The Eight Banners are former administrative divisions of China into which all Manchu households were placed, primarily for military purposes.[1]
Banner (Qosighun or khoshun) as former division of all Mongols under Qing rule (includes Inner/Outer Mongolia) grouped in aimag (league), sometimes transcribed by hoshuns or khoshuns, were the battalion level of administrative/military subdivision in the Mongol army.[2]
^Elliott, Mark C. (2001). The Manchu way: the eight banners and ethnic identity in late imperial China. Palo Alto, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4684-7.
^Grousset, René (1970). The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press. p. 530. ISBN 978-0-8135-0627-2.