Why did the Mongols adopt the Uyghur script for writing Mongolian?
The Mongols adopted the Uyghur script for writing their language primarily due to the influence of Uyghur officials and scribes who served as early civil servants within the Mongol empire.12
During the early stages of the empire, the Mongols lacked an original administrative system or a written script of their own to manage their vast, newly conquered territories. As the Mongols expanded, they relied on these Uyghur councilors, who exerted a beneficial civilizing influence on the conquerors. Consequently, the Uyghur language was frequently used in the court chancery alongside Mongol, and the Uyghur script was formally adopted to record the Mongol language. This script, which was derived from the Sogdian alphabet, became the foundation for the Mongolian alphabet that remains in use today.123