Abtai Sain Khan ( Mongolian: ; 1554 - 1588) - alternately Abatai or Avtai (Mongolian: ,Cyrillic: Автайсайн хан, meaning, who have the gift of witchcraft (Автай) and good (сайн) - was a

Khalkha The Khalkha (Mongolian script, Mongolian: mn, Халх, Halh, , zh, 喀爾喀) have been the largest subgroup of Mongols, Mongol people in modern Mongolia since the 15th century. The Khalkha, together with Chahars, Ordos Mongols, Ordos and Tum ...

-Mongolian prince who was named by the

3rd Dalai Lama Sonam Gyatso (; 1543–1588) was the first to be named Dalai Lama, although the title was retrospectively given to his two predecessors. He was born near Lhasa in 1543 and was recognised as the reincarnation of Gendun Gyatso and subsequently en ...

as first khan of the

Tüsheet Khan Tüsheet Khan (Mongolian language, Mongolian: Түшээт хан; ) refers to the territory as well as the Descent from Genghis Khan, Chingizid dynastic rulers of the Tüsheet Khanate, one of four Khalkha Mongols, Khalka khanates that emerged fro ...

ate in 1587. He zealously propagated

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

among the Khalkha Mongols and founded the Buddhist monastery of

Erdene Zuu The Erdene Zuu Monastery ( mn, Эрдэнэ Зуу хийд , Chinese:光顯寺, Tibetan:ལྷུན་གྲུབ་བདེ་ཆེན་གླིང་) is probably the earliest surviving Buddhist monastery in Mongolia. Located in Övörkh ...

in 1585. Abtai was born in 1554 to the Khalkha Mongol prince Onokhui üizen Noyan (b. 1534). He was the eldest among Onokhui üizen Noyan's five sons which include Abugho, Tarni, Tumengken, and Barai. He was the great-grandson of Batu Mongke Dayan Khan (1464-1517 / 1543) and grandson of

Gersenji Gersenji (1513-1549) ( Mongolian: Гэрсэнз жалайр хунтайж) (also known as Gersenji Jalair Khongtaiji) - alternately Geressandsa (Geressandsa Jelair Khuntaidshi) - was the 11th and youngest son of Dayan Khan and the second son wi ...

(1513–1549). Blood smeared on his fingers at birth presaged a great warrior and from 1567 to 1580 Abtai led several campaigns against western Oirat Mongol tribes, finally defeating the Oirats’

Khoshut The Khoshut ( Mongolian: Хошууд,, qoşūd, ; literally "bannermen," from Middle Mongolian ''qosighu'' "flag, banner") are one of the four major tribes of the Oirat people. Originally, Khoshuuds were one of the Khorchin tribes in southeaste ...

tribe at Köbkör Keriye in the mid-1580s. Abtai then placed his son Shubuudai on the Oirat throne. His ferociousness in battle earned him the moniker ''The Mad Hero'' or the ''Mad Taiji of North Khalkha.'' Around 1580, Abtai learned that his uncle Atlan Khan (1507–1583) of the

Tumed The Tümed (Tumad, ; "The many or ten thousands" derived from Tumen) are a Mongol subgroup. They live in Tumed Left Banner, district of Hohhot and Tumed Right Banner, district of Baotou in China. Most engage in sedentary agriculture, living in mi ...

s had converted to Gelupga (Yellow Hat) Tibetan Buddhism. Abtai invited the lama Shiregetü Güüshi Chorjiwa from Altan's Inner Mongolian city Guihua (present day

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the capital of Inner Mongolia in the north of the People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrative, economic and cultural center.''The Ne ...

) to teach him the basic tenets of Tibetan Buddhism. Abtai then ordered construction of the

monastery in 1585. Stones from the nearby ruins of the ancient Mongol capital of

Karakorum Karakorum (Khalkha Mongolian: Хархорум, ''Kharkhorum''; Mongolian Script:, ''Qaraqorum''; ) was the capital of the Mongol Empire between 1235 and 1260 and of the Northern Yuan dynasty in the 14–15th centuries. Its ruins lie in the ...

were used in its construction and the monastery was populated with images and relics Abtai had received from the Dalai Lama. In 1587, Abtai traveled to Guihua to meet with Sonam Gyatso, the

, who had traveled there from

Lhasa Lhasa (; Lhasa dialect: ; bo, text=ལྷ་ས, translation=Place of Gods) is the urban center of the prefecture-level city, prefecture-level Lhasa (prefecture-level city), Lhasa City and the administrative capital of Tibet Autonomous Regio ...

to offer prayers for Altan Khan, who had died in 1583. Upon Abtai's return, he banned

shamanism Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...

and declared Tibetan Buddhism to be the state religion of Khalkha Mongols. Monastère d'Erdene Zuu

Abtai died a year later in 1588. His remains were interred at Erdene Zuu. Shortly thereafter his son Shubuudai was killed by Oirat chieftains. Abtai's descendants would continue to reign over the house of the

. Abtai's great-grandson

Zanabazar Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar, , , "High Saint Zanabazar"; 1635–1723 (born Eshidorji) was the sixteenth '' Jebtsundamba Khutuktu'' and the first ''Bogd Gegeen'' or supreme spiritual authority, of the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) lineage of Tibetan Buddhism ...

(born Eshidorji) was recognized by the

5th Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (; ; 1617–1682) was the 5th Dalai Lama and the first Dalai Lama to wield effective temporal and spiritual power over all Tibet. He is often referred to simply as the Great Fifth, being a key religious and temporal leader ...

as the first ''

Jebtsundamba Khutuktu The Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, , ; zh, c=哲布尊丹巴呼圖克圖, p=Zhébùzūn Dānbā Hūtúkètú; bo, རྗེ་བཙུན་དམ་པ་ཧུ་ཐུག་ཐུ་, Jetsün Dampa Hutuktu; "Venerable Excellent incarnate lama" ar ...

'' and ''Bogd Gegeen'' or spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism in Khalkha Mongolia in the 1640s. In pre-

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

Mongolia a special cult devoted to Abtai Khan flourished. He was celebrated as the last ruler who tried to unite Mongolia after the collapse of the

Yuan Empire The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

and who introduced Buddhism to Mongolia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Abtai Sain 1554 births 1588 deaths Mongolian nobility