Mongol heartland in the context of "Mongols"

The Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to Eastern Europe, extending northward into Siberia and east and southward into the Indian subcontinent, mounting invasions of Southeast Asia, and conquering the Iranian plateau; and reaching westward as far as the Levant and the Carpathian Mountains.

The empire emerged from the unification of several nomadic tribes in the Mongol heartland under the leadership of Temüjin, known by the title of Genghis Khan (c. 1162–1227), whom a council proclaimed as the ruler of all Mongols in 1206. The empire grew rapidly under his rule and that of his descendants, who sent out invading armies in every direction. The vast transcontinental empire connected the East with the West, and the Pacific to the Mediterranean, in an enforced Pax Mongolica, allowing the exchange of trade, technologies, commodities, and ideologies across Eurasia.

The Mongolian Plateau or Altai Plateau is an inland plateau in East Asia covering approximately 3,200,000 square kilometers (1,200,000 sq mi). It is bounded by the Greater Hinggan Mountains in the east, the Yin Mountains to the south, the Altai Mountains to the west, and the Sayan and Khentii mountains to the north. The plateau includes the Gobi Desert as well as dry steppe regions. It has an elevation of roughly 1,000 to 1,500 meters (3,300 to 4,900 ft), with the lowest point in Hulunbuir and the highest point in the Altai.

Politically, the plateau spans all of Mongolia, along with parts of China and Russia. Inner Mongolia and parts of the Dzungarian Basin in Xinjiang encompass the Chinese portion of the plateau. In Russia, the plateau forms Transbaikal, part of Buryatia, and the southern Irkutsk Oblast. The Mongolian Plateau comprises the majority of the area known as the Mongol heartland.

Mongolia under Qing rule was the rule of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China over the Mongolian Plateau, including the four Outer Mongolian aimags (a.k.a. "leagues") and the six Inner Mongolian aimags from the 17th century to the end of the dynasty. The term "Mongolia" is used here in the broader historical sense, and includes an area much larger than the modern-day state of Mongolia. By the early 1630s Ligdan Khan saw much of his power weakened due to the disunity of the Mongol tribes. He was subsequently defeated by the Later Jin dynasty and died soon afterwards. His son Ejei handed the Yuan imperial seal over to Hong Taiji in 1635, thus ending the rule of the Northern Yuan dynasty in Inner Mongolia. However, the Khalkha Mongols in Outer Mongolia continued to rule until they were overrun by the Dzungar Khanate in 1690, and they submitted to the Qing dynasty in 1691.

The Qing dynasty ruled Inner and Outer Mongolia for over 200 years. During this period, Qing rulers established separate administrative structures to govern each region. While the empire maintained firm control in both Inner and Outer Mongolia, the Mongols in Outer Mongolia (which is further from the capital Beijing) enjoyed a higher degree of autonomy, and also retained their own language and culture during this period.

The Chinggisids were the descendants of Genghis Khan, also known as Chinggis Khan, and his first wife Börte. The dynasty, which evolved from Genghis Khan's own Borjigin tribe, ruled the Mongol Empire and its successor states. The "Chinggisid principle"—that only descendants of Genghis Khan and Börte could be legitimate rulers of the Mongol or post-Mongol world—would be an important concept for centuries, until the fall of Kazakh Khanate, the last states ruled by Chinggisid monarchs, in 1847.

The Borjigin lineage, descendants of Kaidu, an early Mongol leader, were initially one of many clans inhabiting the Mongol heartland. Genghis Khan was born c. 1162, son of a Borjigit warrior named Yesügei, a member of the Qiyat sub-clan; over the next decades, he subjugated or killed all potential rivals, Borjigit or not. By the time that Genghis established the Mongol Empire in 1206, the only remaining Borjigit were the descendants of Yesügei. They formed the altan uruq (lit. 'Golden Family')—the only people allowed to rule in the empire. Of these, the descendants of Genghis and his first, primary wife Börte held the highest seniority; the Chinggisid Principle was that this particular lineage—the eponymous Chinggisids—were the only legitimate rulers. Mongol religious ideology held that the Chinggisids would eventually become rulers of the entire world.