Kalmyk Khanate

The Kalmyk Khanate was an Oirat Mongol khanate on the Eurasian steppe, formed when Torghut and other Oirat groups encamped on the lower Volga in 1630. Its lands stretched across modern Kalmykia and neighbouring parts of the North Caucasus, from south of Saratov to the Russian garrison at Astrakhan, on both banks of the Volga. The newcomers displaced much of the Nogai Horde, whose people fled to the North Caucasian plain and the Black Sea steppe, while those who remained became their vassals. Relations with Muscovy were ambiguous: the Oirats swore oaths of loyalty and supplied cavalry for Russian campaigns against the Crimean Tatars, the Ottoman Empire and the Caucasus highlanders, yet governed themselves under the Great Code of the Nomads promulgated in 1640. Trade with Russian border towns, Qing China and Muslim neighbours brought prosperity, and under Ayuka Khan (1672-1724) the khanate reached the height of its military power. After his death, factional disputes and Russian encroachment eroded autonomy. In the winter of 1770-1771 Ubashi Khan led some 170,000 Kalmyks back towards Dzungaria; only about 70,000 survived the journey. In October 1771 Catherine II abolished the khanate and transferred its government to the governor of Astrakhan.