Daichin

Daichin Khan (also: Sukur , ruled 1647–1661, abdicated), son of Khu Urluk , was a Khan of the Oirat Kalmyks or, in the narrower sense, the Torguten on the Volga and Ural rivers .

Daichin was a man of learning, well versed in Buddhist literature, who also went on two pilgrimages to Tibet. In 1656 he received Zaya Pandita , who tried to spread Buddhism among the Oiraten tribes. But he was also a soldier, and as early as 1633 he and his brother Louzang commanded his father's troops in the attack on the Nogai and Russians on the Bol'shoi Uzen River.

When he returned from Tibet in 1647, he took over the government together with the previous regents Louzang, Elden and Dayan-Erke. He immediately advanced against the Nogai and Crimean Tatars to the Don to avenge his father's death, but had to abandon the campaign due to frost and deep snow (February 1648). Shortly thereafter, Daichins Torguten were defeated by the also Oirat Choschuten and Dürbeten under Khundelen and Dayan Ombo, who did not want to submit to the supremacy of the Djungarian Khanate under Khungtaidschi Batur (r. 1643-1653) and avoided him westward.

Daichin therefore occupied new areas on the Volga to replace the pastures that had been lost in the east . Moscow was not pleased and sent an embassy under Ivan Onuchin in 1649/50 , but changed its mind in view of the unfavorable alliance in Eastern Europe. In February 1655, the tsarist empire signed a treaty with Daichin, in which Daichin, formally known as a vassal , promised non-harassment of the tsar's subjects and military aid, but paid no tribute. In new negotiations Daichin was also able to claim the other bank of the Volga and duty-free trade, received subsidies and in return placed hostages (1657). The alliance paid off: in 1657 Daichin's son Puntsuk defeated the Nogai people near Azov and stole 15,000 horses. However, it also brought disagreements with it (non-payment, minor raids by the Bashkirs and Cossacks, i.e. Russian vassals), so that the Kalmyks also negotiated with the Crimean Tatar Khan against Moscow in 1657.

In the mid-1950s, Daichin and his brother Louzang fell out over the distribution of the tributes raised by the Nogai people and also about the policy towards Moscow. Daichin defeated Louzang in 1658 and 1659 and forced him to withdraw so that he and his sons could be killed by the Choschut prince Ablay (ruled until 1672, nephew of the above-mentioned Khundelen). Shortly afterwards Daichin abdicated in favor of his son Puntsuk (1661). He interfered again when he attacked the Russian provinces of Ufa and Kazan in opposition to his son, but in league with the (actually hostile) Bashkirs (1662–64). The reason for the dispute between Daichin and Puntsuk was the treatment of Prince Yalba, a grandson.

In view of the situation, Puntsuk sought proximity to the tsarist empire: in 1664 he received a banner from the tsar and thus appeared as his vassal, but died in 1669, so that his son Ayuki (ruled 1669–1724) became the next khan.

Remarks

1. ↑ The Khan saw the treaty, which was only written in Russian, as a military alliance and continued to treat the Tsar as equals. B. shows a letter written in 1661. Daichin also sent embassies to Qing China and Persia in 1655 ff .
2. ↑ Louzang was not insignificant, in 1651 he had z. B. attacked the Crimean Tatars and robbed 40,000 horses.

literature

• Michael Khodarkovsky: Where Two Worlds Met. The Russian State and the Kalmyk Nomads, 1600-1771 . University Press, Ithaca, NY 1992, ISBN 0-8014-2555-7 .
• Michael Khodarkovsky: Russia's Steppe Frontier. The Making of a Colonial Empire, 1500-1800 . University Press, Bloomington, Ind. 2007, ISBN 978-0-253-33989-8 .