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156-604: The Kalmykia republic covers an area of 76,100 square kilometres (29,400 square miles), with a small population of about 275,000 residents. The republic is home of the Kalmyks , a people of Mongolian origin who are primarily and mainly of Tibetan Buddhist faith. The capital of the republic is the city of Elista . The republic is located in Southern Russia , lying north of the North Caucasus. A small stretch of

312-653: A Kalmyk American , as the supreme lama of the Kalmyk people. The Dalai Lama has visited Elista on a number of occasions. The Kalmyks have also established communities in the United States , primarily in Pennsylvania and New Jersey . The majority are descended from those Kalmyks who fled from Russia in late 1920 to France, Yugoslavia , Bulgaria , and, later, Germany. Many of those Kalmyks living in Germany at

468-495: A 2012 survey, 47.6% of the population of Kalmykia adhere to Buddhism, 18% to the Russian Orthodox Church , 4.8% to Islam , 3% to Tengrism or Kalmyk shamanism , 1% are unaffiliated Christians , 1% are either Orthodox Christian believers who do not belong to a church or are members of non-Russian Orthodox churches, 0.4% adhere to forms of Hinduism , and 9.0% follow other religions or did not give an answer to

624-628: A Buddhist temple there in 1929. In July 1919, Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin issued an appeal to the Kalmyk people, calling for them to revolt and to aid the Red Army. Lenin promised to provide the Kalmyks, among other things, a sufficient quantity of land for their own use. The promise came to fruition on November 4, 1920, when a resolution was passed by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee proclaiming

780-485: A bey was called a beylik . Beys in the khanate were as important as the Polish Magnats . Directly to the khan belonged Cufut-Qale , Bakhchisaray , and Staryi Krym (Eski Qirim). The khan also possessed all the salt lakes and the villages around them, as well as the woods around the rivers Alma , Kacha, and Salgir . Part of his own estate included the wastelands with their newly created settlements. Part of

936-699: A claim to be the successor to the Golden Horde, which entailed asserting the right of rule over the Tatar khanates of the Caspian-Volga region, particularly the Kazan Khanate and Astrakhan Khanate . This claim pitted it against Muscovy for dominance in the region. A successful campaign by Devlet I Giray upon the Russian capital in 1571 culminated in the burning of Moscow , and he thereby gained

1092-591: A complex relationship with Zaporozhian Cossacks who lived to the north of the khanate in modern Ukraine. The Cossacks provided a measure of protection against Tatar raids for Poland–Lithuania and received subsidies for their service. They also raided Crimean and Ottoman possessions in the region. At times Crimean Khanate made alliances with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Zaporizhian Sich . The assistance of İslâm III Giray during

1248-688: A deliberate policy by the Qing to enfeeble them. After the 1771 exodus, the Kalmyks that remained part of the Russian Empire continued their nomadic pastoral lifestyle, ranging the pastures between the Don and the Volga Rivers, wintering in the lowlands along the shores of the Caspian Sea as far as Sarpa Lake to the northwest and Lake Manych-Gudilo to the west. In the spring, they moved along

1404-718: A reward, according to local folklore, for historic services rendered to an uluhane (first wife of a Khan). The capitation tax on Jews in Crimea was levied by the office of the uluhane in Bahçeseray. Much like the Christian population of Crimea, the Jews were actively involved in the slave trade. Both Christians and Jews also often redeemed Christian and Jewish captives of Tatar raids in Eastern Europe. The nomadic part of

1560-702: A third theory suggests that the Torghuts grew weary of the militant struggle between the Oirats and the Altan Khanate. Upon arrival to the lower Volga region in 1630, the Oirats encamped on land that was once part of the Astrakhan Khanate but was now claimed by the Tsardom of Russia . The region was lightly populated, from south of Saratov to the Russian garrison at Astrakhan and on both the east and

1716-777: A tool the Bolsheviks used to control the Kalmyk people: ... the Soviet authorities were greatly interested in Sovietizing Kalmykia as quickly as possible and with the least amount of bloodshed. Although the Kalmyks alone were not a significant force, the Soviet authorities wished to win popularity in the Asian and Buddhist worlds by demonstrating their evident concern for the Buddhists in Russia. After establishing control,

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1872-708: A wide geographical area of Uvs and Khovd provinces (aimags) of Western Mongolia ( N  = 209,412), and in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China ( N  = 194,891). Ethnic groups of Oirat speakers in the Republic of Kalmykia, Russia ( N  = 162,740 ) include Torguts, Derbets and Buzavas, together with a smaller group called Khoshuts, who live in just two villages of Kalmykia. Up until today the Kalmyks have retained their distinguished sub-ethnic groups, being quite separated from their geographical neighbours in Russia and northeast Caucasus. The Kalmyks are

2028-827: Is necessary for agriculture. The Cherney Zemli Irrigation Scheme ( Черноземельская оросительная система ) in southern Kalmykia receives water from the Caucasian rivers Terek and Kuma via a chain of canals: water flows from the Terek to the Kuma via the Terek-Kuma Canal , then to the Chogray Reservoir on the East Manych River via the Kuma–Manych Canal , and finally into Kalmykia's steppes over

2184-637: Is the oldest memorial in the Crimean Tatar language and of great importance for the history of Kypchak and Oghuz dialects – as directly related to the Kipchaks of the Black Sea steppes and Crimea . There are legends that, in the 14th century, the Crimea was repeatedly ravaged by the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . Grand Duke of Lithuania Algirdas broke the Tatar army in 1363 near

2340-478: Is −5 °C (23 °F) and the average July temperature is 24 °C (75 °F). Average annual precipitation ranges from 170 millimeters (6.7 in) in the east of the republic to 400 millimeters (16 in) in the west. The small town of Utta is the hottest place in Russia. On July 12, 2010, during a significant heatwave affecting all of Russia, an all-time record-high temperature was observed at 45.4 °C (113.7 °F). The republic's wildlife includes

2496-734: The Black Sea were nominally subject to the Crimean Khan. They were divided into the following groups: Budjak (from the Danube to the Dniester), Yedisan (from the Dniester to the Bug), Cemboylıq  [ crh ] (Bug to Crimea), Yedickul (north of Crimea) and Kuban . Internally, the khanate territory was divided among the beys, and beneath the beys were mirzas from noble families. The relationship of peasants or herdsmen to their mirzas

2652-751: The Desht-i Kipchak (Kypchak Steppes of today's Ukraine and southern Russia) and decided to make Crimea their yurt (homeland). At that time, the Golden Horde of the Mongol empire had governed the Crimean peninsula as an ulus since 1239, with its capital at Qirim ( Staryi Krym ). The local separatists invited a Genghisid contender for the Golden Horde throne, Hacı Giray , to become their khan . Hacı Giray accepted their invitation and travelled from exile in Lithuania . He warred for independence against

2808-713: The European Plain . This dry steppe area, west of the lower Volga River, known among the nomads as Itil/Idjil, a basin on the northwest shore of the Caspian Sea, was the most suitable land for nomadic pastures. Itil or Idjil, the ancient name of the Volga River, written in the archaic Oirat script, means exactly that: the "pastures". The ancestors of Kalmyks were nomadic groups of Oirat -speaking Mongols , who migrated from Western Mongolia to Eastern Europe three times: in early medieval times, establishing in

2964-631: The Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism . Locked in between both tribes were the Choros, Dörbet Oirat and Khoid , collectively known as the " Dzungar people ", who were slowly rebuilding the base of power they enjoyed under the Four Oirat. The Choros were the dominant Oirat tribe of that era. Their leader, Erdeni Batur, attempted to follow Esen Khan in unifying the Oirats to challenge the Khalkha. Under

3120-518: The Giray clan, which traced its right to rule to its descent from Genghis Khan . According to the tradition of the steppes, the ruler was legitimate only if he was of Genghisid royal descent (i.e. "ak süyek"). Although the Giray dynasty was the symbol of government, the khan actually governed with the participation of Qaraçı Beys , the leaders of the noble clans such as Şirin, Barın, Arğın, Qıpçaq, and in

3276-606: The Kalmyks , the Oirats , migrated from the steppes of southern Siberia on the banks of the Irtysh River , reaching the Lower Volga region by the early 17th century. Historians have given various explanations for the move, but generally recognise that the Kalmyks sought abundant pastures for their herds. Another motivation may have involved escaping the growing dominance of the neighbouring Dzungar Mongol tribe. They reached

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3432-648: The Karakalpaks . The Mangyshlak Peninsula was overtaken in 1639 by Kalmyks. At first, an uneasy relationship existed between the Russians and the Oirats. Mutual raiding by the Oirats of Russian settlements and by the Cossacks and the Bashkirs , Muslim vassals of the Russians, of Oirat encampments was commonplace. Numerous oaths and treaties were signed to ensure Oirat loyalty and military assistance. Although

3588-791: The Khmelnytsky Uprising in 1648 contributed greatly to the initial momentum of military successes for the Cossacks. The relationship with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was also exclusive, as it was the home dynasty of the Girays, who sought sanctuary in Lithuania in the 15th century before establishing themselves on the Crimean peninsula. In the middle of the 16th century, the Crimean Khanate asserted

3744-693: The Khovd region in northwest Mongolia, reuniting most of Mongolia in the process . The Oirats would later regroup south of the Altai Mountains in Dzungaria. But Geresenz's grandson, Sholoi Ubashi Khuntaiji, pushed the Oirats further northwest, along the steppes of the Ob and Irtysh Rivers. Afterwards, he established a Khalkha Khanate under the name, Altan Khan, in the Oirat heartland of Dzungaria. In spite of

3900-656: The North Caucasus . These campaigns highlighted the strategic importance of the Kalmyk Khanate which functioned as a buffer zone, separating Russia and the Muslim world, as Russia fought wars in Europe to establish itself as a European power. To encourage the release of Oirat cavalrymen in support of its military campaigns, the Russian Empire increasingly relied on the provision of monetary payments and dry goods to

4056-699: The Qing Empire , in the Dzungar–Qing Wars ; they were the last of the Mongol groups to resist vassalage to Qing. At the start of this 400-year era, the Western Mongols designated themselves as the Four Oirat . The alliance comprised four major Western Mongol tribes: Khoshut , Choros , Torghut and Dörbet . Collectively, the Four Oirat sought power as an alternative to the Mongols, who were

4212-461: The Russian SFSR . In the following years, bad planning of agricultural and irrigation projects resulted in widespread desertification . On orders from Moscow, sheep production increased beyond levels that the fragile steppe could sustain, resulting in 1.4 million acres (5666 km) of the artificial desert. To ramp up output, economically nonviable industrial plants were constructed. After

4368-485: The Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) took place during the reign of Peter I (1682–1725). The Selim II Giray fountain, built in 1747, is considered one of the masterpieces of Crimean Khanate's hydraulic engineering designs and is still marveled in modern times. It consists of small ceramic pipes, boxed in an underground stone tunnel, stretching back to the spring source more than 20 metres (66 feet) away. It

4524-430: The Scythians and Sarmatians from the central Eurasian steppe, bringing their respective religious systems with them. Later on, all three major Abrahamic religions also took root, with the Khazar conversion to Judaism being a notable (if historically contested) episode in the religion's history. The Alans were a major Muslim people group, who faced the invading Mongols and their Tengrist practices, with some of

4680-400: The Semey region along the lower portions of the Irtysh River, where they built several steppe monasteries . The Khoshut were adjacent to the Khalkha khanates of Altan Khan and Dzasagtu Khan. Both khanates prevented the Khoshut and the other Oirat from trading with Chinese border towns. The Khoshut were ruled by Baibagas Khan and then Güshi Khan , who were the first Oirat leaders to convert to

4836-418: The Tibetan Plateau , where he formed the Khoshut Khanate to protect Tibet and the Gelug from both internal and external enemies. Erdeni Batur and his descendants, by contrast, formed the Dzungar Khanate and came to dominate Central Eurasia. In 1618, the Torghut and a small contingent of Dörbet Oirats (200,000–250,000 people) chose to migrate from the upper Irtysh River region to the grazing pastures of

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4992-405: The Tsardom of Russia , Moscow was in no position to settle the area with Russian colonists. This area under Kalmyk control would eventually be called the Kalmyk Khanate . Within twenty-five years of settling in the Lower Volga region, the Kalmyks became subjects of the Tsar of Russia . In exchange for protecting Russia's southern border, the Kalmyks were promised an annual allowance and access to

5148-445: The Volga River flows through eastern Kalmykia. Other major rivers include the Yegorlyk , the Kuma , and the Manych . Lake Manych-Gudilo is the largest lake; other lakes of significance include Lakes Sarpa and Tsagan-Khak . The highest point of Kalmykia is 222 metres (728 ft) high Shared , located in the Yergeni hills. Kalmykia's natural resources include coal , oil , and natural gas . The average January temperature

5304-442: The saiga antelope , whose habitat is protected in Chyornye Zemli Nature Reserve . According to the Kurgan hypothesis , the upland regions of modern-day Kalmykia formed part of the cradle of Indo-European culture . Hundreds of kurgans can be seen in these areas, known as the Indo-European Urheimat ( Samara culture , Sredny Stog culture , Yamna culture ). Some of the first recorded peoples to move into this territory were

5460-405: The vakif lands and their enormous revenues. Another Muslim official, appointed not by the clergy but the Ottoman sultan, was the kadıasker , the overseer of the khanate's judicial districts, each under jurisdiction of a kadi . In theory, kadis answered to the kadiaskers, but in practice they answered to the clan leaders and the khan. The kadis determined the day to day legal behavior of Muslims in

5616-423: The "Frontier Period", lasting from the advent of the Torghut under Kho Orluk in 1630 to the end of the great khanate of Kho Orluk 's descendant, Ayuka Khan , in 1724, a phase accompanied by little discernible acculturative change: There were few sustained interrelations between Kalmyks and Russians in the frontier period. Routine contacts consisted in the main of seasonal commodity exchanges of Kalmyk livestock and

5772-415: The 15th century, the three major groups of Oirat formed an alliance, adopting "Dörben Oirat" as their collective name. In the early 17th century, a second great Oirat Confederation emerged, which later became the Dzungar Empire. While the Dzungars (initially Choros, Dörbet and Khoit tribes) were establishing their empire in Central Eurasia, the Khoshuts were establishing the Khoshut Khanate in Tibet, protecting

5928-426: The 15–17th centuries, they established under the name "10 tumen Mongols", a cavalry unit of 10,000 horsemen, including four Oirat tumen and six tumen composed of other Mongols. They reestablished their traditional pastoral nomadic lifestyle during the end of the Yuan dynasty. The Oirats formed this alliance to defend themselves against the Khalkha Mongols and to pursue the greater objective of reunifying Mongolia. Until

6084-400: The 17th century, the First Altan Khan drove the Oirats westward to present-day eastern Kazakhstan . The Torghuts became the westernmost Oirat tribe, encamped in the Tarbagatai Mountains region and along the northern stretches of the Irtysh , Ishim and Tobol Rivers . Further west, the Kazakhs – a Turco-Mongol people – prevented the Torghuts from sending its trading caravans to

6240-467: The 6th–8th centuries the Avar Khanate ; in medieval times, establishing the Ulus of Juchi and Il-Kanate as Khuda-in-laws of Genghis Khan ; and finally, in early modern times, establishing the Kalmyk Khanate in the 17th century. The Oirat language belongs to the western branch of the Mongolic language family, whose speakers include numerous sub-ethnic groups (Derbet, Torgut, Khoshut, Olot, Dzungar (Zunghar), Bayad, Zakhchin, Khoton, Myangad, Buzava) across

6396-399: The Caucasus. The Khanate experienced economic prosperity from free trade with Russian border towns, with China, with Tibet and with Muslim neighbours. During this era, the Kalmyks also kept close contacts with their Oirat kinsmen in Dzungaria , as well as with the Dalai Lama in Tibet . After the October Revolution in 1917, many Don Kalmyks joined the White Russian army and fought under

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6552-483: The Cherney Zemli Main Canal, constructed in the 1970s. The government of Kalmykia spends about $ 100 million annually. Its annual oil production is about 1,270,000 barrels. The Kalmyks of Kyrgyzstan live primarily in the Karakol region of eastern Kyrgyzstan. They are referred to as Sart Kalmyks . The origin of this name is unknown. Likewise, it is not known when, why and from where this small group of Kalmyks migrated to eastern Kyrgyzstan. Due to their minority status,

6708-427: The Crimea and probably saw him as her heir to the Crimean throne. In the sources of the 16th–18th centuries, the opinion according to which the separation of the Crimean Tatar state was raised to Tokhtamysh, and Canike was the most important figure in this process, completely prevailed. The Crimean Khanate originated in the early 15th century when certain clans of the Golden Horde Empire ceased their nomadic life in

6864-433: The Crimea is considered Aran-Timur , the nephew of Batu Khan of the Golden Horde, who received this area from Mengu-Timur , and the first center of the Crimea was the ancient city Qırım (Solhat). This name then gradually spread to the entire Peninsula. The second center of Crimea was the valley adjacent to Qırq Yer and Bağçasaray . The multi-ethnic population of Crimea then consisted mainly of those who lived in

7020-447: The Crimea when the local population refused to pay tribute. An example is the well-known campaign of the Nogai Khan in 1299, which resulted in a number of Crimean cities suffering. As in other regions of the Horde, separatist tendencies soon began to manifest themselves in Crimea. In 1303, in Crimea, the most famous written monument of the Kypchak or Cuman language was created (named in Kypchak "tatar tili") – " Codex Cumanicus ", which

7176-463: The Crimea, inhabited mainly by Turkic peoples ( Cumans ), became the possession of Ulus Juchi , known as the Golden Horde or Ulu Ulus. In this era, the role of Turkic peoples increased. Around this time, the local Kipchaks took the name of Tatars ( tatarlar ). In the Horde period, the khans of the Golden Horde were the Supreme rulers of the Crimea, but their governors – Emirs – exercised direct control. The first formally recognized ruler in

7332-409: The Crimean Khanate did not decrease. These politico-economic losses led in turn to erosion of the khan's support among noble clans, and internal conflicts for power ensued. The Nogays, who provided a significant portion of the Crimean military forces, also took back their support from the khans towards the end of the empire. In the first half of the 17th century, Kalmyks formed the Kalmyk Khanate in

7488-428: The Crimean Khanate during the Chigirin Campaigns and the Crimean Campaigns . It was during the Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739) that the Russians, under the command of Field-Marshal Münnich , penetrated the Crimean Peninsula itself, burning and destroying everything in it. More warfare ensued during the reign of Catherine II . The Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) resulted in the Treaty of Kuchuk-Kainarji , which made

7644-428: The Crimean Khanate independent from the Ottoman Empire and aligned it with the Russian Empire . The rule of the last Crimean khan Şahin Giray was marked with increasing Russian influence and outbursts of violence from the khan administration towards internal opposition. On 8 April 1783, in violation of the treaty (after some parts of treaty had been already violated by Crimeans and Ottomans), Catherine II intervened in

7800-407: The Crimean Khanate shifted throughout its existence due to the constant incursions by the Cossacks , who had lived along the Don since the disintegration of the Golden Horde in the 15th century. The London-based cartographer Herman Moll in a map of c. 1729 shows "Little Tartary" as including the Crimean peninsula and the steppe between Dnieper and Mius River as far north as the Dnieper bend and

7956-412: The Crimean Khanate were destroyed or left in ruins after the Russian invasion. Mosques, in particular were demolished or remade into Orthodox churches. The settled Crimean Tatars were engaged in trade, agriculture, and artisanry. Crimea was a center of wine, tobacco, and fruit cultivation. Bahçeseray kilims ( oriental rugs ) were exported to Poland , and knives made by Crimean Tatar artisans were deemed

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8112-465: The Crimean Tatars and all the Nogays were cattle breeders. Crimea had important trading ports where the goods arrived via the Silk Road were exported to the Ottoman Empire and Europe. Crimean Khanate had many large cities such as the capital Bahçeseray, Kezlev (Yevpatoria), Qarasu Bazar (Market on black water) and Aqmescit (White-mosque) having numerous hans ( caravansarais and merchant quarters), tanners, and mills. Many monuments constructed under

8268-409: The Crimean Tatars and the Ottomans was comparable to the Polish–Lithuanian union in its importance and durability. The Crimean cavalry became indispensable for the Ottomans' campaigns against Poland , Hungary , and Persia . In 1502, Meñli I Giray defeated the last khan of the Great Horde , which put an end to the Horde's claims on Crimea. The Khanate initially chose as its capital Salaçıq near

8424-599: The Crimean Tatars in the course of their raids: It seems that the position and everyday conditions of a slave depended largely on his/her owner. Some slaves indeed could spend the rest of their days doing exhausting labor: as the Crimean vizir (minister) Sefer Gazi Aga mentions in one of his letters, the slaves were often "a plough and a scythe" of their owners. Most terrible, perhaps, was the fate of those who became galley -slaves, whose sufferings were poeticized in many Ukrainian dumas (songs). ... Both female and male slaves were often used for sexual purposes. The Crimeans had

8580-404: The Don Cossack region, Orenburg, Stavropol, the Terek and the Ural Mountains. Another generally accepted name is Ulan Zalata or the "red-buttoned ones" . In January 1771 the oppression of Tsarist administration forced the larger part of Kalmyks (33 thousand households, or approximately 170,000–200,000 people) to migrate to Dzungaria. Ubashi Khan , the great-grandson of Ayuka Khan and

8736-417: The Don River and the Sarpa lake system, attaining the higher grounds along the Don in the summer, passing the autumn in the Sarpa and Volga lowlands. In October and November they returned to their winter camps and pastures . Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate , self-defined as the Throne of Crimea and Desht-i Kipchak , and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary ,

8892-423: The Dzungars, to centralize political and military control over the tribes under his leadership. Some scholars, however, believe that the Torghuts sought uncontested pastures as their territory was being encroached upon by the Russians from the north, the Kazakhs from the south and the Dzungars from the east. The encroachments resulted in overcrowding of people and livestock, thereby diminishing the food supply. Lastly,

9048-407: The Fifteenth Party Congress of the Soviet Union passed a resolution calling for the "voluntary" collectivization of agriculture . The change in policy was accompanied by a new campaign of repression, directed initially against the small farming class. The objective of this campaign was to suppress the resistance of farming peasants to the full-scale collectivization of agriculture. On June 22, 1941,

9204-496: The Four Oirat unified Mongolia for a short period. After Esen's death in 1455, the political union of the Dörben Oirat dissolved quickly, resulting in two decades of Oirat-Eastern Mongol conflict. The deadlock ended during the reign of Batmunkh Dayan Khan , a five-year-old boy in whose name the loyal Eastern Mongol forces rallied. Mandukhai Khatun and Dayan Khan took advantage of Oirat disunity and weakness and brought Oirats back under Mongolian rule. In doing so, he regained control of

9360-557: The Gelugpa sect from its enemies, and the Torghuts formed the Kalmyk Khanate in the lower Volga region. After encamping, the Oirats began to identify themselves as "Kalmyk." This named was supposedly given to them by their Muslim neighbors and later used by the Russians to describe them. The Oirats used this name in their dealings with outsiders, viz., their Russian and Muslim neighbors. But they continued to refer to themselves by their tribal, clan, or other internal affiliations. The name Kalmyk, however, wasn't immediately accepted by all of

9516-453: The Genoese colonies at Cembalo , Soldaia , and Caffa (modern Feodosiya). Thenceforth the khanate was a protectorate of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman sultan enjoyed veto power over the selection of new Crimean khans. The Empire annexed the Crimean coast but recognized the legitimacy of the khanate rule of the steppes, as the khans were descendants of Genghis Khan . In 1475, the Ottomans imprisoned Meñli I Giray for three years for resisting

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9672-434: The German Army and cited that as a justification to order the deportation of the entire Kalmyk population , including those who had served with the Soviet Army, to various locations in Central Asia and Siberia. In conjunction with the deportation, the Kalmyk ASSR was abolished and its territory was split between adjacent Astrakhan , Rostov and Stalingrad Oblasts and Stavropol Krai . To completely obliterate any traces of

9828-489: The German army in regular Soviet Red army units and in partisan resistance units behind the battlelines throughout the Soviet Union. Before their removal from the Soviet Red Army and from partisan resistance units after December 1943, approximately 8,000 Kalmyks were awarded various orders and medals, including 21 Kalmyk men who were recognized as a Hero of the Soviet Union . On December 27, 1943, Soviet authorities declared that "many Kalmyks" were guilty of cooperation with

9984-432: The German army invaded the Soviet Union. By August 12, 1942, the German Army Group South captured Elista , the capital of the Kalmyk ASSR. After capturing the Kalmyk territory, German army officials established a propaganda campaign with the assistance of anti-communist Kalmyk nationalists, including white emigre , Kalmyk exiles. The total Jewish dead numbered between 100 and upwards of 700, according to documents held in

10140-509: The Great executed influential nobles from among them. Approximately five-sixths of the Torghut followed Ubashi Khan. Most of the Khoshut, Choros, and Khoid also accompanied the Torghut on their journey to Dzungaria. The Dörbet Oirat, in contrast, elected not to go at all. Catherine the Great asked the Russian army, Bashkirs, and Kazakh Khanate to stop all migrants. Beset by Kazakh raids, thirst and starvation, approximately 85,000 Kalmyks died on their way to Dzungaria. After failing to stop

10296-416: The Horde from 1420 to 1441, in the end achieving success. But Hacı Giray then had to fight off internal rivals before he could ascend the throne of the khanate in 1449, after which he moved its capital to Qırq Yer (today part of Bahçeseray ). The khanate included the Crimean Peninsula (except the south and southwest coast and ports, controlled by the Republic of Genoa & Trebizond Empire ) as well as

10452-467: The Kalmyk State Archives. The campaign was focused primarily on recruiting and organizing Kalmyk men into anti-Soviet militia units. The Kalmyk units were extremely successful in flushing out and killing Soviet partisans . But by December 1942, the Soviet Red Army retook the Kalmyk ASSR, forcing the Kalmyks assigned to those units to flee, in some cases with their wives and children in hand. The Kalmyk units retreated westward into unfamiliar territory with

10608-484: The Kalmyk people, the Soviet authorities renamed the former republic's towns and villages. Due to their widespread dispersal in Siberia, their language and culture suffered a possibly irreversible decline. Khrushchev finally allowed their return in 1957, when they found their homes, jobs, and land occupied by imported Russians and Ukrainians , who remained. On January 9, 1957, Kalmykia again became an autonomous oblast, and on July 29, 1958, an autonomous republic within

10764-438: The Kalmyk units declined. By the end of the war, the remnants of the Kalmuck Cavalry Corps had made their way to Austria where the Kalmyk soldiers and their family members became post-war refugees. Those who did not want to leave formed militia units that chose to stay behind and harass the oncoming Soviet Red Army. Although a number of Kalmyks chose to fight against the Soviet Union, the majority by and large did not, fighting

10920-438: The Lower Volga and under Ayuka Khan conducted many military expeditions against the Crimean Khanate and Nogays . By becoming an important ally and later part of the Russian Empire and taking an oath to protect its southeastern borders, the Kalmyk Khanate took an active part in all Russian war campaigns in the 17th and 18th centuries, providing up to 40,000 fully equipped horsemen. The united Russian and Ukrainian forces attacked

11076-525: The Mongol homeland and restored the hegemony of the Eastern Mongols. After the death of Dayan in 1543, the Oirats and the Khalkhas resumed their conflict. The Oirat forces thrust eastward, but Dayan's youngest son, Geresenz, was given command of the Khalkha forces and drove the Oirats to Uvs Lake in northwest Mongolia. In 1552, after the Oirats once again challenged the Khalkha, Altan Khan swept up from Inner Mongolia with Tümed and Ordos cavalry units, pushing elements of various Oirat tribes from Karakorum to

11232-703: The Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China in 1368, the Oirats emerged as a formidable foe against the Khalkha Mongols , the Han -led Ming dynasty and the Manchu -led Qing dynasty . For 400 years, the Oirats conducted a military struggle for domination and control over both Inner Mongolia and Outer Mongolia . The struggle ended in 1757 with the defeat of the Oirats of the Dzungar Khanate against

11388-577: The Muslim towns and villages located along the Syr Darya river. As a result, the Torghuts established a trading relationship with the newly established outposts of the Tsarist government whose expansion into and exploration of Siberia was motivated mostly by the desire to profit from trade with Asia . The Khoshut , by contrast, were the easternmost Oirat, encamped near the Lake Zaysan area and

11544-507: The Nomads ( Iki Tsaadzhin Bichig ). The Kalmyk Khanate reached its peak of military and political power under Ayuka Khan (ruled 1672–1724, khan 1690–1724). During his era, the Kalmyk Khanate fulfilled its responsibility to protect the southern borders of Russia and conducted many military expeditions against its Turkic-speaking neighbours. Successful military expeditions were also conducted in

11700-480: The Oirat Khan and the Oirat nobility. In that respect, the Russian Empire treated the Oirats as it did the Cossacks. The provision of monetary payments and dry goods, however, did not stop the mutual raiding, and, in some instances, both sides failed to fulfill its promises . Another significant incentive the Russian Empire provided to the Oirats was tariff-free access to the markets of Russian border towns, where

11856-683: The Oirat caused dissension among the tribes and their Chief Tayishis who were independent minded but also highly regarded leaders themselves. This dissension reputedly caused Kho Orluk to move the Torghut tribe and elements of the Dörbet tribe westward to the Volga region where his descendants formed the Kalmyk Khanate. In the east, Güshi Khan took part of the Khoshut to the Tsaidam and Qinghai regions in

12012-590: The Oirat tribes in the lower Volga region. As late as 1761, the Khoshut and Dzungars (refugees from the Manchu Empire) referred to themselves and the Torghuts exclusively as Oirats. The Torghuts, by contrast, used the name Kalmyk for themselves as well as the Khoshut and Dzungars. Generally, European scholars have identified all western Mongolians collectively as Kalmyks, regardless of their location ( Ramstedt , 1935: v–vi). Such scholars (e.g. Sebastian Muenster) have relied on Muslim sources who traditionally used

12168-554: The Oirats became subjects of the Tsar, such allegiance by the Oirats was deemed to be nominal. In reality, the Oirats governed themselves pursuant to a document known as the "Great Code of the Nomads" ( Iki Tsaadzhin Bichig ). The Code was promulgated in 1640 by them, their brethren in Dzungaria and some of the Khalkha who all gathered near the Tarbagatai Mountains in Dzungaria to resolve their differences and to unite under

12324-570: The Oirats were permitted to barter their herds and the items they obtained from Asia and their Muslim neighbors in exchange for Russian goods. Trade also occurred with neighboring Turkic tribes under Russian control, such as the Tatars and the Bashkirs. Intermarriage became common with such tribes. This trading arrangement provided substantial benefits, monetary and otherwise, to the Oirat tayishis, noyons and zaisangs. Fred Adelman described this era as

12480-594: The Ottoman Empire; instead the Ottomans paid them in return for their services of providing skilled outriders and frontline cavalry in their campaigns. Later on, Crimea lost power in this relationship as the result of a crisis in 1523, during the reign of Meñli's successor, Mehmed I Giray . He died that year and beginning with his successor, from 1524 on, Crimean khans were appointed by the Sultan. The alliance of

12636-724: The Parliament of Kalmyk Republic, the People's Khural , for approval. If a candidate was not approved, the President of the Russian Federation could dissolve the Parliament and set up new elections. Since the reform was revoked in 2011, the Head of the Republic has been elected by a direct vote, the first such election happening in 2014. From 1993 to 2010, the Head of the Republic was Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov . He also

12792-566: The Qırq Yer fortress. Later, the capital was moved a short distance to Bahçeseray , founded in 1532 by Sahib I Giray . Both Salaçıq and the Qırq Yer fortress today are part of the expanded city of Bahçeseray. The slave trade was the backbone of the economy of the Crimean Khanate. The Crimeans frequently mounted raids into the Danubian principalities , Poland–Lithuania , and Muscovy to enslave people whom they could capture; for each captive,

12948-756: The Russian Empire sought the increased use of Oirat cavalry in support of its military campaigns against the Muslim powers in the south, such as Safavid Iran , the Ottoman Empire, the Nogais, the Tatars of Kuban and the Crimean Khanate . Ayuka Khan also waged wars against the Kazakhs, subjugated the Turkmens of the Mangyshlak Peninsula , and made multiple expeditions against the highlanders of

13104-572: The Russian Empire, Soviet Union and Russian Federation: Religion in Kalmykia (2012) Tibetan Buddhism is the traditional and most popular religion among the Kalmyks , while ethnic Russians in the country practice predominantly Russian Orthodoxy . A minority of Kalmyks practice pre-Buddhist shamanism or Tengrism (a contemporary revival of the Turkic and Mongolic shamanic religions). Many people are unaffiliated and non-religious . According to

13260-466: The Russian Federation. Population : 267,133 ( 2021 Census ) ; 289,481 ( 2010 Census ) ; 292,410 ( 2002 Census ) ; 322,589 ( 1989 Soviet census ) . Life expectancy : According to the 2021 Census, Kalmyks make up 62.5% of the republic's population. Other groups include Russians (25.7%), Dargins (2.8%), Kazakhs (1.7%), Turks (1.6%), Chechens (1.1%), Avars (1.0%), and Koreans (0.4%). The population of Kalmyks in

13416-687: The Russian garrison at Astrakhan . The remaining nomadic Mongol Oirat tribes became vassals of the Kalmyk Khan . The Kalmyks settled in the wide-open steppes – from Saratov in the north to Astrakhan on the Volga delta in the south and to the Terek River in the southwest. They also encamped on both sides of the Volga River, from the Don River in the west to the Ural River in the east. Although these territories had been recently annexed by

13572-776: The Sart Kalmyks have adopted the Kyrgyz language and culture of the majority Kyrgyz population. Although many Sart Kalmyks are Muslims , Kalmyks elsewhere, by and large, remain faithful to the Gelugpa Order of Tibetan Buddhism . In Kalmykia, for example, the Gelugpa Order with the assistance of the government has constructed numerous Buddhist temples. In addition, the Kalmyk people recognize Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama as their spiritual leader and Erdne Ombadykow ,

13728-401: The Soviet authorities did not overtly enforce an anti-religion policy, other than through passive means, because it sought to bring Mongolia and Tibet into its sphere of influence. The government also was compelled to respond to domestic disturbances resulting from the economic policies of War Communism and the 1921 famine . The passive measures that were taken by Soviet authorities to control

13884-455: The Tatar cavalry suffered a significant loss against European and Russian armies with modern equipment. By the late 17th century, Russia became too strong for Crimean Khan to pillage and the Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) outlawed further raids. The era of great slave raids in Russia and Ukraine was over, although brigands and Nogay raiders continued their attacks, and consequently Russian hatred of

14040-526: The Tatars seldom cultivated the soil themselves, with most of their land tilled by the Polish, Ruthenian, Russian, and Walachian (Moldavian) slaves." The Jewish population was concentrated in Çufut Kale ('Jewish Fortress'), a separate town near Bahçeseray that was the Khan's original capital. As with other minorities, they spoke a Turkic language. Crimean law granted them special financial and political rights as

14196-745: The Throne of the Crimea". The full title of the Crimean khans, used in official documents and correspondence with foreign rulers, varying slightly from document to document during the three centuries of the Khanate's existence, was as follows: "By the Grace and help of the blessed and highest Lord, the great padishah of the Great Horde, and the Great State, and the Throne of the Crimea, and all the Nogai, and

14352-537: The Turkish pattern: the nobles' landholdings were proclaimed the domain of the khan and reorganized into qadılıqs (provinces governed by representatives of the khan). Crimean law was based on Tatar law, Islamic law, and, in limited matters, Ottoman law . The leader of the Muslim establishment was the mufti , who was selected from among the local Muslim clergy. His major duty was neither judicial nor theological, but financial. The mufti's administration controlled all of

14508-536: The Western Mongols' self-designation as the Four Oirat, the Eastern Mongols began to refer to themselves as the "Forty Mongols", or the "Forty and Four". This means that the Khalkha Mongols claimed to have forty tümen to the four tümen maintained by the Four Oirat. The Oirat alliance was decentralized, informal and unstable. For instance, the Four Oirat did not have a central location from which it

14664-529: The adjacent steppe. The sons of Hacı I Giray contended against each other to succeed him. The Ottomans intervened and installed one of the sons, Meñli I Giray , on the throne. Menli I Giray, took the imperial title "Sovereign of Two Continents and Khan of Khans of Two Seas." In 1475 the Ottoman forces, under the command of Gedik Ahmet Pasha , conquered the Greek Principality of Theodoro and

14820-648: The affairs of the Crimean Khanate), the Russian Empire annexed the khanate . Among the European powers, only France came out with an open protest against this act, due to the longstanding Franco-Ottoman alliance . The Crimean Khans, considering their state as the heir and legal successor of the Golden Horde and Desht-i Kipchak , called themselves khans of "the Great Horde, the Great State and

14976-741: The aid of the Horde Khan Tokhtamysh , was defeated on the banks of the Vorskla River by Tokhtamysh's rival Timur-Kutluk , on whose behalf the Horde was ruled by the Emir Edigei , and made peace. During the reign of Canike Hanım, Tokhtamysh's daughter, in Qırq-Or, she supported Hacı I Giray in the struggle against the descendants of Tokhtamysh , Kichi-Muhammada and Sayid Ahmad , who as well as Hacı Giray claimed full power in

15132-662: The area from (Great) Tartary – those areas of central and northern Asia inhabited by Turkic peoples or Tatars . The Khanate included the Crimean peninsula and the adjacent steppes, mostly corresponding to parts of South Ukraine between the Dnieper and the Donets rivers (i.e. including most of present-day Zaporizhzhia Oblast , left-Dnipro parts of Kherson Oblast , besides minor parts of southeastern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and western Donetsk Oblast ). The territory controlled by

15288-445: The art of warfare. Several conflicts occurred between Circassians and Crimean Tatars in the 18th century, with the former defeating an army of Khan Kaplan Giray and Ottoman auxiliaries in the battle of Kanzhal . The Turkish traveler writer Evliya Çelebi mentions the impact of Cossack raids from Azak upon the territories of the Crimean Khanate. These raids ruined trade routes and severely depopulated many important regions. By

15444-515: The banner of the Gelug school. Although the goal of unification was not met, the summit leaders did ratify the Code, which regulated all aspects of nomadic life. In securing their position, the Oirats became a borderland power, often allying themselves with the Russian Empire against the neighboring Muslim population. During the era of Ayuka Khan , the Oirats rose to political and military prominence as

15600-483: The best by the Caucasian tribes. Crimea was also renowned for manufacture of silk and honey. The slave trade (15th–17th century) of captured Ukrainians and Russians was one of the major sources of income for Crimean Tartar and Nogai nobility. In this process, known as harvesting the steppe , raiding parties would go out and capture, and then enslave the local Christian peasants living in the countryside. In spite of

15756-432: The capture of 20,000 Russian and Ruthenian slaves. Author and historian Brian Glyn Williams writes: Fisher estimates that in the sixteenth century the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lost around 20,000 individuals a year and that from 1474 to 1694, as many as a million Commonwealth citizens were carried off into Crimean slavery. Early modern sources are full of descriptions of sufferings of Christian slaves captured by

15912-634: The civil war, de facto annexing the whole peninsula as the Taurida Oblast . In 1787, Şahin Giray took refuge in the Ottoman Empire and was eventually executed, on Rhodes , by the Ottoman authorities for betrayal. The royal Giray family survives to this day. Through the 1792 Treaty of Jassy (Iaşi), the Russian frontier was extended to the Dniester River and the takeover of Yedisan was complete. The 1812 Treaty of Bucharest transferred Bessarabia to Russian control. All Khans were from

16068-877: The command of Generals Denikin and Wrangel during the Russian Civil War . Before the Red Army broke through to the Crimean Peninsula towards the end of 1920, a large group of Kalmyks fled from Russia with the remnants of the defeated White Army to the Black Sea ports of Turkey. The majority of the refugees chose to resettle in Belgrade , Yugoslavia . Other, much smaller, groups chose Sofia ( Bulgaria ), Prague ( Czechoslovakia ) and Paris and Lyon (France). The Kalmyk refugees in Belgrade built

16224-481: The dangers, Polish and Russian serfs were attracted to the freedom offered by the empty steppes of Ukraine . The slave raids entered Russian and Cossack folklore and many dumy were written elegising the victims' fates. This contributed to a hatred for the Khanate that transcended political or military concerns. But in fact, there were always small raids committed by both Tatars and Cossacks , in both directions. The last recorded major Crimean raid , before those in

16380-544: The dissolution of the USSR, Kalmykia kept the status of an autonomous republic within the newly formed Russian Federation (effective March 31, 1992). The head of the government in Kalmykia is called "The Head of the Republic". After a reform in 2006 that made the governors of the federal subjects appointable by the President, the President of Russia selected a candidate for the Head of the Republic position and presented it to

16536-755: The dynamic leadership of Erdeni Batur, the Dzungars stopped the expansion of the first Altan Khan and began planning the resurrection of the Four Oirat under the Dzungar banner. In furtherance of such plans, Erdeni Batur designed and built a capital city called Kubak-sari on the Emil River near the modern city of Tacheng . During his attempt to build a nation, Erdeni Batur encouraged diplomacy, commerce and farming. He also sought to acquire modern weaponry and build small industry, such as metal works, to supply his military with weapons. The attempted unification of

16692-461: The end of World War II were eventually granted passage to the United States. Kalmyks Kalmyks ( Kalmyk : Хальмгуд , Xaľmgud ; Mongolian : Халимагууд , romanized :  Khalimaguud ; Russian : Калмыки , romanized :  Kalmyki ; archaically anglicised as Calmucks ) are the only Mongolian -speaking people living in Europe , residing in the easternmost part of

16848-545: The era of Ayuka Khan, the Kalmyk Khanate reached its peak of military and political power. The Khanate experienced economic prosperity from free trade with Russian border towns, China, Tibet and with their Muslim neighbors. During this era, Ayuka Khan also kept close contacts with his Oirat kinsmen in Dzungaria, as well as the Dalai Lama in Tibet. Historically, Oirat identified themselves by their respective sub-group names. In

17004-595: The flight, Catherine abolished the Kalmyk Khanate, transferring all governmental powers to the governor of Astrakhan. The title of Khan was abolished. The highest native governing office remaining was the Vice- Khan , who also was recognized by the government as the highest ranking Kalmyk prince. By appointing the Vice-Khan, the Russian Empire was now permanently the decisive force in Kalmyk government and affairs. After seven months of travel, only one-third (66,073) of

17160-750: The formation of the Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast . Fifteen years later, on October 22, 1935, the Oblast was elevated to republic status, Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic . In line with the policy of Korenizatsiya based on the concept of titular nations , the government of the Soviet Union adopted a strategy of national delimitation , while at the same time enforcing the Leninist principle of democratic centralism . According to Dorzha Arbakov, decentralized governing bodies were

17316-647: The inhabitants of the Crimean Khanate in Crimean Tatar usually referred to their state as "Qırım yurtu, Crimean Yurt", which can be translated into English as "the country of Crimea" or "Crimean country". English-speaking writers during the 18th and early 19th centuries often called the territory of the Crimean Khanate and of the Lesser Nogai Horde Little Tartary (or subdivided it as Crim Tartary (also Krim Tartary ) and Kuban Tartary ). The name "Little Tartary" distinguished

17472-444: The invasion. After returning from captivity in Constantinople , he accepted the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. Nevertheless, Ottoman sultans treated the khans more as allies than subjects. The khans continued to have a foreign policy independent from the Ottomans in the steppes of Little Tartary . The khans continued to mint coins and use their names in Friday prayers, two important signs of sovereignty. They did not pay tribute to

17628-415: The khan received a fixed share (savğa) of 10% or 20%. These campaigns by Crimean forces were either sefers ("sojourns"), officially declared military operations led by the khans themselves, or çapuls ("despoiling"), raids undertaken by groups of noblemen, sometimes illegally because they contravened treaties concluded by the khans with neighbouring rulers. For a long time, until the early 18th century,

17784-417: The khanate maintained a massive slave trade with the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East, exporting about 2 million slaves from Russia and Poland–Lithuania over the period 1500–1700, mainly into Ottoman Empire, Caffa , an Ottoman city on Crimean peninsula (and thus not part of the Khanate), was one of the best known and significant trading ports and slave markets. In 1769, a last major Tatar raid resulted in

17940-555: The khanate. Substantial non-Muslim minorities – Greeks , Armenians , Crimean Goths , Adyghe (Circassians), Venetians , Genoese , Crimean Karaites and Qırımçaq Jews – lived principally in the cities, mostly in separate districts or suburbs. Under the millet system, they had their own religious and judicial institutions. They were subject to extra taxes in exchange for exemption from military service, living like Crimean Tatars and speaking dialects of Crimean Tatar. Mikhail Kizilov writes: "According to Marcin Broniewski (1578),

18096-424: The last Kalmyk Khan, decided to return his people to their ancestral homeland, Dzungaria, and restore the Dzungar Khanate and Mongolian independence. As C.D Barkman notes, "It is quite clear that the Torghuts had not intended to surrender the Chinese, but had hoped to lead an independent existence in Dzungaria." Ubashi sent 30,000 cavalry in the first year of the Russo-Turkish War (1768–74) to gain weaponry before

18252-416: The later period, Mansuroğlu and Sicavut. After the collapse of the Astrakhan Khanate in 1556, an important element of the Crimean Khanate were the Nogays , most of whom transferred their allegiance from Astrakhan to Crimea. Circassians (Atteghei) and Cossacks also occasionally played roles in Crimean politics, alternating their allegiance between the khan and the beys. The Nogay pastoral nomads north of

18408-405: The latter settling permanently. The later Nogais were Muslim , but were replaced by the contemporaneous Mongolian Kalmyks , who practice Tibetan Buddhism . With the annexation of the region by the Russian Empire , there was an influx of the East Slavic -speaking Russian Orthodox settlers. Many religious institutions were suppressed in the wake of the Russian Revolution . The ancestors of

18564-421: The lower Volga region south of Saratov and north of the Caspian Sea on both banks of the Volga River . The Torghut were led by their taishi, Kho Orluk . They were the largest Oirat tribe to migrate, bringing along nearly the entire tribe. The second-largest group was the Dörbet Oirats under their taishi, Dalai Batur. Together they moved west through southern Siberia and the southern Ural Mountains , avoiding

18720-402: The lower Volga region in or about 1630. That land, however, was not uncontested pastures, but rather the homeland of the Nogai Horde , a confederation of Turkic -speaking nomadic tribes. The Kalmyks expelled the Nogais, who fled to the Caucasian plains and to the Crimean Khanate , areas (at least theoretically) under the control of the Ottoman Empire . Some Nogai groups sought the protection of

18876-418: The main khan's estates were the lands of the Kalga who was next in the line of succession of the khan's family. He usually administered the eastern portion of the peninsula. The Kalga was also Chief Commander of the Crimean Army in the absence of the Khan. The next administrative position, called Nureddin, was also assigned to the khan's family. He administered the western region of the peninsula. There also

19032-421: The majority of the native inhabitants, the Nogai Horde . Large groups of Nogais fled southeast to the northern Caucasian plain and west to the Black Sea steppe, lands claimed by the Crimean Khanate , itself a vassal or ally of the Ottoman Empire . Smaller groups of Nogais sought the protection of the Russian garrison at Astrakhan . The remaining nomadic tribes became vassals of the Oirats. The Kalmyks battled

19188-406: The markets of Russian border settlements. The open access to Russian markets was supposed to discourage mutual raiding on the part of the Kalmyks and of the Russians and Bashkirs , a Russian-dominated Turkic people, but this was not often the practice. In addition, Kalmyk allegiance was often nominal, as the Kalmyk Khans practised self-government, based on a set of laws they called the Great Code of

19344-428: The mid-17th century, when bestowal of the title of Khan was transferred to the Dalai Lama , all Mongol tribes recognized this claim and the political prestige attached to it. Although the Oirats could not assert this claim prior to the mid-17th century, they did in fact have a close connection to Genghis Khan by virtue of the fact that Genghis Khan 's brother, Qasar , was in command of the Khoshut tribe. In response to

19500-419: The migration. The 8th Dalai Lama was contacted to request his blessing and to set the date of departure. After consulting the astrological chart, he set a return date, but at the moment of departure, the weakening of the ice on the Volga River permitted only those Kalmyks (about 200,000 people) on the eastern bank to leave. Those 100,000–150,000 people on the western bank were forced to stay behind and Catherine

19656-414: The more direct route that would have taken them through the heart of the territory of their enemy, the Kazakhs. En route, they raided Russian settlements and Kazakh and Bashkir encampments. Many theories have been advanced to explain the reasons for the migration. One generally accepted theory is that there may have been discontent among the Oirat tribes, which arose from the attempt by Kharkhul, taishi of

19812-553: The mountain Circassians, and the tats and tavgachs, and The Kipchak steppe and all the Tatars" ( Crimean Tatar : Tañrı Tebareke ve Ta'alânıñ rahimi ve inayeti milen Uluğ Orda ve Uluğ Yurtnıñ ve taht-ı Qırım ve barça Noğaynıñ ve tağ ara Çerkaçnıñ ve Tat imilen Tavğaçnıñ ve Deşt-i Qıpçaqnıñ ve barça Tatarnıñ uluğ padişahı , تنكرى تبرك و تعالينيڭ رحمى و عنايتى ميلان اولوغ اوردا و اولوغ يورتنيڭ و تخت قريم و بارچا نوغاينيڭ و طاغ ارا چركاچنيڭ و تاد يميلان طوگاچنيڭ و دشت قپچاقنيڭ و بارچا تاتارنيڭ يولوغ پادشاهى ). According to Oleksa Hayvoronsky,

19968-489: The mouth of the Dnieper, and then invaded the Crimea, devastated Chersonesos and seized valuable church objects there. There is a similar legend about his successor Vytautas , who in 1397 went on a Crimean campaign to Caffa and again destroyed Chersonesos. Vytautas is also known in Crimean history for giving refuge in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to a significant number of Tatars and Karaites, whose descendants now live in Lithuania and Belarus . In 1399 Vytautas, who came to

20124-408: The name "Torghut" as garde de jour . He wrote that the Torghuts owed their name either to the memory of the guard of Genghis Khan or, as descendants of the Keraites , to the old garde de jour . This was documented among the Keraites in The Secret History of the Mongols before Genghis Khan took over the region. The Four Oirat was a political entity formed by the four major Oirat tribes. During

20280-411: The next section). In March 1927, Soviet deported 20,000 Kalmyks to the tundras of Siberia and Karelia . The Kalmyks of the Don Voisko Oblast were subject to the policies of de-cossackization where villages were destroyed, khuruls (temples) and monasteries were burned down and executions were indiscriminate. At the same time, grain, livestock and other foodstuffs were seized. In December 1927

20436-426: The one hand and Cossacks and Bashkirs on the other. A few Kalmyk nobles became russified and nominally Christian who went to Moscow in hope of securing Russian help for their political ambitions on the Kalmyk steppe. Russian subsidies to Kalmyk nobles, however, became an effective means of political control only later. Yet gradually the Kalmyk princes came to require Russian support and to abide in Russian policy. During

20592-404: The only traditionally Buddhist ethnic group who are located inside Europe . Through emigration, small Kalmyk communities have been established in the United States, France, Germany, and the Czech Republic. The contemporary Kalmyks are a branch of the Mongolian Oirats , whose ancient grazing-lands spanned present-day parts of Kazakhstan , Russia , Mongolia and China . After the fall of

20748-426: The opposition newspaper in Elista. Larisa Yudina , the journalist who investigated these accusations, was kidnapped and murdered in 1998. Two men, Sergei Vaskin and Tyurbi Boskomdzhiv, who worked in the local civil service, were charged with her murder, one of them having been a former presidential bodyguard. After prolonged investigations by the Russian authorities, both men were found guilty and jailed, but no evidence

20904-488: The original group reached Balkhash Lake , the western border of Qing China . This migration became the topic of The Revolt of the Tartars , by Thomas De Quincey . The Qing shifted the Kalmyks to five different areas to prevent their revolt and influential leaders of the Kalmyks soon died. The migrant Kalmyks became known as Torghut in Qing China. The Torghut were coerced by the Qing into giving up their nomadic lifestyle and to take up sedentary agriculture instead as part of

21060-685: The patrilineal heirs to Genghis Khan . The Four Oirat incorporated neighboring tribes or splinter groups at times, so there was a great deal of fluctuation in the composition of the alliance, with larger tribes dominating or absorbing the smaller ones. Smaller tribes belonging to the confederation included the Khoits, Zakhchin, Bayids and Khangal. Together, these nomadic tribes roamed the grassy plains of western Inner Asia, between Lake Balkhash in present-day eastern Kazakhstan and Lake Baikal in present-day Russia north of central Mongolia. They pitched their yurts and kept herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, horses, donkeys and camels. Paul Pelliot translated

21216-413: The people included the imposition of a harsh tax to close places of worship and religious schools. The Cyrillic script replaced Todo Bichig , the traditional Kalmyk vertical script. On January 22, 1922, Mongolia proposed to migrate the Kalmyks during the famine in Kalmykia. Russia refused help; 71–72,000 Kalmyks died during the famine. Revolts erupted among the Kalmyks in 1926 and 1930 (on 1942–1943, see

21372-440: The products thereof for such nomad necessities as brick tea, grain, textiles and metal articles, at Astrakhan, Tsaritsyn and Saratov. This was the kind of exchange relationship between nomads and urban craftsmen and traders in which the Kalmyks traditionally engaged. Political contacts consisted of a series of treaty arrangements for the nominal allegiance of the Kalmyk Khans to Russia, and the cessation of mutual raiding by Kalmyks on

21528-404: The retreating German army and were reorganized into the Kalmuck Legion, although the Kalmyks themselves preferred the name Kalmuck Cavalry Corps. The casualty rate also increased substantially during the retreat, especially among the Kalmyk officers. To replace those killed, the German army imposed forced conscription, taking in teenagers and middle-aged men. As a result, the overall effectiveness of

21684-402: The setbacks, the Oirats would continue their campaigns against the Altan Khanate, trying to unseat Sholoi Ubashi Khuntaiji from Dzungaria. The continuous, back-and-forth nature of the struggle, which defined this period, is captured in the Oirat epic song "The Rout of Mongolian Sholoi Ubashi Khuntaiji", recounting the Oirat victory over the Altan Khan of the Khalkha in 1587. At the beginning of

21840-477: The sobriquet, That Alğan (seizer of the throne). The following year, however, the Crimean Khanate lost access to the Volga once and for all due to its catastrophic defeat in the Battle of Molodi . Don Cossacks reached lower Don, Donets and Azov by the 1580s and thus became the north-eastern neighbours of the khanate. They attracted peasants, serfs and gentry fleeing internal conflicts, over-population and intensifying exploitation. Just as Zaporozhians protected

21996-467: The southern borders of the Commonwealth, Don Cossacks protected Muscovy and themselves attacked the khanate and Ottoman fortresses. Under the influence of the Crimean Tatars and of the Ottoman Empire , large numbers of Circassians converted to Islam . Circassian mercenaries and recruits played an important role in the khan's armies, khans often married Circassian women and it was a custom for young Crimean princes to spend time in Circassia training in

22152-408: The steppe and foothills of the Peninsula: Kipchaks (Cumans), Crimean Greeks , Crimean Goths , Alans , and Armenians , who lived mainly in cities and mountain villages. The Crimean nobility was mostly of both Kipchak and Horden origin. Horde rule for the peoples who inhabited the Crimean Peninsula was, in general, painful. The rulers of the Golden Horde repeatedly organized punitive campaigns in

22308-403: The support of lesser noyons, who were also called taishi. These minor noyons controlled divisions of the tribe ( ulus ) and were politically and economically independent of the chief tayishi. Chief taishis sought to influence and dominate the chief taishis of the other tribes, causing intertribal rivalry, dissension and periodic skirmishes. Under the leadership of Esen, Chief Taishi of the Choros,

22464-399: The survey. In addition, 8.2% of the population declared themselves to be " spiritual but not religious " and another 8% to be atheist . Kalmyk State University is the largest higher education facility in the republic. Kalmykia has a developed agricultural sector. Other developed industries include the food processing and oil and gas industries. As most of Kalmykia is arid, irrigation

22620-407: The three top politicians belong to the Kremlin 's " United Russia " Party. The Kalmyk Nationalist Oirat-Kalmyk People's Congress has been convening since 2015 and supporting certain people in the People's Khural of Kalmykia elections, as well as pushing for political change inside Kalmykia. It is now part of the Free Nations of Post-Russia Forum , an organisation which advocates the dissolution of

22776-544: The time Evliya Çelebi had arrived almost all the towns he visited were affected by the Cossack raids. In fact, the only place Evliya Çelebi considered safe from the Cossacks was the Ottoman fortress at Arabat . The decline of the Crimean Khanate was a consequence of the weakening of the Ottoman Empire and a change in Eastern Europe's balance of power favouring its neighbours. Crimean Tatars often returned from Ottoman campaigns without loot, and Ottoman subsidies were less likely for unsuccessful campaigns. Without sufficient guns,

22932-414: The upper Tor River (a tributary of the Donets ). The first known Turkic peoples appeared in Crimea in the 6th century, during the conquest of the Crimea by The Turkic Kaganate . In the 11th century, Cumans (Kipchaks) appeared in Crimea; they later became the ruling and state-forming people of the Golden Horde and the Crimean Khanate. In the middle of the 13th century, the northern steppe lands of

23088-491: The west banks of the Volga River. The Tsardom of Russia was not ready to colonize the area and was in no position to prevent the Oirats from encamping in the region, but it had a direct political interest in ensuring that the Oirats would not become allied with its Turkic-speaking neighbors. The Kalmyks became Russian allies and a treaty to protect the southern Russian border was signed between the Kalmyk Khanate and Russia. The Oirats quickly consolidated their position by expelling

23244-465: The word "Kalmyk" to describe western Mongolians in a derogatory manner and the western Mongols of China and Mongolia have regarded that name as a term of abuse . Instead, they use the name Oirat or they go by their respective tribal names, e.g., Khoshut, Dörbet, Choros, Torghut, Khoit, Bayid, Mingat, etc. . Over time, the descendants of the Oirat migrants in the lower Volga region embraced the name "Kalmyk" irrespective of their locations, viz., Astrakhan,

23400-405: Was a Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441–1783, the longest-lived of the Turkic khanates that succeeded the empire of the Golden Horde . Established by Hacı I Giray in 1441, it was regarded as the direct heir to the Golden Horde and to Desht-i-Kipchak . In 1783, violating the 1774 Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (which had guaranteed non-interference of both Russia and the Ottoman Empire in

23556-400: Was discovered that Ilyumzhinov himself was in any way responsible. On October 24, 2010, Ilyumzhinov was replaced by Alexey Orlov as the new Head of Kalmykia. Since September 2019 the acting President of Kalmykia is Batu Khasikov . Since 2008, Anatoly Kozachko has been President of the Parliament, the People's Khural. The current Prime Minister of Kalmykia is Lyudmila Ivanovna . All

23712-456: Was governed, and it was not governed by a central figure for most of its existence. The four Oirats did not establish a single military or a unified monastic system. Lastly, it was not until 1640 that the Four Oirat adopted uniform customary laws. As pastoralist nomads, the Oirats were organized at the tribal level, where each tribe was ruled by a noyon or prince who also functioned as the chief taishi "chieftain". The chief taishi governed with

23868-412: Was not feudal . They were free and the Islamic law protected them from losing their rights. Apportioned by village, the land was worked in common and taxes were assigned to the whole village. The tax was one tenth of an agricultural product, one twentieth of a herd animal, and a variable amount of unpaid labor. During the reforms by the last khan Şahin Giray , the internal structure was changed following

24024-496: Was one of the finest sources of water in Bakhchisaray . One of the notable constructors of Crimean art and architecture was Qırım Giray , who in 1764 commissioned the fountain master Omer the Persian to construct the Bakhchisaray Fountain. The Bakhchisaray Fountain or Fountain of Tears is a real case of life imitating art. The fountain is known as the embodiment of love of one of the last Crimean Khans, Khan Qırım Giray for his young wife, and his grief after her early death. The Khan

24180-443: Was said to have fallen in love with a Polish girl in his harem . Despite his battle-hardened harshness, he was grievous and wept when she died, astonishing all those who knew him. He commissioned a marble fountain to be made, so that the rock would weep, like him, forever. The nine regions outside of Qirim yurt (the peninsula) were: The peninsula itself was divided by the khan's family and several beys . An estate controlled by

24336-462: Was the president of the world chess organization FIDE until 2018. He has spent much of his fortune on promoting chess in Kalmykia—where chess is compulsory in all primary schools—and also overseas, with Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, hosting many international tournaments. In the late 1990s, the Ilyumzhinov government was alleged to be spending too much government money on chess-related projects. The allegations were published in Sovietskaya Kalmykia,

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