Johan Elverskog opens up totally new perspectives on some of the most urgent questions historians have recently raised about the role of Buddhism in the constitution of the Qing empire.

Theoretically informed and strongly comparative in approach, Elverskog's work tells a fascinating and important story that will interest all scholars working at the intersection of religion and politics -Mark Elliott, Harvard University.

Johan Elverskog has rewritten the political and intellectual history of Mongolia from the bottom up, telling a convincing story that clarifies for the first time the revolutions which Mongolian concepts of community, rule, and religion underwent from 1500 to 1900.