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Zunghar Empire

Dzungar Khanate
Nomadic empire
1634–1758
The Dzungar Khanate (c. 1750) (in blue line)
Capital Ghulja
Languages Oirat, Chagatai
Religion Tibetan Buddhism
Government Monarchy
Legislature
  • Customary rules
  • Mongol-Oirat Code of 1640
Historical era Early modern period
 •  Established 1634
 •  1619 The first Russian record of Khara Khula
 •  1676 Galdan receives the title of Boshogtu khan from the 5th Dalai Lama
 •  1688 The Dzungar invasion of the Khalkha
 •  1690 Beginning of the Dzungar–Qing War, Battle of Ulan Butung
 •  1755–1758 The Qing army occupies Dzungaria and genocide
 •  Disestablished 1758
Population
 •  est. 600,000 
Currency pūl (a red copper coin)
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Four Oirats
Chagatai Khanate
Qing dynasty
Russian Empire
Today part of
Dzungar Khanate
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 準噶爾汗國
Simplified Chinese 准噶尔汗国
Tibetan name
Tibetan ཛེ་གུན་གར།།
Mongolian name
Mongolian ᠵᠡᠭᠦᠨ ᠭᠠᠷ ᠤᠨ ᠬᠠᠭᠠᠨᠲᠣ ᠣᠯᠣᠰ
jegün γar-un qaγan-tu ulus
Uyghur name
Uyghur
جوڭغار
Jongghar

The Dzungar Khanate, also written as the Zunghar Khanate, was an Oirat khanate on the Eurasian Steppe. It covered the area called Dzungaria and stretched from the west end of the Great Wall of China to present-day Kazakhstan, and from present-day Kyrgyzstan to southern Siberia. Most of this area today is part of the Xinjiang autonomous region in China, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. The Dzungar Khanate was the last major nomadic empire left from the Mongol Empire.

In 1678, Galdan received from the Dalai Lama the title of Boshogtu Khan, thus confirming the Dzungars as the leading tribe within the Oirats. However, the Dzungar rulers bore the title of Khong Tayiji (deriving from the Chinese phrase Huang Taizi, which translates into English as "crown prince"), while the state itself was still referred to as the Dzungar Khanate. Following the deaths of Galdan Boshogtu Khan in 1697 and his successor Tsewang Rabtan in 1727, the Khanate fell into a steep decline from which it would never recover, ultimately leading to its annexation and genocide by the Qing dynasty during the period of 1755–58.

"Dzungar" is a compound of the Mongolian word jegün (züün), meaning "left" or "east" and γar meaning "hand" or "wing". The region of Dzungaria derives its name from this confederation. Although the Dzungars were located west of the Eastern Mongols, 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 the Tibetan Geluk Sect, the Oirat army were 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.


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Wikipedia

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