To the Issue of Studying Ethnic Markers of Kalmyks: Clan Tamghas

Abstract

The article considers Kalmyk tamghas in terms of studying ethnic markers and clan structure of Kalmyks as well as transformation processes in management forms. The topicality of the research is relevant in connection with the processes of ethnocultural revival and the fact that Kalmyk tamghas and the issue of studying ethnic markers have little been studied. The purpose of this article is to examine the Kalmyk tamghas as a clan marker and a sign of ethnogenic relations in the past. In this connection, we have studied forms of tamghas and their marks, their application methods, types and values, and carried out their comparative analysis with those of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples. The analysis of the Kalmyk tamghas allows to conclude that they continue to perform a unifying function for all of the clan representatives and a definitive, distinctive function for the representatives of other clan. Though socio-historical processes in the last hundred years have contributed to a significant loss of knowledge about tamghas, however, interest in them has increased due to the revival of ethnic culture in modern Kalmyk society. There is also a trend to change the status of tamghas as a sign of ownership (brand) to the multifunctional symbol associated with heraldry, and the sacred sphere (symbol containing amulet functions). Besides, there is a decline in the status of tamghas: those which were common for the whole clan became common only for one family which is connected primarily with the change process within the forms of management. On the basis of comparative analysis of tamghas it is possible to trace the ethnogenetic ties of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples in the past. Materials on Kalmyk tamghas can be used in compiling a catalogue of Kalmyk clans.