512 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by Eugene Lee Stew; 



A MONGOLIAN OF THE OFFICIAL CLASS 



He is wearing a handsome brocaded yellow silk robe and an ornate 

 necklace of wooden beads. Woven into the robe is an elaborate 

 dragon pattern. 



But the fall of the 

 Mongols was scarcely 

 less rapid than their 

 rise. In China they 

 were able to hold 

 sway only eighty-eight 

 years. Elsewhere 

 their empire crumbled 

 quickly, leaving only 

 isolated remnants un- 

 der their dominion, 

 until today the un- 

 happy heir of Sultan 

 Baber sits forlorn and 

 impotent beside the 

 Ganges in a badly cut 

 frock coat, with the 

 crown of the King of 

 Delhi on his head. 



MANCHUS SUCCEEDED 

 MONGOLS IN CHINA 



When events shat- 

 tered their dream of 

 world power, the Mon- 

 gols retired once more 

 within the confines of 

 Mongolia proper, 

 where they have lived 

 for centuries in peace- 

 ful isolation. The 

 population, thinned by 

 war to 2,600,000 souls, 

 is spread over a vast 

 territory embracing 

 1,367,000 square miles 

 — an area more than 

 one and a half times 

 as great as the United 

 States east of the Mis- 

 sissippi. 



The Manchus, who 

 took over the rule of 

 the Mongols in China, 

 exercised only a nomi- 

 nal control over them. 

 Indeed, Manchu offi- 

 cial feet never trod 

 many parts of interior 

 Mongolia, and the local 

 Mongols were allowed 

 practically to govern 

 themselves, preserving 

 their original tribal 

 organizations, headed 

 by native princes. 



