History

By the early 17th century, the Borjigin clan had lost nearly all of its power. After his father died in 1634, Ejei and his mother were surrounded by over ten thousand Later Jin cavalry in a surprise attack in February 1635. Weighing their options, Ejei and his mother decided to surrender and was said to have given the imperial seal of the Yuan dynasty to Hong Taiji. In 1636, Hong Taiji, who inherited the title of Great Khan, formally proclaimed the Qing dynasty. Ejei then followed the Qing court's order to ask the remnants of the Mongols still resisting the Qing to lay down their arms and surrender, and he did so successfully. In March, 1636, all resistance ceased and Mongol chieftains from a total of sixteen clans and forty-nine subclans gathered at Mukden, gave their allegiance to Hong Taiji, officially marking the end of the rule of the Borjigin clan. For his contribution, Ejei was awarded the rank of Prince (Qin Wang, 親王), a title he held until his death in 1641, and inherited by his younger brother Abunai (阿布奈).

Abunai (阿布奈) openly showed his discontent toward the Qing dynasty and he was put under house arrest in Shenyang by the Kangxi Emperor in 1669 and his imperial title / rank was given to his son Borni (布尔尼) in September of that same year. Borni (布尔尼) was careful to not show any sign of disrespecting the Qing dynasty, but finally in 1675, he suddenly rebelled along with his younger brother Lubuzung (罗布藏), capitalizing on the Revolt of the Three Feudatories. However, they had made a serious miscalculation in wrongfully believing that other Mongols would join them, when in reality only three thousand Chahar Mongols joined the rebellion. It only took a single decisive battle on April 20, 1675 to defeat Abunai (阿布奈) and his followers, who were all killed subsequently in their retreat. The Qing dynasty's punishment of the rebellion was very harsh: all royal males of Chahars were executed, including infants born to Qing princesses, and all royal females of Chahars were sold to slavery except these Qing princesses.

生平

投降後金

1634年夏旬，父親林丹汗在逃亡青海途中，在甘肅大草灘因常年戎馬征戰身體每況愈下而去世。1635年4月13日，後金大汗皇太極派多爾袞、岳托、薩哈璘和豪格率軍遠征察哈爾餘部，前往鄂爾多斯尋找額爾克孔果爾。1635年6月12日，額爾克孔果爾與母親蘇泰太后獻出一枚「制誥之寶」的傳國玉璽投降，蘇泰太后成為後金鄭親王濟爾哈朗的嫡福晉，大蒙古國正式滅亡。

受封察哈爾親王

天聰九年（1635年），漠南蒙古歸順後，皇太極將察哈爾部安置於義州，分設左右翼察哈爾八旗；崇德元年四月二十三日（1636年5月27日），額爾克孔果爾被封為察哈爾親王。天聰十年正月十六日（1636年2月22日），皇太極將次女馬喀塔格格嫁給了他。皇太極就曾多次對外聲稱，在上天的庇佑下，額爾克孔果爾這位「蒙古兀魯斯寶座上的主子可汗」（）落到他的手中。

崇德元年八月十六日（1636年9月14日），哲哲所出的察哈爾公主馬喀塔入清寧宮見她，固倫額駙額爾克孔果爾和袞定古希喇嘛不曾起立，皇太極稱額駙年幼無知，免去其罪，袞定古希喇嘛則被貶作果莽綽爾濟喇嘛的使令；崇德元年八月二十二日（1636年9月26日），察哈爾公主及固倫額駙額爾克孔果爾要離開，皇太極便帶同國君福晉、西大福晉、西側福晉率領和碩福晉等命婦及文武各官，在巳刻出地載門，至十里外舉行大宴。和碩鄭親王夫婦在禮畢後，迎送察哈爾公主夫婦離開。

身後

崇德六年正月二十三日（1641年3月4日），額爾克孔果爾去世。皇太極悲痛慟哭，喪禮賜以親王儀仗，以蒙古之禮令喇嘛諷經又以漢人之禮令僧人超度，祭文曰「心甚愛之故配以公主」。額爾克孔果爾之弟阿布奈襲爵，惟阿布奈其子布爾尼作亂被康熙帝處死，察哈爾親王廢除。