Title: None [Altai-yin uriyangqai-yin doloGan qosiGun-u nutuG-un jiruG]
“Map of the seven banners of Altai Urianhai”
Date: MongGol ulus-un arban naimaduGar on tabun sarayin qoyar
“Second day of the fifth month in the 18th year of Mongolia (1928)”
Seal: Altai uriyangqai-yin JidgUltU jasaG-un qosiGu-yi jakiruGci tamaG-a
“Seal of the ruler of the Ju'tgelt ruling prince’s banner of Altai Urianhai”
Size: 77 x 95 cm
Material: Chinese paper
Cf. 676 Hs.or.123.(1920) (Heissig 1961: 347-348; Heissig 1978: 5)
References: Сономдагва 1998: 122-125; МУШ 1997 I: 95-96.
Note:
(1) The Itgemjit jasag’s banner identified in the text of the seal was also called “Zu’un Ambany Hoshuu” (左翼大臣旗). The seven Altai Urianhai banners consisted of two wings, each of which had a Sul Amban (literally “a minister without an official post”) and ruled over his own banner. “Zu’un Ambany Hoshuu” thus identifies the banner of the Sul Amban of the Left Wing. The administrative center of this banner was located at the site where Tsagaan Lam Gungaajaltsan constructed the “Soyolyg erhelesen Sum” temple in 1871 (同治10), depicted in the exact center of this map.
(2) The map represents a vast territory that corresponds to the seven banners of Altai Urianhai and even includes Lake Zaisan. However, the annotations on the map (1621 and 1636 in the INDEX BY LOCATION) indicate that the size of this territory was reduced by two border agreements reached between Qing Dynasty China and Russia in 1869 (同治8) and 1883 (光緒9). Moreover, as mentioned with regard to the map of Bulgan Sum of Hovd Aimag (M011), the provisional border between Mongolia and China defined along the Altai Mountains in 1915 divided most banners in Altai Urianhai into two parts, one belonging to China, the other to Mongolia.
(3) This is one of three maps of Altai Urianhai that we are aware of. These three maps present an almost identical arrangement of mountains and rivers. The first map, dated 1913 (МУА 1986: 24), was produced upon Altai Urianhai’s joining the Bogd Haan’s Mongol State. The second, dated 1920 (Heissig 1978: 5), was produced and sent to Beijing after the Chinese government annexed the Altai district to Xinjiang province in June 1919 (民国8) and abolished the Bogd Haan’s regime in November 1919. The third or this map was produced following the establishment of the new banner system in 1927, in which the seven banners of Altai Urianhai were reorganized into two banners.