Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/156

 Mongolia (Dzungaria) until the recent insurrection was divided into seven military circuits under a different form of government.

The princely caste has six grades ranking in the following order: Khan, Tsin-wang, Tsiun-wang, Behleh, Behzeh, and Kung. Besides these are the nobles owning land (Tsasak-tai-tsi), the greater number tracing their descent from Chinghiz-Khan. The title descends to the eldest son by lawful marriage if he has attained the age of nineteen, Imperial permission having been first obtained. If there be no legitimate sons, the title may be transmitted to one of the natural children or to the nearest male relative, but not without the consent of the Emperor; the other children rank as nobles (tai-tsi) divided into four classes. In this way the princes never increase in number (there are 200 altogether), but the nobility are constantly becoming more numerous.

The princes, as we have said, enjoy no political rights, and are under the absolute authority of the Peking Government, which watches their actions with jealousy. Their salaries are received direct from the Emperor, who promotes them at will from one class to another. Princesses of the Imperial family are sometimes given in marriage to Mongol