Tögs-Ochiryn Namnansüren

Namnansüren, who allegedly could trace his heritage directly back to Genghis Khan, was born in 1878 in present-day Uyanga district of Övörkhangai Province. In 1896 he became prince, or "khan", of Sain Noyon Khan Province, one of the four Khalkh Mongol provinces established by the Manchurians during the Qing dynasty. He married in 1900.

In 1911, Namnansüren persuaded Mongolia's religious leader Bogd Khan to call a congress of Mongolian princes and high-ranking lamas in Khüree to initiate independence from China. The Bogd Khan then dispatched him to Saint Petersburg in July 1911 as part of a delegation to seek Russian and West European support for Mongolian independence.[3]

The Bogd Khan appointed Namnansüren prime minister of Autonomous Mongolia in July 1912, replacing Da Lam Tserenchimed who, as minister of internal affairs, had acted as de facto head of government since the elevation of the Bogd Khan as national leader in December 1911.[4] Other members of the Bogd Khan's government included the Da Lam Tserenchimed (minister for internal affairs), Mijiddorjiin Khanddorj (minister for foreign affairs), Dalai-Van Gombosuren (defense minister), Dambyn Chagdarjav (finance minister), and Erdene Van Namsrai (minister of justice).

Namnansüren's delegation in St. Petersburg

From November 1913 to January 1914 Namnansüren lead another delegation to St. Petersburg, this time to represent Mongolian interests during negotiations between Russia and China surrounding the tripartite Kyakhta treaty that would define the border between Russian Siberia and the Qing territories of Mongolia and Manchuria. Mongolian hopes for international recognition of its independence and support for a union between Inner and Outer Mongolia were ultimately dashed when the agreement re-confirmed the country's status as an autonomous region within China.[5] While in Russia, Namnansüren attempted to contact ambassadors from several western countries (United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany) and to organize a trip to Western Europe to gain international support for Mongolia's independence but was prevented from doing so by Russian officials.[6]

Having failed to obtain any of his objectives, Namnansüren found his political influence to have diminished upon his return to Mongolia in 1914.[7] In 1915 the Bogd Khan abolished the office of prime minister and Namnansüren was appointed minister of war. In June 1918, faced with increased threats from the Chinese who were demanding Mongolia renounce its Pan-Mongolia ambitions and sign a decree “voluntarily” relinquishing autonomy, Namnansüren again traveled to Russia, this time to Irkutsk, to seek Russian assistance. There he met with two Bolshevik representatives in what is believed to be the first meeting between Soviet and Outer Mongolian officials. The Bolsheviks, preoccupied with the revolution and the ongoing civil war in Russia, failed to offer much in the way of assistance.

Not long after his return home, Namnansüren fell seriously ill and died sometime in April 1919. Many suspected he was assassinated (poisoned) along with many others involved in the revival of Mongolia’s independence who died premature deaths. Shortly thereafter the Chinese warlord Xu Shuzheng occupied Niislel Khüree and installed the more pliable Gonchigjalzangiin Badamdorj as prime minister.[8]

In 1914 the Mongolian Namnansüren is known to have brought some films from Russia to show at the residence of the Bogd Khan. These are the first known film showings in Mongolia.