Manlaibaatar Damdinsüren (, ''first hero Damdinsüren'', ; March 13, 1871 – January 27, 1921), born Jamsrangiin Damdinsüren (), was a military commander, Pan-Mongolist and diplomat who led Mongolia's struggle for independence in 1911. A Barga Mongol, Damdinsüren was born on March 13, 1871, in

Hulunbuir Hulunbuir or Hulun Buir, ''Hūlúnbèi'ěr''; , ''Khulunbuir'' is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Inner Mongolia, China. Its administrative center is located at Hailar District, its largest urban area. Major scenic features are the high ...

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

. At the age of seven he began to learn

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

and Mongolian writing. In 1908 he officially inherited his father's rank Zhang. While visiting the imperial court in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

he met with Prince Mijiddorjiin Khanddorj with whom he first broached the idea of overthrowing the

domination of Outer Mongolia. In 1911 he and other Mongolian nobility and high ranking Buddhist lamas participated in a secret congress in Ikh Khüree convened by Mongolia's religious leader, the

Jebtsundamba Khutuktu The Jebtsundamba Khutuktu; ; "Venerable Excellent incarnate lama" or Khalkha Jetsün Dampa Rinpoche is a title given to the spiritual head of the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia. They also hold the title of ''Bogd Gegeen'', making ...

, to formulate a declaration of independence from Manchu Chinese rule. Once the declaration was issued, Damdinsüren helped mobilize thousands of soldiers, seized the northern Inner Mongolian city of Hailar and offered his allegiance to the

Bogd Khan Bogd Khan (13 October 1869 – 20 May 1924) was the khan of the Bogd Khanate of Mongolia from 1911 to 1924, following the state's ''de facto'' independence from the Qing dynasty of China after the Xinhai Revolution. Born in Tibet, he was the ...

. Under the

's government he served as counselor first class of the ministry of the army and then Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. In August 1912, his forces combined with those of Khatanbaatar Magsarjav and Ja Lama to liberate the city of Khovd in western Mongolia from Chinese occupation, for which he received the honorary title of ''Manlaibaatar'' ("Leader hero") and the princely title "beyle." . On February 2, 1913 Damdinsüren was one of the signatories to the Treaty of friendship and alliance between the Government Mongolia and Tibet in which the two countries declared mutual recognition and allegiance. Later that month he commanded troops (including a young Darizavyn Losol) in a series of battles against Chinese forces in Inner Mongolia around Mongolia's south east border that climaxed in an unsuccessful assault on the city of

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the Capital (political), capital of Inner Mongolia in the North China, north of the China, People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrativ ...

. From September 1914 to June 1915, Damdinsüren represented the interests of Inner Mongolia at Russian-Chinese-Mongolian negotiations that resulted in the 1915 Treaty of Kyakhta which outlined, among other issues, Mongolia's geopolitical status. In 1919, Damdinsüren began a rapprochement with the Mongolian revolutionaries. Damdinsuren said "I can defend Mongolia from China and Red Russia" after Chinese occupation of 1919. He was arrested by Chinese occupation authorities in the autumn of 1920. In prison, he was tortured by Chinese authorities for 107 days, but never kneeled down to the Chinese,youtube,tengu media(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HU9c-lJXlLk) and in fact died standing up in prison in Niislel Khüree in January 1921. Manlaibaatar Damdinsüren street in

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...

is named in his honor.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Manlaibaatar Damdinsuren 1871 births 1921 deaths People from Hulunbuir Mongolian military personnel Deaths by firearm in Mongolia Mongolian people who died in prison custody Mongolian diplomats Qing dynasty people