Glossary of Mongolian pastoralism-related terms

arz

twice-distilled shimiin arxi. See also shimiin arxi, xorz.

aimag

~province, the main territorial division in Mongolia. There are 21 aimags in Mongolia, including the three municipal regions of Ulaanbaatar, Darxan-Uul, and Orxon (the city of Erdenet).

airag

(koumiss) mildly alcoholic beverage produced by churning and fermenting milk, typically mare's milk (gu'u'nii airag). See also xormog.

bag

Literally "group" or "team"; the smallest contemporary unit of political organization in Mongolia. Each sum might have three or four bags.

brigade (brigad)

Former labour unit under the collective farm / herding system.

feudalism

As used in the Marxist literature, describes the stage of social andeconomic development preceding capitalism; Mongolia was supposed to have"leaped over" capitalism, passing directly from feudalism directly tosocialism. In a feudal society, labour surpluses are extracted from serfsand peasants by a landowning nobility in the form of duties (tithes).Mongolia, according to the official interpretation, was held back priorto the People's Revolution by its "black" and "yellow" feudals[nobles]—the princes and Buddhist lamas—who squandered Mongolia'swealth on personal luxuries and on religious activities.

lamas

Buddhist monks. In Pre-Revolutionary Mongolia, one boy in three wassent to a monastery to become a lama. Although religious freedoms havebeen restored, the monastic population remains fairly small. Mostmonasteries were abandoned or destroyed in 1937-1939.

mo'ngo')

Mongolian currency; subdivision of the to'gro'g (also written tugrik). Due to inflation mo'ngo' are no longer in circulation.

morin xuur

horse-head fiddle, a wooden musical instrument whose two strings and bow are made from horse's hair, and which is ornamented with a carved horse's head

negdel

herding collective, during the socialist period. Negdels were established from 1955 and disbanded in 1992.

otor

Very small, mobile herding unit—nowadays typically a subdivision ofthe household—used primarily in the summer as a means of grazinglivestock intensively on virgin pastures.

sangiin azh axui

state farm. State farms often engaged in animal husbandry, similar to negdels, but were primarily organized for the purposes of agricultural crop production (mainly grain). Unlike negdel (collective) members, herders in state farms were state employees and therefore did not own their livestock.

shimiin arxi

spirits obtained from the distillation of fermented milk (airag). See also arz, xorz.

sum

sub-division of an aimag. There are approximately 320 sums in Mongolia. During the socialist period sums were generally contiguous with herding collectives (negdels), sharing an administrative apparatus.

suur (suur', suurin)

Sedentary settlement.

tarag

thin yoghurt. Tarag is distinct from "yugurt [югурт]", which refers to thickened, industrially produced yoghurt intended for eating rather than drinking.

tavan xoshuu mal

xormog :: beverage identical to airag but produced by fermenting camel milk

xorxoi aaruul

"worm-aaruul", a form of dried curd shaped by being pressed through a wide-holed sieve or similar implement, and often sweetened with sugar

xorz

triple-distilled shimiin arxi. See also shimiin arxi, arz.

xoshuu

(khoshun) / "banner" Princely territory, up to the early 20th century.

xot ail (khot-ail)

The primary unit of social organization for Mongolian pastoraliststoday, generally encompassing a small, number of informally-gatheredhouseholds (two or more, depending on the area, family labour force, andherd size).

There are 0 attachment(s) stored for this page.