The Baikal Region: History, Culture, Contemporary Society
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The Baikal Region: History, Culture, Contemporary Society A guest lecture by Vsevolod Bashkuev, Candidate of Sciences in History (IMBTS SB RAS) Geographical survey of the Baikal region Map of the Baikal region prepared by the Institute of Geography in Irkutsk Composition of the Baikal region (as of 01.01.2009): 1. Pink – Republic of Buryatia 2. Light tan – Irkutsk oblast 3. Tan – Ust-Orda Buryat district 4. Light yellow – Zabaikalskii krai 5. Yellow – Aginskii Buryat district Notes on the contemporary geographical and geopolitical terminology Neutral, mostly geographical terms Terms with geopolitical and ethnic connotations The Baikal region Baikal Asia Cisbaikalia Ethnic Buryatia Transbaikalia The Mongolian world West and East (northern periphery) Transbaikalia Contact zone Circumbaikalia Frontier zone Inner Asia The Republic of Buryatia Territory: 351.300 sq km (135.600 sq mi). Population: 972.021 (2010), Russians – 66.1%, Buryats – 30%, Evenks – 0,3%, Soyots – 0,4%, Tatars – 0,7%, Ukrainians – 0,6%, others – 1,7%. Average July temp.: +18C; average January temp.: - 22C; average annual precipitation: 244 mm; sunshine: 1900-2200 hours. Religion: Tibetan Buddhism, Orthodox Christianity, Shamanism, Old Belief. Lake Baikal: facts and figures Max. length 636 km (395 mi) Max. width 79 km (49 mi) Max. depth 1642 m (5.387 ft) Average depth 744.4 m (2.442 ft) Catchment area 560.000 sq km (216.000 sq mi) Shore length 2100 km (1.300 mi) Primary inflows: Selenga, Uda, Chikoi, Khilok, Barguzin, Upper Angara Primary outflow: Angara Basin countries: Russia, Mongolia Age 25-30 million years Biodiversity: 1.085 species The Baikal seal (pusa sibirica) of plants and 1.550 species and varieties of animals (2/3 are endemic). Water quality: extremely low content of mineral substances (96.7 mg/l), extremely few organic Omul fish (Coregonus migratorius) substances, low temperature (+8-9C, sometimes +15C in surface layers). Lake Baikal is the only confined fresh water lake in which evidence of gas hydrates exists. Tourist and recreational potential Buryatia has a high recreational potential. 60% of shoreline in Buryatia are sandy beaches. There are good possibilities for sport fishing and hunting. There are 255 mineral springs and therapeutic muds. Four mountain ranges, the East Sayan, Hamar-Daban, Barguzin and Baikal ranges with facilities for mountaineering, mountain skiing, etc. 266 natural monuments and places of interest. 24 museums, 6 theaters, 20 religious centers. A total of 1858 historical monuments. Survey of ethnic history of the region The prehistoric population of the Baikal region According to craniological data the Neolithic population of regions around Lake Baikal had some obvious Caucasian features. The Neolithic population is classified according to the presence of Mongoloid or Caucasian features. According to the recent studies two main migration flows, Caucasian from the west and Mongoloid from the east formed the prehistoric population of the Baikal region. The Bronze and early Iron Ages population of the Baikal region During the Bronze and early Iron Ages the Baikal region was populated by people belonging to the tiled graves culture and the builders of khereksurs. They are rightly considered the first nomadic population of the Baikal region. People of the tiled graves culture were better studied anthropologically and archaeologically than the khereksur culture. According to anthropological data they definitely were North-Asian Mongoloids close to the Baikal race. From the 7th century BC the people of the tiled graves culture were constantly attacked by the Xiongnu or their ancestors. By the 3rd century BC they either fled from the region, or were assimilated by the invaders and settled on the margins of the region. Most skulls from the khereksurs studied by the scholars belonged to people of Caucasian race. However, there were also Mongoloid skulls excavated from some khereksurs. Scholars agreed that the tiled grave people and the khereksur builders contacted and mixed with each other during these contacts. In this way, at the turn of the 2nd and 1st millennia BC ethno-genetic contacts in the region have been proven not only between different ethnic groups, but also between different races. The Xiongnu and Xianbei peoples and their traces in the Baikal region The Xiongnu were ancient nomadic people who roamed the steppes north of China between 220 BC and 2nd century AD and built a powerful nomadic empire. The Great Wall of China was built against Map of the Xiongnu Empire during the their attacks. reign of Modu Chanyu (circa 250 BC) Skulls excavated from the Xiongnu monuments in the Baikal region belonged to people of both Mongoloid and Caucasian races. This suggests probable late infusions of Caucasian blood into the heterogeneous Xiongnu ethnic entity. Contemporary studies in Transbaikalia lead to the conclusion that during that period Caucasian and Mongoloid races co-existed in the region and actively contacted with each other. Genetic continuity was traced between the Mongoloid population of the Xiongnu period and earlier inhabitants from the tiled graves culture. Probably it continues even now. The origins of the Caucasian people are not so obvious. Arms and clothes of a noble Scholars believe they were nd kindred with the khereksur people. Xiongnu warrior (2 century BC – 1st century AD) The Xianbei were Northeast Asian Mongoloid nomads who inhabited Eastern Transbaikalia at the same period as the Xiongnu. Archaeological and anthropological research showed that they were The Xianbei Empire under Tanshikhuai probable descendants of (141-181 AD) the tiled graves people. The Xianbei reached their peak under Tanshikhuai khan (r. 156-181 AD) who built a strong and vast, but short lived nomadic empire. In the period of ancient nomadic states there was no rigid ethnic and even racial differentiation among the Central Asian nomads. Tribes, clans and individuals easily integrated into larger nomadic entities, accepting the culture and way of living of the stronger and more successful. At that time there an unprecedented amalgamation of clan and tribal self-consciousness and under pressure of circumstances people easily changed their tribal identity. The ancient Asian nomads, such as the Xiongnu and Xianbei were direct ancestors of medieval Turkic and Mongolian tribes. Medieval population of the Baikal region. Mongolization of the population in Circumbaikalia. The most important historical events that shaped the contemporary ethnic composition and geopolitical situation in this region took place in the medieval epoch. By the 6th century AD the Kurykan tribal confederation formed in Cisbaikalia from the earlier tiled graves people, Bronze Age people and remnants of Xiongnu. They most probably were Turkic-Mongolian bilinguals. The Chinese sources show that the Kurykan lived by Lake Baikal. From the 10th century migration of the Mongolian tribes started in the region. Mongols actively mixed with the local population. By the 14th century remnants of the Kurykan people were fully Mongolized. Genghis Khan (1162-1227) and his empire Temujin was born around 1162 in Delun Boldog near Burkhan Haldun mountain in Mongolia. By 1206 he united the Mongolian tribes into a khanate and was proclaimed Genghis Khan (Universal Ruler). In 1209 his military campaigns against neighboring empires started. By 1227 he conquered Western Xia, Jin empire, Kara-Khitan khanate, Khawarezmian empire, Volga Bulgaria. After his death in 1227 his successors created the largest land empire from Korea to Iran and the Middle East. In 1368 with the fall of the Yuan dynasty the golden age of the Mongols came to its end. Genghis Khan’s empire in 1227 Political Situation in Central Asia and the Baikal Region in the 15th -17th Centuries In 1368 the fall of the Yuan (Mongolian) Dynasty in China signified a new stage in ethnic and political history of Central Asia and neighboring regions. The late 14th century internecine wars started between Eastern and Western Mongols over trade ways to China through Mongolia. At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries Mongolia broke into three parts: Southern (Chaqar), Eastern (Qalqa) and Western (Dzungaria). The most ferocious wars were fought between the Oirats of Dzungaria and Eastern Mongols of Qalqa. Aggressive policy of Oirat khans, particularly of Galdan Boshigt Khan (r. 1671-1697) forced Qalqa princes to swear allegiance to the Manchu Qin dynasty in 1691. The Oirat Dzungaria khanate fought the Qin till the 1750s when the Dzungars were almost totally destroyed by the Map of Central Asia, 1720-1725 Qin armies. As a result of constant wars, many Mongolian tribes migrated north and later became kernels of larger tribal entities of Buryats (Buryat- Mongols). Buryatia in the early 17th century (tribal map) Map by B.Z. Nanzatov Buryats and Evenks Types of Evenks from various tribes Buryats in the 17th century The Russian conquest of the Baikal region The Russian conquest of East Siberia started in 1618 with the erection of the Eniseisk ostrog and ended with the conclusion of the Kyakhta treaty in 1728. Russians first learned about Buryats around 1609 when they wanted to take tribute in furs from Siberian tribes. It turned out the latter already paid tribute to the Buryats (or Brats in Russian). Tower of the Bratsk ostrog (burg) Russian policy of peaceful incorporation of the Buryats was based on political and military calculations. Buryats were powerful opponents. Russo-Buryat armed struggle during colonization of the region After the erection of Lensk (Ilimsk, 1630), Ust’-Kut and Bratsk (1631), Tutursk and Yakutsk (1632) ostrogs Buryats understood that they were being colonized by the Russians and started fighting back. In 1635 Buryats besieged and burnt down Bratsk ostrog. In 1644 Buryats besieged Verkholensk ostrog three times, but without firearms they failed to take it. In 1658 Balagansk Buryats fled to Mongolia to escape from atrocities of Russian captain Ivan Pokhabov. The Russian incorporation of the Baikal region was a military conquest followed by colonization and laying under tribute in fur of the local population.