mongols

Tsushima (S6.02)

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Audio: Tsushima

In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Tsushima, an island in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, which lies in the Tsushima Strait on the western side of Kyushu, the southernmost mainland island of Japan. Tsushima sits between Japan and South Korea, about 60 km from Iki, its closest island neighbour, 138 km from the city of Fukuoka, and 49.5 km from Busan, South Korea.

Tsushima has a total area is 708.61 km2, making up 17.3% of the area of Nagasaki Prefecture and meaning it’s a similar size to Singapore, Dominica or a bit larger than Guam. Sitting astride the Tsushima Strait between Korea and Japan, the island has long been a site of conflict, being disputed between Korea and Japan even into the modern day.  

The island famously played witness to the Battle of Tsushima in 1905, a naval engagement which took place just offshore between the Japanese and Russian Navies and resulted in a decisive victory for the Japanese, signaling the end of the Russo-Japanese War which was a major contributing factor in the buildup to the Russian Revolution. 

However, Tsushima is best-known for being at the forefront of the Mongol Invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281, in events which are still commemorated today, and which were immortalized in the 2020 video game Ghosts of Tsushima.  

Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Dublin, Ireland, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in Toronto, Canada, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Dublin, Ireland. Our theme music and other stings come from Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella.

Some further reading material is provided below:

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Izuhara Castle Town on Tsushima

Thanks to all our patrons who support the show. We really appreciate your continued backing of us. If you want to join them, more information is available at www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast

Kalmykia (S5.10)

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Audio: Kalmykia

In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, thanks to our backers on Patreon, we’ll be talking about Kalmykia, a republic and country of Russia located directly north of the North Caucasus in Eastern Europe, between Ukraine and Kazakhstan, only around 200 miles or 350km north of Georgia. The Kalmyks, of Mongol origin, migrated to the Caspian region in the 17th century from Central Asia. They were mainly nomadic cattle breeders. Kalmykiya was established in 1920 as an autonomous oblast (region); in 1936 it became a republic, which was abolished in 1944 when the Kalmyks were exiled for alleged collaboration with the Germans during WW2. 

The territory of Kalmykia is unique in that it has been the home in successive periods to many major world religions and ideologies. Prehistoric paganism and shamanism gave way to Judaism amongst some of the Khazars (who included Muslims and Christians in equal or greater numbers as well). This was succeeded by Islam with the Alans while the Mongol hordes brought Tengriism, and the later Nogais were Muslims, before their replacement by the present-day Buddhist Oirats/Kalmyks. It now stands as the only Buddhist region in Europe. 

The republic covers an area of around 76,000 square kilometres (or almost 30,000 square miles), making it a similar size to Panama, Czechia or the US state of South Carolina. With a population of about 275,000 residents Kalmykia ranks among the smallest of Russia’s federal districts in terms of population. 

The Kalmyks benefit from their relatively high levels of education and strong international connections. Overseas communities are found today in many parts of Europe and in the United States. The head of the religious establishment in Kalmykia itself was born in Philadelphia before being recognized by the Dalai Lama as a reincarnation of a Buddhist saint. 

The capital and largest city of the republic is Elista, which has gained a reputation for, of all things, international chess. And for you Star Wars fans, the Ewok language was based on Kalmyk, because George Lucas thought it sounded so odd.  

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Screenshot 2022-08-10 at 21.38.02
Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Dublin, Ireland, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Galway, Ireland. Our theme music and other stings come from Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella. 

As we mention in the episode, this finale to season 5 was voted on by our Patreon backers, and thanks as always to all of them for their support. You can sign up to Patreon to get a say in the episodes we cover in the seasons to come.

Some further reading for this episode:

An excellent documentary from DW on Kalmykia

Music used in this episode:

Thanks to all our patrons who support the show. We really appreciate your continued backing of us. If you want to join them, more information is available at www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast

See you in Season 6!

Ulaanbataar (S5.05)

/ lukejkelly / Leave a comment

Audio: Ulaanbataar

In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia.  Its modern name means ‘Red Hero’ and it is a city that has had many names including Urga, Örgöö, and Ikh Khuree. Ulaanbaatar was originally founded in 1639 as a nomadic Bhuddist monastery, essentially a moveable city,  and was not permanently settled at its current location in 1778, where it became a crucial trading hub between Russia and China. The city is located in present-day north central Mongolia, around 1000km or 700 miles northwest of Beijing and about 500km or 300 miles south of Irkutsk, Russia. Its current population is around 1.5 million, meaning it contains around 50% of Mongolia’s residents, and is comparable in population to San Diego or Munich. 

At the end of the 17th century, present-day Mongolia became part of the area ruled by the Manchu-led Qing dynasty. During the 20th century, Mongolia struggled against strong influences from the Soviet Union and China, until the Mongolian Revolution of 1990 led to the establishment of a multi-party democratic system. In terms of climate, it can be extremely chilly here. The city experiences an annual average temperature of −1.3°C (around −30 Fahrenheit) and temperatures in January are as low as −36 to −40 °C, making it the world’s coldest capital city.

UBMap

Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Dublin, Ireland, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Galway, Ireland. Our theme music and other stings come from Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella. 

We’ve also just launched a merch store in associated with TeePublic. You can find our store by clicking here, with exclusive discounts at the time of publishing. 

 

Some useful resources for further reading include:

  • Wikipedia has a whole article on the beautiful Mongolian script we discussed
  • If you couldn’t quite catch the name of the significant religious leader of the Mongols, more information on his various names on Wikipedia: Jebtsundamba Khutuktu
  • The New Books Network podcast had a very interesting interview with Uranchimeg Tsultemin the author of “A Monastery on the Move”, which talks about Zanabazaar and his artistic legacy
  • Another key source for Mark’s second section was The Bloody White Baron by James Parker.
  • Travels Through Mongolia to China (Vol. 1) by Egor Fedorovich Timkowski is on archive.org (1827)
  • Also on archive.org is Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet, being a narrative of three years’ travel in eastern high Asia by Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalskii (1876)
  • More on brick tea in The Russian Road to China by Lindon Wallace Bates, on archive.org here. (1910)
  • InfoMongolia.com
  • For a more modern perspective, we referenced The Changing World Of Mongolia’s Nomads by Melvyn C. Goldstein
  • More on the assassination of Mr Sanjaasuregiin Zorig, which Joe discussed, can be found here.
  • The Guardian also has a great piece on “Mongolia’s New Wealth.”
  • See here for a news article about the 9th Bogd Khan receiving Mongolian citizenship
  • Check out the Bogd Khan’s Winter Palace, and the Gandan Monastery
  • More about the Nadaam festival, and local cuisine
  • Music from this episode can be found on YouTube, with traditional Mongolian music, as well as some amazing Mongolian throat singing towards the end.

Thanks to all our patrons who support the show. We really appreciate your continued backing of us. If you want to join them, more information is available at www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast

Georgia or “Sakartvelo” (S2.07)

/ Joe / 1 Comment

S02E07 Georgia Audio

In this episode of 80 Days: an exploration podcast,  we’ll be talking about Georgia. Not the US state, but the country in the south caucasus, known to its inhabitants as “Sakartvelo”. This former Soviet Republic is nestled between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, and is home to around 3.7 Million people with a history dating back thousands of years. Throughout its history, Georgia has been subject to numerous larger powers, including the Mongols, the Ottoman Empire, and dynasties of Persia (Iran) and the Soviet Union. As the Iron Curtain fell, Georgia declared its independence and has operated as a modern Republic ever since. It’s neighbour to the North, Russia, however, has ensured that Georgia’s hold over independence has never been as secure as most Georgians would like. Ethnic conflicts and economic turmoil beset the country throughout the 1990s, culminating in the brief Russo-Georgian war of 2008, from which tensions still remain to this day.  

Your hosts are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Switzerland . (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle)

Map of Georgia, indicating disputed areas

Here are a few things you may want to read/watch more about:

The stunning mountain fortress of Vardzia today (Wikimedia Commons)

Most of the music in this episode were examples of Georgian polyphonic singing, a very important style of music, being the oldest polyphonic music in the world (singled out by UNESCO as a vital aspect of cultural heritage).Some examples are:

  • “Chakrulo”, which was one of 27 musical compositions included on the Voyager Golden Records that were sent into space on Voyager 2 on 20 August 1977.
  • Here’s another example in the “Georgia and the Great Caucasus” documentary

Georgian folk dancing is also a wonderful tradition, here are a few videos of that:

Finally, we promised to include the video of the insane baptism rituals available in the Georgian Orthodox Church, so from EuroNews, here it is:

A massive thanks to the inimitable Gary O’Daly and Jeffrey Dokar, two of the backers of our recent Kickstarter Campaign – thank you for making Season 2 possible. Big thanks also to Mariam Kalandarshvili for talking to us and helping us understand (and pronounce) some elements of Georgian history; we now know that the capital is T’bee-lee-see! Thanks too to our sponsor Hairy Baby, who in addition to making the funniest Irish-themed t-shirts, have also produced the official 80 Days shirt for our supporters. Find it by clicking here. You can get 10% off anything on www.hairybaby.com by using our promo code “80DAYS”.