Political and military action

Tsewang Rabtan married his daughter, Boitalak (博託洛克), to Danjung (丹衷), the eldest son of Lha-bzang Khan in 1714. He used the occasion to destroy some of Lha-bzang's troops in preparation for an invasion of Tibet. He consolidated Dzungar power by 1715, and in 1717 sent one army of 300 into Amdo to retrieve the 7th Dalai Lama, planning to consolidate Tibetan support by bringing him to Lhasa, and another army of 6000, led by his brother Tseren Dondub, that successfully took Lhasa from the Khoshut and killed Lha-bzang Khan.

However, the first army failed to acquire the Dalai Lama, having been defeated by Qing troops at Kumbum. Dzungar troops went on the rampage through Lhasa and its environs, looting, raping and killing. Soon, the Tibetans were appealing to the Kangxi Emperor to rid them of the Dzungars. The Dzungar occupation of Tibet became more difficult to sustain as time passed and though they managed to defeat a poorly organized Chinese invasion at the Battle of the Salween River in 1718, Qing troops took Lhasa in 1720 during their second and larger expedition.

After Danjung died circa 1717, allegedly at the hands of Tsewang Rabtan, Boitalak married a taisha or prince of the Khoid, a section of the Dzungar people, and later gave birth to Amursana (1723–1757), who would grow up to be Khan of Dzungaria during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.

興起

策妄阿拉布坦是漠西蒙古準噶爾部落首領僧格之長子。僧格于1671年被殺後，其已出家的六弟噶爾丹還俗，自西藏返回，起兵平難。策妄阿拉布坦歸附噶爾丹。噶爾丹在達賴喇嘛以及和碩特首領鄂齊爾圖車臣汗的支持下，登上了準噶爾首領之位。

1684年，策妄阿拉布坦奉噶爾丹之命西征哈薩克汗國，1688年，策妄阿拉布坦之弟索諾木阿拉布坦為噶爾丹所殺，他擔心自身安全，第二年初率領部眾五千人逃出，逃至博爾塔拉河遊牧，並擊敗了噶爾丹親率的兩千追兵。

1690年，噶爾丹出兵蒙古喀爾喀部﹐策妄阿拉布坦乘機發兵劫掠噶爾丹領地，奪取噶爾丹控制下的吐魯番、庫車等城市，及撒克里、烏蘭固木等地。此後與康熙皇帝東西夾擊，噶爾丹困守科布多。1696年噶爾丹兵敗，翌年服毒自盡。達賴喇嘛授與策妄阿拉布坦「渾台吉」（副汗）的稱號。

擴張

控制西域後，策妄阿拉布坦于1699年派其弟大策零敦多布西征，征服了哈薩克的頭克汗，使哈薩克汗國分裂為大玉茲、中玉茲和小玉茲三個汗國，並均臣服于準噶爾。1701年，伏爾加河下游的土爾扈特部阿玉奇汗的三子三濟扎卜，因爭奪繼承權失敗而被逐，率部眾萬餘戶前來投奔。策妄阿拉布坦奪取了他的部眾，三濟扎卜逃回土爾扈特部。策妄阿拉布坦把這萬餘戶分給各宰桑，要求效忠，鞏固汗權，從此成為准噶爾名符其實的統治者。

策妄阿拉布坦開始密謀反對西藏的實際掌權者第巴桑結嘉措，因為桑結嘉措是噶爾丹同盟者。1707年，桑結嘉措被蒙古和碩特汗王拉藏汗毒死。拉藏汗將桑結嘉措自行選立的六世達賴押解京城，另立六世達賴。1717年，策妄阿拉布坦遣大策零敦多布以省親之名，率6000軍從和闐出發，晝伏夜行，自今新藏公路一線入藏，奇襲拉藏汗。12月2日，大策零敦多布率軍攻占拉薩，殺拉藏汗，在衛藏建立了統治。準噶爾軍一路東進，向東占領了波密，焚毀了波密土王的宅邸。

議和

1718年，清廷自四川出兵，但是被大策零頓多布擊敗。1720年，清廷再度出兵，康熙帝特封固山貝子胤禵為撫遠大將軍王統領各軍，年羹堯為四川總督負責後勤，出兵三路。10月16日，大策凌敦多布兵敗逃走。之後，清朝向準噶爾本土發動攻勢，一度占領烏魯木齊，但不久後因為康熙皇帝去世而撤回。1723年，策妄阿拉布坦支持羅卜藏丹津在青海發動攻勢，但是不久即被年羹堯擊敗。1725年，新即位的雍正帝與策妄阿拉布坦議和，劃分邊界，並商定互相貿易。他對維吾爾族與中亞的政策是人質制，把他們頭人送到伊犁，執其酋，收其賦。

繼嗣

1727年策妄阿拉布坦去世，其子噶爾丹策零繼位。他最著名的一事，是噶爾丹曾劫持哈薩克汗國頭克汗的兒子給達賴喇嘛，頭克汗求準噶爾送回，準噶爾以500人護送，這500人送回人質後，全數無故被殺，而引起準噶爾發兵，成為哈薩克歷史上的大災難年代。