Dzungar–Qing Wars

The Dzungar–Qing Wars (Mongolian: Зүүнгар-Чин улсын дайн, simplified Chinese: 准噶尔之役; traditional Chinese: 準噶爾之役; pinyin: Zhǔngá'ěr zhī Yì; lit. 'Dzungar Campaign') were a decades-long series of conflicts that pitted the Dzungar Khanate against the Qing dynasty and its Mongol vassals. Fighting took place over a wide swath of Inner Asia, from present-day central and eastern Mongolia to Tibet, Qinghai, and Xinjiang regions of present-day China. Qing victories ultimately led to the incorporation of Outer Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang into the Qing Empire that was to last until the fall of the dynasty in 1911–1912, and the genocide of much of the Dzungar population in the conquered areas.

Dzungar–Qing Wars
The Dzungar army surrenders to the Qing dynasty after Dawachi is captured in 1756.[1]
Date 1687–1758 Location Inner and Outer Mongolia, Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang Result Qing victory Start of the Dzungar genocide Territorial changes Outer Mongolia, Tibet, Qinghai and Xinjiang conquered and added into the Qing Empire
Belligerents
Dzungar Khanate	Qing dynasty Khalkha Mongols Kumul Khanate Khoshut Khanate
Commanders and leaders
Galdan Boshugtu Khan Tsewang Rabtan Galdan Tseren Queen Anu † Amursana	Kangxi Emperor Sun Ssu-k'o [zh][2][3][4] Tüsheet Khan Chakhundorji Abdullah Beg (額貝都拉) Yongzheng Emperor Yue Zhongqi[5] Tsering [zh] Nian Gengyao Qianlong Emperor Ming Rui Agui Emin Khoja

Background

See also: Northern Yuan, Qing dynasty in Inner Asia, and Dzungar conquest of Altishahr

After the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368, China's Mongol rulers withdrew to Mongolia and became known as the Northern Yuan. Over time, the Mongol state disintegrated into a series of Khanates, ruled by various descendants of Genghis Khan. The Qing dynasty defeated the Inner Chahar Mongol leader Ligdan Khan and annexed Inner Mongolia. While the Eastern Mongols (Outer and Inner Mongols) were ruled by Chingisids, the Oirats were ruled by the Choros clan. The Dzungar Oirats under Erdeni Batur and Zaya Pandita held a pan-Oirat-Mongol conference in 1640 with all Oirat and Mongol tribes participating except the Inner Mongols under Qing rule. The conference ended in failure. By the 1650s, the Dzungar Khanate, an Oirat state centered in Dzungaria and western Mongolia, had risen to become the preeminent khanate in the region and was often in conflict with Khalkha Mongols, the remnants of the Northern Yuan, of eastern Mongolia. Upon assuming the throne after the death of his brother Sengge in 1670, Galdan Boshugtu Khan launched a series of successful campaigns to expand his territory as far as present-day eastern Kazakhstan, and from present-day northern Kyrgyzstan to southern Siberia. Through skillful diplomacy, Galdan maintained peaceful relations with the Qing dynasty while also establishing relations with Russia. However, when Galdan's brother Dorjijab was killed in a skirmish with troops loyal to the Khalkha khan in 1687, Galdan took the pretext to launch a full-scale invasion of eastern Mongolia. He destroyed several Khalkha tribes at the battle of Olgoi Nor (Olgoi Lake) in 1688, sending twenty thousand refugees fleeing south to Qing territory.^[6]

The Khalkha rulers, defeated, fled to Hohhot and sought Qing assistance.^[7] Meanwhile, the Qing had secured a peace treaty with the Cossacks on their northern border, who had previously been inclined to support Galdan. The Treaty of Nerchinsk prevented an alliance between Galdan and the Russians, leaving the Qing free to attack their Mongol rivals.^[8] Fearing a united Mongol state ruled by the hostile Dzungars, the Qing now turned their powerful war machine on the Oirats.^[9]

The Dzungars had conquered and subjugated the Uyghurs during the Dzungar conquest of Altishahr after being invited by the Afaqi Khoja to invade the Chingisid Chagatai ruled Yarkent Khanate. Heavy taxes were imposed upon the Uyghurs by the Dzungars, provoking resentment.^[10] This led to uprisings and Uyghur rebels from Turfan and Kumul who were rebelling against Dzungar rule joined the Qing in their war against the Dzungars. The Yarkent Khanate under Muhammad Amin Khan presented tribute to the Qing dynasty twice to request aid against the Dzungar attack.^[11]

The Dzungars used the Zamburak, camel mounted miniature cannons, in battle, notably at Ulan Butung.^[12] Gunpowder weapons like guns and cannons were deployed by the Qing and the Dzungars at the same time against each other.^[13]

First Dzungar-Qing War

First Dzungar – Qing War
Military camp of the Chinese Emperor at Kherlen River during the campaign of 1696
Date 1687–1697 Location Mongolia Result Partial Qing victory, Dzungar Khanate tactical and strategic victory, death of Galdan Boshugtu Khan.
Belligerents
Dzungar Khanate	Qing dynasty Remnants of the Northern Yuan (Vassal of the Qing) Kumul Khanate (Vassal of the Qing)
Commanders and leaders
Galdan Boshugtu Khan	Kangxi Emperor Chakhundorji Abdullah Beg
Strength
20,000–30,000[14]	100,000[14]
Casualties and losses
Possibly 5000 to 10'000 dead	Possibly 20'000 to 50'000 dead

The First Dzungar–Qing War was a military conflict fought from 1687 to 1697 between the Dzungar Khanate and an alliance of the Qing dynasty and the northern Khalkhas, remnants of the Northern Yuan dynasty. During the Manchu conquest of China, Southern Mongolia was incorporated into the Qing Empire. Around the same time, the Dzungar Khanate emerged in the western Mongolian lands .

In the 1680s, the Qing Empire succeeded in persuading some rulers of Khalkha-Mongolia to accept allegiance to the Manchu Emperor. This state of affairs worried the Dzungar ruler Galdan , who saw unification as the key to Mongol independence. In 1688, he invaded Khalkha and defeated Tushetu Khan Chimid-Dorji . In the ninth month of 1688, finding themselves with the remnants of their troops and people at the borders of the Qing Empire, Tushetu Khan and Bogd Gegeen I appealed to the Qing authorities to accept them as subjects along with all their people. Some Mongol rulers followed their example over the next year or two, frightened by the devastation of Khalkha wrought by Galdan; In addition, some of the Khalkhas went to Kukunor to the Oirats, ruled by the descendants of Gushi Khan , and some went to Russia .

The Qing State Council, after discussing the situation, concluded that Tushetu Khan had attacked the Oirats first and adopted a wait-and-see approach. Seeking to stall for time, the Manchus proposed that Tushetu Khan and Galdan resume peace negotiations, confident that the two sides would not reconcile. In 1689, the Manchu Emperor sought mediation from Tibet , offering Galdan Qing allegiance.

In early 1690, the Qing Empire sent a dignitary, Wenda, to Khalkha with the mission of secretly reconnoitering Galdan's situation. From his information, as well as from interrogating the Tibetan ambassador, Talai Kyanbu, at the Jiayuguan outpost, it became known that Galdan was in Kobdo , gathering troops for a campaign against Khalkha. However, his nephew, Tsewang-Rabdan , and Galdan's ex-wife, Atu Khatun, who had sided with Tsewang-Rabdan, had gradually resettled in Galdan's old lands. Many of Galdan's subjects were fleeing to Tsewang-Rabdan. Galdan's army, although numbering several thousand warriors, had very few horses. The scouts, confirming the Tibetan's information, reported that Galdan had two men riding one horse, and those who lacked weapons were cutting down trees to arm themselves.

The Qing authorities concluded that Galdan had decided to march into the southeastern regions of Khalkha; to retain his men, he was forced to allow them to plunder the Khalkhas. The Manchu emperor began preparing for war, primarily recruiting the Mongols under his command. In May 1690, it was decided that the Chahars would lead the vanguard , followed by the " Eight-Banner Army ," with military commanders ordered to increase the number of cannons in their units. The Khalkhas fighting on the Manchu side were permitted to order weapons from China.

Since Galdan, clearly counting on Russian assistance, was moving down the Kerulen , the Russian representative in Beijing, Loshaninov, was informed that if Russia provided assistance to Galdan, it would be considered a violation of the 1689 peace treaty . The Qing ambassador, Songgotu , also declared the same in Nerchinsk . Therefore, when Ayuka-Darkhan-Khashka arrived with a letter from Galdan to the local voivode, Skripitsyn, he replied that he had no right to provide military personnel to assist Galdan's Oirats.

Fearing Galdan's invasion of Manchuria , the Qing authorities urgently prepared its western borders for defense, simultaneously deciding to launch a counterattack. After Tushetu Khan and Zanabazar submitted a request for their lands to be incorporated into the Qing Empire, the Manchu authorities considered the Khalkha to be their own, and Galdan's presence there constituted a violation of their borders. Galdan, having lost his ancestral home as a result of Tsewang-Rabdan's rebellion, had nowhere to go. Lacking the means to maintain an army, he could not abandon plunder. Having secured the submission of the Khalkha khans to the Qing Empire and concluded peace with Russia, Aisingyoro Xuanye firmly resolved to eliminate Galdan and personally led the campaign.

The war resulted from a Dzungar attack on the Northern Yuan dynasty based in Outer Mongolia, who were heavily defeated in 1688. Their rulers and twenty thousand refugees fled south to the Qing dynasty, which feared the growing power of the Dzungar state. Motivated by the opportunity to gain control over Mongolia and by the threat posed to them by a strong, unified Mongol state such as the Oirats threatened to form, the Qing sent their army north to subdue the Dzungars in 1690.^[15]

In the sixth month of 1690, two Qing armies set out on a campaign against Galdan. One marched from Manchuria toward the Kherlen River, the other from the south, from the area of the cities of Kalgan and Hohhot, toward the Tuul River . The campaign included Manchu-Chinese troops, as well as detachments of southern Mongols and Khalkha Mongols.

At that time, Galdan and his troops were camped on the Ulz River in northeastern Khalkha. Arani's corps attacked his camp on July 21, 1690 . The Oirats, using firearms, repelled the Qing troops, then attacked them from the flanks and defeated Arani. Arani retreated, and Galdan moved south to the Shara River region , where he plundered the nomadic camps of the Uzhumuqin.

Qing scouts attacked a Dzungar party north of the Great Wall. However, this proved to be the main Dzungar army, which destroyed the Qing detachment easily.^[16] A large Qing army under Prince Fuquan advanced North into Inner Mongolia, hoping to trap and crush the mobile Dzungar army. However, they were constrained by bad weather and difficult terrain. It took some Qing troops twelve days to cross the Gobi Desert, and the horses were left exhausted. Running low on supplies, the Qing finally confronted the Dzungars at Ulan Butung in September 1690. Although outnumbered 5 to 1, the Dzungars formed a camel wall, beat back a pair of artillery-supported Qing assaults, and escaped into the hills having won with strategy. The Qing commander claimed victory, but his failure to completely destroy the Dzungar forces led to his dismissal and early retirement.^[17] Galdan was left in control of Mongolia from the Selenga River in the north to Khalkhyn Gol in the south.^[18]

A pause in the conflict ensued. The Khalkha rulers declared themselves Qing vassals at Dolon Nor (the site of Shangdu, the pleasure palace of the Yuan Emperors) in 1691, a politically decisive step that officially ended the last remnants of the Yuan dynasty. It also allowed the Qing to assume the mantle of the Genghisid khans, merging the Khalkha forces into the Qing army.^[19] The Kangxi Emperor had now become determined to "exterminate" Galdan. Negotiations between the two sides bore little fruit. The Dzungars cast about for allies, making overtures to the Russians and various Mongol princes, but were rejected.^[20] Throughout the autumn of 1692, Galdan attempted to win over one of the rulers of Khalkha, but to no avail. In 1691–1692, Oirat embassies led by Zorikta-Khashka, Sunit, and others visited Irkutsk , Nerchinsk , and Tobolsk , while an embassy led by Achin-Khashka even visited Moscow . However, these embassies yielded no practical results for Galdan.^[21]

In the summer of 1693, the Manchu Emperor again offered Galdan Qing allegiance. By the end of 1693, people began defecting from Galdan to the Qing Empire. In the spring of 1694, Taiji Babai abandoned him . In the summer of 1695 , word leaked to China that Galdan was planning to break through to Tibet from Jiayuguan through the southern regions of Hami along the Kundelen-gol and Egyn river valleys. The Qing authorities immediately raised troops in Gansu Province to intercept him and completely destroy his army.

In the 1690s, Galdan-Boshogtu's troops, stationed in Khalkha territory, were constantly engaged in battles with the combined Manchu-Khalkha forces. In fact, the Oirats were repelling the onslaught of the Qing army that had invaded Khalkha.

Kangxi set about preparing the complex logistics necessary to support a planned 1696 expedition. This included procuring 1,333 carts, each carrying 6 shi of grain. Three armies eventually advanced north in 1696. One, under the command of Fiyanggu, numbering 30,000 and to be reinforced with a further 10,000, was to trap Galdan, while Kangxi personally led 32,000 men, including 235 cannon on camelback. A third, numbering 10,000, halted further to the east and would play no part in the coming campaign. The Dzungar army, heavily outnumbered and weakened by the plague, was unable to offer serious resistance. Galdan's army attacked the western force at the Battle of Jao Modo in May 1696, but was narrowly - albeit decisively- defeated. The Dzungar army, bereft of artillery, suffered heavily from Chinese musketry and cannon fire,^[22] eventually breaking. The battle ended in a victory for the Qing army, who captured 20,000 sheep and 40,000 cattle, and captured, killed or scattered all but 40-50 of the Dzungar army, effectively destroying them as a military force. Galdan himself had managed to escape from an enemy encirclement, thanks in part to a counterattack led by his wife, Queen Anu.^[23] Galdan's wife was killed, and Galdan fled west to the Altai Mountains, where later he attempted to surrender to the Qing, but died of the plague^[9] in 1697 with only a few loyal men at his side.^[24]

After the war, a Qing garrison was stationed in the area of present-day Ulaanbaatar, and Khalkha Mongolia was placed under Qing rule. Outer Mongolia was effectively incorporated into the Qing Empire. On the other hand, Tsewang Rabtan, a long-time anti-Galdan Oirat chief, who had actually provided intelligence to the Qing^[9] at several points during the war, succeeded Galdan as Khan of the Dzungars. While the Qing managed to sideline the Dzungar in the 1690s, they would not completely eradicate them until they defeated the Dzungars in subsequent wars several decades later.^[25]

The emperor and his army turned back, but upon receiving news that Galdan was once again gathering his people, he decided not to send large armies but to block him, taking advantage of the dire situation in the western part of Khalkha, and await the natural course of events. Since Galdan's men were left without yurts and had very little livestock left, the onset of winter could have become disastrous for the Oirat Khan. In November 1696, the emperor ordered the treasury to ransom all Oirats captured and enslaved from their owners. He then sent letters to Galdan and his men, urging them to accept Qing allegiance and promising reunification with their families.

In the winter of 1696–1697, Galdan was blockaded: Qing troops barred his passage from the east and south, and Tsewang Rabdan's troops from the west. In May 1697, Galdan died, according to one version, by poison. To prevent any desecration of his corpse, Galdan's body was immediately cremated.^[26]

The Manchu Kangxi emperor incited anti-Muslim sentiment among the Mongols of Qinghai (Kokonor) in order to gain support against the Dzungar Oirat Mongol leader Galdan. Kangxi claimed that Chinese Muslims inside China such as Turkic Muslims in Qinghai (Kokonor) were plotting with Galdan, who he falsely claimed converted to Islam. Kangxi falsely claimed that Galdan had spurned and turned his back on Buddhism and the Dalai Lama and that he was plotting to install a Muslim as ruler of China after invading it in a conspiracy with Chinese Muslims. Kangxi also distrusted Muslims of Turfan and Hami.^[27]

Second Dzungar-Qing War, in Tibet

See also: Chinese expedition to Tibet (1720)

Second Dzungar-Qing War
Part of Dzungar–Qing War
Date 1715-1720 Location Modern day Tibet, Turpan, Hami, Qinghai Result Mixed, Dzungars regained a significant portion of the territories lost in the first war. Qing Dynasty annexes Tibet starting Tibet under Qing rule Territorial changes Dzungars capture Turpan, Hami, Altai Mountains whilst Qing Dynasty gained Tibet and Qinghai through peace talks
Belligerents
Dzungar Khanate	Qing dynasty Khoshut Khanate Polhanas (ally of Qing) Kangchennas (ally of Qing)
Commanders and leaders
Tsewang Rabtan Tagtsepa	Yinzheng, Kangxi's fourteenth son, commander-in-chief[28] Kangxi Emperor Yue Zhongqi[29] (descendant of Yue Fei) Polhané Sönam Topgyé Khangchenné Erentei † Lha-bzang Khan †
Strength
6000 to 20'000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

In 1642, Güshi Khan, founder of the Khoshut Khanate, overthrew the prince of Tsang and made the 5th Dalai Lama the highest spiritual and political authority in Tibet,^[30] establishing the regime known as Ganden Phodrang. in 1715, the Oirats captured Hami, an important strategic point on the route to the Qing Empire, and by the end of 1716, Tibet. At that time, Tibet had almost completely fallen under the influence of the Qing Emperor Kangxi. Tsewang Rabtan viewed this negatively. Tibet's moral influence in Mongolia was so great that Tsewang Rabtan could not bear to see it fall under Qing control. He decided to restore the influence of the Dzungar Khanate in Tibet. Taking advantage of the ongoing unrest and civil strife in Tibet and Kokonor, Tsewang Rabdan sent troops under the command of Tseren Dondoba the Elder to Lhasa , which captured the city in late 1717, deposed the pretender to the position of 7th Dalai Lama, Lha-bzang Khan, the last ruler of the Khoshut Khanate, and killed Lha-bzang Khan and his entire family. They also viciously destroyed a small force in the Battle of the Salween River which the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty had sent to clear traditional trade routes in 1718.^[31] In response, an expedition sent by Kangxi Emperor, together with Tibetan forces under Polhané Sönam Topgyé of Tsang and Kangchennas (also spelled Gangchenney), the governor of Western Tibet,^[32][33] expelled the Dzungars from Tibet in 1720. Qing troops advanced into Tibet simultaneously from Kokonor and Sichuan , defeating the Oirats and recapturing Lhasa. The Oirats' Tibetan allies were executed, and the Qing allies established a temporary capital administration headed by the Manchu military leader Yanxin. Having restored Lhazang Khan's former supporters to power , the Qing government hastened to withdraw its troops from Tibet, leaving only a garrison in Lhasa and small garrisons to guard the road from Lhasa to Sichuan Province .

7th Dalai Lama pretender, Lha-bzang Khan

In 1720, Qing troops occupied Hami and Turpan . Because the Dzungar troops lacked artillery, they preferred to fight in the open field; the Qing, on the other hand, preferred to fight from fortified positions, so the war entered a protracted phase. Peace negotiations were impossible due to the intransigence of the two sides: Tsewang Rabdan insisted that the Manchus abandon Hami, Turpan, and Khalkha. Tsewang Rabdan soon resumed hostilities, recapturing Turpan and Hami .^[34]

This began the Qing rule of Tibet, which lasted until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912. The Han Chinese General Yue Zhongqi (a descendant of Yue Fei) conquered Tibet for the Qing during this conflict.^[35][36] Jalangga, a Manchu Bannermen, succeeded the Han General Yue Zhongqi as commander in 1732.^[37]

Third Dzungar–Qing War

In 1723, the Kangxi Emperor's successor, the Yongzheng Emperor, sent an army of 230,000 led by Nian Gengyao to quell a Dzungar uprising in Qinghai on the Qinghai-Tibet plateau. Due to geography, the Qing army (although superior in numbers) was at first unable to engage their more mobile enemy. Eventually, they met the Dzungars and defeated them. This campaign cost the treasury at least eight million silver taels. Later in Yongzheng's reign, he sent a small army of 10,000 under Furdan to fight the Dzungars again. However, that army was ambushed and annihilated near the Khoton Lake in 1731 and the Qing Empire once again faced the danger of losing control of Mongolia. Another force under Yue Zhongqi successfully raided the Oirats in Ürümqi in 1731, but was forced to withdraw, lacking sufficient troops to defend their position.^[35][36][38] A Khalkha ally of the Qing Empire would finally defeat the Dzungars a year later in 1732 near the Erdene Zuu Monastery in Mongolia. The Qing then made peace with the Dzungar Khanate and decided the border between them in a 1739 treaty.^[39]

Final conquest of the Dzungars

See also: Ten Great Campaigns § Three campaigns against the Dzungars and the pacification of Xinjiang (1755–1759), and Dzungar genocide

Map showing wars between the Qing dynasty and Dzungar Khanate

In 1752, Dawachi and the Khoit-Oirat prince Amursana competed for the title of Khan of the Dzungars. Amursana suffered several defeats at the hands of Dawachi and was thus forced to flee with his small army to the protection of the Qing imperial court. The Yongzheng Emperor's successor, the Qianlong Emperor, pledged his support to Amursana, who recognized Qing authority; among those who supported Amursana and the Chinese were the Khoja brothers Burhān al-Dīn [zh] and Khwāja-i Jahān [zh]. In 1755, Qianlong sent the Manchu general Zhaohui, who was aided by Amursana, Burhān al-Dīn and Khwāja-i Jahān, to lead a campaign against the Dzungars. After several skirmishes and small scale battles along the Ili River, the Qing army, led by Zhaohui, approached Ili (Gulja) and forced Dawachi to surrender. Qianlong appointed Amursana as the Khan of Khoid and one of four equal khans – much to the displeasure of Amursana, who wanted to be the Khan of the Dzungars.

Amursana now rallied the majority of the remaining Oirats to rebel against Qing authority. In 1758, General Zhaohui defeated the Dzungars in two battles: the Battle of Oroi-Jalatu and the Battle of Khurungui. In the first battle, Zhaohui attacked Amursana's camp at night; Amursana was able to fight on until Zhaohui received enough reinforcements to drive him away. Between the battles of Oroi-Jalatu and Khurungui, the Chinese under Prince Cabdan-jab defeated Amursana at the Battle of Khorgos (known in the Qianlong engravings as the "Victory of Khorgos"). At Mount Khurungui, Zhaohui defeated Amursana in a night attack on his camp after crossing a river and drove him back. To commemorate Zhaohui's two victories, Qianlong had the Puning Temple of Chengde constructed, home to the world's tallest wooden sculpture of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara and hence its alternate name, the 'Big Buddha Temple'. Afterwards, Khojis of Us-Turfan submitted to the Qing Empire. After all of these battles, Amursana fled to Russia (where he died) while Chingünjav fled north to Darkhad but was captured at Wang Tolgoi and executed in Beijing.

• 
  Zhaohui receives the surrender of Dawachi at Ili, 1755. Painting by Jesuit painter at the Qing court, Ignatius Sichelbart.
• 
  "Storming of the Camp at Gädän-Ola", a scroll depicting a raid in 1755 in which the Kalmuk Ayusi, having gone to the Chinese side, attacks Dawa achi's camp on Mount Gadan. Painting by Giuseppe Castiglione.
• 
  The Battle of Oroi-Jalatu, 1756. Chinese general Zhao Hui attacked the Zunghars at night in present Wusu, Xinjiang. Painting by Giuseppe Castiglione.
• 
  "The Victory of Khorgos". The partisans of Amursana were defeated in 1758 by Prince Cäbdan-jab. Painting by Jean Denis Attiret.^[40]
• 
  Battle of Khurungui, 1758. General Zhao Hui ambushes and defeats the Zungarian forces of Amoursana on Mount Khurungui (near Almaty, Kazakhstan). Painted by Jean-Damascène Sallusti.

See also

• Dzungar genocide
• Ten Great Campaigns
• Galdan Boshugtu Khan
• Qing dynasty in Inner Asia
  • Mongolia under Qing rule
  • Tibet under Qing rule
  • Xinjiang under Qing rule
  • Monument Imperial Pacification of Xizang