Kaldan was one of the most important figures in the history of the Dzungars and the entire Veyrat Mongols. As a descendant of the Mongol Taishi, Gardan was bent on recreating the majesty of The Wallachians of that year, but in the end he became a "rebel separatist" spurned by everyone, so did Kaldan really betray the country?
Due to the peculiarities of Mongolia, for a long time whether Genghis Khan was Chinese, whether the Mongol Empire belonged to China or not, and other topics were debated endlessly on the Internet, so that many people thought that Kaldan was not only not a rebel, but also a hero committed to Mongolian unification.
In fact, it is very simple to define whether Kaldan has treason, first of all, it is necessary to prove whether the Dzungar regime is subordinate to the Qing Dynasty. Since Emperor Taiji defeated Lin Dan Khan and surrendered to the Chahar Ministry, all the Mongol tribes were nominally subordinate to the Later Jin regime and later the Qing Dynasty.
In the first year of Shunzhi, when the Qing army invaded Beijing, the Weilat Mongols led by Gushi Khan (Dzungar was one of the four parts of Weilat) paid tribute to Shunzhi and swore an edict to the Great Emperor of Manchuria that "all subjects obey orders.".
Kaldan's father, Batur Guntaiji, and his brother Sangha regularly sent envoys to Beijing to pay tribute when he was in charge of Dzungar, and this relationship continued until the early years of Kaldan's reign. Therefore, if Kaldan wanted to get rid of the Qing Dynasty when his wings were full, then he naturally became a traitor.
Second, did Kaldan surrender to Russia and betray China's interests? Russia has always been deliberately expanding into Asia, and their persuasion of Dzungar has never stopped. Although Kaldan was not as tough on the Tsar as his father and brother, he always refused to submit to the "Ambassador Plenipotentiary and the castles to which His Majesty the Tsar belonged", preferring only to maintain an alliance with Tsarist Russia.
When Kangxi signed the Treaty of Nebuchu with Tsarist Russia, Kaldan once told Tsarist Russia that Nebuchu was originally the land of the Mongols, and now the land of Mongolia was controlled by Dzungar, hoping that the Tsar would consult with them. Thus, as a figure who aspired to unify Mongolia, Kaldan was reluctant to cede the land to Russia easily, even if it did not belong to him.
Although Kaldan subjectively did not surrender to Tsarist Russia and betray his territory, Kaldan's actions objectively caused China to suffer substantial losses, just as many times the real murderer is often not the perpetrator.
The "Testament of Peter", which was listed as a national policy by Tsarist Russia, clearly pointed out the need to "divide all ethnic groups other than the Manchus." After the rise of the Dzungars, the Russian ministers made this report to the Tsar: "If the Kalmyks (Russia's name for Western Mongolia) do not make peace with the Chinese, the foreign tribute people will be unswervingly loyal to Russia." Once the Kalmyks allied themselves with the Chinese Khan, Russia would be powerless to protect the security of the new territory. ”
Kaldan wanted to become the new Genghis Khan, and was bound to compete with Kangxi, a move that was right in the hands of Tsarist Russia. Even if he did not want to submit to Russia, the Tsar was willing to provide him with muskets and lead bullets.
The Dzungar annexation khalkha and the Russian invasion of Heilongjiang were like two sharp knives thrust into the Qing Empire. In order to fight against Kaldan, Kangxi had to make corresponding concessions to Tsarist Russia, and objectively Speaking, Kaldan did help Russia invade China.
Kaldan really only wanted to revive the mongols, but he lived in a completely different era from Genghis Khan and Yaxian Khan, and his fate was destined to be a tragedy, only because he encountered the Qing Empire of Tsarist Russia, which was thriving in national strength.