Oirat ("Oirads" or "Oyirads") is the common name of several
pastoral nomadic tribes of Mongolian origin whose ancestral home is in
the Dzungaria and Amdo regions of western China and also western Mongolia. Although the Oirats originated in the eastern parts of Central Asia, the most prominent group today is located in the Republic of Kalmykia, a federal subject of the Russian Federation, where they are called Kalmyks. The Kalmyks migrated from Dzungaria to the southeastern European part of the Russian Federation nearly 400 years ago.
Historically, the Oirats were composed of four major tribes: Choros
or Ölöt, Torghut, Dörbet, and Khoshut. The minor tribes include: Khoit,
Bayid, Mangit, Zakhachin, and Darkhat.
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Writing System
In the 17th century, Zaya Pandita,[1] a Lamist monk of the Khoshut-Oirat tribe, devised a new writing system called Todo Bichig
The Todo Bichig writing system remained in use in Russia until the History
Oirats share some history, geography, culture and language with the
The name Oirat may derive from a corruption of the group's original name Dörvn Öörd,
Comprised of the Khoshut (Хошууд Hošuud), Choros or Ölöt (Өөлд Ööld), Torghut (Торгууд Torguud), and Dörbet (Дөрвөд Dörvöd) tribes, they were dubbed Kalmak or Kalmyk, which means "remnant" or "to remain," by their western Turkic neighbors. Various sources also list the Bargut, Buzav, Kerait, and Naiman Early history
One of the earliest mentions of the Oirat people in a historical text can be found in the Secret History of the Mongols, the 13th century chronicle of Genghis Khan's
After the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in Peking, the Oirats
The greatest ruler of the Dörben Oirat was Esen Tayisi
From the 14th until the middle of the 18th century, the Oirats were The Kalmyk KhanateIn the early part of 17th century, the Torghuts, a West Mongolian tribe, began to migrate westwards. They reached the lower Volga region and established a small empire called the Kalmyk Khanate, a large part of which is in the area of present-day Kalmykia. In the process, they became nominal subjects of the Russian Tsar.
Kho Orlök, tayishi of the Torghuts, and Dalai Batur, tayishi of a The Kalmyk migration had reached as far as the steppes of southeast Europe by 1630. At the time, that area was inhabited by the Nogai Horde. But under pressure from Kalmyk warriors, the Nogai fled to the Crimea and the Kuban River. All other nomadic peoples in the European steppes subsequently became vassals of the Kalmyk Khanate. The Khoshut KhanateThe Oirats converted to Tibetan Buddhism around 1615, and it was not long before they became involved in the conflict between the Gelug and Karma Kagyu schools. At the request of the Gelug school, in 1637, Güshi Khan, the leader of the Khoshuts in Koko Nor, defeated Choghtu Khong Tayiji, the Khalkha prince who supported the Karma Kagyu school, and conquered Amdo (present-day Qinghai). The unification of Tibet followed in 1641, with Güshi Khan proclaimed Khan of Tibet by the Fifth Dalai Lama. The title "Dalai Lama" itself was bestowed upon the third lama of the Gelug tulku lineage by Altan Khan (not to be confused with the Altan Khans of the Khalkha), and means, in Mongolian, "Ocean of Wisdom." Amdo, meanwhile, became home to the Khoshuts. In 1717, the Dzungars invaded Tibet and killed Lha-bzang Khan (or Khoshut Khan), a great-grandson of Güshi Khan and the fourth Khan of Tibet.
In 1723 Lobzang Danjin, The Dzungar EmpireThe 17th century saw the rise in power of another Oirat empire in the east, known as the Khanate of Dzungaria, which stretched from the Great Wall of China to present-day eastern Kazakhstan, and from the present-dai northern Kyrgyzstan to southern Siberia. It was the last Empire of the Great Nomads of Asia.
The Qing (or Manchu) See alsoReferences
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