The situation in non-Han territories of the Qing Empire that preceded the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 was quite tense. Outer Mongolia became the scene of growing impatience with the dominance of the Manchu administration and Chinese merchants, which attested to weak positions of the Qing dynasty in the region. In the meantime, the Russian Empire in every way available increased its political and economic influence on Outer Mongolia. Goals and Objectives. The article studies the relationships between the religious leader of Mongolia Jebtsundamba Khutukhtu and the new appointee of the Qing Empire Amban Sando. Sando proved a supporter of the ‘new policy’ who had served as a Manchu official in South China, and then spent seven years in Japan. Immediately prior to Urga, he had been ruling the Tumet Banners. The research objectives set include as follows: review of Amban Sando’s activities between his arrival to Urga in February 1910 to April 1910; insight into the March 1910 Urga unrest of Buddhist priests; analysis of interpersonal relationships between Jebtsundamba Khutukhtu and Sando. Somewhat secondary tasks are to analyze reactions of Jebtsundamba Khutukhtu and the Mongolian population to the departure of the 13th Dalai Lama to India in 1910; to consider the problem of the emerged rebel detachment led by Togtokho from Inner to Outer Mongolia. Materials. The work analyzes reports by Russian Consul General in Urga Ya. Shishmarev housed by the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire. The study also examines some Mongolian and Russian research works. Conclusions. According to Ya. Shishmarev, Sando was supporting China’s reforms and entered the Urga office with all his might. The reports inform the relationships between Sando and Jebtsundamba Khutukhtu were tough since the very beginning, and they worsened after the March 1910 Urga unrest largely joined by Buddhist monks. The Russian official concludes Jebtsundamba Khutukhtu was quite satisfied with the 13th Dalai Lama’s departure towards India, and reports that the border Mongolian population was supporting Togtokho’s rebel detachment from Inner Mongolia.

The 1920s–1930s in Mongolia still give rise to occasional academic debates. And the period does deserve close attention at least due to the ambiguous nature of the then events — complicated, problematic, and largely controversial. The collection of archival materials titled ‘Federal Security Service Archives: Mongolia Documented, 1922–1936’ deals with this very era. Goals. The paper seeks to review documents housed in the Central Archives of Russia’s Federal Security Service and relating to the 8th Jebtsundamba Khutuktu (Bogd Gegeen) — the last Khan of Mongolia — in the harsh times between the emergence of the national-liberation movement (1911) and the theocrat’s death (1924). Materials. The analyzed official records comprise special messages, coded telegrams, letters, and reports on the 8th Bodg Gegeen’s activities in Mongolia. Some documents deal with reincarnation search arrangements and the movement for restoration of theocracy. Results. The discovered files may significantly contribute to the understanding of the theocrat’s deeds in Mongolia.

Goals. The article investigates Russian-Mongolian military cooperation in the 1930s. Methods and Materials. The work examines collected documents and materials housed by the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History. Results and Conclusions. The early 1930s were characterized by the aggravation of the international situation in the Far East: Japan attacked China and occupied a considerable territory. Japan’s external policy was turning more and more towards expansionism, giving rise to sentiments to seize mainland territories which meant а direct threat to Mongolia and Soviet regions. So, the period witnessed a series of regular top-level meetings between the Soviet and Mongolian governments. The Kremlin negotiations of November 1934 proved essential enough for the further development of Soviet-Mongolian military and political cooperation. The Kremlin, thus, took the strategic lead and got actively involved in Mongolian affairs. Records of the Soviet-Mongolian negotiations of November 27 underline the vital need for Mongolia to have strong national armed forces, and report the expediency of signing non-aggression and mutual respect treaties was being discussed. The Protocol of mutual assistance between the USSR and the MPR of 12 March 1936 set a new global trend for intergovernmental cooperation and strategic partnership in the context of increasing international tensions. Active joint military actions against imperialist Japan in 1939 at Khalkhin Gol, efficient coordination of foreign policy steps thus became an important stabilizing factor in the region, being a bright page in the history of relations between the countries.

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.

The article introduces a 18th-century archival document ― letter addressed by Kalmyk Noyon (Landlord) Zamyan to the Governor of Astrakhan N. A. Beketov. Materials. The study examines an archival document contained in the National Archive of Kalmykia (Collection И-36). Results. The letter reports the then sentiments of Kalmyk nobility preceding the mass exodus of 1771 to ancestral lands. Surrounded by peoples differing in religion, language and traditions, the Kalmyks naturally kept identifying themselves as Asians and never gave up the idea of return, the latter having been strengthened by active colonizing policies of Russian government. Still, not all intended to leave the newly inhabited areas for a dangerous journey towards the unknown. And one of such individuals was Noyon Zamyan. His letter to the Governor expresses anxiety and wish to prevent Kalmyks from migrating backwards with the aid of Russian authorities. And more than that, the author explains why the people want to leave Russia’s borders. This precious historical document is also an essential linguistic source on mid-to-late 18th-century Kalmyk language. Conclusions. The document is a typical sample of official epistolary writing in terms of style, structure, and other details, serving a useful source for further linguistic research. It also contains important information related to actual circumstances of the 1771 exodus, and may be of certain interest for historians.

The article deals with dhāraṇī texts included in the 108-volume Mongolian-language Kangyur. A xylographic edition of the Mongolian Kangyur was delivered from expeditions to China by the Indian scientist Raghuvira, and subsequently used for reprint in the Śata-Piṭaka Series by Lokesh Chandra. A copy of this 108-volume serial publication was purchased through Buryat monasteries by the Kalmyk Gelong Tugmyud Gavji (O. M. Dordzhiev, 1887‒1980), and now constitutes a valuable part of the collection of old written sources at the Scientific Archive of Kalmyk Scientific Center (RAS). Analysis of tables of contents that precede each volume of the L. Chandra edition, and that of texts included show that dhāraṇī (Sanskrit dhāraṇī, Tib. Gzungs ‘spell’, Mong. tarni, toγtaγal ‘tarni, darani, magic formulas’) texts can be traced in a number of volumes and, respectively, in different sections, mainly in ones titled Dandr-a (‘Tantra’) and Eldeb (‘Collection of Sutras’). So, some volumes include single texts and others cluster them in single blocks (selections). The Dhāraṇī Titled ‘Heart-Essence [of the Holy One Possessing] Limitless Life and Knowledge’ is one such dhāraṇī text from Volume 23 transliterated and translated (with comments) in this work. Goals. The article examines available materials and provides an overview of dhāraṇī works within the Mongolian Kangyur, presents a translation of one notable dhāraṇī. Materials and Methods. The study gains comparative textual and structural insights into the Lokesh Chandra edition of the Kangyur and compares it to other editions, seeking to identify specific compositional features of various publications and reasons underlying the latter. Results and Conclusions. History of Mongolian Kangyur compilations – the compendium at large and its individual texts – is very complicated and requires further research.

The article discusses a Tibetan-Mongolian cosmological model of Buddhist universe presented in the Oirat translation of one of the most popular Buddhist ritual texts — The Sūtra of Eight Luminous of Heaven and Earth. Materials. The sūtra was translated into Oirat by Ven. Zaya Pandita Namkhaijamts at request of Princess Yum Agas in the 1650s, and is referred by scholars as a Buddhist apocrypha of Chinese origin. Nevertheless, in the literary tradition of Mongolic peoples it was always viewed as the authentic Word of the Buddha (buddhavacana). Results. The analysis of the Oirat manuscript of the sūtra shows that the model of Buddhist universe includes several components. The first one of Indian origin is related to the cosmology of classical Buddhism described in Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośa, including the astronomical conception of twenty-eight nakśatra constellations and nine planets, as well as some classes of beings of the Buddhist universe. The second component contains elements of Chinese astrology, such as the astrological diagram of the golden turtle, which encloses animals of the twelve-year cycle, and eight trigrams representing different elements. The last component belongs to original Tibetan mythology and includes a classification of supernatural beings co-existing with humans between heaven and earth — nāgas (Tib. klu), nyen spirits (Tib. gnyan) and spiritual lords of earth (Tib. sa bdag). Indian influence can also be traced in the classification of nāgas, the latter including eight great nāgas known in classical Buddhism, and five castes of nāgas structurally correlated with traditional Indian society. The detailed classification of the spiritual lords of earth presented in the sūtra was later included in the well-known Tibetan astrological work Vaiḍurya dkar po of Desi Sangye Gyatso. This classification represented in the Oirat translation includes some names which are absent in the Tibetan version of the sūtra (for comparative analysis the work examines a version of the sūtra included in the gZungs ’dus collection). This indicates that Ven. Zaya Pandita Namkhaijamts would also use another Tibetan version of the sūtra when making his Oirat translation.

Retrospective studies of the human-society-environment system are increasingly ranked among the interdisciplinary problems of philosophy, ecology, paleography, history, ethnology and other scientific disciplines. Scientists are beginning to understand that the current ecological conditions require increased interest not only towards the environment as such but also towards deep historical research of the relationship between man and nature, require further studies and preservation efforts for natural, historical, and cultural heritage. Goals. The paper analyzes archaeological sites and places of worship for the possibility of correlating their locations with real geoactive zones through the example of the Barguzin Valley, and seeks to identify features of the territory, comparing it to separate Mongolia-based places of worship. Materials and Methods. The work attempts to apply an interdisciplinary approach in characterizing the origin of sites of worship from the standpoint of different disciplines, such as geology, geography, history, archeology, ethnology, and folkloristics. Results. The interdisciplinary approach to the research of places of worship makes it possible to once again highlight challenges faced by scholars engaged therein more broadly, and involve materials that have not been previously examined in this perspective. Nowadays, this constitutes a most urgent problem in contexts of aggravated man-nature relations, violations of harmonious ties, and increased anthropogenic impacts in certain areas for extensive use of natural resources contrary to opinions of the local population.

The article examines the emergence of Kalmykia’s professional arts activities in the 1930s. Goals. It seeks to review formation stages of the ethnic school, determine its essentials and local features as part of Soviet artistic culture. In this regard, a fundamental research problem is that the vast majority of local pre-war visual arts works had been lost during the Great Patriotic War and Kalmyk deportation (1943–1956). Materials and Methods. Considered are works of Kalmykia’s first professional artists ― such as I. Nuskhaev, L. Ochirov, R. Bogoslavsky, etc. ― inspired by epic heritage and realia of Socialist construction. The study employs a historical-and-cultural approach which determines the use of sources (archival papers, eyewitness reports, available pictorial works and studies); characterizes the pre-war life of the republic and its integration into Socialist cultural environment. Results. The paper reveals a central event of the era, examines the preparation and arrangements of the 1940 jubilee exhibition to celebrate 500 years of the Kalmyk heroic epic of Jangar. Conclusions. Cultural heritage proved most essential to the formation of Soviet Kalmykia’s pictorial arts trend, central to the latter being traditions of Russian realistic art represented by ethnos-related works of V. Favorsky and his colleagues.

Animal tales are the oldest genre of oral art. Genetically, they go back to myths about animals developed through human aspiration to learn the outer world. Myths had a magical meaning for man who believed himself related by blood to animals, which inevitably resulted in attributing individual characteristics to personified animals. The defining features of animal tales as a genre are the system of characters, trick as a basis of the plot, and dialogue that creates the drama of events. Animal tales are an organic part of the magic epic of many peoples, including the Oirats of Xinjiang (China) where the former are presented in large numbers. Over a hundred texts of myths and fairy tales with animals as central characters have been published in Clear Script folklore collections and periodicals. One of the main characters to such fairy tales is fox. Goals. The article seeks to review texts of animal tales which reveal different characteristics of fox as a trickster, determine the range of fairy tale texts with fox as a main acting character. Fairy-tale folklore of Xinjiang Oirats of Xinjiang — including tales about animals — are thus newly introduced into Russian scientific discourse. Conclusions. Stories ending with triumphs of the sly fox constitute a majority of the tale cycle about sly animals. It should be noted that this character is equally characterized by cunning and stupidity. As is shown by the texts introduced, fox is far not always that victorious but rather may fall victim to other characters’ deeds.

The paper studies a manuscript monograph by Ts.-D. Nominkhanov titled ‘Orthography of the New Kalmyk Literary Language’ (December 25, 1932) and contained in the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Materials. The work investigates sections and subsections of the monograph, namely: ‘Preface’ narrating about areas of residence and dialects of Kalmyk ethnic groups; ‘Old Script Orthography’ supplemented with a Latinized Jangar epic excerpt (alphabet of the 1930s) illustrating Zaya Pandita’s spelling patterns; ‘Spelling of Russified Kalmyk Script’ providing an excerpt from the Latinized spelling-book (Russ. Светлый путь), and reviews decisions of the February 1928 Kalmyk transcription and orthography development meeting; ‘Latinized Script Orthography’ introduces spelling patterns adopted by 1931 Moscow and Elista-based scientific conferences. Results. Prof. Ts. Nominkhanov concluded that the Latinized alphabet of the 1930s based on Zaya Pandita’s spelling could not meet the then needs of orthography. According to him, a scientifically unified Kalmyk literary language was to be based on the development of all Kalmyk dialects through their free interaction towards foundations of the Torghut dialect for further assimilation of different spelling subtleties and final enrichment the Kalmyk language proper. To facilitate this, he proposed that certain measures be undertaken, such as publication of a scientifically reasoned spelling book, organization of consistent academic studies in Kalmyk orthography and existing Kalmyk dialects at large, establishment of a central body that would check all manuscripts against orthographic, grammatical and other regulations introduced prior to publication. Conclusions. The study shall expand the source base on the history of the Kalmyk language and Prof. Ts.-D. Nominkhanov’s scientific heritage, and can be used for further research and educational purposes.