The terms "Mongol" and "Mongolian" have been very much abused owing to the fame of Jenghiz and Kubla Khan, and are, indeed, often applied to all the inhabitants of the Far East. Mon gol should, however, be limited to a purely linguistic and national sense and should include only the speakers of Mongol languages, who are connected to a certain extent culturally, and often only distinguished from their cousins the Turks, by difference of lan guage. Physically, although probably to a large extent Armenoid, they have come into contact with a variety of other stocks which have considerably modified the original type, which varies from district to district. Within historical times the Mongols have wan dered far and wide over an area which has always been thinly populated. On the other hand, among nomads over a large area there is apt to be less divergence of type than in a settled popula tion of relatively greater density. These two different aspects will serve to explain their remarkable homogeneity which appears in spite of local differences. The racial history of the Mongols as an entity begins with Jenghiz Khan, whose father was the ruler of only 40,000 tents. Jenghiz was born about 1165 "with a piece of clotted blood in his hand." His horoscope foretold a bloody career, and the prophet in this case did not lie. He succeeded in binding the Mongols into a loose political organization, which in its original form did not survive his death, but the fruits of his military genius were sufficient to carry the Mongol horsemen over most of Asia and as far into Europe as the walls of Vienna. Under Kubla Khan the Mongols conquered China and held it for a brief period. Their racial history has, however, always been of varied fortunes; they have advanced westwards and southwards and they have retired again. Under the Mings, Inner Mongolia, one of the most typical Mongol countries, was cultivated by the Chinese, and to-day the Chinese are once more invading with the plough this virgin prairie land, "the country of the long grass." (See MONGOLS.) Racially, these slow movements are probably more important than the greater cataclysmic invasions of the Mongol armies. The Chinese, being sedentary agriculturists, definitely establish their racial type wherever they settle. The nomad Mongol, with his per petual movement, makes tremendous incursions, but owing prob ably to the smallness of his numbers in relation to the area occu pied does not permanently establish his type where there is racial competition from people who settle a smaller area with a denser population.
The Mongols may be conveniently divided into three groups: the Western Mongols or Eleuts (q.v.), who are called Kalmucks by their neighbours; the Central Mongols or Buriats (q.v.) ; and the Eastern or "true" Mongols, the descendants of Jenghiz's sol diers, at present inhabiting Gobi and Inner Mongolia.
Social Organization.—The Mongol social organization is somewhat complicated owing to its dual nature, partly ecclesiasti cal, partly military (among the Muslim Mongols the ecclesiastical organization does not, of course, exist and their social system is similar to that of the Turks). The lay population is divided into two classes, the serfs and the nobles, to certain families of whom the hereditary princes (Jassak) belong. The clergy include the higher clergy—that is, the living Buddhas who, except in one case, which is hereditary, are chosen at birth as "reincarnations," and the lamas, it being necessary for the religious before taking the vows to obtain the permission of his overlord,—and the ec clesiastical serfs, who are presented by their chiefs to monasteries. The clergy are celibate, but the laity are polygamous, to a greater or lesser extent, and at least in Inner Mongolia to-day about two males out of three take vows. The laity are organized for the most part on a military basis, the religious being excused service.
The unit of organization is the bak or group, a small conglom eration of tents on the steppe, governed by an elected elder. A. number of groups form a banner under its hereditary prince, usu ally the eldest son of the last prince, although certain princes, known as "seal-less" princes, and some nobles have no banner. The adult males are also organized into troops of horsemen and the latter into regiments. The prince has complete control over the persons of his subjects, although to a certain extent the old steppe law has been modified by the Russians and Chinese in their respective territories. Its first and foremost principle is military; disobedience to the khan or his subordinates is immediately pun ished by death. Otherwise crimes are punished by a payment, usu ally in kind, cattle, sheep or camels, to the sufferer or his group.
The banners are grouped together into a confederacy, which forms part of the heritage of a single princely house, and was formerly ruled by the ancestor of all the princes who now hold the more or less independent banners which compose it. The Manchus some what modified this system by introducing leagues with elected princes, managing to secure the election of their nominee, most of the confederacies more or less corresponding to existing confed eracies.
The mode of life is intimately associated with geographical con ditions. The food quest is limited practically entirely to the pro ducts of their herds ; chiefly of sheep and ponies. They have two types of houses. The travelling tent is a simple ridge pole tent, covered with dark felt. The more permanent tent or yurt consists of a lattice framework standing upright to about a man's height, on top of which is a sloping frame which forms the roof ; a space is left open at the top to allow the smoke to escape, and the top is supported by a central pole. The whole frame, roof and sides, is covered by thick felts and anchored by ropes thrown over the whole structure and tied at the bottom to large stones. The yurt can be dismantled in about half an hour. The Mongol villages con sist of a small collection of tents, usually situated in a subsidiary valley, to be near wells in the main valley, but protected from the great winds of the plains. The village usually possesses some sort of corral to protect the weaker animals from wolves. Another im portant feature is the great pyramid of dried dung which in this treeless country supplies the place of wood for burning. The flocks supply milk, mutton, wool, skins, and as a by-product of the milk a simple fermented liquor and a distilled and fiery spirit, usually called arrack, a word which, however, is applied in Turkish to grape brandy and practically means a spirituous liquor. Huge shaggy and very fierce dogs effectually keep off stray marauders and wolves and act as scavengers, eating up all the bodies of dead animals. The sheep are kept near the village both because they are looked after by the children and because their droppings are so valuable. The pony herds are kept farther away. The Mongols al most live in the saddle, riding upright and shifting the weight from one leg to the other. The ponies in immediate use are kept tied up near the village, one especially fast and carefully trained beast being always at hand to act as the "lassoo" pony. When a beast is wanted from the herd a rider mounted on this pony takes a rod with a noose at the end, picks out the beast he wants to take, rides up and drops the noose over its head, tightens the noose and plays it as a fisherman, riding it round in circles till it gives in. The las soo pony must be sufficiently fast to keep a neck ahead of any pony to be captured. The horsemanship of the Mongols can be best judged by the ride of one of their best men, who did the 1,50o miles from Ulliassetai to Peking in eight days, changing ponies at each of the posting places, 15m. or so apart, which used to be kept up along the imperial routes. Any man on a pony picked out of the herd will think nothing of doing a hundred miles in one day. Along the trade routes camels are used, usually as pack animals, but sometimes for draught ; elsewhere, however, the pony is the indis pensable associate of the Mongols. They do a good deal of trade, especially in horseflesh, and by these means supply additions, such as grain and sugar and tea to the products of their herds. In the taiga region, where game is more easily approached, many of the men are hunters. The craft of silver work is highly developed. Every married woman wears an elaborate head-dress of silver and stones, worked by the Mongols themselves. Although modern rifles are being introduced into Mongolia as a result of the recent wars, their true weapon, which is still used ceremonially, is a bow made of horn backed by sinew. It is overstrung, i.e., in making the bow it is so moulded that the belly of the bow when unstrung is directed backwards, instead of forwards as it is when the bow is strung. Unlike so many other peoples in a similar stage of culture, the Mongols do not put all their amusements and recreation into certain feasts, but are always ready to try their horses with any available person, and take immense pleasure both in the casual race, whenever opportunity offers, and the more organized races, such as those which take place at Urga, where, in order to test the speed of the horses, only small children are allowed to ride.