Zuugin Ulaan Baatar and Shaliwan Gegen
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Zuugin Ulaan Baatar, a Torghut hero in the Volga region, earned acclaim for safeguarding pilgrimages from the Volga to Tibet, ensuring their protection regardless of the group’s size. Therefore, he gained the title of the hero of Zuu due to his unwavering dedication. Besides his role in escorting pilgrimages, he undertook a heroic mission to rescue his two cousins from captivity in Russia. When Torghut children were taken by Russians, claiming they were being taught Russian language, culture, and the like, Zuugin Ulaan Baatar ventured into Russian territory to reclaim his two cousins, Shabarch and Shirev, who were instead engaged in heavy work for the Russians. In 1771, with his two cousins, Zuugin Ulaan Baatar successfully migrated to Hobogsair along with Tsebegdorj. Unfortunately, when he passed away years later in Hobogsair, his son, Bachgai, who was five years old disappeared without trace soon afterwards. About fifteen years later, a Torghut camel caravan near Tarbagatai discovered a child who speaks fluent Mongolian and Kazakh, claiming himself as Bachgai, in a Kazakh family named Markawa. After a deep discussion with his parents, the caravan team observed that Markawa had stolen the boy from Hobogsair and raised him bilingually in Kazakh and Mongolian. Subsequently, the caravan team then brought him back to Hobogsair, where he lived and later served as a Güjdei, secretary of Wang Noyan, at his early twenties, earning praise as a living Boddhisatva next to Shaliwan Gegen. Zuugin Ulaan Baatar’s cousins, Shabarch and Sharav and their descendants have spent their lives in Hobogsair to this day. They are Shabarch, Güngei, Batnasun and Badgai. Sharav, Amurbat, Darma, Muga, Perlei, and Getsel. Bachigai’s descendants include Bachigai, Jav, Beheish, and Batai. Batai’s son recognised the Fifteenth Shaliwan Gegen in 2022. These three families formed an Arav (Tenth) in Ihkh Jüün Sum, Wang Banner. As the Güzdei of the fourteen Sums of Torghuts in Hobogsair, a position akin to the vice magistrate of a county today, Bachgai played a crucial role as assistant to Maam Noyan and the Thirteenth Shaliwan Gegen. However, a unique incident occurred during his term. When Bachgai was a Güzdei in Hobogsair, the Torghut population of Ikh Jüün Sum increased extraordinarily, causing other leaders to struggle in control them properly, and consequently, he moved to the Horigdag Mountain valley to administer these young generations. However, upon his arrival at the new location, he foresaw that Kazakhs from Altai were coming to Hobogsair with abundant gifts, including a yearling colt to Maam Noyan and a sheep for Shaliwan Gegen. They were also seeking winter pasture from Maanit, the east border of Hobogsair. Realizing this, he returned the following night. At dawn, Bachgai hurriedly returned to Shaliwan Gegen and informed him that he should avoid esponding to their request, making excuses about only being responsible for religious affairs. As a result of this unexpected visit from Bachgai and his suggestion, Shaliwan Gegen was angered by the prediction, thinking that this Güzdei was playing the role of a living Buddha. Before his anger disappeared, Shaliwan Gegen witnessed over a hundred Kazakhs come to visit him with the predicted gifts and requests, and he responded exactly as instructed by Bachgai. Later, he commented on this accident, stating that Markawa’s Ulaan, a nick name of Bachgai, always seemed to be one step ahead of him. Of the many actions and policies, he had taken as the Güjdei alongside Noyan, Bachgai gained renown for his relentless efforts in protecting the territory of Hobogsair from external threats, particularly Kazakh invaders. His unwavering opposition to these incursions earned him not only the admiration from Torghuts in Hobogsair but also the curses from his enemies, who believed that his strong stance led to the birth of disabled offspring. During the turbulent era of Maam Noyan, marked by instability, Kazakh bandits posed a persistent threat, coming from both the Altai and Tarbagatai directions. From Tarbagatai, Kazakhs who escaped from Russia pushed towards the pasturelands of Torghut herders in Hobogsair and, despite Bachgai’s repeated attempts to peacefully convince them to leave, dozens of Kazakhs forcefully settled in the Mountains over Namin Gol, displacing Torghuts and causing frequent conflicts. Taking advantage of the black dog year Zud, a winter disaster, Bachgai gathered over four hundred horse herds and drove them to the Mountains invaded by Kazakh bandits, attempting to negotiate an exchange – letting them to pasture Torghut’s horse herds in return for borrowing lands from Hobogsair. These Kazakhs instead responded with aggression, immediately driving away the herds and harming Torghut herders with over fifty strong men. Recognizing the escalating threat, Bachgai, bearing his Noyan’s signature, rallied four of his heroes – Chonjin Molj, Taivgai, Ombain Buurch, and Moka – to confront the Kazakhs, and subdued the fifty strong Kazakh bandits and furiously expelled them from Hobogsair in the middle of winter, crossing the Namin Gol River. During this expulsion, however, a Kazakhs elder persistently chanted some black spells and curses and cut the heads of black sheep along their path. Soon after this incident, Bachgai’s two sons, Gombo and Batkhishig, became neurologically disordered, believed to be the result of the Kazakh curse. Years later, in pursuit of a cure, Bachgai sought medicine and guidance from Lhasa. He pleaded his case to the Dalai Lama, asserting that his actions were for the benefit of the fourteen Sum Torghuts rather than personal gain, in an attempt to rescue his family from the Kazakh curse. Eventually, the Dalai Lama intervened, redirecting the curse to affect Bachgai’s female descendants instead of harming his male descendants. This affliction disappeared after one more generation.