Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/772

Rh 744 MONGOLS 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. Possibly out of consideration for the royal descent of their chiefs, the Chinese emperors have invariably placed these Mongols in a privileged position, and have incorporated the eight banners or military divisions of the Chakhars as one of the eight banners of the imperial Manchu army. The remaining Mongols who submitted to the Manchus were divided into 135 banners, 49 representing all those on the south-east of the desert, and 86 the Khalkhas, whose territory stretched along the north of the desert from the neighbourhood of Barkhul on the west to the Dalai- nor on the north-east. From and before this period the history of the eastern Mongols has been that of all the nomad tribes of central Asia, about which nothing can be more certainly said than that that which appears most improbable is most likely to happen, and that that which might naturally be expected rarely occurs. Each tribe, as its fortunes varied, either rose to power or sank into insignificance. 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 condi tion 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, is famous in later Mongol his tory 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 that The is to say, the Chakhars and the 49 banners who live in the Klial &quot; southern and eastern portions of the desert we come to the s &quot; outer division, which is divided into 86 banners, and occupies the territory to the north of the desert. Of these the chief are the Khalkhas, who are divided into the West ern and Eastern Khalkhas. 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 czar. This he did without much hesitation or inquiry, and he fur ther despatched envoys to Moscow on the return of the Russian embassy. But the allegiance thus lightly acknow ledged was lightly thrown off, and in a quarrel which broke out between the Khirghiz and the Russians the Khalkhas 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 &quot;a monk who had been to Jerusalem that he might teach the Khalkhas how the Christians prayed.&quot; Their submission to Russia on the north did not save them, however, from the Chinese attacks on the south. In central Asia, as the recent history of Russia in that part of the world shows, the depredations of a tribe on the property of its neighbours supply a ready cause of quarrel at any moment, and the Chinese had no difficulty, therefore, in justifying an invasion of the Khalkha territory. At that time the present Manchu dynasty ruled in China, and to the then reigning sovereign the Khalkhas gave in their submission. For some time the Chinese yoke sat lightly on their consciences, but difficulties having arisen with the Kal- muks, they were ready enough to claim the protection of China. To cement the alliance the emperor K ang-he invited all the Khalkha chiefs to meet him at the plain of Dolonor. This ceremony brought the separate history of the Khalkhas to a close, since from that time they have been engulfed in the Chinese empire. Another important branch of the great Mongolian family is the tribe of the Koshod or Eleuths. These claim that their chieftains have maintained unbroken the direct descent from Khassar, a brother of Jenghiz Khan. Their home is in the neighbourhood of the Koko-nor, and in the country to the north of the narrow strip of the Kansuh province which separates that district from Mongolia proper. The pasture in the territories thus indicated is rich and abund ant, and the Eleuths have therefore had fewer temptations to wander than most of their cognate tribes. Being thus stationary and within a short distance of the Chinese fron tier, they easily fell under the dominion of that empire, and in the year 1725 were incorporated into 29 imperial banners. 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 propitia tory 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