Ubashi Khan
Torghut-Kalmyk prince and the last Khan of the Kalmyk Khan
1744 CE to 1774 CE
Ubashi Khan (1724~1775) is a Torghut-Kalmyk prince and the last Khan of the Kalmyk Khanate.
In January 1771, he leads the return migration of the majority of the Kalmyk people from the Kalmyk steppe to Dzungaria, their ancestral homeland, at this time under the control of the Qing Dynasty.
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Under Ubashi Khan’s leadership, approximately two hundred thousand Kalmyks had begun the journey from their pastures on the left bank of the Volga River to Dzungaria.
Approximately five-sixths of the Torghut tribe had followed Ubashi Khan.
Most of the Khoshuts, Choros and Khoits had also accompanied the Torghuts on their journey to Dzungaria.
The Dörbet tribe, by contrast, had elected not to go at all.
The Kalmyks who resettle in Qing territory became known as Torghuts.
While the first phase of their movement becomes the Old Torghuts, the Qing call the later Torghut immigrants "New Torghut".
The size of the departing group has been variously estimated between one hundred and fifty thousand and four hundred thousand people, with perhaps as many as six million animals (cattle, sheep, horses, camels and dogs).
Beset by raids, thirst and starvation, approximately eighty-five thousand survivors make it to Dzungaria, where they settle near the Ejin River with the permission of the Qing Manchu Emperor.
The Torghuts are coerced by the Qing into giving up their nomadic lifestyle and to take up sedentary agriculture instead as part of a deliberate policy by the Qing to enfeeble them.
They prove to be incompetent farmers and they become destitute, selling their children into slavery, engaging in prostitution, and stealing, according to the Manchu Qi-yi-shi.
Child slaves are in demand on the Central Asian slave market, and Torghut children are sold into this slave trade.
Approximately five-sixths of the Torghut tribe had followed Ubashi Khan.
Most of the Khoshuts, Choros and Khoits had also accompanied the Torghuts on their journey to Dzungaria.
The Dörbet tribe, by contrast, had elected not to go at all.
The Kalmyks who resettle in Qing territory became known as Torghuts.
While the first phase of their movement becomes the Old Torghuts, the Qing call the later Torghut immigrants "New Torghut".
The size of the departing group has been variously estimated between one hundred and fifty thousand and four hundred thousand people, with perhaps as many as six million animals (cattle, sheep, horses, camels and dogs).
Beset by raids, thirst and starvation, approximately eighty-five thousand survivors make it to Dzungaria, where they settle near the Ejin River with the permission of the Qing Manchu Emperor.
The Torghuts are coerced by the Qing into giving up their nomadic lifestyle and to take up sedentary agriculture instead as part of a deliberate policy by the Qing to enfeeble them.
They prove to be incompetent farmers and they become destitute, selling their children into slavery, engaging in prostitution, and stealing, according to the Manchu Qi-yi-shi.
Child slaves are in demand on the Central Asian slave market, and Torghut children are sold into this slave trade.
The political situation among the Kalmyks had become unstable after the death of Ayuka Khan in 1724, as various factions sought to be recognized as Khan.
The Tsarist government has also gradually chipped away at the autonomy of the Kalmyk Khanate.
These policies, for instance, have encouraged the establishment of Russian and German settlements on pastures the Kalmyks use to roam and feed their livestock.
In addition, the Tsarist government had imposed a council on the Kalmyk Khan, thereby diluting his authority, while continuing to expect the Kalmyk Khan to provide cavalry units to fight on behalf of Russia.
The Russian Orthodox church, by contrast, has pressured many Kalmyks to adopt Orthodoxy.
By the mid-seventeenth century, Kalmyks are increasingly disillusioned with settler encroachment and interference in their internal affairs.
In the winter of 1770-1771, Ubashi Khan, the great-grandson Ayuka Khan and the last Kalmyk Khan, decides to return his people to their ancestral homeland, Dzungaria, now under control of the Qing dynasty.
The Dalai Lama is contacted to request his blessing and to set the date of departure.
After consulting the astrological chart, the Dalai Lama sets the return date, but at the moment of departure, the weakening of the ice on the Volga River permits only those Kalmyks who roam on the left or eastern bank to leave.
Those on the right bank are forced to stay behind.
Catherine the Great, after failing to stop the flight, abolishes the Kalmyk Khanate, transferring all governmental powers to the Governor of Astrakhan.
The title of Khan is abolished.
The highest native governing office remaining is the Vice-Khan, who also is recognized by the government as the highest ranking Kalmyk prince.
By appointing the Vice-Khan, the Tsarist government is now permanently the decisive force in Kalmyk government and affairs.
The Tsarist government has also gradually chipped away at the autonomy of the Kalmyk Khanate.
These policies, for instance, have encouraged the establishment of Russian and German settlements on pastures the Kalmyks use to roam and feed their livestock.
In addition, the Tsarist government had imposed a council on the Kalmyk Khan, thereby diluting his authority, while continuing to expect the Kalmyk Khan to provide cavalry units to fight on behalf of Russia.
The Russian Orthodox church, by contrast, has pressured many Kalmyks to adopt Orthodoxy.
By the mid-seventeenth century, Kalmyks are increasingly disillusioned with settler encroachment and interference in their internal affairs.
In the winter of 1770-1771, Ubashi Khan, the great-grandson Ayuka Khan and the last Kalmyk Khan, decides to return his people to their ancestral homeland, Dzungaria, now under control of the Qing dynasty.
The Dalai Lama is contacted to request his blessing and to set the date of departure.
After consulting the astrological chart, the Dalai Lama sets the return date, but at the moment of departure, the weakening of the ice on the Volga River permits only those Kalmyks who roam on the left or eastern bank to leave.
Those on the right bank are forced to stay behind.
Catherine the Great, after failing to stop the flight, abolishes the Kalmyk Khanate, transferring all governmental powers to the Governor of Astrakhan.
The title of Khan is abolished.
The highest native governing office remaining is the Vice-Khan, who also is recognized by the government as the highest ranking Kalmyk prince.
By appointing the Vice-Khan, the Tsarist government is now permanently the decisive force in Kalmyk government and affairs.