Degei Confederation

Degei Confederation
861-1355
Flag
Capital	Khovil
Religion	Paganism
Government	Monarchy
Khan of the White Waste
Legislature	Koroltai

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 9th 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.

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.