Qing legislation on the delimitation of the lands of aimags and banners in Northern Mongolia in the 18th–19th centuries

Abstract

The article describes the legislation on the delimitation of the territories of aimags and banners operating in the Northern (Khalkh) Mongolia in the XVIII–XIX centuries during the period of its being part of the Qing Empire. The adoption of these standards was aimed at creating the legal prerequisites for planting in Mongolia the system of administrative-territorial division, in charge of the political interests of the Imperial authorities. Responsibility for approving and monitoring compliance with the order of the territories` delimitation were within the competence of the Central government of the Qing Empire. The intersection of the approved border lines without official authorization were banned for all Mongols, including representatives of higher social strata. However, the Qing legislation awakened among the population of Mongolian aimags and banners the desire for better synchronization of their economic and social activities with a well-defined geographical area. The mechanism of such synchronization has acted largely through the efforts implemented by the representatives of Khalkh nobility. Their administrative authority and management options, but not the power of arms (as it was in Mongolia before the Qing period), became the main force that guaranteed the ownership and disposition of the pasture lands. As a result the social status of the Khalkh princes acquired additional weight, and their administrative powers in relation to subordinate population have been filled with new important content, unusual for nomadic traditions, that existed before the Qing period. It follows that the Mongolian land law reform in fact led to the consequences which in many respects was contrary to the political interests of the Qing Empire authorities, by whom those reforms were initiated.