The reference of " Qara " ( or " Black ") as a prefix in the name of the Khitans and " Khara " ( or " Black ") in that of the Mongols may indicate that both groups had substantial input from the Xiongnu, who by self proclaiming to be " Xianbei " earlier made it hard in distinguish in the Chinese records.

A Mongols | Mongolian yurt | ger near the Gurvan Saikhan Uul | Gurvan Saikhan Mountains ( in the background ); part of Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park

It included the four leagues ( aimag ) of the Khalkha Mongols north of the Gobi, as well as the Tannu Uriankhai and Khovd regions in northwestern Mongolia, which were overseen by the General of Uliastai from the city of Uliastai.

" Mongolia located in the north ( of the Gobi )") is sometimes used in Mongolian ( or Chinese ) language to refer to Outer Mongolia when making a distinction with Inner Mongolia, so as to elide the history of Qing rule and rather imply a geographic unity or distinction of regions inhabited by Mongols in the Mongolian Plateau.

The spike fiddle is widespread in the Gobi areas of central Mongolia and among Eastern Mongols, the Khuuchir and Dorvon Chikhtei Khuur being a two and four stringed spiked fiddle respectively.

He led two embassies to the Mongols: the first carried letters from Pope Innocent IV and the second bore gifts and letters from Louis IX of France to Güyük Khan.

He found Christian prisoners from Germany in the heart of " Tartary " ( at Talas ), and was compelled to observe the ceremony of passing between two fires, as a bringer of gifts to a dead Khan, gifts which were of course treated by the Mongols as evidence of submission.

Historical accounts from medieval Europe detail the use of infected animal carcasses, by Mongols, Turks and other groups, to infect enemy water supplies.

Scholars such as Frederick W. Mote argue that the wide drop in numbers reflects an administrative failure to record rather than an actual decrease ; others such as Timothy Brook argue that the Mongols created a system of enserfment among a huge portion of the Chinese populace, causing many to disappear from the census altogether ; other historians like William McNeill and David Morgan argue that the Bubonic Plague was the main factor behind the demographic decline during this period.

Chinese soldiers fighting under the Mongols appear to have used hand cannon in Manchurian battles during 1288, a date deduced from archaeological findings at battle sites.

The spread of gunpowder across Asia from China is widely attributed to the Mongols.

Led by Ghengis Khan, the Mongols were a group of steppe nomads that established a decentralized empire that, at its height, extended from China in the east to Black and Baltic seas in Europe.

During the late 13th century and first half of the 14th century, Chinese under the Mongol-controlled Yuan Dynasty were not allowed to enter higher posts of government ( reserved for Mongols or other ethnic groups from Central Asia ), and the Imperial examination was ceased for the time being.

The Mongols held Russia and Volga Bulgaria in sway from their western capital at Sarai, one of the largest cities of the medieval world.

The Khwarazmians were nomadic Turks from central Asia, who had recently been displaced by the Mongols further to the east and were now residing in Mesopotamia.

Fleeing from the Mongols, they reached the borders of Hungary in the 1100s.

from: 1237 till: 1240 text: Mongols

Three prominent proto-Mongol groups split from the Xianbei, as recorded by the Chinese histories: the Nirun ( claimed by some to be the Avars ), the Khitan and the Shiwei ( a sub-tribe called the " Shiwei Menggu " is held to be the origin of the Genghisid Mongols ).

After the Khitans left Mongolia the Shiwei Mongols rose to prominence, when from the 1130s there were reciprocally hostile relations between the successive khans of the Khamag Mongol confederation ( Khaidu, Khabul Khan and Ambaghai Khan ) and the emperors of the Jin dynasty.

With the expansion of the Mongol Empire, the Mongols settled over almost all Eurasia and carried on military campaigns from the Adriatic Sea to Java and from Japan to Palestine.

The original religion of the Mongols from the time of the Donghu was Tengriism.

Mongols were also exposed to Zoroastrianism ( Qormusta Tengri is still worshipped ), Manicheism, Nestorianism, Islam and Catholicism from the west.

Some of the Mongols today who exhibit some slight Caucasoid features most likely stem from historical intermixing with ancient Central Asian and Siberian Europoids, as opposed to recent intermixing with Slavics and other Europeans.

The first recorded inhabitants of the area are some 50, 000 people seeking refuge in Macau from invading Mongols in 1277, during the Southern Song Dynasty.

In addition, the Turkic population of Osman's emirate were constantly reinforced by a flood of refugees, fleeing from the Mongols.

The Manchu court keenly aware its own minority status reinforced a strict policy of racial segregation between the Manchus and Mongols from Han Chinese for fear of being sinicized by the latter.

Han Chinese and Mongols were banned from settling in Manchuria.

A definition includes the Mongols proper, who can be approximately divided into the eastern Mongols ( the Khalkha Mongols, the Inner Mongolians, the Buryats ), and the Oirats.

The Khitans who founded the subsequent Liao Dynasty ( 916-1125 ) and the Mongols who founded the Yuan Dynasty ( 1271 – 1368 ) in China proper also derived their ancestries from the Xianbei.

While most ruling dynasties in Chinese history were founded by native Chinese, there were also non-native or Conquest Dynasties established by non-Han Chinese people beyond the traditional border of China ( also known as China proper ), such as the Yuan founded by Mongols and the Qing founded by Manchus, who later conquered China and assumed the title of Emperor of China.

Under Dayan Khan ( 1480 – 1517 ) a broad Borjigid revival reestablished Borjigid supremacy among the Mongols proper.

In 1380, at Kulikovo on the Don River, the Mongols were defeated, and although this hard-fought victory did not end Tatar rule of Russia, it did bring great fame to the Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy.

The vast majority of Mongols have black hair and brown eyes, although a certain number of Mongols, particularly the Oirat tribe in western Mongolia tend to exhibit lighter features such as fair skin, blue or green eyes, varying shades of brown hair, and sometimes even red or blonde hair.

In Asia, the Mongols continued to expand their territories, although at a slower pace and with less success than in previous decades.

In the original comic, Mongols have taken over the Earth ; in the TV series, the Draconian Empire fills this role ( although the Draconians are obviously based on Mongols ).

After the sudden death of Ogedei's son Kochu in Chinese territory, the Mongols withdrew from southern China, although Kochu's brother Prince Koten invaded Tibet right after their withdrawal.

When the western flank of the Mongols plundered Polish cities, a European alliance between the Poles, the Moravians, the Christian military orders of the Hospitallers, Teutonic Knights and the Templars assembled sufficient forces to halt, although briefly the Mongol advance at Legnica.

Kublai moved his headquarters to Dadu, the genesis for what later became the modern city of Beijing, although his establishment of a capital there was a controversial move to many Mongols who accused him of being too closely tied to Chinese culture.

In 1242, the Mongols invaded Seljuk territory to the east of Nicaea, and although John III was worried they might attack him next, they ended up eliminating the Seljuk threat to Nicaea.

Tibet regained its independence from the Mongols before native Chinese overthrew the Yuan Dynasty in 1368, although it avoided directly resisting the Yuan court until the latter's fall.

Lucia allied with the Mongols, who, knowing that Tripoli was too weak to defend itself even with their help, asked for support from Europe, although no aid was to be found there.

It is claimed that racial discrimination within clubs has led to creation of rival clubs in past, such as the Mongols Motorcycle Club after members were rejected by the local Hells Angels chapter, although many clubs or individual chapters are now multi-racial.

Genghis Khan preferred to rule through existing hierarchies, but where he was resisted he destroyed the existing aristocracy, although among the Mongols he created a rough meritocracy during that time.

The People's Republic of China incorporated Chaoyang into Liaoning Province in 1955 although ethnic Mongols wished to join Inner Mongolia.

It is reported in " Mongol Warrior 1200-1350 " by Stephen Turnbull and Wayne Reynolds available on Google Books that the Mongols ate horse milk powder with water, around 250 grammes a day although an account they quote mentions they took 4. 5 kg along for an expedition, and claims they hunted on campaign, such as digging around for marmots, it also said they ate horse meat ( it is known that the wild Przewalski horses were eaten which contributed to their extinction, but that may have been due to food shortage and was later than the period of the historical Mongols when possibly even these horses were some of them still domestic ), on the other hand they also drank blood from their horses by temporarily opening a vein when in shortage.