In ancient times Ordos became the prey of different conquerors, who seized it in turn. In the middle of the fifteenth century A.D. the Mongols made their first appearance here, and afterwards, towards the end of the sixteenth and begfinning of the seventeenth century, it fell under the power of the Chakhars,[1] who soon afterwards acknowledged the supremacy of the Manchu dynasty, which had usurped the throne of China. Ordos was afterwards organised on the same footing as the other nomad districts; and at the present day it is divided into seven banners, which are situated as follows: on the north, Talde and Hangin; on the west, Otok and Zasak; on the south, Ushin; on the east, Djungar, and in the centre, Van (Wang). There are no towns in this country.
As we have stated, Ordos forms a peninsula in the elbow made by the winding of the Hoang-ho. This river, one of the greatest of Eastern Asia, flows from an alpine country south of Lake Koko-nor, winds for a long way between gigantic chains of mountains, and at last at Ho-chau enters the confines of China Proper. From this point, or to speak more correctly from Lang-chau, the course of the Hoang-ho is north by a little east, which direction it preserves through five degrees of latitude. Then its
- ↑ At that time Ordos received its present name; in ancient times this country was called Ho-nan, and still earlier, Ho-tau.
the qualities of a sagacious and energetic ruler with those of an intrepid sportsman, rode through the country from one end to the other, bow in hand, and killed many thousand head of game. (Gerbillon in Duhalde, iv. 463; Ritter, Asien, i. 155; Deguignes, hist. gen. des Huns. i. 142.) — M.
