ABSTRACT
The ethnonym Oirat (Oyirad, Written Mongol vUjirat, Spoken Oirat Öörd ) covers several groups of Western Mongols, originally probably belonging to the tribal confederation of the Hoi-yin Irgen ‘Forest People’, who until the thirteenth century lived south and southwest of Lake Baikal. After Chinggis Khan’s eldest son Jochi attacked the ‘Forest People’ (in 1206-7), the ancient Oirat moved to the steppes of the Altai region and adopted a fully nomadic way of life. In the fifteenth century their descendants emerged as a growing political power known as the Oirat Confederation. Under the rule of Toghon (c.1416-40) and his son Esen (1440-55) the Oirat expanded their territory from the Altai to the Ili (Yili) valley, claiming themselves to be the legitimate heirs of Chinggis Khan’s empire.
