Khu Urluk

The Kalmyks Khanate in the Carte de Tartarie by Guillaume Delisle , 1706

Khu Urluk (name variants among others: Örlük Sulsega , Boro Orölok , Kho Orluk ; * around 1580; † 1644 ) was a prince (Tayishi) of the Oirats , especially their subgroup of the Torguten (Torghuud), who were called Kalmucks ( Khalmakh, Kalmyk) became known.

Life

Framework

A series of defeats against the Mongol princes (e.g. against Abdai Khan († 1588) by the Khalka in 1577 ) gave the Oiraten tribes the alternative of submission or emigration at the end of the 16th century. At that time, many of their leaders lived scattered on the Irtysh , and in 1603 their scouting troops roamed the country as far as the Khiva Khanate on the Aral Sea , but avoided major clashes. Internal disputes among the Mongol princes gave the Oirats another breath in the early 17th century, and they were able to assert themselves victoriously against the Khalka in 1606, 1623 and 1628/1629 . Nevertheless, emigration became inevitable.

Search for new grazing areas

Khu Urluk sent ambassadors to the Russians in 1606 and asked for permission to roam along the Russian border on the Ishim and Kamyshlovka rivers (near Kamyshlov ), to trade with the city of Tara (on the Irtysh) and to exchange ambassadors. When Moscow, unaware of the situation, demanded his submission, he had the ambassadors executed. At that time (around 1608) Khu Urluk had only five camps and 4,000 people behind him, but through the marriage of his sister he allied himself with Dalay-Bagatur, a Tayishi of the Derbet (Dörböd). This marriage alliance gave Dalay power among the Derbet and allowed Khu Urluk to advance further west with his support. They took over large areas of the Sibir Khanate , which was defeated by the Russians in 1598 , and one of Khu Urluk's daughter married Ishim Khan, Kütschüm's son , in 1620 .

Departure of the Nogai people

When several attempts at an agreement with the Russians had as little effect as attacks on Russian cities in Siberia (e.g. on Tara, Tyumen and Tobolsk in 1615 ), the Tayishis concentrated on the Nogai , Tatar vassals of Russia on the Ural River . A first campaign against them was still used for exploration in 1608, another followed in 1613. It turned out that the Nogai did not hold out, they fled quickly and asked for help in Astrakhan .

Ten years later, Khu Urluk's group had grown due to constant expansion (and the addition of other fugitive Oirats): he had 12,000 riders and his son Daichin 10,000 more. The Nogai Kanabey Mirza sided with them in 1632 and proposed a joint attack on Astrakhan. As a result, Khu Urluk's sons Daichin and Louzang (Lubsan) advanced there and included the Nogai and Russians ( musketeers from Astrakhan) in 1633 on the Bol'shoi Uzen River between the Volga and Ural rivers. The Nogaiians promised allegiance. Due to the repressive attitude of the Astrakhan governor, many of them decided to flee and in 1635 withdrew across the Volga to Azov .

The Oiraten Alliance collapses

The Oirats made several attempts to maintain peace of mind. So in 1616/1617 and 1640 they called large assemblies of their princes, decided to take joint action against the Khalka or issued ordinances, but did not achieve lasting cooperation among the tribes involved. After the final defeat of the Nogay Khu Urluks previous ally Dalay-Bagatur Tayishi († 1637) was concerned about the growing power and forced him in league with some Kazakhs -Führern 1635 to withdraw. Khu Urluk moved with about 20,000 men from Tobol and Ischim westwards to Daichin (10,000 men) on the Emba . Despite the ordinances, agreements and marriage alliances at the meeting on the Imil River in 1640 (in which Khu Urluk and his sons Daichin and Elden also took part, and even the Khalka), the previous allies continued their attacks.

Death of Khu Urluk

The replacement of the Nogai by the Kalmyks changed the political balance in Eastern Europe. These now threatened all areas between Samara (1643) and Bukhara (1639) with raids. The news of their war preparations alone caused the Azov Nogaiians to flee across the Don in 1636/1637 . Trade of the tsarist empire with its neighbors was severely disrupted in the 1630s and 1640s. Moscow sent reinforcements (musketeers) to Astrakhan, arrested unreliable tribal leaders there, renewed and constructed fortification lines and apparently even discussed the Kalmyks with the Crimean Tatar Khan.

In the summer of 1643 the Kalmyks crossed the Volga with over 10,000 men, because Khu Urluk wanted to attack the Nogaiians on the Terek and Kuban together with his son Louzang and his grandson Dayan-Erke . Their troops split up in pursuit of the Nogai, Khu Urluk himself crossed the Terek and advanced into the North Caucasus. There he was trapped in a mountain pass by the Kabardians - Circassians armed with muskets - under Alayuk, reinforced by Nogaiians and Crimean Tatars, and killed together with a son and two grandchildren. The Russians also took their chance and attacked the Kalmyks as they retreated across the Volga and again on the Ural River.

Remarks

1. ↑ The Oiraten Alliance consisted of four subgroups: the Dörböd, Jüün Ghar, Khoshuud and Torghuud. Sometimes the Khoit dependent on the Dörböd are mentioned. The nominal head of the alliance at that time was Baibagas († 1630) of the Khoshuud.
2. ↑ The primus among the sons, Daichin went on a pilgrimage to Tibet from 1642–1647.

literature

• M. Khodarkovsky: Where Two Worlds Met: The Russian State and the Kalmyk Nomads, 1600–1771 . Ithaca 1992.
• M. Khodarkovsky: Russia's Steppe Frontier: The Making of a Colonial Empire, 1500-1800 . Bloomington / Indianapolis 2002.
• Peter C. Perdue: China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia . Cambridge, Mass. 2005.