Ejei Khan

Ejei Khongghor or Ejei Khan (?–1661) was the son of Ligdan Khan, the last in the Borjigin clan of Mongol Khans, who once established the Mongol Empire in the 13th century. The Northern Yuan dynasty, existed as remnants of the Yuan dynasty retreating north to Mongolia homeland after 1368, had formally came to the end at this time.

History

By the early 17th century the Borjigin clan had lost nearly all of its power. After his father died in 1634, Ejei Khan and his mother were surrounded by over ten thousand Jurchen cavalry in a surprise attack in February, 1635. Weighing their options, Ejei and his mother decided to surrender and was said to give the imperial seal of the Yuan rulers to Hong Taiji and the title of Great Khan passed to the Manchu Emperors, who founded the Qing dynasty. Ejei then followed the Manchu court's order to ask the remnants of the Mongol clan still fighting the Manchu to lay down their arms and surrender, and he did so successfully. In March, 1636, all resistance ceased and Mongol chieftains from a total of sixteen clans and forty-nine subclans gathered at the Manchu capital, gave their allegiance to Hong Taiji, officially marking the end of the rule of the Borjigin clan. For his contribution, Ejei was awarded the rank of Prince (Qin Wang, 親王), a title he held until his death in 1661, and inherited by his younger brother Abunai (阿布奈).

Abunai (阿布奈) openly showed his discontent toward the Manchu and he was put under house arrest in Shenyang by the Kangxi Emperor in 1669 and his imperial title / rank was given to his son Borni (布尔尼) in September of that same year. Borni (布尔尼) was careful to not show any sign of disrespecting the Qing dynasty, but finally in 1675, he suddenly rebelled along with his younger brother Lubuzung (罗布藏), capitalizing on the Revolt of the Three Feudatories. However, they had made a serious miscalculation in wrongfully believing that other Mongols would join them, when in reality only three thousand Chahar Mongols joined the rebellion. It only took a single decisive battle on April 20, 1675 to defeat Abunai (阿布奈) and his followers, who were all killed subsequently in their retreat. The Qing dynasty's punishment of the rebellion was very harsh: all royal males of Chahars were executed, including infants born to Qing / Manchu princesses, and all royal females of Chahars were sold to slavery except these Qing / Manchu princesses.

See also

• List of khans of the Northern Yuan dynasty