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| Dawachi 達瓦齊 Даваач | |
|---|---|
| Khong Tayiji of theDzungar Khanate | |
 Dawachi in Qing costume. Painted byJean Denis Attiret at the Qing court inBeijing, between 1755 and 1759. | |
| Reign | 1753–1755 |
| Coronation | 1753 |
| Predecessor | Lama Dorji |
| Died | 1759 (1760) Kalgan |
| House | Choros |
| Dynasty | Dzungar Khanate |
Dawachi (Chinese:達瓦齊;pinyin:Dáwǎqí;Mongolian:Даваач; died 1759) was the last ruler of theDzungar Khanate from 1753 until his defeat at the hands ofQing and Mongol forces atIli in 1755.
Dawachi belonged to the highest rank of Dzungar aristocracy. He traced his ancestry back directly toErdeni Batur (died 1635), the founder of the Dzungar Khanate. His grandfather was Tsering Dhondup. His brother,Tsewang Rabtan (1643-1727), led the Dzungar invasion and occupation ofTibet in 1717. His father was the second cousin ofGaldan Tseren, theKhong Tayiji of theDzungar Khanate from 1727 to 1745.
Dawachi, whose pasture lands were centered in theTarbagatai region[1] first came to prominence when he and hisKhoit-Oirat allyAmursana opposed the rule ofLama Dorji (1728-1753), who had seized the Dzungar throne after assassinating his brotherTsewang Dorji Namjal in 1750. The reign of Lama Dorji's father,Galdan Tseren, represented a resurgence of theDzungar Khanate's political, military and economic influence in central Asia after the defeats ofGaldan Boshugtu Khan's forces by theQing army fifty years earlier.
WhenGaldan Tseren died in 1745, his three sons battled over succession. The political anarchy that ensued all but eliminated the gains made under Galdan Tseren. In 1751, Lama Dorji's pre-emptive military strike defeated forces loyal to Dawachi, who was forced to flee across the border into Kazakh Khanate territory. With a thousand of his men, he and Amursana marched toIli where they surprised Lama Dorji and killed him on 13 January 1753. Other sources claim that Lama Dorji was killed by his own troops in December 1752.
Following the death of Lama Dorji, Dawachi claimed the title taisha of the Dzungars based on his aristocratic lineage.Amursana, although a prince, was of considerably simpler descent and was ofKhoit rather than Dzungar origin. Nevertheless, Amursana, who had married the daughter ofAblai Khan, leader of the neighboringKazakh Khanate, and had negotiated the support of variousOirat clan leaders, called on Dawachi to divide the Khanate's lands between them as Amursana said he was promised.
Dawachi refused and instead attacked Amursana in 1754, forcing him to flee east toKhovd where he swore allegiance to theQianlong Emperor of theQing Empire. The Qianlong Emperor agreed to support Amursana's plans to defeat Dawachi, which included the retaking of Ili and neighboringKashgar. Meanwhile, most of theOiratKhoshut had followed Amursana and had defected to the Qing, leaving Dawachi with only the Dzungars under his control.
Late 1754 and early 1755, in an attempt to definitively settle the 60-year-old Dzungaria problem, theQianlong Emperor gave orders for a final advance onIli. Approximately 200,000 soldiers were mobilized for a campaign against Dawachi. Many wereKhalkha Mongols, who contributed tens of thousands of horses and mules to the effort. Amursana was made Border Pacification Vice-general of the Left of the Northern Route Army. General Ban Di took supreme command of the army, which set out fromUliastai in March 1755 and linked up with the Western Route Army under Yong Chang and Salar (薩喇勒) three months later. The combined forces reachedBortala in June 1755. Militarily, the campaign was much more successful than expected.
There were mass desertions among Dawachi's forces when they learned that Amursana was part of the approaching army. In desperation, Dawachi sent a delegation toBeijing led by his son, who expressed his father's desire to become a vassal of the Qing Empire. The Qing army did not respond and continued the campaign. After several skirmishes and small scale battles along theIli River, the Qing army led by Zhaohui approachedIli and forced Dawachi to withdraw south west to theGedeng Mountains where he made a last stand with his remaining 10,000 men. Dawachi's army was routed. Dawachi was captured by Hakim BegKhojis, Muslim Governor ofUs-Turfan, who sent him on to Beijing.[2]
There, the Qianlong Emperor showed leniency, granting Dawachi a princely title and permitting him to marry a princess from the Qing imperial family. The last years of Dawachi's life were spent inKalgan where, in 1759, he died from excessive alcohol consumption.
Dawachi House of Choros (the 14th century-1755) Died: 1759 | ||
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| Preceded by | Khong Tayiji of the Dzungar Khanate 1753-1755 | Succeeded by |
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