During the last ten years of the 17th century, the political situation in Inner Asia shifted dramatically. After Galdan made the Dzungaria Khanate into the overlord of central Asia, he led his troops eastward, hoping to realize again the former glory of the Great Mongolian Empire, but ended up suffering complete defeat and died during this conquest. Kangxi the Great took this opportunity to annex Khalka and Kuku-nor Khoshotes (庫庫諾爾和碩特) into the Qing Empire and became the ruler of Mongolia. Dzungaria was the only place that remained independent, and its leader Tsewang Rabtan was eager to built up strength in order to fight another day.
Tsewang Rabtan was the leader of the Dzungaria Khanate from the end of the 17th century to the beginning of the 18th century. He lost his father at a tender age, and spent most his youth wandering around. He was blind in one eye because of one hunting accident and suffered from syphilis because of his lustfulness, but nonetheless he was also an outstanding politician. In 1689, to escape from Galdan’s pursuit, Tsewang Rabtan fled to the Bortala valley (博羅塔拉), where he gained support from Anu Khatun and formed an alliance against Galdan. He also lived for several years in Turman (吐魯番) after 1689. After securing victory in the battle of Kobdo, Tsewang Rabtan forced Galdan out of his base area, fleeing northward to the Kemchik River region. Upon Galdan’s death, Tsewang Rabtan gathered the Inner Asian tribesmen, while forcing the forest tribes to move westward to Sirabel (沙喇伯勒) and the Burut tribes to move to Ili, so to ensure a check and balance among the different tribes was in place. With Tsewang Rabtan’s painstaking efforts, the Dzungaria Khanate rose from the ruins and again grew into the leading central Asian power that resisted the Qing dynasty for forty years. The rise of Tsewang Rabtan not only changed the fate of the Dzungaria Khanate, but also produced some far-reaching influences to the development of the Chinese and Asian history.
Tsewang Rabtan, Inner Asia, the Qing dynasty, Dzungaria Khanate
Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.
