Oros Niru (

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

: , , lit.: "Russian Niru") was a military unit of 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. It consisted of Russian

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

(also known as

Albazinians The Albazinians (Russian: албазинцы; Simplified Chinese: 阿尔巴津人, Traditional Chinese: 阿爾巴津人) are one of several Chinese ethnic groups of Russian descent. There are approximately 250 Albazinians in China who are descend ...

) that were captured during the border conflicts between the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

and Qing China. Formally, this niru was known as the 17th niru of the 4th jalan of the Manju Gusa ejen of

Bordered Yellow Banner The Bordered Yellow Banner () was one of the Eight Banners of Manchu people, Manchu military and society during the Later Jin (1616–1636), Later Jin and Qing dynasty of China. The Bordered Yellow Banner was one of three "upper" banner armies u ...

(鑲黃旗滿洲都統第四參領第十七佐領).

Origin and History

All the members of Oros niru came from Russia at one point of time. There were seven Cossacks that came before the year of 1644. They were some of the earliest Russian immigrants to

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

. From 1640s to 1680s, the conflicts between Qing dynasty and Russian Empire around the area of

Albazino Albazino (; ) is a village ('' selo'') in Skovorodinsky District of Amur Oblast, Russia, noted as the site of Albazin (), the first Russian settlement on the Amur River. Before the arrival of Russians, Albazino belonged to the Daur people, t ...

(Manchus named this village Yaksa) intensified. In 1651, emperor Shunzhi ordered the offensive against the Russian Cossack stronghold in Albazino. In 1653, Russian expeditions in

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 ...

led by

Yerofey Khabarov Yerofey Pavlovich Khabarov-Svyatitsky (; 1603 – after 1671), was a Russian entrepreneur and adventurer, best known for his exploring the Amur river region and his attempts to colonize the area for Russia. For background, see Russian–Manchu ...

eventually turned into an armed conflict between Manchu and Cossacks. Cattle and horses in the hundreds were looted and 243 ethnic Daur Mongolic girls and women were raped by Russian Cossacks under Yerofey Khabarov when he invaded the Amur river basin in the 1650s. The Cossacks that were captured during these conflicts were transferred to inner parts of China. General of Sahaliyan Ula, the local Manchu military commander, decided to send them to

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

and

Shengjing Shenyang,; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly known as Fengtian formerly known by its Manchu name Mukden, is a sub-provincial city in China and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. It is the province's most populous city with a po ...

. In 1668, another wave of 33 captured Russian soldiers were sent to Beijing. The Albazin/Yakesa Campaign of between 1685 and 1687 marked an end of the

Sino-Russian border conflicts The Sino-Russian border conflicts (1652–1689) were a series of intermittent skirmishes between the Qing dynasty of China, with assistance from the Joseon dynasty of Korea, and the Tsardom of Russia by the Cossacks in which the latter tried a ...

. Qing government asked the Russian captives if they would stay and serve the Qing emperor. Some of them expressed their royalty to Qing dynasty, some of them did not. Those who did not wish to serve in China were sent back to Russia. Those who wish to stay were settled in Beijing. The Qing government provided these immigrants with housing and cemeteries. The government also arranged their marriages (if they did not have a spouse). The

were told to marry

Solon Solon (; ; BC) was an Archaic Greece#Athens, archaic History of Athens, Athenian statesman, lawmaker, political philosopher, and poet. He is one of the Seven Sages of Greece and credited with laying the foundations for Athenian democracy. ...

Evenki widows by the Board of Rites. Mongol and Manchu women were married by the Albazinians. The wives married by the Albazinians were former jailed convicts. After their first Niru Wulanggeli (this is a transcription in Chinese, his original name was lost) died, his son Luoduohun (this is also a Chinese transcription) succeeded his position. After the death of Luoduohun, members of oros niru came under the jurisdiction of the central government. Like Cigu Niru, members of Oros niru had obstacles in terms of participating civil services. They were not allowed to be promoted beyond the 5th rank which left them with only low ranking positions to take. The descendants of this niru identify themselves as ethnic Manchu or Russian in contemporary China. Members of Oros niru are Orthodox Christians. In 1881, Nikolai Adoratsky who later became bishop of

Orenburg Orenburg (, ), formerly known as Chkalov (1938–1957), is the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies in Eastern Europe, along the banks of the Ural River, being approximately southeast of Moscow. Orenburg is close to the ...

, was sent to Beijing in charge of the pastoral affairs of Oros Niru. He documented the history of Oros niru in his work "The Orthodox Mission in China for the last 200 years of its existence".

Commanders of Oros Niru

and others (before entering Manchuria and China) This is a list of Commanders of Oros Niru according to the " General Annals of Eight Banners" (1739) * Wulanggeli (Cossack) * Luoduohun (Cossack) * Maci (Manchu from Fuca clan) *

Alingga Alingga (, Manchu: ; ''c''.1670–1716), of the Niohuru clan, was a Manchu noble of the Bordered Yellow Banner. An official at court during the late reign of the Kangxi Emperor, Alingga played a major role in the succession struggle between the ...

(Manchu from Niohuru clan) * Maci (Second time) * Deming (Manchu from Bordered Yellow banner) * Yintai (Manchu from Janggiya clan) * Hadaha (Manchu from Guwalgiya clan) * Shushan (Manchu from Niohuru clan) * Fuliang (Vice Gusa Ejen of Bordered Yellow banner) * Fujing (Vice Gusa ejen) * Guangcheng (Vice Gusa ejen from Fuca clan) * Fulungga (From Fuca clan) * Kuilin * Fengsenjilun

References

Sources

* * {{Eight Banners Military history of the Qing dynasty Eight Banners History of the Cossacks in Russia 17th century in China China–Russian Empire relations