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(1100–1400 Ce)? an Examination of Their Population History

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(1100–1400 Ce)? an Examination of Their Population History WHO WERE THE MONGOLS (1100–1400 CE)? AN EXAMINATION OF THEIR POPULATION HISTORY Christine Lee One of the largest empires in recorded history lasted from 1206–1368 CE. The Mongol Em- pire covered an area of over 33,000,000 square kilometres, from modern day Russia to Korea. More than 100 million people made up this multilingual and multiethnic population. Citizens included Mongols, Uighurs, Kitan, Turks, Persians, Koreans, Tanguts, Jurchens, and Chinese. Many different types of livelihood were practised, including semi-nomadic pastoralists, farm- ers, military, tradesmen, craftsmen, and merchants. Whether due to their livelihood, warfare, or state mandated migration, these populations interacted on a grand scale seldom possible previously in history (Franke / Twitchett 1994). This study examined the population history of the Medieval Period local population of Mon- golia. This population will be referred to as the Mongols to distinguish them from the Modern Period (1700–1930 CE) Mongolians. The questions explored include which populations were possibly ancestral to the Mongols, which contemporary populations may have intermarried with the Mongols, and fi nally which populations may be descended from the Mongols. Archaeology and Historical Evidence The Mongols were fi rst referred to by the Chinese in the 4th century under a Xianbei name. This has been used to propose the Mongols were descended from the Xianbei people. How- ever, several different populations were living in Manchuria at this time, the Chinese seldom distinguished between non-Chinese groups, and it is not clear at this time how they were all related. The Mongols may have originated from the area of the Lesser Khingan Mountains in Manchuria. Sometime during the 10th century these people moved south-west to Mongolia along the Onon River, and then in the 11th century settled on the Kherlen Gol. The Mongols were initially under Turkic (552–734 CE) rule, and then that of the Kidan (907–1125 CE). The various Mongol tribes were then united under Chinggis Khan in 1206 CE (Kessler 1993). After the fall of the Yuan dynasty (1215–1368 CE) based in China, the Mongols retreated back into Mongolia (Mote 1994). While some historical and archaeological facts about the Mongols are known, very little about their population dynamics has been recorded. Contemporary court documents recorded intermarriages between citizens of various ethnicities within the empire (Franke / Twitchett 1994, 29). Social stratifi cation based on ethnicity was reinforced by the legal code. These laws may have had some impact on marriage patterns. During the Yuan dynasty (1215–1368 CE), 580 Christine Lee different laws applied to the following groups (1) Mongols, (2) Western Asians, (3) North- ern Chinese, Tanguts, Koreans, and (4) Southern Chinese (Mote 1994, 631). The government moved Chinese, Soghdian, and Jurchen soldiers, architects and craftsmen to the capital at Ka- rakorum (Rodgers et al. 2005, 813). This long distance prescribed movement of people into different areas would have fostered new patterns of interaction. Mongolian mortuary prac- tices also exhibit considerable variability, with primary interments, cremations, and secondary burials. These different burial styles may represent an importation of new cultural or religious practices into the Mongol Empire (Crubézy et al. 2006). The following section is a summary of the various archaeological cultures in this study, which may have contributed to Mongol population history. These various cultures were sam- pled based on permission to access the collections, large enough sample size, state of preserva- tion of the skeletal remains, and likelihood of interaction. The oldest population sampled was from the Slab Grave culture (1200–400 BCE) found throughout Mongolia and Transbaikalia. The individuals buried in this type of grave are typi- cally of Asian descent (Lee 2007). Slab Grave burials are closely related to the Karasuk culture of Siberia and are distinct from those of the Central Plains in China. Grave goods show an ex- tensive trade network with the Central Plains, Central Asia, Afghanistan, and India (Askarov et al. 1992; Ishjamts 1992). The second sample used to determine possible ancestry for the Mongols are the Chandman’ (700–400 BCE) burials from Uvs aimag. Burials at the Chandman’ site in Mongolia are buried in stone coffi ns within a timber-lined pit. They are possibly ethnically related to Khirigsuur burials and the Uyuk culture in Kazakhstan (Askarov et al. 1992). The burials from this site are predominantly non-Asian (Lee 2007). Due to the small number of Khirigsuur individuals available for study, the Chandman’ sample was included as a representative substitute. The Xiongnu (300 BCE–200 CE) were a multiethnic and multilingual nomadic empire. The Xiongnu people may have been an ethnic entity as far back as the Shang period (1500–1000 BCE). Xiongnu graves are related to the cultures in southern Siberia. Grave goods includ- ed bronze cooking vessels, horse equipment, turquoise, gold, wool, lacquer, mirrors, beads, weaponry, and silk. The most common type of Xiongnu burials from Mongolia has a wooden coffi n within a deep pit, under a ring of stones on the surface. Royal burials are usually covered with a trapezoid mound having an entrance ramp. These tombs are sometimes accompanied by satellite burials of circular rings (Kradin 2001; Kyzlasov 1992). Mongolian archaeologists believe the Xiongnu originated from the preceding local Slab Grave culture in Mongolia (Tör- bat 2004). The Xianbei (155–581 CE) were nomadic people originally from the Greater Khingan Mountains in Inner Mongolia, and then they migrated into south-eastern Manchuria and Mongolia, located between the Wuhuan and Xiongnu states (Huang 2000; Kessler 1993). They were early on subjects of the Xiongnu Empire, but they then defeated the northern branch of the Xiongnu, and added the conquered land to their own empire (155–230 CE). The Xianbei were a multiethnic and possibly multilingual (Mongolian and Turkic?) confederation. They encouraged intermarriage by their people with the Xiongnu and the Chinese. The nobility, however, was restricted to only the Xianbei and Xiongnu. The intermarriage of the Xiongnu and Xianbei may have been the genesis for the modern Mongolian people (Kyzlasov 1992; Yu Ying-Shi 1986). The Kitan were originally from Liaoning and Jilin provinces in Manchuria and were possi- bly related to people the Chinese recorded as the Donghu. They are descended from the Yuwen Who were the Mongols? 581 branch of the Xianbei, and possibly spoke a Mongolian or Tungus language. The Kitan are fi rst recorded by the Chinese in the 4th century CE, and had interactions with the Xianbei, Turk, and Korean Empires (Kuhn 2006; Shen Hsueh-Man 2006; Ta La / Zhang Yaqiang 2006). The Kitan were part of the Uighur Empire in Mongolia before 840 CE, and many Uighur later served at the Kitan imperial court. The Kitan founded the Liao Dynasty (907–1115 CE) in northern China. Their empire encompassed Manchuria and portions of Mongolia and north- ern China, and was multiethnic like many previous nomadic empires, such as the Xiongnu and Xianbei. The Kitan are documented as having intermarried with the Uighur, Qiang, and Turks. The royal family often intermarried with the Uighur. Their citizens included Chinese, Uighurs, Turks, Mongols, and Jurchen (Proto-Manchurian). They seldom intermarried with the Chinese. They were absorbed by the Jurchens (Manchurians) who founded the Chin Dy- nasty (1115–1234 CE). The Kitan disappeared as a distinct ethnic identity around 1300 CE (Franke 1990; Sinor 1992). Previous Physical Anthropological Studies Few large-scale physical anthropological studies have been done on archaeological samples from Mongolia and China. The majority of the previously published studies used DNA and cranial metrics as their primary methodologies. Both of these methodologies have serious is- sues, which should be considered when evaluating these studies. Cranial metrics is a method- ology presently used only in East Asia on archaeological skeletons mainly to determine the question of race. Outside of East Asia this methodology is only used in forensics and fossil research. DNA studies also have issues with small sample size, whether the DNA is nuclear or mitochondrial, and controlling for time and geography. Keyser-Tracqui et al. (2006) tried to determine possible descendants of the Egiin Gol Xiong- nu among modern day Mongolians. DNA samples from 42 burials were compared to modern day Mongolians from the same geographic area, and a modern day pan-Mongolian sample. The results showed the Egiin Gol Xiongnu to be closely related to both modern Mongolian popu- lations. They support the hypothesis that there is population continuity in Mongolia from the Xiongnu period to the present. Yukin Fu et al. (2007) used mtDNA of 16 individuals from the Chengpuzi site, Inner Mon- golia, China. The Chengpuzi site was occupied by the Wanggu culture. The Wanggu were instrumental in aiding the Mongolians in incorporating China into the Mongol Empire. It is unknown whether the Wanggu were related to Mongolian language speakers or to Turkic lan- guage speakers. The Wanggu individuals at Chengpuzi were found to be closely related to Tur- kic speakers such as the Uzbek, Uighur, and Kazak, and also to Mongolians from Mongolia. The Wanggu were not as closely related to the Mongolians living in the same geographical area of Inner Mongolia. The authors concluded the Wanggu exhibited a complex population history, and were an Asian population with substantial non-Asian admixture from Turkic speakers. Tumen (2004), using cranial metric traits, found cranial metric continuity within Mongo- lia from the Bronze Age, through the Iron Age (Xiongnu), to Modern period Mongolians. She concluded the people in Mongolia have had a shared population history dating from the Bronze Age to the present. 582 Christine Lee Few studies have examined the Medieval Period within this region. Alekseev and Gochman (1983) did a survey of cranial metric measurements of skulls throughout the former Soviet Union.
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