Dörben Oirat
Dörben Oirat (Mongolian: Дөрвөн Ойрад, "Alliance of the Four") was a tribal confederation of western Mongolian tribes from the 14th to the 17th century.
Beginnings
After the collapse of the Mongol Empire , the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the withdrawal of the Mongols from China in 1368, the western Mongolian tribes lived again in the Altai area . There they formed a tribal confederation of four tribes, which was called Dörben Oirat and existed until 1636. The members of these tribes were called Oirats .
The four main tribes were the Chorosen , Dürbeten , Torguten and Choschuten . During their wars, they repeatedly joined forces with other tribes, so the composition of the federation changed constantly.
Möngke-Temür, a high dignitary of the Yuan, became the first leader of the Oirats in 1368, followed by Mahamu (Mahmud), Taiping and Batu-bolad.
Ascent
When the Ming Emperor Yongle asked the Mongols under Öljei Temür Khan (the Khan of the Northern Yuan ) to recognize his sovereignty in 1409, the Oirats refused to do so. The Oirats were able to repel a Ming force in the next year, but in 1412 strong forces under Yongle forced the Khan to flee west. In the period that followed, the Mongolian tribes fought for supremacy.
In 1439 Esen Tayishi succeeded his father Toghon Tayishi as leader of the Chorosen and Oirats. Under his leadership, the Oirats also conquered the rest of Mongolia by subjugating the Jurchen and Urianchai and taking control of the Hami oasis on the Silk Road between the Gobi and Takla Makan deserts . In 1449 Esen Tayishi succeeded in capturing the Ming emperor Zhengtong after a victory at Tumu (Tumu Crisis ). He could not take advantage of his success and had to be content with a ransom.
Then Esen Tayishi asked the nominal Mongol khan of the Northern Yuan , Toyto Bugha (his brother-in-law, ruled 1439-1452) to arrange his succession in favor of the Oirats. He refused, but paid for the subsequent confrontation with his life, so that Esen Tayishi, although not a Genghiside , now made himself Khan. But in 1455 he died in an inner-oriental conflict.
The End
According to the historian Tarik-i-Rashidi, Esen Tayishi's successor was his son Amasandji . But the Oirats seem to have lost their inner cohesion at this time, despite external successes, such as a great victory over the Uzbeks in 1456/57 and over the Tschagatei Khan Yunus . Around 1468, the Northern Yuan force unexpectedly triumphed and the Oirats, under various leaders, diverged in several directions. That meant the end of the Dörben Oirat .
The Oirats were distributed over great distances, but they maintained close relationships with one another. From 1640 the majority of the Oirats were reunited in the Djungarian khanate .
Over time, the term Oiraten itself coined the image of a West Mongolian tribe, although it was originally a union of tribes.