Author Archives: Battushig Bars

Tamerlane, the last greatest nomadic conqueror and his cursed tomb

Tamerlane

The body of the last great nomadic conqueror Tumur (historically best known as Tamerlane or Timur the Lame), originally from the ancient Barlas tribe of Mongols, was exhumed from his tomb in the Gur-e-Amir mausoleum (Samarkand, modern Uzbekistan) by Soviet expedition on June 19, 1941. According to relevant sources, Tumur’s tomb was inscribed with the words, […]

Xanadu – A Metaphor for a Splendor and an Opulence

Xanadu

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alphs, the sacred river ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. So two five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round: And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; And here […]

The Tsagaan Sar – Mongolian New Year

Mongolian Lunar New Year

Mongolian New Year or Tsagaan Sar is one of the most celebrated holiday among Mongolians. Tsagaan Sar means “White Moon” in Mongolian language and refers to the first day of the year, according to the Mongolian traditional lunisolar calendar when the new moon rises. Even the date changes every year, the Mongolian system of combining […]

Mysteries of the Mongolian blue spot

Blue spot

Every Mongolian baby is born with a blue birthmark on their back and it is known as the Mongolian spot worldwide. The Mongols has worshiped the eternal blue sky from ancient times and considered this birthmark as a heavenly seal for Mongolians only. Mongolian spot or congenital dermal melanocytosis is a benign, flat, congenital and […]

Features of Mongolian Traditional Folk Song – the Urtiin Duu

Urtiin duu

In 1994, the world-famous music band “Enigma” from Germany released the single “Age of Loneliness” as one of the four singles in its second album “The Cross of Changes”. This single was peculiar in a way of containing the unusual female voice singing an extraordinary song in a strange non-western language. Listeners had no idea […]

Exotic Morin khuur, the horse head fiddle and the legend of Namjil the Cuckoo

Perhaps the most exotic bowed string instrument in the world is the Mongolian Morin khuur with the headpiece made in a shape of a horse’s head and an unusually deep and rich sound that can even imitate a horse neighing. The exact timing of the emergence of Morin khuur is still unclear, but there are […]

“Divine wind” kamikaze that twice saved Japan from the Mongol invasion

Divine wind

The Empire of Blue Mongolia (Yuan) with the capital in Daidu (modern Beijing) was founded by Chinggis Khan’s grandson Khubilai in 1260 on the conquered territories of China and East Asia. He proclaimed himself Khan of Yuan Dynasty. After Korea recognized the suzerainty of his empire, Khubilai Khan wanted to conquer Japan make it part […]

Mongolian epic of Jangar, the ruler of the fairy Bumba kingdom

Jangar

In the Middle Ages during long winter evenings Western Mongolians gathered at the storyteller and listened to his fascinating epic song about the exploits of Jangar, loyal and brave ruler of the fairy Bumba kingdom. From the storyteller-jangarchi’s mouth, people learned that Jangar was orphaned at the age of two when a cruel devil Guljin […]

Mongol artist who became as famous as Russian Raphael

Alexei Yegorov

It is believed that Alexei Yegorov, a famous Russian artist, whose contemporaries are called the Russian Raphael, was born in 1776 near the Volga river bank, located in the former Kalmyk Khanate. The Kalmyk Khanate was an Oirat or western Mongols khanate, established the Eurasian steppe in 1630. It extended over modern Kalmykia and surrounding […]