Bogd Khanate of Mongolia

“”I established our own state before you, Mongols and Chinese have different origins, our languages and scripts are different. You're not the Manchu's descendants, so how can you think China is the Manchu's successor?

— Bogd Khaan to Yuan Shikai

Bogd Khanate of Mongolia was the theocratic regime in Mongolia between declaring independence from Qing Dynasty in the Mongolian Revolution of 1911 and the formation of the Mongolian People's Republic in 1924.

This state was composed of a feudal Khanate, which held its system in place largely with the power of agriculture, as most traditional pastoral societies of East Asia had been. The new Mongolian state was a fusion of very different elements: Western political institutions, Mongolian theocracy, and Qing imperial administrative and political traditions.

History

Founding

The Bogd Khanate was founded in 1911, following the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in China. Taking advantage of the political turmoil and weakening Chinese control, Mongolian nobles, lamas, and the general populace declared independence from China. They invited the eighth Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, a high-ranking Tibetan Buddhist lama, to become their spiritual and temporal leader. Consequently, the Bogd Khan was enthroned as the ruler of the newly established theocratic state, marking the beginning of the Bogd Khanate of Mongolia.

Kyakhta Agreement of 1915

A tripartite conference between the Russian Empire, Republic of China and the Bogd Khan's government convened at Kyakhta in the autumn of 1914.

The Mongolian representative, prime minister Tögs-Ochiryn Namnansüren, was determined to stretch autonomy into de facto independence and to deny the Chinese anything more than vague, ineffectual suzerain powers. The Chinese sought to minimize, if not end, Mongolian autonomy. The Russian position was somewhere in between. The result was the Kyakhta Treaty of June 1915, which recognized Mongolia's autonomy within the Chinese state.

Nevertheless, Outer Mongolia remained effectively outside Chinese control and retained the main features of the state according to the international law of that time.

The Mongolians viewed the treaty as a disaster because it denied the recognition of a truly independent, all-Mongolian state. China regarded the treaty in a similar fashion, consenting only because it was preoccupied with other international problems, especially Empire of Japan.

The treaty did contain one significant feature which the Chinese were later to turn to their advantage; the right to appoint a high commissioner to Urga (now known as Ulaanbaatar) and deputy high commissioners to Uliastai, Khovd City, and Kyakhta. This provided a senior political presence in Mongolia, which had been lacking.

Decline of Russian Influence

In 1913, the Russian consulate in Urga began publishing a journal titled Shine tol' (the New Mirror), aimed at promoting a positive image of Russia. Edited by Buryat-born scholar and statesman Ts. Zhamtsarano, the journal became a platform for advocating political and social change. The first issue angered lamas by denying the world was flat, and another issue sharply criticized the Mongolian nobility for exploiting ordinary people. Russian-sponsored reforms, including medical and veterinary services, faced resistance from the lamas, who viewed these areas as their domain. The Mongols were frustrated by Russian efforts to oversee the use of a second loan and to reform the state budgetary system, believing the first loan had been squandered. Appointed in 1913, Russian diplomat Alexander Miller was poorly received due to his disdain for most Mongolian officials, whom he considered extremely incompetent. Meanwhile, the chief Russian military instructor successfully organized a Mongolian military brigade, which later fought against Chinese troops.

The outbreak of World War I in 1914 forced Russia to focus his energies on Europe. By mid-1915, Russia's military position had deteriorated so much that the government had to neglect his Asian interests. China soon exploited the Russian Empire's distractions, which worsened dramatically following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.

Chinese Attempts to Reintegrate Mongolia

In December 1915, Yuan Shikai, the President of the Republic of China, sent gifts to the Bogd Khaan and his wife. In response, the Bogd Khaan dispatched a delegation of 30 individuals to Beijing, bearing gifts for Yuan: four white horses and two camels, while his wife Ekh Dagina sent four black horses and two camels. Yuan Shikai, now the self-proclaimed ruler of a restored Empire of China, personally received the delegation on February 10, 1916. In China, this was interpreted within the traditional tributary system, where missions with gifts to Chinese rulers were seen as signs of submission. Consequently, Chinese sources claimed that a year later, the Bogd Khaan agreed to participate in an investiture ceremony, a formal Qing ritual where frontier nobles received imperial appointments. Yuan Shikai awarded him China’s highest decoration of merit, and other senior Mongolian princes received significant decorations as well.

Following the 1914 Kyakhta agreement, Yuan Shikai had sent a telegram to the Bogd Khaan, informing him that he was bestowed the title of "Bogd Jevzundamba Khutuktu Khaan of Outer Mongolia" along with a golden seal and diploma. The Bogd Khaan responded by noting that since the title had already been bestowed by the Ikh Juntan, there was no need for it to be granted again, and that the golden seal and diploma were not mentioned in the tripartite agreement, so his government could not accept them. The Bogd Khaan had previously received the golden seal, title, and diploma from the Qing Dynasty.

End of the Khanate

After the Russian Communist Revolution in 1917, Mongolia's political landscape underwent significant changes. The collapse of the Russian Empire and the ensuing civil war left Mongolia in a precarious position. In 1921, with the support of the Soviet Red Army, Mongolian revolutionaries led by Damdin Sükhbaatar overthrew the Bogd Khanate's theocratic government, establishing the Mongolian People's Republic in 1924. The Bogd Khan, the spiritual and temporal leader of Mongolia, remained as a symbolic figurehead until his death in 1924. Following his death, the new communist regime, heavily influenced by Soviet ideology, abolished the monarchy and unfortunately implemented socialist reforms, marking the beginning of a new era of Soviet-aligned communist rule in Mongolia.

Relationships

Friends

• Tibet - Yuo are lucky, yuo have de-facto independence and the Chinese did not target yuo… how??

Neutral

• Russian Empire - Yuo kind of wanted me to have independence from China, but your reforms are no good. But hey, at least the trade deals yuo gave me are fair… right?
• Yuan Shikai - Thanks for titles and gifts, but I am of independent so stop trying to reintegrate me.

Enemies

• Republic of China & Empire of China - I is not Chinese clay! Am independent, get out!
• Mongolian People's Republic - Commie that took me and my family's life.
• Qing Dynasty - I can get out of this declining empire.

How to draw

Flag of the Bogd Khanate

Bogd Khanate of Mongolia has a drawing rating of painstaking.

1. Draw a ball.
2. Fill it with red.
3. Draw a big yellow square attached to the right side of the ball.
4. Fill the yellow square with a bunch of Tibetan characters, in slightly darker yellow so it blends in.
5. Draw the Bogd Khanate coat of arms in the middle of the yellow square.
6. Add three red tentacles, with their tips in a triangular shape, on the right side of the ball. Stack them vertically.
7. Add three white Mongolian symbols on the top tentacle, three yellow ones on the middle one, and three black ones on the bottom one.
8. Add the eyes and you're done!

Color Name		HEX
	Red	#DB1A2E
	Yellow	#FFDA00
	Dark Yellow	#F6AA0C
	Blue	#0066B4
	Dark Blue	#0B2C3D
	Purple	#2C303D
	Green	#1D5617
	Orange	#ED7A17
	White	#FFFFFF
	Black	#000000

Gallery

RegularInformational

• 
  GOOD LORD WHAT IS THAT
• 
  sad Bogd
• 
  angry Bogd
• 
  horrified Bogd
• 
  minor easteregg
• 

• 
  Map of the Bogd Khanate
• 
  An old Bogd Khanate banner, lost lots of colour
• 
  The man himself, Bogd Khaan