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Mongols
The nomads of
Central Asia
were the masters of horsemanship and were deadly shots with their composite
bow. They were virtually born as fighting men, and almost every element
of their lives involved the same training and skills that they would take
into battle. All they needed was someone who could unite the many tribes
and put an end to the incessant internecine feuding that characterised
them until the start of the thirteenth century.
The Mongols were an amalgam of native
Turkic and Mongol-Tungusic
groups in north-eastern Central Asia. They briefly became powerful
around 1130, defeating their neighbouring tribes and forcing the
Jin to pay
tribute. In 1160 they were destroyed by the neighbouring Tartars and their
clans fought each other for local superiority. Mongol power collapsed
until a new figurehead could be found to reunite the clans.
The Tartars became a major force during the Mongol expansion, and the
name still survives today in several major communities in far eastern
Europe.
They were originally the Ta-ta (Ta-tan, or Da-Dan of
Chinese
records) of the north-eastern Gobi desert in the fifth century, but
were subjugated by the Khitans in the ninth century (who went on to
form their own
Qara-Khitaï
empire in the twelfth century). The Tartars drifted southwards and
offered staunch opposition in the twelfth century to Mongol growth.
In the end they were subjugated by Chingiz Khan and became an integral
part of his vast army.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from the
New World Encyclopaedia, from Crimean Tatars, H B Paksoy,
and from External Links:
Origins of the Volga Tatars, and Tatar.net (dead link).) |
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Dobu Mergen |
Eleventh generation descendant of Borte Chino and Gua Maral. |
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Bodonchar Munkhag |
Son. Ancestor of the Borjigin clan. |
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Son. |
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Son. |
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Son. |
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Khaidu Khan |
Son. |
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Tumbinai Setsen |
Son. |
1120s - 1148/50 |
Khabul Khan /
Qabul |
Great-grandfather
of Chingiz Khan. Founder of Khamag Mongols. |
1125 |
The
Liao are
displaced by the
Kin/Chin
and retreat into Central Asia where they form a short-lived empire, the
Qara-Khitaï.
Their departure allows the Khamag Mongols to begin to play a more pivotal
role on the Mongolian plains. Khabul Khan of the Borjigin clan becomes the
head of a collective of four major tribes, the Jalayir (ancestors of the
Jalayirid sultans), Jirukhen, Khiyad, and Taichuud (Taichuit).
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A modern depiction of Mongol warriors in the twelfth century,
when Chingiz Khan led them across vast swathes of Asia to
encounter and conquer much of what they saw
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1130 |
The sudden rise to power of the Khamag Mongols lasts long enough for them to
defend their lands against
Jin attacks and
force them to pay tribute. |
1149 - 1156 |
Ambaghai |
Brother. Founder of the Taichuud. Executed. |
1156 |
Ambaghai delivers his daughter to the Tartars in
preparation for her wedding to one of their number. The Tartars take him
prisoner and hand him over to the
Jin who promptly
execute him. The Tartar betrayal prompts Hotula Khan to engage them in a
series of battles. |
1156 - 1160? |
Hotula Khan |
Son of Khabul. |
1160 - 1206 |
The Khamag Mongols are destroyed by the neighbouring
Tartars.
The cohesion of the Mongol tribes collapses, and they fight each other
for local superiority. Yesugei Baghatur becomes chief, but his role is less
that of a powerful warlord and more that of a steward. |
1160? - 1171 |
Yesugei / Yesuk
Hei |
Nephew, and son
of Bartan Baghatur. Father of Chingiz Khan. |
1171 |
Yesugei is poisoned by the Tartars, destroying any
remaining Mongol unity for several decades. His son, Temujin, attempts to
claim his father's position as leader of the Borjigin, but he is rejected
due to his youth. He and his family are cast adrift during one of the lowest
points in Mongol history. |
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Great Khans of the Mongols
AD 1206 - 1294
The father of Chingiz Khan, or Temujin as he was known for much of his life,
was a powerful clan leader named Yesukhei (or Yesugei). He led the Borjigin clan
and was a descendant of a khan of the short-lived Khamag
Mongol kingdom of the
twelfth century, but he died when Temujin was young, poisoned by Tartars who were
constant enemies of the Mongols. Temujin attempted to claim his father's position
as leader of the Borjigin, but the tribesmen refused to be led by someone so
young, and he and his family were cast adrift. Temujin and his brothers grew
up in the wilderness, hunting for their own food. A dispute in which he and
another brother killed Begter, one of his half-brothers, over
hunting spoils cemented his position as a ruthless commander.
By the time he was a young man, Temujin commanded a small group of Mongol
warriors. He won favour with Toghril Khan of the Kerait tribe and was able
to build up his forces into a powerful army. The Onggirat (or Qongirat/Qongrat)
tribe also follows him closely, being his mother's tribe, as well as that of
Temujin's first wife. Soon he was strong enough to
attack the hated Tartars, defeating them in battle, beheading all their men,
and taking their women and children as concubines and slaves. Jamuka, his
former childhood friend, now initiated a power struggle against him,
apparently betraying a close bond of trust that had been established between
them as children. Jamuka persuaded Toghril that Temujin was a threat to them
all, and the two teamed up against him. In the resulting close-run campaign,
which lasted for a year, Temujin emerged victorious against the odds. Jamuka
was on the run, Toghril was dead, and Temujin was a powerful warrior chief.
At the age of forty-four, in 1206, he was declared supreme khan. He took a
completely unique title, 'Chingiz Khan', which perhaps meant 'the fierce
king' and which was selected to single him out as a truly great leader.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from The
Mongol Empire: Genghis Khan: His Triumph and his Legacy, Peter Brent
(Book Club Associates, 1976), from The Mongols: A Very Short
Introduction, Morris Rossabi (Oxford University Press, 2012), and
from the BBC documentary, The Secret History of Genghis Khan,
broadcast 28 December 2011.) |
1206 - 1227 |
Temujin
/ Chingiz Khan / Genghis Khan |
Born c.1162.
'Great Khan'. Died following a fall from his horse. |
1209 - 1210 |
Having already united the Mongol clans and created a kingdom covering
territory that roughly corresponds to modern Outer Mongolia, Chingiz now
campaigns against the
Hsi-Hsia.
The Mongols are offered tribute to placate them and, with their tents
flooded, they accept. The payment of tribute by defeated enemies becomes a
habit, encouraging Chingiz to turn his thoughts towards conquest of such
weak opponents. |
1211 - 1216 |
The
hated Jin empire
in China is attacked, but the initial invasion is foiled when Chingiz is
wounded and retires to Mongolia. In 1213, he divides his army in three, the
other two sections falling under the command of his sons. The Jin empire is
devastated by this three-pronged attack, and its capital at Zhongdu (modern
Beijing) is captured in 1214. The following year areas of territory to the
north of the Huang He (Yellow River) fall under Mongol control. |
1217 - 1218 |
Tiring of the Chinese
campaign, Chingiz sends his general, Chepe, westwards to overthrow the empire
of the Qara-Khitaï.
This opens the way towards Mongol interaction with
Khwarazm
and
Persia. Further Mongol raids take place into
Korea.
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This portrait shown Chingiz Khan in his later years,
by which time he had built up an empire that covered
much of eastern and Central Asia
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1219 - 1221 |
After the shah of Khwarazm
decapitates Chingiz Khan's ambassador, the emirate is attacked twice by the
Mongols under the command of Chingiz himself, plus Subedei, aided by two sons,
Chaghadai and Ogedei. Ghurid
Southern
Khorasan is also attacked, and Khwarazm is reduced to its western section
covering northern Mesopotamia and western Persia.
Bukhara and then
Samarkand are
captured by the Mongols and chaos results, with thousands being massacred or
sold into slavery. |
1221 |
After being defeated, Emir Ala ad Deen Muhammed of
Khwarazm flees
west with Subedei and a large force following. The emir dies a fugitive but
Subedei continues north into territory around the Caspian Sea and into the land of
the Rus.
Rus and Cuman forces assemble which greatly outnumber Subedei's men, but they
are defeated at the River Khalka. Subedei extends his expedition farther to
attack the Volga
Bulgars
before he returns to Mongolia in one of the greatest exploratory campaigns
of the era.
Farther south, Khwarazm has survived to an extent, and has even profited
from the Mongol control of the caravan trade. The rise there and in formerly
Seljuq
Persia
of Shah Jalal al-Din Mingburnu poses a challenge for the Mongols. The two sides
come together at the Battle of the Indus and Jalal ad-Din is defeated. Khwarazm
is occupied between Samarkand
and the Indus, and Persia also falls, to be inherited by the
Il-Khans
in 1256. |
1223 |
The kingdom of
Georgia
is subordinated. The
Alani,
living to the north, put up a stiff resistance which sees them driven from
their valleys but otherwise undefeated. Eastwards, the death of Mukali, Chingiz'
commander in northern China, allows the
Jin to begin to
fight back. |
1226 - 1227 |
Although they had been defeated in 1210, the
Hsi-Hsia
had not been properly subjugated. Now, with the
Jin fighting
back against Mongol dominance, they refuse to pay tribute, so the aging Chingiz
conducts one final campaign against them, overthrowing them. Their Tarter state
is subsumed within the Mongol empire. Shortly afterwards, Chingiz dies, not in
battle but following a fall from his horse. A regent is appointed to oversee
the succession. |
1227 - 1229 |
Tolui |
Son and regent. Governor
of Khwarazm &
Persia. |
1227 |
The empire is effectively divided into four sections, or ulus
(inheritances), each governed by one of the sons of Chingiz. They remain
politically united under the great khan, but their existence establishes
the basis of future independent Mongol kingdoms. Ogedei is the selected
successor to Chingiz, and is officially proclaimed as such in 1229. While
he and his successors still control the entire empire, they largely
concentrate their attention on Mongolia and
China.
The rest is governed by the other sons of Chingiz. The north-western
section is handed to Jochi and it is Jochi's son, Batu Khan, who inherits
the westernmost section of this ulu as the
Blue Horde, with Orda
leading the eastern section as the
White Horde
(collectively known as the Golden Horde). Chagatai Khan (the second son)
inherits Mughulistan,
while Tolui governs
Persia.
Shiban is too young when his father dies to gain any territories himself,
despite being one of Juchi's sub-commanders of the White Horde. Instead, his
descendants, the Shaibanids,
carve out their own territory in fifteenth century Turkestan. |
1229 - 1241 |
Ögedei
/ Ogedei Khan |
Brother and great
khan. |
1231 - 1234 |
Control over the kingdom of
Georgia
is reaffirmed by a new invasion under Ogedei Khan which also overruns the
remnants of Khwarazm
(centred on modern
Azerbaijan). The latter becomes part of
Persia and its territories which are under the governance of Tolui.
Within a year or so (1235) much of
Southern
Khorasan is also conquered, including several minor principalities which
include the Nasrids of
Seistan.
In the same year, Ogedei Khan, with Subedei and Tolui, launches a fresh
campaign against the
Jin. After a series of setbacks, the Mongols approach the Jin capital at
Kai-feng in 1234 with 20,000 Song Chinese auxiliaries. The city is taken and
the Jin fall, ending the northern empire and its rule of the steppes. |
1235 |
Korea is invaded for
the first time with the serious intent of conquering it instead merely of
raiding there. In the same year, construction of the Mongol imperial capital
at Karakorum is completed. While not a great city in terms of its size, it
is an impressively multicultural and diverse place with a flourishing trading
centre. |
1237 - 1239 |
Batu Khan of the Blue Horde
begins the invasion and conquest of the lands of the
Rus,
with Subedei agreeing to accompany him. They cross the Volga and take the
city of Riazan after a five-day catapult assault. Then they take Kolumna and
Moscow, and defeat the grand duke of Suzdal leading the most powerful force
in the northern half of the Rus lands. During the invasion, Kiev is conquered
by Danylo Romanovych of
Halych-Volynia,
creating another target for a Mongol attack.
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Within just thirty years, Mongol warriors had travelled as far afield
as central China and Eastern Europe, and south-west into Persia, turning
the Mongol empire into the largest single controlling force in history
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Cumans and Kipchaks (possibly one and the same people according to details
shown for the blue and white hordes), and other nomadic groups flee the Rus
lands to seek refuge in
Hungary. As Batu Khan sees these people as his subjects, news of their
departure is not welcomed and plans are laid to pursue them. Novgorod survives
the tidal wave of conquest because the Mongols are unable to find a route
through the marshes. Instead, they attack Kozelsk, which inflicts an unusual
defeat on their vanguard before falling. Its entire population is slaughtered
as an example. Kiev also falls after a brave defence, even though Prince
Michael of Kiev flees beforehand. The city is largely destroyed. |
1241 - 1242 |
Batu Khan and Subedei turn their attention farther into Europe. They enter
Galicia,
capturing the capital and destroying the cathedral there and ending any
hopes that the Galicians may have had of holding onto Kiev. Both
Poland and
Hungary are also conquered, with European defeats at Liegnitz and the
River Sajo (the Battle of Mohi).
Austria, Dalmatia, and
Moravia also fall under Mongol domination, and the tide seems
unstoppable. However, the death of Ogedei Khan causes the Mongols to
withdraw, with Batu Khan intent on securing his conquests in the lands of
the
Rus thanks to the possibility that his rival, Guyuk Khan, could be elected
great khan. |
1241 - 1246 |
Toregene
Khatun |
Regent and wife
of Ogedei. |
1243 |
Almost
immediately after he has succeeded his father as malik, Shams-uddin
seizes Herat during an unstable period of Mongol domination.
Doing so as a Ghurid
subject, he submits to the Mongols and is accepted as their
Kartid governor of the
city and its surroundings. |
1245 |
The Seljuq sultanate of
Rum is overcome by Baiju in a limited incursion into the region, and is reduced
to vassal status by the Mongols. The Seljuqs of Rum begin to disintegrate, despite
attempts to retain the sultanate's cohesiveness.
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An illustration of a mounted Kipchack warrior, typical of the
waves of westward migrants who swept in from the Kazak steppe
during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, largely pushed that
way by the sudden creation of the Mongol empire
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1246 - 1248 |
Guyuk Khan |
Son of Ogedei and Toregene. Great khan. |
1246 |
The election of Guyuk Khan as great khan confirms Batu Khan's fears, so he consolidates
his territories to the north of the Caspian Sea and establishes a capital at Sarai Batu
(Old Sarai). He converts his territories into a khanate (the equivalent of a kingdom)
which becomes known as the Blue Horde.
Batu's brothers, Orda and Shiban had also participated in his European campaign, and they
now form their own khanates. Orda's khanate, located to the east of the Blue Horde, becomes
known as the White Horde, while Shiban's
khanate is the relatively obscure Shaibanids.
Although both the Blue Horde and White Horde are in effect independent, they still acknowledge
the suzerainty of the great khan. |
1248 |
With rising tensions between Guyuk Khan and Batu Khan, it is only the great
khan's early death that prevents a civil war from erupting between them.
Oghul Ghaymish becomes regent during the election process that selects the
next great khan, but the mighty empire has been shown to be prone to
disunity. |
1248 - 1251 |
Oghul Ghaymish |
Regent. |
1250 |
Following a siege,
Aleppo
is captured and destroyed by the Mongols while the sultan of
Egypt,
al-Muazzam, is commanding there. Unusually, the defeated defenders are
allowed to live. |
1251 - 1259 |
Mongke / Mengku Khan |
Son of Tolui and cousin of Ogedei. Great khan. |
1252 |
The invasion of the Sung empire of southern
China
begins, the last of the three Chinese powers to remain independent and
unconquered to date. Mongke leads the campaign himself, while entrusting a
Near Eastern campaign to Hulegu. |
1253 - 1258 |
Hulegu and his
Il-Khan Mongols begin the campaign which sees him enter the Islamic
lands of Mesopotamia on behalf of Mongke. Ismailis (assassins) have been
threatening the Mongol governors of the western provinces, so Mongke has
determined that both they and the
Abbasid
caliphs must be brought to heel. Hulegu takes
Khwarazm, and quickly
establishes dominion over
Mosul,
and Badr ad Din Lu'lu is allowed to retain governance of the city as he aids the
Mongols in other campaigns in
Syria.
Hulegu's next conquest is Baghdad, in 1258. The caliph and his family are massacred
when no army is produced to defend them.
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Inheriting the Persian section of the Mongol empire through his
father, Tolui, Hulegu Khan led the devastating attack which
ended the Islamic caliphate at Baghdad, but he also brought the
eastern Persian territories under his firm control (he is seen
here with his wife)
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1260 |
The
Mongol army marches on
Aleppo
and it quickly falls (within a week). This time, most of the inhabitants are
killed or sold into slavery and the Great Mosque and the defensive Citadel
are razed. When the army arrives at
Damascus
the city surrenders immediately as Yusuf has already fled to Gaza.
Samaria is captured, with the garrison of Nablus being put to the sword, and
Gaza is taken. Yusuf is captured and killed while a prisoner.
Hulegu withdraws from Syria once he learns of Mongke's death, leaving behind
a minor force. Baybars of
Egypt sends a Mameluke army against this and defeats it at
the Battle of Ain Jalut. Damascus is freed five days later and within a
month most of Syria is in Baybars' hands. With the political climate in the
Mongol empire becoming unstable, Hulegu settles in Persia as the
first independent ruler of the
Il-Khanate.
At Karakorum, there is disagreement about the choice of successor. The two claimants,
Kublai Khan and Ariq-Boke, engage in civil war which lasts four years. During this
period, Hulegu's slaughter of so many thousands of Muslims at Baghdad has enraged
Berke Khan of the Blue Horde.
War erupts between the two, with the side-effect that Berke is forced to cancel a
planned invasion of Europe. Alughu is appointed to take control of the
Chaghatayid
khanate by Ariq-Boke, deposing Orqina Khatun in the process. He also takes
advantage of the unstable situation by revolting against Ariq-Boke's rule of
the west and gaining the allegiance of the governors of
Transoxiana. |
1260 - 1294 |
Kublai Khan / Qubilai Khan |
Brother. Born 1215.
Great khan. Shih Tsu
in China in 1280. |
1260 - 1264 |
Ariq-Boke |
Brother. Rival great khan in Karakorum. Defeated. Died 1266. |
1260 - 1264 |
The Mongol empire is engulfed in two simultaneous civil wars: Hulegu and
Berke in the west, and Kublai and Ariq-Boke in the east. Both Kublai and
Ariq-Boke are elected great khan in 1260 at two separate khuriltai, with
Kublai basing himself in
China and Ariq-Boke at Karakorum. When Kublai is victorious in 1264, he
retains China as his main base, implying (or perhaps establishing) China as
the most important Mongol possession. When Ariq-Boke dies just two years
later, in 1266, his side of the struggle is continued by Kaidu of
Mughulistan,
grandson of Ogedei Khan. |
1267 - 1279 |
The
Southern Sung
are conquered, and with that the great khans concentrate their rule almost
entirely on China
itself (from this point the list of Mongol rulers is repeated under the
Chinese Yuan dynasty). The Mongol dynasty is christened Yuan by Kublai Khan
in 1279, from which time he is emperor of the Chinese and great khan of the
Mongols. Effective control of a single Mongol empire has ended, with each of
the main ulus (inheritances) now being ruled independently, albeit with
nominal control being exercised by the great Kublai during his lifetime. |
1274 |
The first Mongol invasion of
Japan is
defeated through bad weather conditions, with the outnumbered Japanese
facing superior and much more modern forces. The defeat is an unexpected one
for the otherwise near-universally victorious Mongols.
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This illustration of the first Mongol attempt to invade Japan
shows the Mongol fleet being smashed to pieces by the 'divine
wind' that saved the Japanese - the equivalent to the contrary
winds that prevented Napoleon Bonaparte from crossing the
English Channel
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1277 - 1278 |
Burma is
invaded, and a puppet government is installed there. While it is a victory,
it is far from the total conquest and domination that previous great khans
would have expected. |
1281 |
The second Mongol invasion of
Japan is
again defeated through bad weather conditions. The Mongols suffer around
seventy-five per cent casualties and a clear limit is set on their expansion
in Asia. Japan praises the kamikaze, or 'divine wind', which has saved it
twice from invasion. |
1294 |
With the death of Kublai Khan, the
Yuan dynasty
survives under his successor, but the Mongol empire effectively ceases to
exist. There are no further Khakhans (great khans), and command of the
empire's territory is now permanently divided into four distinct and fully
independent kingdoms: the Golden Horde (made up of the
Blue Horde
and White Horde), the
Il-Khanate,
Mughulistan, and
Yuan China, which incorporates Mongolia and much of southern Siberia, along
with governing Tibet through the institution of the Xuanzheng Yuan, and with
Korea as a tributary
state. |
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Mongol Khans of the Yuan Dynasty
AD 1294 - 1368
The Mongols took control of China through a series of conquests,
ending with total domination. Kublai Khan retained China as his main base
during his civil war against his brother in 1260-1264, implying (or perhaps
establishing) China as the most important Mongol possession. It was only
a matter of time before China became central to the
Great Khans, and the Mongol
dynasty was christened the
Yuan by
Kublai Khan in 1279, from which time he was emperor of the Chinese as well
at great khan of the Mongols. The centre of the Mongol empire shifted with
him to China, fragmenting its authority farther west. His death in 1294
signalled the effective end of the empire, so that the Yuan Mongols ruled
only in China, Mongolia, southern Siberia, and Tibet. Mongolia was governed
by the nominated heir to the imperial throne who resided in Karakorum.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from The
Mongol Empire: Genghis Khan: His Triumph and his Legacy, Peter Brent
(Book Club Associates, 1976), from The Mongols: A Very Short
Introduction, Morris Rossabi (Oxford University Press, 2012), and
from the BBC documentary, The Secret History of Genghis Khan,
broadcast 28 December 2011.) |
1294 - 1307 |
Temur
Öljeytu Khan |
Grandson of Kublai
Khan. Yuan
emperor. Ch'eng Tsung in 1295. |
1295 |
Following his accession, Mahmud Ghazan of the
Il-Khanate
accepts Islam,
marking a departure in the politics of Mongol Persia. From this point onwards,
despite Ghazan maintaining strong links with the
Yuan, the Il-Khanate
becomes increasingly Islamicised, turning away from its Mongol origins. |
1301 |
Thanks to the support of Kaidu of
Mughulistan for
the opposing faction in the
White Horde
dynastic conflict, Buyan has won support both from Great Khan Temur
and Mahmud Ghazan of the
Il-Khanate.
Temur now organises a response against Kaidu, ending with the latter's
defeat at the bloody Battle of the River Zawkhan. Kaidu dies shortly
afterwards. |
1304 |
The
Chaghatayids under
Du'a and Chapar, son of Kaidu, the
Golden Horde under Toqta,
and the
Il-Khanate
under Mahmud Ghazan negotiate peace with Temur Khan so that trade and diplomatic
relations are not harmed by constant bickering and fighting. The
Yuan emperor is also accepted
as the nominal overlord of the three junior Mongol states. As is customary
(but not always observed in recent times), Temur designates Öljeytu as the
new Il-Khan. Soon afterwards, the former allies Du'a and Chapar fall out over
the territory they control within Mughulistan, so Temur backs the rightful
ruler, Du'a, and sends a large army into the region in 1306, forcing Chapar
to surrender. |
1307 - 1311 |
Qayshan
Guluk / Khaisan Külüg / Hai-Shan |
Son of Darmabala.
Wu Tsung in 1308. |
1308 - 1309 |
The Seljuq sultanate of
Rum collapses and the area is ruled through regional governors by
the Mongols. In the same year, Qayshan nominates Ch'ungson as the successor
to King Ch'unguyol of the Koryo
kingdom of Korea. In addition, the rebellious Chapar and his key supporters in
Mughulistan appear
before Qayshan to submit to him, ending the threat posed by them to stability in the
Yuan empire.
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The Mongols in China, such as this horse archer (a typical
Mongol warrior) gradually became more and more Sinicised,
and more distanced from their cousins in Central Asia
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1311 - 1320 |
Ayurparibhadra / Ayurbarwada |
Brother. Jen Tsung in 1312. |
1311 |
Following the death of Qayshan and the succession of Ayurparibhadra,
their mother, Dagi, leads the aggressive Khunggiad faction in the
Yuan
imperial court to purge it of Qayshan's officials and supporters. Qayshan's
son and Ayurparibhadra's agreed successor, Toq-Temur, is driven out. Under Ayurparibhadra,
the Yuan become increasingly integrated into Chinese culture. |
1320 - 1323 |
Suddhipala Gege'en / Shidebala |
Son. Ying Tsung in 1321.
Assassinated. |
1323 |
A promising reign under Suddhipala is cut short when he is
assassinated by the embittered former followers of the late Empress Dagi.
They carry out the act to avoid possible action against them for supporting
Dagi and her (equally late) puppet minister, Temüder. The head of the
assassins is Temüder's son, Tegshi. He offers the throne to Yesun-Temur, and
he accepts, but not until after he has purged the court of Tegshi's faction
to avoid becoming a
Yuan puppet. |
1323 - 1328 |
Yesun-Temur |
Tai-ting Ti in 1324. |
1328 |
Arigaba / Aragibag
/ Ragibagh |
Son. Defeated by his rival and possibly murdered. |
1328 |
Arigaba succeeds his father, installed by Yesun-Temur's
Muslim aide, Dawlat Shah. Before that succession can be made official, an
uprising is triggered by nobles who are dissatisfied with Yesun-Temur's
monopolisation of power under a few select and very powerful officials.
Arigaba leads an army against them but their commander, a Mongolised Kipchak
general named El Temür, defeats them. The
Yuan capital
is seized by El Temür and Jayaatu Khan while Arigaba disappears, presumably
murdered. |
1328 - 1329 |
Jayaatu Khan / Jijaghatu Toq-Temur |
Son of Qayshan. Ming Tsung in 1329. |
1328 - 1329 |
During the successful campaign by El Temür and Jayaatu Khan
to capture the
Yuan
throne, Qoshila Qutuqtu begins his own campaign against them in Mongolia. He
enters Mongolia from the Tarbagatai region of the Khangai Mountains with
support from the
Chaghatayid khans, Eljigedey and Du'a Temur. The nobles of Mongolia also
support him, so he has himself declared emperor on 27 February at a location
to the north of Karakorum. Jayaatu Khan recognises that he has been defeated
and abdicates. |
1329 |
Khutughtu Khan / Qoshila Qutuqtu |
Wen Tsung? In 1330.
Died suddenly. |
1329 |
Ruling as Khutughtu Khan, Qoshila accepts Jayaatu Khan as his
heir and the two meet at a banquet. The new khan is busy filling
Yuan positions with his own people so it seems likely that it is El Temür who is
responsible for his unexpected death just four days after the banquet, probably
because he fears losing his own power and influence to other Mongols and
Chaghatayids
(however, conflicting sources state that the khan's own son, Toghan-Temur,
is responsible). Now
Jayaatu Khan is able to resume his position on the throne after the briefest
of interludes. |
1329 - 1332 |
Jayaatu Khan
/ Jijaghatu Toq-Temur |
Restored as Khutughtu Khan's heir. |
1332 |
Jayaatu Khan's own son and designated heir, Aratnadara,
has already died just just a month after being nominated in 1331. As a
result, Jayaatu nominates Toghan-Temur as his heir. El Temür resists this as
it is Toghan-Temur who is strongly suspected of murdering his father
(lending support to the alternative report for this event in 1329). Instead,
Toghan-Temur's younger brother, Rinchenpal, is nominated, and duly succeeds
upon Jayaatu's death. |
1332 - 1333 |
Rinchenpal
/ Irinchibal / Rinchinbal Khan |
Son of Qoshila. Aged 6 at accession. Died 53 days later. |
1333 - 1368 |
Toghan-Temur |
Brother. Shun Ti in 1333.
Fled China to be
Northern Yuan khan. |
1336 |
The Mongol
Jalayirid sultanate establishes itself in southern and western
Persia, ruling Persia itself through puppets. They also take control of the
areas of former Rum
that have not yet been conquered by the expanding
Ottomans. |
1368 |
The Mongols are expelled from
China
by Chu Yüan-chang when he captures Dadu (modern Beijing). Toghan-Temur flees
to Mongolia, while Chu Yüan-chang seizes the throne and is proclaimed the first
Ming emperor of
a reunited China. This act effectively dissolves the Mongol empire. The surviving
khanates, the Blue Horde,
White Horde, and
Chaghatayids
(the
Il-Khans have already fallen), are now ruled as entirely independent
kingdoms in their own right. The descendents of Kublai Khan and the great
khans continue to rule locally in Mongolia as the
Northern Yuan. |
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Mongol Khans of the Northern Yuan Dynasty
AD 1368 - 1634
The Mongols were expelled from
China in 1368
by Chu Yüan-chang and the Red Turban Army rebel movement. Toghan-Temur, the
final Yuan emperor, fled to Mongolia to become the first ruler of the much-reduced
Northern Yuan dynasty (as it was named in Chinese records), which effectively
meant that he had returned to his homeland to govern the original core of the
Mongolian empire. He died at Karakorum just two years later, by which time the
formal existence of the Mongol empire had been ended (although this had been the
case in reality since the death of Kublai Khan in 1294). The surviving khanates, the
Blue Horde,
White Horde, and
Chaghatayids
(the
Il-Khans had already fallen), were now fully independent kingdoms in their
own right.
The descendents of Kublai Khan and the great khans largely continued to rule
locally in Mongolia until the seventeenth century, but they never again rose
to prominence. (Names shown below incorporate each khan's official name first,
and their birth name second.) The khans directly ruled the eastern wing of the
Mongolian army, suggesting eastern Mongolia itself, while a royal prince, or
'jinong', governed the western wing in the khan's name.
Farther west were the vassal Oirats, a grouping of four major Mongol tribes
which occupied territory around the Altai Mountains (the point of congruence
between modern China,
Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and
Russia
as well as seemingly being the point of origin for the early
Turks). The Oirats quickly became
the leaders of the Western Mongols (supporters of the descendants of
Ariq-Boke), and engaged in a constant struggle for power, and control of
the great khan, with the Eastern Mongols (supporters of the descendants
of Kublai Khan). A third faction emerged in the form of the Uriyangkhai,
which controlled Mongol groups in the north-east, effectively placing the
Eastern Mongols in the middle of a struggle that largely split Mongol
unity along these lines.
(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from The
Mongol Empire: Genghis Khan: His Triumph and his Legacy, Peter Brent
(Book Club Associates, 1976), from The Mongols: A Very Short
Introduction, Morris Rossabi (Oxford University Press, 2012), and
from the BBC documentary, The Secret History of Genghis Khan,
broadcast 28 December 2011.) |
1368 - 1370 |
Toghan-Temur |
Fled
China.
First Northern Yuan. Died 1370 at Karakorum. |
1370 |
Yingchang is seized by the
Ming Chinese
shortly after the death of Toghan-Temur. It is the start of constant
conflict between the Mongols and the Ming. The Mongolians are forced to
retreat into Mongolia itself.
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With the loss of China, the Mongols gradually returned to the
old ways over the course of several generations of feuding and
jostling for control
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1370 - 1378 |
Biligtü Khan /
Ayushiridara |
Son. |
1372 - 1373 |
Not content with kicking the Mongols out of China, the
Ming emperor
begins a military push into Mongolia. Mongol General Köke Temür, the
half-Chinese grandson of a Mongolian prince who had been known as Wang
Baobao during the Yuan
dynasty days, leads the defence of Mongolia. In 1373 he defeats 15,000 Ming
soldiers at the River Orkhon. The Mongols recapture Funin and Suijin
districts in Sinhe, Liaoning and Hebei provinces, cutting off the Ming from
Liadong with the help of the Jurchen (former rulers of the
Jin dynasty which
itself had been defeated by the Mongols).
Ayushiridara asks Kongmin of the Koryo
Korean dynasty for assistance in the fight against the Ming. As a former
Mongol vassal, he is acclaimed as a fellow descendant of Chingiz Khan,
and will therefore be happy to work together wth the Yuan in their current
reduced state. However, Kongmin's reforms have already cut many ties with
the Yuan in favour of the Ming, and he not only refuses to help, he actively
pursues a policy of reconquering territory that had been annexed by the
Great Khans in
the 1270s. |
1378 - 1388 |
Ukshal Khan / Togus-Temur |
Brother or son. |
1380 - 1381 |
In response to further Mongol pressure on their northern border, the
Ming invade
Mongolia again, reaching Karakorum, which they loot. Other Mongol cities are
also attacked and looted, but a further invasion the following year is
repulsed. However, the
Yuan loyalists
who had been holding out in the southern Chinese territory of Yunnan are
finally defeated in the same year. |
1387 - 1388 |
A Mongolian official in the former north-eastern Chinese province of
Liaoyang (now in Mongolian hands) invades Liaodong. Nahachu envisions a
restoration of the
Yuan dynasty in
China, but he and his army of about 200,000, suffering in the midst of a
famine, are persuaded to surrender by
Ming diplomacy.
Shortly afterwards, also in 1388, Ukshal Khan is attacked during a
Ming raid on Lake Buir. He escapes, heading for Karakorum, but is subject to
a surprise attack along the River Tuul by Yesüder, a rival who is allied to
the Oirats. Both Ukshal Khan and his son are killed, marking the end of
recent Yuan supremacy and the rise of the Oirats in Mongolia. The Mongols
begin to disintegrate. |
1388 - 1392? |
Jorightu Khan / Yesüder |
Descendant of
Ariq-Boke (brother and rival of Kublai Khan). |
1388 - 1389 |
With the break in rule of the descendants of Kublai Khan, and the dramatic
reduction in Mongol power over the past two decades, the authority of the
great khan has been gravely damaged. One of the former generals of Togus-Temur
breaks away and forms his own small khanate. Gunashiri is a descendant of
Chagatai Khan of the Chaghatayids,
and the small state he forms is called Qara Del, which is centred in Hami
(modern Kumul in Xinjiang Province).
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The Altai Mountains link together the borders of Kazakhstan,
Mongolia, Russia, and Xinjiang, providing the source for the
rivers Irtysh and Ob and also, it would seem, the source region
for the early Turkic tribes
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1390s |
The third grouping of Mongols, the Uriyangkhai, surrender to the
Ming Chinese,
along with some Borjigin princes. Led by Ukshal Khan's former minister,
Necelai, the Mongols are divided by the Ming into three sub-groups, known
as the Three Guards: Doyin, Fuyu, and Tai'nin. They are settled as a buffer
force in territory that becomes the modern Inner Mongolia (to be re-acquired
by the Mongols in 1495). Necelai is killed by Shirmen, the late khan's
chingsang (chancellor) who is now allied to Jorightu Khan. |
? - 1392 |
Engke
Khan |
Son, or perhaps even
Jorightu Khan himself. |
1392 - 1399 |
Nigülesügchi Khan
/ Elbeg |
Younger brother of
Jorightu Khan. |
1399 |
Ugetchi Khashikha, ruler of the Oirats, opposes Elbeg's decision to appoint
a new ruler in his place. Ugetchi persuades the chingsang, Batula,
that the violent khan who has already killed his own kin, along with
Batula's father, is unworthy of his position. Elbeg is defeated by the four
Oirat tribes and is killed by their leaders, Ugetchi Khashikha and Batula.
There is a hiatus of several months before Elbeg's son, Gün Temür Khan, is
able to succeed him. |
1400 - 1402 |
Gün
Temür Khan |
Son. Defeated and
killed. |
1402 |
Gün
Temür Khan is defeated and killed by Guilichi, who seizes the Mongol throne
under the title Örüg Temür Khan. It is possible that this little-known
individual is in fact Ugetchi Khashikha, ruler of the Oirats ('Khashikha'
means 'prince' or 'duke'). He is certainly a non-Chingisid, and therefore
not in direct line of descent from Chingiz Khan. |
1402 - 1403 |
Örüg
Temür Khan / Guilichi |
A non-Chingisid khan. Defeated by Buyanshri. |
1403 - 1412 |
Öljei
Temür Khan / Buyanshri |
Brother of Gün Temür.
Killed by the Oirats. |
1409 - 1422 |
Ming Emperor Ch'eng Tsu
invades Mongolian lands three times in this period, in 1409, 1414, and 1422.
The first time he is repulsed by Öljei Temür Khan, while the Oirats
successfully defend Mongolia on the other occasions, showing that the
Mongols are still powerful enough to ably defend themselves against Chinese
aggression. Continually foiled on the battlefield, the emperor begins a
policy of politically dividing the Mongols by conspiring to encourage
internecine feuding.
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The Mongols were still a formidable fighting force when they
were opposed by the Ming, with regional feuds largely (but not
exclusively) being put aside
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1412 - 1413 |
Following a humiliating defeat by the
Ming in 1410, Öljei Temür Khan is now
killed by the Oirat ruler, Mahamud. The following year, Mahamud installs his
own puppet khan on the throne. This point marks the temporary decline of the
Borjigin khans and the start of a period in which various Mongol clans fight
each other for supremacy. |
1413 - 1415 |
Delbeg Khan / Dalbag |
Puppet of Oirat
ruler, Mahamud. Not recognised by most clans. |
1415 |
The Mongols under Delbeg are defeated in a pyrrhic victory for the
Ming in which
nothing is really gained. Despite penetrating as far as the River Tuul, the
Ming subsequently withdraw. One of Delbeg's main Mongol rivals, the future Adai
Khan, has managed to unify the central and eastern clans against him, and now
kills Delbeg and many of his Oirat supporters. |
1415 - 1425 |
Oyiradai |
Selected by the
Oirats as their replacement for Delbeg. |
1422 - 1423 |
With the help of the
Ming,
Oyiradai leads an Oirat resurgence against the central and eastern Mongols
under the chingsang, Arughtai, and Adai Khan. The latter are defeated
twice, but Oyiradai's subsequent death prompts infighting between the Oirats
and western Mongols, allowing Adai Khan to seize power. |
1425 - 1438 |
Adai
Khan |
A Borjigin khan,
possibly the son of Örüg Temür Khan. |
1433 - 1438 |
Tayisung Khan is promoted by the Oirats as the great khan, in direct
opposition to Adai Khan. For the next five years, the western Mongols
acknowledge Tayisung while the central and eastern Mongols acknowledge Adai
Khan. An Oirat victory in 1434 which kills Arughtai and other key Adai Khan
supporters ends any immediate chance of the Mongols being fully unified. In
1438, Adai Khan is overrun by the Oirats and is killed by Toghtoa Bukha. The
Mongols are now unified by the Oirats (western Mongols). |
1433 - 1453 |
Tayisung
Khan / Toghtoa Bukha |
Puppet of the
Oirats. |
1443/1449 |
With the
Golden Horde becoming increasingly weakened, one recent claimant for
the throne has been Dawlat Berdi. He had managed to establish himself in
the Crimea
in 1427 but had constantly been troubled by Hajji Giray, another would-be
ruler of the horde. The assassination of Dawlat Berdi in 1432 has left
the route open to Hajji setting up the
Crimean
khanate as an independent entity under his command. The actual date of
the take-over is somewhat disputed, with 1443 and 1449 being two of the
favourites.
Also in 1449, Togoon Taishi, khan of the supposedly vassal Oirats, has
been steadily winning influence at the Mongol court, and his successor,
Esen Tayisi increases that influence. Having led diplomatic attempts to
negotiate with the
Ming to
improve trading conditions with China, Esen Tayisi finds that he is
rebuffed. As a result he leads a startling military campaign which
defeats a force of 50,000, captures the emperor and besieges Beijing. |
1453 |
Esen Tayisi defeats Tayisung Khan and, after dealing with Tayisung's
brother, Agbarjin, declares himself khan of the Mongols in his place.
Tayisung is quickly assassinated by his former father-in-law for returning
the man's daughter to him as a divorce and causing her to be humiliated. |
1453 |
Agbarjin / Akbarjin |
Brother.
Betrayed Tayisung Khan for throne, then killed by Oirats. |
1453 - 1454 |
Esen Tayisi |
Oirat khan.
Overthrown by Mongol rebel faction. |
1454 |
Despite being the khan of the Oirats and great khan under whom the Mongols
have been reunited, Esen faces a rebellion by the Oirats and his own
general, Alag. He is defeated in battle and murdered by the son of one of
his own victims. His death fragments Mongol unity once again and also ends
Oirat supremacy over Mongolia. |
1454 - 1465 |
Markörgis Khan / Ükegtü |
Child son of
Tayisung Khan. |
1454 - 1465 |
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Dogholon Taishi |
Of the seven Tümeds (a Mongol subgrouping). Regent. |
1454 - 1465 |
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Bulay |
Of the Kharchin Mongols. Co-regent. |
1465 |
After years of rivalry between Dogholon and Bulay, as each struggles to
attain dominance, the Mongols finally erupt into internecine war. The young
Markörgis Khan is killed during the fighting and his elder half-brother,
Molon, succeeds him. |
1465 - 1466 |
Molon
Khan |
Half-brother of
Markörgis Khan. Killed during internecine feuding. |
1466 - 1475 |
Further internecine fighting causes the death of Molon Khan, and such is the
level of disruption, no election can be held to select a successor. It takes
almost a decade of warfare until Manduul Khan can gain superiority enough to
be selected khan over all the Mongols.
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Molon Khan was one of many short-lived figureheads of the Mongol
people during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as the
unity of Chingiz Khan faded
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1475 - 1478 |
Manduul Khan |
Son of Tayisung Khan. Grand councillor of the Ongud
Mongols. |
1478 - 1517 |
Dayan
Khan / Batu Möngke |
Great-grandnephew and selected heir. |
1478 |
Succeeding to what is now a fairly stable, reunited Mongol confederacy, Dayan Khan moves his capital from Khalkha to Chaharia so that he
can more tightly control the Taishis of the right wing. This makes him the
chief of the Chahar Mongols, another of many Mongol subgroupings, which
survives today, largely in the south-eastern section of Inner Mongolia. The
Three Guards (created in the 1390s) are re-acquired in 1495. |
1502 |
Much of the
Great Horde's
people and horses are captured by the khan of the
Crimea and
forcibly relocated to the Crimea itself, while Shaykh Ahmad flees with about
4,000 horsemen. His days are numbered, and the Great Horde is unable to reform. |
1517 |
With the death of Dayan Khan, his selected successor is the youthful
Bars Bolud Jinong Khan. Dayan Khan's third son,
Bodi Alagh Khan, fears that the boy's
youth and inexperience will undo the work of reuniting the Mongols, so he
pushes the boy aside to claim the khanship himself. He is largely supported
by the nobility who have the same fears.
Dayan Khan's death also sparks a proliferation of minor Mongol dynasties
that further fragments Mongolian unity. He has divided his domains between
his eleven sons, with the youngest, Gersenz Hongtaiji, gaining Northern
Khalkha (which approximates modern Outer Mongolia in terms of its
territory). This is further subdivided between Gersenz' seven sons and one
of his great-grandchildren, Eriyehi Mergen Khan, founds the Tushiyeti
khanship. Another great-grandson, Sholoi, founds the Secen khans. A member
of the next generation, Sumbadai, creates the Zasagtu khans in the
western section of North Khalkha, but his cousin, Ubashi Hongtaiji, secedes
to found the Altyn khans of Khotgoid. Such constant division only serves to
weaken the Mongols. |
1517 - 1519 |
Bars Bolud Jinong Khan |
Son. Pushed aside by
Bodi Alagh Khan. |
1519 |
It has taken two years for Bodi Alagh to secure enough support to force Bars
Bolud Jinong to step down as khan and avoid a civil war. Now that he can
assume power, he rules for an impressive twenty-eight years. |
1519 - 1547 |
Bodi Alagh Khan |
Nephew, and son of Turbolad. |
1547 |
Bodi Alagh Khan is the last of the powerful khans. His successors carry the
same titular authority but in reality they provide direct governance only
for the Chahar Mongols, situated towards the south-east of the modern region
of Inner Mongolia. The situation reflects the ever-diminishing authority of
the great khans and their successors since the fourteenth century. |
1547 - 1557 |
Daraisung Guden Khan |
Son. |
1547 - 1551 |
Daraisung Guden Khan is unable to quash the growing power and arrogance of
Altan Khan of the Tümet Mongol subgroup. Altan Khan forces Daraisung to flee
eastwards, and the two only come to a compromise in 1551. Altan accepts
Daraisung's suzerainty in return for being granted the title 'Geegen Khan'
for himself. The more senior khan has to relocate his capital to a location
near Manchuria, and his distance from the heartland of Mongol territory
engenders a further decline in the authority of his position. |
1557 - 1592 |
Tümen Jasagtu Khan |
Son. |
1592 - 1603 |
Buyan Sechen Khan |
Son. |
1603 - 1634 |
Legdan Hutuhtu Khan / Ligdan Khan |
Grandson. Oversaw translation of Buddhist scripts into
Mongolian. |
1603 |
Legdan Hutuhtu becomes khan at a time at which the authority of his position
is greatly in decline, at least partially thanks to the constant subdivision
of Mongol territory and the creation of lesser khanates. He becomes known as
the 'Khan of Chaharia', a derogatory title which belittles his power,
consigning him to the Chaharia region of Inner Mongolia alone in titular terms.
At about the same time, the Khoshut tribe of Oirats migrates to Kukunor, while
the Torghuts leave Mongolia entirely, heading to the Volga basin to become the
Kalmyks. |
1634 |
Legdan Hutuhtu Khan is the last of the Borjigin khans, ruling from Chahar.
He has been unpopular and has treated his fellow Mongols harshly, while
pursuing an alliance with the
Ming. Two
of the Mongol subgroups under his direct rule, the Jarud and Khorchin,
have been intermarrying with the
Qin, and
the khan's court has lost most of its authority to them. Legdan's death
signals the end of the khanship that has descended directly from Chingiz
Khan and a virtual surrendering of Inner Mongolia to the Qin. However,
by this stage, Khara Khula of the Choros clan has managed to unify the
Oirats so that his son, Erdeni Batur Hongtaiji, is able to establish the
Zunghar khanate in this year. |
1634 - 1635 |
Ejei
Khan |
Son. Surrendered to the
Qin. |
1635 |
Ejei Khan completes the surrender of the Borjigin Mongols to the
Qin. Within
forty years, all Qin royal males have been systematically exterminated by
the Qin, including those born to Qin princesses. |
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1639 |
Ulan Bator is founded as a nomadic Buddhist monastic centre. It is not
settled permanently until 1778, and in the twentieth century it becomes the
capital city of Outer Mongolia.
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The plains around Ulan Bator offer stereotypical views of
traditional Mongol territory - wide, sweeping plains that
were (and still are) ideally suited to horse-borne warriors
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c.1645 |
Some time after this date, although just when is unclear, Kondeleng Ubashi,
brother of Gushi Khan, Mongol king of Tibet, migrates to the Volga with a
division of the Koshut tribe of Oirats. There they merge with the Kalmyks
(although they return in 1771 to Zungaria where they are resettled by the
now-dominant Qin
and survive into modern times). |
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