Degei Confederation
The Degei Confederation also known in other sources as the Ulus Ayanga was a Degei state founded and ruled by Ayanga Khan and his descendants in the early 8th century after establishing his dominance over the Degei tribes. The Confederation was an important player in central and southern Dolong for most of its existence, its history and that of the Degei people being firmly intertwined. It was known as the Ching dynasty during the 9th and 10th centuries and its elites began a process of acculturation with Daxian culture and practices. The state eventually fell under the direct influence of the Qian dynasty and lost its independence by 1355. Most of its former territory is today part of the countries of Daxia, Canpei and Huoxia.
Degei Confederation | |
|---|---|
| 701-1355 | |
 Flag | |
| Capital | Khovil |
| Religion | Paganism |
| Government | Monarchy |
| Khan of the White Waste | |
| Legislature | Koroltai |
History
Formation
The Degei tribes have inhabited the central grasslands of Dolong since at least the year 550 CE when they are theorized to have arrived from northwest Audonia in a migration. The Degei tribes were warlike and lived in a state of constant contention with one another for resources such as grazing lands and access to water. The Degei were known to the Liang kingdom, there are numerous Liang written sources for raids across the Hongse river by the former on Liang towns. The Shang dynasty also established contacts with the tribes directly and at times employed them as mercenary troops, especially in its conquest of the Liang kingdom. In 676 the chieftain of the Badai tribe, Ebugen, rallied a coalition of six tribes for an attack on Daxian frontier territories. The first Shang emperor Cao Kun dispatched the eunuch Ma Fuyeng to establish a series of forts on the northern approaches of the Hexi Corridor to deter further attacks. The largest of these fortresses was dubbed Daopian and from there Ma Fuyeng exerted a tenuous hold on the southern marshes of modern day Huoxia and checked the power of Ebugen's coalition. In 679 Ebugen raided and subsequently destroyed the settlements that had started to form around Daopian and attempted to invest the fortress, later being defeated in open battle by a Shang relief army. Ebugen and the other Degei chiefs were forced to abase themselves before Shang and were forced to accept the humiliating Treaty of Daopian. The treaty stipulated the Degei would become tributaries of the Shang dynasty, henceforth they were forbbiden from raiding imperial lands or taking any imperial subject as slaves, they would migrate beyond the Urgal river and settle there, leaving the southern Tanhai plain for Shang colonization. In addition they would be charged with supplying cavalrymen to serve in Shang armies when called upon.
The humiliating defeat of Ebugen and the tribes allied to him weakened them greatly and threw the Degei prevailing balance of power into chaos. Almost immediately the chief of the small Duwa tribe and grandfather of Ayanga Khan, Mengu, began attacking Ebugen's weakened allies and taking their lands. Mengu married a woman from the Buzan tribe to make an alliance with them, now outnumbering Ebugen's Badai tribe, he defeated and killed Ebugen in battle and forced the surviving Badai to join him. The advance of the Duwa tribe was halted when Mengu rode his horse off a cliff while drunk and died, starting an internecine war between his three adult sons for control of the tribe. Esim, Baidar and Oboi (Ayanga's father) fought for three years until only Esim was left. Ayanga and the rest of Oboi's immediate family members were exiled by his uncle Esim, they took refuge with Ayanga's Badai relatives. Esim would stop his father's campaign of subjugation of the other tribes, Mengu's death was seen as an ill omen and punishment for his ambition. Instead he began a persecution of his dead brother's supporters inside the Duwa tribe and spent the rest of his time in leisure; hunting, drinking and whoring.