Khoshud

Once at a meeting of the Khoshuds, a man, whose name is still unknown, read a short praise to the Khoshud, as follows:

With their genealogy coming from Chingis Khan

With their magnificent epos of Jangar

With their great teacher Zaya Pandit

With their countless healers

This great clan is called the Khoshud

This praise has since become famous. In his book entitled The Great Migration, Russian historian Vladimir Kolesnik writes that this person was a cousin of Chingiz Orge on his paternal side.

Although Kalmyks came to Russia as Buddhists – in Mergen’s opinion – their Buddhist tradition was weak and relatively new. It is no accident that the lama Zaya Pandita visited the Kalmyk land twice.

The word ‘kalmyk’ or ‘kalmak’ means ‘a breakaway’ who did not accept Islam. Therefore, the ethnonym Kalmyk implies a connection with Buddhism.

Sanj says that the Khoshuds are one of the largest ethno-territorial units in Kalmykia. When the Khoshuds came to Kalmykia, they were small in number. In 150 years they grew in number and even set up their own aimak. Today the majority of Khoshuds live in China. There are several explanations regarding the origin of the ethnonym khoshud. In the written language there is a word khoshigun, which has three meanings: (1) ‘a muzzle, the head of something’, (2) ‘a military formation’ and (3) ‘an administrative unit’. The Khoshuds are people who are originally from different khoshigun or administrative units. Sanj explains in detail all the four meanings of the word khoshud/khoshigun. He personally supports a hypothesis that the ethnonym khoshud emerged in the 15^th century during the reign of Togon Taidzhi, although the origin of the Khoshuds themselves can be traced back to earlier periods as based on historical chronicles and the family trees of the nobility.

Sanj mentions several works on the Khoshud dialect and the Kalmyk language by scholars such as Vladimirtsov, Pavlov and Kichikov. In Mongolia and Russia, the Khoshud dialect is not different from the Torghut one. In Kalmykia the Khoshud dialect has the following peculiarities. Khoshud names are usually made from two words (Dordzhi-Garya, Tseren-Ubush, Ulyumdzhi-Garya, etc.) Many names also have double consonants (Akka, Badda, Gagga, etc.) Names with –ara is also what distinguishes Khoshud names from those of other Kalmyks (Badma-Araev). Sanj says that the Khoshud dialect needs further research.

Sanj says that in 2003 an article was published about the genetic origin of the Mongols. The authors of the article compared blood samples collected from various groups. It turned out that one particular gene was widespread, which coincided with the territory that was conquered by Chingis Khan. The article concluded that this gene must be belonging to the descendant of Chingis Khan.

The rulers of the Khoshud tribe, Sanj carries on, are descendants of Khasar, Chingis Khan’s brother. The Japanese scholar Hidehiro Okada studied this question based on two Kalmyk texts.

The Zaisangud group (i.e. the Khoshuds who live in Sarpa, Kalmykia) sees Kundulen-Ubashi as their founding ancestor. Through this historical figure this groups also establishes a genealogical link with Khasar. During his field research, Sanj says two people from the Zaisangud identified Kundulen-Ubashi as their ancestor. It is known that Kundulen-Ubashi stayed in Dzungaria, but it has not been researched whether he or his relatives came to Kalmykia.

Sanj concludes that the Khoshuds are the least researched among the Kalmyk groups in terms of their history, genetics, and language. There are many white spots in the history of certain khans and whole groupings.

Sanj talks about the collection of Kalmyk skulls stored at the Moscow State University and a genetic project that he did in 2007.

He says that the collection is stored at the Anthropological Museum of the Moscow State University. This collection may include skulls that belonged to Khoshud individuals. There is a research published on this collection in 1937 by Levin and Trofimova. Apart from that, there is no other research available on the anthropological characteristics of the Khoshuds.

One of the first genetic researches on the Kalmyks was done in 1991, resulting in several articles. In 2007, Sanj studied 100 Khoshuds by taking their photos and blood samples. He argues that the Khoshuds consist of three haplogroups.

Sanj talks about Khoshud groups in Russia, Mongolia and China. He says that the Khoshuds are one of the Oirat groups with the smallest population. Scholars who worked on the Khoshuds of Mongolia are Ochir Ayudain and Nanzatov. Sanj collected data about the Khoshuds of Sarpa, Kalmykia, from the words of Shani Boktaev. There are Khoshuds who live in Orenburg. Sanj also collected data from his project called ‘Genography’.

Sanj says that today the Khoshuds live dispersed in three countries, including Russia, Mongolia and China. In Kalmykia there are three groups: (1) Tyumnya Khoshud, who are descendants of the Khoshuds that lived in Khoshudskiy ulus in Astrakhan oblast, (2) Shorvin Khoshud, who are descendants of those who lived in Khoshudskiy aimak of Iki-Tsokhurovskiy ulus, and (3) Mantsin Khoshud, who are several families that split from the Shorvin Khoshuds, ending up in Derbet ulus. Among them the best studied group is the Shorvin Khoshuds who today live in the village of Sarpa in Ketchenerovskiy rayon and on several livestock farms in Yustinskiy rayon. Since there is no special census on ethnic groups, the number of the Torghuts is unknown. Nevertheless, it is estimated that their number in Kalmykia is around 11,000.

According to the Kalmyk scholar Petr Darvaev, in 1861 the Khoshuds comprised 6 per cent of the total Kalmyk population.

In Mongolia, the Khoshuds are known as Torghut, and their population statistics are unknown. According to the Buryat scholar Nanzatov, there are around 300 Khoshud families in Bulgan sum (administrative unit) in western Mongolia.

In China, the Khoshuds are counted as Mongols. They live in Alashan League of Inner Mongolia, as well as in Xinjiang, Qinghai, and Gansu provinces. The majority of them are descendants of Gushi Khan. According to the Mongolian scholar Bum-Ochir, the number of Khoshuds in Kokonur is around 80,000. According to Oyuntsetseg, the number of Khoshuds, also known as Deed Mongol, in Qinghai and Gansu is 90,000.

Sanj talks about the history of the Khoshuds. This is his story:

According to the Secret History of Mongols, Chingis Khan’s bodyguards consisted of three parts, including keptyul (night guard), khorchin (bowmen) and turgak (day guards). Chingis Khan’s younger brother Khasar, however, was not in command of these imperial bodyguards. Khasar was in charge of the Khingan tumen. The Japanese scholar Khidekhiro Okada wrote an article about the Oirats, using Mongolian, Chinese and other sources. He supports the idea that Khoshud lords were descendants of Khasar. At least three Oirat chronicles, including those by Gaban Sharab, Batur Ubashi Tyumen and Sumba Khambo, trace the Khoshud lineage back to Chingis Khan’s younger brother. Most probably, Khasar’s descendants ruled over the Khorchins (who today live in Inner Mongolia, China). Okada also writes about three garrisons during the Ming Dynasty. The Chinese referred to them as Uriankhai. Kublai’s descendants returned to Mongolia (following the collapse of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty in China). Kublai’s brother Ariq Boke ruled over some Oirats and Khoits. When back in Mongolia, Chingis Khan’s direct descendants fought with each other by using their vassals who gradually seized their power.

In the first half of the 15^th century the Oirat lord Togon-taishi subjugated three garrisons of Odzhiyet. Thus, the ancestors of the Khoshuds became part of the Oirats, according to Okada. The new ulus (administrative unit) was named Khoshud.

In his work Gaban Sharab mentions that it was Togon-taishi who gave the name of Khoshud. It is important to distinguish the ruling clans from the ruled ones. Chronicles usually mention ruling ones only. It was often the case that the ruled people took the name of their rulers.

Initially, the Khoshuds comprised a small ulus (administrative unit), which gradually grew in size. In the 16^th century the political situation was unstable, with the Western and Eastern Mongols pushing the Oirats from the central arena. As a consequence, the Oirats lost their power, and were forced to move westwards. Some chronicles mention the composition of the Oirats, which included the Torghuts, Khoshuds, and Khoits. The Oirats had special chulgan – meetings in which they discussed various matters of urgency. For around a hundred years it was Khoshuds who chaired these meetings.

Since the Khoshuds had a Borjigin lineage, their leaders had the title of taij/taishi ‘prince’ (which is a word of Chinese origin).

Baibagas and Chokur (of the Khoshud) had a long conflict. Having lost the support of his allies, Chokur took his people and moved westwards reaching the Volga first among the Oirat clans.

At that time, in Tibet the Gelug school was losing its ground to its rival, the Kagyu school. In order to support Gelug, in 1630 the Oirat lords sent an army to Tibet, consisting of Batur Khuntaij (of the Choros), Daichin (of the Torghuts from the Volga), Sultan taij (of the Khoits), and Dalai taij (of the Derbets). After a successful military operation, the victorious army returned home, although some Khoshuds remained near the lake of Kokonur (today Qinghai province of China). Today their number is estimated at 70,000-80,000. With time, the Khoshuds established their own Khoshud Khanate that existed for a hundred years until it was destroyed by the new Qing Dynasty in China.

In 1646, two Derbet and Khoshud lords, Dalai Batur and Kundulen Ubashi, attacked Dzungar soldiers who were on their way home from a campaign against the Kazakhs. This prompted a retaliation by the Dzungar, and as a consequence Dalai Batur and Kundulen Ubashi had to retreat westwards to the Torghut territory from where Kundulen Ubashi set off for southern Siberia.

There Kundulen Ubashi quarreled with his two cousins, Ablai and Ochirtu. Being overpowered, in 1669 Ablai submitted to Kundulen Ubashi. Ablai with his allies attacked the Torghuts that were under the rule of the then young Ayuka, who had to retreat. A vast territory from Yaik to the Lower Volga was occupied by Ablai who demanded payment from the Russian tsar. In 1670-71 Ablai quarreled with his allies, the Derbet lords. In 1672 Ayuka and his allies attacked Ablai in the Urals, taking him a prisoner. Ablai’s son, Tsagan, ran to his uncle and later to the Kazakhs. This and other events led to the number of the Khoshuds diminish.