Fair warning: I may have gone overboard with detail here
EDITS:
1) Umlauts sometimes do get used in scholarly transliteration, but I don't think they are that overwhelmingly important, since Joe Civer (i.e., you and I) probably can'tt pronounce Mongolian vowells correctly anyway.
2) I decided not to leave certain lists empty since I think there is precedence from the European system of naming colonial cities after political leaders and religious figures to validate giving expanded lists for each and every Civ.
3) Obviously, Beijing is better Chinese than Mongolian, even if the Mongols did found it, sorta, but Khanbaliq can be translated as just "Residence of the Khan," and thus isn't strictly tied to the location of Beijing. Also, Mongolia needs a coastal capital badly

4) About order of foundation, I went back and added the dates, but I didn't re-order the list.
Now, on with the original post:
I'll do Mongolia, since I'm living here and did a bit of study on this place and its history in grad school (I know, it's the internet, I could be anyone and say that, but you'll just have to trust me

). Apologies if I didn't match the RFC transcription, as I haven't had access to a Civ-capable computer in almost a year. Where I felt an explanation was necessary either for a city's inclusion or for my version of transcription, I included it. (As it turned out, this included every single city.) I guess I felt the need to do so much justifying since, as a primarily nomadic people, the Mongols haven't founded a whole lot of cities, excepting in the 20th century when they did so at the direction of Russian and Chinese Communists.
If anyone wants to work with me on making this list better, let me know and I'll happily collaborate. Constructive criticism is also welcome!
I- non-coastal cities in the continent
1.
Kharakhorum- Standard transliteration of the Imperial Capital from the classical script (
1220)
2.
Ulaanbaatar- modern (Communist-era and later) name of the current capital, most accurate transliteration (
1639 as Orgoo, 1706 renamed to Ikh Khuree, 1924 renamed to Ulaanbaatar)
3.
Hohhot- capital of Inner Mongolia, also the Mongolian name, as opposed to the Chinese one. Also the capital of Altan Khan's sizable 16th century empire. (
1580)
4.
Ulaan-Ud - capital of the Buriat (formerly Buriat-Mongol) Republic of Russia, spelling is from Khalkh-Mongol (i.e., not Buryaad-Mongol/Russian), founded in
1666 as Udinskoye by Russian cossacks, renamed several times
5.
Erkhuud - pre-Russian Mongolian name for the region that is today Irkutsk, and was populated almost exclusively by Buriat-Mongols (though this is disputed) before the Russian colonization of Siberia. Might be better as Russia's Irkutsk? Founded
1652 by Russians trading with Buriats.
6.
Erdenet - Second largest city in Mongolia today (
1975)
7.
Darkhan - Third largest city in Mongolia today (
1961)
8.
Amarbayasgalant - large city-sized monastery complex in central-western Mongolia, built in the 1700s, survived Communism. (
1727)
9.
Sukhbaatar - Communist-era city in eastern Mongolia named after the barely pre-Communist revolutionary hero (
1940)
10(a).
Choibalsan- 4th largest city in Mongolia today, named after Mongolia's Stalinist dictator from the 30s through the 50s (
1800s-ish)
10(b).
Chahar - early 20th century semi-autonomous province of China covering large parts of what is today Inner Mongolia. Also an ethnonym for many Mongols in China. I offer this as an alternative since Choibalsan was a mass murderer.
1912.
II- coastal cities in the continent. As you can guess, this is a pain in the ass for landlocked Mongolia.
1.
Khanbaliq - As you know, old Mongolian name for the city founded on the site of modern Beijing. Not really a coastal city, but kinda close? Moreover, it's the closest thing to a coastal capital the Mongols have ever had. Also, please do not use Dadu/Tatu, as that is a transcription of the Chinese name for this city.
1264
2.
Olkhon - name of the island in the middle of Lake Baikal, which in Mongolian is referred to as Baigal Dalai, or Baikal Ocean, making this sort of a coastal location. sort of.
1987 - village of Khuzhir named administrative capital.
3.
Khovsgol - province surrounding Lake Khovsgol in northern Mongolia, which is also called an Ocean (Dalai) in Mongolian. This lake is also home to the Mongolian Navy's one and only warship. I know this is a stretch

Mongolian province of Khovsgol founded in
1931
4.
Khalkh Gol - Gol is actually River, but Mongolia's a bit devoid of water. Anyway, rational: this abysmally tiny town (which I actually just visited last week) was the site of major fighting in
1939 between the Mongols and Soviets on one side and the Japanese and Manchu on the other.
5.
Dalai Hot - Literally, "Ocean City." Completely fictional

6.
Uvs Nuur - A lake in northwestern Mongolia
7.
Hulun Nuur - A lake just across the Chinese border, but which still is recognized under its Mongolian name.
8.
Khazaran - a Khazar city on the Caspian Sea. Not at all Mongolian, but nonetheless founded by a pseudo-Central-Asian nomadic people (major stretch) Somewhere between
600 and 1000AD
9.
Gokturk - A collection of Turkic empires, originally (?) based in Mongolia, which stretched from the Caspian Sea to the Pacific Ocean. I think "Gok" might even mean "Blue" in Turkish. Also a major stretch. Between
551 and 747 AD
10.
Shine Dalai Hot - "New Ocean City." Can you tell I'm struggling here?
III- non-coastal cities in another continent.
Note: I took some liberties here, using both cities that have strong connections to Mongolia historically, but aren't really part of "Mongolia" as I alone define it and a few completely fictional names.
1.
Kazan' - modern version likely founded by the Golden Horde, technically in Europe. Horde founding would have been in the
mid 1400s.
2.
Lhasa - strong connection to Mongolia for religious reasons, not founded by any other Civ in this game, and not really in "Mongolia." I know this is like having the French found Rome, but a Christian world without that city would be as curious as a Buddhist world without Lhasa.
641 AD - ish
3.
Khem-Beldyr - post-1914 and pre-1926 name of Kyzyl, capital of the Tyva Republic, which borders Mongolia and has strong historical and cultural connections to Mongolia, despite being linguistically "Turkic" rather than "Mongolian." (these terms are extremely poorly defined in common usage, and if you have a counter-argument, chances are it's valid, but not definitive). Founded by Russians in
1914.
4.
Samarkhand - Not at all Mongolian, but it was the capital of Tamerlane's empire, and he claimed descent from Chinggis Khaan. I'm kinda reaching on this one. Originally founded in
700BC-ish?
5.
Shambala - Tibetan Buddhist utopia. Sometimes Mongolia gets called this. I know it doesn't make sense if in-game Mongolia isn't Buddhist, but if a European civ isn't Christian in the game, then they shouldn't be allowed cities that start with Saint, San, or Sao either.
6.
Altyn Orda - (Golden Horde) successor state to the Empire, outside of "Mongolia." Not a city, but I'm out of ideas.
7.
Chagatai Ulus - A successor state to the Empire, outside of "Mongolia." Not a city, but I'm out of ideas.
8.
Hulagu Ulus - A successor state to the Empire, outside of "Mongolia." Not a city, but I'm out of ideas.
9.
Shine Kharakhorum - New Kharakhorum
10.
Shine Ulaanbaatar - New Ulaanbaatar
IV- coastal cities in another continent.
Note: I took the same liberties here as with List III.
1.
Elista - Capital of the Kalmyk (Khalmyg-Mongol) Republic inside Russia, and technically in Europe. Kinda near the Caspian Sea.
1865
2.
Astrakhan - Also inside European Russia, heavily Kalmyk (historically), and also near the Caspian Sea. Also the former capital of the Astrakhan Khanate (which admittedly was more "Tatar" than "Mongol"), existed in the
1200s, but rebuilt in
1459-ish.
3.
Avalokiteshvara Hot - Important Buddha. This one and the next few are proposed in keeping with the idea that European colonizers named their colonies after important figures in their respective versions of Christianity. I have *no* idea if the Mongols would have done this if they had gone on an overseas colonizing spree after their conversion under Altan Khan, but it's all I can think of at the moment to fill the gaps. Hot, meaning City, is a transcription of хот, which is technically incorrect, but keeps us consistent with the accepted spelling of Hohhot (which I like better than the technically more correct Khokhkhot for aesthetic reasons). Alternatives might involve adding the not strictly necessary genitive case (Avalokiteshvariin Hot), or just leaving out the word City altogether (Avalokiteshvara).
4.
Amitabha Hot - Important Buddha
5.
Manjushri Hot - Important Buddha (I think?)
6.
Shakyamuni Hot - Important (historical!) Buddha
7.
Chinggis Hot - If the Romans, French, English, etc. can name colonies after kings/emperors, then why not the Mongols! (variations might include adding the word Khaan, adding the genitive case, dropping Hot, or even using Chinggis Khaan's birth name Temujin)
8.
Khubilai Hot
9.
Ogedei Hot
10.
Monkh Hot
Comments please!
