Amursana (Mongolian ᠠᠮᠤᠷᠰᠠᠨᠠᠭ᠎ᠠ; Chinese: 阿睦爾撒納; 1723 – 21 September 1757) was an 18th-century taishi (太师; 太師) or prince of the Khoit-Oirat tribe that ruled over parts of Dzungaria and Altishahr in present-day northwest China.

Amursana's mother, Boitalak (博託洛克) was the daughter of Tsewang Rabtan, leader of the Dzungar-Oriat tribe following the death of Galdan Boshugtu Khan.

Following Danjung's death c. 1717, allegedly at the hands of his father-in-law, Boitalak married Amursana's father, a taisha or crown prince of the Khoit-Oirat clan.

[2] Although a Khoit, Lama Dorji's only opposition came from the Dzungar Khan, Dawachi, grandson of Khong Tayiji Tsewang Rabtan's cousin Tsering Dhondup (大策凌敦多布).

Before the expedition to Ili had set out and fearing the rise of a new Mongolian empire, Qianlong had proclaimed that the four Oirat clans of Dzungaria would be resettled in their own territory each with their own Khan appointed directly by Beijing.

Amursana was instructed to return to Beijing but sensing danger, he escaped from his escort en route to the Qing imperial resort of Chengde on 24 September 1755.

Amursana escaped and fled to the Kazakh Khanate where his father-in-law, Ablai Khan, refused to hand him over, despite the threat of a Qing invasion of his territory.

Before dealing with Amursana, the majority of Qianlong's forces were reassigned to ensure stability in Khalka until Chingünjav's army was crushed by the Qing in a ferocious battle near Lake Khövsgöl in January, 1757.

[9] The Chinese demanded the return of the fugitive and his followers under the terms of Article X to the Treaty of Kiakhta, but the Russians hid the facts behind his flight and death hoping to gain leverage through the possession of his body.

[9] After a long period of wrangling, the Russians finally agreed to ship Amursana's frozen body from Tobolsk to Kiakhta for viewing but refused a request that it be handed over for "posthumous punishment"; they instead buried it.

[10] Repeated Qing requests to St. Petersburg for the return of Amursana's corpse were rebutted by the Russians on the grounds that their amicable relations should not be upset by "a few rotten bones".

[9] Qianlong's obsession with the matter appears to have been influenced by his grandfather Kangxi's treatment of the body of his arch-enemy Galdan Boshugtu Khan, whose head was placed on public display and his ashes crushed on the military parade ground in the Chinese capital.

[11] On 18 October 1768, both parties signed an amendment to Article X of the Treaty of Kiakhta in the Russian, Manchu and Mongol languages prescribing punishments that would apply to future criminals, including defectors.