Ubasi Khong Tayiji

Ubashi Khong Tayiji , more fully Sholoi Ubashi Khong Tayiji (; died 1623), was a 17th-century Mongol prince of the Khotogoid branch of the Khalkha Mongols. He was the first Altan Khan of the Khalkha, ruling in northwestern Mongolia around the Uvs Nuur Basin, and was known in Russian sources as the Altyn Tsar.

Ubashi belonged to the Right Wing of the Khalkha Mongols and was related to the line of the Zasagt Khans, but his own Khotogoid branch developed a strong autonomous power in the northwestern Khalkha region. His authority extended toward the western Mongolian and southern Siberian frontier, where the interests of the Khalkha, the Oirat Mongols, the Yenisei Kyrgyz, Tuvans, Telengits, Kazakhs, and Russian Siberian officials overlapped.

His reign was dominated by war with the Four Oirat Confederation. Ubashi sought to expand Khotogoid influence over Oirat pasturelands and the Siberian tribute routes, while the Oirat princes fought to preserve their own influence in the Irtysh, Yamysh, Ala-Köl, and southern Siberian regions. After several campaigns between 1608 and 1623, the united Oirat Mongol forces defeated and killed him in 1623.

Names and titles

The ruler is known by several forms of his name, including Ubashi Khong Tayiji, Ubasi Qong Tayiji, Sholoi Ubashi Khong Tayiji, and Sholoi-Ubashi Khungtaiji. The title Khong Tayiji derives from Chinese huang taizi, meaning "imperial heir-apparent", but among the Mongols it was used as a high aristocratic title for only Chinggisid princes.

Russian sources called him and his successors Altyn Tsar, corresponding to Altan Khan, or "Golden Khan". This title should not be confused with Altan Khan, the sixteenth-century ruler of the Tümed. In the Khalkha context, the title refers to the Khotogoid rulers of northwestern Mongolia, beginning with Ubashi Khong Tayiji.

Ubashi descended from Asiqai, the eldest son of Geresenje. His lineage was:

Dayan Khan Geresenje Asiqai Tümendara Dayiching Ubashi Khong Tayiji

The leading khan of the Right Wing was Laiqur Khan, a grandson of Asiqai and founder of the Jasagtu Khan line. Ubashi was a kinsman of Laiqur. Although the Khotogoid Altan Khans were formally connected to the Right Wing and to the Jasagtu Khans, they built a powerful base in northwestern Khalkha and obeyed the Jasagtu Khans only nominally.

Wars with the Oirats

Background

The conflict between Ubashi Khong Tayiji and the Oirats belonged to a longer rivalry between the eastern Mongols and the Oirats after the fall of the Yuan dynasty. From the sixteenth century onward, Mongol and Khalkha campaigns pushed the Oirats westward from much of Mongolia. By the early seventeenth century, Oirat groups were concentrated around the Irtysh, Emil, Yamysh, Ala-Köl, and neighboring regions.

The Four Oirat Confederation emerged in this period as a loose military and political alliance of Oirat aristocracies, especially the Dörbet Oirat, Khoshut, Torghut, and Zunghar. It was not yet the centralized Dzungar Khanate of the later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Its princes acted as semi-independent rulers who cooperated in major wars but also competed among themselves.

Khara Khula became one of Ubashi's most important opponents. He resisted Khotogoid expansion and tried to preserve Oirat influence over the peoples of southwestern Siberia. In 1619, both Ubashi and Khara Khula sent envoys to Moscow seeking Russian support against the other. Ubashi's message described Khara Khula as the main obstacle between himself and Russia and proposed a joint attack against him.

Death and succession

Ubashi Khong Tayiji was killed in 1623 after his defeat by the united Oirat forces. He was succeeded by his son Badma Erdeni Khong Tayiji, the second Altan Khan of the Khalkha. The next ruler in the line was Rinčin, also known as Lobsang Tayiji, who became the third Altan Khan.

The Khotogoid–Oirat conflict did not immediately disappear after Ubashi's death. According to material connected with the Mongol-Oirat Code of 1640, hostilities between the Khotogoid Mongols and the Oirats lasted from the fire-snake year to the earth-dragon year, corresponding to 1617–1628. In 1629, under pressure from Ligdan Khan of the Chahar, Ubashi's successor Ombo-Erdene reconciled with the Oirats.

Legacy

Ubashi Khong Tayiji was one of the most important Khalkha rulers on the western frontier in the early seventeenth century. His campaigns represented the last major phase of Khalkha and Khotogoid pressure against the Oirats before the rise of later Oirat powers.

His defeat in 1623 was a turning point. It weakened Khotogoid influence over the Oirats and helped the Four Oirat Confederation consolidate its position in the Irtysh, Yamysh, and Ala-Köl regions. The Oirats' victory also contributed to the later political development of the western Mongolian steppe, although the centralized Dzungar Khanate emerged only later in the seventeenth century.

The Khotogoid–Oirat wars also affected the Russian advance into southwestern Siberia. Ubashi and the Oirat princes both tried to use Russia as a diplomatic and military counterweight against each other. Their rivalry created opportunities for Russian forts and officials to expand influence among the peoples of the Siberian frontier. As a result, the conflict contributed to the gradual weakening of Mongol and Oirat control over parts of southwestern Siberia.

Ubashi's descendants remained known as the Altan Khans of the Khalkha. Although formally connected with the Jasagtu Khan line of the Right Wing Khalkha, the Altan Khans formed a powerful Khotogoid branch whose history was closely tied to the Oirat frontier and to Russian Siberian relations.

Family

Ubashi Khong Tayiji belonged to the Borjigin dynasty. His known line of descent was:

Dayan Khan Geresenje Asiqai Tümendara Dayiching Ubashi Khong Tayiji Badma Erdeni Khong Tayiji

His son and successor was Badma Erdeni Khong Tayiji, the second Altan Khan of the Khalkha. Badma Erdeni was followed by Rinčin, also known as Lobsang Tayiji, the third Altan Khan.