She knew the birth, flourishing and decline of more than one empire. However, there were not many states whose civilizational basis was the equestrian nomadic culture. The famous Oirat researcher Maral Tompiev talks about the tragic end of the last state of nomads - Dzungaria.

Collapse of the Oirat Union

The political term “Dzungars” arose at the beginning of the 17th century as a result of the division of the Oirats (translated as “dwellers of the forests”) into northwestern and southeastern groups.

According to the Turkic-Mongolian tradition, the south was the main and determining side of the world. If you look south, the southeastern group led by the Choros Hara Khula will be on the left. The Mongolian left wing was always called dzhun-gar - left hand. Therefore, the Choros, as the main tribe, received their own polytonym - the Dzungars.

Many historians mistakenly believe that the Dzungars are the left wing of Genghis Khan's army. The Torgouts and part of the Derbets from the northwestern group, logically, should have become barungars - the right hand. But having gone to Zhaik and Edil and falling into the sphere of influence of Russia, they began to be called Kalmaks (in Russian - Kalmyks). The word “Kalmak” was used by the Islamized tribes of the Turks to call the nomads whom they considered to have remained in paganism (Tengrianism). Only in the 18th century did Russian travelers and historians, in order to distinguish their “lower” Kalmyks on the Volga from their “upper” Kalmyks in Tarbagatai, begin to call them Zungor Kalmyks, or in short, Dzungars.
From the middle of the 16th century, the Oirats, having suffered defeats from the eastern and southern Mongols, were forced to retreat north and west, to the upper reaches of the Khobda River, and cross the Mongolian Altai. On the wide desert plain between the ridges of the Altai and Tien Shan mountains they found their main homeland - geographical Dzungaria. Thus, the Oirats ousted from Altai and Tarbagatai the scattered Kazakh tribes of the Naimans, Kereys, Zhalairs, Huaks and Kipchaks, who scattered in Mogulistan and the Kazakh Khanate, as well as the Kyrgyz, who were forced to leave for the Tien Shan mountains.

The resettlement of the Oirats to the west was explained not by a desire to repeat the campaigns of Genghis Khan, but by the choice of the path of least resistance. This way for them turned out to be the lands of the collapsed Siberian Khanate, which consisted mainly of Kazakh tribes. The Derbets and Torgouts, having left the borders of Dzungaria, moved in two streams along the Irtysh to the northwest, pushing further to the west and into the mountainous part of Altai the remnants of the tribes of Kereys, Huaks, Kipchaks, and Telengits. As a result, a northwestern group of Oirats settled west of the Irtysh and south of the line of the new Russian cities of Tyumen, Tobolsk, Tara, and Tomsk. It was led by the Derbet taiji Dalai Batur (?–1637) and the Torgout taiji Kho Urlyuk (?–1644). The first was married to the sister of the second, so the relatives roamed together and in harmony.

Four hordes

Internal strife and defeats by Yesim Khan (1565-1628) led to a break between Dalai Batur and Ho Urluk. The latter took his Torgouts through the Mugodzhary mountains to the upper reaches of the Emba River and, moving along its course, attacked the Nogai nomads. This war ended with the defeat of the Nogai Horde and the emergence in the late 1630s of the Kalmyk Horde, stretching from Emba to the Don. In Saryarka there remained the Derbets led by Dalai Batur and the Khoshouts led by Kuishi-taiji.

In the southeastern Oirat faction, after the death of Khara Hula in 1635, his son Khoto Khotsin took the title of Hongtaiji, and the Dalai Lama assigned him the motto Erdeni Batur. This date is considered to be the birth of Dzungaria as a state. Perhaps this is a coincidence, but just in 1635 the Manchus defeated the last independent Mongol Khan Likden and took the jasper seal of Genghis Khan from him.
Erdeni Batur continued his father's policy aimed at uniting the Oirats under the rule of the Choros into one state. The creation of a standing army, an administrative apparatus for management and taxation began, and Buddhism was widely introduced. In southern Tarbagatai, near modern Chuguchak on the Emel River, Erdeni Batur built a capital of stone. Around it, he began to develop agriculture and handicraft production, which the Sarts and Uyghurs began to engage in. The ruins of the old capital on Emel are well preserved - they are located near the village of Kogvsar (translated from Oirat as “many deer”) at an altitude of 1330 meters.

Due to the displacement of scattered Kazakh tribes, the territory of Dzungaria expanded not only to the west, capturing the lands of the Kazakh Khanate, but also to the east. Khoshout Turu Baihu Taiji with his ulus in 1636–1637 conquered the lands adjacent to Tibet around Lake Kukunar, displacing the Mongols and Tibetans from there and creating a separate Khoshout state there.

Thus, after 1636, four Oirat hordes appeared: Kalmyk on the Volga, Dzungarian on Emel, Khoshout on Lake Kukunor and Derbeto-Khoshout in Saryarka. Later, three of them formed separate states, but the Saryarka Oirats were unable to formalize statehood and were conquered by Galdan Boshoktu Khan.

At the same time, the Manchus conquered Northern China, formed a new ruling dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and continued the conquest of Mongolia. Erdeni Batur, in the face of the Manchu threat, began preparing a pan-Mongolian khural, which proposed the unification of the eastern and western Mongolian tribes and the adoption of a common code of punishments - Ikhe Tsaazh. The Khural took place in September 1640 in the Ulan Bura tract in the southeast of the Tarbagatai Mountains. Most of the noble taiji and noyons from Dzungaria, Kalmykia, Kukunor, northern Saryarka and Khalkha Mongolia came to it.

Erdeni Batur's main goal was to stop civil strife and unite different Mongol-speaking tribes for the future fight against a common enemy - Qin China. This goal was not achieved, and the long-term political unification of the Khalkha and Oirat Mongols did not occur. But in general, the adoption of the Ihe Tsaazh laws contributed to the streamlining of the social structure of society, fairer legal proceedings, increased militarization of the economy and discipline in the troops, as well as strengthening the influence of Buddhism.

The second capital of the Urdun Khanate, founded by Tsevan Rabdan, was built on the site of the former capital of the Chagatai ulus, called Kuyash, or Ulug-if. Now these are the ruins of old Kulja, which was located between the southern bank of the Ili and the Chapchal moat and was stretched for 20 km between the modern villages of Konohai, Ukurshy, Birushsumul, Altysumul, Kairsumul and Naymansumul, to the north of which were the Khan’s palace and the central square. In the summer, a dozen wooden bridges were thrown across the Chapchala ditch, which at that time was impassable for cavalry, which were quickly dismantled in times of danger. In winter, water from Chapchal was diverted to Ili so that enemy cavalry would not pass across the ice.

Interesting fact: the capital of Mogulistan - Almalyk - used to be the second capital of the Chagatai ulus. Chagatai's son, Yesu Monketsy, moved it from the south to the northern bank of the river (the deep and fast Ili was impassable for cavalry). There were caravan routes to Karakorum - the capital of the empire and further to China and to the west Sarai-Berke - the capital of the Golden Horde. The western route went from Almalyk along the northern bank of the Ili and along the eastern bank of its channel Bakanas through the settlements of Akkol, Aktam, Karamegen and Lake Balkhash, along the Tokrau River to Saryarka and further to the Volga and Russia. After the defeat of Almalyk by the Oirats, the caravan route and cities along Ili and Bakanas fell into decay, but their ruins have been well preserved to this day.

Due to ignorance of history, the Russian authorities in 1881 gave China the Ili region along with four capitals: the Karluk Khanate - Ili-balyk; Chagatai ulus - Kuyash, Ulug-if; Mogulistan - Almalyk; Dzungaria - Urdun. This has fueled China's ambitions in terms of territorial claims.

Beginning of the End

In the 1750s, a series of misfortunes befell Dzungaria, and after the death of Galdan Tseren, a split occurred among the nobility. Some Taiji and Noyons did not recognize his illegitimate son, Lama Dorji, who seized the throne. The Choros noyon Davatsi, who considered himself more noble, in 1751 with his supporters Amursana (1722-1757), noyons Banjur, Batma and Renzhe Tseren fled from the persecution of Lama Dorji to the Kazakh Middle Zhuz to Sultan Abylai. And the rebellious noyons of the Derbets Saral and Ubashi Tseren went to Emperor Qian Lun. Thus, the Dzungarian internal strife grew into an international one and served as a signal to neighboring countries about the weakening of Dzungaria.

The head of the Middle Zhuz, Sultan Abylay, was the quickest to orient himself in the situation and played his game according to the “divide and capture” principle. He did not hand over the rebels led by Davatsi, ignoring the demands of Lama Dorji. The latter, in 1752, with three tumens, invaded the nomadic camps of the Middle Zhuz in eastern Saryarka. However, the war became protracted, and the Dzungars, having actually lost it, retreated.
Taking advantage of Tole-bi's reports about the complete absence of Dzungar troops in western Zhetysu (a serious miscalculation by Lama Dorji), Abylay in December 1752 sent there a kind of landing party of 500 Kazakhs and 150 Oirats supporters of Davatsi and Amursana. This army quickly bypassed Balkhash from the west, along the southern bank of the Ili, and at the beginning of January 1753, without encountering any resistance along the way, broke into Urdun, where the bridges across the Chapchal ditch were not dismantled. Lama Dorji was captured and executed on January 12. With the support of the Kazakhs, Davatsi became the new huntaiji. After this brilliantly carried out operation, Abylai became even more firmly established in his plans to establish control over Dzungaria.

Davatsi turned out to be narrow-minded and greedy, which only added fire to the fire of Dzungarian civil strife. Amursana’s claims to “half the kingdom” were also not satisfied. And then Amursana again turned for help to Abylai, who without fail supplied his ally against Davatsi with the necessary number of horses and even allocated a Kazakh detachment. In turn, Davatsi turned to the help of the Zaisans of the Altai Telengits (Tolenguts), who in the spring of 1754 completely defeated the Kazakh-Dzungar detachment of Amursana. The latter, with 20 thousand Khoyts, fled to Khalka, where, appearing before the Chinese authorities, he declared his desire to serve the Bogdykhan Qian Long (1711-1799). He was sent to Beijing. Subsequently, this request for help served as a win-win pretext for the capture and destruction of Dzungaria. Already in 1753, the Qing began to conquer the local Oirats from the Gobi Altai and Eastern Tien Shan. Those who disobeyed were executed or deported to Southern Mongolia (a total of about 40 thousand families). Their descendants still live in Inner Mongolia of China under the family name Dzhangar in the Chahar tribal association.

Taking into account previous military experience, in the spring of 1755 a huge Chinese army of 50 thousand people set out for the final conquest of Dzungaria. Consisting of 10 thousand Manchus, 10 thousand Khalkhas and 20 thousand southern Mongols, it was divided into two parts. Actually there were about 10 thousand Chinese (Han), but they did not participate in the hostilities. The Han, who had an aversion to war and violence, constituted only the rear units - they had to engage in agriculture in the occupied territories and create military-arable settlements to supply food.

The infantry consisted mainly of Manchu tribes, while the cavalry, by analogy with the Russian Cossacks and Volga Kalmyks, was recruited from the Mongols, later the Oirats. To conquer Dzungaria, the plan of General Aran was used, who proposed, as the troops advanced deep into enemy territory, to build fortresses with permanent military garrisons - tuyuns - in the rear along the caravan routes. The first fortresses were built in Kumul and Barkol in the eastern Tien Shan.

Dzungaria was doomed, since the size of its army, even together with the Kazakh detachments, was half as large. This is not to mention the superiority of the advancing troops in the amount of artillery and massive firearms.

The northern part of 20 thousand sabers arrived from Mongolia under the command of the Mongol general Pan-ti (Amursany's Khoyts were in its vanguard) and began to capture the Mongolian Altai and Eastern Tien Shan. The southern part, which came from Manchuria under the command of General Yun Chun (its guide and vanguard was another Derbet noyon - Saral), captured Tarbagatai and the Dzungarian plain. Saral then led his warriors south of Lake Ebinor, through the Borochor ridge to capture the northern part of the Ili Valley. And Amursana moved along the southern bank of the Ili, where Pan-ti entered Urdun, the capital of Dzungaria, almost without a fight.

Despite the help of three thousand Kazakh soldiers from Abylai, Davatsi, who did not trust them, avoided the battle in the Tekes area and with a small detachment fled through the Yulduz pass to the southern Tien Shan. But he was soon captured with the help of a Uyghur hakim in Uch Turpan, near the Aksu River, and sent to Beijing. Qian Long treated him humanely, and in 1759 he died of natural causes. Meanwhile, Pan-ti, stationed in Ghulja as the chief Chinese governor, announced the disintegration of Dzungaria and appointed new khuntaiji for each of the tribes Choros, Derbet, Khoshout and Hoyt.

Amursana, who hoped for at least part of Dzungaria, received nothing. To curb the discontent of his former ally, Pan-ti sent him to Beijing under escort. On the way, Amursana fled to his native nomads of the Khoyts in Tarbagatai, where, with the support of Abylay, together with the former amanat Argyn, the Sary Cossack rebelled against China. Gathering the remnants of the army, in the fall of 1755 he returned to Gulja. Pan-ti, confident of victory, unwisely disbanded the main part of the army and was left with 500 warriors in complete encirclement, was defeated and committed suicide.

Death of Dzungaria

After the restoration of the independence of Dzungaria, the Choros taiji considered it humiliating for themselves to submit to Amursana, who was just a Khoit noyon. His mother was the younger sister of Galdan Tseren, so in the eyes of the Choros he was considered a person of lower birth. Because of this mistake, the ruling Choros and rebel Khoyts were almost entirely exterminated by the Qings.
In the camp of the rebels, discord and bloody civil strife resumed, which were aggravated by the devastating raids of the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, who sensed the weakness of the former tyrants. The roads of Dzungaria were strewn with corpses, the rivers turned red from spilled human blood, and the air was full of smoke from burning monasteries and tents. In the period 1753-1755, the Kazakhs kidnapped more than 10 thousand families from Ili and Emil (Dzhungar Plain). Amursana, having become a huntaiji, in revenge for the defeat in 1754, executed 15 Altai zaisans and transferred another 7 thousand Telengit families to Abylai. In total, more than 100 thousand Oirats were distributed among the Kazakh tribes, where they assimilated.

The Kirghiz from Alai, led by Kubatur-bi from the Kushchu clan, captured the Talas valley, and the Sarybagysh captured the upper reaches of the Chu and Issyk-Kul. The Dzungars themselves began to migrate from the central regions: the Derbets to Kobdo Khalkha of Mongolia, and some of the Khoshouts to Kashgaria. The Chinese watched with satisfaction the disarray in the country of their sworn enemy, trying to strengthen the differences by welcoming the fugitives. Thus, anticipating the powerlessness of the Dzungarian wolf, the Chinese dragon began to prepare for the last and decisive throw.

In the spring of 1756, the Qin army under the command of the Manchu general Chao Hui laid siege to Urumqi and advanced to Emil and Tarbagatai in the spring of the following year. The Manchus, together with 5 thousand derbets of the Sarala noyon, marched towards Gulja. Amursan, tried to organize resistance and even won several small battles. But in the end, the Manchus, using their numerical advantage and regrouping their forces, defeated the Dzungars. Having abandoned everything, Amursana again fled to the Kazakhs. Pursuing him, the Manchus crossed the Irtysh and entered the lands of the Middle Zhuz.

This was the end of Dzungaria, the last nomadic empire, which in 1761 became the Qin viceroyalty called Xinjiang (new frontier). Kobdo district, Tarbagatai, Ili province and Urdun (Khulja) were annexed to China. The Dzungars, especially the rebellious tribes Choros and Khoyt (while the Derbets submitted in time and suffered less), were almost completely exterminated. Kazakhs and Kyrgyz actively participated in the struggle for the Dzungarian heritage.

In 1757-58, Kazakh warriors attacked the Altai Kuba Kalmaks. The Naiman warriors Kokzhal Barak and the Kipchak Koshkarbay became especially famous. Acting on the instructions of Sultan Abylay, they took revenge on the Kalmyks for raids on the Middle Zhuz and for participating in the defeat of the detachment of Amursana and Abylay in 1754. Having crossed the Irtysh and invaded the mountainous and Mongolian Altai, the Kazakh warriors began to instill fear, taking boys into tolenguts, women and girls into tokalki, and adding cattle to their herds. Russia, which had previously indifferently observed the situation, also decided to join in the division of Dzungaria. In May 1756, Tsarina Elizaveta Petrovna issued a decree on accepting fugitives into her citizenship, and in June - a decree on annexing the territory of the Altai Mountains to Russia.

In contrast to the resettlement of the Kazakhs to Dzungaria, the Chinese began to resettle there the Manchu tribes of archers - Sibe, Daurs and Solons, as well as Chakhars and Khalkhas - Mongols, Taranchi-Uighurs from Kashgaria, Dungans from Gan-Su (Ken-su), as well as Uryangkhais (Soyots) from Tuva. In 1771, on the initiative of the Chinese, the Torgouts were resettled from the Volga region, who were placed south and east of Kuldzha in the Yulduz valley and the upper reaches of the Urungu River on the empty lands of their brothers Choros and Khoyts.

In 1757-1758, Dzungaria, the last nomadic empire, was completely destroyed.

The Chinese historian of the Qin Empire Wei Yuan (1794-1857) wrote that the number of Dzungars by 1755 was at least 200 thousand tents. Russian historian S. Skobelev believed that, taking into account the average coefficient of 4.5 people per tent, the population of Dzungaria was about 900 thousand. Therefore, the size of the losses can be represented as follows:

The number of Derbets (supported the Chinese and did not participate in the rebellions) is about 150 thousand, or 20%.
60 thousand were saved in Siberia, northern Mongolia and the Altai Mountains.
40 thousand were saved in Dzungaria itself.
100 thousand were taken captive by the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz.
200 thousand died from hunger and smallpox epidemic.
50 thousand died from civil strife, raids by Kazakhs and Kyrgyz.

If we add up these numbers and subtract the resulting amount from the total number of 900 thousand, then the number of Dzungars (mainly Choros and Khoyts) destroyed by the Qin troops will be about 300 thousand.

Just as 170 years earlier, the weakened Siberian Khanate was divided between Russia and the strong Dzungaria, so the weakened Dzungaria was divided between its neighbors.

(From the book “Shekara shegin aykyndau dauiri. The era of finding borders.” [email protected])

The recent capital of Kazakhstan - the famous Almaty - the Oirats of Dzungaria contributed to its founding.

Arltan Baskhaev, a historian and writer from Kalmykia, in his article tries to destroy stereotypes about nomads - in particular, the Oirats of Dzungaria - as barbarians who only know how to collect tribute from settled farmers. What is this: a historical sensation, or an attempt to deny the unequal confrontation between “two worlds” "(nomadic and sedentary), succumbing to the Eurocentric model of thinking - it is up to the readers of the ARD to judge. Do you think that Dzungaria is a power that almost became an empire?

Actually, my ancestors were nomads

so this is not about us

Volga Kalmyks-Dzungars-Oirats

began to lead a sedentary lifestyle about 100 years ago

Guest_djungar

(from the Internet forum, preserving the original spelling)

Unfortunately, it is precisely this idea of ​​the Oirats - as savage nomads, wandering with their huge herds across the endless expanses of the steppe and exacting tribute from sedentary farmers - that is firmly entrenched in our minds. These kind of unspoiled “children of nature” with their bows, horses, yurts and kumis - yes, terrible in battle, but still simple-minded, narrow-minded, stupid and naive barbarians.

Generation after generation, this idea was instilled, and now some descendants of proud warriors believe “that the Garods are not about us” and “the Volga Kalmyks-Dzungars-Oirats began to lead a sedentary lifestyle 100 years ago.” But our ancestors were more reasonable and were well aware of the importance of settled settlements as centers of concentration for the administration of crafts, trade, agriculture, military-defensive fortifications and strongholds.

The Oirats understood that it was necessary to develop new territories not only politically and economically, but also spiritually, so they built temples and monasteries that turned into fortified towns.

A fragment of the map of Great Tartary (“Carte de Tartarie”, Guillaume de L’Isle (1675-1726)), compiled in 1706, now stored in the Map Collection of the US Library of Congress. Dzungar Khanate.

The heirs of Batur Khuntayji and Galdan Boshoktu Khan continued their policies. They had quite enough analytical skills to assess the situation and understand that a power living surrounded by expanding empires - Russia and China - could withstand, survive and realize its ambitions only if it caught up with its neighbors in development.

That is why, throughout his reign, Tsevan-Rabdan intensively introduced what is now called “new technologies.” Nomads traditionally depend on sedentary inhabitants for food, and Tsevan-Rabdan literally forces agriculture among its subjects.

After the embassy to Dzungaria of I. Unkovsky (1722-1724), an analytical report on the state of affairs in the nomadic empire was compiled at the Russian College of Foreign Affairs. There, in particular, it was written: “Before Unkovsky was over 30 years old, they had little bread and did not know how to plow. Nowadays their arable land is multiplying every hour, and not only the Bukharian subjects sow, but many Kalmyks also take over the arable land, for there is an order from the contanche to that effect. They will have a lot of bread: a fair amount of wheat, millet, barley, Sorochinskoe millet (“Saracen millet”, i.e. rice - A.B.). Their land has a lot of salt and produces a fair amount of vegetables... in recent years, the kontaishi began to make weapons from him, and they say that they have plenty of iron, from which they make armor and kuyaks, and they started making some leather and cloth , and they now make writing paper.”

Now the Dzungar rulers primarily pay attention to the development of manufacturing towns for the production of weapons.

Tsevan-Rabdan formed a special economic unit from gunsmiths - an otok called Ulute. These workshops first repaired weapons, and then established their own production. Special factories-towns were organized for the production of firearms and cannons. Russian intelligence reported that “Russian people are not allowed into the factories and the Kontaishi people are keeping them in secret.”

Galdan Boshoktu Khan and the Russian ambassador Kiberev monitor the progress of the battle near the lake. Ologoy July 21, 1690. Drawing by L.A. Bobrov (in the foreground is the Tibetan bodyguard of Galdan Boshoktu Khan).

The first iron smelting plant was opened in 1726 on the coast of Lake Tuzkol (Issyk-Kul). Then, already under Galdan Tseren, a copper plant was opened in Yarkand and an assembly shop near Urga on the banks of the Temirlik River. Of course, by European standards these were just small manufactories, but for a nomadic state it was an unprecedented experience.

The Oirats perfectly understood the role of sedentary strongholds and erected them as needed. All these fortified towns occupied strategically important places and spoke of the power of the blossoming Dzungarian state. And if not for his death, perhaps the Oirat towns would have become large cities with a rich history.

The construction of these cities clearly confirms the high culture of the Dzungarian state, which gradually reformed its economy, moving from a nomadic way of life to a semi-sedentary life, with elements of agriculture.

The Dzungarian rulers were aware of the advantages of the sedentary agricultural form of economy over the nomadic one, but they understood that drastic reforms to transfer the population from one form of management to another would negatively affect the entire sphere of the state’s economy.

In addition, Dzungaria was almost constantly at war with its neighbors, or was torn apart by internecine wars. In such conditions, the only reasonable thing was a gradual transition from a nomadic lifestyle to a semi-sedentary and sedentary one. The Dzungar hunters understood this very well, but the Dzungars did not have enough time to carry out reforms.

In 1755-1758, as a result of an internecine struggle for power and the invasion of troops of the Manchu-Chinese Qing Empire, Dzungaria ceased to exist. The first experiment in history to transform a nomadic power into a settled empire was never completed...

Dzungar Khanate - the last nomadic empire

The historical period from the end of the late Middle Ages to the beginning of the New Age is known in specialized literature as the “Period of the Small Mongol Invasion.” This was the era when the centuries-old confrontation between the Nomad and the Farmer finally ended in favor of the latter. But paradoxically, it was at this time that the Great Steppe gave birth to the last Nomadic Empire, which was able to fight almost equally with the largest agricultural states of the region

The period of Asian history from the end of the late Middle Ages to the beginning of the New Age is known in specialized literature as the “period of the small Mongol invasion.” This was the era when the centuries-old confrontation between the Nomad and the Farmer finally ended in favor of the latter. During the XV-XVII centuries. Previously, powerful nomadic peoples, one after another, recognized the suzerainty of sedentary agricultural empires, and the territory of sovereign nomadic states shrank like shagreen leather. But, paradoxically, it was at this time that the Great Steppe gave birth to the last nomadic empire, capable of fighting the strongest states almost on equal terms

Period from the 30s. XVII century until the first half of the 18th century. was extremely important in the life of the peoples not only of Middle, Central and East Asia, but also of Russia. At this time, on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, the Russian “throw to meet the Sun”, begun by Ermak, was completed, the general contours of the eastern and southeastern borders of the Russian state, as well as the western and northwestern borders of China, were formed, with some changes preserved to this day; The territory of residence of the Central Asian peoples (Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Karakalpaks) took shape, and the Mongolian people were divided.

The initiators of the creation of a centralized state in Western Mongolia were the Oirat princes from the house of Choros. In the mid-30s. XVII century one of them - Batur-huntaiji - managed to unite the previously warring tribes. Over the next 120 years, the Dzungar Khanate became one of the key political “players” in the Central Asian region. The Dzungars stopped Russian expansion into Southern Siberia, defeated the North Mongolian state of the Altyn Khans, at the end of the 17th century. subjugated East Turkestan, inhabited by Muslims, devastated the nomads of East and South Kazakhstan, and defeated the khans of East Mongolia in a fierce confrontation.

The most difficult test for Dzungaria were three wars with the most powerful state in the region - the Qing Empire. The fighting took place over vast areas, however, despite the utmost effort, the Empire was never able to subjugate the young Western Mongolian power. In the first half of the 18th century. under the control of the Oirat rulers was a significant part of modern Kazakhstan, the northern part of the Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, the southwest of the Republic of Mongolia and the southern part of the Altai Mountains.

What is the reason for the brilliant victories of the Dzungars over their powerful warlike neighbors for almost a hundred years?

Unlike their eastern fellow tribesmen, the Western Mongols lived in a centralized state, headed by Hongtaiji rulers who had virtually unlimited power. In the context of the rapid development of agricultural states, the Dzungar rulers implemented a grand experiment to create a hybrid society in which the traditional nomadic way of life was combined with elements of a sedentary agricultural culture. To survive, nomadic communities had to adapt to the changing political and economic "climate" of the continent. Of all the nomadic peoples, it was the Dzungars who succeeded in this to the greatest extent.

Already Batur-huntaiji began to actively encourage agriculture and build fortified “small towns”. His followers actively resettled representatives of sedentary agricultural peoples to central Dzungaria to develop arable farming there. Thanks to the help of foreign craftsmen, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy and cloth production began to develop in the Khanate.

Elements of modernization were especially evident in the military sphere. It should be noted that the military art of the nomads of Western Mongolia went through two main stages in its development, which with some degree of convention can be designated as “Oirat” and “Dzungarian”.

"Oirat" military art

Throughout most of the XV - first half of the XVII centuries. the weapons and tactics of the Western Mongols (Oirats) differed little from the weapons and tactics of the nomads of Southern and Eastern Mongolia.

The main striking force of the army were medium-armed armored spearmen, capable of fighting at a distance using bows (and later matchlock guns), and at a short distance, knocking down the enemy using a spear attack and subsequent horse chopping. The main melee weapons were long striking spears and pikes, as well as bladed weapons - broadswords and slightly curved sabers.

Wealthy nomads used various types of metal shells, while ordinary nomads used shells quilted with cotton wool, which could repeat the cut of traditional outerwear, a robe. The warrior’s hands were protected by shoulder pads and folded bracers that came from the west, and his neck and throat were protected by metal, leather and fabric aventails. The head was covered with riveted helmets equipped with pommels with bushings for plumes.

The most common type of plume was a tassel made of narrow fabric ribbons, which was already used in the 17th century. became a symbol of Oirat independence. Sultans made from horsehair and bird feathers were also widely used. The nobility sported high spherocylindrical helmets, shaped like a vase or a jug with a long narrow neck - such helmets allowed soldiers to see their commanders on the battlefield from afar.

The opinion about the primitiveness of steppe defensive weapons during the late Middle Ages is refuted by information from written sources. Mongolian and Altai “kuyash masters” made armor, which was prestigious to wear even among the highest feudal aristocracy of Central Asia. For the possession of captured Buryat “kuyaks,” real fights broke out among Russian servicemen and “hunting” people. Moreover: the Russian authorities recommended that the Cossacks take tribute from the Siberian “Kuznetsk people” “... with helmets, and spears, and sabers.”

Mongol warriors used various types of formations: wedge, lava, loose formation, as well as dense formations in ranks, which European travelers compared to the formation of the “winged” Polish hussars. One of the favorites was the “bow-key” formation: the center of the army was bent back, the flanks were extended towards the enemy. During the battle, one or both wings extended forward delivered a powerful blow to the enemy’s flanks, and then went to his rear.

Before the battle, the nomads lined up in detachments, led by the khan's warriors. The banner poles of the unit commanders were equipped with flags or horse tails, and large banners were carried by special “bagaturas”. The fall of the banner often caused panic in the ranks of the detachment.

The attack began with the roar of drums, and at the moment of collision the enemy was deafened by the roar of large trumpets. The first blow was usually delivered by archers, then spearmen rushed into the attack, and then a fierce hand-to-hand fight began. If the enemy withstood such an attack, the Mongol cavalry immediately retreated. The Oirat epic colorfully describes the advance of masses of spear cavalry: “At that hour, the bunchuks of banners appeared like reeds; spear points flashed like sugar cane.”

This tactic was good against an enemy armed with the same bladed weapons, but it was ineffective against rifle shooters. Attempts by nomads to acquire firearms were harshly suppressed by the governments of agricultural states. The Russian Tsardom and the Qing Empire imposed a strict embargo on the supply of guns to the Mongolian states.

Firearms era

Military reforms of the Dzungar army at the end of the 17th - first half of the 18th century. were primarily associated with the development of firearms. The first facts of the use of handguns by the Oirats date back to the beginning of the 17th century.

In the second half of the 17th century. Mass supplies of weapons began from Central Asia and Russia. The Dzungars managed to circumvent the restrictions imposed by the Russian government on the sale of weapons to nomads thanks to the mediation of Central Asian Muslim merchants and Siberian “princes.” In Moscow and other cities of Russia, merchants explicitly, and more often secretly, purchased weapons, and then, together with trade caravans, secretly transported them to Dzungaria. The scope of the smuggling trade is amazing even now: until the early 80s. XVII century “30 or more cartloads” of firearms were regularly sent to Dzungaria. It was almost impossible to do this without the knowledge of Russian service people in Siberia. There is reason to believe that representatives of the highest command staff of the Siberian prisons were also involved in the smuggling trade. However, supplies from Central Asia still played a major role in the rearmament of the Dzungar army.

In the last quarter of the 17th century. What happened was what the Russian tsars and Chinese emperors feared most: the monopoly of the agricultural states on the massive use of firearms was broken. For late medieval Asia, this event can be compared in significance to the modern expansion of the club of nuclear powers at the expense of “rogue states.” The spread of the “fiery battle” to Dzungaria radically changed the entire face of the Central Asian wars.

Thanks to the massive import of guns, the traditional composition of the nomad army branches changed - numerous units of shooters armed with handguns appeared in it. The Dzungar warriors mastered the art of shooting from it quite quickly. The shooters rode horses and dismounted on the battlefield, that is, they actually represented “Asian dragoons.”

The density of rifle fire from the Oirats was so great that the Manchu warriors, despite the support of their own artillery, were forced to dismount and attack the Dzungars in infantry columns. The main task of the Dzungar riflemen was to stop the attack of the enemy troops, while the cavalry (which made up the second line of the Dzungar troops) was supposed to overturn his flanks.

This tactic, based on active cavalry actions supported by “firearmed” infantry, was widely used in Central Asia back in the 16th century. Largely thanks to her, victories were won over the Khalkhas (which led to the liquidation of Eastern Mongolian statehood) and the best army of the Far East - the regular troops of the Qing Empire.

Cannons on camels

Dzungaria's dependence on the supply of firearms from abroad posed a threat to the country's national security, therefore, at the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century. Extraordinary measures were taken to establish its production in steppe conditions. Thanks to the assistance of Russian and, probably, Central Asian craftsmen, Dzungaria established its own production of matchlock guns and gun ammunition. Thousands of local and foreign craftsmen and ordinary nomads worked in large arms production centers. As a result, firearms became widespread even among ordinary Dzungar warriors.

Most Dzungarian-made guns had a matchlock, a long barrel, a narrow butt and, often, a wooden bipod, relying on which could significantly improve shooting accuracy. Gun ammunition (bag, flint, pouches for bullets, etc.) was worn on the belt. Sometimes, to increase the rate of fire, gunpowder was poured into special measures made of bone or horn. Such Asian “bandeliers,” unlike their European counterparts, were usually worn not over the shoulder, but around the neck.

Dzungar army of the late 17th - early 18th centuries. consisted of squads of huntaiji and large Oirat feudal lords, people's militia, squads of vassals and allies of the Khanate. All Oirats, except children, decrepit old people and lamas, were considered liable for military service and carried out military service. Upon news of the approach of the enemy, all men subject to conscription were to immediately arrive at the headquarters of the local feudal ruler. Thanks to the relatively compact residence of most of the Oirats, the Dzungar rulers were able to quickly mobilize the required number of warriors. According to Russian diplomats, the size of the Dzungar army in the first third of the 18th century. reached 100 thousand people.

The last and final stage of the Dzungar military reforms is associated with the appearance of artillery. In 1726, the first factory for the production of cannons was built in Dzungaria in the Issyk-Kul region. The organization of its work was entrusted to the sergeant of the Swedish army Johann Gustav Renat, who was captured by Russian soldiers near Poltava and then transported to Tobolsk. In 1716 he was captured a second time, this time by the Dzungars. The sergeant was promised freedom and a generous reward in exchange for organizing cannon production in Oiratia. To train him in cannon craft, he was given 20 gunsmiths and 200 workers, and several thousand people were assigned to auxiliary work.

According to Renat’s later testimony, he “made all the guns only 15 four-pound guns, 5 small ones, and a twenty-ten-pound martyr.” However, according to information from Russian ambassadors, the number of guns manufactured by the Swede was much greater. It is unlikely that Renat invented new types of guns; most likely, he simply reproduced the forms of guns known to him, but without European-type carriages and wheels - in Dzungaria there were no roads in the European sense of the word along which wheeled artillery could be transported. The guns were transported on camels, with the barrels secured in special “nurseries” on their humps.

The foundations of artillery production laid by the Swede bore fruit for another decade and a half. According to the Dzungars themselves, light guns transported on camels in the early 40s. XVIII century numbered in the thousands, and heavy guns and mortars in the dozens.

The ebb of guns in Dzungaria in the 40s. XVIII century Along with the Oirats, Russian masters also worked. However, after the civil strife began in Dzungaria, artillery production began to decline. Thus, in 1747, a copper cannon made by the Russian master Ivan Bildega and his comrades “exploded during testing.”

Foreign specialists also played an important role in training Dzungarian shooters in European techniques of distance combat. Not far from the khan’s headquarters, regular exercises were organized, during which the Oirats marched “formed in columns and ranks,” made turns and formations, and also performed “gun techniques” and fired in volleys.

The appearance of a fairly large artillery fleet, the use of which also had a strong psychological effect, allowed the Oirat commanders to adjust their methods of warfare. During the battles, the guns were placed on high ground and camouflaged. The light Dzungar cavalry lured enemy troops into the field and brought artillery and dismounted riflemen under attack. Stationary guns hit the advancing infantry and cavalry of the enemy at point blank range. The detachments, upset by rifle and cannon salvoes, were attacked by mounted spearmen and squeakers.

Battle tactics were extremely flexible. Plated spear cavalry, lightly armed horsemen with pikes, bows and guns, foot archers, “camel” artillery - they all interacted effectively and complemented each other.

Thus, the military successes of the last nomadic empire were due to the successful modernization of the armed forces. The effectiveness of new weapons and new combat tactics was proven by the successful wars of the Dzungars against both nomadic and sedentary peoples.

The Dzungar Khanate died in the middle of the 18th century. as a result of a long internecine struggle among the Oirat feudal lords. The entire steppe world of Central Asia and Southern Siberia was actually divided between the largest regional powers - Russia and China. The history of nomadic peoples and nomadic empires, as an independent subject of world politics, has ended.

In our primary source review, we'll talk about Dzungaria, which forms part of what Uyghur independence fighters call East Turkestan. In the world, East Turkestan is better known as the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. Let's talk here about the population of the Xinjiang Uyghur region, namely the Uighurs and Oirats (Dzungars).

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, or Xinjiang (in China sometimes spelled Sinkiang) on ​​a map from the China Radio International website english.cri.cn. As you can see, a small section of the Russian-Chinese border also passes through a remote part of Xinjiang.

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on the map of the PRC from the Chinese state website russian.china.org.cn.

The World Uyghur Congress (WUC), banned in China, calls the homeland of the Uyghurs Xinjiang East Turkestan, i.e. "country of the Turks." Here is East Turkestan on the map from the VUK website. Xinjiang is also known in history as Dzungaria, named after the Mongol-speaking Oirat people who also lived here, who differ from both the Uyghur Turks and the Chinese. However, many of the Oirats either left the former Dzungaria or were exterminated by the Chinese during the years of conquest. The Kalmyks who migrated to Russia also belonged to the Dzungar-Oirats.

Uighurs and Oirats

at the last border

Landscape of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on the territory of the Bayangol-Mongolian Autonomous Region that is part of it.

China's expansion in the east is now limited to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

It was here that in the battles of the Turks - the Uyghurs, and with the participation of the Western Mongolian tribes - the Oirats, who are not Turks - on the one hand, and the Qing Empire - on the other, about 250 years ago the line was established that separated Chinese civilization and the modern Turkic world.

History could have turned out in such a way that China, during the period of establishing stable borders of modern times in its territory, would have advanced further - to Central Asia, or, conversely, in the current Xinjiang-Uyghur region there would now be independent states with a culture different from Chinese.

However, the Uyghur Turks and the Oirat Mongols lost, and by 1760 China received a new border, having captured Dzungaria - present-day Xinjiang (the word Xinjiang in Chinese means “new frontier, border”; in an expanded sense, the translation is sometimes given as an acquired frontier, in the sense new territory). Some of the Oirat Mongols, namely the Kalmyks, have now found a new homeland outside of China - in Russia, while Xinjiang remained a region of ethnic minorities in China - the Uyghur Turks who profess Islam, and, to a much lesser extent, the Oirats who profess Buddhism. And Central Asia for a certain period went to Russia, which also at one time took advantage of the weakness of the Turkic peoples of the region.

One of the reasons for China's victory was that the Turks and Mongol ethnic groups of what is now Xinjiang fought among themselves, and there were also big squabbles within the Uyghur clans themselves.

Why doesn't China accept

name East Turkestan

Below is a fragment of the White Paper, a collection published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China on the issue of Xinjiang, which talks about the problem of the name of Xinjiang and China's rejection of the independence of the region:

“In the Middle Ages, the concept of “Turkestan” appeared in Arab geographical books, which meant “possessions of the Turks” and meant the lands north of the Sir River and the eastern lands of Central Asia adjacent to them. With the historical evolution and self-determination of the modern nationalities of Central Asia, the geographical name “Turkestan” almost disappeared by the 18th century; it was mostly not used in books of that period. At the beginning of the 19th century, along with the deepening of the system of colonialism and expansion in Central Asia by the imperialist powers, the word “Turkestan” reappeared.

In 1805, the Russian missionary Dimkovsky, in his report on the mission’s activities, also used the name “Turkestan”, describing from a geographical point of view Central Asia and the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang of China. And since the history, language and customs of these two regions were different, and their political affiliations were different, he called the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang of China, located to the east of “Turkestan”, “East Turkestan”, calling these lands “Chinese Turkestan” . In the middle of the 19th century, Russia annexed three khanates in Central Asia one after another - Khiva, Bukhara and Kokand, and established a “Turkestan governorship” in the Hezhong region, so some people in the West began to call this area “Western Turkestan” or “Russian Turkestan”, and Xinjiang regions of China - “East Turkestan”.

At the beginning of the 20th century, an insignificant number of Xinjiang schismatics and religious extremists, under the influence of world religious extremism and national chauvinism, based on the statements of the old colonialists, decided to politicize the non-standard geographical name “East Turkestan” and came up with a certain “ideological and theoretical concept” about the “independence of East Turkestan” .

Her followers ranted everywhere about the fact that “East Turkestan” has been an independent state from time immemorial, its nationality has a history of almost ten thousand years, as if “this is the best nationality in history”; they encouraged all Turkic-speaking and Islamic nations to unite and create a “theocratic” state; they denied the history of the creation of a great homeland by all nationalities of China, called to “repel all non-Turkic nationalities”, destroy “non-believers”, they ranted that China “has been the enemy of East Turkestan for three thousand years,” etc., etc. p. After the appearance of the so-called concept of “East Turkestan”, dissenters of all stripes started a fuss around the issue of “East Turkestan”, trying to fulfill unrealistic hopes of creating a “state of East Turkestan”. (White Book" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China "History and Development of Xinjiang", 2003, quoted from the official website of the department - fmprc.gov.cn).

For an outline of the history and geography of Xinjiang from the point of view of the PRC government, see this review;

For an outline of the history and geography of East Turkestan - Xinjiang from the point of view of the Uyghur independence movement, see this review;

Uyghurs

The existence of several, namely three, Uyghur states on the territory of what is now Xinjiang led to funny consequences. For example, the Uyghur state of the Karakhanids (also known as the state of Ilekhans), which converted to Islam, gradually flowed into the territory of Central Asia (present-day Uzbekistan).

Let us note that later the Ilekhans in Central Asia were declared vassals of the Mongolian Karakitai tribe, and then defeated (1212) by the ancestors of the modern Uzbek Turks. In turn, located on the territory of present-day Xinjiang (in Kashgar), the eastern part of the Karakhanid state conquered in 1212 to the Mongol tribe of the Naiman.

The Uyghur Buddhist state of the Idikuts under Genghis Khan became part of the Mongol Empire in 1209 as an ulus, without war, while this part of the Uyghurs then far-sightedly refused to accept the patronage of the Mongol tribe of the Kara-Khitans, or, in other words, the Kara-Khitans (Black Khitans), who competed with Genghis dissolved in the empire of Genghis Khan.

(It is believed that it was from the ancient Khitans, during the period of their strong unified state, that the name China originated in the Russian language. This name for China was preserved for a long time in European languages. For more information about this, see our website).

After the collapse of the Mongol Empire, which included the lands of the present-day Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, small Uyghur khanates arose in this territory with a population that converted to Islam.

….Oirats

In turn, in the 15th century in the north of Uyghuria, the Western Oirat Mongols, professing Buddhism, created the Dzungar Khanate.

All these states ceased to exist after the offensive of the Chinese troops, which we mentioned above.

Currently, the Oirats are understood as the Mongolian people living in the Xinjiang Uyghur region of the People's Republic of China, as well as in the western part of independent Mongolia. (For information on the history, ethnography, and geography of Mongolia, see our website ).

The Oirats also include the Kalmyks, who are now, by their name, as if separated from the Oirat reference, because they migrated very far from their historical homeland - the current Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

When migrating to Russia, the Kalmyks asked Tsar Vasily Shuisky for protection from other steppe formations - the Kazakh and Nogai khanates.

Let us note that a fairly large part of the Kalmyk clans (about 125 thousand people) in 1771 returned from the Russian Empire to Dzungaria, which had already been conquered by China by that time. At the same time, Catherine II abolished the Kalmyk Khanate, which had existed in Russia since 1657. (For more information about other steppe peoples who were once part of the Mongol Empire, see our website).

Dzungars

- enemies of the Kazakhs

The state foreign broadcasting satellite TV channel of Kazakhstan Caspionet 07/17/2011 showed a short historical essay under the loud title “Anyrakay: the place of groans and sobs of the enemy,” which talked about the defeat of the Dzungar troops from the militia of the Kazakh tribes in the Battle of Anrakay in 1729.

It should be noted that the Kazakhs and the Dzungar Oirats were irreconcilable enemies at that time, and the Kazakh tribes in the Battle of Anrakai saved themselves as an ethnic group by winning the battle. And this was one of the last battles of Dzungaria; soon the Oirats-Dzungars were conquered by Qing Manchu China. The channel broadcast:

“The inscription on the stone is 1729, the year of the Rooster. About 20 kilometers from Almaty. This is one of the most mysterious battles in the history of Kazakhstan. It is compared to the Battle of Borodino and the Kulikovo Sich. Victory in this battle helped the Kazakh people survive as a nation. But where it took place, how exactly and even in what year - there is no clear answer to these questions. ...the place of the enemy's groans and sobs...

A frame from the Kazakh foreign broadcasting channel “Caspionet” with a map showing the Dzungar Khanate, as well as the adjacent territory of the Kazakh Khanate with the possessions of three Kazakh clan associations - zhuz (juzes) as of the mid-18th century.

A frame from the Kazakh foreign broadcasting channel “Caspionet” with a map showing the Dzungar Khanate, as well as the adjacent territory of the Kazakh Khanate with the possessions of three Kazakh clan associations - zhuz (juzes) as of the mid-18th century. The small red circle on the map indicates the area of ​​the capital of Dzungaria, the city of Gulja, which was later held by Russia for some time. About Gulja, see the second page of this review.

Vanished Empire

It was a warlike country. Dzungars, otherwise known as Oirats, are a union of several Mongol tribes. Another name is Kalmyks. Translated from Turkic - apostates.

In the 14th century, many Mongol tribes converted to Islam. The Oirats refused, remaining faithful to Buddhism.

Doctor of Historical Sciences Zhanuzak Kasymbaev says:

“At that time, the population of Dzungaria was somewhere in the range of one million.

Such a small country kept a huge region - the whole of Central Asia - in fear.”

The capital of Dzungaria is Gulja. The Khanate existed for 122 years. According to historian Vasily Bertold, the last nomadic empire in Central Asia. By the beginning of the 18th century, a powerful military state.

Dzungars - Oirats

like a fragment of the Mongol Empire

“Khubilai Khan ruled the Yuan State for 34 years and died in 1294. After his death, the state of the Mongol Yuan dynasty lasted another 70 years until the dynasty was overthrown by the rebel Chinese during the reign of Khan Togon-Tumur. The capital of the Mongol Khan was moved back to Karakorum.

Another state founded by the descendants of Genghis Khan, Jochi and Batu, was the Golden Horde.

Over time, the empire split into several small states. Thus, in the territory from the Altai Mountains to the Black Sea, many nationalities of Turkic origin appeared, such as Bashkirs, Tatars, Circassians, Khakassians, Nogais, Kabardians, Crimean Tatars, etc. Mavaranahr, which arose on the territory of the Chagadai state, was powerful during the reign of Tumur Khan, captured territories from Baghdad to China, but also collapsed. The Ilkhan Empire of Hulagu revived briefly during the period of Ghazan Khan, but soon Persia, the Arab state, and Turkey began to revive and the 500-year rule of the Ottoman Empire was established. Without a doubt, the Mongols were the dominant people in the 13th century, and Mongolia became famous throughout the world.

After the fall of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols who lived there returned to their homeland and lived freely until the Manchus captured them. This time is noted in the history of Mongolia as the period of small khans, when Mongolia was without a single khan and was divided into separate principalities.

Of the forty tumens, or principalities, that existed during the time of Genghis Khan, by that time only six remained. There were also 4 Oirat tumens. Therefore, the whole of Mongolia was sometimes called “forty and four.” The Oirats, first of all, wanted to control all the Mongols; there was a constant struggle for power. Taking advantage of this, the Chinese regularly attacked the Mongols and one day reached the ancient capital of Karakorum and destroyed it. In the 16th century Dayan Khan united the Mongols again, but after his death the struggle for the throne began. Over the course of 10 years, 5 khans changed on the throne and the state eventually ceased to exist. When the youngest son of Dayan Khan Geresendze seized power, the name Khalkha was assigned to Northern Mongolia...

Manduhai Khatun, who became the wife of Dayan Khan, personally led a military campaign against the Oirats. The victory over the Oirats ended their claims to dominance throughout Mongolia. Dayan Khan made significant efforts to overcome the separatism of the Mongol feudal lords, who did not want to recognize the power of the Mongol Khan.

In the essay of the Kazakh foreign broadcast Caspionet, which we also present in our review, it is noted that the Dzungar-Kalmyks fled from Dzungaria after they were defeated by Chinese troops. However, it should be noted that that part of the Oirats, which are actually now called Kalmyks, migrated from Dzungaria to Russia ( first to Siberia, and then to the Volga) a century earlier, and the Oirats themselves still live in the modern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, although in very small numbers.

At the same time, the majority of the modern twenty million Xinjiang of the People's Republic of China are Uyghur Turks (about eight million people, which is about 45% of the total population), followed by the Chinese (about seven million, about 40%), one and a half million are Kazakh Turks (about 6 %), Dungans (Muslim Chinese) - about eight hundred thousand (4.55%), Kyrgyz - about one hundred and sixty thousand (0.86%), Mongols and Kalmyks (in other words, Oirats) - about one hundred and eighty thousand people (1 ,14%). There are tiny, several thousand, communities of Manchus, Russians (descendants of people who arrived when some of the lands of Xinjiang on the border with modern Kazakhstan belonged to Russia, as well as white emigration), Uzbeks, Tatars, and Tibetans. As we can see, there are very few Dzungar-Oirats left in modern Xinjiang, which was facilitated by wars and migrations to neighboring countries - Russia and Mongolia.

(Help Monitoring website)

Candidate of Historical Sciences. Edige Valikhanov:

“A management apparatus was created that was strong in its preparedness. Officials were divided into twelve categories. Each of the small princes - taiji had to constantly supply armed men in full ammunition for the entire khanate"

Well-trained troops and strict discipline. It is noteworthy that preserving the lives of soldiers was one of the main tasks of military leaders. The guilty soldiers were not beaten or tortured...

Edige Valikhanov:

“(The offending warriors) were pushed away from the spoils, they were not given the opportunity to take the women, the warriors always had women as a bargaining chip.”

One hundred breastplates were to be taken from the Dzungar princes as fines for various offenses. From their relatives - fifty. Five each from officials, standard bearers and trumpeters.

Edige Valikhanov:

“Wars wore chain mail, which should not interfere with movement. To ensure that the iron helmet fit well, it had a felt liner. On the left side was a saber or sword. But the nomads rarely used the sword, because it was not convenient in mounted combat."

All the nomad’s equipment weighed approximately 50 - 70 kilograms. The weight of military ammunition also depended on the endurance of the warrior. Some of the chain mail reached up to 40 kg. Plus a helmet, mace, saber, quiver of arrows and bow.

Edige Valikhanov:

“Bows with a length of 70 - 80 to 90 cm were pulled by hand, and some warriors reached up to 120 centimeters. The animal sinews made up the bowstring. The force of the arrow was extremely great: it pierced the chain mail somewhere between 150 and 200 meters.”

The Kazakh wars were inferior to the Dzungars in military-technical equipment. For a long time they had nothing except edged weapons.

Zhanuzak Kasymbaev:

“The Kazakhs didn’t even know how to use artillery.”

The Dzungars had artillery. The main exporters are China, Persia, Russia. And at the beginning of the eighteenth century, weapons began to be made in Dzungaria itself. Production was established by the Swedish non-commissioned officer Johann Gustav Renat. His fate is amazing. During the Battle of Poltava, he was captured by Russian troops, began to serve in the Russian army, then was captured by the Dzungars, there he made a good military career, became rich, married his compatriot, and the Dzungar ruler Galdan Tseren allowed him to return home.

Zhanuzak Kasymbaev:

“He was such a confidant of Galdan Tseren that he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Oirat troops. Several times he took part in battles against the Qing Empire, winning victories.”

Edige Valikhanov:

“He just helped build two or three iron factories that made weapons. Up to 2000 mortars, which were mounted on camels or horses.”

Dzungarian musketeers did not wear armor and did not engage in hand-to-hand combat. In battle they were covered by wars with spears and pikes. Sometimes human shields were used, mainly by herds of cattle. But firearms were used more as psychological weapons. The main force was still the cavalry.

Edige Valikhanov:

“At a speed of 70-80 kilometers per hour for a short period of time. Covering it all with a cloud of arrows. Nothing could counteract the cavalry avalanche of the nomads.”

Invasion

The 18th century is the century of chivalry - the definition of Chokan Valikhanov. It was at this time that batyrs - professional warriors - became the main political force. There was no centralized government in the Kazakh Khanate. Batyrs are used to acting alone. In most cases, zhuzes and uluses formed militia units independently of each other. Full military mobilization was extremely rare. And defeats followed one after another.

Edige Valikhanov:

“The campaign (Dzungars) of 1717, when the thirty thousand Kazakh militia led by Kayyp and Abulkhair suffered a severe defeat near Ayaguz, during which they barely escaped captivity. Similar campaigns were repeated almost every year.”

The total Dzungar invasion began in 1723. The attack was unexpected. The auls were preparing to migrate to summer pasture, and detachments of batyrs were preparing for an invasion of the Volga Kalmyks. There was simply no one to resist the seventy-thousand-strong Dzungar army. The villages were literally wiped off the face of the earth.

Zhanuzak Kasymbaev:

“The senior (Kazakh) zhuz again found itself under occupation. The younger one moved towards the Bashkirs. Part of the middle one reached Samarkand. Thus, almost all of Kazakhstan was devastated.”

“The tormented, hungry people reached the lake and fell, littering the coast with their bodies. And one elder said: “We must remember the great grief that has befallen us.” And he called this disaster “We walked until our soles hurt. Having fallen exhausted, they lay around the lake.” (Shakarim. “Genealogy of the Turks”).

Edige Valikhanov:

“In early spring there are huge river floods. A small river turns into an impassable, powerful stream. Epidemics broke out, people began to die - from cholera, from hunger.”

Some dates

from the history of the Oirats period

after the collapse of the Mongol Empire

1471 - Manduhai, the wife of Dayan Khan (the real name of her husband is Batu Mongke, and Dayan is a nickname that means “universal”, given for his successful unification of all the Mongols for the first time after the collapse of the Mongol Empire) took the fortress of the Western Mongols - the Oirats Tas. And forced them into submission. After this defeat, the Oirats no longer claimed control over all of Mongolia. 34-year-old Manduhai, who was widowed and took 19-year-old Dayan Khan as her husband by her second marriage, fought many military battles during their joint reign. The victories made it possible to unite the Mongol tribes for some time, at least within the modest borders of historical Mongolia, returning to the territories before the start of the Genghisid conquests. This allowed Manduhai to become one of the most famous Mongol khanshas of the period after the collapse of the empire.

1635 - The Union of Oirat tribes creates the Dzungar Khanate on the territory of Dzungaria.

1640 - The Oirat rulers held a congress at which they adopted the Ik Tsaajn Bichg (Great Steppe Code). This code, among other things, marked Buddhism as the religion of the Oirats. Representatives of all Oirat clans from the Yaik and Volgido interfluves of Western Mongolia (now Mongolia) and Eastern Turkestan (now the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China) took part in this congress. The Kalmyk (Oirat) Zaya-Pandita Ogtorguin Dalai took part in the congress.

1643 - The Battle of Orbulak ended in the defeat of the Dzungar troops from the Kazakh troops.

1657 - Some of the Oirats, now known as Kalmyks, become under the suzerainty of the Russian Tsar, having previously migrated to Russian borders.

1667 - Victory of the Oirats of Dzungaria over the Mongol army of Altan Khan.

1679 - Uighuria (East Turkestan) was annexed to the Dzungar Khanate.

1690 -1697 - The first war of the Oirats with Qing Manchu China.

1710 - the ruin of the Russian Bikatunsky fort.

1715-1739 - Second war of the Oirats with Qing Manchu China.

1723-1727 - another Dzungar-Kazakh war. Having invaded the Kazakh steppes, the Dzungars captured Tashkent.

1729 - Defeat of the Dzungar troops from the united Kazakh army in the Battle of Anrakai.

1755—1759 - The third war of the Oirats with Qing Manchu China, the Dzungar Khanate was liquidated by the Qing Empire.

(Wiki and Help Monitoring site);

According to some reports, over a million Kazakhs died during the Dzungarian invasion. Life in the steppe stopped.

Historian Irina Erofeeva, director of the Kazakh Research Institute on Problems of the Cultural Heritage of Nomads:

“Kazakh cities (were) captured, (among which) the city of Turkestan is the capital of the Kazakh Khanate. Here is the mausoleum of (Muslim Sufi preacher) Khoja Ahmed Yasawi - the shrine with which all Kazakhs associated themselves.”

The only way out is to forget the internecine strife for a while. In 1726, representatives of three zhuzes came together to elect the commander-in-chief of the Kazakh army. Khan Abulkhair became him. And a year later, on the banks of the Bulanta River, the Dzungars suffered their first major defeat. The area where the battle took place was called “Kalmak kyrylgan” (Place of death of the Kalmyks).

Battle

According to legend, the battle began with the traditional confrontation between two warriors. From the Dzungar side Charysh from the Kazakh side Abulmansur, the future Khan Abylay.

Zhanuzak Kasymbaev:

“Every battle began with duels between warriors on both sides.”

Each Kazakh khan and sultan had his own battle cry. The so-called cancer. It could not be used by ordinary soldiers. The name of an elder could also become a battle cry. Abylai is the name of Abulmansur’s grandfather.

“Abulmansur dispersed his horse, uttering the cry “Abylay!”, swooped in and killed Charysh. Having cut off his head in one fell swoop, he shouted “The enemy is defeated!” carried away the Kazakh warriors. The Kalmyks trembled and ran. And they were scattered by the Kazakhs.” (Shakarim. “Genealogy of the Turks”).

The expected location of the battle is the village of Anrakai.

Local:

“They say that a Dzungar commander named Anra died here. Here he was killed, buried, and this name of the village remains.”

According to legend, the Oirats suffered their first losses on the eve of the battle.

Zhanuzak Kasymbaev:

“Before the battle, the Dzungars lost almost half of their troops because they drank poor quality water from Lake It-Ichmes - “a dog will not drink water from such a lake”(Since the time of Timur, the lake was called “It-Ichmes”, i.e. “a dog will not drink” because one liter of water in a reservoir contains 8 g of salt. Note website).

If this is the lake, then over 300 years it has become significantly shallower and is now more like a swamp. Karaoi is a black valley, not far from the village. Interestingly, in the 50s of the last century, a uranium deposit was discovered here. The mines are a few meters from the lake. Nearby are abandoned uranium mines, a rusty tank track and a machine gun cartridge. Just 20 years ago there was a military training ground here. However, it is not a fact that the Anrakai battle took place here.

Irina Erofeeva:

“We looked up all the 18th-century maps and found that this name was only behind one single lake. Behind the western bay of Balkhash, now an independent lake Alakol, which was erroneously called “It-Ichmes Alakol” on maps.

This means that the battle itself took place approximately 100 kilometers from the place where the stele is now installed (in memory of the battle). And one more clarification. Irina Erofeeva says about him:

“This happened in the spring, in April, 1730.”

Sattar Mazhitov, Doctor of Historical Sciences:

“Everyone will not agree either on the date of this Anrakai battle, or on its localization, i.e. the place where it happened."

According to some studies, military operations took place over an area of ​​200 km. Incredible scale. The battle lasted from 3 to 40 days. The number of warriors on both sides, again according to various studies, ranges from 12 to 150 thousand.

Irina Erofeeva:

“(The warrior) besides his horse, on which he was sitting, also had two or three horses in reserve. Imagine how many horses were needed in this space of 230,000 square meters. meters. There would be no need for a battle if there were 60 - 80 thousand people. Both people and horses would have fallen in one day, without a battle. Because (there was) neither grass nor water.”

The only thing that remains undeniable is the fact of the victory of the Kazakh army. But even here everything is not very clear. It seems like we won - so what?

Sattar Mazhitov:

“When we talk about the fruits of the Anrakai battle, there is already a moment of silence. Why? We really won in this complex, fateful story, but where are the fruits of this victory?

After some time, a struggle for power began again in the Kazakh Khanate, the Dzungars returned, and part of the nomads were recaptured. But the Anrakai battle forever remained in history as a great battle.

Zhanuzak Kasymbaev:

“The Anrakai battle turned out to be a brilliant victory for Kazakh weapons. For the first time, the Kazakhs won a really big, and not only military, victory.”

Irina Erofeeva:

“The Battle of Anrakai was the result of this unification, the highest point of the rise of the national spirit, when the Kazakhs felt themselves. That I am not a Kipchak, I am not a Naiman, I am not a Shaprashty, and we are Kazakhs. We are one people! This is our land! We are strong when we are all together!”

(Here is a list of tribes: Kipchaks - a Turkic tribe, known in Russian chronicles as Polovtsians; Naimans - a tribe of Mongolian origin, some clans of which were included in both the Kazakh Turkic people by origin and other Turkic ethnic groups, including Uzbeks; Shaprashty - one of clans of the Kazakh elder zhuz - one of the three assemblies of Kazakh tribes, initially seniority was determined by vassalage to the senior and junior branches of the Chingizids, respectively. Note site).

Anyrakai marked the beginning of the death of the Dzungar Khanate. In the spring of 1756, the Chinese Empire attacked the Oirats. The Dzungars, pretty battered by the Kazakh troops, were unable to provide worthy resistance.

Sattar Mazhitov:

“For them, history turned into decline.”

Zhanuzak Kasymbaev:

“History hardly remembers such a case when an entire state disappeared from the political map of the world in connection with a military campaign. Dzungaria has disappeared."

“The Chinese exterminated every living thing on their way. Men were killed, women were raped and tortured. Children had their heads smashed against a stone or wall. They killed up to a million Kalmyks...” (Chinese historian Shan Yue).

Part of the population was killed, others died of hunger and disease. A few managed to escape to Siberia. This is how the last nomadic empire perished.” (Text of the historical TV essay “Anyrakai: the place of the enemy’s groans and sobs” by the state satellite TV channel of Kazakhstan Caspionet dated 07/17/2011..

On the next page: History of East Turkestan - Xinjiang in the official publication of the Uyghur movement for regional independence;

In the relationship between the Russian state and the Dzungar Khanate, the question of suzerainty over the indigenous peoples of Southern and Western Siberia, including the right to collect yasak from the northern Altai, was perhaps the most pressing. It arose already in the first half of the 17th century. and did not leave the agenda of negotiations between the two states until the death of Dzungaria. Constant conflicts gave rise to the question of the citizenship of the tribes and peoples living in the border zone, about who is their overlord, who has the right to collect yasak from them.

The lack of Russian military forces in Siberia, the Russian court’s preoccupation with European affairs, and the reluctance to aggravate relations with the powerful state of Central Asia, which was counteracting the aggressive aspirations of the Manchu Qing dynasty, were the reasons why a number of Turkic tribes of Siberia, including a significant part of the northern Altaians, who had long recognized Russian citizenship states were forced to pay tribute to the Oirats.

The author of the idea of ​​condominium (dual citizenship) of the northern Altaians, Barabas and Yenisei Kyrgyz was the founder of the Dzungar Khanate Batur-Khuntayji, who first expressed it in 1640 to the representative of the Tobolsk governor Menshoy-Remezov. However, if during the reign of Batur-huntaiji all controversial issues in relations with the Russian state were resolved, as a rule, peacefully, then later, after Senge came to power in 1662, the situation in Altai became sharply complicated. This was especially evident after the Dzungar troops defeated the Khotogoit Altyn-Khan Lozon (Lubsan) in 1667.

Dzungarian detachments began not only to attack representatives of the indigenous population of Siberia, but also to besiege Krasnoyarsk, threaten Kuznetsk and Tomsk, demanding, in particular, the extradition of certain groups of Teleuts (travelers) who fled under their protection. Russian-Dzungar relations did not improve even after the death of Senge and the seizure of supreme power by his brother Galdan in 1670. The ambassadors of the new khan who arrived in Kuznetsk declared to the local authorities that “before that, to father Kegenev and brother Senge and to him Kegen, suburban Kuznetsk people, Abinsk servicemen the Tatars and the traveling White Kalmyks and the Tuliber and Boyan yasak Tatars gave yasak, but now for many years they have not given him yasak and so that the traveling white Kalmyks should be given back to their former lives, and from the yasak people give yasak, threatening if this is not done, to come during the Kuznetsk War and destroy the districts." However, the complicated foreign policy situation and, above all, the war with Khalkha (1688-1690), and then with the Qing Empire, forced Galdan to seek help from the Russian state and moderate his claims in Southern Siberia. His nephew Tsevan-Rabdan, who captured in the early 90s. power in Dzungaria, soon after the death of Galdan strengthened his position in the Khanate and renewed his previous claims. During his reign, Russian-Dzungar relations became extremely strained, and armed clashes began in Altai. In 1710, Oirat troops, led by Zaisan Duhar, burned the Bikatun fortress built a year ago at the confluence of the Biya and Katun, destroyed more than 10 villages, and approached Kuznetsk.

In June 1713, the Siberian governor M.P. Gagarin sent the Tara Cossack head of Ivan Cheredov to Dzungaria. In a letter addressed to the huntaiji Tsevan-Rabdan, the governor demanded the return of prisoners and property captured in Altai, and also asked “that the Kalmyks, who destroyed the Russian city, which was between the Biya and Katunya rivers, be given defenses.” Tsevan-Rabdan categorically refused to accept the representative of the Siberian governor and forbade supplying him with food and shelter. I. Cheredov conducted negotiations that did not bring any results with officials of the huntaiji. The Oirat ambassadors who arrived in Tobolsk together with I. Peredov presented M.P. Gagarin received a response letter from the government of Dzungaria, which listed the “grievances” inflicted on the Oirats by the Russian authorities of Siberia. At the end of the message there was a direct threat - “the cities of Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Kuznetsk were built on their (Oirat - author) lands, if they are not demolished, they will be sent to take them as if they were on their own land.”

Russian-Dzungar relations worsened even more in 1715 - 1716. after the appearance of a military detachment of Lieutenant Colonel I.D. in the upper reaches of the Irtysh. Buchholz, sent by Peter I at the suggestion of M.P. Gagarin to East Turkestan in search of "sand gold". As is known, the Russian detachment was besieged by Dzungar troops in the newly built Yamyshev fortress and was forced, after a long defense, in conditions of famine and epidemic, to demolish the fortress and return back in the spring of 1716. An attempt by the Russian government, which did not have sufficient information about the geographical and political position of Eastern Turkestan, in particular Yarkand, to pass through the territory of the Dzungar Khanate led to a sharp aggravation of Russian-Oirat relations and increased tension in the border zone, including in Altai. Also in 1716, the Kuznetsk authorities informed the government that the Oirat troops “burned many villages.”

Tension began to subside only after the start of a new Dzungar-Qing war in 1717, when Dzungaria was on the verge of defeat. In such a situation, Tsevan-Rabdan was forced to send an embassy to St. Petersburg headed by Borokurgan with a request to Peter I to accept him as Russian citizenship on the same conditions as the Volga Kalmyks, and to build a fortress in the upper reaches of the Irtysh. The Russian government responded to this request and sent Captain Ivan Unkovsky to Dzungaria to swear in Tsevan-Rabdan. However, in 1722, when I. Unkovsky arrived in Dzungaria, the situation changed dramatically. Tsevan-Rabdan stated to the Russian ambassador: “There was a request from him in advance to build cities because the Chinese attacked his uluses, and now the old Chinese khan has died (Emperor Kangxi died in December 1722), and on his his son took his place (motto of the reign of Yongzheng, 1723-1735), who sent his ambassadors to him (Tsevan-Rabdan - Author) in order to continue to live in friendship... for which now a foreigner does not need kontaishi ". The ruler of Dzungaria announced to the Russian ambassador his intention to resume the collection of Alban from the northern Altaians. Soon, Oirot and Teleut detachments reappeared in the Kuznetsk district.

By the mid-20s. XVIII century, as can be seen from the statement sent to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary S.L. To Vladislavich-Raguzinsky, who was heading to negotiations in China, the Dzungars collected tribute “from the Kondomskys, from the Etiberskaya, from the Karginskaya, from the Shchelkalskaya, from the Kergeshskaya, from the Komlyazhskaya, from the Kuzenskaya, and from the Mraskikh from the Bezhboyakov, from the Endaev, from the Yeleyskaya, from the Near Karga, from Kuzeteeva, from Kyzyl-Karga, from Kavinskaya, from Koinskaya and from Sherskaya, and from the suburban Taugapskaya volosts. And these foreigners give them, the Kontaisha Kalmyks, an Albanian tribute for all the years after the yasak of the Russian Empire." The Dzungars took tribute not only from the listed, mainly Shor, but also from the Barsoyat volost. According to the data of 1730, the double-given volosts already included Bashtinskaya, Karacherskaya, and Zabiyskaya Shorskaya volosts.

Northern Altaians paid tribute to the Oirats with the skins of valuable fur-bearing animals and iron products. According to the information of the voivode's office of the city of Kuznetsk in 1752, out of three Shor clans (Karginsky, Eleysky and Tazashsky), 21 people were considered double-dancers. The amount of tribute in monetary terms was 23 rubles. 52 kopecks per year. In physical terms, this is approximately one sable skin per person per year. In the Kovinsky clan there were 11 double-dancers who paid tribute to the Dzungars in sables, squirrels, beavers, and red skins in the amount of 12 rubles. 32 kopecks There were 24 double-dancers in the Beltir clan, the amount of tribute was 26 rubles. 88 kop. Of the dvoedans of the Itiber volost, 49 people paid tribute to the Dzungars “with various animals and useful iron: tagans and cauldrons.”

Thus, from 13 volosts, the Oirats were paid tribute in the amount of 492 rubles. 70 kopecks, 470 people. For comparison, we note that the local Kuznetsk authorities collected yasak from the same volosts, as follows from salary books, from 1,350 people.

The situation of the Northern Altaians-Dvoedans was extremely difficult. Dzungarian and Teleut tribute collectors, Tomsk voivode S. Vyazemsky reported to Moscow, “they themselves go to the dvoedant volosts and send their wives and children, brothers, nephews, and their people and torture the sovereign’s yasash people, beat them and rob them, and ruin them in every possible way.” , and all kinds of soft junk and dresses, coats and fur coats, and cauldrons, and axes are greatly taken away and the horses are driven away.” According to the legends of the Altaians, tribute collectors (darugs) “wore a special sign in their right ear in the form of an earring - a small silver-plated taganchik, which served as the emblem of the Alban, collected from the Altaians with iron cauldrons and tagans.” Albanian defaulters were dealt with in the most brutal manner. The Teleut prince Baygorok, who was collecting Albans on the orders of Tsevan-Rabdan, “caught the foreman Cheokton, ordered him to gouge out a living eye and cut out the straps from his back and hung him on a tree.” The latter's guilt consisted of refusing to pay tribute.

During the years of military failures and outbreaks of civil strife in Dzungaria itself, the Oirat rulers, trying to compensate for the losses incurred, tightened fiscal policy in Altai. This was the case, for example, after the death of Galdan-Tseren in 1745. In 1752, residents of the Upper Kumandy volost Akuchai Istegeshev and Akachak reported to the Russian authorities that the Alban collector Duren, who arrived from Dzungaria, having collected two or three sables from each person, demanded pay him six sable skins. “And this de Duren,” the envoys complained, “from them, if they don’t have sables, they take horses and, in non-payment, they beat the almanu mercilessly.”

The Oirat and Teleut feudal lords turned the collection of tribute from the northern Altaians-Dvoedans into one of the means of personal enrichment. The population of the Kondoma volosts repeatedly complained to the authorities of Krasnoyarsk and Kuznetsk about the arbitrariness and robberies of the Dzungar and Teleut princes. Thus, Kutuk Kytakulov, sent by Huntaiji Galdan-Tseren in 1742, “in addition to the yasaku, he collected ten sables for himself... but he took eight horses with him in carts and did not return them, and released the cart drivers on foot, and also tortured many beltir and all sorts of attacks and tied others to the yurt with their backs back and to the floor with a de lasso and took sable and horses." He replaced him in 1743 -1744. Mamut Kytakulov “took 22 horses from these Tatars in two years, which he stole with him, and in addition to the yasak he took 20 sables from them, and in addition, with his attacks he took a horse and tortured them with all sorts of torments” (Potanin, 1875) .

Excessive extortions and bullying from the Dzungars often prompted the Dvoedans to leave their original places and hide in remote, hard-to-reach areas. The Dzungarian Albanian collector Chukhai Chasmanov complained to the Russian authorities in 1752 that “In the Mraskoy volost, Eboga’s bashlyk from his volost has not given up to the Albanians for seven years and is running away from them with his volost. In the Cape volost, the Kopyshak bashlyk has not given up the bashlyk of Kopyshak in the current year 752 for 30 heads and ran away from that payment"

The tsarist government and local Siberian authorities took measures to protect the indigenous population of Siberia from the harassment of Dzungar feudal lords and vassals. Practically, all ambassadors and envoys traveling from the capital and from Siberian cities to Dzungaria were charged with the duty of seeking from the Oirat owners an end to the robberies and the return of property and prisoners.

Siberian governors, having received information about the appearance of Dzungar or Teleut tribute collectors in the homes of the northern Altaians, often sent military detachments that forcibly expelled the Dzungars, confiscated and returned property and livestock to the population. How acute and complex the issue of suzerainty over the indigenous peoples of Siberia bordering Dzungaria and the Russian state was is evidenced, for example, by the negotiations of the Russian ambassador L. Ugryumov with the Dzungarian ruler Galdan-Tseren and his advisers. Briefly, the history of the departure of this embassy is as follows. In 1730, another embassy from Dzungaria arrived in Moscow. During the negotiations, the Oirat ambassadors stated that Galdan-Tseren finally wants to “agree to the quarrels and claims both on the Russian and his side that have occurred, and for this purpose he asked for a noble person to be sent to him from Russia, with whom he promises in all claims the study and start a scam." This proposal was readily accepted and, together with the Oirat embassy, ​​Major L.D. Ugryumov was sent to the hunting headquarters.

In the instructions of the Siberian Provincial Chancellery, handed to L.D. Ugryumov in Tobolsk, on the issue of double-dancers, the following was said: “When the Zengor owner Galdan-Chirin or the noble Kalmyk leaders have a claim about the volosts, which Galdan-Chirin claimed with his envoy, supposedly his possessions, and for that he, the envoy Ugrnmov, to imagine that these volosts and Telengouts and Uriankhians have since ancient times been given yasash to the Russian Empire, and not to their Kalmyk possession, and yasak from those volosts to the treasury of our IV berets according to salary books has long been since the past 1622, and in the Kalmyk possession never been."

Ugrimov was ordered to demand that from the volosts of the Kuznetsk Department - from Komandinskaya, Tagapskaya, from Komleshskaya, from Tergeshevskaya, from Kuzenevskaya, from Yuskaya (Yuzhskaya), from Eleiskaya and from other yasak volosts and Telenguts and from the Uriankhai... with He did not order the alman (Galdan-Tseren) to take those volosts and forbade his Kalmyks in that assembly.”

Already during one of the first meetings, Galdan-Tseren made great claims against the tsarist government and the local Siberian administration. The Dzungarian Khan, in particular, stated that from “the cities of Tara, Tomsk, Kuznetsk and Krasnoyarsk in different cities for 9 years or more, it was forbidden for him, the Zengor owner, to take yasak from the subjects of the people living there: from the Kirg, Urankhai and Biryus from 138 volosts..." During subsequent meetings, Galdan-Tseren officials repeatedly stated to L.D. Ugrimov that governors in Siberian cities are creating obstacles for the Oirats to collect tribute illegally. In response to these and similar claims and harassment, the Russian ambassador, in accordance with the instructions, stated: “These peoples have been under Russian citizenship since ancient times and have been paying tribute to Russia since the construction of those cities for more than 100 years, in which no one can enter in the future... And about double-denders who pay yasak in both directions, they were never prohibited from taking it.”

Lengthy and complex negotiations with endless mutual claims and reproaches essentially did not bring positive results. Moreover, almost immediately after their completion, Oirat tribute collectors appeared in the nomadic camps of the southern and then in the dwellings of the northern Altaians, threatening the Russians with war, and therefore in 1735 the government sent a decree to the Siberian province, which stated that " ...to keep the Zengor owner from doing nasty things until a divorce is completed with him within the borders of the Barabinsk and Kuznetsk volosts, from which the tribute is taken to the Russian side, and the Zengor owner's alman for it, in that collection of the alman there will be no prohibition on him." At the same time, Galdan-Tseren demanded that the Siberian governors allow his people to collect tribute from the volosts that had been paying tribute to Khan Galdan for some time. The discussion was about imposing tribute on the population living in the basins of the Kondoma, Mrassa and other rivers. Having studied the materials presented by the Kuznetsk Voivodeship Office, the Collegium of Foreign Affairs recommended that the Senate refrain from such permission.

In 1742, an embassy headed by Zaisan Lama-Dashi arrived in St. Petersburg from Dzungaria, presenting Chancellor A.M. Cherkassky has a large list of volosts from which local Siberian authorities forbade taking tribute. This register included the Yenisei Kyrgyz, residents of Baraba, northern Altaians and many others.

This question took center stage in Galdai-Tseren’s personal message to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. “From ancient times,” the huntaiji asserted, “Telenguts, Biryusy and Urankhians, and some others gave tribute in our direction, but now we are prohibited from giving tribute to them from your side, for this reason I ask them to command them to continue the custom of giving us the tribute due without retention". But this time the demands were not met. Moreover, in 1745, the northern Altai Dvoedans were strictly forbidden to pay tribute to the Dzungars with iron and iron products (Potanin, 1866).

Thus, until the last days of the existence of the Dzungar Khanate, questions about the collection of yasak, about the ownership of certain lands and the peoples of Western and Southern Siberia living on them were among the most complex and acute, often being the basis for the emergence of local conflicts and tensions in interstate relations. These issues were removed from the agenda after the defeat of the Dzungar Khanate by the Qing Empire in the mid-50s. XVIII century

(Based on materials from I.Ya. Zlatkin)