Choros (; Chakhar: or Tsoros (

Khalkha The Khalkha (; ) have been the largest subgroup of the Mongols in modern Mongolia since the 15th century. The Khalkha, together with Chahars, Ordos Mongols, Ordos and Tumed, were directly ruled by Borjigin khans until the 20th century. In cont ...

: ; ) was the ruling clan of the Ööld and

Dörbet Oirat The Dörbet (, ), known in English as The Fours, is the second largest subgroup of Mongols, Mongol people in modern Mongolia and was formerly one of the major tribes of the Four Oirat confederation in the 15th-18th centuries. In early times, the D� ...

and once ruled the whole

Four Oirat The Four Oirats ( Written Oirat: , ; , ; ) or Oirat Confederation, formerly known as the Eleuths, was the confederation of the Oirat tribes which marked the rise of the Western Mongols in the history of the Mongolian Plateau. Despite the univer ...

. They founded the

Dzungar Khanate The Dzungar Khanate ( Mongolian: ), also known as the Zunghar Khanate or Junggar Khanate, was an Inner Asian khanate of Oirat Mongol origin. At its greatest extent, it covered an area from southern Siberia in the north to present-day Kyrgyz ...

in the 17th century. Their chiefs reckoned their descent from a boy nourished by a sacred tree.

History

In the late 14th century, the

Oirats Oirats (; ) or Oirds ( ; ), formerly known as Eluts and Eleuths ( or ; zh, 厄魯特, ''Èlǔtè'') are the westernmost group of Mongols, whose ancestral home is in the Altai Mountains, Altai region of Siberia, Xinjiang and western Mongolia. ...

emerged as the dominant power opposing the

Khalkha Mongols The Khalkha (; ) have been the largest subgroup of the Mongols in modern Mongolia since the 15th century. The Khalkha, together with Chahars, Ordos Mongols, Ordos and Tumed, were directly ruled by Borjigin khans until the 20th century. In cont ...

. The ruling clan of the

was Choros at the time. Under their leadership, the Western Mongols established

. In 1455 other Oirat tribes overthrew the Choros Khan,

Esen Taishi Esen (; Mongol script: ; ) (1407–1454), was a powerful Oirat taishi and the ''de facto'' ruler of the Northern Yuan dynasty between 12 September 1453 and 1454. He is best known for capturing the Emperor Yingzong of Ming in 1449 in the Batt ...

, who had enthroned himself

Khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Middle Mongol:; or ''Khagan''; ) or zh, c=大汗, p=Dàhán; ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan, Khaqan, Xagahn, Qaghan, Chagan, Қан, or Kha'an is a title of empire, im ...

of the

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

. About 1620 the Choros scattered after bitter fighting with the

Altan Khan of the Khalkha The Altan Khans (or Golden Khans) ruled over the Khotogoids in northwestern Mongolia from about 1609 to 1691. They belonged to the Left Wing of the Khalkha Mongols. Although they claimed to be khans, Mongolian chronicles call them Khun Taij, wh ...

. The Khalkha and southwestern

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

n princes repeatedly raided them from 1552 to 1628, forcing them to migrate further west. Some of the Choros fled with a group of the

northward into

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and present-day

Barnaul Barnaul (, ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative centre of Altai Krai, Russia, located at the confluence of the Barnaulka and Ob (river), Ob rivers in the West Siberian Plain. As of the Russian Censu ...

. But they crushed the Khalkha Altan Khan; and made an alliance with the northern Khalkhas in 1640. By 1690 three Oirat states had emerged: the

Khoshut The Khoshut (Mongolian language, Mongolian: Хошууд,, qoşūd, ; literally "bannermen," from Middle Mongol language, Middle Mongolian ''qosighu'' "flag, banner") are one of the four major tribes of the Oirats, Oirat people. They established ...

, the Kalmyk and the

. The majority of the Choros with the Dörbet and the Khoids settled in the region of the Black Irtysh, the

Ulungur River The Ulungur River / Urungu River or Urungu (, zh, c=乌伦古河, p=Wūlúngǔ hé), in its upper reaches in Mongolia known as the Bulgan River (), is a river of China and Mongolia. It rises in the Altai Mountains in western Mongolia, flows s ...

, the

Emil River The Emil (, ''Emıl''; ''Emel'') or Emin (), also spelled Emel, Imil, etc., is a river in China and Kazakhstan. It flows through Tacheng (Tarbagatay) Prefecture of China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region and the East Kazakhstan Province of K ...

, and the

Ili River The Ili River (, , ; ; ; zh, 伊犁河, ; , ; , ) is a river in Northwest China and Southeastern Kazakhstan. It flows from the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to the Almaty Region in Kazakhstan. It ...

, forming the Dzungar Khanate. The Dzunghar Khanate was ruled by the Dörbet and the Choros, displacing the Khoshut in from their homeland

Dzungaria Dzungaria (; from the Mongolian words , meaning 'left hand'), also known as Northern Xinjiang or Beijiang, is a geographical subregion in Northwest China that corresponds to the northern half of Xinjiang. Bound by the Altai Mountains to the n ...

. Although they reached their peak in the late 17th century, they began to disintegrate after

Galdan Boshugtu Khan Galdan Boshugtu Khan (1644 – 3 May 1697) was a Choros- Oirat khan of the Dzungar Khanate. As fourth son of Erdeni Batur, founder of the Dzungar Khanate, Galdan was a descendant of Esen Taishi, the powerful Oirat Khan of the Northern Yuan dyn ...

's wars with the Qing. The Choros were defeated in 1697 and 1771 and they were annexed by 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 ...

. File:Ili_region_Taiji_(Mongol_Prince)_and_his_wife,_Huang_Qing_Zhigong_Tu,_1769.jpg, Oirat Choros Prince (''Taiji'', zh, 台吉) from

Ili Ili, ILI, Illi may refer to: Abbreviations * Indian Law Institute * Influenza-like illness * Intelligent Land Investments * Intensive lifestyle intervention, a type of lifestyle medicine * International Law Institute, a non-profit organization ...

, and his wife. ''

Huang Qing Zhigong Tu ''Huang Qing Zhigong Tu'' (; ''Collection of Portraits of Subordinate Peoples of the Qing Dynasty'') is an 18th-century ethnological study of Chinese tributary states, including Western nations that traded with the Qing Empire. It was published ar ...

'', 1769. File:Huang Qing Zhigong Tu, 1769, Mongol tribal leader (Zaisang, 宰桑) from Ili and other regions, with his wife.jpg, Oirat Choros tribal leader (Zaisang, 宰桑) from

, with his wife.

, 1769. File:Huang Qing Zhigong Tu, 1769, commoner from Ili and other regions, with his wife.jpg, Oirat Choros commoners from

region.

, 1769.伊犂等處民人

References

* Хойт С.К
Этническая история ойратских групп. Элиста, 2015. 199 с.
* Хойт С.К
Данные фольклора для изучения путей этногенеза ойратских групп
// Международная научная конференция «Сетевое востоковедение: образование, наука, культура», 7-10 декабря 2017 г.: материалы. Элиста: Изд-во Калм. ун-та, 2017. с. 286-289. {{Mongol_Yastan Mongol dynasties Dzungar Khanate Oirats