Tsogto Taiji

(real name Tsurugul). Born 1581; died 1636. Mongol prince.

Tsogto Taiji held lands in the center of Khalkha; the ruins of his palace are located west of Ulan Bator, on the Tola River. He was a patron of the Red Hat Buddhist sect known as Saskyapa (Sakyapa). On the cliffs near Tukhum Nor have been preserved two carved inscriptions: one contains lyric poems by Tsogto Taiji, and the other is an appeal to the gods that includes a precise date—1624—and a reference to its author.

It has been hypothesized that Tsogto Taiji entered into an alliance with Ligdan Khan, the ruler of the Chahars, in order to conduct a joint campaign against the Manchu conquerors. After being exiled from Khalkha, he took his troops to the Koko Nor area, where he soon became involved in the struggle of the temporal ruler of Tibet against the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, who were the leaders of the Gelugpa, or Yellow Hat, sect. Tsogto Taiji perished in a conflict with the Oirat prince Goshi Khan, who had come to the support of the Dalai Lama.