MONGOLIA 



5486 



MONIER-W1LLIAMS 



leagues, the Chakhar, and the 

 outer Khalkas. The Buryat are 

 much Siberianised. Nomad tent- 

 dwelling hunters and herdsmen, 

 essentially shamanist, their vigour 

 has been sapped by lamaism ; in 

 Afghan Turkistan the Airnak and 

 Hazara are moslemised. Cradled 

 in the upper Amur basin, they 

 shared in the political confedera- 

 cies which dominated Central Asia 

 for centuries and, under Jenghiz 

 Khan and his successors, extended 

 the 13th century empire of Tar- 

 tary from the Dnieper to the 

 Pacific. Under Kublai Khan a 

 Mongol dynasty, 1280-1368, was 

 imposed upon China. Their Altaic 

 language is written in syllabic 

 signs resembling knots on the left 

 of a vertical stem, based upon 

 Uiguric, and introduced in 1240. 



In various forms Mongolian, 

 Mongoloid the term also desig- 

 nates the whole yellow race, one 

 of the three primary divisions of 

 mankind. In this sense it em- 

 bra?es, besides the Altaians, num- 

 erous stocks marked by much 

 racial admixture, climatic and 

 linguistic differentiation, and cul- 

 tural development, such as the 

 practice of agriculture or seafaring. 

 Thus the northern Mongols in- 

 clude, witli the Altaians, the 

 Koreans and Japanese, the Finno- 

 Ugrians, the Palaeasiatic or E. 

 Siberians, and more remotely the 

 Eskimos and American Indians. 

 The southern Mongols comprise the 

 Tibetan, Chinese, and Indo-Chinese 

 peoples, and more remotely the 

 Malays. See Asia : Ethnology ; 

 Kalmuk ; consult also The Mon- 

 gols, a history, J. Curtin, 1908. 



Mongolia. Outlying region of 

 N. China. It is an extensive area 

 surrounding the desert of Gobi in 

 Central Asia: At an alt. of 3,000 ft. 

 it forms an intermediate region be- 

 tween the high plateau of Tibet 

 and the Arctic lowland of Siberia. 

 In winter the cold mmi^^mes* 

 is intense ; in sum- 

 mer the slight rains 

 produce pasture 

 and fodder shrubs 

 for the sheep, goats, 

 horses, and camels 

 of the nomadic 

 inhabitants, Mon- 

 gols or Kalmuks. 

 The Irtish and 

 Selenga arc the 

 chief rivers. Urga, the chief town, 

 trades with Kiakhta, on the 

 Siberian frontier, chiefly in wool, 

 skins, and furs. In 1917 a motor- 

 car freight service ran during the 

 summer from Urga to Kurgan. 



Outer Mongolia, a vast area with 

 indefinite boundaries on the Chinese 

 side, declared for an autonomous 

 government about the end of 1911. 

 This declaration received Russian 

 support, and various conventions 

 were made with Russia and China, 

 1912-15, which defined Chinese 

 suzerainty, secured Mongolia from 

 colonisation by Russia or China, 

 and promised Russian financial 

 assistance in building rlys. In these 

 negotiations Outer Mongolia was 

 held to be the dists. formerly ad- 

 ministered by Chinese officials from 

 Urga, Kobdo, and Ulyasutai. In 

 1919 China cancelled these agree- 

 ments. At the end of 1924 a Soviet 

 government was set up. Area 

 1,368,000 sq. m. Pop. 2,500,000. 



Bibliography. Unknown Mongolia, 

 D. Carruthers, 1913; A Tour in 

 Mongolia, B. Gull, 1920: Old Tartar 

 Trails, S. A. Kent, 1920. 



Mongoose (Herpeses griseus). 

 Small carnivorous mammal of the 

 family Viverridae, which includes 



Mongoose. Specimen of Herpestes urva, a variety 

 which lives on crabs and shell-fish 



the civet-cats, and is restricted to 

 the Old World. More closely allied 

 to the ichneumon, the Indian mon- 

 goose is a smaller animal with 

 greyish fur and long, bushy tail. 

 It is famous for the prowess it dis- 

 plays in destroying snakes, even 

 the deadly cobra failing to use its 

 natural defence against an enemy 

 so agile. See Civet. 



Monica (332-387). Saint and 

 mother of S. Augustine of Hippo. 

 Born of pious parents in good cir- 

 cumstances, she was married at an 

 early age to Patricius, who became 

 converted through her good exam- 

 ple. She had two sons, one of 

 whom, famous as S. Augustine 

 (q.v. ), always attributed his con- 

 version to her prayers. 



Monier- Williams, SIR MONIER 

 (1819 99). British Orientalist. Born 

 in Bombay, Nov. 12, 1819, he came 

 to England when a child, and was 

 educated at King's College, London, 

 and Balliol College, Oxford. He 



Mongolia. Map of the extensive region of Northern China separating that republic from Siberia and Manchuria 



