Islam in Mongolia
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Islam in Mongolia is mainly practised by the Kazakhs of Bayan-Ölgii aimag in western Mongolia along with some Mongols in various cities. The U.S. Department of State estimates that Muslims form 6% of the population, or roughly 150,000 people.[1]
[edit] History
When the Mongol Empire broke up into four khanates, three of the four khanates became Muslim. These were the Golden Horde, Hulagu's Ulus and Chagatai's Ulus. The Yuan Empire also embraced Muslim peoples such as the Uyghurs.
Although the court of the Yuan Empire adopted Tibetan Buddhism as the official religion, the majority of the ordinary Mongols, especially those who continued living in Mongolia proper, remained Shamanists. After the decline of the Yuan Dynasty, Shamanism once again became the dominant religion. To varying degrees, political and economic relations with Muslim nations such as Mughalistan and the Uyghurs continued.
The Muslim Kazakhs began to settle in Jungaria and Altai regions since the late nineteenth century. The majority of these Kazakhs were the Kerei and Naiman clans, many of them escaping the persecution of the Czarist Russia. When independent Bogdo Khan Mongolia was established on 29 December of 1911, the Kazakhs in Xinjian and Altai regions sought patronage of the restored Khanate. The Government of Bogdo Khan admitted them and settled them in the western region of the Mongolia's Kobdo territory.
Bayan-Ölgii aimag was established as part of the administrative reforms of the Mongolian People's Republic in 1940. Islam is freely practised by the Kazakhs and Mongols since Mongolia became a democracy in 1990.
[edit] Notes
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