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Dzungar: religion and designation
 
PIIS086919080025827-6-1
DOI10.31857/S086919080025827-6
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Baatr Kitinov 
Occupation: associate professor, Leading Researcher
Affiliation: Institute of Oriental Studies RAS
Address: Moscow, Moscow, Russia
Anastasia Liulina
Occupation: Associate Professor of the Department of Foreign Languages, research associate
Affiliation:
Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba
Institute of Oriental Studies of the RAS
Address: Moscow, Russian Federation
Journal nameVostok. Afro-Aziatskie obshchestva: istoriia i sovremennost
EditionIssue 3
Pages173-184
Abstract

The origin of the term ‘Dzungar’ (also known as ‘Jungar’, ‘Zhungar’, ‘Zünghar’, ‘Zungar’) has already received general consideration, but it is still not clear, which events contributed to the first use of the term, and what it could actually mean. Its etymology needs further study. The traditional version does not go beyond the definition of the Dzungars as the “left wing” of the military-administrative division of the Oirats, and claims that the term first appeared in the beginning of the 17th c. However, the main factors and reasons of its usage for the nation’s self-designation and state formation require further clarification. In present research we consider the religious factor of consolidation and self-identification of the Dzungars. The aim of the article is to determine the conditions, causes and time of the occurrence and sustaining of the name Dzungar. Our tasks include: 1) studying the influence of related events and processes, such as Oirats migration (from Western Mongolia and the Northern part of future Dzungaria to Siberian rivers); separation of the Elets; appearance of the Derbets and the rise of Choros clan; adoption of Buddhism and the role of Geluk lamas and Dzungar leaders in the actualization of the people names as Choros and Dzungars; 2) identification of the religious factor in the emergence of the Dzungars and its subsequent influence for Manchus’ policy towards them; 3) definition of the mechanism of the Dzungars’ self-identification and the etymology of the term.

KeywordsDzungars, Elets, Choros, etymology, left wing, migration, ethnonym, Geluk, Buddhism, Manchus.
Received19.06.2023
Publication date02.07.2023
Number of characters27482
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Table of contents

Traditional interpretation: Left Wing
Elet Oirats: Choros and Derbets
Migrations specify origin of Dzungars
Buddhism and the development of the Dzungars
Religion and fate of the Oirats
Dzungars and Manchus
Conclusion
Abbreviations
1

Traditional interpretation: Left Wing
2 The word Dzungar is usually translated from Mongolian as “left wing”. The steppe nomads since ancient times have been divided into left and right wings. The situation was the same under Genghis Khan. After the fall of the Mongol Yuan dynasty, Dayan Khagan (c. 1480? – 1543) have changed the system of governance and leadership among the Eastern Mongols: he re-created the left (Chakhars, Khalkhas and Uriankhai) and right (Tumets, Harachins and Ordos) wings [Sneath, 2010, p. 395–396]. The Oirats (Four Oirats) were not included in those wings, so the definition of the Mongols appeared as “six and four” (earlier – “forty and four” [Vladimirtsov, 2002, p. 429]).
3 Vladimirtsov noticed that the separation among the Oirats into right and left wings “... had developed as an imitation of the Eastern Mongols” [Vladimirtsov, 2002, p. 443]. It is believed that it appeared at the beginning of 15th c., when the Four Oirats were divided into two “hands”: Züün Gar (eastern/left hand) and Baruun Gar (western/right hand) [Natsagdorj, Ochir, 2010, p. 524]. According to Elverskog the Dzungars (as the left wing) already existed at the time of Toghon and Esen in the first half of the 15th c. [Elverskog, 2003, p. 109]. These authors did not indicate the sources they used for their conclusions.
4 Crossley attributes the appearance of the term Dzungar (in the form of jegün ghar) to the middle of the first third of the 17th c. at the times of Dayan Khagan and explains its active use by the desire of the Oirats to emphasize their Mongolian identity, when faced with pressure from the Manchus [Crossley, 2006, p. 73–74]. Atwood’s opinion is almost the same: Dzungars as a tribal name appeared early in the 17th c. The term itself, he believes, arose as a way of distinguishing themselves from their relatives, the Derbets, since “the Zünghars were the Dörböds to the east [of other Oirats]” [Atwood, 2004, p. 621]. Taupier also believes that at the beginning of 17th c. there was The Greater Dorbod ulus, consisting of two polities headed by the Choros clan [Taupier, 2014, p. 94]. Atwood’s opinion was criticized by Beckwith, but the latter did not come to a definite conclusion, paying more attention to the criticism of traditional interpretation of the word “Dzungar” [Beckwith, 2007, p. 41]. Earlier Uspensky wrote about the understanding of the Dzungars as the “left hand”: “... then (under Genghis Khan. – B.K., A.L.) and now, each clan or aimag had its own Tszung-gar or left wing; in this case, we would have to find a lot of Zhungars, at least in administrative nomenclature” [Uspensky, 1880, p. 75–76]. Thus, the etymology of the term Dzungar as the administrative concept of “left hand” has been questioned by scholars starting with the previous century.
5

Elet Oirats: Choros and Derbets
6 The ancestors of the Dzungars should be considered the Elets, headed by the Choros clan.
7 Ogeleds [Ögeled, Elets] were named by Sagan Setsen among the early Oirats along with Baatut [Baγatud], Khoits [Xoyid] and Kerguds [Kergüd] peoples [Saγang, 1990, p. 47]. The inclusion of the greater part of the Elets in 1437–1438 into the Oirats under Toghon (d. 1439), who headed Choros clan, contributed to the formation of the Early Oirat confederation (1430s – the end of the 15th c.) [The Story of Kho Orluk, 2016, p. 25–26].
8 The question of Choros’ origin arose in various publications [Avlyaev, 2002, p. 174; Taupier, 2014, p. 19–23, 30–33]. The term “Choros” (čoro) denoted the elite of the society. In the early Turkic state formations it was the name of the leaders, later it became an ethnonym. How did the Choros manage to take a leading position among the Oirats? Chinese sources give a definite answer. In the “Clan Tables'” of “Xin Yuanshi” and in “Qing shi gao” the Choros line goes back to Bohan (孛罕) with the generic title Wuluodai (兀罗带氏). Another transliteration of 兀罗带 is 兀鲁特 “wulute”, which is correlates with “Elute”, “Elet”. Bohan ruled the left tumen (左手万户) [New History of Yuan; Zhao, 1927]. Choros and Elets were in the roots of these Oirats.
9 The reign of the Choros in the second half of the 15th c. was finished by the socio-political crisis of the First Confederation, with the exodus of a significant part of the Elets “to the west” (to Mogulistan, then known as Kyzylbashi) and their subsequent extermination [Kitinov, 2017].
10 Experts [Okada, 1987, p. 201; Atwood, 2004, p. 150] associate the origins of the Dzungars’ leaders (as well as the Derbets’) with the Choros. Derbet rulers were descendants of Esen’s eldest son – Boro-Nakhal1, while the Dzungarian rulers were descendants of Esen’s younger son Esmet-Darkhan-noyon, or Ash-Timur [Bichurin, 1829, p. 262; Zhang, He, 1895, p. 137; Zhao, 1927; Gaban, 2003, p. 89]. 1.
11 According to the description of the outer lands in “Qing shi gao”, the Derbets and the Dzungars had the same generic name Choros2, but the source does not indicate the time of their separation. Sanchirov believed: the Derbets and the Dzungars came out of the Elets in the first half of the 17th c. [Sanchirov, 2016, p. 228]. Due to the mentioned exodus to Mogulistan, Zlatkin’s opinion looks more correct: the Derbets stood out from the Choros by the beginning of the second half of the 15th c. [Zlatkin, 1983, p. 45]. In the second half of the 15th c. the Elets split into at least two parts, belonging to mentioned brothers, who did not get along with each other [Serruys, 1977, p. 378]. 2. “Oirats (Elutes) in ancient times were divided into 4 tribes: Khoshuts from the Borjigin clan; Dzungars and Derbets from the Choros clan; Torguts of unknown clan” [Zhao, 1927, Liezhuan 309].

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Map_Migration of the Oirats at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th centuries (Китинов_карта.pdf, 1,773 Kb) [Download]

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