MIASU Research Seminar – 19 May - Munkh-Erdene Lhamsuren

Chinggisid Dynasty: Conceptualizations and Representations

Munkh-Erdene Lhamsuren  (National University of Mongolia & MIASU Visting Scholar) 

The Altan Uruq (lit. ‘Golden Seed’) is a dynasty that fundamentally shaped world history. ‘Descended from Heaven’ and ‘destined to rule the world,’ the Chinggisid Golden Dynasty ruled the Mongol Empire, the Chinggisid imperium, and Mongolia up to the twentieth century. The Golden Dynasty embodied sovereignty, rulership, and the state, shaping the concept of kingship across Eurasia.

Examining extant Mongolian historiographical as well as archival sources, this paper analyzes Mongolian conceptualizations and representations of the Chinggisid dynasty, as well as their evolution over time. Represented as the embodiment of the ‘Golden Wheel with Thousand Spokes’—or universal rulership—and compared to the everlasting flow of the sacred Ganga (Ganges), the Chinggisid dynasty even served as the lexical and conceptual prototype for the Mongolian conceptualization of nationhood.