Chahar Province is named after the
Chahar, a tribal group of the
Mongols who live in that area. The area was controlled (in part or fully) by various empires that ruled over China's north including the
Han,
Tang,
Liao, and
Jin dynasties. After the unification of the Mongol tribes under
Genghis Khan, the area came under Yuan rule. After the
Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), the area was a battleground between the Ming dynasty and Northern Yuan. Then the Chahar tribe became the personal
appanage of the monarchs of the
Northern Yuan dynasty since the reign of
Batumongke Dayan Khan (r. 1479–1517). By the
Qing dynasty (1644–1912), Chahar was a "Zhangyuan Special Region" (), although Yao Xiguang () proposed making Chahar a province as early as 1908.
Republic of China era In 1913, the second year of the
Republic of China, Chahar
Special Administrative Region was created as a subdivision of
Zhili Province, containing 6
banners and 11
counties: In 1928, it became a province. The last five counties on the above list (starting from Xinghe) were partitioned to
Suiyuan province. And ten counties were included from Xuanhua
Subprefecture (宣化府), Koubei
Circuit (口北道),
Hebei Province: All banners belong to the Shilingol League (, 锡林郭勒盟). From 1937 to 1945, it was occupied by Japan and made a part of
Mengjiang, a Japanese-controlled region led by Mongol Prince
Demchugdongrub of the Shilingol Alliance. The Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Army Alliance (察哈爾民眾抗日同盟軍) was established in Kalgan on May 26, 1933 by
Feng Yuxiang (馮玉祥) and
Ji Hongchang (吉鴻昌).
1948–1952 In 1952, six years after becoming communist, the province was abolished and divided into parts of
Inner Mongolia,
Beijing Municipality and
Hebei. == Geography ==