A pretty disturbing case is unfolding in Mongolia right now involving the long-running Gulf Arab falcon-hunting industry. On August 18, 2026, in Buutsagaan sum, Bayankhongor Province, a local herder named Otgonbold, around 32–33 years old, was killed after being run over by a vehicle.

According to his family and local eyewitness accounts, Otgonbold had confronted a group of Arab falcon hunters who were operating in the area and told them to leave his pasture. His 14-year-old son was reportedly there and witnessed what happened. The family's version is that Otgonbold approached them on a motorcycle, left his son nearby, confronted the hunters, and was then deliberately run over. Several vehicles allegedly left the scene afterward without stopping.

This part is still under investigation. Mongolian police have officially confirmed that a 32-year-old man was killed after being struck by a vehicle, but they have not yet publicly identified the driver or formally confirmed that an Arab national was responsible.

However, the governor of Bayankhongor Province, E. Enkhbat, has publicly said that he received information that the victim's son witnessed the incident, saw the vehicle, and that the people suspected of involvement had fled and were being pursued by authorities. A criminal investigation team was also sent from Ulaanbaatar.

The governor of Buutsagaan sum, Kh. Dagvadorj, has been unusually blunt about the wider issue. He said his local administration simply does not have enough manpower to constantly follow and control these foreign falcon-hunting groups, that he personally opposed allowing them to hunt in the sum, and that mongolia should stop trying to merely “regulate” the practice and abolish it altogether. He also said this is not a problem unique to his district and referred to previous cases where people had lost their lives in connection with these activities.

This matters because wealthy falconers from Gulf states have been coming to Mongolia for years to capture wild saker falcons, an extremely valuable bird in Gulf falconry. Much of it is actually legal: the mongolian government issues special “cultural purpose” permits and quotas to foreign groups, including groups connected to Gulf royal families. Official documents from this year show permits being issued in Bayankhongor itself.

Around that legal business, however, there have been years of allegations involving illegal trapping, rule-breaking, corruption and privileged treatment.

The name N. Marjangul, also known as Mara, a Kazakh woman who has reportedly worked as an intermediary between Gulf falconers and Mongolia for decades, has again appeared in mongolian media coverage of the wider network. Investigative outlets have previously accused her of arranging hunts, cultivating connections with officials and being involved in questionable falcon exports. There are also new allegations linking the same network to earlier suspicious deaths.

The tension was already high before this death. Just about a week earlier, in Tsagaandelger sum, Dundgovi Province, five arab nationals and a mongolian interpreter were stopped while preparing to catch saker falcons. Authorities found that they had illegally captured 30 pigeons, apparently for use in the hunting operation. They were fined, while no separate penalty was imposed for saker hunting because they had not yet been caught with an illegally captured falcon.

So this death did not happen in a vacuum.Right now the most important thing is that the killing itself is still an active criminal investigation. Whatever the investigation ultimately finds, Mongolia seriously needs to ask why this falcon-hunting industry has been allowed to become this fucking messy.

Starring Ahn Bo-hyun, Lee Sung-min, and Claudia Kim (Kim Soo-hyun).

Official description:

Set in 1258, during Goryeo’s nearly 30-year war with the Mongol Empire. Baek-gyeol (Ahn Bo-hyun) is a passionate and idealistic young commander of the Gyeonryong Army, the royal guard. He falls in love with Princess Gyeonghwa, Wang Hui (Claudia Kim), the emperor’s youngest daughter. Trapped in a political marriage, she has shut herself off from the world and lives secluded in the palace until she falls for Baek-gyeol.

Because of their relationship, Baek-gyeol is appointed special commander of a convoy tasked with finding a sacred relic said to possess miraculous powers.

Choi-gu (Lee Sung-min) is a veteran warrior who has survived countless brutal battlefields and is selected to join Baek-gyeol’s convoy. Meanwhile, Geol-seung (Ha Yoon-kyung) runs a small street restaurant on Ganghwa Island. At Baek-gyeol’s request, she joins the group as their guide.

Historical context:

The Mongol Empire invaded Goryeo repeatedly between 1231 and 1259, traditionally counted as around eight major invasions and campaigns. After decades of resistance, Goryeo eventually submitted to the mongols. Following the defeat of the Sambyeolcho Rebellion by combined Mongol-Goryeo forces, Goryeo effectively became a vassal kingdom under mongol dominance.

The succeeding mongol Yuan dynasty maintained this relationship for generations. In Korean history, this era is usually called the 원 간섭기 (Won ganseopgi), literally the “Period of Yuan Intervention/Interference.” It’s a pretty strange period in korean history: Goryeo remained a separate kingdom with its own royal government, but its kings and politics were heavily controlled and influenced by the mongol Yuan imperial court.

Personal opinion: looks like we’re getting another “bad mongols invading” type of production. The mongol armor and clothing already look pretty stereotypical and not especially accurate.

And knowing korean historical dramas, there’s a decent chance the mongol characters will actually speak mongolian too(just with very obvious korean accents because they’ll probably be played by korean actors)

Trailer:

https://youtu.be/ZdyH-YTEwa4?si=\_sCgXDfTaIZ8EuqX

Thought you guys might find this interesting. Here are the portrayals of Dair Usun and Khulan in the 2008 mongolian film One Must Not Die (Ükhej Ül Bolno). Dair Usun is played by J. Pürev­dorj, while Khulan is played by N. Byambasüren.

The film itself is not generally considered very good because of its rather cheap production, questionable casting choices, and other issues. Still, it offers an interesting mongolian portrayal of these characters.

Link:

https://youtu.be/5rFQVZqBWN8?si=0iiyYf7UT\_AnXeRx

As an additional historical fact, the merkits did not disappear. They were eventually incorporated into the mongols and continued serving the Mongol Empire and its successor states for centuries.

Khulan bore Chinggis Khaan a son named Kölgen. He died in 1238 during the mongol invasion of Kievan Rus’. His descendants were granted princely status and remained prominent well into the Yuan dynasty, until they became involved in a rebellion against the Yuan court and were crushed in 1288.

One example is Bayan of the Merkit, who died in 1340. He was a prominent minister and military commander of the Yuan Empire, served as governor of Henan from 1326 to 1333, and held the position of right chancellor from 1333 to 1340. He became notorious for his extremely conservative and radically anti-chinese policies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayan\_of\_the\_Merkit

His nephew Toghto(died 1356) later overthrew him and became the new chancellor. Toghto’s son Qarajan also remained loyal to the mongol regime and served in high-ranking positions from the reign of Toghontemür to that of Tögüstemür. He died around 1388, after the mongols had lost control of china in 1368 and continued fighting to recover or defend their remaining territories throughout the following decades.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toqto'a\_(Yuan\_dynasty)

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%93%88%E5%89%8C%E7%AB%A0

It is rather ironic that the early merkits resisted mongol domination so fiercely, yet their descendants eventually became loyal mongols themselves.

I would not be surprised if some of these narratives are encouraged by state-backed media or nationalist propaganda.

They constantly repeat lines such as: “Outer Mongolia has been russified,” “They use cyrillic,” “The real and authentic mongolia is in China,” or “There are more mongols in china than in mongolia.” They read these claims on chinese platforms and then repeat them under almost every post mentioning mongolia, like parrots or programmed bots.

Another recurring claim is that “Mongolia is a brothel” or “a playground for korean men.” There are also disgusting variations such as “all mongolian women have STDs,” along with whatever other sick nonsense they invent.

Recently, an obviously chinese accounts on Twitter/X used footage of underage girls from a modelling agency to push the same narrative. The comments were then filled with people making depraved remarks about minors.

Obviously, this does not describe all chinese people. But it is not merely a handful of isolated trolls either. For citizens of a supposed global superpower that allegedly has no reason to care about a small and poor country like mongolia, a noticeable number of chinese nationalists have a very strange obsession and inferiority complex regarding us.

It’s funny how all four princes are drawn as these cute 20-somethings, when in reality Tolui (the youngest) was already in his 30s and Jochi (the oldest) was pushing 40. Realistically, they would've just looked like typical mongol uncles.

Also, in case anyone didn't know, the oldest son Jochi actually dies off-screen before 1227, dying before his father. He’s not really that important to the main story here, but I think his son Batu will probably show up later as a cameo.

Art by: @akumai0708(X)

A Mongol noble says, “I hear the new emperor will call himself Qa’an rather than Khan.”

Most people do not realize that, in mongolian usage, khan and qa’an/kha’an were different titles. Khan was the lower title, used by regional rulers governing their own ulus or khanate. Qa’an was the higher imperial title: essentially the mongolian equivalent of “emperor,” referring to the supreme ruler of the entire Mongol Empire and the overlord of lesser khans and princes.

What impressed me even more was that Chinggis himself appears to have used the title Khan during his lifetime, while his successor Ögedei was the first to formalize the imperial title Qa’an. Today, mongolians usually say “Chinggis Khaan” out of respect, but the creator understood the historical distinction and deliberately included it.

Another interesting point is that, after the empire divided into several khanates, Tolui’s son Khubilai founded the Mongol Yuan dynasty. The Yuan rulers viewed their state as the continuation of the original unified Mongol Empire and therefore continued to use the title Qa’an.

At first, only the Ilkhanate in Iran and Iraq, ruled by Hülegü’s descendants, formally recognized the Yuan emperors as qa’ans. In 1304, the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate also formally acknowledged this status.

This hierarchy was taken very seriously in official documents, within mongol ruled realms. Only the qa’an issued a jarlig, or imperial decree, while khans and princes issued an üge, meaning “word.” That is why edicts issued by rulers such as Ghazan, Abaqa, and Kebek began with formulas like “Ghazan üge manu,” “Abaqa üge manu,” or “Kebek üge manu”,essentially, “[Ruler’s name]: this is my word.”

You guys might not like hearing this, but the anime is essentially a mongolian history lesson disguised as “Sitara/Fatima’s story.”

There are virtually no historical records about Fatima’s activities before the early 1240s. So everything before that point is basically a lightly disguised narrative about the mongol empire, with Fatima inserted into the events.

The creator Tomato Soup, reportedly originally wanted Töregene to be the main character but later changed that decision, so this approach is not really surprising. Personally, I am just grateful that we are getting such high-quality content about mongolian history.

Episode 4 especially impressed me. The mongolian cultural details were very well researched, and it was great to see quotations, customs, and events drawn directly from historical accounts.I'm mongolian :)

​

Apparently, the guys from "Fantastic Production" are working on a project about the imperial period. Here are some screenshots from the teaser. What are your thoughts?

Personally, I'm just glad they tried to make the historical costumes accurate, even if it's not 100% perfect. Since we already have a major lack of content on the Mongol Empire period, I'm feeling pretty positive about this.

Youtube link:

https://youtu.be/-QD80gdXPLw?si=u8Zd5iPTyHA1SXXm

After mongolia restored its independence from the Manchu Qing dynasty on 29 December 1911, the new Bogd Khanate still had to secure the western frontier. Uliastai was liberated first, but Khovd remained under the last Qing authorities, who refused to leave and tried to keep the region under the newly founded Republic of China. In 1912, mongol forces besieged and stormed Khovd, expelling the remaining Qing forces from western mongolia

Picture from collection of M. A. Polumordvinov

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle\_of\_Khovd

■ About the letter

In 1305, Öljaitü, the mongol ruler of the Ilkhanate in Iran, sent this letter to King Philip IV of France.

Written in mongolian, the letter announced that the long conflict among the descendants of Chinggis Khaan had ended and proposed the continuation of friendly relations between the ilkhans and the frankish rulers.

A translation into Italian was written on the reverse. The original document is preserved in France.

The Mongolian cyrillic version is included in the comment section.

■ English translation

Our word, Sultan Öljaitü:

To the Sultan, the King of France.

From ancient times, you and the kings of all the Frankish peoples maintained friendly relations with our good great-grandfather, our good grandfather, our good father, and our good elder brother. Though far apart, they regarded one another as if they were near, exchanged messages, and sent envoys bearing greetings and gifts. What fault could there be in continuing this?

Now, by the power of Heaven, We have ascended the great throne. Without departing from the commands and ordinances of our good grandfather, our good father, and our good elder brother, and without abandoning the path already established or the agreements made by our good ancestors and great men, We regard them as an oath. We therefore wish to maintain even closer friendship than before and to exchange envoys.

Formerly, We elder and younger brothers became estranged from one another because of the false words of evil men. Now, placing our trust in Heaven, We, the descendants of Chinggis Khan, including Temür Qa’an, Toqta, Chapar, Duwa, and ourselves, who had been in discord for forty-five years, have, through Heaven’s favour, become completely reconciled as elder and younger brothers.

From the land of the chinese, where the sun rises, as far as the Caspian Sea, We have joined our realms together and connected the roads. We have pledged that, if anyone among us should harbour evil intentions, all of us together shall rise against him.

Now, wishing to know whether you will continue the friendly relations that you maintained with our good grandfather, our good father, and our good elder brother, We have sent Mamlāq and Tümen. We have been told that you and the many kings of the Franks are also living together in concord. What could be better than true concord?

If anyone should disturb the harmony between Us and you, let Heaven know that, by the power of Heaven, all of us together shall rise against him.

Our letter was written at Aliwan, in the year 704, the Year of the Snake, on the eighth day of the waning moon of the first month of summer.

On the reverse of the letter:

“To the Sultan of France.”(Persian line)

Written by Tachma.

The scribes were Qutluq-Shah, Choban, and Sevinch.

■ Context

Öljaitü’s “good great-grandfather” was Hülegü, founder of the Ilkhanate. His “good grandfather” was Abaqa, his father was Arghun and his elder brother was Ghazan. All had previously attempted to establish cooperation with european christian rulers against the Mamluk sultanate.

The khans mentioned in the letter represented the principal mongol realms:

Temür Qa’an was the Yuan emperor and Great Khaan;

Toqta(qu) ruled the Golden Horde(Jochi-yin ulus);

Chapar, the son of Kaidu, represented the house of Ögedei;

Du'a ruled the Chagatai Khanate;

Öljaitü himself ruled the Ilkhanate.

Kaidu had fought Kublai and his successor Temür for several decades. In 1301, Kaidu and Duwa fought Yuan forces commanded by Qayishan in mongolia. Kaidu died shortly afterward, weakening resistance to the Yuan court.

Duwa then promoted peace among the mongol rulers. By 1304, the major khanates had reached a general settlement and acknowledged the formal seniority of Temür Qa’an. This explains why Temür alone is given the title Qa’an in the letter.

The agreement did not fully restore the centralized Mongol Empire. Each khanate remained largely independent, but they temporarily recognized the Yuan emperor as their nominal overlord and restored diplomatic, commercial and postal connections across their territories.

The 1305 mission was led by Buscarello de Ghizolfi, a Genoese merchant and diplomat who served Arghun, Ghazan and Öljaitü. He held the title of qurchi, and repeatedly travelled between the Ilkhanate and the papal, French and English courts.

In 1305, Buscarello translated Öljaitü’s letters addressed to Pope Clement V, Philip IV of France and Edward I of England. The mission was another attempt to organize joint Mongol-European action against the Mamluks.

No joint campaign followed. Öljaitü eventually attacked the mamluks without european support and unsuccessfully besieged the fortress of al-Rahba in 1312, in the final major Ilkhanid campaign against them.

■Source:

C. Damdinsüren, Mongyol-un uran jokiyal-un teüke, Mügden, 1957, 56-63

A. Mostaert - F. W. Cleaves, Les lettres de 1289 et 1305 des ilkhan ArJun et Öljeitü à Philippe le Bel, Harvard-Yenching Institute, Script Mongolica, Monographe Series I, Cambridge Mass, 1962, 55-85, Plates VII-XI

L. Ligeti, Monuments Préclassiques. I. XIII et XIV® siécles, Budapest, 1972, 252-255 L. Ligeti, Monuments Préclassiques. I. XIII et XIV siécles, Budapest, 1972, 302-329

Dobu, Uyiyurjin mongyol üsüg-ün durasqaltu bičig-üd, Begejing, 1983, 63-77

It is no secret that Kazakhstan has been trying to claim the legacy of Jochi-yin Ulus, better known to the world as the Golden Horde. They are even funding a Netflix docu-drama about Jochi.

(Picture of mongolian actor Bold Choimbol as Batu khan in movie 1242, included)

What is the stance of mongols from mongolia on this statement by the Kazakhstani president?

My opinion: the Golden Horde is an extremely complex topic. It began as one ulus within the Mongol Empire, ruled by the Chinggisid branch of the Jochids. After subjugating the local kipchak turkic nomads, the Jochids and mongols effectively ruled until the 1350s. Gradual fragmentation and civil wars later ended the ulus, creating many successor khanates.

The Crimean Khanate and the Kazakh juzes were among the legitimate direct successors of Jochi-yin Ulus. One could argue that the crimean tatars and uzbeks have a stronger claim.Kazakhs as a people emerged after the borjigin princes Kerei and Janibek broke away from the rule of the Uzbek Khan Abu’l-Khayr Shaybani in 1450s.

So yes, Kazakhstan is indeed a successor to the Golden Horde. But whether it is the most legitimate successor is debatable, since at the very least uzbekistan also has a claim.

However, I think there is a strong tendency among kazakhs(more with nationalist kazakhs) to exclude, or at least ignore when possible, the strong mongolic elements of the ulus.

Modern Mongolians(descended from Yuan empire, Ugudei's ulus, Arigboke's ulus) being obviously connected to the mongols of the imperial era and other mongol states, also have a natural historical connection with the Golden Horde.

Likely dating to the 19th-century Qing period, this thangka depicts Abtai Sain Khan in a highly idealized Buddhist style, almost as a bodhisattva-like figure seated in an imagined palace setting. The composition appears to draw directly from earlier portraits of Abtai preserved at Erdene Zuu Monastery, with the central pose and attendant figures seemingly copied from those earlier depictions. Erdene Zuu itself is shown below him, reinforcing his close association with the monastery he founded.

Abtai( 1554-1588) was a prominent mongol prince and a great-grandson of Batumöngke Dayan Khaan. He ruled the left wing of the northern khalkha tümen and is generally considered the first khalkha ruler to openly use the title of khan. He was involved in repeated campaigns against the Oirats and played a major role in establishing gelug buddhism in Khalkha Mongolia. He died in 1588, and his descendants went on to become the hereditary rulers of the Tüsheet Khanate of Khalkha mongols.

Source: On Worshipped Ancestors and Pious Donors: Some Notes on Mongol Imperial and Royal Portraits, Isabelle Charleux

■Context:

After the Battle of Köse Dağ in 1243, the seljuk turks were defeated by the mongols and became their vassals. Anatolia came under mongol control, with real authority held by mongol military elite and garrisons.

In this situation, a local figure, Nūr al-Dīn, attempted to protect his property using the Islamic system of waqf. By turning his wealth into a religious endowment, it would legally belong to God and could not be taken or redistributed.

But in practice, mongol authorities could ignore Islamic law and confiscate property anyway.

To prevent this, Nūr al-Dīn secured the approval of mongol military elites in the region. The mongolian version of the document records their acknowledgment and support, ensuring that the waqf would be respected not only under Islamic law but also by mongol political authority.

Cyrillic mongolian version and additional short text added in 1273 are included in comment section:

■ English translation (1272)

On the twelfth day of the first month of summer in the Year of the Monkey ( 20 May 1272), Nūr al-Dīn, son of Jaja, endowed all of his property to the Latif Caravanserai as a waqf (charitable endowment) for the sake of Tengri (Heaven), and recorded it in this document.

Whoever comes after me, whether my aqa and de’ü (elder and younger brothers), my sons, my daughter and her husband, my urugh (clan) and relatives, or anyone not named in this document, if such a person alters, damages, or changes this endowment or its written record, that person shall be held accountable before Eternal Tengri (Heaven).

All matters shall be carried out in accordance with what is written herein, and we, the noyans (commanders) and our nökers (companions), bear witness to this document.

Samaghar, Bainal, Dayir, Kökečü, Tmür, Ebügen, Köke, Buqa-Tmür, Samtaghu....[large list of names are omitted and included in comment]....Mingghan-u noyan (commander of one thousand) Ayid;

Jaghud-un noyad (commanders of one hundred) Nuqs-a, Toghuladai, Qasan, Kökedei, Türkmen, Yosutai, Atamasun, Qadaghan, Qočqar, Möngkegür (bökegül – provisions officer), Qutughu, all were present.

All these stood as witnesses to the waqf according to the will of Nūr al-Dīn.

■ About the document

This document became known in modern scholarship in the early 20th century.

In 1938, Cevdet Hakkı Tarım mentioned it in his work on the history of Kırşehir, describing the script as resembling Kufic Arabic. It was later correctly identified as Uyghur-Mongolian script by Ahmet Temir.

Tarım adopted this identification and, in his 1948 publication on the history of Kırşehir, included both photographs of the manuscript and a romanized transcription prepared by Temir.

This marked the first proper recognition and study of the mongolian section of the document.

Source: Kazuhiko Shiraiwa

Mongol Endorsement of the Islamic Institution of Pious Endowment (Waqf) as Revealed in the Waqf Document of 1272 in Arabic and Mongolian Drawn Up in Kırşehir for Nūr al-Dīn, the Son of Jaja

from: New Approaches to Ilkhanid History

source of original illustrations:

Huang Qing Zhigong Tu, 1769,

1.Kazakh leader with his wife

2.Kazakh commoner with his wife: