Dalai

Overview

Dalai: Dalai is a member of the Baidu clan in Volume 53 of the *Comprehensive Genealogy of the Manchu Clans of the Eight Banners*. He belonged to the Bordered White Banner and was of the same clan as Axitu. His family had lived in Yehe for generations and submitted to the Qing dynasty at the beginning of the dynasty. He was originally appointed as a zuoling (military officer) and his son Dabu and grandson Waqili also served as zuoling. Later generations held positions such as Vice Minister of the Court of Colonial Affairs, Principal Officer, and Imperial Guard Officer.

The zuoling managed the population, land, and military registers of its jurisdiction, serving as both a basic organizational unit and an official post. The Court of Colonial Affairs was the central agency handling affairs of the Mongol and other vassal states, and the Vice Minister was one of its high-ranking officials. Dalai's grandson, Laduhun, held this position, but this does not mean his ancestor held the same post. His great-grandson, Funiyahan, was appointed as the Wing Chief of the Imperial Mausoleum, a position under the mausoleum guard management system, distinct from the zuoling household registration system.

This entry specifically records the identities of his nephews, Doni and Badak, and their affiliation to the Mongol banner at that time. The original book describes the Baidu clan as a Manchu clan, which is a different level of information from the subsequent Mongol banner system. The specific scope and time of the reassignment need to be re-examined; the entire clan cannot be uniformly renamed as the Mongol ethnicity. The ancestral home of the Yehe clan cannot determine the postings of their descendants, and the consecutive appearance of the same title cannot prove that they all inherited the same zuoling (military command) vacancy.