Erdeni Batur and the Great Code
1634–1640
Erdeni Batur khungtaiji consolidated the Oirat tribes in Zungharia. In 1640 a great assembly of Khalkha and Oirat nobles adopted the Ikh Tsaaz (Great Code), a pan-Mongol legal monument.
c. 1634 – 1758
The Dzungar Khanate · Зүүнгар хаант улс
The Oirat Dzungar Khanate was the last independent steppe empire. From Erdeni Batur through Galdan Boshugtu, Tsewang Rabtan and Galdan Tseren it ruled from the Ili to western Mongolia, Zhetysu and the Tarim, contesting the Qing for seven decades, until its destruction in 1755–1758 closed the 2,000-year era of steppe empires that began with the Xiongnu.
Assessments of the 1755–1758 destruction are contested: Wei Yuan's breakdown (40% smallpox, 30% killed, 20% fled) is treated as indicative, not statistical (Perdue 2005), and the label 'genocide' is itself debated.
This period has a page and its sources; the scroll-through chapter is not written yet.
Events
The rise of Galdan Boshugtu
1671–1680
Galdan received the title Boshugtu Khan from the Fifth Dalai Lama in 1678, made Turpan and Hami tributary in 1679, and took Kashgar and Yarkand in 1680, installing Khoja Afaq over the Tarim.
The invasion of Khalkha
1688
Galdan invaded Khalkha; the Tüsheet Khan and the First Jebtsundamba fled south: the road to the Khalkha submission at Dolonnor in 1691.
The battle of Jao Modo
1696–1697
Kangxi's armies crushed Galdan at Jao Modo (Zuunmod, in the Terelj valley east of today's Ulaanbaatar) on 12 June 1696; Galdan died in April 1697, and the khanate continued under Tsewang Rabtan from the Ili.
The Lhasa expedition
1717–1720
Dzungar forces seized Lhasa (1717) and held Tibet until expelled by the Qing (1720): the high-water mark of Dzungar power.
The destruction of the Dzungars
1755–1758 · the sources disagree about this
Qing armies conquered Zungharia amid Amursana's revolt; the population was largely annihilated by massacre, smallpox, and flight. The 2,000-year age of steppe empires ended here.
The casualty breakdown (Wei Yuan: 40% disease, 30% killed, 20% fled) is indicative only; the label 'genocide' is debated.
People
- Erdeni Batur khungtaiji r. c. 1634–1653 — Founder of the khanate
- Galdan Boshugtu Khan 1644–1697 — Khan of the great expansion
- Tsewang Rabtan 1663–1727, r. 1694–1727 — Rebuilder of the state
- Amursana 1722/23–1757 — Leader of the last revolt
Sources
- Atwood, C. P., Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire (2004), s.v. ZUNGHARS, GALDAN BOSHOGTU, MONGOL-OIRAT CODE.
- Perdue, P. C., China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia (Harvard UP, 2005): the standard monograph; the destruction figures are treated as indicative ranges.
- Di Cosmo, N., “The Qing and Inner Asia: 1636–1800”, in The Cambridge History of Inner Asia: The Chinggisid Age (2009).
- “Mongolia under Qing rule” (Wikipedia; cites Atwood, Bawden): 1688 flight of the Khalkha, 1691 Dolonnor. Заавар, эх сурвалж биш