Khutugtu Khan ( mn, Хутагт Хаан; ), born Ligdan ( mn, Лигдэн; ), (1588–1634) was a khagan of the

Northern Yuan dynasty The Northern Yuan () was a dynastic regime ruled by the Mongol Borjigin clan based in the Mongolian Plateau. It existed as a rump state after the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368 and lasted until its conquest by the Jurchen-led Later Ji ...

, reigning from 1604 to 1634. During his reign, he vigorously attempted to reunify the divided Mongol Empire, achieving moderate levels of success. However, his unpopular reign generated violent opposition due to his harsh restrictions over the Mongol tribes as he attempted to centralize the state. His alliance with the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

, sponsorship of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...

in Chakhar and the reorganization of Mongol political divisions were ineffective when the Later Jin dynasty became the major power in

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...

Name

His name is from Mongolian "Ligden Khutugt Khan" (

Mongol script The classical or traditional Mongolian script, also known as the , was the first writing system created specifically for the Mongolian language, and was the most widespread until the introduction of Cyrillic in 1946. It is traditionally written ...

: ;

Mongolian Cyrillic The Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet ( Mongolian: , or , ) is the writing system used for the standard dialect of the Mongolian language in the modern state of Mongolia. It has a largely phonemic orthography, meaning that there is a fair degree ...

: Лигдэн Хутугт хаан), title Ligden Khutugt from bo, རྦད་དེ་ཐོག་ཐུ།. His name is also written Lindan Han ( Chinese: ; 1588–1634).

Life and reign

Ligden (b. 1588) was a son of Mangghus Mergen Taiji and grandson of Buyan Sechen Khan (r. 1593–1603). Because his father died early, Ligden was chosen to succeed his grandfather Buyan as khan of the

with the reign title Khutugtu in 1603. At the time the Khagan's

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

, Chakhar people, occupied Sira Mören valley.C.P.Atwood ''Encyclopedia of Mongolia and the Mongol Empire'', 2004 p. 88. Ligden divided the Chakhar into right and left wings and built Chaghan city near Abaga Khara Mountain. Mongolia 1600-1680

During his early reign, Ligden had the respect and loyalty of other Mongol tümens. Boshigo

jinong Jinong () was a title of the Mongols. It was derived from Chinese ''Jinwang'' (, a title for crown prince, similar to Prince of Wales) although some historians have suggested it originates from ''Qinwang'' (). Whatever its relation with the Chine ...

of the Three Right Wing Tumens expressed his allegiance to Ligden Khan. Allied with princes of the Southern Khalkha (Baarin and Jarud), Ligden raided the

. However, from 1612 on, leaders of the Khorchin and the Jarud became in-laws with the rising Manchu-led Later Jin dynasty. By the early 17th century, the Khan's court had lost most of its power and was under pressure from the Manchus in the east. Hoping that he could consolidate his power over the Mongol tümens, Ligden moved the

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

religious center of the Mongols to Chakhar and had himself declared both religious and political leader of the Mongols by a

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

an religious leader.Ж.Бор – Монгол хийгээд Евразийн дипломат шаштир, боть III, p. 123. Ligden revived the old Saskyapa order of

Kublai Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of the ...

's time (r. 1260–94), inviting the order's Sharba pandita, who was appointed his preceptor in 1617. Sharba installed Mahakala image in Ligden's capital Chagan. Ligden Khan also built temples at Küriye. In 1618, Ligden signed a

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pe ...

with the Ming dynasty to protect their northern border from the Manchus in exchange for thousands of

tael Tael (),"Tael" entry
at the ...

s of silver. He received an annual subsidy of 40,000 taels of silver in 1620. Sog Zaisai, a Southern Khalkha nobleman, prince Sanasarai of the Khorchin, and Paghwa of the Jarud attacked the Later Jin with more than 10,000–50,000 men to assist the Ming in August 1619, but they were crushed. Because the Later Jin wanted to use the Mongols against the Ming, they persuaded their leaders, including Ligden, to ally with them. Since a conflict with the Later Jin in 1619, the relations between his clan federation and the Manchu federation had continuously deteriorated. In 1620, after an exchange of contemptuous letters, Ligden and the Later Jin ruler

Nurhaci Nurhaci (14 May 1559 – 30 September 1626), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Qing (), was a Jurchen chieftain who rose to prominence in the late 16th century in Manchuria. A member of the House of Aisin-Gioro, he reigned ...

(r. 1616–1626) broke off relations and most of the Eastern Tümens deserted to Nurhaci in 1622–24. Ligden, on the other hand, by trying to assume this former power, ruled in a progressively aggressive fashion, so several Mongolian tribes opted to form a coalition with the Manchus. When the Khorchin and some formerly allied tribes bonded with the Manchus in 1624, Ligden undertook a

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beh ...

and besieged the Khorchin nobleman Oba for 3 days, but retreated when Manchu relief troops arrived. When Ligden Khan called the northern Khalkhas to join him against the Manchus, only

Tsogt Taij Tümengken Tsoghtu Khong Tayiji (Classical Mongolian: , ''Tümengken čoγtu qong tayiǰi''; modern Mongolian: , , Tümenkhen Tsogt Khun Taij; ; 1581–1637), was a noble in Northern Khalkha. He expanded into Amdo (present-day Qinghai) to help ...

accepted his appeal. Ligden aimed at centralizing Mongol rule. He appointed officials to rule the left and right wing tümens, and organized a special court nobility and a corps of 300 baaturs (warriors). In 1627, the other tümens were in full revolt. Princes ruling the Sunid, Uzemchin, and Abaga moved northwest and allied with the Three Right Wing Tumens against Ligden. They attacked Ligden at Zhaocheng. Ligden defeated the allies but lost 10,000 Chakhars. When the Ming court refused to pay subsidy, he raided the Ming Empire, forcing them to renew the treaty. The Ming increased his annual subsidy to 81,000 taels of silver. In 1631 Ligden passed the Khinggan Range and successfully attacked the Khorchin and the Tümed. A powerful alliance of Khorchin, Tümed, Yungshiyebu, Ordos and Abaga was formed against Ligden. They destroyed 4,000 Chahar militias in Hohhot and 3,000 soldiers who were going to take Ligden's subsidy from the Ming. In 1632, the Later Jin khan Hong Taiji and his Mongol allies undertook a campaign against Ligden who avoided a confrontation and with maybe 100,000 Chakhar fled to Kokenuur. Ligden made himself yet more unpopular by seizing the wife of Erinchin jinong and taking refuge in the Eight White Yurts of Genghis Khan in Kokenuur. Allied with the Tibetan monarchs, he opposed Dalai Lama V and Banchin Erdene IV. He died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

at Sira Tala (in modern Gansu) in 1634 while marching to attack dGe-lugs-pa order (Yellow Hat sect) in

. After Ligden Khan's death, his son

Ejei Khan Erke Khongghor ( mn, Эрх Хонгор; ), alternatively known as Ejei ( mn, Эжэй; ; "Ejei" means "lord" in the Mongolian language), (?–1641) was the last khagan of the Northern Yuan dynasty, ruling briefly from 1634 to 1635. He was the so ...

(Erke qongγor eje) returned and was handed over to the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

which soon after established control over

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

.Veit, Veronika (1986): Die mongolischen Völkerschaften: 396-400. In: Weiers, Michael (ed.) (1986): ''Die Mongolen. Beiträge zu ihrer Geschichte und Kultur''. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft: 379-411. Another source on the period would be Di Cosmo, Nicola, and Dalizhabu Bao (2003): ''Manchu-Mongol relations on the eve of the Qing conquest: a documentary history''. Leiden: Brill.

Name

The name is borrowed from the

Classical Tibetan Classical Tibetan refers to the language of any text written in Tibetic after the Old Tibetan period. Though it extends from the 12th century until the modern day, it particularly refers to the language of early canonical texts translated from ot ...

term ''legs-ldan''. There, the letters ''s'' and ''l'' had already become silent, ''g'' before ''d'' could be realized as and ''a'' before ''n'' got palatalized. In Mongolian sources, the most frequent ways to write the name are ''Ligda/en'' and ''Linda/en'', but the intermediate ''Lingda/en'' () does appear as well. ''a'' and ''e'' are not differentiated in normal Mongolian writing in this position, but ''a'' is attested in a strict transcription from Tibetan letters in the chronicle Bolur Erdeni. However, for any Mongolian reader who does not immediately perceive the name to be a loan, the letter ''g'' would (by means of consonant harmony and its interaction with

vowel harmony In phonology, vowel harmony is an assimilatory process in which the vowels of a given domain – typically a phonological word – have to be members of the same natural class (thus "in harmony"). Vowel harmony is typically long distance, mea ...

) indicate that the word only contains front vowels. This must have been perceived in this fashion at the time of i-breaking as well, as this

phonological process A phonological rule is a formal way of expressing a systematic phonological or morphophonological process or diachronic sound change in language. Phonological rules are commonly used in generative phonology as a notation to capture sound-related ...

took place in back-vocalic words only and would have resulted in * had it been . Today, western scholars tend to cling to the written form of the Tibetan word and write ''Ligdan'', while Mongolian scholars will usually write ''Ligden'', both pointing to a possible alternative with ''n''. In Chinese, the name is written as 林丹, the standard

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally writte ...

transcription being ''Líndān''.

Family

Consorts and issue: * Primary consort (苏泰太后), Yehenara Sutai, married later

Jirgalang Jirgalang or Jirhalang (Manchu: 19 November 1599 – June 11, 1655) was a Manchu noble, regent, and political and military leader of the early Qing dynasty. Born in the Aisin Gioro clan, he was the sixth son of Šurhaci, a younger brother of ...

, first son * Primary consort Nangnang (囊囊太后), Abaga Borjigit Namjung, married to Hong Taiji and honoured as Noble Consort Yijing ** Abunai, second son **Shuchai, first daughter (淑侪) * Primary consort Erjei (俄尔哲依太后), married to

Abatai Abatai (Manchu: ; 27 July 1589 – 10 May 1646) was a Manchu prince and military general of the early Qing dynasty. Although an inconsistent and dissolute malcontent, he nevertheless showed considerable ability as a military leader and a ...

as secondary princess consort Raoyumin of the Second Rank * Primary consort Boqi (伯奇太后), personal name Tasina, married to Hooge * Consort Doutumen (窦土门福晋), Abaga Borjigit Batmadzoo, married to Hong Taiji as Consort Shu and given a title of Consort Kanghuishu * Consort Gortumen (郭尔土门福晋), married later Gunchusi Sengge (衮出斯僧格)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Ligdan 1588 births 1634 deaths Mongol khans Northern Yuan rulers 17th-century Mongol rulers 17th-century Chinese monarchs

Name

Life and reign

Name

Family

See also

References