Overview
Ubashi, son of Donduk Dashi, led the Kalmyk return of 1771, one of the great migrations of the steppe. Facing Russian settlement on their pastures and tighter Russian control, he and the nobles decided to take their people back to the Dzungarian lands their ancestors had left a century and a half before.
Rise to Power
He succeeded his father in 1761 at seventeen. Russia limited his authority, among other things by changing the Kalmyk council, the zarga, in 1762.
Rule and Achievements
- Led Kalmyk troops for Russia on the Caucasus front of the Russo-Turkish war of 1768–1774
- On 5 January 1771 set out from the Volga with the Kalmyks of the left bank; those on the right bank could not cross the unfrozen river and stayed
- Lost a large part of his people to attacks, cold, hunger and thirst crossing the Kazakh steppe; estimates of those who set out range from 140,000 to 170,000, and fewer than half reached the Ili
Legacy
The Qing received the survivors as subjects in July 1771. The Qianlong emperor gave Ubashi the title Zorigtu Khan and made him head of the Old Torghut banners. In October 1771 Catherine II abolished the Kalmyk Khanate. Ubashi died in 1774.