Mongolian Academy of Sciences Collection

The predecessor of the current Mongolian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Sutras and Scripts came into existence in 1921, was renamed as Institutes of Sciences in 1930, Institute of Sciences and Education in 1957, and Academy of Sciences in 1960. Its scholars have always paid attention to the preservation of Mongolian historical documents. The current Collection of Historical Documents of the Institute of History and Ethnography, Mongolian Academy of Sciences includes about 3000 rare, unpublished documents in 7 different sub-collections. The majority of them are type-written copies of 19th century, early 20th materials: the scholars copied original materials in hand or typed them in in the 1940s-1950s in Uyghur Mongolian script or in Cyrillic. The documents illustrate the events of the Manchu empire (lasted until 1911), Mongolian sovereignty (1911-1921), Chinese-Russian-Mongolian connections, and the start of socialism (from 1921 on). Surveying these historical documents researchers can get a complex picture about the operation of the Mongolian, Manchu and Chinese administrative systems at the turn of the 20th century, the political and social role of the Buddhist Church until and after 1921, the first measures of the Bolshevik government in the 1920's, and the gradual suppression and final annihilation of religion and out of date institutes in the 1930's. Parallel to the destructive measures several reforms took place, for instance the foundation of schools and the first scholarly institute, the experts of which saved and copied numerous recent and even old historical sources, such as the Mongolian translation of the Yuan Empire's law (1271-1368), and other important episodes of Mongolian history. The collection also includes documents and reports written by foreign researchers, as well as research materials of the Mongolian scholars of the Institute written even until the 2010s. The majority of the documents were written in Mongolian, and a few hundred in Russian, and a handful of documents in Chinese, Tibetan or in other foreign languages. Many of the original sources have been lost for today, thus the collection has great significance containing valuable sources of Mongolian history, politics, economy, society, literacy, and religion. More the 105 000 photographs of 3470 items were taken during the digitalization programme, which was achieved in a cooperation of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences (MAS) and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS). The published catalogue of the collection was used in the digitalization work (Chuluun, S. (ed.), Shinjlekh Ukhaanii Akademiniin Tüükhiin Khüreelengiin tüükhen barimtiin bürtgel. I., Ulaanbaatar 2010, 362 pages, ISBN: 978-99962-0-323-7 'Catalogue of Historical Documents preserved at the Department of History, Mongolian Academy of Sciences'). The digitalization programme was headed by Zsolt Szilágyi (HAS), Sampildondov Chuluun (MAS) and D. Tod (MAS). Serjlkhumbe Amarbayar typed in the original Mongolian titles, Krisztina Teleki translated the Mongolian titles into English and prepared the metadata with technical editor, Ádám Halász, and Katalin Vargha and Vasilev Pyotr Yevgenyevich were responsible for the Russian titles. Photographs and scans were made by Tsevegdorj Enkhjargal, Battulga Batbold, Borjigon Dash, Luvsandorj Altantuya, Sentkhan, Sanirbek, Batthushig and Ádám Halász was the technical editor of photographs. The predecessor of the current Mongolian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Sutras and Scripts came into existence in 1921, was renamed as Institutes of Sciences in 1930, Institute of Sciences and Education in 1957, and Academy of Sciences in 1960. Its scholars have always paid attention to the preservation of Mongolian historical documents. The current Collection of Historical Documents of the Institute of History and Ethnography, Mongolian Academy of Sciences includes about 3000 rare, unpublished documents in 7 different sub-collections. The majority of them are type-written copies of 19th century, early 20th materials: the scholars copied original materials in hand or typed them in in the 1940s-1950s in Uyghur Mongolian script or in Cyrillic. The documents illustrate the events of the Manchu empire (lasted until 1911), Mongolian sovereignty (1911-1921), Chinese-Russian-Mongolian connections, and the start of socialism (from 1921 on). Surveying these historical documents researchers can get a complex picture about the operation of the Mongolian, Manchu and Chinese administrative systems at the turn of the 20th century, the political and social role of the Buddhist Church until and after 1921, the first measures of the Bolshevik government in the 1920's, and the gradual suppression and final annihilation of religion and out of date institutes in the 1930's. Parallel to the destructive measures several reforms took place, for instance the foundation of schools and the first scholarly institute, the experts of which saved and copied numerous recent and even old historical sources, such as the Mongolian translation of the Yuan Empire's law (1271-1368), and other important episodes of Mongolian history. The collection also includes documents and reports written by foreign researchers, as well as research materials of the Mongolian scholars of the Institute written even until the 2010s. The majority of the documents were written in Mongolian, and a few hundred in Russian, and a handful of documents in Chinese, Tibetan or in other foreign languages. Many of the original sources have been lost for today, thus the collection has great significance containing valuable sources of Mongolian history, politics, economy, society, literacy, and religion. More the 105 000 photographs of 3470 items were taken during the digitalization programme, which was achieved in a cooperation of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences (MAS) and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS). The published catalogue of the collection was used in the digitalization work (Chuluun, S. (ed.), Shinjlekh Ukhaanii Akademiniin Tüükhiin Khüreelengiin tüükhen barimtiin bürtgel. I., Ulaanbaatar 2010, 362 pages, ISBN: 978-99962-0-323-7 'Catalogue of Historical Documents preserved at the Department of History, Mongolian Academy of Sciences'). The digitalization programme was headed by Zsolt Szilágyi (HAS), Sampildondov Chuluun (MAS). Serjlkhumbe Amarbayar typed in the original Mongolian titles, Krisztina Teleki translated the Mongolian titles into English and prepared the metadata with technical editor, Ádám Halász, and Katalin Vargha and Vasilev Pyotr Yevgenyevich were responsible for the Russian titles. Photographs and scans were made by Tsevegdorj Enkhjargal, Battulga Batbold, Borjigon Dash, Luvsandorj Altantuya, Sentkhan, Sanirbek, Batthushig and Ádám Halász was the technical editor of photographs.