Page:EB1911 - Volume 18.djvu/745

 and hardy the Mongols have always shown themselves to be; but the capacity for consolidating the fruits of victory, for establishing a settled form of government, and for gaining the allegiance of the conquered peoples, have invariably been wanting in them.

Not content with having recovered China, the emperor Hungwu sent an army of 400,000 men into Mongolia in pursuit of the forces which yet remained to the khakan. Even on their own ground the disheartened Mongols failed in their resistance to the Chinese, and at all points suffered disaster. Meanwhile Toghon Timur, who did not long survive his defeat, was succeeded in the khakanate by Biliktu Khan, who again in 1379 was followed by Ussakhal Khan. During the reign of this last prince the Chinese again invaded Mongolia, and inflicted a crushing defeat on the khan’s forces in the neighbourhood of Lake Buyur. Besides the slain, 2994 officers and 77,000 soldiers are said to have been taken prisoners, and an immense booty to have been secured. This defeat was the final ruin of the eastern branch of the Mongols, who from this time surrendered the supremacy to the western division of the tribe. At first the Keraits or Torgod, as in the early days before Jenghiz Khan rose to power, exercised lordship over the eastern Mongols, but from these before long the supremacy passed to the Oirad, who for fifty years treated them as vassals. Notwithstanding their subjection, however, the Keraits still preserved the imperial line, and khakan after khakan assumed the nominal sovereignty of the tribe, while the real power rested with the descendants of Toghon, the Oirad chief, who had originally attached them to his sceptre. Gradually, however, the Mongol tribes broke away from all governing centres, and established scattered communities with as many chiefs over the whole of eastern Mongolia. The discredit of having finally disintegrated the tribe is generally attached to Lingdan Khan (1604–1634), of whom, in reference to his arrogant and brutal character, has been quoted the Mongolian proverb: “A raging khakan disturbs the state, and a raging saghan (elephant) overthrows his keepers.”

At this time the Mongols, though scattered and in isolated bodies, had recovered somewhat from the shock of the disaster which they had suffered at the hand of the first Ming sovereign of China. When first driven northwards, they betook themselves to the banks of the Kerulen, from whence they had originally started on their victorious career;

but gradually, as the Chinese power became weaker among the frontier tribes, they again pushed southwards, and at this time had established colonies in the Ordus country, within the northern bend of the Yellow River. The Mongol royal family and their immediate surroundings occupied the Chakhar country to the north-west of the Ordus territory, where they became eventually subjugated by the Manchus on the overthrow of the Ming dynasty in 1644 by the present rulers of China. At times the old vigour and strength which had nerved the arm of Jenghiz Khan seemed to return to the tribe, and we read of successful expeditions being made by the Ordu Mongols into Tibet, and even of invasions into China. The relations with Tibet thus inaugurated brought about a rapid spread of Buddhism among the Mongolians, and in the beginning of the 17th century the honour of having a Dalai Lama born among them was vouchsafed to them. In 1625 Toba, one of the sons of Bushuktu Jinung Khan, went on a pilgrimage to the Dalai Lama, and brought back with him a copy of the Tanjur to be translated into Mongolian, as the Kanjur had already been. But though the prowess of the Ordu Mongols was still unsubdued, their mode of living was as barren and rugged as the steppes and rocky hills which make up their territory. Their flocks and herds, on. which they are entirely dependent for food and clothing, are not numerous, and, like their masters, are neither well fed nor well favoured. But though living in this miserable condition their princes yet keep up a certain amount of barbaric state, and the people have at least the reputation of being honest.

Several of the tribes who had originally migrated with those who finally settled in the Ordu territory, finding the country to be so inhospitable, moved farther eastward into richer pastures. Among these were the Tumeds, one of whose chiefs, Altan Khan (Chinese Yen-ta), is famous in later Mongol history for the power he acquired. For many years during the 16th century he carried on a not altogether unsuccessful war with China, and finally, when peace was made (1571), the Chinese were fain to create him a prince of the empire and to confer a golden seal of authority upon him. In Tibet his arms were as successful as in China; but, as has often happened in history, the physical conquerors became the mental subjects of the conquered. Lamaism has always had a great attraction in the eyes of the Mongols, and, through the instrumentality of some Lamaist prisoners whom Altan brought back in his train, the religion spread at this time rapidly among the Tumeds. Altan himself embraced the faith, and received at his court the Bogda Sodnam Gyamtso Khutuktu, on whom he lavished every token of honour. One immediate effect of the introduction of Buddhism among the Tumeds was to put an end to the sacrifices which were commonly made at the grave of their chieftains. In 1584 Altan died, and was succeeded by his son Senge Dugureng Timur. The rich territory occupied by the Tumeds, together with the increased intercourse with China which sprang up after the wars of Altan, began to effect a change in the manner of life of the people. By degrees the pastoral habits of the inhabitants became more agricultural, and at the present day, as in Manchuria, Chinese immigrants have so stamped their mark on the fields and markets, on the towns and villages, that the country has become to all intents and purposes part of China proper.

Passing now from the inner division of the Mongols who live in the southern and eastern portions of the desert we come to the outer division, which occupies the territory to the north of the desert. Of these the chief are the Kalkas, who are divided into the Western and Eastern Kalkas. These people form the link of communication between Europe

and eastern Asia. Early in the 17th century the Russians sent an embassy to the court of the Golden Khan with the object of persuading the Mongol khan to acknowledge allegiance to the tsar. This he did without much hesitation or inquiry, and he further despatched envoys to Moscow on the return of the Russian embassy. But the allegiance thus lightly acknowledged was lightly thrown off, and in a quarrel which broke out between the Khirghiz and the Russians the Kalkas took the side of the former. The breach, however, was soon healed over, and we find the Golden Khan sending an envoy again to Moscow, asking on behalf of his master for presents of jewels, arms, a telescope, a clock, and “a monk who had been to Jerusalem that he might teach the Kalkas how the Christians prayed.” Their submission to Russia on the north did not save them, however, from the Chinese attacks on the south. At that time the present Manchu dynasty ruled in China, and to the then reigning sovereign the Kalkas gave in their submission. For some time the Chinese yoke sat lightly on their consciences, but difficulties having arisen with the Kalmucks, they were ready enough to claim the protection of China. To cement the alliance the emperor K’ang-hi invited all the Kalka chiefs to meet him at the plain of Dolon-nor. This ceremony brought the separate history of the Kalkas to a close, since from that time they have been engulfed in the Chinese Empire.

During the Kin dynasty of China the Keraits, as has been pointed out, were for a time supreme in Mongolia, and it was during that period that one of the earliest recognized sovereigns, Merghus Buyuruk Khan, sat on the throne. In an engagement with a neighbouring Tatar tribe their khan was captured and sent as a propitiatory present to the Kin emperor, who put him to death by nailing him on a wooden ass. On the treacherous Tatar chief the widow determined to avenge herself, and chose the occasion of a feast as a fitting opportunity. With well-disguised friendship she sent him a present of ten oxen, a hundred sheep and a hundred sacks of koumiss. These, last, however, instead of being filled with skins of the liquor which Mongolians love so well, contained armed men, who, when the Tatar was feasted, rushed from their concealment and killed him.