Polish–Mongolian literary relations

From the 15th to the 18th centuries, Mongolian affairs were connected or identified in Poland directly with the severe devastation wrought on the country by the Mongol invasions from 1240–1241, 1259–1260 and 1287–1288.

Mongol tumen under Orda Khan devastated most of central Poland, besieged and sacked Lublin, Sandomierz, Wolbórz, Łęczyca, then turned south towards Sieradz and Wrocław.

All the while, the armies of Baidar and Kadan ravaged the southern part of Poland including Chmielnik, the royal city of Kraków, Bytom, Opole, Legnica and others.

Some of the earliest European mentions about the life, history and culture of the Mongols come from the travel reports from the journey to the Great Khan in the years 1245–47, written by Franciscan friars, members of the expedition prepared by the pope Innocent IV and headed by Giovanni da Pian del Carpine.

An author of the more extensive account of this journey, based on Benedict's oral narrative, Hystoria Tartarorum, was C. de Bridia, probably also a Pole.

World-famous among turkologists and mongolists was a Polish scholar Władysław Kotwicz, author of many works devoted to Mongolia and Mongolian literature, the discoverer (1912) of the old-Mongolian stone inscriptions in the Erdene Zuu Monastery.

Among the most important were D. Biambaa (poems of Władysław Broniewski and Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński), B. Bandi (Polish folk literature), P. Biambasan and D. Kim (novels by Ewa Szelburg-Zarembina).

The most important translator was Byambyn Rinchen (1905–77): writer, historian, ethnographer and linguist, who translated into Mongolian many main literary works of many world literatures, including (directly from Polish) works of Adam Mickiewicz, Wanda Wasilewska, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz and Jerzy Andrzejewski.

; Tajna historia Mongołów (1970), a translation of the anonymous thirteenth-century Mongolian chronicle The Secret History of the Mongols; Tradycje i legendy ludów Mongolii [Traditions and legends of the peoples of Mongolia] (1978), which include excerpts from the seventeenth-century chronicle Erdeniin Tobchi and Mongolian folk epic poetry.

Among Polish writers, whose works were affected by the culture of Mongolia, were Wacław Sieroszewski – especially his novel Dalaj Lama [The Dalai Lama] (1927) and its versions for children W niepodległej Mongolii [In the independent Mongolia] (1937); Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski – especially his travel novel Przez kraj ludzi, zwierząt i bogów [In the country of people, animals and gods] (1923); Kamil Giżycki (Przez Urianchaj i Mongolię, 1929); Przecław Smolik, an author of the story on the life of Buryats Wśród wyznawców Burchan-Buddhy [Among the believers of Burchan-Buddha] (1925).