Key Facts
- Duration
- 1634 – 1758
- Geographic extent
- Southern Siberia to Tibet; west Mongolia to Kazakhstan
- Peak population
- ~600,000
- Population loss at collapse
- 70–80% killed during Qing conquest (1755–1758)
- Core territory
- Dzungaria (northern Xinjiang)
Imperial Zenith Metrics
Historical Trajectory
Phase I: Rise
Around 1620, the western Mongols known as the Oirats united in the Junggar Basin of Dzungaria. The Dzungar tribe rose to dominance among the Oirats, and in 1678 the Dalai Lama granted leader Galdan the title of Boshogtu Khan. Between 1680 and 1688, the Dzungars expanded aggressively, conquering the Tarim Basin in southern Xinjiang and defeating the Khalkha Mongols to the east, establishing the khanate as a formidable Central Asian power.
Phase II: Zenith
At its greatest extent the khanate stretched from southern Siberia in the north to Tibet in the south, and from western Mongolia to present-day Kazakhstan. The Dzungars controlled critical Silk Road trade routes through the Tarim Basin and exercised influence over Tibetan religious politics. In 1717 they demonstrated their reach by conquering Tibet, briefly making the khanate one of the most expansive nomadic states of its era.
Phase III: Decline
Repeated military defeats by the Qing dynasty eroded Dzungar power, beginning with Galdan's defeat in 1696 and the loss of Outer Mongolia. Internal civil war in the 1750s gave the Qing an opening to invade Dzungaria from 1755 to 1758, resulting in a systematic destruction that killed 70–80% of the Dzungar population. The khanate's collapse enabled Qing consolidation of Mongolia and Tibet and the creation of Xinjiang as an administrative province.
Notable Imperial Reigns
Selected rulers mapping the empire’s trajectory