R Spencer Haines

From time immemorial, remarkable individuals endowed with exceptional powers and qualities have been able to attract loyal followers and found great nomadic empires throughout Central Eurasia.  In the early 17th century, Guushi Khan led a series of far-flung military campaigns that helped the Gelug tradition of Buddhism triumph over its rivals.  In the process, he altered the balance of power in the region by extending Oirat hegemony over Tibet and Kokonor.  Guushi Khan accomplished these momentous feats due in large part to his skilful appropriation of traditional myths and religious justifications, which bolstered his lack of traditional and legal legitimacy to rule.  While Guushi Khan did not reject all aspects of the existing socio-political order, his charismatic leadership was revolutionary in character and led to actions, movements, and events that changed the course of history.

In the 17th century, the Zunghar branch of the Oirat Confederation pioneered the local manifestation of the ‘Military Revolution’, which was sweeping the wider world.  This revolution had begun a century earlier when important innovations related to firearm technology effectuated large-scale modifications to military tactics and strategy. These innovations and modifications resulted in the pronounced increase in the sheer scale of warfare, and perhaps most importantly, in the greater impact of war upon society in terms of its destructiveness, economic costs, and growing administrative challenges for governments. Improvements in musket and cannon technology allowed some empires, including the Tsardom of Russia and the Great Qing, to attain their ends more easily than in the past, while at the same time putting new insuperable obstacles in the path of the smaller and weaker nomadic polities situated on the steppes.  Nomadic polities entered a period of unceasing decline, primarily owing to fundamental changes in military technology.  The notable exception to this larger trend was the nomadic Zunghar, who were able to indigenously produce and incorporate large quantities of muskets and cannons into their armed forces.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, sedentary societies in Europe and Asia made innovative and rapid breakthroughs in the field of firearm technology, logistics, and transport that changed the world.  On the steppe, the Zunghar simultaneously created a nomadic empire that exerted hegemony over a large portion of Central Eurasia.  Unlike sedentary societies, nomadic polities historically left relatively few physical reminders of their existence.  Given the constant need to migrate with the seasons, based on their primary economic pursuit of nomadic pastoralism, this is not at all surprising.  The Zunghar, however, did not fit this mould and actively constructed Buddhist monasteries, walled towns, and agricultural settlements throughout the Central Eurasia Steppe in an effort to compete with their settled neighbours.  When the Zunghar Empire finally imploded in the mid-18th century, most of their physical monuments appeared destined to disappear back into the steppe.  In present day, more than 300 years later, what is the current state of these Zunghar structures?  My recent fieldwork in Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Xinjiang has shown that many physical reminders of this nomadic empire do in fact remain in relatively remote locations.  Although rarely written about, important sites including Hoboksar (Khoboqsar), Galdan Boshogt Khan Khiit, Galdan’s fort at Khovd, Ghulja Temple (Jinding Temple), and Tamgaly Tas still exist in various states of decay, but also in great need of preservation.

Galdan Boshogt Khan led a large Zunghar army into the Khalkha Mongolian heartland in 1688, starting a chain of events which resulted in the submission of Eastern Mongol nobles to Qing rule.  Although this story has been frequently retold in the related literature, the long-standing conventional narratives used to justify the Zunghar’s intervention still remain far from convincing.  This paper will shed light on the myths and misconceptions associated with this significant episode in Mongolian history.  In the past, over-emphasis has been placed on rationalisations based primarily on religion, megalomania, and revenge, while other key determining aspects have been almost completely ignored.  I argue that increased attention must be paid to domestic considerations, marriage alliances, and the role of emotion, all of which were all crucial in Galdan’s desire to eliminate his Left Wing Khalkha rival in a region where he claimed a level of exclusivity.  Further refining the flaws of the contemporary narratives will give us a better understanding of the Zunghar polity, as well as the event that determined the political destiny of the Khalkha Mongols.