Mongolian Resistance
No more than a month after Sando’s arrival, a brawl broke out between some intoxicated lamas (Buddhist priests) and Chinese at a Chinese carpentry shop in Urga. Such incidents were not unknown in the past, but they had been firmly suppressed by Qing officials. This one developed differently. When Sando arrived at Gandan Monastery, the principal monastery in the city, to make arrests, the lamas pelted him and his troops with stones, forcing them to withdraw. Sando demanded that the Jebstundamba Khutuktu (variously spelled), the spiritual leader in Urga of the Mongolians, surrender a particular lama believed to be the ringleader of the incident. The Khutuktu refused and Sando fined him. In response, the Mongolians petitioned the Qing government to remove Sando, but without success.
Other incidents followed, all underscoring the diminished authority of Sando: A minor noble, Togtokh Taij, with a small band, had with the connivance of local Mongolian officials plundered several Chinese merchant shops in eastern Mongolia. Sando dispatched two detachments of soldiers to capture Togtokh. They were led into a trap by their Mongolian guide; most were killed. Mongolian princes resisted providing soldiers for Sando’s army. And the prince of the khoshuun which Togtokh had raided refused Sando’s demand to pay compensation to the plundered Chinese merchants.
Read more about this topic: Outer Mongolian Revolution Of 1911
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