Chahar (province)

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Chahar (Цахар, 察哈爾 Cháhār), also known as Chaha'er, Chakhar, or Qahar, was a province of China in existence from 1912 to 1936, mostly covering the territory of what is now Inner Mongolia. It was named after the Chahar Mongolians.

Abbreviation: 察
Capital: Zhangjiakou Subprefecture (張家口廳 Zhāngjiākǒu Tīng), also known as the Zhang Capital (張垣 Zhāng Yuān), and referred in some older Western literature as Kalgan (хаапга: Mongolian for gate). (Now Zhangjiakou City, Hebei)
Chairman: Zhang Zizhong (張自忠)

[edit] Administration and history

Chakhar is a group of the Mongols.

Chakhar was originally one of estates of Khubilai located around Jingzhao (now Xian). The Chakhar people moved from Shaanxi to Southeastern Mongolia in the 15th century. Chakhar became a tümen under Dayan Khan and was led by his successors.

Oppressed by Altan Khan, Chakhar, led by Daraisun Küdeng Khan, moved eastward onto the Liao River in the middle 16th century. In the early 17th century Ligden Khan (Лигдэн хаан) made an expedition to the west because of the Manchu pressure. When he died in Gansu on his way to Tibet, his son surrendered to the Manchus.

The Chakhar royal family kept favorable relations with the Manchu imperial family until Manchu Princess Makata (固伦溫莊長公主:馬喀塔), who was a daughter of Hong Taiji and married to the Chakhar prince, died in 1663. When the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories erupted in 1673, the Chakhar prince revolted against the Qing Dynasty. He was soon crushed and, as a result, Chakhar was reorganized into the Chakhar Eight Banners. Chakhar did not belong to a league (чуулга,chuulghan) but was directly controlled by the Emperor.

In the Qing Empire, Chahar was not a province, but a Special Region called Zhangyuan (張垣特區), although Yao Xiguang (姚錫光) proposed making Chahar a province in his "A Humble Suggestion on Planning of Mongolia" (《籌蒙芻議》 Choú Méng Chú Yì).

In 1913, the second year of the Republic of China, Chahar Special Administrative Region was created as a subdivision of Zhili (直隸) Province, containing 6 Banners and 11 counties:

Zhāngbèi (張北)
Duōlún (多倫)
Gǔyuán (沽源)
Shāngdū (商都)
Bǎochāng (寶昌)
Kāngbǎo (康保)
Xīnghé (興和)
Táolín (陶林)
Jíníng (集寧)
Fēngzhēn (豐鎮)
Liángchéng (涼城)

In 1928, it became a province. The last five counties on the above list (starting from Xinghe) were partitioned to Suiyuan. And 10 counties were included from Xuanhua Subprefecture (宣化府), Koubei Circuit (口北道), Hebei Province:

Xuānhuà (宣化)
Chìchéng (赤城)
Wànquán (萬全)
Huáilái (懷來)
Wèi (蔚)
Yángyuán (陽原)
Lóngguān (龍關)
Yánqìng (延慶)
Huáiān (懷安)
Zhuōlù (涿鹿)

All banners belong to the Shilingol Alliance (Шилийн гол чуулга, 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 Prince Demchugdongrub 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 in May 26, 1933 by Feng Yuxiang (馮玉祥) and Ji Hongchang (吉鴻昌).

In 1952, six years after becoming communist, the province was abolished and divided into parts of Inner Mongolia, Beijing Municipality, and Hebei.