The Treaty of Nerchinsk prevented an alliance between Galdan and the Russians, leaving the Qing free to attack their Mongol rivals.

[8] Fearing a united Mongol state ruled by the hostile Dzungars, the Qing now turned their powerful war machine on the Oirats.

The Yarkent Khanate under Muhammad Amin Khan presented tribute to the Qing dynasty twice to request aid against the Dzungar attack.

The war resulted from a Dzungar attack on the Northern Yuan dynasty based in Outer Mongolia, who were heavily defeated in 1688.

Their rulers and twenty thousand refugees fled south to the Qing dynasty, which feared the growing power of the Dzungar state.

Motivated by the opportunity to gain control over Mongolia and by the threat posed to them by a strong, unified Mongol state such as the Oirats threatened to form, the Qing sent their army north to subdue the Dzungars in 1690.

Although outnumbered 5 to 1, the Dzungars formed a camel wall, beat back a pair of artillery-supported Qing assaults, and escaped into the hills.

The Qing commander claimed victory, but his failure to completely destroy the Dzungar forces led to his dismissal and early retirement.

One, under the command of Fiyanggu, numbering 30,000 and to be reinforced with a further 10,000, was to trap Galdan, while Kangxi personally led 32,000 men, including 235 cannon on camelback.

Galdan's army attacked the western force at the Battle of Jao Modo in May 1696, but was narrowly - albeit decisively- defeated.

The Dzungar army, bereft of artillery, suffered heavily from Chinese musketry and cannon fire,[21] eventually breaking.

On the other hand, Tsewang Rabtan, a long-time anti-Galdan Oirat chief, who had actually provided intelligence to the Qing[9] at several points during the war, succeeded Galdan as Khan of the Dzungars.

[24] In 1642, Güshi Khan, founder of the Khoshut Khanate, overthrew the prince of Tsang and made the 5th Dalai Lama the highest spiritual and political authority in Tibet,[25] establishing the regime known as Ganden Phodrang.

They also viciously destroyed a small force in the Battle of the Salween River which the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty had sent to clear traditional trade routes in 1718.

However, that army was ambushed and annihilated near the Khoton Lake in 1731 and the Qing Empire once again faced the danger of losing control of Mongolia.

[29][30][33] A Khalkha ally of the Qing Empire would finally defeat the Dzungars a year later in 1732 near the Erdene Zuu Monastery in Mongolia.

Amursana suffered several defeats at the hands of Dawachi and was thus forced to flee with his small army to the protection of the Qing imperial court.

In 1755, Qianlong sent the Manchu general Zhaohui, who was aided by Amursana, Burhān al-Dīn and Khwāja-i Jahān, to lead a campaign against the Dzungars.