Oirats

This article deals with the Mongol ethnic group. For further treatment of the Turkic Altays, see Altay language, Altai Republic.

Oirats (also spelled Oyrats or Oyirads; Mongolian: Ойрадын Ojradyn) refers to both a West Mongolian people of Europe and Asia and, historically, to a Turkic people now known as the Altays.

Although the Oirats originated in Dzungaria in north-central Asia, the most prominent group of Oirats today are the nearly 200,000 Kalmyks of Eastern Europe. Other Oirats remain in present-day Mongolia (ca. 200,000) and China (ca. 140,000 in Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Inner Mongolia).[1] Oirats are traditionally Tibetan Buddhist and many in Mongolia and China still are pastoral nomadists. Kalmyk-Oirat is a West Mongolian language whose dialects include but are not limited to Olöt, Derbet, Torghut, Khoshot, Khoit, and Darkhat.

History

Oirats share some history, geography, culture and language with both Western and Eastern Mongols, and were at various times united under the same leader as a larger Mongol polity â€" whether that ruler was of Oirat or Mongol descent.

The name Oirat may derive from a corruption of the group's original name Dörvn Öörd, meaning "The Allied Four." Perhaps inspired by the designation Dörvn Öörd, other Mongols at times used the term "Döchin Mongols" for themselves ("Döchin" meaning forty), but there was rarely as great a degree of unity among larger numbers of tribes as among the Oirats.

Comprised of the Khoshut (Хошууд HoÅ¡uud), Olot (Өөлд Ööld) or Dzungar (Зүүнгар Züüngar), Torgut (Торгууд Torguud), and Dorbot (Ð"өрвөд Dörvöd) tribes, they were dubbed Kalmak or Kalmyk, which means "remnant" or "to remain," by their western Turkic neighbors. Various sources also list the Bargut, Buzav, Kerait, and Naiman tribes as comprising part of the Dörvn Öörd; some tribes may have joined the original four only in later years. This name may reflect the Kalmyks' remaining Buddhist rather than converting to Islam; or the Kalmyks' remaining on Altay region when their Turkic migrated to the West.

Early history

One of the earliest mentions of the Oirat people in a historical text can be found in the Secret History of the Mongols, the 13th century chronicle of Genghis Khan's rise to power. In the Secret History, the Oirats are counted among the "forest people" and are said to live under the rule of a shaman-chief known as bäki. In one famous passage the Oirat chief, Quduqa Bäki, uses a yada or "thunder stone" to unleash a powerful storm on Genghis' army. The magical ploy backfires however when an unexpected wind blows the storm back at Quduqa. Although they initially oppose Genghis' rule, the Oirats eventually ally themselves with the khan and distinguish themselves as a loyal and formidible faction of the Mongol war machine.

After the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in Peking, the Oirats reemerged in history as a loose alliance of the four major West Mongolian tribes (Dörben Oirat). The alliance grew to power in the remote region of the Altai Mountains, northwest of the Hami oasis. Gradually they spread eastward, annexing territories then under control by the East Mongols and hoping to reestablish a unified nomadic rule under their banner.

The greatest ruler of the Dörben Oirat was Esen who was tayishi of the dominant West Mongolian tribe, the Olöt. "Tayishi" (variant spellings Taisi, Tayisi, Tayiji) is a Oirat language word which can be translated as "grand marshall," indicating a military leader of high rank but below the level of a khan. Esen led the Dörben Oirat from 1439 to 1454, during which time he unified Mongolia (both Inner and Outer) under his rule. In 1449 Esen Tayisi mobilized his cavalry along the Chinese border and invaded the Ming Empire, defeating and destroying the Ming defenses at the Great Wall and the reinforcements sent to intercept his cavalry. In the process, the Zhengtong Emperor was captured at Tumu. The following year, Esen returned the emperor. After claiming the title of khan, to which only lineal descendents of Genghis Khan could claim, Esen was deposed. Shortly afterwards, Oirat power declined.

From the 14th until the middle of the 18th century, the Oirats were often at war with the East Mongols. Illustrative of this history is the Oirat epic song, "The Rout of Mongolian Shulum Ubushi Khong Tayiji," about the war between the Oirats and the first Altan Khan of the Khalkha.

The Kalmyk Khanate

In the early part of 17th century, the Torghuts, a West Mongolian tribe, began to migrate westwards. They reached the lower Volga region and established a small empire called the Kalmyk Khanate, a large part of which is in the area of present-day Kalmykia. In the process, they became nominal subjects of the Russian Tsar.

Kho Orlök, tayishi of the Torghuts, and Dalai Batur, tayishi of a small group of Derbets, led their people westward at the beginning of the 17th century. By some accounts this move was precipitated by internal divisions or by the Khoshot tribe; other historians believe it more likely the migrating clans were seeking pastureland for their herds, scarce in the Central Asian highlands. Part of the Khoshot and Ölöt tribes would join the migration almost a century later.

The Kalmyk migration had reached as far as the steppes of southeast Europe by 1630. At the time, that area was inhabited by the Nogai Horde. But under pressure from Kalmyk warriors, the Nogai fled to the Crimea and the Kuban River. All other nomadic peoples in the European steppes subsequently became vassals of the Kalmyk Khanate.

The Khoshot Khanate

The Oirats converted to Tibetan Buddhism around 1615, and it was not long before they became involved in the conflict between the Geluk (or Gelug) and Karma Kagyu schools. At the request of the Geluk school, in 1637 Güshi Khan of the Khoshots defeated Choghtu Khong Tayiji, who supported the Karma Kagyu school, and conquered Amdo (present-day Qinghai). The unification of Tibet followed in 1641, with Güshi Khan proclaimed Khan of Tibet by the fifth Dalai Lama. The title "Dalai Lama" itself was bestowed upon the third lama of the geluk tulku lineage by Altan Khan (not to be confused with the Altan Khans of the Khalkha), and means, in Mongolian, "Ocean of Wisdom."

Amdo, meanwhile, became home to the Khoshots. In 1717 Olöts invaded Tibet and killed Lha-bzang Khan (or Khoshot Khan), a great-grandson of Güshi and the fourth Khan of Tibet.

The Dzungar Empire

The 17th century saw the rise in power of another Oirat empire in the east, known as the Khanate of Dzungaria, which stretched from the Great Wall of China to present-day eastern Kazakhstan, and from the present-dai northern Kyrgyzstan to southern Siberia. It was last Empire of the Great Nomads of Asia.

The Qing (or Manchu) conquered China in the mid-17th century and sought to protect its northern border by continuing the divide-and-rule policy their Ming predecessors instituted successfully against the Mongols. The Manchu consolidated their rule over the East Mongols of Manchuria. They then persuaded the East Mongols of Inner Mongolia to submit themselves as vassals. Finally, the East Mongols of Outer Mongolia sought the protection of the Manchu against the Dzungars.

In 1723 Lobzang Danjin, another descendant of Güshi Khan, defended Amdo against attempts to extend Qing rule into Tibet, but was crushed in the following year. Thus, Amdo fell under the domination of Qing.

External links

*Official Republic of Kalmykia page about the history of Kalmykia; features photographs of Kalmyks in traditional dress
*Timeline of Oyirad history as defenders of Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy
*A painting of Lha-bzang Khan appears on this Tibetan colleges page
*the regional history page at the Altai Republic's official web portal