Oirat

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Oirat are the westernmost group of the Mongols whose ancestral home is in the Altai region of 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 Kalmuks—the correct pronunciation and spelling of the name. The Kalmuks migrated from Dzungaria to the southeastern European part of the Russian Federation in the early 17th century.

Historically, the Oirats were composed of four major tribes: Dzungar (Choros or Ööled), Torghut, Dörbet, and Khoshut. The minor tribes include: Khoid, Bayads, Myangad, Zakhchin, Baatud.

Origin of name

The name probably means "oi" (forest) and "ard" (person)[1] but it may also derive from Mongolian word "oirt" (or "oirkhon") meaning "close (as in distance)," as in "close/nearer ones." They are counted among the "forest people" in the 13th century.

The name Oirat may derive from a corruption of the group's original name Dörben Öörd, meaning "The Allied Four." Perhaps inspired by the designation Dörben Öörd, other Mongols at times used the term "Döchin Mongols" for themselves ("Döchin" meaning forty), but there was rarely as great a degree of unity among larger numbers of tribes as among the Oirats.

In Mahabharata

List of Mahabharata people and places contains Kalamukha (कालमुख) (II.28.45).

Sabha Parva, Mahabharata/Book II Chapter 28 mentions Sahadeva's march towards south: kings and tribes defeated.


The Kuru warrior then vanquished and brought under his subjection numberless kings of the Mlechchha tribe living on the sea coast, and the Nishadas and the cannibals and even the Karnapravarnas, and those tribes also called the Kalamukhas who were a cross between human beings and Rakshasas, and the whole of the Cole mountains, and also Surabhipatna, and the island called the Copper island, and the mountain called Ramaka.

सागरथ्वीपवासांश च नृपतीन मलेच्छ यॊनिजान
निषाथान पुरुषाथांश च कर्णप्रावरणान अपि (Mbt:II.28.44)
ये च कालमुखा नाम नरा राक्षसयॊनयः
कृत्स्नं कॊल्ल गिरिं चैव मुरची पत्तनं तदा (Mbt:II.28.45)
थवीपं ताम्राह्वयं चैव पर्वतं रामकं तदा
तिमिङ्गिलं च नृपतिं वशे चक्रे महामतिः (Mbt:II.28.46)

History

Comprising the Khoshut (Хошууд Hošuud), Choros or Ölöt (Өөлд Ööld), Torghut (Торгууд Torguud), and Dörbet (Дөрвөд Dörvöd) tribes, they were dubbed Kalmyk or Kalmak, which means "remnant" or "to remain", by their western Turkic neighbours. Various sources also list the Bargut, Buzava, Khereid, and Naiman tribes as comprising part of the Dörben Öörd; some tribes may have joined the original four only in later years. This name may however reflect the Kalmyks' remaining Buddhist rather than converting to Islam; or the Kalmyks' remaining in then Altay region when the Turkic peoples migrated to the West.


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 rise to power. In the Secret History, the Oirats are counted among the "forest people" and are said to live under the rule of a shaman-chief known as bäki. They lived in Tuva and Mongolian Khövsgöl Province and the Oirats moved to the south in the 14th century.[2]

In one famous passage the Oirat chief, Quduqa Bäki, uses a yada or 'thunder stone' to unleash a powerful storm on Genghis' army. The magical ploy backfires however, when an unexpected wind blows the storm back at Quduqa. During early stages of Temujin Genghis's rise, Oirats under Quduqa bekhi fought against Genghis and were defeated. Oirats were fully submitted to Mongol rule after their ally Jamukha, Temujin's rival/friend was destroyed. Subject to the khan Oirats would form themselves as a loyal and formidable faction of the Mongol war machine.

In 1207, Jochi the eldest son of Genghis, subjugated the forest tribes including the Oirats and the Kyrgyzs. The Great Khan gave those people to his son, Jochi, and had one of his daughters, Checheygen, married the Oirat chief Khutug-bekhi or his son.

There were notable Oirats in the Mongol Empire such as Arghun Agha and his son Nowruz. In 1256, a body of the Oirats under Bukha-Temür joined Hulagu's expedition to Iran and fought against Hashshashins, Abbasids in Persia. The Ilkhan Hulagu and his successor Abagha resettled them in Turkey. And they took part in the Second Battle of Homs where the Mongols were defeated.[3] The majority of the Oirats, who were left behind, supported Ariq Böke against Kublai in the Toluid Civil War. Kublai defeated his younger brother and they entered the service of the victor. In 1295, more than 10,000 Oirats under Targhai Khurgen (son-in-law of the Borjigin family) fled Syria, then under the Mamluks because they were despised by both Muslim Mongols and local Turks. They were well received by the Egyptian Sultan Al-Adil Kitbugha of Oirat origin.[4] Ali Pasha, who was the governor of Baghdad, head of an Oirat ruling family, killed Ilkhan Arpa Keun, resulting in the disintegration of Mongol Persia. Due to the fact that the Oirats were near both the Chagatai Khanate and the Golden Horde, they had strong ties with them and many Mongol khans had Oirat wives.

After the expulsion of the Yuan dynasty from China, the Oirats revived in history as a loose alliance of the four major West Mongolian tribes (Dörben Oirad). The alliance grew, taking power in the remote region of the Altai Mountains, northwest of Hami oasis. Gradually they spread eastward, annexing territories then under the control of the Eastern Mongols, and hoping to reestablish a unified nomadic rule under their banner.

The greatest ruler of the Four Oirats (Mongolian: Дөрвөн Ойрд) was Esen Tayisi who led the Four Oirats from 1438 to 1454, during which time he unified Mongolia (both Inner and Outer) under his rule. In 1449 Esen Tayisi mobilized his cavalry along the Chinese border and invaded Ming China, defeating and destroying the Ming defenses at the Great Wall and the reinforcements sent to intercept his cavalry. In the process, the Zhengtong Emperor was captured at Tumu. The following year, Esen returned the emperor. After claiming the title of khan, to which only lineal descendants of Genghis Khan could claim, Esen was deposed. Shortly afterwards, Oirat power declined.

From the 14th until the middle of the 18th century, the Oirats were often at war with the Eastern Mongols. Illustrative of this history is the Oirat epic song, 'The Rout of Mongolian Sholoi Ubushi Khong Tayiji', about the war between the Oirats and the first Altan Khan of the Khalkha.

References

  1. M.Sanjdorj, History of the Mongolian People's Republic, Volume I, 1966
  2. History of Mongolia, Volume II, 2003
  3. Reuven Amitai Press The Mongols and the Mamluks, p.94
  4. James Waterson, John Man The Knights of Islam, p.205