Dzungar people

"Dzungars" redirects here. For the empire established by Dzungar people, see Zunghar Khanate.

Ööled

Regions with significant populations
Mongolia 15,520 [1]  China
Languages
Oirat, Mongolian
Religion
Tibetan Buddhism, Shamanism , Atheism
Related ethnic groups
Oirats, Mongols

The Dzungar or Zunghar (Mongolian: Зүүнгар, Züüngar, lit. "Left hands"; Kazakh: Жоңғар Zhongar) is the collective identity of several Oirat tribes that formed and maintained Zunghar Empire. Historically they were one of major tribes of the Four Oirats confederation. The Qing Dynasty used the term Ööled (Cyrillic: Өөлд) as euphemism for the hated word Zunghar.^[2]

Origin

The Dzungars were a confederation of several Oirat tribes that emerged in the early 17th century to fight the Altan Khan of the Khalkha (not to be confused with the more well-known Altan Khan of the Tümed), the Jasaghtu Khan, and later the Manchu for dominion and control over the Mongolian people and territories. This confederation rose to power in what became known as Dzungaria between the Altai Mountains and the Ili River Valley. Initially, the confederation consisted of the Oöled, Dörvöd and Khoit tribes. Later on, elements of the Khoshut and Torghut tribes were forcibly incorporated into the Dzungar military, thus completing the re-unification of the West Mongolian tribes.

According to oral history, the Oöled and Dörbed tribes are the successor tribes to the Naiman, a Turco-Mongol tribe that roamed the steppes of Central Asia during the era of Genghis Khan. The Oöled shared the clan name Choros with the Dörvöd.

History

Clear script on rocks near Almaty

On the Öölöds before the Qing Dynasty, see Zunghar Empire.

In 1697, two relatives of Galdan Khan, Dajila and Rabdan, surrendered to the Manchu Qing Dynasty. Their people were organized into two Oolod banners and resettled in modern Bayankhongor Province. In 1731, five hundred households fled back to the Zunghars and the remaining Oolods were deported to Hulun Buir. After 1761 part of them were resettled in Arkhangai Province.

The Hulun Buir Oolods formed an administrative banner along the Imin and Shinekhen Rivers. Under the Chinese Empire, a body of them were resettled to Yakeshi city. In 1764 many Oolods migrated to Khovd Province and supplied corvee services for the Khovd garrison of the Qing. Their number reached 9,100 in 1989.

The Zunghars remaining in Xinjiang were also renamed Oolods. They dominated 30 sums of 148 Mongol sums during the Qing. They numbered 25,000 in 1999.

The Qing dynasty gained control over eastern Xinjiang as a result of a long struggle with the Zunghars that began in the seventeenth century. In 1755, the Qing attacked Ghulja, and captured the Zunghar khan. Over the next two years, Qing armies destroyed the remnants of the Zunghar khanate and colonised parts of Xinjiang with Han and Hui Chinese.

It has been estimated that more than half of the Dzunghar population were killed by illness or the military campaigns. One writer, Wei Yuan, described the resulting desolation in what is now northern Xinjiang as: "In an area stretching to several thousand li, there was not a yurt except those who have surrendered." Some of the surviving Dzunghars fled to Russia and Kazakh Khanate.

References

1. ^ National Census 2010 of Mongolia
2. ^ C.P.Atwood-Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire, p.425

Links

• Mongolistic forum
• Khoyt S.K. Other ethnic inclusion in european oyirad (oirat) groups by family trees (genealogys) datas. doc, 114 kb (rar, 14 kb) (Russian)
• Khoyt S.K. The miscegenation problem in kalmyk society (Russian)
• Oirad Mongols auf mandal.ca (Russian)
• Ойрат-монголы (краткая справка, фото, исторический обзор, карты) (Russian)
• Белые пятна в этногенезе дэрбэт (Russian)
• «Начальные времена» ойратской истории (Russian)
• ДНК нации или Исторический психотип ойратов (Russian)
• Четыре типа ойратской красоты (Russian)
• Последние данные по локализации и численности ойрат (rar) (Russian)
• Последние данные по локализации и численности ойрат (htm републикация)