Archival materials for the study of Mongolian monasteries

Abstract

The present article, focusing on documents and photos relevant for the study of Buddhist monasteries, gives an overview of the collection of the National Archives of Mongolia. The majority of the documents written in Mongolian script before 1940 provide information about the administration and financial situation of Urga. Besides, the collection of the archives include a few Tibetan sutras, as well as Mongolian newspapers from the beginning of the 20th century. The Archives for Film and Audio-Visual Records contains about 1000 photos of old monasteries, religious dignitaries, events, and accessories, as well as a handful of photos of the revival that started in 1990. As the catalogues and catalogue cards of the archives can be studied only on site, the aim of this article is to briefly describe their contents.