Nearly all China now received the Ming Emperor, and he set about winning what was still under control of the Mongols. That done he intended to follow them to their birthland and take it. The fleeing Mongol Emperor, Togan Timur, did not think himself safe in Shang tu, hence he hurried northward to Ing chang on the bank of Lake Tal, where in 1370 his life came to its end. He had reigned thirty-five years, and was fifty-one years of age.
The Ming forces seized Ing chang and captured Maitilipala, Togan Timur’s grandson, as well as many princes and princesses and distinguished persons who were all taken back to [[411]]China. The heir escaped safely to Kara Kurum, which now became the one capital of the Mongols. On learning that this prince had mustered troops in his homeland and was about to invade China the Ming Emperor in 1372 sent a strong force, under Su ta, to stop him. Su ta marched to the Kerulon River and the Tula, but gained no decided advantage. Kuku Timur, the great Mongol general, died in 1375.
The Mongol heir who died in 1378 had taken the title of Kha kan, White khan, that is Grand Khan. He was followed by his son Tukus Timur, who was complimented by the Ming Emperors on his accession to the sovereignty of the Mongols now driven back to their original home. In succeeding years the troops of this Khan advanced frequently to violate Chinese borders, but in 1388 the new Emperor sent an army against Tukus Timur which defeated him at Buyur lake very thoroughly. His wives, his second son and more than three thousand officers were captured. Tukus Timur was assassinated near the Tula while seeking safety in flight. Yissudar, who did the deed, was a prince of the Emperor’s family, and seized the throne left by him. The ambition of others roused civil war which seemed permanent. After long quarrels and short reigns a prince named Goltsi gained supreme power in 1403. His reign was brief also, for he fell by an assassin and Buin Shara was made Khan to succeed him.
When in 1408 the Emperor of China invited Buin Shara to declare himself a vassal, he refused. A Chinese army now invaded Mongolia, but was defeated near the Tula. Yung lo, the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, advanced with a large army in 1410 to the Kerulon River. Prince Olotai, Buin Shara’s lieutenant, deserted him through ambition, retiring eastward to the Hailar River. Yung lo defeated both the prince and his lieutenant, the first on the Onon, the second on the eastern boundary of Mongolia.
Buin Shara was killed in 1412 by Mahmud, prince of the Uriats, who put Dalbek on the throne of the Mongols.
During two centuries Mongol princes strove unceasingly to regain lost dominion; yielding to China when sufficient force was sent against them, or attacking border provinces of the Empire when those provinces were left unguarded.
Toward the middle of the seventeenth century, when the Ming dynasty was nearing its downfall, the Mongols were divided into [[412]]groups under various small chieftains, each of whom bore the title Khan.
The Kalkas were in the North in the birthland of the Mongols. West of them the lands of the former Naimans and the Uigurs were occupied by the Eleuts; the Chakars, and the Ordos lived in the country between the Great Wall and the Gobi desert. The Manchu dynasty which during 1644 won dominion in China took under its protection first the easternmost Mongols and the Kalkas. Strengthened by them, it conquered the Chakars, and later the Ordos. The Kalkas had preserved thus far independence, but attacked by the Eleuts they found themselves forced to seek aid from the Manchu sovereign of China. In 1691 the Emperor Kang hi received homage from the three Kalka Khans forty leagues north of the Great Wall. At last toward 1760 the Eleuts themselves were reduced, so that most of the Mongols proper are to-day subject to China, while the rest are under the control of Russia.
Remarkable as has been the part played by the Mongols in history the part to be played by them yet may be far greater. How great and how varied it may be and of what character is the secret of the future.
THE END.