The name
Dzungar people, also written as
Zunghar (literally
züüngar, from the Mongolian for "left hand"), referred to the several
Oirat tribes who formed and maintained the
Dzungar Khanate in the 17th and 18th centuries. Historically they were one of major tribes of the
Four Oirat confederation. They were also known as the
Eleuths or
Ööled, from the
Qing dynasty euphemism for the hated word "Dzungar", and also called "
Kalmyks". In 2010, 15,520 people claimed "Ööled" ancestry in
Mongolia. An unknown number also live in China, Russia, and Kazakhstan.