Dayan Khan Reorganizes the Mongols

Timeline

1. c. 1508–1509Around the Eight White Shrines, Ordos · OrdosIn his early years Dayan Khan had defeated the Oirats and subdued the East Mongol tribes, largely completing reunification after the Northern Yuan's fragmentation. To bring the right wing under direct Borjigin rule, he appointed his second son Ulasbolod as Jinong. The Oirat lord Ebbaja and Ordos lord Mandulai refused to accept this; after a clash at the Eight White Shrines they killed the Jinong, and the right wing openly rebelled.
2. c. 1510Daran Tereljün · Mongolian PlateauDayan Khan personally led the left-wing Chahar, Khalkha, Uriyangkhad, and Khorchin tribes westward on campaign. His third son Barsbolod broke away from the right wing to join the fight. The left wing shattered the right with a "bull formation"; Ebbaja and Mandulai fled with remnants to Qinghai. The reconquest of the Three Tümen of the Right Wing was the military precondition for implementing the six-tümen system.
3. c. 1510–1512Mongolian Plateau · Mongolian PlateauDayan Khan made Barsbolod the new Jinong, ruling the right-wing Ordos, Tümed, and Oirat; the Great Khan personally held the left-wing Chahar, Khalkha, and Uriyangkhad. The tais, chancellors, and court officials of non-Borjigin lords were abolished, and their territories were reassigned to Borjigin sons. The six tümen became the basic political-military organization of East Mongolia, institutionalizing the loose reaggregation that followed the Northern Yuan's collapse.