Khoshut Khanate
Khoshut Khanate ᠬᠣᠱᠤᠳ ᠤᠯᠤᠰ 和碩特汗國 | |||||||||
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1642–1717 | |||||||||
Status | Nomadic empire | ||||||||
Religion | Tibetan Buddhism | ||||||||
Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
History | |||||||||
• Established | 1642 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1717 | ||||||||
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Today part of | China |
The Khoshut Khanate was a Mongol Oirat khanate based in the Tibetan Plateau from 1642 to 1717. Based in modern Qinghai, it was founded by Güshi Khan in 1642 after defeating the opponents of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet. The 5th Dalai Lama established a civil administration known as Ganden Phodrang with the aid of Güshi Khan. The role of the khanate in the affairs of Tibet has been subject to various interpretations. Some sources claim that the Khoshut did not interfere in Tibetan affairs and had a priest and patron relationship between the khan and Dalai Lama while others claim that Güshi appointed a minister, Sonam Rapten, as de facto administrator of civil affairs while the Dalai Lama was only responsible for religious matters. In the last years of the khanate, Lha-bzang Khan murdered the Tibetan regent and deposed the 6th Dalai Lama in favor of a pretender Dalai Lama.
The Khoshut Khanate was ended in 1717 when the Dzungar prince Tseren Dondup invaded Tibet, killed Lha-bzang Khan, and installed the 7th Dalai Lama.
History
Oirats
The Oirats were originally from the area of
In 1620, the leaders of the Choros and Torghut Oirats, Kharkhul and Mergen Temene, attacked Ubasi Khong Tayiji, the first Altan Khan of the Khalkha. They were defeated and Kharkhul lost his wife and children to the enemy. An all out war between Ubasi and the Oirats lasted until 1623 when Ubasi was killed.[3]
Güshi (1642-1655)
In 1625, a conflict erupted between the Oirat Khoshut Galwas chief Chöükür and his uterine brother Baibaghas over inheritance issues. Baibaghas was killed in the fight. However, his younger brothers Toro-Baikhu, later
In 1632, the
He summoned the Oirats to completely conquer
To ensure his authority over Tibet, Güshi instituted a government where the Dalai Lama was restricted to religious matters while a minister regent, Sonam Rapten, was directly appointed by Güshi to handle civil affairs. Güshi promoted the Gelug tradition as the guiding religion of his empire to cement his own authority. He allied with the Gelug hierarchs to create a system of legitimization based on the titles granted by the Dalai Lama. In 1653, Güshi's title as king of Ü-Tsang and Kham was formally justified as having been granted through merit and mandate of heaven. This ensured that his title would be passed on to his successors as protectors and defenders of the Buddhist faith.[11]
Upon his death in 1655, Güshi's son Tenzin Dorje, Dayan Khan, succeeded him as khan of Tibet. His sixth son Dalai Baatar was given control of Kokonor while Ochirtu was left in temporal power as Khan of the Oirats.[12]
Ochirtu
Ochirtu Khan, a nephew of Güshi Khan, aided Sengge, the son and successor of Batur in 1653 against his half brothers, resulting in Sengge's victory in 1661. Sengge was assassinated in 1670 by his half brothers Chechen Tayiji and Zotov. Ochirtu aided Sengge's younger brother, Galdan Boshugtu Khan, in defeating Chechen and Zotov. Galdan married Ochirtu's granddaughter, Anu-Dara, but came into conflict with Ochirtu who feared his popularity. Ochirtu supported Galdan's rival uncle Choqur Ubashi. Ochirtu was defeated in 1677.[13][14]
Lha-bzang (1703-1717)
There are different accounts of Lha-bzang Khan's rise to power. According to the first account, Lha-bzang Khan obtained power by poisoning his elder brother, Tenzin Wangchuk Khan, and after the regent Desi Sangye Gyatso tried to murder him, the regent himself was murdered on 6 September 1705. However according to a memorial dated 27 June 1703, the 6th Dalai Lama had informed the Khoshut that he intended to remove Sangye Gyatso as regent. Sangye Gyatso was replaced by his son. The 6th Dalai Lama proposed that Tenzin Wangchuk succeed his father, but Tenzin Wangchuk was sickly, and Lha-bzang became khan in 1703. Before his enthronement, Lha-bzang had only visited Lhasa once in 1701.[15]
The regent tried to reduce the khan to a puppet and to control the 6th Dalai Lama. In 1703, the 6th Dalai Lama and his attendants were attacked by a group of people at night. One of the 6th Dalai Lama's favorite attendants was killed and he demanded the regent to find the murderers and punish them but the regent pretended to be unable to identify the murderers. Upon personal identification, the 6th Dalai Lama identified five people, all of whom had close relations to the regent. Lha-bzang was ordered to put these people to death, which he did, angering the regent.[16]
According to a memorial dated 11 June 1704, the 6th Dalai Lama had a good relationship with the khan and joined him in hunting and practicing archery. The regent complained that he was but a figurehead. The regent tried to poison the khan, which may or may not have happened according to different accounts, but Lha-bzang survived.[17] In 1705-6, Lha-bzang entered Lhasa, put the regent to death, and deposed the 6th Dalai Lama.[10] According to Peter Schwieger, Lha-bzang sought the support of the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty, who requested that he send the 6th Dalai Lama to Beijing. However the Dalai Lama fell ill soon after leaving Lhasa and died on the way in Amdo on 14 November 1706.[17]
Lha-bzang presented a monk from
During his reign, Lha-bzang abolished compulsory purchase and exchange of goods in Tibet to lessen the burden on people. Except for the 5th Panchen Lama, he was unable to win over the Gelugpa elite.[20]
In 1717, the Dzungar prince Tseren Dondup invaded the Khoshut Khanate, deposed Yeshe Gyatso and installed the boy from Lithang as the 7th Dalai Lama, killed Lha-bzang Khan, and looted Lhasa. The Dzungars did not bring the boy to Lhasa and terrorized the populace, losing them the support of the Gelugpa.[21] A Qing invasion in 1718 was annihilated by the Dzungars in the Battle of the Salween River, not far from Lhasa. A second and larger expedition expelled the Dzungars from Tibet in 1720. They brought the boy with them from Kumbum to Lhasa and installed him as the 7th Dalai Lama in 1721.[22]
Relationship with Tibet
The Ganden Phodrang, named after the 5th Dalai Lama's residence in Drepung Monastery, was set up as a Gelug led government of Tibet in 1642. The Khoshut Khanate played a pivotal role in its founding by defeating the enemies of the Gelug school and part of the Ganden Phodrang's military defense continued to be handled by the Mongols after its establishment. There are various interpretations of the khan's role in the government. Some sources claim that the khan had little to do with the actual administration of Tibet and maintained only a priest and patron relationship with the Dalai Lama. According to Glenn Mullin, Güshi Khan was the appointee of three Mongol chieftains to represent their interests in Tibet and after having finished his business he returned to rule in Kokonor. René Grousset says that the Khoshut realm encompassed Kokonor and the Qaidam Basin while Tibet was a protectorate.[10][23] Mullin points out that at the enthronement ceremony of the 5th Dalai Lama in 1642, Güshi sat on the same level as Sonam Rapten on a seat lower than the Dalai Lama.[23] However Mullin also claims that until the death of Sonam Rapten in 1657, the 5th Dalai Lama was a figurehead while Sonam Rapten was the de facto ruler.[24]
According to Luciano Petech, Güshi Khan indisputably granted the 5th Dalai Lama all temporal powers over Tibet in 1642, but the Dalai Lama did not possess the ability to undertake actual administration. The office of desi was created to carry out the government of the country and the Dalai Lama only decided the appeals of judicial decisions against the desi. A few years later, the 5th Dalai Lama asserted his temporal powers by appointing the desi, who only served short terms until the death of the 5th Dalai Lama.[25] Petech says that besides military matters and foreign threats to Tibet, Güshi Khan and his successors did not interfere in the administration until the coup of 1705-6 when Lha-bzang Khan became de facto ruler of Tibet.[26]
Other sources claim that the 5th Dalai Lama received authority from Güshi Khan to reign over Tibet but the khan had a hand in selecting the de facto administrator of civil affairs, the desi (governor) Sonam Rapten, while the 5th Dalai Lama was relegated to religious matters.[11][27] FitzHerbert and Travers describe an increase in the 5th Dalai Lama's "day-to-day control of... his government" after the deaths of Sonam Rapten and Güshi Khan in the 1650s.[28]
The key role of Güshi Khan in the rise of the Ganden Phodrang was celebrated by annual state ceremonies as late as the 20th century. During the Monlam Prayer Festival, people wore Mongol-style military clothing in the style of Güshi Khan's troops.[28]
Khoshut khans
- Güshi Khan: 1642–1655
- Dayan Khan: 1655–1668 (son)
- Tenzin Dalai Khan: 1668–1696 (son)
- Tenzin Wangchuk Khan: 1696–1697 (son)
- Lha-bzang Khan: 1697–1717 (brother)
See also
History of the Mongols |
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History of Tibet |
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See also |
Asia portal • China portal |
- Mongol conquest of Tibet
- Qing conquest of Tibet
- List of rulers of Tibet
- Tibet–Ladakh–Mughal War
References
- ^ Adle 2003, p. 142.
- ^ Adle 2003, p. 153.
- ^ Adle 2003, p. 144.
- ^ Adle 2003, p. 145.
- ^ Spencer 2018, p. 24-26.
- ^ Spencer 2018, p. 26-27.
- ^ a b Atwood 2004, p. 211.
- ^ Spencer 2018, p. 27-28.
- ^ Adle 2003, p. 146.
- ^ a b c Grousset 1970, p. 524.
- ^ a b Spencer 2018, p. 28-29.
- ^ Spencer 2018, p. 29-30.
- ^ Martha Avery The Tea Road: China and Russia meet across the Steppe, p. 104
- ^ Autobiography of Dalai Lama V, Vol. Kha, fol 107b. II 5–6
- ^ Schwieger 2015, p. 116.
- ^ Schwieger 2015, p. 117.
- ^ a b Schwieger 2015, p. 117-118.
- ^ Schwieger 2015, p. 119.
- ^ Schwieger 2015, p. 121.
- ^ Schwieger 2015, p. 119-120.
- ^ Schwieger 2015, p. 121-122.
- ISBN 0-87773-376-7(pbk)
- ^ a b Mullin 2001, p. 200.
- ^ Mullin 2001, p. 206.
- ^ Petech 2013, p. 390.
- ^ Petech 2013, p. 392.
- ^ Stein 1972, p. 83.
- ^ a b FitzHerbert 2020, p. 11.
Bibliography
- Adle, Chahryar (2003). History of Civilizations of Central Asia 5.
- Atwood, Christopher P. (2004), Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire
- FitzHerbert, Solomon (2020), Introduction: The Ganden Phodrang's Military Institutions and Culture between the 17th and the 20th Centuries, at a Crossroads of Influences
- Haines, R Spencer (2018). "Charismatic Authority in Context: An Explanation of Guushi Khan's Swift Rise to Power in the Early 17th Century". Mongolica: An International Journal of Mongolian Studies. 52. International Association of Mongolists: 24–31.
- Mullin, Glenn H. (2001), The Fourteen Dalai Lamas: A Sacred Legacy of Reincarnation
- Petech, Luciano (2013), The Administration of Tibet During the First Half-Century of Chinese Protectorate
- Grousset, René (1970), The Empire of the Steppes
- Schwieger, Peter (2015), The Dalai Lama and the Emperor of China, Columbia University Press
- Spencer, Haines R. (2018), Charismatic Authority in Context: An Explanation of Guushi Khan's Swift Rise to Power in the Early 17th Century
- Stein, R. A. (1972), Tibetan Civilization
- Хойт С.К. Этническая история ойратских групп. Элиста, 2015. 199 с.
- Хойт С.К. Данные фольклора для изучения путей этногенеза ойратских групп // Международная научная конференция «Сетевое востоковедение: образование, наука, культура», 7-10 декабря 2017 г.: материалы. Элиста: Изд-во Калм. ун-та, 2017. с. 286–289.