Inner Asian Studies

There are many unanswered questions about the evolution of the ancient ‘Silk Roads’ across Asia. This is especially the case in their mountainous stretches, where harsh terrain is seen as an impediment to travel. Considering the ecology and mobility of inner Asian mountain pastoralists, we use ‘flow accumulation’ modelling to calculate the annual routes of nomadic societies (from 750 m to 4,000 m elevation). Aggregating 500 iterations of the model reveals a high-resolution flow network that simulates how centuries of seasonal nomadic herding could shape discrete routes of connectivity across the mountains of Asia. We then compare the locations of known high-elevation Silk Road sites with the geography of these optimized herding flows, and find a significant correspondence in mountainous regions. Thus, we argue that highland Silk Road networks (from 750 m to 4,000 m) emerged slowly in relation to long-established mobility patterns of nomadic herders in the mountains of inner Asia.

The Mongol Zoominar presents:

Daily Life in the Mongol Empire
with
Susanne Reichert (University of Michigan)
"A Day at Karakorum: The City and Its People"

Alicia Ventresca Miller (University of Michigan)
"Life in the Northern Realms of the Mongol Empire"

Organizer and Moderator: Qiao Yang (Max Planck Institute for the History of Science)

Friday, February 18, 2022, 15:30 (IST time, GMT+2)

For Details and link:
Jonathan Brack: brackjon@bgu.ac.il
Wonhee Cho: wonheecho@gmail.com

In September 2014, upon Mongolia’s initiative, heads of state of Mongolia, China and Russia met during the SCO Summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan and agreed to work together on transnational infrastructure development. The three parties agreed in principle to build a ‘Steppe Road’ in Mongolia, reviving a pre-modern transport network that facilitated trade between China and Russia. ‘Steppe Road’ thus represents a breakthrough in Mongolia’s longstanding self-perception of tragic geography, stepping out into the centre of the emergent world traffic.

This international symposium will bring together Mongolian and international scholars and policy-makers to assess the development of Steppe Road in relation to the Chinese initiative of Silk Road Economic Belt, and Russia’s Eurasian Transport Network. We aim to reconceptualise Mongolia’s geopoliticality as a ‘transit nation’ between China and Russia, and promote Mongolia’s zam sudlal (‘roadology’) to make zam (‘road’) into both an object of study and a prism to view Mongolia in terms of Mongolia’s ‘connectivity’ to its neighbours and the world beyond. This is going to be the third (and last) conference of ‘Entangled Lines: Railways, Resource Booms, and Transnational Politics in Mongolia’ — a British Academy funded international network and mobility project between the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit (Cambridge University), and Institute of International Affairs (Mongolian Academy of Sciences).

This article continues the study of ethnic history and ethnic processes that took place in the space of Inner Asia. A comprehensive comparative analysis of the ethnic composition of the Turkic and Mongoliс peoples of Siberia, using sources of Russian administrative management, made it possible to analyze in detail the tribal structure of the Yakut and Buryat communities.
The study of array of Yakut and Buryat ethnonyms made it possible to distinguish four ethnonyms, on the example of which one can clearly trace the difference between ethnic groups in the Baikal and Lensky regions. Ethnonyms reflect the participation of the Buryat stratum in the ethnogenesis of the Yakuts, as indicated by the Buryat form of word formation. At the same time, through the prism of the Buryat stratum in the ethnogenesis of the Yakuts, one can see earlier ties of the ancestors of the Yakuts with the population of the Sayan-Khubsugul region — in Mongolian time (salji'ut). Ethnonyms revealed in the Yakut environment also reveal ties with Oirats. The linguistic reconstruction of the Yakut ethnonyms made it possible to establish the participation in the ethnogenesis of the Yakuts me-dieval Oirat community — ölöt. Relations with other regions of the Mongol Empire are also indirectly revealed — a reflection of these medieval ties, in our opinion, is the presence in the environment of the Buryats of the ethnonym Qangin and Sartul, which is assumed that they are homogenous Kipchaks and population of Central Asia, who merged into the Early Buryat community.
The results of the study reflect the complexity of the ethnic processes that took place among the Mongolian and Turkic nomads of Eurasia. The data obtained help to clarify the ethnic composition of the population of both Mongolia and Buryatia and Yakutia.

The presented text is devoted to an analysis of the main political concepts which appear in the historic memory of those Soviet citizens who worked in Mongolia in the second half of the ХХ century. Thousands of them have been influenced by their experience in Mongolia – this country was the most visited by Soviet specialists. For a long time, the Mongolian People's Republic was the most availabe foreign country for Soviet citizens– the so-called 16th republic of the USSR. Both everyday practices and attitude to Mongolia in the present time are a result of this perception. We focus on the concept of “progress” as the main ideological idiom of that time. It was «progress” that was seen as the foundation of Mongolia's transition fom feudalism to capitlaism. Some elements of this ideology can be found in contemporary historic and political literature devoted to Mongolia. Besides, an analysis of the concept of Soviet presence in this part of Asia is important for reflection  about “Soviet colonialism”. The author supposes that the Soviet idea of “progress” is in direct opposition to colonialism practices. Large-scale Soviet presence in Mongolia still has not been described in research works. Basically, Mongolia was included into the huge Soviet empire. This empire marked its rule using the same symbols: from Berlin to Ulan-Bator. Specific infrastructure was created to perform some Soviet rituals which were connected with the dominant ideology. Mongoian infrastructure was a continuation of the Soviet one, and visa-free regime between the USSR and Mongolia was  an indirect proof for this fact. This is why former Soviet specialists still mention “the great civilizing mission of the Soviet people” towards Mongolia. Drastic socio-economic chnges occurred in Mongolia during the years of the Soviet presence. Industrialization significantly changed the country's landscape.  These changes were described within the “Marxist” model of progress. At that time, all achievements in Mongolia's development were used as an evident proof of how correct the ideas of formational development were. However, these achievements were viewed as negative after the Democratic revolution 1989-1990. During the post-Socialist period, the attitude to Soviet aid was re-viewed in general. Also, the idea of drastic revoluationary transition to a new socio-economic formation was revised as well. As a result, the concept of de-modernization emerged in Russian texts. This phenomenon supposed destruction of the Soviet period infrastrucrure. We view this thesis as a controversial one. This thesis is a result of the post-Socialist trauma which was caused by the demise of the Soviet Union. The research is based on the floowing materials: social media memoires of Soviet citizens who worked in Mongolia is various periods; materials of the Soviet press, data from the Soviet historic narrative.

Based on fieldwork in western Mongolia during 1989 and 1990, this paper relates Mongolian xöömii or overtone singing to its social context and to the cognitive world of the performers. It looks at secular performance contexts, theories of origin, legendary/ historical development, recent transformation into an art form, traditional training methods and transmission, Mongolian classification of xöömii, and its relationship with nature and shamanism. A brief overview is given of previous non-Mongolian perspectives, which have either concentrated on acoustical and physiological analysis of the sounds themselves or have made claims that overtone singing is a “magical voice technique” causing spiritual and physical healing. The latter is contrasted with the Mongolian belief that, although consumption of the sounds may be beneficial, the production of xöömii is potentially harmful to the body.

"The paper deals with current monetary beliefs and magic shamanic practices in post-Soviet Altai. In traditional shamanism, known to us from ethnographic studies of the 19th–20th centuries, a shaman who takes money is punished by the spirits and could die. Despite the traditional taboos, for example, accepting money for their service, shamans take cash payment from their clients anyway. In the present socio-economic situation the shamans have to earn money, and they use several explanatory models that allow them to do so. This paper describes those models. Typically, the money is given to the spirits, and the shaman is only an intermediary, but then he takes the money.
The paper also discusses the importance of money in non-shamanic ritual practices: the semantics of copper and silver money in offerings to local spirits, to the springs and to the menhirs."

The monograph deals with the linguistic and historical study of the inscriptions on two 15th-century steles from Tyr cliff in the Lower Amur (now they are kept in V. K. Arsenyev Primorye State Museum in Vladivostok) with texts in Chinese, Jurchen, Mongolian (the 1413 stele), and in Chinese only (the 1433 stele). The present book is an attempt to make the first full translation of all texts of the Tyr steles into Russian with an extensive philological and historical commentary, indices, and illustrations. A new reconstruction of all the texts of two steles was performed from their plates and photos as well as on the basis of their earlier research. The comparative analysis of the texts made by the authors enabled them to make some conclusions which are important for the textual study of the monuments. The results are significant both for linguistics (the steles are unique evidence of language contacts in the Far East in the Middle Ages) and for the history and ethnography (the monuments contain important information about the Ming China policy towards the peoples of the Lower Amur, and a large number of ethnic and geographical names).

ХХ зуунд Монголын түүхэнд тохиосон олон чухал үйл явдлын дотроос ач холбогдол, цар хэмжээгээрээ товойн тодрох 1921 оны хувьсгалын анхдугаар зорилт нь хятад цэргийн эзэрхийллээс эх орноо чөлөөлөх явдал байв. 1920 оны намар ЗОУ-ын Засгийн газартай хэлэлцээр хийсэн МАН-ын төлөөлөгч С.Данзан нар "хятадын эзэрхийллээс ангижрах тэмцлийг монголчууд өөрийн хүчээр хийх"-ээр тохиролцож зэвсэг, санхүүгийн тусламж авсан билээ. Хиагт хотыг хятадын цэргээс чөлөөлөх байлдаанаас эх орончдын жил гаруй хугацаанд чармайн зүтгэсэн үйл хэргийн амжилт, эрх чөлөөний тэмцлийн өрнөл, ялалт хамаарч байсан нөхцөлд 1921 оны 3 сарын 6-7-нд МАН-ын Төв Хороо, Цэргийн штабын гишүүд Хиагтыг чөлөөлөх асуудлыг ул суурьтайгаар хэлэлцэж, олон тооны цэрэг хамгаалж буй хотыг эзлэн авахад бэрхшээлтэй тул хятад цэргийн эрх баригчидтай харилцан тохиролцох аргыг хэрэглэхээр шийдэж, "... уг хэрэгт Троицкосавск дахь ЗОУ-ын Гадаад хэргийн ардын комиссиаратын төлөөлөгч О.И.Макстенекийг зуучлахыг хүсэх, эл зөвшөөрөн хэлэлцэх явдлыг хятад цэргийн эрх баригчид хэрэгсэхгүй болгох аваас байлдаан үүсгэх" -ээр тогтжээ. Иймээс Хиагтын байлдааны үндсэн зорилт бол тухайн үед хятад цэрэг олноо бөөгнөрсөн Хиагтыг чөлөөлж, монголчуудын эрх чөлөөний тэмцлийн түшиц газрыг бий болгоход оршиж байв. Бүгд ерөнхийлэн захирах жанжин Д.Сүхбаатарын удирдсан Цэргийн штабаас байлдааны төлөвлөгөө боловсруулах, цэргийг шилжүүлэн байрлуулах, зохион байгуулалт хийх, байлдааны бэлтгэлийг хангах ажлыг нэн даруй гүйцэтгэжээ.Штабын гишүүнд түр сонгогдсон С.Данзангийн оронд цэргийн хэрэгт мэдлэг туршлагатай бэйс Л.Сумъяаг томилж, Эрдэнэ вангийн хошуу, Хиагтын зүүн харуулуудаас цэрэг нэмэн элсүүлжээ. 1921 оны 3 сарын 10-нд цоохор цэргийг тэргүүн хороо болгон даргад Б.Пунцагийг, Хиагтын зүүн харуул, Сумъяа бэйс, Эрдэнэ вангийн хошуудын цэргээр 2, 3, 4 дүгээр хороодыг байгуулан О.Цэрэндорж, Ц.Хасбаатар, Ч. Базарсад нарт захируулж, ангийн даргад Нанзад, Сономдаш, Дамдинсүрэн, Бумцэнд, Бальдир, Тогтох нарыг тохоожээ. Тэргүүн хороо 87, 2-р хороо 60, 3-р хороо 100 гаруй, 4-р хороо 130, пулемёт бууны анги 25-30 хүнтэй, нийт 400 орчим цэрэг байв. Мөн "Суртлыг номлогч" тушаалыг буй болгон Ц.Дамбадорж, Х.Чойбалсан нарт хариуцуулж, Цэргийн штабын бүрэлдэхүүнийг өөрчлөн даргад П.И.Литвинцев, туслахад Лятте, Беретти нарыг, дэд жанжинд бэйс Сумъяаг томилон, цэргийг "Ардын журамт цэрэг"гэж нэрлэхээр тогтсон нууц тушаалыг 3 сарын 12-нд хороо ангиудад хүргүүлжээ. Цэргийн нэрийг өөрчилсөн нь монголчуудын эрх чөлөөний тэмцлийг удирдан зохион байгуулах Ардын Түр Засгийн газар 1921 оны 3 сарын 13-нд байгуулагдаж түүнд цэргийг захируулсантай холбоотой.

Those Chinese scholars, who research the history of the Southern Huns, know the special construction method of Tongwancheng from the 130th coil of Jin shu. The Huns applied the so-called building sacrifice
in order to strengthen its walls. It is not an independent, isolated story in the steppe world; rather it has some parallels in Southern and Eastern Europe — the former territory of the Hungarian Kingdom — and
the Caucasus as well. Because of the shortness of time, I only  summarise some research point of views about their origin and present several ancient Hungarian examples of it.

БОлОН ХӨгжСӨН НЬ хх зууны Монголын газар тариалангийн хөгжлийг төрөөс баримталж буй бодлого, дэвшүүлсэн зорилт, хэрэгжүүлсэн арга хэлбэр, явц, техник, технологийн дэвшил, боловсон хүчний хөгжил, нийгэмд үзүүлсэн нөлөөлөл зэрэг гол үзүүлэлтийг баримтлан 1900-1958 он, 1959-2000 он хэмээх хоёр үндсэн үед хуваан үзэж болно. энэ хоёр дахь үеийн эхний жилүүдэд буюу атрын анхны аяны жилүүдэд Монголд атар газрыг эзэмшин газар тариалангийн үйлдвэрлэлийг хөгжүүлснээр хаа-н нэгэн том салбар болон хөгжиж чаджээ.

В данном альбоме представлены традиционные костюмы бурят (эхиритов, булагатов, хори, хонгоодоров, сартулов и цонголов) из фондовой коллекции Национального музея Республики Бурятия в подробной научной интерпретации этнической истории бурятских племен и родов, их расселения, истории развития традиционного костюма и символики.

Издание предназначено для широкого круга читателей, интересующихся историей и этнографией бурятского этноса, историко-культурным наследием этнической Бурятии.

The Stele commemorated Idiquts of Qocho, dating to 1334 and found in 1933 in Gansu, bears Chinese and Uyghur inscriptions including a legend on the origin of the Uyghur ruling dynasty. According to the text, its founder was Udan Boquq Qan born from a tumour on a tree. It seems that in Inner Asia such legends are testified only by the sources of the late 13th and 14th centuries, the manuscript Z of “The Travels of Marco Polo”, “Yuan wen lei” and “Yuan shi” among them, and always referring to Turpan. So, the “origin of a powerful man from a tumour on a tree” motif looks like an innovative and unique dialect trait of the Turpan tradition. But when one expands geography of comparative data, it becomes clear that it is not the case. The crucial parallel is found in East Siberian folklore. A record made in 1925 among the Yakuts tells about a miraculous tree with tumours from which shamans and other persons acquainted with magic are born. The fact of the parallel agrees with data on the origins of the Yakuts and data of comparative mythology. The ancestors of this Turkic-speaking group inhabited an area between the Ordos and the Sayan Mountains before 200 CE, and the vicinities of the Baikal (ca. 800–1200 CE) before their migration in northern parts of Eastern Siberia. That is why there is the set of specific Southern (probably, of Inner Asian origin) motifs in Yakut folklore tradition. In Eurasia the “origin of a powerful man from a tumour on a tree” motif is found rarely and its presence in Inner and North Asia only in such Turkic-speaking groups as the Uyghurs and the Yakuts has most likely a historical explanation. The Yakut parallel indirectly testifies to the idea that the motif was known to some ethnic groups of South Siberia by the 12th–13th century.

According to a story told in 1964 by an old maotou (worker in wool shipping, packing and processing), it was a man named Baldy Ge (Ge Tuzi), sent in 1879 by British merchants in Tianjin on an investigation of the commercial possibilities of China's Northwest who was responsible for alerting foreign companies to the inexpensive wool produced in Tibet, Qinghai and Mongolia and thereby launching a trade that would become an important economic link between Hui (Chinese Muslim) and Han society, as it made sheeps' wool Tianjin's most important export by the 1890s. In Shizuishan, on the western leg of the Yellow River's great oxbow, Ge noticed a small group of the local inhabitants smearing what looked like earth into hanks of sheep's wool. He asked them what they were doing. "Soaking it with shit to put on the crops," they replied. Bemused, Ge asked them why they did not sell the wool and make some money from it. The locals answered, "Except for making felts, this stuff has no other use-there's no way to sell it. All we can do is soak it with shit." Baldy Ge, the story continues, made a tidy profit from this messy state of affairs by going into business as a procurer of wool for the foreign firm of Collins and Co. (Gaolin yanghang). Ge relied upon local middlemen, including inn-keepers and a transport boss, in order to communicate with the nomadic producers and to ship wool across the Inner Mongolian Ordos toward Tianjin (Liu Tingdong 1981:182-84). Although its details are probably apocryphal, this tale nonetheless highlights two essential aspects of the little-known but important episode in the economic history of north China: first, that wool was a substance little valued by the Han Chinese themselves before a foreign market for it opened rather suddenly in the late nineteenth century; 2 and second, that the linguistic, cultural and geographic barriers arrayed between the Tibetan, Mongol and other producers of wool and the British, American and German buyers required the intercession of a variety of intermediaries. Because the Hui of China's Northwest were situated culturally and geographically between Han China and Inner Asia, it was for the most part Hui who assumed the crucial intermediary roles in the wool trade that flourished in China in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Moreover, the economic opportunities provided by the wool trade to Hui merchants linked the wool-producing and-collecting areas of Qinghai, Gansu, and Ningxia more closely with the rest of North China, even as central 1 An earlier version of this paper was submitted in a graduate seminar at Stanford University ca. 1988. I benefited from the assistance of Professor Jonathan Lipman in the first stages of research; Professor Lyman Van Slyke offered valuable comments that informed the writing of this second version, which I submitted for publication a few years later, but never placed in a journal. Some of the data may still be useful, so I provide it now (July 2016), without further revision, via Academia.edu. I include the original glossary as a wry comment on the effects of software changes over the decades. 2 The Chinese very early invented spinning and weaving technology and applied it to silk and a variety of bast fibers (such as ramie and hemp); after the thirteenth century cotton technology became important and eventually took pride of place from the bast fibers. Yet the Chinese never seem to have used woolen textiles for garments to any extent. People in the northwestern and western regions of China did manufacture woolen textiles as early as the neolithic period, and woven carpets have been common in the northwest up to recent times; Chinese used the skins of sheep and goats with the attached fleece for garments where these were available, and wool was felted to make hats and footwear. But woolen garments were never popular, padded outerwear of silk, cotton other vegetable fiber being the common cold weather choice. (I am indebted to Professor Dieter Kuhn for information on the history of Chinese textiles.)

Abstract: Based on previous studies, the present paper makes a new research to the origin, clan and family background of Tonyuquq - the powerful minister of the second Türk Qaghanate. The Uighur ruler Shi-jian irkin and Pu-sa family belonged to Ashide clan, and Tonyuquq could be the grandson of Pu-sa. This family kept close relationship with that of Xueyantuo (*Syr-Tardush) Qaghan. It was excluded from Uighur tribe after Tu-mi-du had founded the Qaghanate, and was gradually mixed with the remnants of Xueyantuo who had surrendered to Tang government in the south. It then joined with Türk Ashide clan at the south of the great desert, and later returned to north to recover the second Qaghanate with the Türk tribes. There could be some associated evidence in Turkic Runic inscription of steles Choren and Küli Chor. Ulugh Küli Chor and Tonyuquq could be the same person. Ashide Yuan-zhen, the powerful minister of the second Türk Qaghanate, had similar Uighur-Xueyantuo background with Tonyuquq. According to multiple proofs, the hypothesis that Tonyuquq and Ashide Yuan-zhen was the same person still has strong consistency and is highly convincing.
Key Words: Tonyuquq; Uighur; Xueyantuo; Türk; Ashide Yuan-zhen.
提要：本文在前人研究基础之上对后突厥汗国重臣暾欲谷的出身、族属与家世进行了新的考证。回纥首领时健俟斤－菩萨家族属阿史德部，暾欲谷可能是菩萨之孙，该家族与薛延陀可汗家族关系密切，在吐迷度建立汗国之后被排挤出回纥，逐渐融入南下投唐的薛延陀余部，进而与漠南的突厥阿史德部合流，又随突厥诸部北返复国。突厥卢尼文《雀林碑》及《阙利啜碑》中可能存在与之有关的证据，元老阙利啜可能与暾欲谷是同一人。同为后突厥重臣的阿史德元珍具有与暾欲谷相似的回纥－薛延陀背景，众多证据表明，暾欲谷与阿史德元珍是同一人的假说仍具有较高的合理性。
关键词：暾欲谷  回纥  薛延陀  突厥  阿史德元珍

The paper aims to examine the concept of ‘national’ or ‘folk’ music within the state culture-building process in both the socialist and post-socialist eras in Mongolia. By focusing on process of nationalisation, commercialisation and popularisation, the paper argues that musical culture was and has been politicised in both eras. Furthermore, it argues that musical culture in post-socialist Mongolia can be regarded as the continuation, transformation and, in some cases, the amplification of the state-socialist culture-building process, designed to be ‘national in form and socialist in content’, so as to become nationalist in form and commercial in content

Среди довольно большого количества наскальных рисунков древнетюркского времени выделяются разные стилистические группы, хотя по сюжетам они во многом повторяют друг друга. В основном этовсадники, скачущие на лошадях, стреляющие на скаку из луков, держащие в руке знамена или штандарты, копья. Идентификация восточного, курыканского наскального искусства была осуществлена А. П. Окладниковым в результате сопоставления рисунков на песчаниковых плитках, найденных при раскопках курыканского городища на горе Манхай в Кудинской степи *Окладников, Запорожская, 1959, с. 109+, с изображениями на скалах, особенно на Шишкинских. Очень выразительны рисунки курыканских лошадей. Как правило, они силуэтны, выполнены плавными, изогнутыми линиями. У лошадей мощные, высокие шеи и непропорционально маленькие головы. Обычно показаны все четыре ноги: лошади как бы бегут широкой рысью. На головах возвышаются небольшие султанчики, похожие на таштыкские, но не совсем такие. Вообще вся манера изображения курыканских лошадей и других животных имеет некоторые черты сходства с таштыкским искусством, но все же отличается от него. Всадники изображены очень схематично, их ноги часто не показаны. Одной из особенностей, сближающей курыканских лошадей с рисунками Минусинской котловины и Алтая, является уже упоминавшаяся в разделе о стилистических инвариантах «зубчатая» грива. Алтайские и минусинские петроглифы древнетюркского времени отождествляются по рисунку на роговой облицовке передней луки седла из алтайского древнетюркского могильника Кудыргэ *Гаврилова, 1965, табл. XVI: 1+ и по гравировке на «изваянии»-валуне из того же могильника *Гаврилова, 1965, табл. VI+. Любопытно, что на изображениях лошадей кудыргинского валуна наряду с типично древне-тюркскими стилистическими признаками-«зубчатая» грива, особые пропорции туловищ и ног-прослеживаются некоторые более древние черты: подчеркнутый изгиб переднего края морды, глаз, примыкающий к линии лба. Их мы наблюдали на рисунках лошадей татарского времени (рис. 87, 88). Большую серию древнетюркских тамгообразных изображений горного козла выделил А. Д. Грач *Грач, 1957, с. 408-414; 1973, с. 316-333+, вполне убедительно отождествивший их с тамгами на орхонских камнеписных стелах 47. Таких петроглифов довольно много по всему

Yenisey yazıtları ifadesi ile, bugünkü Tuva ve Hakasya sınırları içerisinde ele geçmiş yazıtlar anlaşılmaktadır. Yenisey yazıtları, ilk keşfedilen yazıtlar olduğu hâlde Moğolistan’daki büyük kağanlık yazıtlarının gölgesinde kalmaktan kurtulamamıştır. Bunun en önemli nedenlerinden birisi, Moğolistan bozkırlarında bulunan ve özellikle II. Türk Kağanlığı ve Uygur Kağanlığı yazıtlarının satır sayısının çok olmasıdır.
Kitapta, Yenisey yazıtlarının bulunuşu, ilk çalışmalar, Türkiye’de yapılan çalışmalar ve yazıtlarla ilgili genel bilgilerden sonra, bugünkü Tuva ve Hakasya sınırları içerisinde ele geçmiş runik harfli eski Türk yazıtlarının runik harfli metni, transkripsiyonu, günümüz Türkçesine çevirisi, üzerinde yapılan çalışmalar verilmiştir. Her yazıtla ilgili bölümün sonunda o yazıttaki kimi sözcükler ve sözcük grupları üzerinde durulmuş ve etimolojik değerlendirmelere yer verilmiştir. Kitabın sonunda ise dizin, kaynakça ve yazıtlardan resimler bulunmaktadır.

Joyce Toomre also attem pts to measure the im pact of this experiment in her innovative contribution, which uses oral interviews about cookin g methods to chart the transformations traditional Armenian culture has undergone since the early twentieth century. Although one wonders whether the recent revival of the old foodways are not super® cial, her approach could fruitfully be applied to many other cases to help assess the nature of ethnic identity and its ability to endure under stress.

[From the English summary]
The book describes the history of theocratic statehood in 20th Century Mongolia from the establishment of theocratic structures to the demise of the Mongolian Buddhist church in late 1930s.
The Introduction contains an overview of the studies undertaken, the main sources and an outline of the different research approaches.
Part I. Preconditions and the Formation of Theocracy.
Chapter 1. World-View Systems in China, the Yuan and the Qing Empires: Religion, the Problem of Legitimization and the Legacy of States contains a comparative analysis of the traditional Chinese, Yuan, and Qing world-view systems, data on the formation and history of the Qing Empire, legitimization of the Qing power for Chinese and Mongolian people, the crisis in the Qing, the problem of the legacy from the Qing Empire for republican China. The Qing Empire was not the same as China; its world-forming view in many aspects was fundamentally different from that of China. It is argued that Republican China has no historical legacy from the Qing Empire and that Mongols were subjected to the Manchu emperors of the Qing state and not to China.
Chapter 2. The Formation of the Mongolian Theocracy describes the origin and early formation of Mongolian Theocracy after the dispersal of the Gelug sect in Mongolia, as well as a the clerical hierarchy, theocracy and monasteries. I argue that higher lamas were not “clerical feudal lords,” and their disciples who worked for them (Mo: shavi) were not serfs.
Chapter 3. The 'New Policy' of the Qing and the National Liberation Movement of the Mongols analyses the roots of the movement of Mongols for their independence. This movement was inspired but by the 'new policy' of the late Qing that was aimed at sinicizing the Mongols and the colonization of their land by the Hans. The history of the colonization of Barga, Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia is described using data from archives and published reports of witnesses. The 13th Dalai Lama’s stay in Khalkha in 1904–1906 is described.
Part II. The Realization of the Concept of Theocratic Statehood.
Chapter 4. Proclamation of Independence of Mongolia contains the description of how the Khalkha Mongols proclaimed their independence in 1911. After the collapse of the Qing Empire, Mongols acquired an additional legal basis for creating their nation-state, because the Republic of China, despite her declarations of the “five races”, was effectively a nation-state of only Han people.
Chapter 5. Absolute Theocratic Monarchy describes the system existed in Mongolia in 1911–1921. Outer Mongolia is considered the center of Mongolian statehood. The attempts by the Mongols to co-opt Barga, Inner Mongolia and Kukunor into the state, the illegitimate occupation of Outer Mongolia by the Chinese and her liberation in 1921 by Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg are all described. The main events of the liberation arising from the activities of Ungern's troops were: the freeing of the Bogdo Gegen from domestic arrest; the capture of Mongolian capital Niislel Khure, Choiryn, Zamyn-Ud and the victory at Ulan-Khad. It was only the capture of northern Maimacheng that was done by the Red Mongolian troops. Special sections are devoted to the population of Mongolia and its social structure, administrative and territorial division, and their changes in different periods. Brief information on the economy, defense and education, as well as anti-feudal movements is provided.
As the newly declared monarch, the 8th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu acquired the power of an emperor in relation to ruling the territory, taxing his subjects, his legislative and judicial authority, approval of officials, granting titles and honorary awards etc. This power had its roots in two profound traditions: the great khans', with its Mongolian origin, and the theocratic tradition with Indian and Tibetan Buddhist origins. The Russian-Mongolian treaty on November 3, 1912, in reality had significant differences between its meaning in equivalent Russian and Mongolian versions: for the former it meant autonomy and for the latter independence. As such, Mongols considered this treaty to be an international recognition of their state. In fact, the unambiguous recognition of the autonomy of Outer Mongolia under the suzerainty of China was done in the tripartite Kyakhta Agreement on June 7, 1915. However, this autonomous status did not mean that Outer Mongolia had become inalienable part of China, but that the latter held only formal suzerain rights over Mongolia. Indeed Outer Mongolia maintained the key characteristics of statehood.
Chapter 6. Theocracies on Other Territories Inhabited by Mongols contains a brief description of the attempt of Dambijantsan (“Ja Lama”) to establish his personal principality in Western Mongolia, the histories of Pan-Mongolian (Buryatia, Barga and Inner Mongolia) and Balagat (Buryatia) movements, as well as data on theocratic structures in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia.
Part III. The Demise of Theocracy
Chapter 7. Formation of the Revolutionary Authority period may be subdivided into several stages with regard to changes in the situation of theocracy: from the formation of underground Mongolian circles in Niislel Khure and their transition under the influence of Bolsheviks to the formation of the Mongolian People's Party with the People's Government and their rise to power, with a short period of the limited monarchy (1921–1924).
Chapter 8. Dismantling of Buddhist Church Structures (1924–1939) started in the first years of Mongolian People's Republic (after 1924), became more intensive in the periods of the “right deviation”, “left deviation” and the “new course”, and ended with total destruction of Buddhist church in Mongolian People's Republic. Its methods and the rates of change are analyzed with statistical data being shown on the waning numbers of clergy, monasteries, temples, and clerical property to illustrate the process of the demise of the Buddhist church and theocracy during this period.
Chapter 9. Attempts at the Conservation of the Theocracy are described in detail: attempts at the restoration of the absolute monarchy in the period (1921–1924); the searches for the reincarnation of the 8th Bogdo Gegen, and other Khutuktus and Khubilgans; conspiracies and rebellions after 1924. Detailed data on trials and repressions are provided.
Conclusion draws out generalizations from the chapters. It concludes that Tibetan theocracy served as a model for the development of Mongolian theocracy. The theocratic structures promoted by the Manchu emperors, became alternative centers of influence and authority in Mongolia. All popular movements among Mongols at that time were directed at the removal of the injustice of officials and aristocrats (not clergy) but were not promoting a change of the social system. Proclamation of independence as a theocratic monarchy of Jebtsundamba Khutuktu reflected the legacy of great khan authority which was transferred by the kinship from Genghis Khan to the 1st Bogdo Gegen, and then in the line of reincarnations to the 8th Bogdo Gegen. The enthronement of the 8th Bogdo Gegen combined the tradition of proclaiming great khans from Genghis with the tradition of Buddhist monarchs and reincarnating great lamas.
The supreme authority in both Mongolia and Tibet were similarly designated: with religious and lay authority combined together. This combination corresponded to the new perception of the legitimization of the supreme authority experienced by the Mongols from the 16th Century onwards. Analysis of the situation in Mongolia revealed that there were no preconditions for social revolution, and there was no anti-clerical mood among people. Neither socialism, nor democracy but traditionalism under the theocratic authority of the Bogdo Gegen was the choice of people in Outer Mongolia.
However, with regard to China, Outer Mongolia could not keep its independence without external support. In contrast to the Russian Tsar's Government that assisted Mongols to maintain their traditionalism, the Soviet leadership was ready to help them only on the condition of social revolution aimed at building communism.
The weakening of Buddhist clerical structures in early years of the MPP rule consisted mainly in limitating the authority of the aristocracy and higher theocratic structures. After the death of the 8th Bogdo Gegen in 1924 and the proclamation of MPR, the Party conducted a policy of gradual expulsion of aristocrats and theocrats from the ruling structures, some control over the church and splitting up of the clergy.
The “left deviation” (1929–1932), imposed on the Mongols by the Comintern and the Bolshevik Party, led to an acceleration of socialist reforms. This was accompanied by an unprecedented number of conspiracies and uprisings thus creating a challenge to the rule of MPRP. As a result, the “new course” was proclaimed in 1932 with some alleviation for Buddhism for a few years.
At this point the Mongolian leader, Kh. Choibalsan, followed J. Stalin's advice and took the most effective way to eliminate theocracy and the church: the existence of the clergy was made impossible economically, which was accompanied with propaganda against “public enemies” and with repressions. The documents studied show that highest and most educated lamas were the most common victims of repressions. Most of charges at their trials can be shown to be falsified.
Despite all the conflicts of the 20th Century and the changes in the social systems, all the leaders of the State of Mongolia including the Bogdo Khan, the revolutionaries and the democrats all followed the fundamental tenet of Mongolia's independence from China and the idea of uniting the Mongolian nation. This is reflected in the political succession of the modern State of Mongolia from the theocratic monarchy of the 8th Bogdo Gegen.