When is the Dzungar Khanate shown on the map?

The border data draws the Dzungar Khanate 1609–1618, 1677–1756, in 2 separate periods. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.

How large was the Dzungar Khanate?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Dzungar Khanate covered about 3.6 million km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.

Central Asia · Timur and the khanates

Dzungar Khanate

drawn on the map 1609–1618, 1677–1756

The Dzungar Khanate (Mongolian: Jegün γar-un qaγan-tu ulus, "Left Hand/Wing"; 1634–1758) was the last great nomadic empire of Inner Asia, built by the Choros-led Oirat (Western Mongol) tribes. At its height around 1650 it covered some 3.6 million km² (matching the project figure) — from southern Siberia to Tibet and from the Kazakh steppe to the edges of Mongolia — with a population estimated at 600,000–1,200,000.

See it on the map → Wikipedia ↗

Shown on the map: 1609–1618, 1677–1756 (2 periods)
Peak area: 3.6M km²
Region: Central Asia

Overview and identity

Origins

The Oirats were a "forest people" west of Genghis Khan's Mongols, submitting to Jochi in 1207–1208. After the Yuan collapse they contested the Northern Yuan throne and, under Esen Taishi, briefly dominated the Mongolian Plateau (capturing the Ming emperor in 1449). Driven west, the Four Oirat tribes (Choros, Torghut, Dörbet, Khoid/Khoshut) fought Khalkha and Kazakh rivals until the Choros under Khara Khula and his son Erdeni Batur consolidated a base on the upper Emil and Irtysh; Erdeni Batur formally established the khanate in 1634 with his capital at Ghulja (Khobak Sari), where he built monasteries and settled craftsmen.

Chronology and rulers

Erdeni Batur (1634–1653) expanded over the Kazakhs and opened relations with Russia. After a succession struggle (Sengge, 1653–1671), Galdan Boshugtu Khan (1671–1697) — a former Buddhist monk recognized as a reincarnate lama — conquered the Yarkent Khanate (Altishahr, 1678–1680) with Aq Taghliq Khoja support, crushed the Kazakhs under Tauke Khan, invaded Khalkha Mongolia (1688), and fought the Kangxi Emperor's Qing armies, suffering decisive defeat at Jao Modo (1696) before dying in 1697. Tsewang Rabtan (1697–1727) seized Tibet in 1717, was expelled by the Qing in 1720, and subjected the Kazakh jüzes to devastating wars (the "Great Calamity" of 1723–1730 depopulated swathes of Transoxiana, reportedly driving Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva into near-desertion). Galdan Tseren (1727–1745) made peace with the Qing (1735/1739 boundary), defeated the Kazakhs again (1739–1742), and extracted hostages from all three jüzes — but failed invasions of Kokand (1742, 1745) strained the state.

Government, economy, religion

The khanate was a monarchy under a Khan/Khong Tayiji, governed by customary rules and the 1640 Mongol-Oirat Great Code (Yeke Caaji). Unusually for a steppe state, it developed a mixed agro-pastoral economy with mining, manufacturing, and indigenously produced gunpowder weapons (a steppe "military revolution"), promoted the Oirat language and Zaya Pandita's Clear Script, and was officially Tibetan Buddhist (Gelug) while ruling Muslim subjects in Altishahr and Fergana.

Fall and genocide

Galdan Tseren's death in 1745 triggered a ruinous succession war (Tsewang Dorji Namjal, Lama Dorji, Dawachi, Amursana). In 1755 the Qianlong Emperor invaded, capturing Dawachi within about 100 days; Amursana's subsequent rebellion (1755–1757) provoked an explicit Qing extermination policy. Combining Qing accounts (Wei Yuan) with modern research, roughly 40% of Dzungars died of smallpox, 30% were killed in war and massacres, and 20% fled or were deported — a destruction scholars such as Peter Perdue and Mark Levene characterize as genocide, with recent demographic research estimating over 400,000 deaths (≈70% of the regional population) in 1755–1759. Xinjiang was then created as a Qing administrative unit and resettled.

Legacy

The khanate's fall redrew the map of Central Asia, enabling Qing conquest of Mongolia and Tibet and opening the Kazakh steppe to Russian and Qing encroachment. Surviving Oirat groups (Torghuts, Dörbets, Khoids) live on in Xinjiang, Qinghai, and western Mongolia.

Common questions

What was the Dzungar Khanate?: The Dzungar Khanate (Mongolian: Jegün γar-un qaγan-tu ulus, "Left Hand/Wing"; 1634–1758) was the last great nomadic empire of Inner Asia, built by the Choros-led Oirat (Western Mongol) tribes. At its height around 1650 it covered some 3.6 million km² (matching the project figure) — from southern Siberia to Tibet and from the Kazakh steppe to the edges of Mongolia — with a population estimated at 600,000–1,200,000.
When is the Dzungar Khanate shown on the map?: The border data draws the Dzungar Khanate 1609–1618, 1677–1756, in 2 separate periods. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.
How large was the Dzungar Khanate?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Dzungar Khanate covered about 3.6 million km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Who ruled the Dzungar Khanate?: Erdeni Batur (1634–1653) expanded over the Kazakhs and opened relations with Russia. After a succession struggle (Sengge, 1653–1671), Galdan Boshugtu Khan (1671–1697) — a former Buddhist monk recognized as a reincarnate lama — conquered the Yarkent Khanate (Altishahr, 1678–1680) with Aq Taghliq Khoja support, crushed the Kazakhs under Tauke Khan, invaded Khalkha Mongolia (1688), and fought the Kangxi Emperor's Qing armies, suffering decisive defeat at Jao Modo (1696) before dying in 1697.
How did the Dzungar Khanate end?: Galdan Tseren's death in 1745 triggered a ruinous succession war (Tsewang Dorji Namjal, Lama Dorji, Dawachi, Amursana). In 1755 the Qianlong Emperor invaded, capturing Dawachi within about 100 days; Amursana's subsequent rebellion (1755–1757) provoked an explicit Qing extermination policy.
How was the Dzungar Khanate governed?: The khanate was a monarchy under a Khan/Khong Tayiji, governed by customary rules and the 1640 Mongol-Oirat Great Code (Yeke Caaji).
Why does the Dzungar Khanate still matter?: The khanate's fall redrew the map of Central Asia, enabling Qing conquest of Mongolia and Tibet and opening the Kazakh steppe to Russian and Qing encroachment. Surviving Oirat groups (Torghuts, Dörbets, Khoids) live on in Xinjiang, Qinghai, and western Mongolia.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia: Dzungar Khanate en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzungar_Khanate
Qazinform: "What really brought down the Dzungar Khanate?" (smallpox/mortality research) qazinform.com/news/what-really-brought-down-the-dzungar-khanate-d8369c
Human Saga: Qing conquest of the Dzungars and the creation of Xinjiang humansaga.net/event/qing-conquest-of-the-dzungars-and-the-creation-of-xinjiang

This entry was written from the sources above and last updated 27 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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