Galdan Boshugtu Khan
Attempts by the Qing court to maintain an uneasy peace between the eastern Khalkha and western Dzungar-Oirat Mongols ultimately collapsed when in 1687 forces loyal to the Khalkha Tüsheet Khan killed the brother of the Dzungar Mongol leader Galdan Boshugtu Khan in battle as he attempted to support the rival Zasaghtu Khalkha tribe. In defiance of orders from the Kangxi Emperor and the 5th Dalai Lama, Galdan swept eastward into Khalka territory in 1688, forcing the Khalkha Buddhist spiritual leader, Jebtsundamba Khutuktu Zanabazar and nearly 20,000 Khalkha refugees to flee south into present day Inner Mongolia and seek the protection of the Kangxi Emperor.