Tögs-Ochiryn Namnansüren | |
|---|---|
Төгс-Очирын Намнансүрэн ᠲᠡᢉᠦᠰ-ᠸᠴᠢᠷ ᠤ᠋ᠨ ᠨᠠᠮᠨᠠᠩᠰᠦ᠋ᠷᠦᠩ | |
 Portrait of Namnansüren in theGovernment Palace | |
| 1st Prime Minister of Mongolia | |
| In office November 1912 – April 1919 | |
| Preceded by | Da Lam Tserenchimed (asde facto Prime Minister) Position established |
| Succeeded by | Gonchigjalzangiin Badamdorj |
| Chairman of theState Great Khural[1] | |
| In office February 1914 – April 1919 | |
| Sain Noyon Khan | |
| In office 1896–1919 | |
| Preceded by | Tserendondoviin Tögs-Ochir |
| Succeeded by | Namnansüreniin Batsükh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1878 Sain Noyon Khan,Outer Mongolia,Qing dynasty (modern dayUyanga district,Övörkhangai Province,Mongolia) |
| Died | April 1919 (aged 40–41) |
Tögs-Ochiryn Namnansüren[a] (1878 – April 1919), known by his full titleSain Noyon Khan Namnansüren,[b] was a hereditary prince[2] and prominent early 20th-century Mongolian independence leader. He served as the firstprime minister ofMongolia under theBogd Khan from 1912 until 1915, when the office of prime minister was abolished. He was subsequently appointed Minister of the Army.
Namnansüren, who allegedly could trace his heritage directly back toGenghis Khan, was born in 1878 in present-dayUyanga district ofÖvörkhangai Province. In 1896 he became prince, or 'khan', ofSain Noyon Khan Province, one of the fourKhalkh Mongol provinces established by theQing dynasty. He married in 1900.
In 1911, Namnansüren persuaded Mongolia's religious leaderBogd Khan to call a congress of Mongol princes and high-ranking lamas inKhüree to initiate independence from China. The Bogd Khan then dispatched him toSaint Petersburg in July 1911 as part of a delegation to seek Russian and West European support for Mongolian independence.[3]
The Bogd Khan appointed Namnansüren prime minister in July 1912, replacingDa Lam Tserenchimed who, as Minister of Internal Affairs, had acted asde facto head of government since the elevation of the Bogd Khan as national leader in December 1911.[4] Other members of the Bogd Khan's government included the Da Lam Tserenchimed (Minister for Internal Affairs),Mijiddorjiin Khanddorj (Minister for Foreign Affairs), Dalai-Van Gombosuren (Defense Minister), Gadinbalyn Chagdarjav (Finance Minister), and Erdene Van Namsrai (Minister of Justice).
From November 1913 to January 1914 Namnansüren lead another delegation to St. Petersburg, this time to represent Mongolian interests during negotiations between Russia and China surrounding the tripartiteKyakhta treaty that would define the border between Russian Siberia and the Qing territories of Mongolia andManchuria. Mongolian hopes for international recognition of its independence and support for a union between Inner and Outer Mongolia were ultimately dashed when the agreement re-confirmed the country's official status as an autonomous region within China.[5] While in Russia, Namnansüren attempted to contact ambassadors from several western countries (the United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany) and to organize a trip to Western Europe to gain international support for Mongolia's independence but was prevented from doing so by Russian officials.[6]
Having failed to obtain any of his objectives, Namnansüren found his political influence to have diminished upon his return to Mongolia in 1914.[7] In 1915 the Bogd Khan abolished the office of prime minister and Namnansüren was appointedminister of war. In June 1918, faced with increased threats from the Chinese who were demanding Mongolia renounce its Pan-Mongolia ambitions and sign a decree 'voluntarily' relinquishing autonomy, Namnansüren again traveled to Russia, this time toIrkutsk, to seek Russian assistance. There he met with twoBolshevik representatives in what is believed to be the first meeting between Soviet and Outer Mongolian officials. The Bolsheviks, preoccupied with the revolution and the ongoingcivil war in Russia, failed to offer much in the way of assistance.
Not long after his return home, Namnansüren fell seriously ill and died sometime in April 1919. Many suspected he was assassinated by poisoning, along with many other figures involved in the revival of Mongolia's independence who apparently died premature deaths. Shortly thereafter the Chinese warlordXu Shuzheng occupied Niislel Khüree and installed the more pliableGonchigjalzangiin Badamdorj as prime minister.[8]
In 1914 the Mongolian Namnansüren is known to have brought some films from Russia to show at the residence of the Bogd Khan. These are the first known film showings in Mongolia.
| Royal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Prince of Sain Noyon 1896 - 1919 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by none | Prime Minister of Mongolia 1912 - 1915 | Succeeded by |
 Bogd Khanate of Mongolia(1911–1924) | |
|---|---|
 Mongolian People's Republic(1924–1992) | |
 Mongolia(1992–present) | |
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| International | |
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| National | |
