View source for Oirat Confederation

{{Short description|Confederation of Oirat tribes of Western Mongolia}}
{{see also|Timeline of the Oirats}}
{{Infobox country
|native_name = {{MongolUnicode|ᠳᠥᠷᠪᠡᠨ ᠣᠶᠢᠷᠠᠳ}}<br />{{lang|mn-cyrl|Дөрвөн Ойрад}}<br>{{small|{{lang|mn-latn|Dörwön Oirad|italic=no}}}}
|conventional_long_name = Alliance of the Four Oirats
|common_name = Four Oirats
|era = [[Postclassical Era|Postclassical]] to [[early modern period]]
|status = [[Confederation]]
|government_type = Monarchy
|year_start = 1399
|year_end = 1634
|event_start = Möngke-Temür places himself at the head of the Oirats
|date_event1 = 1399
|event1 = Oirats overthrow a Genghisid Khagan
|date_event2 = 1453-54
|event2 = [[Esen Taishi]] becomes [[Northern Yuan]] Khagan
|date_event3 = 1616–17
|event3 = Movement of the Torghuds to the [[Volga]]
|date_event4 = 1630s
|event4 = Establishments of the [[Dzungar Khanate]] and the [[Khoshut Khanate]]
|p1 = Northern Yuan
|flag_p1 =
|s1 = Dzungar Khanate
|flag_s1 =
|s2 = Kalmyk Khanate
|flag_s2 =
|s3 = Khoshut Khanate
|flag_s3 =
|image_flag =
|flag=
|flag_type =
|image_coat =
|image_map = {{Continental Asia in 1600 CE|center|||Map of the Oirats Confederation.png|none}}
|image_map_caption = The Oirat Confederation and contemporary Asian polities {{c.|1600}}
|image_map_size = 300
|image_map2 =
|image_map2_caption =Oirat Confederation in 1415 CE
|image_map2_size = 300
|capital =
|national_motto =
|national_anthem =
|common_languages = [[Oirat language|Mongolic]]
|religion = {{plainlist|
*[[Mongolian shamanism]]
*later [[Buddhism]]}}
|currency =
|title_leader = Taishi
|leader1 = Mönkhtömör (Möngke-Temür)
|leader2 = Batula
|leader3 = Togoon (Toghan)
|leader4 = [[Esen taishi|Esen]]
|legislature = {{plainlist|
*Customary rules<ref>[[William Elliott Butler]]-The Mongolian legal system, p.3</ref>
*Mongol-Oirat Code}}
}}
The '''Four Oirats''' ({{langx|mn|Дөрвөн Ойрад|Dörwön Oirad}}, {{IPA|mn|ˈtɵrw̜ʊ̈ɴ ˈɞe̯ɾ(ə)t|pron}}; {{zh|t=四衛拉特}}), formerly known as the '''Eleuths''' and alternatively known as the '''Alliance of the Four Oirat Tribes''' or the '''Oirat Confederation''', was the [[confederation]] of the [[Oirats|Oirat]] tribes which marked the rise of the Western [[Mongols]] in the history of the [[Mongolian Plateau]].
Despite the universal currency of the term "Four Oirat" among [[Khalkha Mongols|Eastern Mongols]], Oirats, and numerous explanations by historians, no consensus has been reached on the identity of the original four tribes. While it is believed that the term Four Oirats refers to the [[Choros (Oirats)|Choros]], [[Torghut]], [[Dorbet Oirat|Dorbet]] and [[Khoid]] tribes,<ref>René Grousset ''Empire of Steppes'', p.341</ref> there is a theory that the Oirats were not consanguineous units, but political-ethnic units composed of many patrilineages.<ref>C. P. Atwood ''Enc'', p.310</ref> In the early period, the [[Yenisei Kyrgyz|Kergüd]] tribe also belonged to the confederation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ssetsen (Chungtaidschi.) |first=Ssanang |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E3pMAQAAMAAJ&q=kerg%C3%BCd |title=Geschichte der Ost-Mongolen und ihres Fürstenhauses: Aus dem Mongolischen übersetzt, und mit dem Originaltexte |date=1829 |publisher=Europe Printing |language=de}}</ref>
==Background==
The [[Oirats]] were one of the forest peoples who lived in west of the [[Mongols]] of [[Genghis Khan]]. They submitted to Genghis in 1207 and played prominent roles in the history of the [[Mongol Empire]].
After the overthrow of the [[Yuan dynasty]] (1271–1368), Möngke-Temür, a high official of the Yuan, had placed himself at the head of the Oirats. When he died, three chieftains, Mahamu ([[Mahmud]]), Taiping and Batu-bolad, ruled them.<ref>E. Bretschneider-Mediaeval Researches from Eastern Asiatic Sources, p.161</ref> They sent envoys with gifts to the [[Ming dynasty]]. In 1409, the [[Yongle Emperor]] (r. 1402–1424) bestowed upon them the title of [[Mongolian nobility|wang]] in return. The Oirats began to challenge the [[Borjigin]] Emperors of the [[Northern Yuan]] in the reign of [[Elbeg Khan]] (c. 1394–1399).
Before 1640, the Oirats had been wavering between the two faiths, [[Islam]] and [[Buddhism]].<ref>Fred Walter Bergholz ''The partition of the steppe'', p.52</ref>
==Apogee==
The [[Yongle Emperor]] of the [[Ming dynasty]] demanded [[Öljei Temür Khan|Öljei Temür Khan Bunyashiri]] to accept his supremacy in 1409 but Öljei Temür refused and [[Battle of Kherlen|defeated]] a Ming force the next year. In 1412 a [[Yongle Emperor's campaigns against the Mongols|large force under Yongle forced Öljei Temür Khan to flee westward]]. The Oirats led by Mahamu of [[Choros (Oirats)|Choros]] killed Öljei Temür who suffered great loss.<ref>Altan tobchi, p.158</ref>
The Western Mongols had [[Delbeg Khan]]—a descendant of [[Ariq Böke]], whose family had been relegated to the [[Mongolian Plateau]] during the Yuan dynasty—crowned. However, the Eastern Mongols of the [[Northern Yuan]] under [[Arugtai]] of the [[Asud]] refused to accept the new khan and they were in constant war with each other. The Ming dynasty intervened aggressively against any overpowerful Mongol leader, exacerbating the Mongol-Oirat conflict.
In 1408 Mahamu was succeeded by his son Toghan, who continued his strife with Arugtai chingsang. By 1437, Toghan had totally defeated Arugtai and an [[Ögedeid]] Emperor [[Adai Khan]]. Toghan made [[Genghisid]] princes his [[puppet]] khans of the [[Northern Yuan|Northern Yuan dynasty]]. When he died in 1438, his son [[Esen taishi|Esen]] became a [[Mongolian nobility|taishi]]. The Oirats had close relations with [[Moghulistan]] and [[Hami City|Hami]] where the [[Chagatayid Khan]]s reigned.
From the Ming chronicles, it is known that the Oirats conducted regular raids on those areas. Esen crushed the Moghulistan and Hami monarchs and forced them to accept him as their overlord. He also conquered [[Outer Mongolia]] and [[Inner Mongolia]] and subjugated the [[Jurchens]] in [[Manchuria]]. The Ming dynasty's [[Emperor Yingzong of Ming|Emperor Yingzong]] [[Tumu Crisis|was captured]] by Esen in 1449.
During his reign, the Oirat power base was centered on northwestern Mongolian Plateau and [[Barkol]] and the [[Irtysh]] were the western limits of their settlement. Esen relied on Muslim merchants from [[Samarkand]], Hami and [[Turpan]] and his own [[royal house]]: Choros was related to Moghulistan according to a myth. After murdering Khagan [[Agbarjin]], Esen took the title khan for himself. But soon after he was overthrown by the Oirat noblemen and killed by a son of a man whom he executed.
==Decline==
Esen's death broke up the unity of the Oirats. They now warred with each other for leadership. Esen's son Amasanj moved west, pillaging the lands of Hami, Moghulistan and the [[Uzbegs]].<ref>Dmitri Pokotilov, Wolfgang Franke ''History of the Eastern Mongols During the Ming Dynasty from 1368 to 1634'', p.31</ref>
From 1480 on, the Eastern Mongols under [[Mandukhai Khatun]] and [[Dayan Khan]] pushed the Oirats westward. By 1510 Dayan Khan had unified the various Mongol tribes, including the Oirats. However, the [[Khalkha]]s and some princes of southwest [[Inner Mongolia]] repeatedly launched massive attacks on the Oirats and looted their properties in the Irtysh, Barkol and [[Altai Region|Altai]]  from 1552 to 1628.
The Oirats were still powerful in the Mongolian Plateau even after the fall of Esen and continued to hold Karakorum until the 16th century when [[Altan Khan of the Khalkha|Altan Khan]] recaptured the city from the hands of the Oirats. Oppressed and subjugated by [[Altan Khan of the Khalkha]], Oirat confederation crushed the Khalkha prince [[Ubasi Khong Tayiji|Sholoi Ubaashi Khungtaiji]] perhaps around 1623.
==Collapse and formation of the Dzungar Khanate==
[[File:Map of the Oirat Confederation.png|thumb|upright=1.5|The location of the Four Oirats, Oirat Confederation]]
The collapse of the confederation of the Oirats began with Torghuds, along with the Dorbets and a few Khoshud clansmen, seceding from the union. In 1628 the [[Torghud]] chief Khoo Orlug with some [[Dorbeds]] and [[Khoshuud]]s moved westward across the Kazakh steppes.<ref>René Grousset ''The Empire of the Steppes'', p.521</ref> The [[little jüz]] of the [[Kazakhs]] and the [[Nogais]] tried to halt them at [[Nemba]] and [[Astrakhan]] but were defeated by the Torghuds. The Torghuds subjugated local [[Turkic peoples]] of [[Mangyshlak Peninsula]] and [[Caspian Sea]]. They colonized the [[Volga Delta]] and occupied whole steppes north of the Caspian, establishing the [[Kalmyk people|Kalmyk]] Khanate.<ref>Stephan Thernstrom, Ann Orlov, Oscar ''Harvard encyclopedia of American ethnic groups'', p.599</ref> The Kalmyks plundered the [[Khanate of Khiva]] from 1603 to 1670. The Kalmyk Khanate proved good allies to the [[Russian Empire]].
[[File:Huang Qing Zhigong Tu, 1769, Tayiji (prince) of the Torghuts and his wife (土爾扈特台吉(婦).jpg|thumb|upright|''Tayiji'' (台吉, prince) of the [[Torghuts]], one of the Four Oirats tribes, and his wife (土爾扈特台吉). [[Huang Qing Zhigong Tu]], 1769]]
The Khoshuud [[Güshi Khan]] went to [[Qinghai]] (Koke Nuur) in 1636. He increased his possessions in [[Tibet]] and [[Amdo]]. Güshi Khan protected the [[5th Dalai Lama]] and his Yellow Church from the old red clergy of the [[Tibetan Buddhism]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Charismatic Authority in Context: An Explanation of Guushi Khan's Swift Rise to Power in the Early 17th Century |journal=Mongolica: An International Journal of Mongolian Studies |last1=Haines |first1=R Spencer |volume=52 |pages=24–31 |date=2018 |publisher=International Association of Mongolists }}</ref> The [[Khoshut Khanate]] defeated the enemy of the Dalai Lama and Güshi Khan appointed his son ruler of Tibet.<ref>Rolf Alfred Stein, J. E. Driver ''Tibetan civilization'', p.82</ref>
About 1620 the Choros scattered after bitter fighting with the Khalkha [[Altan Khan of the Khotgoid|Altan Khan]]. Some of the Choros fled with a body of the Dorbed northward into [[Siberia]] and present-day Baranaoul. But the majority of the Choros with the Dorbeds and the Khoids settled in the region of the Black Irtysh, the Urungu, the Imil, and the [[Ili River|Ili]], forming the [[Dzungar Khanate]].<ref>Fred Walter Bergholz ''The partition of the steppe'', p.353</ref>
In 1640 the Oirats and the Khalkha made peace and formed an alliance, issuing new code, the Mongol–Oirat code. Led by the Khoshuud nobility, the Oirats began to convert to Buddhism. They became the chief defenders of the [[Dalai Lama|Dalai]] and [[Panchen]] Lamas. The Oirats who used the [[Mongolian script]] adopted in 1648–49 the [[clear script]] designed by the Oirat cleric and scholar [[Zaya Pandita]] Namkhaijamtsu.
In the 17th century, the Dzungar pioneered the local manifestation of the ‘Military Revolution’ in Central Eurasia after perfecting a process of manufacturing indigenously created gunpowder weapons. They created a mixed agro-pastoral economy, as well as complementary mining and manufacturing industries on their lands. The Zunghar managed to enact an empire-wide system of laws and policies to boost the use of the Oirat language in the region.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Haines |first=Spencer |date=2017 |title=The 'Military Revolution' Arrives on the Central Eurasian Steppe: The Unique Case of the Zunghar (1676 - 1745) |journal=Mongolica: An International Journal of Mongolian Studies |volume=51 |pages=170–185}}</ref> Despite their geographical distribution, the Oirats maintained strong ties with each other and remained powerful players of [[Inner Asia]]n politics until 1771.<ref>C. P. Atwood, ''Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire'', p.421</ref>
==Leaders of the Oirat alliance==
[[File:Dawachi surrendering to Qing general Zhaohui at Ili in 1755. Painting by Jesuit painter at the Qing court, Ignatius Sichelbart, 1764.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Choros (Oirats)|Choros]] Oirat leader [[Dawachi]] surrendering to [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] general Zhaohui at [[Ili River|Ili]] in 1755. Painting by Jesuit painter at the Qing court, [[Ignatius Sichelbart]], 1764]]
*Üylintey Badan (c. 1368 – 1390s)
*Khuuhai [[Grand Commandant|Dayuu]] (c. 1399)
*Ugetchi Khashikha (Ögöchi Khashikha; Mönkhtömör) (1399-1415, "Mungke Temur": Four Oirat Khan of [[Kyrgyz people|Kyrgyz]] ethnicity).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |last2=Masson |first2=Vadim Mikhaĭlovich |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Development in contrast : from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century |date=1 January 2003 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=978-92-3-103876-1 |page=111 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzG5llo3YCMC&pg=PA111 |language=en}}</ref>
*Batula [[Grand chancellor (China)|Chinsan]] (Bahamu, Mahamud) (1399–1408)
*Esehü (Taipin) (c. 1424)
*Toghon (1408–1438) (Toghan)
*[[Esen Tayisi|Esen]] (1438–1454)
*Amasanj (1454–1455)
*Ishtömör (Ush-Temür, Ish-Temür) (1455–1469)
*Khishig
*Arkhan
*Büüvei
*Khongor; Khan Khongor noyon; '''title:''' noyon
*Abai khatan
==References==
{{History of Mongolia}}
{{History of Xinjiang}}
{{reflist}}
{{Oirats}}
{{Northern Yuan dynasty}}
[[Category:States and territories established in 1399]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1634]]
[[Category:Former countries in Chinese history]]
[[Category:Khanates]]
[[Category:Mongol states]]
[[Category:History of Xinjiang]]
[[Category:Northern Yuan dynasty]]
[[Category:Oirats]]
[[Category:Nomadic confederacies]]