Garid ( Mongolian: гарьд) is a Mongolian word corresponding to the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

Garuda Garuda (; ; Vedic Sanskrit: , ) is a Hindu deity who is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. This divine creature is mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain faiths. Garuda is also the half-brother of the D ...

with several connotations related

Mongolian culture The culture of Mongolia has been shaped by the country's nomadic tradition and its position at the crossroads of various empires and civilizations. Mongolian culture is influenced by the cultures of the Mongolic, Turkic, and East Asian people ...

. The Garuda is a large

mythical Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

bird-like creature or humanoid bird that appears in both

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

and

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

mythology. Garid is a rank in traditional Mongolian wrestling meaning "mythical bird" as well as the name of the pet eagle of

Genghis Khan Genghis Khan (born Temüjin; August 1227), also known as Chinggis Khan, was the founder and first khan (title), khan of the Mongol Empire. After spending most of his life uniting the Mongols, Mongol tribes, he launched Mongol invasions and ...

Mongolian Wrestling Rank

Mongolian wrestling has a seven thousand-year history and continues into the present during the annual Mongolian festival of

Naadam Naadam (Mongolian Naadam Festival) (, classical Mongolian: ''Naɣadum'', , ''literally "games"'') is a traditional festival celebrated in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia and Tuva. The festival is also locally termed "eriin gurvan naadam" (), "the three ...

. Cave paintings in the

Bayankhongor Province The Bayankhongor Province or Bayanhongor Aimag is one of the 21 aimags (provinces) of Mongolia. It is located in the southwest of the country and, at 116,000 square kilometers, it is one of the largest aimags. The capital of the aimag shares the ...

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

dating back to Neolithic age of 7000 BC show grappling of two naked men and surrounded by crowds. The art of Bökh appears on bronze plates discovered in the ruins of the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of Nomad, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, t ...

empire (206 BC–220 AD). Originally, Bökh was a military sport intended to provide mainly strength, stamina and skills training to troops.

(1206–1227) and the all later Emperors of the Mongol Empire (1206–1368) and also the Emperors of later

Khanates A khanate ( ) or khaganate refers to historic polities ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. Khanates were typically nomadic Mongol and Turkic or Tatar societies located on the Eurasian Steppe, and politically equivalent in status to k ...

were keen to support the sport for this reason so wrestling events were included in local festivals, or

. Wrestling became a key factor when deciding the candidate rankings in imperial martial exams plus outstanding wrestlers were entitled to high distinctions. The winners are of the wrestling competitions at the

festival are honored with ancient titles: the winner of the fifth round gets the honorary title ''nachin'' ("falcon"), of the seventh and eighth rounds ''zaan'' ("elephant"), and of the tenth and eleventh rounds ''arslan'' ("lion"). The wrestler who becomes the absolute champion is awarded the title of ''avarga'' ("titan"). Every subsequent victory at the national

festival by a wrestler of the ''avarga'' rank adds an epithet to the title, for example ''Invincible Titan to be remembered by all''. Beginning in 2003, the

State Great Khural The State Great Khural is the unicameral parliament of Mongolia,Montsame News Agency. ''Mongolia''. 2006, Foreign Service office of Montsame News Agency, , p. 40 located in the Government Palace in the capital Ulaanbaatar. History 191 ...

adopted a new law on Naadam, making amendments to some of the wrestling titles. The titles of ''Iarudi'' and ''Khartsaga'' (meaning "mythical bird" and "hawk" respectively) were added to the existing titles.

Genghis Khan

The

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

gained fame in the 13th century when under

they established a huge

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

n empire through conquest. Genghis Khan came to power by uniting many of the

nomadic Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

tribes of northeast Asia. After founding the

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire was the List of largest empires, largest contiguous empire in human history, history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Euro ...

and being proclaimed "Genghis Khan", he started the

Mongol invasions The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire, the Mongol Empire (1206–1368), which by 1260 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

that resulted in the conquest of most of Eurasia. These included raids or invasions of the Kara-Khitan Khanate,

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

, Khwarezmid Empire,

Western Xia The Western Xia or the Xi Xia ( zh, c=, w=Hsi1 Hsia4, p=Xī Xià), officially the Great Xia ( zh, c=大夏, w=Ta4 Hsia4, p=Dà Xià, labels=no), also known as the Tangut Empire, and known as Stein (1972), pp. 70–71. to the Tanguts ...

and Jin dynasties. These campaigns were often accompanied by wholesale massacres of the civilian populations – especially in

Khwarezmia Khwarazm (; ; , ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the east by the Kyzylkum Desert, on the south by ...

. By the end of his life, the Mongol Empire occupied a substantial portion of Central Asia and China. During this time Genghis Khan had a pet eagle, garid, which was honored in 2003 through Mongolian

naming as one of the esteemed titles in Mongolian wrestling after this eagle. Eagles remain popular pets in Mongolia and continue to be used for hunting, as evidenced by the popularity of annual festivals such as the Golden Eagle festival in the Bayan-Ölgii aimag. During this festival, hunters catch small animals including foxes and hares by their trained eagles.

References

{{Mongolia topics Festivals in Mongolia Sport in Mongolia Culture of Mongolia

Mongolian Wrestling Rank

Genghis Khan

See also

References