Dzungar Khanate
The Dzungar Khanate, also written as the Zunghar Khanate or Junggar Khanate, was an Inner Asian khanate of Oirat Mongol origin. At its greatest extent, it covered an area from southern Siberia in the north to present-day Kyrgyzstan in the south, and from the Great Wall of China in the east to present-day Kazakhstan in the west. The core of the Dzungar Khanate is today part of northern Xinjiang, also called Dzungaria.
Dzungar Khanate
Erdeni Batur (first)
- Customary rules
- Mongol-Oirat Code of 1640
1634
The first Russian record of Khara Khula
Galdan receives the title of Boshogtu khan from the 5th Dalai Lama
The Dzungar invasion of the Khalkha
Beginning of the Dzungar–Qing War, Battle of Ulan Butung
Qing army occupation of Dzungaria and genocide
1758
3,600,000 km2 (1,400,000 sq mi)
600,000
pūl (a red copper coin)
準噶爾汗國
准噶尔汗国
Zhǔngá'ěr Hánguó
Zhǔngá'ěr Hánguó
ཛེ་གུན་གར།།
Зүүнгарын хаант улс
ᠵᠡᠭᠦᠨ ᠭᠠᠷ ᠤᠨ ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨᠲᠣ ᠣᠯᠣᠰ
jegün γar-un qaγan-tu ulus
jegün γar-un qaγan-tu ulus
جوڭغار
Jongghar
About 1620 the western Mongols, known as the Oirats, united in the Junggar Basin in Dzungaria. In 1678, Galdan received from the Dalai Lama the title of Boshogtu Khan, making the Dzungars the leading tribe within the Oirats. The Dzungar rulers used the title of Khong Tayiji, which translates into English as "crown prince".[7] Between 1680 and 1688, the Dzungars conquered the Tarim Basin, which is now southern Xinjiang, and defeated the Khalkha Mongols to the east. In 1696, Galdan was defeated by the Qing dynasty and lost Outer Mongolia. In 1717, the Dzungars conquered Tibet, but were driven out in 1720 by the Qing. From 1755 to 1758, Qing China took advantage of a Dzungar civil war to conquer Dzungaria and destroyed the Dzungars as a people.[8] The destruction of the Dzungars led to the Qing conquest of Mongolia, Tibet, and the creation of Xinjiang as a political administrative unit.
Etymology[edit]
"Dzungar" is a compound of the Mongolian word jegün (züün), meaning "left" or "east" and γar meaning "hand" or "wing".[9] The region of Dzungaria derives its name from this confederation. Although the Dzungars were located west of the Khalkas, the derivation of their name has been attributed to the fact that they represented the left wing of the Oirats. In the early 17th century, the head of the Oirat confederation was the leader of the Khoshut, Gushi Khan. When Gushi Khan decided to invade Tibet to replace the local Tsangpa khan in favor of rule by the Gelug, the Oirat army was organized into left and right wing. The right wing consisting of Khoshuts and Torguts remained in Tibet while the Choros and Khoid of the Left wing retreated north into the Tarim basin, since then the powerful empire of the Choros became known as the Left Wing, i.e. Zuungar.
The region was separately described in contemporary European sources as the Kingdom of the Eleuths, from an infelicitous transcription of the name "Oirats" by French missionaries.[10] This was sometimes vaguely extended to cover wide areas of Central Asia, including Afghanistan.[11]
The Battle of Oroi-Jalatu, 1756. Chinese general Zhao Hui attacked the Dzungars at night in present Wusu, Xinjiang. Painting by Giuseppe Castiglione.
"The Victory of Khorgos". The partisans of Amursana were defeated in 1758 by Prince Cäbdan-jab. Painting by Jean Denis Attiret.[43]
!["The Victory of Khorgos". The partisans of Amursana were defeated in 1758 by Prince Cäbdan-jab. Painting by Jean Denis Attiret.[43]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/The_Victory_of_Khorgos1.jpg/197px-The_Victory_of_Khorgos1.jpg)
Battle of Khurungui, 1758. General Zhao Hui ambushes and defeats the Zungarian forces of Amoursana on Mount Khurungui (near Almaty, Kazakhstan). Painted by Jean-Damascène Sallusti.
‡ Note: Although Amursana had de facto control of some areas of Dzungaria during 1755–1756, he could never officially become Khan due to the inferior rank of his clan, the Khoid.
Culture[edit]
The Oirats converted to Tibetan Buddhism in 1615.[15]
Oirat society was similar to other nomadic societies. It was heavily dependent on animal husbandry but also practiced limited agriculture. After the conquest of the Yarkent Khanate in 1680, they used people from the Tarim Basin (taranchi) as slave labour to cultivate land in Dzungaria. The Dzungar economy and industry was fairly complex for a nomadic society. They had iron, copper, and silver mines producing raw ore, which the Dzungars made into weapons and shields, including even firearms, bullets, and other utensils. The Dzungars were able to indigenously manufacture firearms to a degree that was unique in Central Asia at the time.[74] In 1762, the Qing army discovered four large Dzungar bronze cannons, eight "soaring" cannons, and 10,000 shells.[75]
In 1640, the Oirats created an Oirat Mongol Legal Code which regulated the tribes and gave support to the Gelug Yellow Hat sect. Erdeni Batur assisted Zaya Pandita in creating the Clear Script.[76]
The Dzungar Khanate in 1750
This map fragment shows territories of Oirats as in 1706 (Map Collection of the Library of Congress: "Carte de Tartarie" of Guillaume de L'Isle (1675–1726)).
The Dzungar and Kalmyk states (a fragment of the map of Russian Empire of Peter the Great, that was created by a Swedish soldier in c. 1725)
A map of the Dzungar Khanate, by a Swedish officer in captivity there in 1716–33, which include the region known today as Zhetysu
