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Zunghars

Dzungar people
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 準噶爾
Simplified Chinese 准噶尔
Mongolian name
Mongolian Cyrillic Зүүнгар
Mongolian script ᠵᠡᠭᠦᠨᠭᠠᠢ
Kazakh name
Kazakh Жоңғар/Joñğar/جوڭگار

The name Dzungar people, also written as Zunghar (literally züüngar, from the Mongolian for "left hand"), referred to the several Oirat tribes who formed and maintained the Dzungar Khanate in the 17th and 18th centuries. Historically they were one of major tribes of the Four Oirat confederation. They were also known as the Eleuths or Ööled, from the Qing dynasty euphemism for the hated word "Dzungar", and also called "Kalmyks". In 2010, 15,520 people claimed "Ööled" ancestry in Mongolia. An unknown number also live in China, Russia, and Kazakhstan.

The Dzungars were a confederation of several Oirat tribes that emerged in the early 17th century to fight the Altan Khan of the Khalkha (not to be confused with the better known Altan Khan of the Tümed), the Jasaghtu Khan, and later the Manchu for dominion and control over the Mongolian people and territories. This confederation rose to power in what became known as Dzungaria between the Altai Mountains and the Ili River Valley. Initially, the confederation consisted of the Oöled, Dorbet (also written Derbet) and Khoit tribes. Later on, elements of the Khoshut and Torghut tribes were forcibly incorporated into the Dzungar military, thus completing the re-unification of the West Mongolian tribes.

According to oral history, the Oöled and Dörbed tribes are the successor tribes to the Naiman, a Mongol tribe that roamed the steppes of Central Asia during the era of Genghis Khan. The Oöled shared the clan name Choros with the Dörvöd. "Zuun gar" (left hand) and "Baruun gar" (right hand) formed the Oirat's military and administrative organization. The Dzungar Olots and Choros became the ruling clans in the 17th century.


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Wikipedia

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