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		China  Mongolia  Kazakhstan  Russia  Kyrgyzstan

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.