Zungharian Empire

  General Description   The Zungharian polity was, according to Atwood, ^[1] "the last great independent power of the steppe". The tribal name "Zunghar" first appeared in the seventeenth century, as part of the Oirat confederation of steppe tribes; their rise to dominance within the confederation began under the leadership of Khara-Khula (d. 1634), but it was only in the 1670s, under Galdan, that they officially became the confederacy’s leading tribe, and recognised as such even by the Dail Lama, who gave Galdan the title of Boshogtu Khan. ^[1] At its height, the Zungharian polity included portions of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, western Mongolia, neighbouring areas of southern Siberia, and Xinjiang. ^[2] In 1755, the Qing empire was able to annex the Zungharians following a relatively quick and bloodless military campaign; because the Zungharians had successfully repelled the Chinese army several times before, the cause for this sudden collapse can most likely be found in the conflict between the successors of the last great Zugharian ruler, Galdan-Tseren (d. 1735). ^[3]
Population and political organization
The Zungharian ruler, known as Khung-Taiji, benefited from the support of an office (yamu) or court (zarghu) composed of four chief officials, known as ministers (tüshimed), judges (zarghuchis), or grand councillors (zaisangs). Galdan-Tseren, the only Zungharian ruler to also be known by the title of Khan, added six additional councillors. Each of the tribes that made up the Zungharian-led confederacy (previously known as the Oirat confederacy) and its own ruler who was himself supported by his own councillors, as well as minor functionaries such as standard-bearers and trumpeters. Finally, each tribe was itself subdivided into otogs, which were themselves subdivided into smaller units (of 40 and then 20 households) governed by local commoner officials. ^[4]
Sources say that the Zungharian polity included "200,000 households"; ^[4] with a conservative estimate of 3-8 people per household, the population would therefore have been in the range of 600,000-1,600,000 people.

[1]: (Atwood 2004, 622)

[2]: (Rogers 2012, 236)

[3]: (Atwood 2004, 623-624)

[4]: (Atwood 2004, 421)