Amban

Amban (Manchu and Mongol: Амбан Amban, Tibetan: ཨམ་བན་am ben, Chinese: 昂邦, Uighur:ئامبان་am ben) is a Manchu language term meaning "high official" (Chinese: 大臣; pinyin: dàchén), corresponding to a number of different official titles in the imperial government of Qing China.

The most well-known ambans were the Qing imperial residents (Manchu: Seremšeme tehe amban; Chinese: 駐紮(劄)大臣 Zhùzhá Dàchén; Tibetan: Ngang pai) in Tibet, Qinghai, Mongolia and Xinjiang, which were territories of Qing China, but were not governed as regular provinces and retained many of their existing institutions.

Their duties included acting as intermediary between China and the Hindu kingdom of Nepal (Ghorkhas Country); a secretary (夷情章京; Yíqíng zhāngjīng) dealt with native affairs.

The Qing imperial resident in Tibet was introduced in 1727 and most ambasa were appointed from the Manchu Eight Banners, a few were Han Chinese or Mongol.

Between 1761 and 1865, the Qing Empire appointed an imperial resident (Manchu: hebei amban; Chinese: zǒnglǐ huíjiāng shìwù cānzàn dàchén 總理回疆事務參贊大臣) to Altishahr, which today forms part of southern Xinjiang.

After the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912, the Manchu amban was expelled by Mongol forces, fleeing to China proper via Russia.