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Khong Tayiji (Mongolian:ᠬᠤᠩ
ᠲᠠᠶᠢᠵᠢ, хун тайж;simplified Chinese:浑台吉;traditional Chinese:渾台吉;pinyin:Húntáijí), also spelledQong Tayiji, was a title of theMongols, derived from theChinese termHuangtaizi (皇太子; "crown prince").
At first it also meant crown prince in theMongolian language. It was originally given only to descendants ofGenghis Khan. In the Mongol tradition, akhan was unable to appoint the successor, instead the successor was elected in thekurultai after the khan's death. However,Kublai Khan (who founded theYuan Dynasty) broke this tradition and installed his second sonZhenjin (Chingem) as Crown Prince. After Chingem died in 1286, the seal of Crown prince was passed to Chingem's third sonTemür in 1293. However, Temür was never formally appointed as the Crown Prince and still not the definite successor. He was only confirmed as successor in akurultai held after Kublai's death.
The Khong Tayiji became sub-Khan whenAltan Khan of the Tümedtümen installed the Khong Tayiji as assistant khan.
In 1630s the head of theDzungars was given the title of Baatur Khong Tayiji by the5th Dalai Lama. Thereafter the style "Khong Tayiji" was adopted by Dzungar leaderTsewang Dorji Namjal, son ofGaldan Tseren.[1] As the Dzungars got stronger, the title rose in importance. By the mid-18th century it was ranked higher than that of khan among theOirats.
