MONGULS MONITEUR. 



33 



MONG ULS ; a great nation in the north-east of 

 Asia, which, after having been, at two different times, 

 in the middle ages, distinguished for its conquests, 

 has been sunk, for three centuries pnst in inactivity, 

 and is now hardly known in Europe, but by name. 

 The Monguls have been frequently coafounded 

 witli the Tartars dwell- 

 ing in south-western 

 Asia, with whom, how- 

 ever, they have nothing 

 in common but a noma- 

 dic mode of life, ond an 

 irregular savage method 

 of waging war, pillage 

 being their sole object. 

 They differ from them 

 essentially, by a dingy 

 complexion, small eyes, 

 and their corporeal struc- 

 ture in general, as well 

 as by their language and 

 manners. The annexed 

 cut represents the dress 

 of the males. 

 Their early history is obscure. In the thirteenth 

 century, they spread their conquests and devastations 

 from the depths of northern Asia over Russia, and 

 other parts of Europe. They came from the regions 

 which they now, in part, inhabit, Mongolia, north of 

 the great wall of China, between the present Eastern 

 Tartary and Bucharia. For their power and conse- 

 quence they were indebted to the genius of a single 

 extraordinary individual, Genghis Khan (q. v.), who 

 having been, originally, merely the chief of a single 

 Mongul horde, compelled the other hordes to submit to 

 his power, and then, in 1206, conceived the bold plan 

 of conquering- the whole earth. In a short time he 

 subjugated two great Tartar empires in the east and 

 west of Asia, destroyed in six campaigns the mighty 

 monarchy of the sultans of Chowaresmia, who reign- 

 ed over Turkestan and all Persia as far as India, 

 and during the same period sent part of his subjects, 

 under the command of his eldest son, in 1223, to de- 

 vastate Russia. After the death of Genghis Khan, 

 in 1227, his sons pursued his conquests, subjugated 

 all China, subverted the caliphate of Bagdad, and 

 made the Seljook sultans of Iconium tributary. In 

 1237, a Mongul army again invaded Russia, con- 

 quered Moscow, and desolated a great portion of the 

 country. Having subjugated Russia, the Monguls 

 entered Poland in 1240, burned Cracow, and advanc- 

 ed in Silesia to Leignitz, where they conquered 

 Henry, duke of Breslau, in a bloody battle, April 9, 

 1241. But want of provisions soon compelled them 

 to leave the countries which they had laid waste with 

 fire and sword. In Germany, and even France, where 

 the former invasions of the Huns were held in remem- 

 brance, the^fear of them was so great, that fasts and 

 prayers were appointed to avert their approach. They 

 were prevented from taking advantage of the gen- 

 eral consternation to extend their conquests,by the dis- 

 putes which arose respecting the succession to the 

 throne, after the death of Khan Octai, the immediate 

 successor of Genghis Khan. The empire of the 

 Monguls still held together, and at the end of the 

 thirteenth century was at the summit of its power. 

 At that time, it extended from the Chinese sea and 

 from India, far into the interior of Siberia, and to 

 the frontiers of Poland. The principal seat of the 

 great khan was China ; the other countries were 

 governed by subordinate khans, all of whom were de- 

 scended from Genghis, and were more or less depen- 

 dent on the great khan. The most powerful of the 

 Monguls were the Kaptshaks, who lived on the Wol- 

 ga, and were the scourges of Russia, and the Dsha- 

 v. 



gatais, who lived between the river Oxus and 

 Tartary. But this division of the empire among 

 several petty princes was the cause of the gradual 

 decay of the power and consequence of the M onguls 

 in the fourteenth century. In the fifteenth century, 

 various hordes of this nation were subjugated or 

 destroyed by the Russians, whose conquerors they 

 had previously been. In China, the empire of the 

 Monguls had been overturned, in 1363, by a revolu- 

 tion. But, about 1360, there appeared a second 

 formidable warrior of the tribe of the Dshagatai, 

 Timurlenk (Tamerlane, q. v.), called also Timur 

 Beg. He was of obscure descent, but, as the dynasty 

 of the Monguls of Dshagatai had fallen into decline, 

 raised himself by his talents and courage to the 

 sovereignty of the whole nation. In 1369, he chose 

 the city of Samarcand for the seat of his new govern- 

 ment. The other Mongul tribes, with Persia, Cen- 

 tral Asia, and Hindostan, were successively subju- 

 gated by him. In 1400, he attacked, in Natolia, the 

 sultan Bajazet I., who had been hitherto victorious 

 against the Christians in Europe, and before whom 

 Constantinople trembled. The battle of Ancyra 

 (Anguri), 1402, was decided against Bajazet ; he 

 suffered a total defeat, and was even made prisoner 

 by Timur. The story of the severity which the con- 

 queror is said to have used towards his prisoner, is 

 not well substantiated. For a time, the Christian 

 powers were thus freed from a formidable enemy. 

 After Timur had conquered and desolated all Natolia, 

 he died on an expedition to China, March 19, 1405, 

 sixty-nine years of age. After his death, the mon- 

 archy of the Monguls was divided into several states. 

 Baber (Babur), a descendant of Timur, founded, in 

 India, in 1519, a powerful monarchy, which existed 

 till the close of the eighteenth century, as the empire 

 of the Great Mogul. See Hindostan. 



The Mongul tribes now in existence live partly 

 under Russian, partly under Chinese dominion. Those 

 which remain of the tribe of the Kaptshaks live 

 intermingled with the Calmucks, in the government 

 of Irkutsk ; their number, with that of the Calrnucks, 

 is estimated at 300,000. The rest, which are under 

 Chinese sovereignty, but are governed by four dif- 

 ferent khans, live in Mongolia, which is bounded by 

 Tungusia, China, Little Tartary, and Siberia. They 

 all profess the religion of Fo (q. v.), lead a nomadic 

 life, but, by means of caravans, carry on some trade 

 with Russia, in woollen and cotton goods of their own 

 manufacture. (See the Hist, des Monguls depuis 

 Tschinguiz- Khan jusqu d, Timour-Lane (Paris, 1824), 

 and Isaac James Schmidt's excellent Forsihungen im 

 Gebieteder altern, religib'sen, politischen und literar. 

 Bildunsgesch. der Mongolen und Tibcter (St Peters- 

 burg, 1824). Schmidt's German translation of 

 Ssanang Sssetsaen's History of the Eastern Monguls, 

 accompanied with a commentary, and with the Mon- 

 gul original, has been printed at Petersburg, at the 

 expense of the emperor. Baber's interesting Memoirs, 

 written by himself, have been translated from the 

 Dshagatai Turkish into English (London, 1826), by 

 Leyden and Erskine with an introduction, very impor- 

 tant for the history of the Monguls. 



MONITEUR. November 24, 1789, a journal was 

 commenced at Paris, the Gazette Nationals, ou le 

 Moniteur Universel, which was intended to give an 

 account of foreign events, but more especially of the 

 doings of the national assembly, and on the 7th Ni- 

 vose of the year VIII., it was declared an official 

 paper. Since that time it has been the most im- 

 portant, and the only official journal of the French 

 government. Since January 1, 1811, it has dropped 

 the title Gazette Rationale, and retained only that of 

 Moniteur Universel. The occurrences that took place 

 between 1787 and the opening of the national assem- 



