Mongolia During Qing Rule - History

History

During the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, most regions inhabited by ethnic Mongols, notably Outer and Inner Mongolia became part of the Qing Empire. Even before the dynasty began to take control of China proper in 1644, the escapades of Ligden Khan had driven a number of Mongol tribes to ally with the Manchu state. The Manchus conquered a Mongol tribe in the process of war against the Ming. Nurhaci's early relations with the Mongols tribes was mainly an alliance. After Ligden's defeat and death his son had to submit to the Manchus, and when the Qing Dynasty was founded, most of what is now called Inner Mongolia already belonged to the new state. The Khalkha Mongols in Outer Mongolia joined in 1691 when their defeat by the Dzungars left them without a chance to remain independent. The Khoshud in Qinghai were conquered in 1723/24. The Dzungars were finally destroyed, and their territory conquered, in 1756/57. The last Mongols to join the empire were the returning Torgud Kalmyks at the Ili in 1771.

From the early years, the Manchus' relations with the neighboring Mongol tribes had been crucial in the dynasty development. Nurhaci had exchanged wives and concubines with the Khalkha Mongols since 1594, and also received titles from them in the early 17th century. He also consolidated his relationship with portions of the Khorchin and Kharachin populations of eastern Mongols. They recognized Nurhaci as Khan, and in return leading lineages of those groups were titled by Nurhaci and married with his extended family. As Nurhaci formally declared independence from the Ming Dynasty and proclaimed the Later Jin Dynasty in 1616, he gave himself a Mongolian-style title, consolidating his claim to the Mongolian traditions of leadership. The banners and other Manchu institutions are examples of productive hybridity, combining "pure" Mongolian elements (such as the script) and Han Chinese elements. Intermarriage with Mongolian noble families had significantly cemented the alliance between the two peoples. Hong Taiji further expanded the marriage alliance policy; he used the marriage ties to draw in more of the twenty-one Inner Mongolian tribes that joined the Manchus alliance. Despite the growing intimacy of Manchu-Mongol ties, Ligdan Khan, the last Khan from the Chakhar, resolutely opposed the growing Manchu power and viewed himself as the legitimate representative of the Mongolian imperial tradition. But after his repeated losses in battle to the Manchus in the 1620s and early 1630s, as well as his own death in 1634, his son eventually submitted to Hong Taiji and the Yuan seal is also said to be handed in to latter, ending the Northern Yuan. The surrendered Mongols as a whole were also enrolled in the banner system. Soon afterwards the Manchus founded the Qing Dynasty and became the ruler of China proper.

The three khans of Khalkha in Outer Mongolia had established close ties with the Qing Dynasty since the reign of Hong Taiji, but had remained effectively self-governing. While Qing rulers had attempted to achieve control over this region, the Oyirods to the west of Khalkha under the leadership of Galdan were also actively making such attempts. After the end of the war against the Three Feudatories, the Kangxi Emperor was able to turn his attentions to this problem and tried diplomatic negotiations. But Galdan ended up with attacking the Khalkha lands, and Kangxi's responded by personally leading Eight Banner contingents with heavy guns into the field against Galdan's forces, eventually defeating the latter. In the mean time Kangxi organized a congress of the rulers of Khalkha and Inner Mongolia in Duolun in 1691, at which the Khalkha khans formally declared allegiance to him. The war against Galdan essentially brought the Khalkhas to the empire, and the three khans of the Khalkha were formally inducted into the inner circles of the Qing aristocracy by 1694. Thus, by the end of the 17th century the Qing Dynasty had put both Inner and Outer Mongolia under its control.