When is the Oirat Confederation shown on the map?

The border data draws the Oirat Confederation 1619–1676. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.

How large was the Oirat Confederation?

At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Oirat Confederation covered about 837,000 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

Oirat Confederation

drawn on the map 1619–1676

See it on the map → Wikipedia ↗

Shown on the map: 1619–1676
Peak area: 837k km²
Region: Central Asia

Overview and identity

The Oirat Confederation — the "Four Oirats" (Dörbön Oyirad; Chinese: 四衛拉特), formerly known to Europeans as the Eleuths — was the tribal confederation of the Western Mongols on the Mongolian Plateau, conventionally dated 1399–1634. It was the political vehicle through which the Oirat tribes rose to dominate the post-Yuan Mongol world before fragmenting into the Dzungar, Khoshut, and Kalmyk khanates. The 837,000 km² peak-area figure in the project data is not given in the sources consulted; at its 15th-century apogee under Esen the confederation's sway ran from Manchuria to the Irtysh and Hami, which such an estimate presumably approximates.

Origins and composition

The Oirats were forest peoples northwest of the Mongol heartland who submitted to Genghis Khan in 1207 and intermarried with the Chinggisid lines; in the Toluid Civil War they backed Ariq Böke. No consensus exists on the original "four" tribes: the usual list is Choros, Torghut, Dörbet, and Khoshut (the Kergüd belonged early on), and one scholarly theory holds the Oirats were political-ethnic unions of many patrilineages rather than blood tribes. Before 1640 they wavered between Islam and Buddhism; shamanism remained strong.

Chronology and apogee

After the Yuan fell (1368), the Yuan official Möngke-Temür placed himself at the Oirats' head in 1399, when they overthrew a Genghisid khagan. His successors Mahamu (Bahamu), Toghan, and Esen Taishi (r. as taishi 1438–1454) made Genghisid princes puppet khans and built the greatest Oirat power: Esen crushed Moghulistan and Hami, subjugated the Jurchens, took Outer and Inner Mongolia, and in 1449 captured the Ming Emperor Yingzong at Tumu — the gravest Ming military humiliation of the dynasty. In 1453–54 Esen took the title of Khagan himself, a non-Chinggisid usurpation that provoked the Oirat nobility to overthrow and kill him.

Decline and collapse

Esen's death shattered unity. From 1480 Mandukhai Khatun and Dayan Khan pushed the Oirats west; Khalkha and southwest Inner Mongolian princes raided them from 1552 to 1628, and Altan Khan of the Tümed retook Karakorum. The confederation dissolved through emigration and re-foundation: the Torghut chief Kho Orluk with Dörbets and Khoshuts migrated across the Kazakh steppe to the Volga (1616–1630s), founding the Kalmyk Khanate; the Khoshut Güshi Khan conquered Qinghai and Tibet (1636–1642), founding the Khoshut Khanate; and the Choros with Dörbets and Khoits settled the Irtysh–Ili region, forming the Dzungar Khanate (1634). In 1640 Oirats and Khalkhas made peace and jointly promulgated the Mongol-Oirat Code; led by the Khoshut nobility, the Oirats converted to Gelug Buddhism, becoming chief defenders of the Dalai and Panchen Lamas, and in 1648–49 adopted Zaya Pandita's Clear Script.

Legacy

The confederation is the ancestral polity of all modern Oirat peoples — Kalmyks of Russia, and the Oirat groups of Mongolia and Xinjiang. Its successor states shaped 17th–18th century Inner Asian geopolitics: the Khoshut Khanate established Gelug theocracy in Tibet, the Kalmyk Khanate became Russia's steppe buffer, and the Dzungar Khanate became the Qing dynasty's greatest continental adversary.

Common questions

What was the Oirat Confederation?: The Oirat Confederation — the "Four Oirats" (Dörbön Oyirad; Chinese: 四衛拉特), formerly known to Europeans as the Eleuths — was the tribal confederation of the Western Mongols on the Mongolian Plateau, conventionally dated 1399–1634. It was the political vehicle through which the Oirat tribes rose to dominate the post-Yuan Mongol world before fragmenting into the Dzungar, Khoshut, and Kalmyk khanates.
When is the Oirat Confederation shown on the map?: The border data draws the Oirat Confederation 1619–1676. The source samples borders at fixed dates, so a span can begin late or run on past the end.
How large was the Oirat Confederation?: At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Oirat Confederation covered about 837,000 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 Oirat Confederation?: After the Yuan fell (1368), the Yuan official Möngke-Temür placed himself at the Oirats' head in 1399, when they overthrew a Genghisid khagan.
How did the Oirat Confederation end?: Esen's death shattered unity. From 1480 Mandukhai Khatun and Dayan Khan pushed the Oirats west; Khalkha and southwest Inner Mongolian princes raided them from 1552 to 1628, and Altan Khan of the Tümed retook Karakorum.
Why does the Oirat Confederation still matter?: The confederation is the ancestral polity of all modern Oirat peoples — Kalmyks of Russia, and the Oirat groups of Mongolia and Xinjiang. Its successor states shaped 17th–18th century Inner Asian geopolitics: the Khoshut Khanate established Gelug theocracy in Tibet, the Kalmyk Khanate became Russia's steppe buffer, and the Dzungar Khanate became the Qing dynasty's greatest continental adversary.

Sources

Every source below was consulted while writing this entry.

Wikipedia: Oirat Confederation en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oirat_Confederation

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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