Sources on the History of kalmykia of the early 20th Century (evidence from the Scientific Archives of the Kalmyk Scientific Center of the RAS)

Abstract

The article analyzes the sources on the history of Kalmykia in the early 20th century and during the October Revolution of 1917 compiled from data of individuals and stored in the funds of the Scientific Archives of the Kalmyk Scientific Center of the RAS. The peculiar feature of the mentioned sources (memoirs, a biography and an autobiography) is that those are close in terms of origin but still each of them is a separate type of a source. Within the research with evidence from concrete documentary materials, a source in the history of the October Revolution of 1917 and Russian Civil War has been characterized, a preliminary analysis to guarantee an undamaged condition of the files in the funds of the Scientific Archives of the KSC of the RAS has been conducted as well. The author concludes that despite the subjectivity of the sources based on individual perceptions (memoirs, a biography and an autobiography) they still contain precious factual materials.