Chahar Province


Chahar, also known as Chaha'er, Chakhar or Qahar, was a province of the Republic of China in existence from 1912 to 1936, mostly covering territory in what is part of Eastern Inner Mongolia. It was named after the Chahar Mongolians.

Administration and history

Chahar Province is named after the Chahar, a tribal group of the Mongols who live in that area. Before the unification of the Mongol tribes under Genghis Khan, the area had seen intermittent Chinese influence over the native Mongols. After the Yuan dynasty, the area was only intermittently controlled by China. The Chahar had become the personal appanage of the Khagans of Mongolia since the reign of Batumongke Dayan Khan. By the Qing dynasty, Chahar was not yet a Chinese province, but "Zhangyuan Special Region", although Yao Xiguang proposed making Chahar a province as early as 1908.
In 1913, the second year of the Republic of China, Chahar Special Administrative Region was created as a subdivision of Zhili Province, containing 6 Banners and 11 counties:
In 1928, it became a province. The last five counties on the above list were partitioned to Suiyuan province. And ten counties were included from Xuanhua Subprefecture, Koubei Circuit, Hebei Province:
All banners belong to the Shilingol League.
From 1937 to 1945, it was occupied by Japan and made a part of Mengjiang, a Japanese-controlled region led by Mongol Prince Demchugdongrub of the Shilingol Alliance. The Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Army Alliance was established in Kalgan on May 26, 1933 by Feng Yuxiang and Ji Hongchang.

1948–1952

In 1952, six years after becoming communist, the province was abolished and divided into parts of Inner Mongolia, Beijing Municipality and Hebei.
NameAdministrative SeatSimplified ChineseHanyu PinyinSubdivisions
ZhangjiakouZhangjiakou张家口市Zhāngjiākǒu Shìnone
DatongDatong大同市Dàtóng Shìnone
Yanbei DivisionDatong County雁北专区Yànběi Zhuānqū13 counties
Qanan DivisionXuanhua County察南专区Chánán Zhuānqū11 counties
Qabei DivisionZhangbei County察北专区Cháběi Zhuānqū9 counties

Geography

Chahar Province was divided north-south by the Great Wall, with North Chahar being the larger in area and South Chahar, with the capital, Zhangjiakou, being far larger in population. It had an area of. In North Chahar most of the land was part of the northeastern extension of the Gobi Desert.

Bordered