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Torguud
The Torguud live in Bulgan sum of Xovd aimag, having settled in the Xovd River Valley to the south of the Altai Mountains. There were 12 628 Torguuds living in Mongolia in 2000. The Torguuds originated as the palace guards and bodyguards (torgon cereg) of Tooril Xan of the Kereit tribe at the end of the 12th century; at the beginning of the 13th century they were included in the central Tu'men of the Great Mongol State. Amgalan, a descendant of Tooril, moved from eastern Mongolia to support Togoon Taish; since then the Torguud aimag were included in the Oirad constitution. However their influence and power helped to develop their population and economy, bringing them to the head of one of the four Oirad aimags. At the beginning of the 17th century, most of the Torguud moved west to the Volga River and came to be known as Kalmyk (Xal'mag). Some of the Torguud who had remained in Altai moved to the Xo'xnuur along with the Xoshuut people. When the Manchu Qing forces occupied the Zu'u'ngar Empire, most of the Torguud - who were members of the Oirad constitution - fled towards the Volga River. There they settled amongst previous Torguuds and Do'rvo'ds, although some of these returned to the Altai in 1771. The rulers of the Manchu Dynasty moved them to Xinjiang, where they divided among three different sums, settling near the Xovd and Chingel Rivers, under the control of the Manchu Ministry of Xovd. Two of these three xoshuu sums were made up of Torguud, with the third made up of Xoshuuts. One xoshuu of the Xoshuut tribe had lived among the Torguud for about 230 years, calling themselves Xoshuut although they did not differ from the Torguuds in dialect, traditional customs and other aspects. These three xoshuu united in 1931 to establish Bulgan sum of Xovd aimag.