Revisiting Pre-Revolutionary Fishing Practices of the Kalmyks

Goals. The article seeks to examine respective sources and show that the ­Oirats – ancestors of Kalmyks – had been engaged in fishery activities since ancient time, and on arrival in Russia’s borders borrowed neither fishing techniques nor terms but would rather make use of their original ones. Materials and Methods. The work analyzes historical data related to fishing practices of the Kalmyks and published in various scientific papers. It also involves quite a number of expert observations. The study employs historical genetic, historical systemic, and historical comparative research methods. Results and Conclusions. A number of scholars to have dealt with Kalmyk studies believed that since ancient time the Kalmyks had been engaged exclusively in nomadic livestock breeding, leaving any other branches of economic production totally undeveloped, and their fishing activities in the Lower Volga, thus, viewed as a desperate measure caused by impoverishment only. The study shows the Oirat population had been well familiar with this industry back in their historical ancestral lands. Already the early 18th century witnesses the adoption of central and provincial government decrees supposed to regulate quite shaped fishery activities and distinguish Kalmyk-occupied fishery areas from those of Russian settlers. In the mid-to-late 19th and early 20th centuries, fishery proved central to economies of Kalmyk-inhabited districts adjacent to the Volga and Caspian Sea. It can also be noted that the development of fishing practices within the Kalmyk community definitely strengthened its economic basis and increased vital resources.

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