Chahar (察哈爾 in pinyin: Cháhāěr), also known as Chaha'er, Chakhar, or Qahar, was a 24-year-old province of China established in 1912 now mostly in Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region. It was named after the Chahar Mongolians.

• Abbreviation: 察
• Capital: Zhangjiakou Subprefecture (張家口廳 Zhāngjiākoǔ Tīng), also known as the Zhang Capital (張垣 Zhāng Yuān), known in Mongolian as Kalgan. (Now Zhangjiakou City, Hebei)
• Chairman: Zhang Zizhong (張自忠)

Administration and history

In the Qing Empire, Chahar was not a province, but a Special Region called Zhangyuan (張垣特區), although Yao Xiguang (姚錫光) proposed making Chahar a province in his "A Humble Suggestion on Planning of Mongolia" (《籌蒙芻議》 Choú Méng Chú Yì).

In 1913, the second year of the Republic of China, Chahar Special Administrative Region was created as a subdivision of Zhili (直隸) Province, containing 6 Banners and 11 counties:

• Zhāngbèi (張北)
• Duōlún (多倫)
• Gǔyuán (沽源)
• Shāngdū (商都)
• Bǎochāng (寶昌)
• Kāngbǎo (康保)
• Xīnghé (興和)
• Táolín (陶林)
• Jíníng (集寧)
• Fēngzhēn (豐鎮)
• Liángchéng (涼城)

In 1928, it became a province. The last five counties on the above list (starting from Xinghe) were partitioned to Suiyuan. And 10 counties were included from Xuanhua Subprefecture (宣化府), Koubei Circuit (口北道), Hebei Province:

• Xuānhuà (宣化)
• Chìchéng (赤城)
• Wànquán (萬全)
• Huáilái (懷來)
• Wèi (蔚)
• Yángyuán (陽原)
• Lóngguān (龍關)
• Yánqìng (延慶)
• Huáiān (懷安)
• Zhuōlù (涿鹿)

All banners belong to the Xilinguole Alliance (錫林郭勒盟).

From 1937 to 1945, it was occupied by Japan and made a part of Mengjiang, a Japanese-controlled region led by Prince Demchugdongrub the Xilinguole Alliance. The Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Army Alliance (察哈爾民眾抗日同盟軍) was established in Kalgan in May 26, 1933 by Feng Yuxiang (馮玉祥) and Ji Hongchang (吉鴻昌).

In 1952, six years after becoming communist, the province was abolished and divided into parts of Inner Mongolia, Beijing Municipality, and Hebei.

Geography

• Area: 278.957 km²

• North: Mongolia
• East: Rehe, Liaobei , Xing'an

In the middle of North Chahar, there stretches a desert into Mongolia.

Subdivision

Divided by the Great Wall, Chahar has two parts:

• South Chahar (察南)
• North Chahar (察北)