khanate · China, Tibet and Mongolia

Tüsheet Khanate

1580 CE – 1691 CE (approx.) · capital Erdene Zuu

The central and leading Khalkha khanate of Outer Mongolia, whose khans founded Erdene Zuu monastery and whose family produced the first Jebtsundamba Khutughtu.

Origins

The Khalkha Mongols were given by Dayan Khan to his son Geresenje, whose descendants divided them. Abtai, a great-grandson of Dayan Khan, became the leading prince of central Khalkha, met the Third Dalai Lama in 1586 and received the title Khan; his successors took the title Tüsheet Khan.

Rule and society

The khans ruled nomadic subjects along the Orkhon and Tuul valleys through Chinggisid nobles. Abtai Khan founded Erdene Zuu monastery beside the ruins of Karakorum around 1585, a centre of Gelug Buddhism in Mongolia. Zanabazar, son of Tüsheet Khan Gombodorj, became the first Jebtsundamba Khutughtu, the head of Mongolian Buddhism, as well as a famous sculptor.

Decline and legacy

Tüsheet Khan Chikhundorj's war with the Zasagt Khanate in 1687 gave the Dzungar ruler Galdan a pretext to invade; Khalkha refugees fled south, and in 1691 at Dolon Nor the Khalkha princes submitted to the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Empire, becoming a Qing province.

Lineage

Tüsheet KhanateQing Empire 1644 CE – 1912 CE

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Tüsheet Khanate. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/tusheet-khanate
MLA
“Tüsheet Khanate.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/tusheet-khanate. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Tüsheet Khanate.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/tusheet-khanate.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Tüsheet Khanate’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/tusheet-khanate (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻