They might have been
kheshigs of the
Great Khans before
Kublai Khan. The Torghut clan first appeared as an Oirat group in the mid-16th century. After the collapse of the Four Oirat Alliance, the majority of the Torghuts under
Kho Orluk separated from other Oirat groups and moved west to the
Volga region in 1630, forming the core of the
Kalmyks. A few Torghut nobles followed Toro Baikhu Gushi Khan to
Qinghai Lake (Koke Nuur), becoming part of the so-called
Upper Mongols. In 1698, 500 Torghuts went on pilgrimage to
Tibet but were unable to return. Hence, they were resettled in
Ejin River by the
Kangxi Emperor of China's
Qing dynasty. In 1699, 15,000 Torghut households returned from the Volga region to Dzungaria where they joined the
Khoits. After the fall of the
Dzungar Khanate, one of their princes, Taiji Shyiren, fled west to the Volga region with 10,000 families in 1758. The name Torghut or Torgut probably derives from the Mongolian word "torog" meaning literally "
silk". '', 1769 Due to harsh treatment by
Russian governors, most Torghuts eventually migrated back to
Dzungaria and western
Mongolia, departing en masse on January 5, 1771. While the first phase of their movement became the Old Torghuts, the Qing called the later Torghut immigrants "New Torghut". The size of the departing group has been variously estimated between 150,000 and 400,000 people, with perhaps as many as six million animals (cattle, sheep, horses, camels and dogs). Beset by raids, thirst and starvation, approximately 85,000 survivors made it to
Dzungaria, where they settled near the
Ejin River with the permission of the Qing Emperor. In 1906, the Qing put western
Mongolia's New Torghuts under the
Altai district. One New Torghut prince opposed independence in Mongolia and fled to Xinjiang in 1911–12. However, the others were reincorporated into Mongolia's far western
Khovd Province. Torghut forces assisted the Russians in the
Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang. An exhibition in memorial to the Torghut exodus from the Volga to the Qing Empire is found at the
Potala Palace,
Chengde. ==Language==