Trouble in Asia?
102. Trouble in Asia?
1745. “Galdan Tseren died”. This message brought to Moscow meant a lot because priority immediately shifted to the “Asiatic theater”. Quite a few things had to be done to keep situation under control.
While Galdan Tseren was alive, the appearances of the suzerain-vassal relations had to be carefully preserved with the Russian administrative and military presence had been carefully weighted not to interfere excessively with the native Dzungar administration and being able to rely upon a whole-hearted support of the Khan in the case of war.
Intermission. The Khanate was, indeed, a nomadic state but this does not mean that it did not have an administrative apparatus. In general, the system of officials in the Dzungarian Khanate looked like this:
The Dzungarian army of the late XVII - early XVIII centuries consisted of the military bands of huntaji and Oirat feudal lords, people's militia, squads of vasals and allies of the khanate. All Oirats, except for children, decrepit old people and lamas, were considered liable for military service and conscription. When the enemy approach was teported, all men to be drafted had to immediately arrive at the headquarters of the local feudal owner. Thanks to the relatively compact settlement of most of the Oirats, the Dzungarian rulers managed to mobilize the necessary number of soldiers quite quickly. According to Russian diplomats, the maximum number of the Dzungarian army in the first third of the XVIII century reached 100,000 people.
Death of Galdan Tseren, in an absence of any succession laws, left his three sons, Lama Dorji, Tsewang Dorji Namjal and Tsewang Dashi competing for the throne. Well, strictly speaking, he had designated his second son Tsewang Dorji Namjal to succeed him (his eldest son was from Khoit wife) but this meant little.
Plus, there was son of his daughter, Amursana, who also had some ideas on that account even if his mother was married to a Khoit prince which was making him inferior to a true Dzungar.
And there also was a top aristocrat Dawachi who claimed the throne by a right of his illustrious lineage going back directly to Erdeni Batur (died 1635), the founder of the Dzungar Khanate.
Taking into an account that the sons pf late Khan also hated each other, situation in Dzungaria was ready to deteriorate into a major bloody (literally) mess and this was the last thing that the Russian Empire needed. Fortunately (from the Russia perspective, because each of the contenders may not see it this way
), the governor-general of the Eastern Siberia and Turkestan was a no-nonsense person and his earlier experience with the Bashkir revolt was not encouraging for those who would want to oppose him. Even before the instructions came from Moscow, he had troops in the Khanate itself, Kasghar and Eastern Siberia mobilized and on the move, which immediately discouraged most of the local feudals from assembling their bands and sticking the necks by supporting a potentially wrong candidate.
However, the Russian troops did not move fast enough to prevent Lama Dorji from making his own move: he conspired with the husband of his sister Ulam Bayar, the Baghatur Sayin Bolek and other saisans or high officials, to kill Tsewang Dorji Namjal while he was on a hunting trip. During an abortive attack on the plotters, Tsewang Dorji Namjal was captured and blinded then sent as a prisoner to Aqsu along with his brother, Tsewang Dashi.
This, in theory, made Lama Dorji a ruling khan and he was quite sure that the Russians will confirm him in this capacity. But upon arrival to Gulja he was immediately arrested together with the co-conspirators. The lesser figures, after a short trial, were found guilty of a high treason and had been hanged while Lama Dorji was sent to Irkutsk and placed into a prison to wait for the instructions from Moscow. Unfortunately, this did not help to his brothers who “mysteriously” died on their way to Aqsu.
Count Alexander Rumyantsev was left to deal with two lesser figures. Dabachi with 7,000 troops took refuge in a fortification near Lake Khashin, where he was attacked and retreated to the Kazakh border. From there, Dabachi with the shrinking number of followers fought his way to the Altai Mountains, then turned to Kashgaria, where he was captured in Kucha, handed over to the Russian command and also ended up in Irkutsk prison.
Amursana was defeated and fled through Teletskoye Lake, Kobdo and Ulang to Khalkha with 5,000 followers. He was invited to Peking and He awarded a conversation with Bogdykhn Qianlun. Russian request to deliver it as a rebel as per Urga Treaty was ignored, which did not bode well for the future relations with Qing.
In a meantime, the major reforms had been conducted in the Khanate. Dzungaria was declared a part of the Russian Empire with the Emperor adding one more title to his already long list of the possessions. Governor-general was promoted into vice-roy (наместник) in a full control of the territory. The former Khanate was divided into the “uezds” but its administrative structure had been incorporated into the Russian imperial bureaucracy as a “special case”. It was expected that gradually the local bureaucrats (probably those of the next generation) would learn Russian and adopt the Russian laws to the local specifics. Few schools had been open for this purpose to teach the Russian language, the laws, geography, etc. (but not religion).
The local feudals preserved most of their power but a military system changed. Already created regular troops under the Russian command had been expanded on a volunteer basis (for a while) and the numbers of the males called to military service in the case of a military emergency were scaled down by providing the feudal leaders with the relatively modest quotas.
To increase popularity of the new administration among the locals, the taxes paid by the Oirats had been significantly lowered while the local feudals had been added to the list of the Russian nobility, which made them tax-exempt.
As a rather nasty but efficient way of endearing the tribal leaders to the Russian rule, an abundant supply of the hard liquor was made available to the “upper classes” (the flavored vodkas proved to be most popular): having the quarrelsome high-born imbeciles in a semi-drunken state made “civilizing mission” much easier.
The weapons production had been placed under the Russian control with its nomenclature now being upgraded to the modern weaponry: different status meant different attitudes.
______________
[1] “The idea was bad,
And the children, seeing that
Started kicking each other
In all ways possible!”
A.K. Tolstoy “History of the Russian state…”
[2] The Dzungars had to be on the equal terms with the Qing army but not the Russian one ().
[3] In OTL captured at Poltava but the rest is true. With the direct participation of Renat, artillery, weapons and mining plants were built in the Khanate and in a recognition of his services he was released from the captivity but remained in the khanate for few more years and later returned to Stockholm (seemingly, as a rich man).
“You, guys, see a problem, I see a potential”
My Blue Heaven
«Плоха была услуга,
А дети, видя то,
Давай тузить друг друга:
Кто как и чем во что!»
А.К. Толстой «История государства Российского…» [1]
“The expansion of the empire is the only way to prevent stagnation.”
R. Murdoch
My Blue Heaven
«Плоха была услуга,
А дети, видя то,
Давай тузить друг друга:
Кто как и чем во что!»
А.К. Толстой «История государства Российского…» [1]
“The expansion of the empire is the only way to prevent stagnation.”
R. Murdoch
1745. “Galdan Tseren died”. This message brought to Moscow meant a lot because priority immediately shifted to the “Asiatic theater”. Quite a few things had to be done to keep situation under control.
While Galdan Tseren was alive, the appearances of the suzerain-vassal relations had to be carefully preserved with the Russian administrative and military presence had been carefully weighted not to interfere excessively with the native Dzungar administration and being able to rely upon a whole-hearted support of the Khan in the case of war.
Intermission. The Khanate was, indeed, a nomadic state but this does not mean that it did not have an administrative apparatus. In general, the system of officials in the Dzungarian Khanate looked like this:
- Tushimel - Solving general political issues of Khanate management;
- Zarguchi - Judicial functions;
- Demotsi - Management of taisha courtyards, collection of taxes from dependent territories, reception of ambassadors and diplomatic negotiations;
- Demotsi assistants - Distribution of duties and tax collection;
- Albachi-zaisan - Collection of taxes from the dzungar;
- Albanians - Assistants of Albanians-zaisans;
- Kutuchiner - Management of territories dependent on the Dzungarian Khanate;
- Ulut - Head of blacksmithing and foundry;
- Buchiner - Head of muskets and cannons;
- Bunchin - Head of cannons;
- Altachin - Management of the production of religious objects and gold mining, its storage;
- Zakhchin - Border protection.
The Dzungarian army of the late XVII - early XVIII centuries consisted of the military bands of huntaji and Oirat feudal lords, people's militia, squads of vasals and allies of the khanate. All Oirats, except for children, decrepit old people and lamas, were considered liable for military service and conscription. When the enemy approach was teported, all men to be drafted had to immediately arrive at the headquarters of the local feudal owner. Thanks to the relatively compact settlement of most of the Oirats, the Dzungarian rulers managed to mobilize the necessary number of soldiers quite quickly. According to Russian diplomats, the maximum number of the Dzungarian army in the first third of the XVIII century reached 100,000 people.
Death of Galdan Tseren, in an absence of any succession laws, left his three sons, Lama Dorji, Tsewang Dorji Namjal and Tsewang Dashi competing for the throne. Well, strictly speaking, he had designated his second son Tsewang Dorji Namjal to succeed him (his eldest son was from Khoit wife) but this meant little.
Plus, there was son of his daughter, Amursana, who also had some ideas on that account even if his mother was married to a Khoit prince which was making him inferior to a true Dzungar.
And there also was a top aristocrat Dawachi who claimed the throne by a right of his illustrious lineage going back directly to Erdeni Batur (died 1635), the founder of the Dzungar Khanate.
Taking into an account that the sons pf late Khan also hated each other, situation in Dzungaria was ready to deteriorate into a major bloody (literally) mess and this was the last thing that the Russian Empire needed. Fortunately (from the Russia perspective, because each of the contenders may not see it this way
), the governor-general of the Eastern Siberia and Turkestan was a no-nonsense person and his earlier experience with the Bashkir revolt was not encouraging for those who would want to oppose him. Even before the instructions came from Moscow, he had troops in the Khanate itself, Kasghar and Eastern Siberia mobilized and on the move, which immediately discouraged most of the local feudals from assembling their bands and sticking the necks by supporting a potentially wrong candidate.However, the Russian troops did not move fast enough to prevent Lama Dorji from making his own move: he conspired with the husband of his sister Ulam Bayar, the Baghatur Sayin Bolek and other saisans or high officials, to kill Tsewang Dorji Namjal while he was on a hunting trip. During an abortive attack on the plotters, Tsewang Dorji Namjal was captured and blinded then sent as a prisoner to Aqsu along with his brother, Tsewang Dashi.
This, in theory, made Lama Dorji a ruling khan and he was quite sure that the Russians will confirm him in this capacity. But upon arrival to Gulja he was immediately arrested together with the co-conspirators. The lesser figures, after a short trial, were found guilty of a high treason and had been hanged while Lama Dorji was sent to Irkutsk and placed into a prison to wait for the instructions from Moscow. Unfortunately, this did not help to his brothers who “mysteriously” died on their way to Aqsu.
Count Alexander Rumyantsev was left to deal with two lesser figures. Dabachi with 7,000 troops took refuge in a fortification near Lake Khashin, where he was attacked and retreated to the Kazakh border. From there, Dabachi with the shrinking number of followers fought his way to the Altai Mountains, then turned to Kashgaria, where he was captured in Kucha, handed over to the Russian command and also ended up in Irkutsk prison.
Amursana was defeated and fled through Teletskoye Lake, Kobdo and Ulang to Khalkha with 5,000 followers. He was invited to Peking and He awarded a conversation with Bogdykhn Qianlun. Russian request to deliver it as a rebel as per Urga Treaty was ignored, which did not bode well for the future relations with Qing.
In a meantime, the major reforms had been conducted in the Khanate. Dzungaria was declared a part of the Russian Empire with the Emperor adding one more title to his already long list of the possessions. Governor-general was promoted into vice-roy (наместник) in a full control of the territory. The former Khanate was divided into the “uezds” but its administrative structure had been incorporated into the Russian imperial bureaucracy as a “special case”. It was expected that gradually the local bureaucrats (probably those of the next generation) would learn Russian and adopt the Russian laws to the local specifics. Few schools had been open for this purpose to teach the Russian language, the laws, geography, etc. (but not religion).
The local feudals preserved most of their power but a military system changed. Already created regular troops under the Russian command had been expanded on a volunteer basis (for a while) and the numbers of the males called to military service in the case of a military emergency were scaled down by providing the feudal leaders with the relatively modest quotas.
To increase popularity of the new administration among the locals, the taxes paid by the Oirats had been significantly lowered while the local feudals had been added to the list of the Russian nobility, which made them tax-exempt.
As a rather nasty but efficient way of endearing the tribal leaders to the Russian rule, an abundant supply of the hard liquor was made available to the “upper classes” (the flavored vodkas proved to be most popular): having the quarrelsome high-born imbeciles in a semi-drunken state made “civilizing mission” much easier.
The weapons production had been placed under the Russian control with its nomenclature now being upgraded to the modern weaponry: different status meant different attitudes.
______________
[1] “The idea was bad,
And the children, seeing that
Started kicking each other
In all ways possible!”
A.K. Tolstoy “History of the Russian state…”
[2] The Dzungars had to be on the equal terms with the Qing army but not the Russian one (
).[3] In OTL captured at Poltava but the rest is true. With the direct participation of Renat, artillery, weapons and mining plants were built in the Khanate and in a recognition of his services he was released from the captivity but remained in the khanate for few more years and later returned to Stockholm (seemingly, as a rich man).
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