The Mongols renew their war with China…

The Mongols renew their war with China with considerable energy after Altan Khan (1507-83) of the Tümed clan unites the Khalkha.

Although he is not so prominent in history as his predecessor, Dayan, or his successor, Galdan Khan (1632-97), Altan is probably the greatest of the Mongol princes in the centuries following the collapse of the Yuan.

By 1552 he has defeated the Oirat and has reunited most of Mongolia.

It soon becomes obvious to Altan that there is nothing to be gained by continuing the war with the Ming; the empire of Chinggis never can be restored.

Accordingly, he concludes a treaty with the Ming emperor in 1571, ending a struggle that has lasted more than three centuries.

In the remaining eleven years of his life, Altan aggressively pushes Mongol power to the south and the southwest, and he raids Tibet extensively.

Altan, in turn, is co-opted by a Buddhist revival in Tibet, and he becomes a fervent convert.

In 1586 the first lamaist monastery is established in Mongolia, and Buddhism—specifically, Lamaism—becomes the state religion.