2025, vol. 13, no. 1. Kaziev E.V.

2025, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 116-128

DOI: http://doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2025-13-1.116-128

EDN: https://elibrary.ru/PFFACK

   THE ALANS IN MONGOLIA AND CHINA:
THE MAIN WRITTEN SOURCES (1253–1811)

E.V. Kaziev
Institute of History and Archaeology of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania
Vladikavkaz, Russian Federation
kedmon@rambler.ru

Abstract. This paper is a source study review aimed at presenting the main information that details the history of the Alans’ service to the Mongols in Mongolia and China. The materials for the study were multilingual written sources covering the period from the mid-13th to the early 19th centuries. A tidy, single summarizing of information from sources on this issue, having such a wide chronological range, is the scientific novelty of the present study. The relevance of the study is determined by the absence of such a work in the existing scientific tradition. Based on the results of the review, a general conclusion was made that the Alans who served the Mongols in Mongolia and China took part in many significant foreign and domestic political events in Mongolian history that took place in the East Asia region from the mid-13th century onward, beginning with the conquest of Southern China which was complete in 1279 and ending with the internal political struggle in the Mongolian lands that followed the overthrow of the Yuan Dynasty in China in 1368. In addition, it is noted that one of the Alan leaders, Arugtai, was even able to unite the warring eastern Mongolian peoples for some time in the first quarter of the 15th century. At the same time, it is indicated that the Alans, who by the will of historical fate found themselves in Mongolia and China, could not avoid assimilation by the Mongols, having become part of this people, known as the Asuts. Nevertheless, it is argued that even after becoming part of the Mongolian people, the Alans continued to preserve such an important elements of their ethnic identity as their self-designation until the beginning of the 19th century.

Keywords: Alans, Mongols, Yuan dynasty, sources, historiography

For citation: Kaziev E.V. The Alans in Mongolia and China: the main written sources (1253–1811). Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2025, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 116–128. https://doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2025-13-1.116-128 (In Russian)

REFERENCES

  1. Abaev V.I. Ossetian language and folklore. Moscow-Leningrad, USSR Academy of Sciences Publ., 1949. 1. 607 p. (In Russian)
  2. Archimandrite Palladius. An ancient Mongolian tale about Genghis Khan. Trudy chlenov Rossiyskoy dukhovnoy missii v Pekine=Proceedings of members of the Russian Orthodox mission in Beijing. Vol. 4, pp. 3–261. (In Russian)
  3. Archimandrite Palladius. Ancient traces of Christianity in China, according to Chinese sources. Oriental Collected Articles. 1877. Vol. 1, pp. 1–67. (In Russian)
  4. Alemany A. The Alans in ancient and medieval sources. Moscow, Manager, 2003, 608 p. (In Russian)
  5. Bretschneider E.V. Mediaeval researches from Eastern Asiatic sources. Fragments towards the knowledge of the geography and history of Central and Western Asia from the 13th to the 17th century / Trans. by I.V. Kuchumov. Petersburg, Svoyo izdatel’stvo, 2018, 280 p. (In Russian)
  6. Bubenok O.B. The Alans-Ases in the Golden Horde (13th–15th). Kyiv, Istina, 2004, 324 p. (In Russian)
  7. Gagloiti Yu.S. The Alans and questions of the ethnogenesis of the Ossetians. Tbilisi, Metsniereba, 1966, 254 p. (In Russian)
  8. Gorsky V.V. The Beginning and first deeds of the Manchu House. Proceedings of members of the Russian Orthodox mission in Beijing. 1, 1852, pp. 1–187. (In Russian)
  9. Guriev T.A. Collection of selected articles. Vladikavkaz, Izdatel’stvo Severo-Osetinskogo universiteta, 2010, 295 p. (In Russian)
  10. Yellow history (Shara tuji). Moscow, Nauka: Vostochnaya literatura, 2017, 406 p. (In Russian)
  11. Ivanov A.I. The history of the Mongols (Yuan-shih) about the Ases-Alans. Christian East. 2, iss. 3, 1914, pp. 281–300. (In Russian)
  12. The history of the first four khans of the house of Genghis. Tr. by Monk Iakinf (N.Ya. Bichurin). Petersburg: Tipografiya K. Kraiya, 1829, 440 p. (In Russian)
  13. Kadyrbaev A.Sh. The Golden Horde: essays on history and historiography. Moscow, Institut Vostokovedeniya, 2022, 368 p. (In Russian)
  14. Kambolov T.T. Studies on the history of the Ossetian language. Vladikavkaz: Ir, 2006, 463 p. (In Russian)
  15. Kaziev E.V. Correspondence of the Mongol kaan and the Chinese emperor Togon-Temur and the Alanian princes in his service with Pope Benedict XII (1336–1338). Alanian Orthodoxy: history and culture: collection of materials from the 7th St. George Readings “Orthodoxy. Culture. Vladikavkaz, 2019, pp. 27–47. (In Russian)
  16. Kaziev E.V. On the Chronology of the As People’s Entry into Mongol Service. Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2019, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 242– 253. https://doi.org/22378/2313-6197.2019-7-2.242-253(In Russian)
  17. Kaziev E.V. Alans in Mongol Service in First Third of 13th Century. Nauchnyi dialog. 2021, no. 11, pp. 363–378. https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2021-11-363-378 (In Russian)
  18. Kaziev E.V. Alans and Chingizid States in 13th-15th Centuries. Nauchnyi dialog. 2024, no. 13, pp. 427–444. https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2024-13-3-427-444 (In Russian)
  19. Kychanov E.I. Information from the “History of the Yuan Dynasty” (“Yuan shi”) about the Golden Horde. Source history of the Juchi’s Ulus (the Golden Horde). From Kalka to Astrakhan. 1253–1256. Kazan: Institut istorii imeni Sh. Marjani Akademii nauk Respubliki Tatarstan, 2001, pp. 30–43. (In Russian)
  20. The Altan Tobchi (Golden Summary). Moscow: Nauka, 1973, 439 p. (In Russian)
  21. Mamiev M.E. The Area of the Nart in the toponymy of Mongolian. Bulletin of the North Ossetian State University named after L. Khetagurov. 2020, no. 4, pp. 52–59. https://doi.org/10.29025/1994-7720-2020-4-52-59 (In Russian)
  22. Müller G.F. About the peoples who have inhabited Russia since ancient times / Tr. from German by I. Dolinsky. Petersburg, 1773, 132 p. (In Russian)
  23. Pokotilov D.D. History of the Eastern Mongols during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). St. Petersburg: Imperial Academy of Sciences Printing House, 1893, 230 p. (In Russian)
  24. Journey to the Eastern Countries of Plano Carpini and Rubruk. Moscow, Gosudarstvennoe izdatel’stvo geograficheskoy literatury, 1957, 270 p. (In Russian)
  25. Putimtsev G. Diary notes of the translator Putimtsev during his journey from the Bukhtarma fortress to the Chinese city of Kulja and back in 1811. Siberian Bulletin. 1819, Part 7, pp. 29–96. (In Russian)
  26. Fidarov R.F. On some inaccuracies in translation of “The Secret History of the Mongols” by A.S. Kozin. Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2023, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 521–531 https://doi.org/22378/2313-6197.2023-11-3.521-531. (InRussian)
  27. Khrapachevskiy R.P. “Annals of Kublai”, the main source on the history of the reign of the first emperor of the Yuan dynasty (Juan 4–7 “Yuan shi”). Moscow: Czentr voennoy i obshhey istorii, 744 p. (In Russian)
  28. Chimitdorzhiev Sh.B. National liberation movement of the Mongolian people in the 17th–18th Ulan-Ude, Buryatskiy nauchnyy czentr Sibirskogo otdeleniya, 2002, 214 p. (In Russian)
  29. Bretschneider E.V. Notices of the Mediæval geography and history of Central and Western Asia. Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 1876, no. 10, pp. 75–309.
  30. Cathay and the way thither; being a collection of medieval notices of China. In 2 Volumes. Tr. and ed. by H. Yule. London: Hakluyt Society, 1866, vol. 1 xxxliii+250 p; Vol. 2. 251–596+xcviii pp.
  31. Chronicon Riverendissimi Joanis dicti de Marignolis de Florentia Ordinis Minorum Bysinianensis. Monumenta Historica Boemia nusquam antehac edita, etc. Pragae, J.J. Clauser, Regii Typography, 1768. 2. 506 p.+Index. (In Latin)
  32. de Saint-Martin L.V. Etudes Ethnographiques et Historiques sur les Peuples Nomades qui se sont Succede au Nord du Caucase dans les six Premier Siecles de notre ere. Les Alains. Nouvelles annales des voyages, de la géographie et de l’histoire. Vol. 3, pp. 129–205. (In French)
  33. Gaubil A. Histoire de Gentchiscan et de toute la Dinastie des Mongous ses successeurs conquérans de la chine: tirée de l’histoire chinoise. Paris, Briasson, Piget, 1739, 317 p. (In French)
  34. Hennig R. Terrae incognitae. Eine Zusammenstellung und kritische Bewertung der wichtigsten vorkolumbischen Entdeckungsreisen an Hand der darüber vorliegenden Originalberichte. 4 Bände. Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1938, Band 3. 389 p. (In German)
  35. Hsiao Ch’i-Ch’ing. The Military establishment of the Yuan dynasty. Harvard University Press, 1978, 314 p.
  36. Klaproth J.H. Asia polyglotta nebst Sprachatlas. Paris, 1823, xv+384+144 p. (In German)
  37. Liščák V. The Christian Nobles at the Court of Great Khan, as Described in Mediaeval European Sources. Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2017, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 276–289. https://doi.org/22378/2313-6197.2017-5-2.276-289.
  38. Marco Polo. The description of the world. Vol. 1 Tr. and comp. by A.C. Moule & P. Pelliot. London, G. Routledge & Sons Ltd. Publ., 1938, 593 p.
  39. Moule A.C. The Minor friars in China. The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. January, pp. 1–36.
  40. Moule A.C. Christians in China before the year 1550. London: Society for promoting Christian knowledge, 1930, xvi+293 p.
  41. Pelliot P. Chrétiens d’Asie Centrale et d’Extrême-Orient. T’oung Pao ou Archives concernant l’histoire, les langues, la géographie et l’ethnographie de l’Asie Orientale. 1914, vol. 15, pp. 623–644. (In French)
  42. Pelliot P. Notes on Marco Polo. Paris, Imprimerie Nationale, Vol. 1, 1959, 611 p.
  43. Peregrinus de Castello. Epistola. Sinica francescana: Itinera et relationes fratrum Minorum saeculi XIII et XIV. 1929, vol. 1, pp. 366–367. (In Latin)
  44. Roerich G.N. Les troupes alanes à l’époque mongole. Roerich G.N. Selected Works. Мoscow: Nauka, 1967, pp. 242–246. (In French)
  45. Schmidt I.J. Geschichte der Ost-Mongolen und ihres Fürstenhauses, verfasst von Ssanang Ssetsen Chungtaidschi der Ordus; aus dem Mongolischen übersetzt und mit dem Originaltexte, nebst Anmerkungen, Erläuterungen und Citaten aus andern unedirten Originalwerken herausgegeben. Petersburg, Gedruckt bei N. Gretsch, 1829, 509 p. (In. German)
  46. The book of ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, concerning the kingdoms and marvels. In 2 volumes. Vol. 2. Tr., ed. and noted by H. Yule. London, J. Murray, 1871, xviii+525 p.
  47. 續資治通鑑 / An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art Available at: http://www.chinaknowledge.de/Literature/Historiography/xuzizhitongjian.html (date accessed 12.03.2024) (In Chinese).
  48. 宋濂 等撰 [Sun Lian and other authors]. 元史. [History of Yuan]. 北京 [Beijing], 中華書局 [Chinese Book Publishing House], 1997. 册 [Vol.] 1, 262 p; 册 [Vol.] 2. pp. 263–596; 册 [Vol.] 10. pp. 2869–3180 册 [Vol.] 11. pp. 3181–3470. (In Chinese)
  49. 脱脱 等撰 [Toqto and other authors]. 宋史 [History of Song]. 北京 [Beijing], 中華書局 [Chinese Book Publishing House], 1997. 册 [Vol.] 3. pp. 615–948; 册 [Vol.] 38. pp. 13149–13493. (In Chinese)
  50. 權衡 [Quan Heng]. 庚申外史 [Geng-shen’s Unofficial History]. 北平 [Beijing]. 文殿閣書莊 [Wen Dian Ge’s book shop], 1937. 69 p. (In Chinese)

INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eduard V. Kaziev – Cand. Sci. (History), Senior Researcher, Institute of History and Archaeology of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania (46, Vatutin Str., Vladikavkaz 362025, Russian Federation). E-mail: kedmon@rambler.ru

 Received  14.12.2024
 Revised  17.01.2025
 Accepted  24.01.2025