The Kalmyk Khanate was an Oirat Mongol khanate that ruled over Kalmykia from 1630 to 1771. The Oirats arrived in the lower Volga in 1630 and populated a region formerly owned by the Astrakhan Khanate and not yet colonized by the Russians. The Kalmyks expelled the majority of the native Nogais, and the Oirats raided Russian settlements and were in turn raided by Cossacks abd Bashkirs. The Oirats eventually became subjects of the Tsar, contributing cavalry to Russia's wars with Persia, the Ottoman Turks, the Nogai Horde, the Kuban Tatars, and the Crimean Khanate. The Kalmyk Khanate declined after Ayuka Khan's death in 1724, and the Tsarist government chipped away at the khanate's autonomy until it was abolished in 1771. 200,000 Kalmyks led by Ubashi Khan migrated back towards their homeland of Dzungaria, but only 70,000 made it due to raids, thirst, cold, and starvation. The remaining Kalmyks were placed udner the authority of the Governor of Astrakhan.
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