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. From confrontation to co-existence and allegiance
Russian plans to expand in the Far East and prospects of major confrontations with the Qin Empire necessitated creation of new armed forces in the region. In 1760 a 500-men Evenk Cossack regiment was created to guard the frontier with the Qin. The Buryats also volunteered for Russian service. By 1765 four 600-men Buryat regiments were created. By the Senate decrees dated 17 October 1760 and 22 June 1765 Evenks and Buryats were officially recognized as Russian military Mounted Buryat warriors in Russian irregulars. service Religions of the Baikal region Buddhism
Buddhism started spreading in Buryatia in the mid-17th century from Mongolia. Migration of Mongolian tribes to the region greatly facilitated this process. In 1712 100 Mongolian and 50 Tibetan lamas fled from military turmoil to Transbaikalia. Presence of so many educated lamas gave a powerful impetus to further spread of Buddhism here. First Buddhist temples were just worship yurts of Buryat princes. Only in the mid-18th century first stationary temples (“datsans”) were constructed. In 1741 Empress Elizabeth officially recognized Lamaism as one of the religions of the Russian Empire. The number of lamas was set at 150. 11 Lamaist worship places were allowed. Lamas were tax-exempt. The main purpose of the Russian government was in making of the Buddhist church a useful tool of administration over the non- Russian ethnic groups (Buryats, Tuvinians, Kalmyks), incorporated into the Russian empire. This purpose was mainly pursued by empowering the Buddhist hierarchs with certain juridical rights and duties and making them controllable by the tsarist authorities. It should be noted that the Russian government did not set a goal to influence somehow the teachings and dogmas of Buddhism. Nor did it establish any kind of censorship over the contents of Buddhist religious literature. By the beginning of the 19th century the number of lamas in Transbaikalia exceeded 2.500 and that caused anxiety in the government and among the Russian Orthodox clergy. On 15 May 1853 the Senate passed the “Statute about the Lamaist Clergy in East Siberia” in which the number of datsans was set at 34 and lamas at 285. High-ranking Buddhist priesthood
Pandido-hambo-lama the 12th Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov Orthodoxy in Buryatia
Orthodox Christianity appeared in the region with the first Russian conquerors. Each ostrog normally had a chapel or church of some sort. However, officially, it started with the foundation of the Daurian mission in 1681. In 1727 Irkutsk eparchy was founded. Its main goal was to spread Orthodoxy among the indigenous peoples of the region. Yet in the 17th and 18th centuries the number of baptized aboriginals was very small, only a few dozen. The number of new Orthodox Christians grew only by the late 18th century with a large influx of Russian settlers. From the late 18th to the early 19th centuries seven stone cathedrals were built in Buryatia alone. Two cathedrals were built in Verkhneudinsk in 1789. Buryats took an active part in the construction of these churches. Missionary service among the Evenks Old church in Transbaikalia Troitsk monastery by Lake Baikal
In the 19th century the Russian government took measures to convert Buryat nobles and tribal chiefs to Christianity. Being an Orthodox convert could significantly improve social status of a Buryat. Russian Orthodox cathedrals in Buryatia
St. Odigitrii Cathedral in Vserkhneudinsk (Ulan-Ude)
Missionary church in Alar Old Believers
Old Belief formed as a result of Patriarch Nikon’s church reform in the mid-17th century. Old Believers rejected new church rituals and practices. First Old Believers appeared in the Baikal region with rebellious Avvakum, whose stayed in Bratsk ostrog 1656-1657. He stayed in Transbaikalia till 1662. After open repressions started in 1682 many Old Believers fled to Siberia. Most Old Believers in this region were from Ukraine and Poland. In 1764 Empress Catherine started a second wave of forced resettlement of Old Believers from Poland to Siberia. By the late 18th century Old Believers lived in over 30 settlements throughout Transbaikalia. In Buryatia they founded such settlements as Tarbagatai, Mukhorshibir, Urluk, Bichura, Novaya Bryan, etc. Meeting of Old Believers of the world Semeiskie in Buryatia nowadays “The Way of Avvakum”, 2007
The Old Believers created a distinct colorful culture that still exists in Buryatia and the region under the name of “semeiskie.” The Old Believers were severely oppressed by the state, especially in the 1840s-1850s, when rebellions started in their villages. However, in the final analysis, the state could not fully suppress their faith, identity and culture. Shamanism
Shamanism of Buryat and Evenks stems from archaic traditions and worldview. Despite considerable differences in rituals between Buryat and Evenk shamanism, both represent a single Central Asian ethno- cultural enclave. In Buryat shamanism there is a large pantheon of deities and spirits. It is hierarchic with the Eternal Blue Sky (Huhe-Munhe Tengeri) as the supreme deity. Every spirit or deity is a master of a certain natural or social phenomenon. There are different names for different spirits and deities: burkhan, tengeri, khan, ongon zayan, ezhin. The Buryat shamanistic hierarchy: celestials (tengri) headed by the Eternal Blue Sky, khans, noions, great ezhins and zayans, spirits of great shamans, chieftains, and leaders, local spirits of creeks, mountains, forests, spirits of illnesses, old men, women, maidens. The last step belongs to spirits of mortals. Lower demonology formed a special group: various demons, usually souls of poor, offended people. Shamans
Tungusic (Evenki) shamans
Shaman of Irkutsk Buryats Contemporary shamans The Soviet period 1917-1991
In February 1921 the government of the buffer Far Eastern Republic recognized the autonomy of Buryats in its borders In January 1922 the RSFSR recognized the autonomy of west Buryats in its borders On May 30, 1923 the two autonomies merged to form the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Republic Territory of the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR as of December 1926 Within its 1923 borders Buryat-Mongolia existed until September 26, 1937 Years of loss and repression (1937-1958)
In the 1920s – 1930s national construction was successfully carried out: considerable successes were achieved in education, development of traditional culture, language, and health The Great Terror of 1937-1938 took a heavy toll on the Buryat national elite: intelligentsia, national-democrats, political leaders, and clergy were purged On September 26, 1937, in the aftermath of Pan-Mongolism trials, Buryat-Mongolia lost 4 western and 2 eastern aimaks, which formed 2 new autonomous okrugs (enclaves) within the newly created Irkutsk and Chita regions In 1958, supposedly due to geopolitical concerns (growing confrontation with China) the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR was transformed into the Buryat ASSR, losing “Mongolian” as a part of its name Division of Buryat-Mongolia in 1937
Buryat-Mongolian autonomies in 1921 Buryat-Mongolian ASSR in 1926
Buryat-Mongolia in 1937 Buryatia and autonomous regions 1958-2006 National revival: second start (1990-2006)
State sovereignty of the Buryat Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed on October 8, 1990 On March 27, 1991 Buryatia received its present name, the Republic of Buryatia Coat of arms of the Republic of Buryatia, April 20, 1995 The Constitution was ratified in 1994 The institutes of President, Parliament and Constitutional Court were created
Flag of the Republic of Buryatia, October 29, 1992 Reconstruction of identity Imagery of the heroic past
The most common reference to the heroic past is Genghis Khan and the legacy of the Mongol Empire; Creation of a new mythology around the name of Genghis Khan legitimizing Buryats as his direct successors; Tracing Genghis Khan’s origins in the Buryat lands (Bargujin-Tukum); Localization of burial places of Genghis Khan’s successors (Ikh Horig); Genghis Khan, 1162-1227 The image of Genghis Khan is the (contemporary Mongolian image) single symbol of Buryat and Buryat- Mongolian identity discourses Traditional culture, religion, and spirituality
Revitalization of traditional culture is considered equal in importance to economic security and national-territorial sovereignty Traditional culture today is much closer associated with religion than in the Soviet times There is no consensus which religion is traditional for Buryats, Shamanism or Tibetan Buddhism Both Tibetan Buddhism and Shamanism are positioned as “national” or ethno- integrating religions differentiating Buryats from non-Buryat citizens of the republic Both Buddhist and Shamanist communities today display lack of internal coherence as well as dissolution of spiritual values and religious rules Thank you for your attention!