The Sogwo Arig (or Sog Mongols) are a Mongolic

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

claim to be descendants of

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

rulers in

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

, China. The name "Sogwo" derives from

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

word "Sogbo" meaning "Mongol". French traveller Vicomte Henri d'Ollone met with them in 1906 and the Sogwo Arig lord signed a letter with the title of "King of Henan." Vicomte d'Ollone wrote: "When the Mongols were expelled from China, the dynasty of the kings of Ho-Nan enan- kings without a kingdom - retired to their steppes; and when in their turn the

Manchus The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and Q ...

seized the empire 644they utilized the Mongols for the purpose of holding the

Tibetans The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans live ...

in check, for which reason a horde was sent to establish itself in this region." The Sogwo Arig Mongol lords held their royal title until the 1950s. They are nomads who live in Mongolian style

yurt A yurt (from the Turkic languages) or ger ( Mongolian) is a portable, round tent covered and insulated with skins or felt and traditionally used as a dwelling by several distinct nomadic groups in the steppes and mountains of Central Asia. ...

References

Bibliography

*''Peoples on the Move: Introducing the Nomads of the World'' {{Ethnic groups in China Mongols Mongol peoples