Bogd Khan (13 October 1869 – 20 May 1924) was the khan of the

Bogd Khanate of Mongolia The Bogd Khanate of Mongolia was a country in Outer Mongolia between 1911 and 1915 and again from 1921 to 1924. By the spring of 1911, some prominent Mongol nobles including Prince Tögs-Ochiryn Namnansüren persuaded the Bogd Khan, Jebstundamb ...

from 1911 to 1924, following the state's ''de facto'' independence from the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

of China after the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade ...

. Born in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

, he was the third most important person in the

Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Arunachal Prades ...

hierarchy as the 8th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, below only the

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

and

Panchen Lama The Panchen Lama () is a tulku of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The Panchen Lama is one of the most important figures in the Gelug tradition, with its spiritual authority second only to the Dalai Lama. Along with the council of high la ...

, and therefore also known as the "Bogdo Lama". He was the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism in the Bogd Khaganate. His wife Tsendiin Dondogdulam, the Ekh Dagina (' Dakini Mother'), was believed to be a manifestation of White Tara.

Life

The future Bogd Khan was born in 1869 in the area of Lhasa, in a family of a Tibetan official. He was born as Agvaan Luvsan Choijinnyam Danzan Vanchüg. His father, Gonchigtseren, was an accountant at the 12th Dalai Lama's court. The boy was officially recognized as the new incarnation of the Bogd Gegen in Potala in the presence of the 13th Dalai Lama and the

. The new Bogd Gegen arrived in Urga, the capital of

Outer Mongolia Outer Mongolia was the name of a territory in the Manchu-led Qing dynasty of China from 1691 to 1911. It corresponds to the modern-day independent state of Mongolia and the Russian republic of Tuva. The historical region gained ''de facto'' ...

, in 1874. After this he lived only in Mongolia. As a result, from his young years the 8th Bogd Gegen was the subject of intrigues of Qing officials in Urga. Later he became the subject of

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

campaigns organised by Mongolian

Communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

, which attacked him by alleging that he was a prolific poisoner, a paedophile, and a libertine, which was later repeated in

belles-lettres () is a category of writing, originally meaning beautiful or fine writing. In the modern narrow sense, it is a label for literary works that do not fall into the major categories such as fiction, poetry, or drama. The phrase is sometimes used pej ...

and other non-scientific literature (e.g. James Palmer). However, analysis of documents stored in Mongolian and Russian archives does not confirm these statements.Kuzmin, S.L. and Oyuunchimeg, J. ''The Great Khan of Mongolia, the 8th Bogd Gegeen''. Aziya i Afrika Segodnya (Moscow, Russian Acad. Sci. Publ.), 2009, no. 1, pp. 59–64. As a monk, the Bogd had limited access to physical means of imposing power, though some enemies were executed for

blasphemy Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

. The Polish traveller Ferdinand Ossendowski recorded that he knew "every thought, every movement of the Princes and Khans, the slightest conspiracy against him, and the offender is usually kindly invited to Urga, from where he does not return alive. Ossendowski's claims for his acquaintance with the Bogd Gegen were not confirmed by comparative analysis of his book and manuscripts. By the spring of 1911, some prominent Mongolian nobles including Prince Tögs-Ochiryn Namnansüren persuaded the Jebstundamba Khutukhtu to convene a meeting of nobles and ecclesiastical officials to discuss independence. The Khutukhtu consented. To avoid suspicion, he used as a pretext the occasion of a religious festival, at which time the assembled leaders would discuss the need to reapportion taxes among the khoshuuns. The meeting occurred on July 10 and the Mongolians discussed independence. The assembly became deadlocked, some arguing for complete, others for partial, resistance. Eighteen nobles decided to take matters into their hands. Meeting secretly in the hills outside of Urga, they decided that Mongolia must declare its independence. They then persuaded the Khutuktu to send a delegation of three prominent representatives—a secular noble, an ecclesiastic, and a lay official —to Russia for assistance. The particular composition of the delegation—a noble, a cleric, and a commoner—may have been intended to invest the mission with a sense of national consensus. On December 1, the Provisional Government of Khalkha issued a general proclamation announcing the establishment of a theocracy under the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu. On December 29, the Khutuktu was formally installed as the Bogd Khan of the new Mongolian state. The Bogd Gegen lost his power when Chinese governance was restored in 1919. The Tusiyetu Khan Aimak's Prince Darchin Ch'in Wang was a supporter of Chinese rule while his younger brother Tsewang was a supporter of Ungern-Sternberg. When Baron Ungern's forces failed to seize Urga in his 1920 invasion, the Bogd was placed under house arrest; then he became a puppet of Ungern shortly before he took Urga in 1921. After the revolution in 1921 led by

Damdin Sükhbaatar Damdin Sükhbaatar (2 February 1893 – 20 February 1923) was a Mongolian revolutionary, founding member of the Mongolian People's Party, and leader of the Mongolian partisan army that took Khüree during the Mongolian Revolution of 19 ...

, the Bogd Khan was allowed to stay on the throne in a limited monarchy until his death in 1924, a year after that of his wife.

After his death

The government took control of the Bogd Khan's seal after his death according to the 26 November 1924 Constitution of the Mongolian People's Republic. It was proposed that

Zhang Zuolin Zhang Zuolin; courtesy name Yuting ( zh, c=雨亭, p=Yǔtíng, labels=no) and nicknamed Zhang Laogang ( zh, c=張老疙瘩, p=Zhāng Lǎo Gēda, labels=no) (March 19, 1875June 4, 1928) was a Chinese warlord who ruled Manchuria from 1916 to 1928 ...

's domain (the Chinese " Three Eastern Provinces") take Mongolia under its administration by the Bogda Khan and Bodo in 1922 after pro-Soviet Mongolian Communists seized control of Northern Mongolia. After his death, the Mongolian Revolutionary government, led by followers of the Soviet Communists, declared that no more reincarnations were to be found and established the

Mongolian People's Republic The Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) was a socialist state that existed from 1924 to 1992, located in the historical region of Outer Mongolia. Its independence was officially recognized by the Nationalist government of Republic of China (1912� ...

. However, rumors about a reincarnation of the Jebtsundamba Khutuktu appeared in Mongolia in that same year. No traditional determination of the supposed incarnation was conducted. Another rumor appeared in 1925. In November 1926 the 3rd Great Khural of Mongolian People's Republic approved a special resolution that searches for reincarnations of the Bogd Gegen should not be allowed. A final prohibition was approved by the 7th Congress of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and the 5th People's Great Khural in 1928.Purevjav, S. and Dashjamts, D. BNMAU-d Sum, Khiid, Lam Naryn Asuudlyg Shiidverlesen Ni. Ulaanbaatar: Ulsyn Khevleliin Khereg Erkhlekh Khoroo Publ. Nevertheless, the next reincarnation of Bogd Gegen was found in Tibet as a boy born in 1932 in Lhasa. This was not announced until the collapse of the USSR and democratic revolution in Mongolia. The 9th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu was formally enthroned in Dharamsala by Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th

in 1991, and in

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...

in 1999. The Green Palace, Yellow Palace, Brown Palace and White Palace were the four main residences in Urga, the capital. The Green Palace has been preserved and is a tourist attraction in Ulaanbaatar.

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