The Ties and Contacts between Ancient Mongolian Nomads and other Asian Civilizations

1 Introduction

Like other countries of the world, nomadic Mongolians are people with the longest period of history. The ancestors of the ethnic Mongolians were not only an ancient people, but also a part of the world’s population, and went to history as they had a strong influence on the world civilization and make up the population of the world. Therefore, a center of the ancestral gene pool of mankind was formed tens of thousands of years ago in Central Asia or in particular in the center of Mongolia, beginning the Orkhon Valley. Mongolians’ ancestors established their state more than 2200 years ago, set their territory and borders, and the ethnic Mongolian was formed and developed. Mongolians called the nomadic civilization that our ancestors had developed a unique way of life suitable for the land and climate where they live. Nomadic civilization is defined as the most simple, profound content and meaningful nature and compassion that respects humanity without negative impact on nature and ecology, according to the current view of civilized mankind. The history of the Mongol Empire and the Mongols is divided into three parts: ancient, medieval, and modern (see Table 1).

Archeological artifacts such as ruins, tombs, and monuments are used as the remains of ancient settlements. The most widely used sources for human beings and Mongolians to study their history are written books and scriptures, oral sources such as legends, and travelers’ notes. An important historical book of Mongolians is the Secret History of Mongols. Artifacts, written materials, ethnic items, and customs of any era serve as tools for studying history.

2 Ancient Mongolian Nomadic Culture

The Hunnu was the oldest nomadic dynasty which existed in present-day Mongolian territory between 209 BC and 93 AD (Baabar 2022, 8). It was the first and longest lasting of the nomadic empires. The basic structure and organization of the nomadic empire was established during the Hun dynasty and continued to develop without significant changes for two thousand years. Although the Hunnu are a multi-ethnic empire, the core is related to the Mongols. The Hunnu rose to power in the third century BC and established their own state for the first time among the ancient nomadic tribes of Central Asia. In 209 BC, Modun Shanyu, the ruler of the Hunnu, unified 24 Hunnu tribes and established the Hunnu State. The Hunnu state is considered to be the first state of Mongolian nomads because they were the ancestors of the Mongols. The palace of King Modun of the Hunnu was located in the Khangai Mountains at the Orkhon Valley, and during Modun’s reign, the Hunnu became very powerful and reached the status of a nomadic empire in Central Asia. The Hunnu invaded the Han Dynasty in 200 BC. The king Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, who was defeated by Modun Shanyu, wanted to establish a relationship with Modun Shanyu. The king Gaozu of the Han Dynasty offered to negotiate a peace treaty. According to the peace treaty “the Hunnu Dynasty and the Han Dynasty were mutually recognized as two independent and equal empires.” was mentioned in the Chinese source (Bayarsaikhan et al. 2019, 67). The territory of the Hunnu stretched from the Great Wall in the south to Lake Baikal in the north, Il Tarvatai in the west, and Korea in the east. Unfortunately, the Hunnu Dynasty was divided into two parts in 53 AD due to the internal struggle of the Han State, and then it was destroyed by Xianbi in 93 AD. The social structure of the Hunnu was dominated by the nobility class, but the kinship system and the influence of the tribal leaders were also preserved. The Hunnu have a dry and extreme continental climate in the center of Asia, far from the sea. The land of the Hunnu is a vast land combining high mountains, steppes, and deserts, with little rainfall, but good grass vegetation (Ser-Odjav 1977, 24).

The natural and geographical features of the Hunnu are suitable for nomadic herding. The main farming of the Hunnu was nomadic animal husbandry. They lived in felt houses and migrated to the good pastures in the four seasons. The nomadic animal husbandry that originated in the Bronze Age in Mongolia had reached a high level of development by the time of the Hunnu. According to Sima Qian’s notes, “many of their livestock horses, cows, sheep, goats, donkeys, mules, kuaiti, taotu, tansi are exotic animals. They move from one place to another in search of grass and water. There is no internal and external walled city, no permanent residence, no agricultural work, but each has its own land.” They have a custom of hunting wild animals and birds in addition to herding animals during peacetime (Bayarsaikhan et al. 2019, 67). Scientists who studied animal bones found in Hunnu tombs proved that the animals of the Hunnu were of the same breed as the Mongolian five-type animals. Researcher Dr. G. Sukhbaatar has researched and determined that dairy products made by Mongolians, such as yogurt, curds, yeast, and alcohol, were already created during the Hunnu period (Bayarsaikhan et al. 2019, 67).

The Hunnu used bigger animals such as horses, cows, and camels for transportation. It can be considered that the riding tools used by Mongolians, such as saddles, bridles, and stirrups, were created during the Hunnu. In the graves of the Hunnu, there are many remains of shells, bits of bridle, saddles, and stirrups (Bayarsaikhan et al. 2019, 67). The general pattern of tribes such as Xianbi and Zhuzhang was nomadic herding, similar to that of the Hunnu, with agriculture, handicrafts, and hunting as auxiliary. The later Han scriptures noted that “The animals, birds are different from the China” (Bayarsaikhan et al. 2019, 67). Among them, there are rams, horses, mouflon, and large horned cattle. It is customary to make bows out of cow horns and make bows out of bullhorns. Sable and soft fur leather coats are very popular in the world. Sukhbaatar, in his work on the ancient ancestors of the Mongols, concluded that the Hunnu, Xianbi, and Zhuzhan Mongols generally have a unified culture, and the nomadic agricultural culture is the Mongolian style of agricultural culture. In terms of herd composition, sheep and goats were the most numerous, followed by cattle, horses, and camels. Another Mongolian tribe, the Khyatans, were pastoral nomads. However, at the beginning of the 10th century, when they invaded Northern China and ruled over the settled people, nomadic animal husbandry and agriculture coexisted in the Chinese Empire (Sukhbaatar 1971, 46).

The fact that the Hunnu were nomadic does not mean that they did not engage in agriculture other than nomadic animal husbandry. Nomadic animal husbandry was the main livelihood, and agriculture, handicrafts, and deer hunting were auxiliary livelihoods of the Hunnu. The main farming was nomadic animal husbandry, but with the development of crafts and agriculture, towns were established. When talking about the Hunnu in historical records, it was noted that “ there are no permanent settlements without any internal and external walls”, which is a comparison with a settled civilization such as China, but researchers explain that it does not mean that the Hunnu do not have cities at all. Remains of more than ten settlements related to the Hunnu dynasty have been discovered in Mongolia. Farming was common near the city. They established settlements in the basins of major rivers such as Selenge and Orkhon and engaged in farming (Olziibayar et al. 1999, 46). This is the discovery of black rice seeds in the tomb of the Hunnu mountain, and black rice and wheat seeds in the ruins of Ivolga. In addition to agricultural tools such as iron ploughshares, hoes, and sickle, historians have also found large jars for storing grain. Hunnu are good at shooting from horseback, and their clothes are suitable for riding. Clothing and food consumption were supplemented by products from animal husbandry, and grain products, handicrafts, and ornaments were bought from neighboring countries, mainly China. Hunnu worships the sun in the morning and the moon in the evening. The national emblem of the Mongols with the image of the sun, moon, and fire originates from the Hunnu, and the emblem of the Hunnu has been preserved in the current-day national flag and national symbol of Mongolia (Sukhbaatar 2001, 18). The emblem with the image of the sun and the moon is made of iron and gold which was found in several places, and it is kept in the ancient history section of the National History Museum of Mongolia. This emblem does not exist in any other nation.

There are many ruins of the cities of the ancient tribes of Mongolia, the Turks, the Uighurs, and the Khyatans. On the banks of the Orkhon River, 25 km north of Kharkhorin, the ancient capital city of Mongolia, is the remains of the Uighur capital Harbalgas. Researchers have identified that Harbalgas was a large city with an area of more than 30 km, consisting of royal palaces, temples, artisans, and trade services. This city was founded in 751 by the Uighur king Muyunchur. During Muyunchur’s time, the Uyghur state flourished to great power, and a monument with Runic inscriptions erected for him is located in the Khirgist valley in Saikhan soum of Bulgan province.

The Hunnu had a highly developed technology for processing dairy products, leather, animal hair and wool. A monument showing the high development of the Hunnu’s felt-making technology is the felt found in Noyon Mountain’s 6th grave. The technology of felt quilting originates from the Hunnu dynasty, and it has become a wonderful work of art due to the beautiful depiction of animals on it. The metallurgical technology of the Hunnu had achieved great success. A high technology was developed to produce steel by processing bronze and iron at a high level. Various bronze pots, bullet casings, knives, swords, and works of art are found in abundance. Hunnic pottery is very popular. Many different types of pottery made using the wheel are highly valued by researchers. In addition, the technological level of processing roof tiles, bricks, and tiles can be seen in the remains of the Hunnu city. The craftsmanship of Xianbei is highly developed. The Xianbei people made bows from cow horns, used to make gold and iron tools, and made weapons and tools, and used to weave clothes and household goods from skins (Sukhbaatar 1971, 148). Researchers believe that technologies for processing animal products such as milk, hair, wool, and leather, which had reached a high level of development during the Hunnu dynasty, were passed down to Xianbi and Zhuzhang. During the Khyatan period, the development of crafts found a unique feature. This is because the Khyatans combined the knowledge of nomadic and settled cultures to create their own rich cultural traditions. In the Khyatan Empire, a special Ministry of Craftsmen was established and official training in thread spinning and weaving was started, which contributed to the further development of handicrafts. The Khyatan people had a lot of experience in building cities, built Buddhist temples and turned them into stupas, and decorated the city with beautiful paintings. Khyatan blacksmiths in particular were skilled, as can be seen from their burial monuments.

Traces of the cultivation of the Hunnu have been found with many agricultural tools. The settlement of Ivolga, located on the banks of the Selenge River, used to be a settlement of farmers engaged in sole cultivation. A lot of pottery vessels for storing agricultural tools, seeds, and grain were found here. In addition, they used to farm in the valleys of major rivers, such as Orkhon and Selenge. Agriculture in Khyatan is more widely developed than in previous states. Since the Khyatan Empire belonged to peoples with a settled culture, the state began to regularly organize agricultural work on a large scale. In Khyatan, a special organization for agriculture was established and a law on agriculture was issued. In the Khyatan dynasty, farmers plowed the land with oxen-mounted metal plows, regularly netted their fields, and dug ditches. However, it should be noted that the nomadic Khyatan themselves had a farming tradition developed as a subsidiary farm and cultivated wheat types suitable for it.

A letter written by the Hunnu from Shanyu to the Han emperor was left as a copy in ancient Chinese sources. Scholars have come to agree that the Hunnu were literate, but some scholars disagree on exactly what script they used. Some researchers believe that the seals found in many archaeological sites of the Hunnu are the origin of writing and that they used seal letters. Some scholars believe that the Runic script, or the Yenisei script, was first used by the Hunnu and later passed on to the Turks and Uyghurs. During the Turkic and Uighur kingdoms, the Runic script was used. The oldest written relic found in Mongolia is the Runic writing relic. In 1889, Russian scientist N. M. Yadrintsev/1842–1894/announced the discovery of a giant statue with an unknown inscription in Khoshoo Tsaidam of the Orkhon riverbed/present-day Arkhangai province Khashaat soum area/caused a great sensation in the world. Researchers tried to decipher the Chinese inscriptions on the statue, which have Runic inscriptions on three sides and Chinese inscriptions on the back. This script became known as the unknown or Runic script. In December 1893, Professor V. L. Thomsen of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark/1842–1927/first read the runic script, which is considered a major discovery not only in Turkic studies but also in Oriental studies. In this way, the secret of the inscription on the illuminated monument erected for the Turkic king Bilge and his younger brother Prince Kultegin was solved. There are large monuments such as Moyunchur Illuminated Monument, known as Selengi Script, which is a witness of the widespread use of Runic script by the Uyghur State, the Suojian inscription located not far from it, and the Terkhin inscription found in Tariat sum of Arkhangai province.

Although there are few Khyatan sources, it is important that there are long song legends, song poems, and historical legends related to the history of Hunnu and Xianbei. The lyrics recorded in this Khyatan source are significant because they represent ancient Mongolian poetry. There are many sources of information about Khyatan literature. The Khyatan created literary works such as poems, songs, and hymns in their native language. Despite the influence of Khyatan and Buddhist writings on the literature of the Khyatan dynasty, the unique literary tone of the nomadic Chinese had little influence on Khyatan literature. Especially among the nomadic Khyatan, poetry is very developed, and many kinds of poems have been composed, such as stadium poems, decorative poems, illuminated statue poems, ethnic poems, etc.

The Hunnu had a 12-year calendar symbolized by animals. It was important for farming, performing religious rituals, celebrating festivals, and waging the war. This was noted in Khyatan sources. According to researchers, this is the 12-year calendar commonly used by peoples of the East today. There is an assumption that the counting symbolized by animals was first created by the Hunnu. It is believed that there was a 12-year calendar symbolized by animals in Khyatan during the 1st century BC. However, researchers believe that the 12-year counting did not originate in China, but spread to China from Western civilizations. The method of dividing the year into 12 months and dividing the time into 60 min originated in the valley of the river/in present-day Iraq, and other countries’ time-counting methods have developed widely.

Therefore, it is more plausible that the Hunnu and China borrowed the bilinear calendar originated in Mesopotamia through the peoples of Central Asia to the west. Researcher G. Sukhbaatar considering the above situation, wrote that there is no reason to believe that the Hunnu originated, and animals such as monkey and rooster, which symbolize 12 years, did not live in the land of the Hunnu, and the current Mongolian words monkey and rooster seem to have been borrowed from foreign languages. Researcher G. Sukhbaatar considering the above situation, wrote that there is no reason to believe that the Hunnu originated, and animals such as monkey and rooster, which symbolize 12 years, did not live in the land of the Hunnu, and the current Mongolian words monkey and rooster seem to have been borrowed from foreign languages (Sukhbaatar 2001, 51).

The 12-year calendar symbolized by animals was used by the Turks in the 8th century, and later in the Khyatan Empire, there were reports of professional astronomers creating calendars. The economy and state development of the ancient Mongolian states became the basis for the development of numeracy in those countries. The Hunnu were born out of necessity to keep records, to organize the population by decimal system, to count livestock and trade, and to keep records of people and animals for the purpose of paying tribute. There are reports that the Hunnu used to census population and livestock.

3 Considering Ancient Ties and Contacts Between the Ancient Mongolian Tribes and Other Asian Countries

4 Conclusions

It is the mother country where Mongolians have been living independently. It also represents the nomadic nature of the civilization and keeps it in its original classical meaning until now. The relationship between people, the culture of shared ownership of land and water that were basic elements on migration, the mutual worship between herdsmen and animals, the harmony between man and nature, and the concept of the consistent choice of Mongolian people’s way of life, all these have created the classical Mongolian style. It is important to study the social development of the ancient nomads of Mongolia and bring out the unique aspects of its development, to recognize the social economy and culture of the nomads, and to properly evaluate their contribution to the culture of the whole humanity. When studying the ancient history of Mongolia, Mongolian documents such as the Secret History of Mongols and Jami’ al-tawarikh contain many important ancient information from the Hunnu period. As reflected in the sources, the scientists mentioned that, judging by the equipment related to nomadic animal husbandry, which is the husbandry of the ancient Mongols, and their auxiliary quality of husbandry, their husbandry has fully entered the stage of classical type of nomadic husbandry. The nomadic civilization of Mongolians is unique, and superior, and has played an important role in the world history from thousands of years ago to the present day in many fields, such as communication, technology, culture, and nature conservation. According to the research conducted by scientists, researchers, it is still proven that the ancient Mongolian tribes had many ancient ties with some Asian countries. The civilization of the nomads has been preserved for many centuries, and it is certain that it will continue to be inherited for many centuries to come.