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Return to Nomadic Patterns

The end of the Yuan was the second turning point in Mongol history. When the Mongols were driven out of China by the Ming Emperors, they were forced apparently to abandon not only China proper, but also all the frontier districts that lie between the Great Wall and the desert of Shamo. No part of that country, now so characteristically Mongol, viz.: the country of the Fortynine Banners, where the Chakhars, Sunides, Barins, &c, have their camping ground, was apparently left in their possession.

On the death of Chun ti, the last emperor of the dynasty of the Youan, who, on leaving China, had retired to In tchang fou, a town now destroyed, in the district of Kichikten, on the north-east of the Dolon nor, his son Aiourchiri Dala* succeeded him, in 1371, and transferred his residence to Ho lin (Kara koroum); the latter was succeeded in 1378 by his son Togous Temour. In 1388 Lan yu, a Chinese general, marched from Ta ning, and was defeated near the lake Bouir. Togous Temour took flight, followed by only ten horsemen, and was killed on the banks of the Tola by one of his subjects called Yesouder. All his wives, his second son, more than 3000 of officers, and 70,000 Mongols of both sexes, fell into the hands of the Chinese. The army of Lan yu made an immense booty in gold, silver, and valuable effects, besides 150,000 head of cattle. The subjects of Togous Temour were entirely dispersed; and under the reign of the first emperor of the dynasty of Ming, the Mongols did not dare again to attempt the invasion of China.

The retreat of more than 60,000 Mongols into the Mongolian heartland brought radical changes to the quasi-feudalistic system. In the early fifteenth century, the Mongols split into two groups, the Oirad in the Altai region and the eastern group that later came to be known as the Khalkha in the area north of the Gobi. A lengthy civil war (1400-54) precipitated still more changes in the old social and political institutions.

Prince Oloutai was declared khan by the name of Bouniachiri. This new Mongol prince, though descended from the imperial family, was abandoned during the times of trouble, and deprived of the means of supporting his dignity: besides, he had none of those qualities necessary for a sovereign, especially at a time when the elder chiefs in each tribe assumed the right of exercising sovereign power over entire provinces. The Mongol nation, however, showed a singular attachment to this new khan. In 1409 the court of China caused the proposal to be made to him to recognise its supremacy; but it did not receive any answer. The ambassador who carried the dispatches was assassinated, and the letter thrown into the fire. Khieou fou, the Chinese general, then marched against Bouniachiri with an army of 100,000 Chinese horsemen. He was beaten by the Mongols in 1409.

The emperor Young lo, marched himself, in 1410, at the head of 500,000 men. Bouniachiri, seized with terror, wished to fly towards the west. Oloutai, the Mongol prince, refused, and separated from the khan with his tribe. This division was as fatal to them as advantageous to the Chinese. The emperor pursuing Bouniachiri arrived on the banks of the Ouon, at the place where Genghiz khan, the founder of the house of Youan, was born. Bouniachiri ventured on a battle, and being totally defeated fled still farther to the west. The emperor then turned back to encounter Oloutai, destroyed his army, and returned victorious to Peking.

In 1412, Bouniachiri was assassinated by Makhamou, a Mongol prince. During the reign of Young lo, Makhamou was raised to the dignity of prince of the Chinese empire; but in the sequel, having dared to pass the frontiers, the emperor went in person to meet him, totally defeated his army near Oulan kochoun, and after having pursued him as far as the Tola, obliged him again to pay tribute.

In the last two years of his reign, Young lo undertook two expeditions into Mongolia to destroy the power of Oloutai. During four months, the emperor led his army across the immense steppes of Mongolia; but he could not even find any trace of his enemy, and lost a great number of soldiers in the vast desert whither he pursued him. Overcome by vexation, at not being able to take vengeance, he fell into a deep melancholy, and was obliged to give orders to his army to return immediately to China. When he arrived at the source of the Thsing, which is beyond the empire, he caused a magnificent monument to be erected on a neighbouring mountain, with an inscription, announcing to posterity his campaigns and exploits into Mongolia. He died in 1424.

Togon, the son of prince Makhamou, succeeded his father, and wished to be proclaimed Khan; but his subjects would not consent, and the death of Togon in 1440 put an end to these designs. Esen, (in Chinese, Yesian Tougan,) the son of Togon, was first minister after him, and the greatest of all the Oyrat rulers of the era. The Mongols who obeyed him became every day more powerful.

Esen was so successful against China that, in 1449, he defeated and captured the Ming emperor. In 1449, Esen carried away several tribes, who attempted an invasion of China. The eunuch, Vang tching, persuaded the emperor to march in person against the Mongols: the ministers opposed it; but the emperor would not listen to them. When he reached Ta tsung, near the great wall, he wished to return to Siuan houa; but Esen overtook him. Though the emperor had 500,000 men, he was entirely defeated: his ministers, and his generals, all perished in this battle. The emperor Yng tsoung (the fifth of the dynasty of Ming) was made prisoner by the Mongols, with one of his officers. Esen having advanced to Peking, was beaten by Yu khian, president of the tribunal of war.

Esen, having advanced to Peking, was beaten by Yu khian, president of the tribunal of war. The Chinese made great preparations for defence; but the Mongols proposed peace, and sent back Yng tsoung to China. In 1451, Esen assassinated Toktoboukha, and took his place: his dominion began to the east of the country of Djourdje, and the Ouriankai*, and extended to the west, over the habitations of the Tchighin Mongols t, and as far as Khamil, or Hami. All these countries obeyed him. Esen, in paying tribute to China, assumed the title of Tian ching kakhan, that is, celestial and holy khan I: intoxicated with power, he became very arrogant. Under the reign of the emperor King ti, in 1455, Ala attacked Esen and killed him. After Esen was killed in battle, the brief resurgence of Mongolia came to an abrupt halt, and the tribes returned to their traditional disunity.

As the Ming policy became more distinctly a policy of non-intervention with the frontier tribes, and as the Ming authority grew weaker, the Mongols began to drift back into the fertile country south of the desert. By the middle of the fifteenth century, the Oirad had emerged as the predominant force, and, under the leadership of Esen Khan [Esen is a Turkish word, signifying strong, healthy], they united much of Mongolia and then continued their war against China.

After nearly two more decades of Oirad-Khalkha conflict, another Oirad chieftain, Dayan Khan, assumed central leadership in 1466 and reunited most of Mongolia. By the end of the fifteenth century, he had restored peace and had established a new confederation comprising a vast region of North-central Asia, between the Ural Mountains and Lake Baykal. He then extended his control eastward to include the remainder of Khalkha Mongolia. The Oirad were surrounded by the Turkic descendants of the Chagadai Mongols who occupied the lowlands to the east and west, in the three independent khanates of Yarkand (modern Xinjiang south of the Tian Shan Mountains), Ferghana, and Khwarizm.

Early in the sixteenth century, these three khanates were overwhelmed, however, by the Uzbeks, who earlier had broken loose from Mongol authority. The Uzbeks consolidated their control over Bukhara (Bokhara), Samarkand, Khwarizm, and Herat. During Dayan Khan's rule, quasi-feudalistic administration was reestablished, and tribes became more settled, with more specified grazing areas. What little government existed was exercised by noble descendants of Chinggis (including Dayan), but it met with great resistance.

After the death of Dayan in 1543, the Oirad and the Khalkha disintegrated once more into insignificant and quarrelsome tribal groupings. The Torgut subclan of the Oirad was now perhaps the most vital of the Mongol peoples. The Torgut raided frequently across the Urals into the Volga Valley, which had been conquered by the new Muscovite empire. Farther east the Khalkha roamed the region north and south of the Gobi; the Ordos Mongols and the Chahar Mongols became loosely grouped in a confederation holding most of Southern Mongolia. The boundaries of territories ruled by the Uzbeks remained relatively stable.

Throughout this period of discord among the Mongols, they nonetheless shared a continuing hostility to the Ming. The struggle was maintained principally by the Khalkha. Although the title had become almost meaningless, the line of the khans had continued in the Chahar tribe, the leader of which became the rallying point for the conflict against China.

The war with China was renewed with considerable energy after Altan Khan (1507-83) of the Tumed clan united the Khalkha. Although he was not so prominent in history as his predecessor, Dayan, or his successor, Galdan Khan (1632-97), Altan was probably the greatest of the Mongol princes in the centuries following the collapse of the Yuan. By 1552 he had defeated the Oirad and had reunited most of Mongolia. It soon became obvious to Altan that there was nothing to be gained by continuing the war with the Ming; the empire of Chinggis never could be restored. Accordingly, he concluded a treaty with the Ming emperor in 1571, ending a struggle that had lasted more than three centuries.

In the remaining eleven years of his life, Altan aggressively pushed Mongol power to the south and the southwest, and he raided Tibet extensively. Altan, in turn, was coopted by a Buddhist revival in Tibet, and he became a fervent convert. In 1586 the first lamaist monastery was established in Mongolia, and Buddhism--specifically, Lamaism--became the state religion.

During the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Tumed (or Tumet) Tribe from Mongolia moved in and built many houses with the intention of ending their nomadic life. They conducted peaceful policy in communicating with the Ming and brought about some thirty years of peace. Mongolian tribes ( included those of Inner Mongolia, like Ordos, Tumed [Right Banner] or Chahar [Right Back Banner]) living south of Gobi.