western foragers that had intermixed with early agriculturalists (Spengler, 2015), similar with the probable origins of the C hg found in the ancient Ukraine (Nikitin et al., 2012). The J1c8a haplotype might be from a regional polymorphism that is linked to migrating populations after the expansion of agriculturalism from the Middle East, perhaps associated with the development of caprine pastoralism that reached southeast Kazakhstan by at least 2800 BCE (Hermes et al 2020)."
  12. Yamamoto . Toshimichi . Senda . Tomoki . Horiba . Daiki . Sakuma . Masayoshi . Kawaguchi . Yuuka . Kano . Yuuichi . 2013-01-01 . Y-chromosome lineage in five regional Mongolian populations . Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series . Progress in Forensic Genetics 15 . en . 4 . 1 . e260–e261 . 10.1016/j.fsigss.2013.10.133 . 1875-1768.

  13. 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)."

  14. He . Guang-Lin . Wang . Meng-Ge . Zou . Xing . Yeh . Hui-Yuan . Liu . Chang-Hui . Liu . Chao . Chen . Gang . Wang . Chuan-Chao . 2022-01-09 . Extensive ethnolinguistic diversity at the crossroads of North China and South Siberia reflects multiple sources of genetic diversity . Journal of Systematics and Evolution . en . 61 . 1 . 230–250 . 10.1111/jse.12827 . 1674-4918 . 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)..
  15. 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 . 2020-11-12 . A Dynamic 6,000-Year Genetic History of Eurasia's Eastern Steppe . Cell . 183 . 4 . 890–904.e29 . 10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.015 . 0092-8674 . 7664836 . 33157037 . 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..
  16. Balinova . Natalia . Hudjašov . Georgi . Pankratov . Vasili . Pennarun . Erwan . Reidla . Maere . Metspalu . Ene . Batyrov . Valery . Khomyakova . Irina . Reisberg . Tuuli . Parik . Jüri . Dzhaubermezov . Murat . Aiyzhy . Elena . Balinova . Altana . El’chinova . Galina . Spitsyna . Nailya . 2024-04-11 . Gene pool preservation across time and space In Mongolian-speaking Oirats . European Journal of Human Genetics . en . 1–9 . 10.1038/s41431-024-01588-w . 38605123 . 1476-5438. free .
  17. He . Guang-Lin . Wang . Meng-Ge . Zou . Xing . Yeh . Hui-Yuan . Liu . Chang-Hui . Liu . Chao . Chen . Gang . Wang . Chuan-Chao . January 2023 . Extensive ethnolinguistic diversity at the crossroads of North China and South Siberia reflects multiple sources of genetic diversity . Journal of Systematics and Evolution . en . 61 . 1 . 230–250 . 10.1111/jse.12827 . 245849003 . 1674-4918.
  18. Sikora . Martin . Pitulko . Vladimir V. . Sousa . Vitor C. . Allentoft . Morten E. . Vinner . Lasse . Rasmussen . Simon . Margaryan . Ashot . de Barros Damgaard . Peter . de la Fuente . Constanza . Renaud . Gabriel . Yang . Melinda A. . Fu . Qiaomei . Dupanloup . Isabelle . Giampoudakis . Konstantinos . Nogués-Bravo . David . 2019 . The population history of northeastern Siberia since the Pleistocene . Nature . en . 570 . 7760 . 182–188 . 10.1038/s41586-019-1279-z . 31168093 . 2019Natur.570..182S . 174809069 . 1476-4687 . 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.. 1887/3198847 . free .

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