THE CITY IN MONGOLIAN EPICS

Author(s): NICHOLAS POPPE

Source: Central Asiatic Journal , 1981, Vol. 25, No. 1/2, Proceedings of the 23th
Meeting of the Permanent International Altaistic Conference Vienna 27. July – 1.
August 1980 (1981), pp. 89-94
Published by: Harrassowitz Verlag

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 THE CITY IN MONGOLIAN EPICS

by
NICHOLAS POPPE
Seattle

Cities have existed in Mongolia and adjacent areas since anci

times, and ruins of cities have been preserved until now. The old
of them date from the times of Turks and Eatan who had established
their rule in those areas. To give only a few examples, let a few
ruins of ancient cities be mentioned. On the bank of the Orkhon
River,1 the Uighurs founded Qara Balyasun in the VIII century
A. D.,2 and the Kitan built Ging Tolgoi Balgas in 994 A. D.3
As for the cities built by the Mongols, they appeared only after
Chingis Khan's empire had been founded.4 The oldest of them is
Qara Qorum , the capital of the Empire, built in 1220.5 The Mon-

1 Its name is given as Orqun in the Drevnetjurkskij slovar ' Leningrad, 1969,
p. 371 (attested in the inscription on the Selenga Stone, cf. G. J. Barnstedt,
"Zwei uigurische Runeninschriften in der Nord -Mongolei," JSFOu 30:3
(1913), p. 13, line 3; p. 30, line 10. Rashïd ad-Din, however, gives the name
of the river as Oryan, cf. Rašid-ad-Din, Sborník letopise j, Tom I, Kniga per-
vaja, Perevod s persidskogo A. A. Xetagurova, Moskva-Leningrad, 1952,
p. 74, i.e., with a in the second syllable.
2 L. Kwanten, Imperial Nomads , A History of Central Asia , 550-1550.
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1979. p. 50. Another famous Uighur city
was Bay BaViq "The Rich City" built on the Selenga River in 758 or 759,
see Ramstedt, op. cit., pp. 35, 62.
3 It is also called Xatan Xot "The Lady's City" and was named Chen-chou
in 1004, cf. A. Pèrlèè, "Kidan'skie goroda i poselenija na territorii Mongol' -
skoj Narodnoj Respubliki (X - načalo XII v.)," MongoVskij arxeologičeskij
sborník, Moskva, 1962, p. 55. Pèrlèè also mentions the ruins of Zuun Xèrèm
possibly of the XI century, Baruun Xot and a number of other ruins, op. cit.,
pp. 57 if.
4 B. Ja. Vladimircov, Obščestvennyj stroj mongolov, MongoVskij kočevoj
feodalizm , Leningrad, 1934, p. 44.
5 P. Pelliot, "Note sur Karakorum" JA 1925, p. 374. Another ancient
Mongolian city is "Kondujskij gorodok," DrevnemongoV skie goroda, Avtorskij
kollektiv: Člen-korrespondent AN SSSR S. V. Kiselev, L. A. Evtjuxova,
L. R. Kyzlasov, N. Ja. Merpert, V. P. Levašova, Moskva, 1965, p. 369. The
Bur jat name of the same ruin is Xuandaj, cf. N. N. Poppe, Letopisi xorinskix
burjat, Xroniki Tuguldur Toboeva i Vandana Jumsunova, 1940, pp. 16, 34.

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 90 NICHOLAS POPPE

golian cities functioning at the

later.6
In East Siberia, including the B
Mongolia, cities, with the excep
appeared after Russian conquest. T
the settlement adjacent to it were
was founded in 1661, 7 Verkhneu
Ulan-Udè) and Selenginsk were fo
The above list of cities on the ter
including the Buriats, demonstrat
epics had ample opportunity to
and palaces.
Turning to the main subject of this paper, let it be stated that
words for city do not occur in Mongolian epics. Nor is anywhere
said that the hero of the epic lives in a settlement which we could
call a city. However, it is often clear from the context that the hero
lives in a city.
Let us begin our discussion with the architecture of the epic
hero's palace. Whereas yurts have no windows, Amar DžargaFs
palace has precious glass windows and columns of gold. There are
also temples near his palace, namely, a temple of Lord Brahma and
another one of Lord Asura.9 The Best of the Men, Erintsen Mergen,
has a beautiful temple and lives in a palace with forty-eight columns.
The inner surface of the walls is covered with mirrorlike tiles, and
the outer surface is covered with "fire tiles," and there is also a

Another Mongolian city believed to have been founded at the beginning of

the XIII century is the ruin on the river Khirkhira, cf. Kiselev, "Gorod na
reke Xirxira," DrevnemongoV skie g or oda, p. 49. The youngest of ancient
Mongolian cities is Bars Xot founded on the Kerulen River by Toyon Temür
in 1368, see I. J. Schmidt, Geschichte der Ost-Mongolen und ihres Fürsten-
hauses verfasst von Ssanang Ssetzen Chungtaidschi der Or dus, St. Petersburg-
Leipzig, 1829, p. 139. The latter city was built near an ancient Kitan city,
see Pèrlèè, op. cit., p. 59.
6 Bogdijn Xûrèè, in Russian Urga which is the corruption of Mongolian
org d "palace," at the present time Ulan Bator (ulãn baiar), the capital of
the Mongolian People's Republic, was founded in 1630, and Kobdo, originally
a Chinese agricultural colony, became a city in 1729 when its fortifications
had been built.
7 Istorija Burjat-MongoVskoj ASSR, Tom I, Ulan-Udè, 1964, p. 94.
8 Ibid., p. 98.
• N. Poppe, Mongolische Volksdichtung , Sprüche , Lieder , Marchen und Hel-
densagen, Khalkha-mongolische Texte mit Übersetzung und Anmerkungen ,
Wiesbaden, 1955, p. 81.

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 THE CITY IN MONGOLIAN EPICS 91

beautiful temple.10 The hero's adversary, Khash

an impressive monastery built of gold. One hun
even a million Lamas conduct services in that mona
of Abai Khilen Galdzü Bãtar has been built on a pla
silver roof with a gandzir, i.e., a, pagodalike struct
Lamaist temples.12 The main character of the ep
is a maiden who is thrown as a prisoner into a thr
constructed of cast-iron,13 and later dwells in
sandalwood.14 Likewise, the Dãkiní Sumyã is co
storied cast-iron building in which she is to be
escapes, however, and lives after that in a golden
Descriptions of palaces and temples are found in n
Mongolian epics, but there is nowhere mention of
and the temple, sometimes a monastery, seem to s
steppe. The same can be said about the Oyrat epi
lives in a beautiful palace near a Lamaist mona
about Bum Erdeni,17 Daini Kürül,18 and others. Eg
was built in a beautiful open place which was c
the Džangar epics collected in the Mongolian P
Džangar orders to build a palace in an uninhabit
shore.20 Exactly the same is said in a Kalmuck Dža
down in the Kalmuck country in the USSR. 21 Cons
Khalkha-Mongolian and Oyrat epics reflect a no

10 Poppe, op. cit. V, p. 125.

11 Poppe, op. cit., p. 155.
12 F. D. Lessing, Mongolian-English Dictionary , Berkeley and Los Angeles,
1960, p. 350. Tibetan 'gan-'jir, see J. E. Kowalewski, Dictionnaire mongol-
russe- français, 1. 1, Kasan 1844, p. 980. On Khilen Galdzù Bãtar see N. Poppe,
"Die mongolische Heldensage Khilen Galdzü," ZAS 6 (1972), p. 233.
18 N. Poppe, Mongolische Epen I , Übersetzung der Sammlung B. Rintchen ,
Folklore mongol, Livre deuxième (= AF 42), Wiesbaden, 1975, p. 51.
14 Ibid.. d. 53.
15 Ibid., p. 91.
16 Ibid., p. 107.
17 B. Ja. Vladimircov, Mongolo -o jratskij geroičeskij èpos, Peterburg-Mosk-
va, 1923, pp. 57-58.
18 Vladimircov. op. cit., p. 195.
19 Vladimircov, op. cit., p. 205. Vladimircov uses the words "white plain,"
but "white" said about a locality is "open, wide."
20 N. Poppe, Mongolische Epen V . Übersetzung der Sammlung U. Zagdsürén,
Žangaryn TuuVs (= AF 50), Wiesbaden, 1977, p. 10.
21 Diangar, Kalmyckij narodnyj èpos, Perevod Semena Lipkina, Moskva,
1958, p. 22.

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 92 NICHOLAS POPPE

had little contact with cities, a soc

nent buildings other than temples
The same can be said about the Buriats in Transbaikalia. How-
ever, contrary to their epics and those of the Mongols in Outer
Mongolia and Oyrats, the epics of the Western Buriats, i.e., those
living in Cisbaikalia, contain elements betraying city influence. The
palace of the hero is often described as being surrounded by admin-
istration offices and various other buildings characteristic of Siberian
cities. Thus, in the Alar-Buriat epic "Yeremei Bogdo Khan" the
palace has three thousand windows and a porch (xerensei ~ xerelsei
< Russian kryVco), twenty-five cathedrals (sobõr < Russ. sobor) and
thirteen markets (bazàr < Russ. bazar < Turk. < Pers.) are
nearby.22 Likewise, in the epic "Khän Segsei Mergen" the palace
has three hundred doors, three thousand windows, a gate made of
silver, and there are also twenty-five cathedrals and thirteen
markets.23 The hero of the Alar-Buriat epic ťťAltan Šagai" has a
palace with uncountable windows, seventy-seven doors, a very
large porch, sheds built of silver, and a huge building for storing
arxi, i.e., an alcoholic beverage made of fermented milk.24
Many more typical city buildings are mentioned in the epics of
the Ekhirit, a Buriat tribe living to the north of the Alar area. Thus,
in the epic "Yirensei" the palace is said to have been built by ten
carpenters brought from the immediate vicinity, and by twenty
carpenters brought from twenty households.25 It has seven thousand
windows on the lower part of the walls, and uncountable windows
on the upper part. It has also a beautiful porch (xerelsë), long
benches (labxi < Russ. lavica), and seventy-seven stoves with seven
hundred smoke pipes (xoloi). A long street (Ülinse < Russ. ulica)
was built of silver. Forty-four markets (bazàr ) and four large shops
(lãbxi < Russ. lavka), and in another place thirty-three markets
and three large shops were opened. A copper-yellow cathedral with
thirty-three cupolas and three thousand bells was standing in the
vicinity, and four roads paved with stone were constructed.26
22 N. N. Poppe, Alarskij govor, Cast' vtoraja, Leningrad, 1931, p. 111.
28 Ibid., p. 159.
24 N. Poppe, Mongolische Epen VI, Übersetzung der Sammlung C. Z. Žam -
earano, Büxü Xara Xübüün üVgémüüd (= AF 53), Wiesbaden, 1977, pp.
155-156.
25 N. Poppe, Mongolische Epen IX, Übersetzung der Sammlung C. Z. Zamca-
rano, Proizvedenija narodnoj slovesnosti mongoVskich plemen ( = AF 65),
Wiesbaden, 1980, pp. 186-187.
26 Ibid., p. 190.

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 THE CITY IN MONGOLIAN EPICS 93

Additional terms characteristic of life in a city a

epic "Alamži Mergen," likewise collected in the
number of words denoting buildings and terms fo
fices occur in the description of the hero's hom
episode about the journey of the hero's evil uncles
him. Both passages are given here in translation.
"After that they erected ... an ornamented
which had forty-four cupolas and four thousand
founded thirty-three markets and opened three
Three hundred salesmen {pirxaêig < Russ. prikaz
to and fro. They built a long (literally "large") h
< Russ. trakt < Germ. Trakt) from the Duma (see f
Yakutsk,27 which had branches in [all] four di
established, for the sake of security (lit. "protec
precincts (š asti , see below) built of stone, and they
four hundred thousand post chaise- carriages up
four (in the text "forty") directions."28
"[Both uncles] arrived at the crowded provincia
building (gûbërni, see below), rode close to the fou
built of stone, rode at a trot to the centre of the
kets, rode at a trot straight to the doors of the thr
and when they had come out of the gate, they spo
The passages quoted contain some administrative
from Russian, namely, gûbërni < Russ. gube
French, which in Russian had the meaning of a
colloquial Russian, also "administration of the p
Russ. duma "name of various government offices i
and èãsti < Russ. časť "administration of a city
precinct in prerevolutionary Russia."31 These term
because their first appearance in Russian can be
word gubernija occurs, for the first time, in let
Peter I in 1710.32 As for duma or stepnaja dum

87 At the present time, the city of Yakutsk is the c

ASSR in the USSR. The city was founded in 1632.
88 Poppe, Mongolische Epen IX, p. 26.
28 Ibid., p. 32.
80 S. I. Ožegov, Slovar 9 russkogo jazyka, Izdanie odinnadcatoe, stereotipnoe,
Pod redalcieh . . . N. Ju. Švédova, Moskva, 1975, p. 167.
81 Ožegov, op. cit., p. 805.
82 Étimologičeskij slovar 9 russkogo jazyka , Tom I, vypusk 4, G , Pod redak-
ciej N. M. Šanskogo, Moskva, 1972, pp. 191-192.

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94 NICHOLAS POPPE

this was the name of the adminis

headed by a tajša < Chinese tai-s
the title of the Buriat chiefs.33
were introduced, as part of Count
Data on the first occurrence of th
lacking, but it occurs in Russian l
XIX century. Leaving the latter w
remaining two terms are relativel
words in the epic vocabulary is
is attested in the XIV century.35
borrowed by the Buriats soon aft
Much newer words are gubern
duma since 1822). From the above
question the conclusion can be dra
otherwise might be of considera
incorporating new elements, the m
Russian words quoted above. The
1710 and 1822 respectively.
The overall conclusion from the
Buriats have been influenced by t
extent than the Eastern Buriats
(which is now the People's Repub
might find its explanation in the
been semisedentary as early as
Cossack ataman (chief) Perfil'ev de
Angara area as sedentary and c
(1627). 36 The Eastern Buriats, the
the Oyrats remained nomads unti
the city is reflected in Western B
the first contacts of these Buriats
of the XVII century, whereas th
contacts with cities from the ver
they were nomads.

33 Vladimircov. on. cit.. d. 138.

84 Istorila Bur jat- Mongol* skoj ASSR, Tom I, pp. 222-224.
86 I. I. Sreznevskij, Materialy dlja slovarja drevnerusskago jazyka, Tom
Sanktpeterburg, 1903, p. 1195.
86 A. P. Okladnikov, Očerki iz istorii zapadnyx burjat-mongolov (XVII-
XVIII w.), OGIZ, Leningrad, 1937, p. 33. Cf. Istorija Burjat-MongoVskoj
ASSR , Tom I, p. 59.

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