Goals. The article aims to characterize some key aspects of present-day migration from Mongolia to Australia. Materials and methods. The study employs a comprehensive methodology to analyze international and national statistics data from the United Nations, UNESCO, Governments of Australia and Mongolia, etc. It also involves discourse analyses of Russian-, Mongolian- and English-language print and online publications dealing with the migration of Mongolian citizens to Australia. Survey methods have proved as instrumental, e. g., expert surveys, informal interviews, and questionnaires. Field research was conducted in the summer of 2022. Results. The study reveals key characteristic features of Mongolian migration to Australia. Firstly, Mongolian migrants in Australia are a fastest growing group of foreign migrants. Currently, Australia is becoming an increasingly popular labor (third place after the Republic of Korea and the USA) and educational (fourth place after China, Korea and Japan) destination for Mongolian citizens. Secondly, the main driving force of labor migration from Mongolia to Australia is the economic motive; however, non-financial factors play an equally important role — low population density, similar to landscapes, high living standards and quality of life, favorable migration situation in the host society. Thirdly, educational migration from Mongolia to Australia, as well as labor migration, has a high potential, is associated with further employment prospects and professional self-realization for Mongolian citizens both at home and in the destination country. Labor and educational migration is stimulated by active special government programs within operating Australia-Mongolia agreements both in industrial/economic (primarily in mining) and humanitarian spheres (various scholarships, academic mobility). The countries anticipate an expansion of economic, cultural and educational cooperation, which shall make it possible to implement mutually beneficial projects.

Introduction. The paper examines the correspondence between Civil Governor of Astrakhan S. Andreevsky and rulers, landlords of Kalmyk uluses — for an attempted analysis of the Zargo’s activity and common obligations imposed on residents of Astrakhan Governorate in the early nineteenth century. The issue in question remains understudied and needs some newly discovered archival sources be introduced into scholarly circulation. Goals. The study aims to characterize some essential aspects pertaining to fulfillment of obligations by Kalmyk communities and activity of the Zargo court in the early nineteenth century. Materials and methods. The paper focuses on record-keeping material currently housed at the State Archive Astrakhan Oblast and introduced hereby. The study basically employs both general scientific and special historical methods, with particular roles be played by that of systems analysis and the principle of historicism. Results. Our insights into the mentioned correspondence attest to both the sides were seeking to shape some general agenda of concerted practices. However, they were able to achieve consensus only on a number of issues, while others proved somewhat problematic. Conclusions. Special analyses show the then rulers of Kalmyk uluses were wary enough of most questions and proposals articulated by the Russian administration. So, the former voiced disagreements on a variety of facts, namely: lower wages of ethnic Kalmyk salt workers (as compared to those of Russian ones), absence of ethnic Kalmyk officers in Kalmyk frontier squads, arbitrariness of Russian executives in Kalmyk-inhabited lands, etc. The categorical objections of Kalmyk rulers and landlords resulted in that the Governor proposed to compile new regulations for Kalmyks and relocate the Zargo’s headquarters closer to Astrakhan. These are indicative of that Kalmyk elites tended to disapprove the then efforts of Russian authorities aimed at integrating Kalmyk-inhabited territories into the administrative and political system of Russia. 

Introduction. The article discusses one understudied — though essential — issue from the history of Don Kalmyk Cossacks. It focuses on the shaping and development of the Buddhist clergy among Don Kalmyks in relation to the then official religious agenda of the Don Host. The examined period covers the earliest conversion of Kalmyks to Cossackhood and onwards throughout the 1840s, the latter years having witnessed a largest reform of Buddhist institutions and clerical hierarchies. Goals. The paper attempts an insight into adaptation practices once exercised by Kalmyks as a group with specific cultural and religious backgrounds in polyethnic environments, special attention be paid to how the Buddhist clergy developed and were subsequently incorporated into administrative and social structures of Don Cossacks. Results. The official religious policy within the Don Host was largely tolerant and sought to secure freedom of faith, modernize spiritual services by way of optimizing networks of khuruls and their staff, encouraging some professional training of the latter, introducing clerics into administrative structures and services as a special privileged community. The religious policy of Don authorities among Kalmyk Cossacks was distinguished by that the former tended to actively use a tool of faith in the latter’s further acculturation, education, sedentarization, and conversion to stationary economic practices.

Introduction. The article deals with some key stages and patterns of administrative governance sequentially adopted for Kalmyk Steppe of Astrakhan Governorate in the early-to-mid nineteenth century. This very period was witnessing the integration and incorporation of Kalmyk Steppe into Russia’s administrative system, though some ethnos-specific governance elements would still be retained. The related historiography contains no explicit data as to certain governance stages (and patterns) characterized by corresponding qualitative changes. Results. The paper examines the publication titled ‘Ministry of State Property over the Fifty Years, 1837–1887: A Historical Review’ (Pt. 2: Protectorship. Land Affairs) for provisions pertaining to the governance system in Kalmyk Steppe. According to the document, efforts of the Russian Government across Kalmyk Steppe in the early-to-mid nineteenth century were primarily aimed at: 1) interacting with ethnic elites, endowing the latter with certain rights and privileges, involving them into the imperial power hierarchy at regional and local levels; 2) introducing (step by step) imperial legislative and court practices (common-law norms remain in force at lower levels for civil circulation); 3) laying foundations of imperial financial and tax policies (given that local elites would retain their original privileges). Conclusions. Our insights into opinions and viewpoints of contemporary researchers have identified a number of distinct features inherent to the shaping and functioning of the administrative governance system in early-to-mid nineteenth century Kalmyk Steppe. So, the early nineteenth century namestnichestvo was essentially rather that of the late eighteenth century. At the same time, pristavstvo should be viewed only as a milestone towards popechitelstvo. In general, the three can still be considered as individual governance patterns — with differing governance objects. However, the basis was compiled from supervision and wardship, and preservation of some ethnic governance traditions. 

Introduction. The article discusses the contribution of Aleksey A. Bobrovnikov, a scholar, teacher, and pioneer of Mongolian studies in Russia. He authored the Grammar of Kalmyk Mongolian which holds a special place in the variety of nineteenth-century textbooks, and still remains a classic in Mongolian linguistics. Goals. The study attempts an insight into how A. Bobrovnikov created his manual for theological institutions of the Russian Empire. Materials. The work focuses on documents contained in Collection 10 (‘Kazan Theological Academy’) of the National Archive of Tatarstan. Results. Our archival investigations have discovered a number of documents dealing with A. Bobrovnikov’s travel to Kalmyk Steppe (Astrakhan Governorate) when he was welcomed and stayed in estates owned by the Tundutovs and the Tyumens. His accounts of everyday life, traditions and customs, language patterns recorded from Dorbets and Khoshuts are of utmost interest to ethnographers and philologists. The manual’s publication was preceded by meticulous research efforts of the academic Mongolist. Kazan Theological Academy was educating Christian missionaries and facilitated a lot the study of not only customs and traditions but also languages of Mongolic, Turkic, and Finno-Ugric peoples, which would shape the foundations of academic Mongolian and Oriental studies in Russia. So, the missionaries’ contributions — including that of A. Bobrovnikov — are enormous and even invaluable, since (unlike professional Orientalists) the former would deal with living colloquial languages. 

Introduction. The article is the first scholarly attempt to comprehensively summarize the experiences of Kalmykia’s residents in armed conflicts of the mid-twentieth to early twenty first centuries. In the study, special attention is given to the military-anthropological aspect, as well as to the analysis of statistics on the participation of the region’s residents in hostilities. Materials and methods. The work examines official data from the Military Commissariat of the Republic of Kalmykia, field data (interviews with participants of combat operations in Afghanistan and the North Caucasus), a few media publications, and collected memories by Kalmykia’s residents about fallen combatants. The study focuses on some systematic and comprehensive approaches, employs various research methods, including the comparative historical, statistical ones, and that of oral history. Results. The paper shows residents of Kalmykia have taken part in many wars and armed conflicts of the country, both in the late Soviet and post-Soviet periods. The vast majority of combatants participated in military operations in Afghanistan (1979–1989) and the North Caucasus (1994–2000s). As for the combatants proper, the majority of them were obligatory conscripts. The study also discusses some military-anthropological aspects, such as peculiarities of adaptation of Kalmykia’s natives to military service during hostilities, circumstances of their transformation into combatants, articulated memories and eyewitness accounts of experienced conditions and military service proper, relations with locals, specifics of returning to civilian life, and rethinking of one’s participation in war.

Introduction. Kalmyk sigillographic sources are of utmost importance for the historical research of the Kalmyk Khanate. And when it comes to seals of Kalmyk elites, special attention should be paid to those of Kalmyk Khans. Goals. The article introduces data on two seals of Kalmyk Khan Donduk-Ombo, examines the legends, and hypothesizes as to their origins. Materials and methods. Impressions of the two seals have been discovered in letters housed at the National Archive of Kalmykia. The study employs the comparative historical method and that of literary research. Results. The legend on the first seal imitates Chinese hieroglyphs, while the second one imitates Phagspa letters. Conclusions. The paper suggests the seals of Khan Donduk-Ombo are of Tibetan and Kalmyk origin. The examined documents attest to the first seal was used between 1723 and 1732, and the latter one was first made use of in 1734. The replacement of the earlier seal with another one may indicate the latter was distinguished by higher status characteristics.

Introduction. The tradition of worshiping Ganapati in Buddhism, including in religious traditions of Mongols, is an interesting — though understudied — issue. In Hinduism, this ancient deity was believed an evil demon (Vinayaka) inclined to create obstacles. Subsequently, when included in the Buddhist pantheon, its tantric forms became widespread enough in Tibet and Mongolia. In Buddhist teachings, Ganapati is seen as an emanation of Avalokiteshvara, and in some of its forms is associated with Chakrasamvara and Tara, hence having little in common with the Hindu Ganesha, the son of Parvati and Shiva, the Lord of the Ganas. The cult of Ganapati in Buddhist countries shows how the ancient deity of Hinduism had lost its original essence — to become an organic part of the Buddhist tantric tradition. Goals. The paper aims to introduce Oirat texts of the Ganapati Dharani Sutra. Materials and methods. Collections of Mongolian manuscripts in Russia and other countries contain a total of seven dharani sutras in the Oirat Clear Script. The study focuses on a Kalmyk manuscript from the Saxon State and University Library Dresden (Mongolian Collection) and a manuscript from the Mongolian Academy of Sciences (Institute of Language and Literature, Oirat Collection). The work employs textual research methods and tools of comparative historical analysis. Results. Some manuscripts in the Clear Script are literary works of minimal size that include two parts — Dharani Sutra of Lord Ganapati (Oir. Xutuqtu čuulγani ezen kemēküyin toqtōl) and Collected Dharanis of the Five Chapters of Pancharaksha (Oir. Pañcaragšyin tabun bölögiyin xurangyui). The combination of the two texts in a single work makes it possible to assume the worshipping practice of Ganapati be somewhat tied to that of the five Pancharaksha protector goddesses. In Buddhism, the Ganapati Dharani Sutra is recited for various purposes, such as welfare, virtuous reincarnation, new knowledge, and spiritual progress. Conclusions. Texts of the Ganapati Dharani Sutra and various iconographic images (forms) are integral to tantric practices believed instrumental in acquiring, cognizing and organizing new knowledge, thus forming milestone spiritual experiences on the path towards the ultimate goal of Buddhists.

Introduction. The article examines some traditional ideas of venereal diseases traced in Mongolic cultures, reasons once believed to lie behind them, and treatment methods prescribed by folk and Tibetan medicine. Goals. The study attempts an analysis of medicinal knowledge and experiences used by Buryats and Mongolians to cure venereal diseases in the early twentieth century. Materials and methods. The work employs the comparative method and that of historical-comparative analysis. It focuses on archival collections of S. Baldaev, I. Manzhigeev, works of M. Khangalov and Ts. Jamtsarano for insights into shamanistic views and ideas pertaining to venereal diseases. The corpus of examined works on Tibetan medicine has been compiled from traditional Tibetan and Buryat-Mongolian guides to medicinal drugs and herbs — zhors. Results. The paper shows that despite mythological interpretations of venereal diseases as such did prevail, the Mongolic peoples were distinguished by a completely rational understanding of syndromes and course patterns characteristic of certain venereal diseases.

Introduction. The article examines the parametric concept of wealth which occupies an important place in a human value system. Goals. The paper attempts an insight into the concept of wealth (bain) in Kalmyk linguoculture. To facilitate this, the work shall identify and analyze linguistic means employed to represent the concept of wealth; describe some figurative and value components of the concept; outline certain features of behavior motivated by the investigated concept. Materials and methods. The study focuses on data from Kalmyk (Russia) and Oirat (Xinjiang, PRC) lexicographic sources, with due attention be paid to the Etymological Dictionary of Mongolic Languages. It employs tools of lexical/semantic analysis to specify somewhat essential content of the concept under consideration, tools of linguocultural analysis to describe figurative and value components of the concept. Results. The analysis shows the Kalmyk language contains a variety of means to verbalize the concept in question. The concept of wealth (bain) has a field structure, namely: the core is formed by the lexemes bain, elvg, zӧӧr, mal; their derivatives and set phrases cluster together to shape the near periphery; while cultural texts associated with wealth constitute the far periphery. Conclusions. The essential content of the examined concept is reduced to the possession of resources (gold, silver, livestock, money). Its figurative components indicate an individual with a large fortune who is smart, lucky, diligent enough, but is equally generous and stingy, has no debts and is surrounded by friends. In Kalmyk discourse, wealth is associated with the value concepts arranged as follows: wisdom (wit) is the utmost wealth, the average one is children, while the minor one be livestock. The harsh conditions of livestock breeding had developed a philosophical attitude towards wealth within the community. So, when it comes to wealth, it is believed priority should be given to spiritual (immortal) gems rather than material ones, humans be patient in work and stay away from any theft. 

Introduction. Preservation of Kalmyk and Oirat oral heritage is a primary task of contemporary folklore studies. Scholars affiliated to Kalmyk Scientific Center (RAS) have tackled a project for further research into the Jangar epic (‘The Xinjiang Oirat Version of the Jangar Epic: Taletelling Tradition, Plot Structure, and Motifs’), and in 2023 the former have recorded The Song of How the Name Jangar was Discovered from Oirat jangarchi Narsa, a native of Alashan League (Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, People’s Republic of China). Goals. The article attempts an insight into the plot structure of the mentioned epic Song, and introduces the latter into scientific circulation. Materials. The study focuses on the text of the Song recorded by the author and transcribed herein, with due account of related texts contained in the Xinjiang Oirat and Kalmyk versions of Jangar. Results. Our analysis of the Song’s plot structure shows the plot is interconnected with that of The Song of How Khan Uzeng Aldar Got Married once recited by the famous Hoboksar jangarchi Javin Juna, and describes some events that follow the invasion of the antagonist Khan Shara Mangas into the mentioned ruler’s lands. The plot of name giving plays an important role in the hero’s epic biography. Biographical cyclization arises from the listener’s interest in the protagonist’s life at large, and implies the most important stages of epic biography — birth, childhood, first feat, heroic deeds (up to heroic descendants who would grow to nobly defend Bumba) — be consistently developed. The miraculously born hero named Jangar matures to assert his heroic name with heroic deeds.

Introduction. The article examines some 2023 narratives recorded in Kalmykia from informants who had recovered from various ailments with the aid of folk healers or who had witnessed such facts. The recorded accounts contain information about individuals with folk medical knowledge and skills, about diagnostic techniques and treatment methods, about medicines of plant, animal and mineral origin — the stories of miraculous healing being the leitmotif of those oral testimonies. Goals. The study investigates individual facts of traditional medicine preserved in the people’s memories in the form of tales, recollections, stories considered hereinafter as narratives. Methods. So, the word ‘narrative’ denote a text recorded at the time of its oral reproduction by the informant, a summary of past events in the time sequence and to the extent how it was preserved in the memory of each particular narrator. The recording procedures involved a number of practical methods instrumental in conducting informal interviews and observations to obtain new empirical material and answers to specific questions pertaining to the research topic. Results. Our efforts aimed at identifying the desired material revealed that various regions of Kalmykia are still represented by efficient individuals possessing certain traditional medicine knowledge and skills. The recorded oral narratives testify to real cases of ‘patients’ who had turned to folk healers with health disorders, describe a variety of employed treatment methods that did prove success. The paper suggests folk knowledge about ancient healing methods has not lost its significance to date, and can successfully coexist with contemporary academic medicine. The warnings and prohibitions presented in oral narratives are as important nowadays to preserve, develop, and transmit traditions relating to human health.