In 1368, the Yuan Dynasty, which lasted for ninety-eight years, was overthrown by Zhu Yuanzhang, but their last emperor, Emperor Yuanshun, did not die in battle or commit suicide, but led a small number of troops and royal families back to the Mongolian plateau, which has to be said to be a miracle. You must know that the minority regimes of the Liao, Jin, and Western Xia were all destroyed. In The history of China, a "miracle" of the total retreat of foreign regimes was completed. This is due to the almost crazy expansion that began with Genghis Khan, which made the Mongol Empire vast, with many khanates and tribes, and the territory of the Yuan Dynasty was only part of the Mongol Empire, and the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty was the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, and enjoyed suzerainty over the major Khanates and tribes of Mongolia. The last emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, the Yuan Shun Emperor, did not die in battle or commit suicide, but led the royal family and the remaining army to retreat to the Mongolian Plateau, the homeland where his ancestors had risen, and completed a "miracle" in China in which the foreign regime had retreated. It only caused the Mongol Empire to lose its territory in China, while the Mongol Empire still existed.
But having said that, emperor Yuan Shun's melancholy of "going to the country and nostalgia" was definitely still there, coupled with the continuous pursuit of him by the Ming Dynasty army, which made him panic for an indefinite day, and finally died two years later.
When Emperor Yuanshun's son, Aiyi Zhili Dala, learned of his father's death, he succeeded to the throne in Hala and Lin, maintaining the Yuan regime for another eight years for Emperor Zhaozong of Yuan, and hoping to one day regain the throne in China. In 1372, the Ming dynasty general Xu Da led an army to attack Hala and Lin, but they were strongly resisted, but fortunately the Ming army had too long a front line and no support, which allowed them to escape the disaster. In 1378, Aegyu Ridara died with great regret and was succeeded by his son Timur. By this time, the territory controlled by the Remnants had shrunk to the size of the Mongol Empire at the beginning of its rise, and it was even more impossible to restore the glory of its ancestors. Ten years later, the Ming dynasty general Lan Yu led an army to defeat the army of Timur of Tugusi, and more than 3,000 officials under the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty, Pingzhang, and more than 70,000 non-commissioned officers were captured. At this point, the kublai khan family's royal power lost its supremacy among the Mongols, so much so that most Mongol tribes declared themselves independent. Later, the Mongol Tatar leader, Oni Lichi, defeated and killed the last emperor of the Remnant Yuan, Erlebok, and gained hegemony over the various ministries. At this point, the Northern Yuan regime, which lasted for 29 years, officially withdrew from the Central Plains, and the Mongol ministries returned to the dispute over the throne of the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire.
However, the Khanship of Onichi did not last long, and in 1400 he was defeated by the combined forces of Arutai of the Asut ministry and Maham of the Weyrat tribe. However, neither of them wanted to become the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, and what they most hoped was that their tribe would be recognized independently of the Mongols, so after defeating Ghost Lichi, they pledged allegiance to the Ming Dynasty. For such a surrender, the Ming Dynasty naturally could not ask for it, and gave them great help and support. With this support, they extended their hegemony to the entire western Mongolian region from the west bank of Lake Baikal to the upper Irtysh River. Similarly, the good times were not long, and the son of Oni Lichi rose again and began a battle with Arutai and Mahamu, and the two sides fought for more than ten years, until 1425, when Erseku fell ill and died. During this period, Benjaburi, the son of the last Emperor of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, restored his khanship and declared himself the new Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, as a descendant of the Golden Family, he was undoubtedly more appealing than Arutai and Mahamu, and soon other Mongol ministries, including Arutai, gathered around this orthodox representative.
This result was obviously the last thing for the Ming Dynasty to see, so they surrendered, but how could Ben ya lost li, who hoped to restore the glory of his ancestors, agree, so the Yongle Emperor Zhu Di began to personally lead a large army to conquer them, and defeated the large armies of Ben Ya Lost Li and Arutai from 1410 to 1411. This defeat was fatal to Benjamin, for it deprived him of his authority as Great Khan, and the following year Mahmu defeated him completely and became the new Great Khan. Mahamu, who had become the new Great Khan, changed his previous submission to Daming and did not hesitate to choose to break off diplomatic relations, which led to another personal conquest by Yongle The Great, and then Mahamu was defeated and led his army to escape, and the throne of the Great Khan was once again vacant. At this time, the Horqin chieftain Atai, who lived on the Manchurian border, led a group of people to occupy the central and eastern regions of Mongolia in 1425 AD, becoming the new Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. Atai is a descendant of Genghis Khan's brother Humble Chihesar and also belongs to the Golden Family. Although the Ming Dynasty could not tolerate the betrayal of the Verat ministry, in order to eliminate the golden family with high prestige among the Mongols, they began to support the Weyrat ministry again, of course, for this support, the Verat ministry naturally gladly accepted.
Just as the strength of the Weyrat ministry was weakening, in 1478, Manduru Khan, the 27th heir of Genghis Khan, died in a dispute with his nephew and heir, Bole Hujinong. As a result, only one five-year-old child remained in the once prosperous Golden Family, namely Batu Munch, the son of Bole Hujinong. At this time, The Younger Batumunk could be said to be unfortunate, the elders of the family died in infighting, and even his mother abandoned him to remarry, but fortunately, Mandu Haifujin, the widow of Manduru Khan, placed him under his protection, not only raised him to adulthood, but also declared him the new Great Khan in 1480 AD. What is even more rare and valuable is that Mandu Haifujin, as a woman, personally led the army to go out and completely destroyed the enemy Wei Lat, laying the foundation for Batu Mengke to unify southern Mongolia in the future and become the "lord of Zhongxing" in Mongolia. Batu Mengke was the longest-ruling Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, reigning for 38 years.
In 1517, Batu Munch died at the age of 44, and his eldest grandson Bodi succeeded to the throne of the Great Khan. At this time, although the vast territory had been divided up by many descendants of Batu Mengke, the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire had been firmly inherited among the descendants of the long branch of Batu Mengke, all the way through Bodi Khan, Kuden Khan, Zasaktu Khan, Buyanchechen Khan, and finally to the last Great Khan of Mongolia, Lin Dan Khan. Lin Dan Khan was not a faint and incompetent khan who tried to restore the unity of Mongolia and restore the hegemony of Ghis Khan, but at this time the Tunguska (Jurchens) in the east were rising, posing a great threat to him. To this end, he adopted the policy of jointly fighting against the Jin, and internally sought to control other Mongol forces, and he gave priority to the unification of Mongolia on the principle of "outside the country must first be inside", and avoided head-on confrontation with later Jin. In 1627, Lin Dan Khan moved west and pacified the right wing departments.
After the Yuan regime moved north, the Ming Dynasty lost its political enemies, and Mongolia has become a "border problem" rather than a remnant of the previous dynasty. Therefore, the Yongle Emperor showed great friendship to Guilichi and recognized his suzerainty over the Mongol tribes. However, Guilichi did not hold the Khanate for long, and in 1400 was defeated by the combined forces of the Asoth chief Arutai and the Weyrat chief Maham. The Asoths were Mongolized Iranians who originated in the Caucasus and entered China as a result of the Mongol Conquest, and there was a legion of them in the Yuan Dynasty army. The Veyrats were a powerful tribe among the Mongols of the forest, known as the "people of the woods" in the time of Genghis Khan, and settled on the west bank of Lake Baikal. Neither Arutai nor Mahamus wanted to become the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, and what they most wanted was for their tribe to be recognized independently of the Mongols, so after defeating Guilichi, they pledged allegiance to the Ming Dynasty, saying that they were different from other tribes vying for the position of Khan of the Mongol Empire. Such a surrender was unattainable from the Ming Dynasty, giving them great support. With this support, the Veyrats expanded their hegemony over the entire Western Mongolia region from the western shore of Lake Baikal to the upper Reaches of the Irtysh River.
However, the Asut and Weyrat tribes did not last long for control of central and eastern Mongolia, and the son of Guilichi, Erseku, rose again to compete with Arutai and Mahamu for the throne of the Great Khan, and the two sides fought for more than a decade until Ezeku died of illness in 1425.
While Erseku was constantly vying with Arutai and Maham for supreme suzerainty, in 1403 Benjaburi, the son of the last emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, Erebok, restored his khanship and declared himself the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. As a descendant of the Golden Family, Benjauri undoubtedly had more appeal than the Asut and Veyrat tribes, and soon various Mongol tribes, including the Arutai, gathered on the side of this orthodox representative. The Ming Dynasty, which was looking forward to the decline of Kublai Khan's family, was self-evident in its hostility to the new Mongol Khan, and the Yongle Emperor ordered Benya to make a clear statement of his subjects. But how could Benjamin, who had tried to recreate his ancestral exploits, submit to the Zhu family, which overthrew his family from the Throne in China? Therefore, the Yongle Emperor personally led an army into Mongolia, reaching genghis Khan's homeland, the plain of the upper reaches of the Onn River, and defeated the armies of Benjauri and Arutai in 1410-1411. This defeat was fatal to Benjamin, for it deprived him of his authority as The Great Khan. In 1412, The chief of the Veyrat tribe, Mahmu, took the opportunity to defeat him and seize the Khan's throne.
Until then, Mahmu had maintained friendly relations with the Ming Emperor Yongle, but by this time, he had truly become the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. So he did not hesitate to break off diplomatic relations with the Ming Emperor. This led the Yongle Emperor to personally conquer Mongolia again, and although Mahamu's resistance caused serious losses to the Ming army, in order to preserve its strength, he led his army to retreat to the west of the Tula River to recuperate. Mahamu's prestige was temporarily damaged by this invasion, as he also failed to prevent the Ming army from entering the Mongol steppes.
After Hasmu escaped, the throne of the Great Khan was suspended again, and at this time, the chief of the Horqin tribe, Atai, who lived east of the Xing'an Mountains and near the Nen River on the Manchurian border, led his troops to occupy the central and eastern part of Mongolia in 1425. The leader of the Asut tribe, Arutai, who saw the wind and steered the helm, this time supported Atai in killing Benjamin and supporting Atai as the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. The Horqin people are descendants of Genghis Khan's younger brother Hassal and also belong to the Golden Family. Although the Yongle Emperor could not tolerate the betrayal of The Weyrat, he began to support the Weyrat clan in order to eliminate the Golden Family, which had high prestige among the Mongols. Naturally, the Veyrat Ministry also gladly accepted this support.
At a time when the Weyrat were weakening, in 1467, the 27th heir of Genghis Khan, Mandu Gul Khan, died in a war against his nephew and heir Bole Hujinong. Bolekhjinong was assassinated in 1470, before he could claim khan. In the once prosperous Golden Family, there is now only one 5-year-old boy left, Dayan, the son of Bole Hujinong.
Dayan's fate and misfortune, the elders of the family died in infighting, the little child was lonely, and even his mother left him to remarry, which was even more tragic than what happened to Genghis Khan when he was young. Fortunately, Mandu Haisaiyinkedun, the young widow of Mandu Gul Khan, placed him under his protection. Mandu HaisaiYinkedun was a remarkable woman who not only raised Dayan, but also declared him The Great Khan in 1470. Most rarely, Mandu Haisaiyinkshu led an army as a woman to defeat the Veyrats and drive them out of central and eastern Mongolia. It laid the foundation for the future reign of Dayan Khan.
Dayan Khan was the longest-reigning Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, lasting 73 years from 1470 to 1543. After his pro-government in 1481, Dayan Khan suppressed the rebellion of the right-wing Tumuts and Wulianghas. From 1497 to 1505, he carried out a series of fruitful attacks on the Ming border area from Liaodong to Gansu, preventing the Ming from contacting the Weyrats.
After the death of Dayan Khan in 1543, his grandson Bodi succeeded him. Although vast territories were divided among the many descendants of Dayan Khan, the Mongol Empire's khanate from 1544 to 1634 was firmly inherited among the Chahar tribes of Dayan Khan's long-term descendants, through Bodi Khan (1544-1548), Kuden Khan (1548-1557), Tumen Zasaktu Khan (1557-1593), Chechen Khan (1593-1604) and Lindan Khan (1604-1634).
The fall of the Mongol Empire
Although Dayan Khan's long reign stabilized the Mongol Empire's succession, it did not overcome the Mongol nation's greatest weakness— the practice of customary law of dividing up the family's inheritance. When the founder of the empire died, the empire became a federal-like family state, with the heads of the country at all levels, all brothers or cousins, who recognized the supreme power of the Chahar Ministry but were in a state of considerable independence.
Over time, the Khanate successors of the Chahar gradually lost the power to rule over the entire Mongols, and the Veyrats in the west and the Tunguska (Manchus) who emerged in the east were their formidable enemies. But at this time, the Veyrats were dealing with the power struggle between the Kazakh Khanate, Tsarist Russia, and the internal Choros and Heshot families, so the only thing that could end the history of the Mongol Empire was the Tunguska-founded Later Jin Empire.
In 1604, Lin Dan succeeded to the Khan's throne and received the empowerment ordination of the Yellow Sect Sherpa Hutuktu, called Lindan Kutuktu Khan. Lin Dan Khan was not a faint and incompetent khan, he had already seen the ambitions of the Later Jin Empire for the Mongols, so from the beginning of his succession, he began to unify the various ministries from the new, claiming to "rule over 400,000 Mongolian states baturu Qingjis Khan". In 1627, he sent troops to subdue the right wing of Ordos, Qaraqin, Tumut and other departments, and formed an alliance with the Khalkha Tribe Chotu Khan, and the prestige of the voice was greatly enhanced, and the area under his jurisdiction stretched from Liaodong in the east to Gansu in the west. However, the following year, Subutai of Duoyan Wuliangha, Dalaitaiji of Qaraqin, Tumut and Bhushitu Khan, Erdos's Erjin qinjinong, and Yongshebu, Aso Ti, Abaga, Khalkha and other departments jointly formed a large army of 100,000, and in the battle of Tumut' summoning, he consumed more than 40,000 of Lin Dan Khan's elite troops, which greatly weakened lin dan khan's strength, and his enemies were the Later Jin emperors Nurhaci and Huang Taiji, who combined the toughness of the Mongols and the strategies of the Han people, which doomed him to fail only if he was brave and less scheming.
During the Nurhaci period, the Korqin and Zarut tribes were annexed to Houjin under the joint marriage. Tumut, Qaraqin, Wuliangha and other ministries also defected to Houjin in order to avoid retaliation from Lin Dan Khan. In 1625, Lin Dan Khan sent an army to Nenjiang to attack the Horqin Department. Later Jin sent troops to aid Korqin, and Lin Dan Khan retreated. After Emperor Taiji ascended the throne, he made Lin Dan Khan his main enemy. In 1628, he sent Bel'azig to join forces with the Qaraqin clan in the upper reaches of the Laoha River, which was ruled by Lin Dan Khan, to jointly attack Lin Dan Khan. In September, Emperor Taiji personally led a large army to Qiluoguor to feast on the leaders of the Ao Han, Naiman, Khalkha, Zarut, and Karaqin departments under the control of the Chahar department. Lin Dan Khan, who had the name of Great Khan, had fallen into isolation and was forced to withdraw from the Sillamulun River Valley and hold on to the city of Naturalization (present-day Hohhot).
In April 1632, Emperor Taiji again led a large army to the west, and Dorgon marched. On the banks of the Sylamulun River, Mongol troops will be gathered to attack Lin Dan Khan. Faced with an enemy army whose strength was far superior to his own, Lin Dan Khan had no choice but to drive 100,000 people and animals from naturalized city to cross the Yellow River and flee west. But in the face of the Great Khan, who had already gone, seventy-eight out of ten people scattered on the way. Lin Dan Khan fled to Qinghai, and two years later died of illness in Dacaotan, Qinghai, and before he died, he might be like Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, lamenting that "Shuo is not the king of the fallen country!" They have all tried, but none of their talents can bring them back to their ancestral glory. The Ming Empire and the Mongol Empire fought for more than two hundred years, neither of them was able to eliminate the other, and finally, in less than 10 years, it was destroyed by the Manchu Qing.
In 1635, Dorgon and Yue Tuo and other leading troops crossed the river, summoned lin dan khan's people to Erzhe, lin dan khan's wife and son surrendered, handed over the khan's seal letter, the entire southern Mongolia was completely incorporated into the territory of the Later Jin Empire, the Mongol Empire's khanship was thus severed, and the Mongol Empire disappeared forever.
The rise of the Veyrat Mongols once again continued the mongol power in the north. Veyrat is a transliteration of oyirad. Therefore, in fact, Weyrat has many names, in addition to the Weirat we are most familiar with, the Ming Dynasty generally called it Wa la, the Qing Dynasty called it Weilat, there are also Erut, Western Mongolia, Hui Yi Lati and so on. The West, especially Russia, calls it Kalmyk. To this day, a Kalmyk Republic still exists in Russia, dominated by the descendants of the Kalmyks, who are the veyrats.
The Dzungar Khanate and The Heshuo Khanate established by the Weyrat Mongols
Although the history of Mongolia can be traced back to the Donghu period, in fact, it was not until the rise of Genghis Khan and the unification of the entire Mongolian plateau that Mongolia, as an independent nation, officially appeared on the historical stage. Apparently, like other nomadic peoples who had risen to the steppes of Mongolia, this Mongol tribe was formed by uniting a large number of other nomadic peoples. The first tribes to live in the forest area of the northern Mongolian plateau and the siberian region of Lake Berga, also known as the "people of the forest" Veyrat ancestors are no exception, after the rise of Genghis Khan and the display of powerful force, the "people of the forest" eventually submitted to Genghis Khan, their leader also became Genghis Khan's son-in-law, And Weilat Mongols were divided into four thousand households by Genghis Khan.
From then on, the people of the woods, a tribe later known as the Veyrat, officially became part of Mongolia. After Genghis Khan's western expedition, the Mongols built the largest empire in human history. The Verat Mongols, known as the people in the forest, also went out of their homeland, gradually moved west, and gradually changed the life of their ancestors in fishing and hunting, and occupied a huge territory in the western region and other places. However, the characteristics of the nomadic people are that "their rise and fall are also sudden", and the rapid rise of Mongolia has declined rapidly in less than a hundred years. In the last year of the Yuan Dynasty, the Red Turban Army Revolt broke out, and the once-mighty Yuan Dynasty quickly collapsed. Zhu Yuanzhang's Northern Expeditionary Army once hit the Mongolian steppe. The Weyrat Mongols, far from the Central Plains, were thus able to preserve their strength.
Tatars and Vala during the Ming Dynasty
During the Ming Dynasty, Mongolia was divided, with some descendants of the Yuan Dynasty Zhengshuo, who were also known as Tatars, and the other part being the Wala, which was dominated by the Weirat Mongols. The Wala, also known as the Weilat Mongols, occupied the entire Mongolian steppe and western region during their power, and also posed a great threat to the rule of the Ming Dynasty, and the change of the tumu fort that captured the Ming Emperor Ming Yingzong was also led by the leader of the Wala to lead the Wala cavalry first. At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, that is, at the end of the 16th century AD, there were four major tribal groups in Weilat Mongolia, namely the Dzungar Department, the Durbert Department, the Turbat Department, and the Heshuo Special Department. The range of The Weyrat Mongol nomadic herders is also extremely vast, as far away as turks, and even in the Volga River valley in Europe.
Weyrat Mongolia during the Qing Dynasty
During the Kangyongqian period of the Qing Dynasty, that is, the period of the Kangyongqian dynasty proclaimed by the Qing Dynasty, the Weilat Mongol Dzungars rose under the leadership of the leader Ge Erdan, and gradually brought the entire Weilat Mongols under their rule. Gordan's ambition was ultimately to unite the entire Mongol tribe and recreate the glory of the Mongol Empire. Unfortunately, however, the Dzungar Khanate suffered the peak of the Qing Dynasty. After nearly a hundred years of three dynasties, the Qing Dynasty finally destroyed the Dzungars, and completely wiped out the Dzungars during the Qianlong period, and the strongest Dzungars in the Weirat Mongols ceased to exist.
Territory of the Qing Dynasty in its heyday
In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the Heshuo Special Department, which had ruled the entire Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, eventually lost the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau due to internal contradictions and attacks by the Dzungars, and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was officially under the rule of the Qing Dynasty. As for the Turks, which were farthest from China and nomadic in the Volga River Valley, because they were bullied by the rising Tsarist Russia, most of the Turbats, who could not bear it, returned to China under the leadership of the leader Wobaxi, and were placed in the Xinjiang area by the Qianlong Emperor.
In this way, looking at the decline of the Weyrat Mongols from the yuan regime to the steppe in 1368 until the late Qing Dynasty, the Mongols in the long river of history from the Central Plains to the steppe, and then from the steppe to the Central Plains, lasted for nearly seven centuries, not as most people think that the Mongols withdrew from the stage of history after the Yuan Dynasty.