Introduction. 2024 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Economic Council of Mongolia, the formation of which as part of the Ministry of Finance was adopted at a meeting of the People’s Government on November 18, 1924. In fact, its activities began on February 3, 1925. The main purpose of its creation was to coordinate the activities of economic bodies, develop and plan economic and financial policies and prospects for the economic development of the country. The Economic Council of Mongolia functioned until 1932, during the period of the organization’s activity four heads were replaced. In July 1932, at the 17th extraordinary meeting of the Small Khural, the Economic Council was reorganized into the State Department of Planning and State Accounting under the Council of Ministers of the country. Soviet specialists were also involved in the work at the Economic Council — E. A. Stulov (as an adviser), A. D. Simukov, etc. The purpose of the article is a preliminary overview of the activities of the Economic Council, highlighting the main forms of its work. The article uses materials from the State National Archive of Mongolia, published scientific literature. Conclusions. The main purpose of the creation of the Economic Council was to coordinate the activities of economic bodies, develop and plan economic and financial policies and prospects for the economic development of the country. Viewed from this point of view, the council, which functioned for only eight years (1924–1932), only partially fulfilled its main tasks. However, it is not yet possible to fully judge the activities of the main economic institution at that time due to the insufficiency of documents from the Mongolian and Russian archives. Soviet specialists, Advisor E. A. Stulov, employees of the Scientific Committee of Mongolia and the Economic Council, in particular its head G. Nanzad, played a major role in the work of the Economic Council. 

Introduction. In September 1959, a landmark event for Mongolian science — the First International Congress of Mongolologists Philologists — took place in Ulaanbaatar. Its aim was to promote Mongolian Studies and strengthen contacts between scholars. The forum brought together researchers from a number of countries, including those having been separated by the Cold War Iron Curtain. Purpose. The article is to examine the Congress preparation and holding, focusing on previously untouched its ideological contexts. The article is based on the materials from the Russian Academy of Sciences Archives and publications of Congress participants from the USSR, the UK and the USA. Result and conclusions. The study showed that it was important for the Congress organizers that political and ideological disagreements between representatives of different countries did not arise during its work. Mongolian scholars discussed their probability in 1958 with Yu. Roerich during his business trip to Ulaanbaatar. When forming the list of participants in the Congress, the Mongolian Committee of Science took into account the political views of scientists and consulted with the USSR Academy of Sciences on this issue. In addition, at the beginning of the Congress, the delegations of the USSR, Mongolia and China agreed not to enter into discussions among themselves in order to demonstrate the unity of friendly countries. The author concludes that the Congress in Ulaanbaatar was one of the first scientific events of Mongolian Studies during the Cold War period with a broad international representation of scholars from countries belonging to the opposing political blocs. Despite the organizers’ concerns, the Congress demonstrated the leadership of scientific internationalism. Several cases of «political-tinget» disagreements did not come to the forefront of its proceedings. The Congress also demonstrated a significant expansion of international contacts of the Committee of Science and at the time the weakening of Soviet-Mongolian scientific links. 

Introduction. This article analyzes the subregional system “Russia –Mongolia – China”, the nature of a number of its internal processes and the features of the contextual conditions that determine it. The study is focused on determining the current conditions of its functioning and development in the transport and infrastructure sector, as well as the features of its internal intercivilizational dialogue. The main objective was to study the key conditions and factors of an economic and civilizational nature for a deeper and multidimensional understanding of the specifics of this subregional system. An equally important objective of this study is to attempt to formulate a model of incorporation of such different dimensions and planes as civilizational interactions and partnership in the field of transport infrastructure into the development of subregional issues in the research discourse. Materials and methods. The work involved monographs and analytical articles by domestic and Mongolian specialists and experts, transcripts of official negotiations at the highest level, statistical data, and media materials. A systems approach was used to the subject of the study, which was presented as a subregional system, and its research synthesis was carried out with a civilizational approach, which determined the allocation of the civilizational level as one of the dimensions of this system. Based on the results of the study, the following results were achieved. Firstly, the current state of the subregional discussion regarding the implementation of promising trilateral transport and infrastructure projects was determined, the main risks and opportunities were weighed. Secondly, the article characterizes the civilizational environment of international relations in the subregion, highlights the main vectors of its influence on the processes currently taking place between Russia, Mongolia and China in the field of international trade, transport and infrastructure construction. A conclusion is made about the positive influence of the features of the inter-civilizational dialogue in the “triangle” on the promotion of significant subregional initiatives.

Introduction. The article deals with the problem of the influence of the migration of Kalmyks from Russia to China on the Kalmyk population of Orenburg province in 1771, which is not affected in historiography. The sources for the study were the materials of the fund No. 3 “Orenburg Provincial Chancellery” of the United State Archive of the Orenburg region. Along with the documents containing the orders of the Orenburg governor I.A. Reinsdorp and various reports addressed to him, they contain the testimony of Kalmyks who were interrogated in the office of the Yaik Cossack army. Most archival documents are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The restoration of the outline of the events under consideration through the use of archival materials required the use of special methods of historical research: critical analysis of historical sources, historical continuity, as well as historical-comparative and historical-legal methods that allow tracing common and distinct features in the legal situation of Kalmyk villagers in Orenburg province. Results. Kalmyks-Cossacks of the Yaik army turned out to be directly involved in the process of Kalmyk migration. They were related to the subjects of the governor of the Kalmyk Khanate by kinship and confessional ties. Under the influence of agitation, coercion, or out of fear of parting with their family, some of the Yaik Kalmyks joined the migration provoked by the Kalmyk nobility. However, among the Yaik Kalmyks there were those who not only did not want to leave Russia, but also helped to pursue the fugitives. The efforts of the Russian administration to limit contacts between Orenburg and Stavropol baptized Kalmyks did not allow them to be involved in the migration flow. Moreover, the Stavropol Kalmyk army was replenished by a group of Kalmyks who refused to escape and expressed a desire to become Orthodox Christians.

Introduction. Researchers have little studied some aspects of the requisition of Buryats for military rear work during the First World War. The question of conscription of students of Buddhist theological schools is a complex one. The aim of the study is to conduct an archival study of the details of the requisition process and the position of the Buddhist clergy of Eastern Siberia in relation to the mobilization of students. The authors solved the following problems: 1) analyze statistical data on conscript students and monks in the lists of datsans and local volosts; 2) monitor the interaction of the Buddhist clergy with regional and central authorities on issues of requisition; 3) determine the categories of students and monastics who have been released from military rear work; 4) study the role of requisitioned representatives of the Buryat Buddhist Church in helping lama healers in the Arkhangelsk region. Conclusions: despite the petitions of the Buryat Buddhist hierarchy to exempt students of Buddhist theological schools from military rear work, they, together with monastics, numbering 1,600 people, were sent to the regions of Arkhangelsk and Belarus. In addition to military and rear work, they provided assistance to lama healers. Some students were exempt for medical reasons, as well as workers and employees of enterprises working for national defense. Individual khuvaraks studying in Mongolia and Tibet were also exempt from requisition.

Introduction. The article is devoted to the Red Army soldiers from Kalmykia who died, went missing, died and/or were awarded in the battles for the defense of Belarus in 1941 and its liberation in 1943–1944, as well as historical and statistical research of their collective portrait. Materials and methods. When writing the article, a complex of various general scientific and special methods was used, including historical-genetic, historical-comparative, historical-typological, historical-systemic, and statistical methods. The materials for the work were the office documentation of the military units of the Red Army (stored in the electronic data banks Memorial, Feat of the People and Memory of the People), primarily reports on losses and award documents. Results. During the research, a database of Red Army servicemen from the Kalmyk ASSR who died, went missing, died of wounds and/or were awarded in the battles for Belarus in the summer of 1941 and in September 1943 – September 1944 was compiled on the basis of various sources. Following this, an analysis of their collective portrait was carried out in such categories as place and year of birth, place of conscription, time and place of death, place of service, time and number of awards. Conclusions. The analysis shows that the Red Army soldiers from Kalmykia actively participated in the battles for the defense of Belarus in the summer of 1941 and its liberation in 1943–1944. At the same time, the losses in the defensive battles of 1941 (among which the absolute majority are captured) exceed the losses in the offensive battles of 1943–1944. At the same time, an analysis of losses and awards in 1944 shows that the proportion of Kalmyks by the beginning of the strategic operation Bagration had noticeably decreased due to the mass removal of Kalmyks and their deportation to the Shiroklag or places of special settlements.

Introduction. The article examines the history of the creation of the set of illustrations the Atlas of Tibetan Medicine (also known as Tibetan Medical Paintings) by Desi Sangye Gyatso (1653–1705) to his Vaiḍūrya sngon po, which is a drudrel (‘bru ‘grel) commentary on the rGyud bzhi. The question of the set’s creation has not been sufficiently studied in Russian oriental studies. In Tibetan medical historiography, the Vaiḍūrya sngon po in combination with the Atlas of Tibetan Medicine is considered to be the most authoritative commentary on the rGyud bzhi. The purpose of the article is to identify the main stages of the creating of the visual material of the Atlas of Tibetan Medicine and to give a general description of the illustrations. Materials and methods. The work is based on the study of the text and set of illustrations of the Atlas of Tibetan Medicine and information contained in Tibetan medical treatises, historical works, as well as specialized literature. Results. It was revealed that the process of creating the Atlas of Tibetan Medicine stretched over several years. Desi Sangye Gyatso began illustrating the Vaiḍūrya sngon po in 1687 and completed it in 1702. Desi Sangye Gyatso uses the word tricha (bris cha) or ngönme-tricha (sngon med kyi bris cha ‘an illustration that did not exist in the past’) to denote an “illustration.” The main source for the compilation of the Atlas of Tibetan Medicine was pictorial material, consisting of two groups: traditional medical illustrations and new, specially created paintings. The first group includes illustrations borrowed from previously existing texts of the genres of dondem (sdong ‘grems ‘unfolded tree’), rodra (ro bkra, yul thig ‘anatomy’), and dungpe (‘khrungs dpe ‘Materia medica’). The second group consists of new composition of Buddhist and religious-mythological content, as well as numerous images of people in everyday life, created specifically for the illustrating the Vaiḍūrya sngon po. The creation of the Atlas of Tibetan Medicine led to the unification of the disparate paintings accumulated by the 17th century in various medical schools of Tibet. The pictorial material and thematic range of the Atlas of Tibetan Medicine are not limited to medical sphere; its artistic and aesthetic aspects require further study.

Introduction. In recent years, there have been publications in which letters of the Kalmyk khans and the highest nobility, including prints of their seals, have been published, which undoubtedly attracts the attention of researchers. These seals, as well as other seals, the impressions of which have been preserved on archival documents, are interesting as monuments of the political history of the Kalmyk people. Until recently, the fact of the existence of forged seals of the Kalmyk Khan Ayuka, his heir Chagdordzhab and the owner of Lubzha remained unknown. The purpose of the article is to introduce into scientific circulation sphragistic data on forgeries of seals of Ayuka, Chagdordzhab and Lubji. The material for the study was the business correspondence of Ayuka Khan, Chakdordzhab and the owner of the Puddle, dated the 18th century. Results. The study presents data on three forgeries of the seals of the representatives of the Kalmyk nobility. All three forgeries were apparently used for some reason due to the absence of the access to the original seal. And if the first fake clearly gives itself away with a different technique, then the second and third are like mirror images of the originals. All three forgeries of the seals were used by representatives of the highest nobility: the wives of Khan Ayuka and his heir Chagdordzhab, as well as the grandson of Dorzhi Nazarov (a pretender to the throne in the Kalmyk Khanate after the death of Khan Ayuka in 1724). The reason for the use of fakes is unclear, the most likely option is that there was no possibility of using the original seal.

Introduction. The article deals with the portrait of Manchu aristocrat heshuo Guo-qinwang Yunli (1697–1738) — the younger brother of Qing Yongzheng emperor and the uncle of Qianlong emperor. Purpose of the research is to find and study the pieces of weapons and equipment of the Central Asian style in the aforementioned portrait. Results. It is determined that the portrait of Yunli was painted by the famous European artist and missioner G. Castiglione in the summer of 1735, not long after the return of Yunli from the travel to Dalai Lama which took place in the winter-spring of the same year. The comprehensive analysis of the sources showed that the heshuo Guo-qinwang combines Qing clothing with parts of equipment of the Central Asian type. These items include a quiver of the so-called “Oirat type”, a saddle of the “Oirat type” (elete shi ma’an ), and possibly some other elements of horse equipment. It is possible that these items were donated to Yunli by representatives of the Oirat (Khoshut) or Tibetan nobility during his visit to the Dalai Lama in 1735. As the portrait has the exact date, it can be used for the attribution and dating of quivers and saddles of the Oirats and Tibetans, similar in design, which are kept in Russian and foreign museum and private collections. Conclusions. Materials of Qing iconography are currently not being actively used to study the Oirat cultural heritage. A comprehensive study of Qing pictorial sources can play an important role in the study of weapons, equipment, costume, military symbols and military affairs of the Oirats and their neighbors of the late 17th–18th centuries. 

Introduction. The Pleiades star cluster (hereinafter referred to as a constellation) was of extreme importance in the lives of the nomads of Inner and Central Asia of all the astral objects visible in the night sky. The purpose of this article is to solve two problems, one of which is to study the distribution of the main names of the Pleiades in the Turkic and Mongolic languages, to identify the most complete set of their versions in different dialects, to clarify and supplement the etymology of the names. The other task is to identify and analyze the mythological images of the Pleiades known in the territory of settlement of the Turkic and Mongolic peoples. Materials and methods. The sources of the study were historical and ethnographic data published in the works of researchers — ethnographers, historians, linguists, folklore materials, as well as materials of the author’s field research. The work uses both general scientific research methods (analysis, analogy, etc.) and specific scientific (historical-comparative method) research. Results. Two names of the Pleiades are recorded, the Turkic ürker / ülker and the Mongolic mičid, the most relevant etymological hypotheses reflecting the origin of the Turkic and Mongolic names of the Pleiades are presented, a number of mythological images of the Pleiades revealed in the course of the study are proposed. Conclusions. Unique images of the Pleiades in the ideas of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples arose in the process of interaction of different languages ​​and cultures, understanding and interpretation of different versions of the names of the Pleiades, integration of disparate plot-forming elements in myths, fairy tales, legends.

Introduction. The article is devoted to the universal concept “homeland”, which occupies an important place in the world picture of the Kalmyks and determines a person’s worldview. Goals. The paper attempts an insight into the concept of homeland in the Kalmyk language. Tasks: a) to establish its conceptual content; b) to characterize its figurative and axiological components; c) to determine the postulates of behavior conditioned by this concept. Material: dictionary definitions of linguistic units representing the concept “motherland”.  Research methods: methods of comparative, lexical-semantic and linguocultural analysis. Results. The analysis has shown that in the Kalmyk language there are various means of objectification of the concept “motherland”, which belong to the basic lexicon, etymologized on the Mongolian linguistic soil. Conclusions. The mental object «motherland» is associated with the space (hazr, orn), where a person was born (törskn/ törsn hazr), where he lives (nutg), with water sources (usn). The perceptual image of the homeland is visualized as a territory with soft earth (dzhöln hazr), green lush grass (nohan sör), warm air (dulan), healing water (arshan). Enkr chazr-usn ‘dear motherland’, eedzh-aavin nutg ‘mother-father’s nutg’ is the highest value of the Kalmyk (törl ek met), and is presented as ‘his space’ (evrä hazr-usn), opposed to ‘foreign land’ (khärin hazr). The postulates of behavior regarding the homeland: to cherish and love the homeland, to give one’s life for the homeland, to return to the homeland, to know its customs. 

Introduction. The paper analyzes the linguistic landscape of the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar in an interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological context: at the junction of social semiotics, ethnography, and linguistic landscape studies as a subdiscipline of sociolinguistics. The aim of the study is to analyze the linguistic landscape signs and social meanings attributed to them by the inhabitants of Ulaanbaatar, as well as linguistic ideologies underlying social indexicality. The method used include photographing linguistic landscape units in the center of Ulaanbaatar and surveying representatives of small businesses and ordinary urban dwellers. In total, 576 units of the linguistic landscape and 100 questionnaires collected in March 2024 served as material for analysis. Results. A synchronous ‘crosscut’ of the linguistic landscape of Ulaanbaatar showed that the key ‘players’ in the linguistic ‘field’ of Mongolia — both in the capital’s linguistic landscape and in the collective consciousness are the official Mongolian language, English, followed by Chinese, Russian and Korean; vertical Mongolian writing has a special symbolic meaning. Behind the predominantly Mongolian linguistic landscape with a tendency towards Westernization other trends and ideologies have been revealed. On the one hand, it is the openness of the country and its orientation towards international cooperation, on the other hand, people’s concern about the future of the Mongolian language and its ‘purity’. The analysis also showed an ambivalent attitude towards English and Chinese in and outside the linguistic landscape, which is due to both historical memory and potential threats to the ‘small country’ from powerful neighbors and globalization, which jeopardizes national identity. As a certain ‘reconciliation’ of ambivalent language ideologies a hybrid naming strategy is interpreted, i.e. the combination of Mongolian and English on both official and unofficial signs of the linguistic landscape. This naming strategy has a multiple indexical value: this is both a representation of the Mongolian national identity and a manifestation of internationalization strategy and commodification of languages. The linguistic landscape in Ulaanbaatar creates a deceptive impression of a large presence of the Russian language, which is created due to the Cyrillic alphabet as a graphic system of the modern Mongolian language and a large number of Russian borrowings. The attitude towards Chinese is characterized by the greatest ambivalence when anti-Chinese sentiments exist along with awareness of its commodification value. In general, the linguistic landscape of Ulaanbaatar is in a state of dynamic transformation, and the increase in the symbolic weight of some languages (English, Chinese and Korean) and the decrease of others (Russian) metonymically reflects the vector of the country’s development and its value orientations.

The article examines the poetics of the musical instrument ‘yath’ (yatha) in Kalmyk folklore and lyrics of the 20th century. The purpose of the article is to study the tradition of this Kalmyk musical instrument in the aspect of its reflection in the works of Kalmyk poets. Materials and methods. The Kalmyk epic “Dzhangar”, Kalmyk folk tales, Kalmyk folk songs, as well as Mongolian legends, poems by B. B. Sangadzhieva, S. L. Baidyev, E. N. Lidzhiev of the 1960s – early 1970s were used as materials. Comparative and comparative, historical and functional methods, as well as the method of descriptive poetics, cultural, and musicological approaches determined a comprehensive analysis of the selected works in the article. Results. Yatha in Kalmyk folklore manifests itself as a sacred instrument, symbolizing the unearthly and powerful principles. If in the epic ‘biiv’ (clarinet) and ‘yath’ (harp) are presented as separate musical instruments played by characters and the wind, then in one Kalmyk fairy tale they are also represented as ‘biiv-yath’, which apparently “united” in itself two instruments: ‘biwaa’ (plucked string instrument) and ‘yath’. In Kalmyk lyrics of the last century, compared to dombra, fewer works are addressed to yatha. In the multi-genre works of B. B.  Sangadzhieva, S. L. Baydyev and E. N. Lidzhiev, the theme of yatha, on the one hand, is connected with the theme of the purpose of the poet and poetry (yatha as a lyre), on the other, with a love theme through the prism of the melody of this musical instrument. In B. B. Sangadzhieva and E. N. Lidzhiev it is yatha that appears, and in S. L. Baydyev two names are given in the same text: as ‘yath’ and as ‘biiv-yath’. N. N. Matveeva translated the quatrain of B. B. Sangadzhieva into Russian, in which there is a lyre instead of a yatha.