Kalmyk Steppe in the Mid-to-Late 19th Century: Socio-Economic Conditions according to Survey Materials Collected by N. Vrevsky in Astrakhan Governorate

Abstract

The article examines a report by Baron N. Vrevsky that attempts to review the socio-economic development of Kalmyk Steppe in the mid-to-late 19th century. N. Vrevsky’s text provides a detailed description of Kalmykia’s livestock. Besides, N. Vrevsky emphasized a number of shortcomings in the work of the executive office of the Kalmyk People’s Administration (Rus. УКН) that had resulted in that bureaucrats were divorced from understanding Kalmyk people’s actual needs and aspirations. The main outcome of N. Vrevsky’s efforts was that he showed the fragility and instability of Kalmyk livestock breeding that could run into trouble and decline at any moment. The helplessness of livestock breeding resulted from losses of major wintering grounds and a lease of pasture territories. Moreover, any calamity (drouth, epizooty, snow winter, etc.) would result in significant deprivations that could adversely affect Kalmyk households for many years to come. The narrative is abundant in subjective assessments of the author, but those do contain actual data about livestock economies of the Kalmyks. The report as such, corresponding conclusions and proposals made by N. Vrevsky and aimed to improve the Kalmyk people’s socio-economic conditions proved unwanted since those disagreed with opinions of Ministry executives regarding the mentioned population. In general, due to the fact the author interrogated quite a number of informants from throughout the Kalmyk uluses, Baron N. Vrevsky’s work is a precious source on Kalmykia’s socio-economic development in the mid-to-late 19th century.