Four Oirats ᡑᡈᠷᡋᡈᠨ ᡆᡕᡅᠷᠠᡑ Dörbön Oyirad ᠳᠥᠷᠪᠡᠨ ᠣᠶ᠋ᠢᠷᠠᠳ Дөрвөн Ойрад Dörvön Oirad | |||||||||||||
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| 1399–1634 | |||||||||||||
 Banner or Flag used by the Oirat Mongols, used for war tables Such as the Oirat Uzbek Wars, Kazakh Dzungar Wars or nations such as the Oirat Confederation and the Dzungar Khanate | |||||||||||||
The Oirat Confederation and contemporary Asian politiesc. 1405 | |||||||||||||
| Status | Confederation | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | Mongolic | ||||||||||||
| Religion | |||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||
| Taishi | |||||||||||||
| Legislature |
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| Historical era | Postclassical toearly modern period | ||||||||||||
• Möngke-Temür places himself at the head of the Oirats | 1399 | ||||||||||||
• Oirats overthrow a Genghisid Khagan | 1399 | ||||||||||||
• Esen Taishi becomesNorthern Yuan Khagan | 1453–54 | ||||||||||||
• Movement of the Torghuds to theVolga | 1616–17 | ||||||||||||
• Establishments of theDzungar Khanate and theKhoshut Khanate | 1630s | ||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1634 | ||||||||||||
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TheFour Oirats (Written Oirat:ᡑᡈᠷᡋᡈᠨ
ᡆᡕᡅᠷᠠᡑ,Dörbön Oyirad;Mongolian:Дөрвөн Ойрад,romanized: Dörvön Oirad,pronounced[ˈtɵrw̜ʊ̈ɴˈɞe̯ɾ(ə)t];Chinese:四衛拉特) orOirat Confederation, formerly known as theEleuths, was theconfederation of theOirat tribes which marked the rise of the WesternMongols in the history of theMongolian Plateau.
Despite the universal currency of the term "Four Oirat" amongEastern Mongols, Oirats, and numerous explanations by historians, no consensus has been reached on the identity of the original four tribes. While it is believed that the term Four Oirats refers to theChoros,Torghut,Dorbet andKhoid tribes,[2] there is a theory that the Oirats were not consanguineous units, but political-ethnic units composed of many patrilineages.[3] In the early period, theKergüd tribe also belonged to the confederation.[4]
TheOirats were one of the forest peoples who lived in west of theMongols ofGenghis Khan. They submitted to Genghis in 1207 and played prominent roles in the history of theMongol Empire.
After the overthrow of theYuan dynasty (1271–1368), Möngke-Temür, a high official of the Yuan, had placed himself at the head of the Oirats. When he died, three chieftains, Mahamu (Mahmud), Taiping and Batu-bolad, ruled them.[5] They sent envoys with gifts to theMing dynasty. In 1409, theYongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424) bestowed upon them the title ofwang in return. The Oirats began to challenge theBorjigin Emperors of theNorthern Yuan in the reign ofElbeg Khan (c. 1394–1399).
Before 1640, the Oirats had been wavering between the two faiths,Islam andBuddhism.[6]
TheYongle Emperor of theMing dynasty demandedÖljei Temür Khan Bunyashiri to accept his supremacy in 1409 but Öljei Temür refused anddefeated a Ming force the next year. In 1412 alarge force under Yongle forced Öljei Temür Khan to flee westward. The Oirats led by Mahamu ofChoros killed Öljei Temür who suffered great loss.[7]
The Western Mongols hadDelbeg Khan—a descendant ofAriq Böke, whose family had been relegated to theMongolian Plateau during the Yuan dynasty—crowned. However, the Eastern Mongols of theNorthern Yuan underArugtai of theAsud refused to accept the new khan and they were in constant war with each other. The Ming dynasty intervened aggressively against any overpowerful Mongol leader, exacerbating the Mongol-Oirat conflict.
In 1408 Mahamu was succeeded by his son Toghan, who continued his strife with Arugtai chingsang. By 1437, Toghan had totally defeated Arugtai and anÖgedeid EmperorAdai Khan. Toghan madeGenghisid princes hispuppet khans of theNorthern Yuan dynasty. When he died in 1438, his sonEsen became ataishi. The Oirats had close relations withMoghulistan andHami where theChagatayid Khans reigned.
From the Ming chronicles, it is known that the Oirats conducted regular raids on those areas. Esen crushed the Moghulistan and Hami monarchs and forced them to accept him as their overlord. He also conqueredOuter Mongolia andInner Mongolia and subjugated theJurchens inManchuria. The Ming dynasty'sEmperor Yingzongwas captured by Esen in 1449.
During his reign, the Oirat power base was centered on northwestern Mongolian Plateau andBarkol and theIrtysh were the western limits of their settlement. Esen relied on Muslim merchants fromSamarkand, Hami andTurpan and his ownroyal house: Choros was related to Moghulistan according to a myth. After murdering KhaganAgbarjin, Esen took the title khan for himself. But soon after he was overthrown by the Oirat noblemen and killed by a son of a man whom he executed.
Esen's death broke up the unity of the Oirats. They now warred with each other for leadership. Esen's son Amasanj moved west, pillaging the lands of Hami, Moghulistan and theUzbegs.[8]
From 1480 on, the Eastern Mongols underMandukhai Khatun andDayan Khan pushed the Oirats westward. By 1510 Dayan Khan had unified the various Mongol tribes, including the Oirats. However, theKhalkhas and some princes of southwestInner Mongolia repeatedly launched massive attacks on the Oirats and looted their properties in the Irtysh, Barkol andAltai from 1552 to 1628.
The Oirats were still powerful in the Mongolian Plateau even after the fall of Esen and continued to hold Karakorum until the 16th century whenAltan Khan recaptured the city from the hands of the Oirats. Oppressed and subjugated byAltan Khan of the Khalkha, Oirat confederation crushed the Khalkha princeSholoi Ubashi Khong Tayiji perhaps around 1623.
The collapse of the confederation of the Oirats began with Torghuds, along with the Dorbets and a few Khoshud clansmen, seceding from the union. In 1628 theTorghut chief Khoo Orlug with someDorbets andKhoshuts moved westward across the Kazakh steppes.[9] Thelittle jüz of theKazakhs and theNogais tried to halt them atNemba andAstrakhan but were defeated by the Torghuts. The Torghuts subjugated localTurkic peoples ofMangyshlak Peninsula andCaspian Sea. They colonized theVolga Delta and occupied whole steppes north of the Caspian, establishing theKalmyk Khanate.[10] The Kalmyks plundered theKhanate of Khiva from 1603 to 1670. The Kalmyk Khanate proved good allies to theRussian Empire.
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The KhoshutGüshi Khan went toQinghai (Koke Nuur) in 1636. He increased his possessions inTibet andAmdo. Güshi Khan protected the5th Dalai Lama and his Yellow Church from the old red clergy of theTibetan Buddhism.[11] TheKhoshut Khanate defeated the enemy of the Dalai Lama and Güshi Khan appointed his son ruler of Tibet.[12]
About 1620 the Choros scattered after bitter fighting with the KhalkhaAltan Khan. Some of the Choros fled with a body of the Dorbed northward intoSiberia and present-day Baranaoul. But the majority of the Choros with the Dorbets and the Khoits settled in the region of the Black Irtysh, the Urungu, the Imil, and theIli, forming theDzungar Khanate.[13]
In 1640 the Oirats and the Khalkha made peace and formed an alliance, issuing new code, the Mongol–Oirat code. Led by the Khoshut nobility, the Oirats began to convert to Buddhism. They became the chief defenders of theDalai andPanchen Lamas. The Oirats who used theMongolian script adopted in 1648–49 theclear script designed by the Oirat cleric and scholarZaya Pandita Namkhaijamtsu.
In the 17th century, the Dzungar pioneered the local manifestation of the ‘Military Revolution’ in Central Eurasia after perfecting a process of manufacturing indigenously created gunpowder weapons. They created a mixed agro-pastoral economy, as well as complementary mining and manufacturing industries on their lands. The Zunghar managed to enact an empire-wide system of laws and policies to boost the use of the Oirat language in the region.[14] Despite their geographical distribution, the Oirats maintained strong ties with each other and remained powerful players ofInner Asian politics until 1771.[15]
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