Lake Hulun

Lake Hulun, also known as Dalai Nuur, stands among the northeastern Mongolian grasslands, close to the routes of the Kherlen and Urson rivers. Its eastern and western shores became reference points in the Qing organisation of the New Barga banners. These were pastoral and military territories, tying grazing grounds and mobile households to an imperial frontier system.

In 1733 Barga groups belonging to the Khalkha Chechen Khan's domain petitioned to enter the Qing banner establishment. The following year 2,984 soldiers and their families moved into Hulunbuir; 2,400 soldiers were organised into eight banners, divided between two wings. The left wing grazed east of Lake Hulun and along the Urson, Khalkha and lower Hailar rivers. The right wing occupied country west of the lake and along the lower Kherlen, as well as north of Lake Buir. The lake thus lay within a carefully apportioned pastoral landscape, where migration and military service reshaped authority over the surrounding grasslands.