Tsoros, Choros, Bagatud: Barga Bator and Oirats

Introduction. This work is devoted to further consideration of the question of the origin of the genus Tsoros (Choros). The purpose of the article is to analyze a set of historical, ethnographic, genetic, and other data to reconstruct the formation of the name “Tsoros” and clarify the relationship of a number of historical and modern ethnonyms to the Oirat ethnic community. The research materials were the texts of the Mongolian and Kalmyk chronicles, publications of researchers. The research methodology is mainly represented by an interdisciplinary approach. Results. A consistent consideration of the ethnogonic myth of Bargа Bator and his three sons, coupled with genetic, historical and linguistic data, significantly complements the understanding of complex ethnohistorical processes in the mass of Bargujin-Tokum communities over a number of epochs. It is stated that at the initial stage, the formation of the ancestors of the Oirats, represented by the descendants of Duva-Sokhor, most likely developed as part of the Bargut Union (which gave the name to the corresponding territory and community), but as the influence of the Genghis Khan's clan grew, largely due to the unity of the ethnogonic myth of the Borjigins and the Oirats proper, separation took place, and further strengthening of the latter. The fall of the Yuan inevitably triggered a series of military and political confrontations on the territory of Mongolia, which resulted in the merger of two communities under the political dominance of ethnic Barguts and the spread of the very name “oirat” to an expanded set of clans and tribes in the context of an active transition to feudal relations. Thus, Barga Bator acquires the features of a real historical character of the period around the 10th–11th centuries, whose descendants eventually gained a significant population advantage and subsequently even occupied a dominant position among the Oirats and partly the Mongols, successfully competing with the “Altan Urug”.

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