The First Seal of Taishi Ayuka (1684)
https://doi.org/10.22162/2619-0990-2023-65-1-144-152
Abstract
Introduction. Sphragistic sources play an important role in the historical study of the Kalmyk Khanate. Seals of the Kalmyk nobility gain particular importance for further insights into the shaping of the institution of khanship, genesis of Kalmyk nationhood, and religious-political ties between the Khanate and Tibet. Goals. The article introduces into scientific circulation a previously unknown seal of the Kalmyk Taishi (future Khan) Ayuka put by him in early 1684 on a shert manuscript. Materials and methods. The original document has been discovered at the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts. It rarely attracted the attention of historians who preferred to use its outdated publication of 1830. The study employs a set of research methods inherent to historical science, philology, and linguistics. Results. The paper investigates the circumstances that witnessed Ayuka’s use of the seal when the Kalmyk nobility were taking an oath of allegiance to the Russian Tsar, analyzes its appearances and Sanskrit-language legend. As compared to similar ceremonies in 1673 and 1677, the fact that Ayuka certified his oath with a seal in 1684 was a novelty in the oath taking procedure. Conclusions. The work suggests this seal be the earliest one of Ayuka’s personal seals known to date. The presence of the Indian title ‘rāja’ in the seal’s legend makes it possible to presume that even then Ayuka tended to position himself as supreme ruler of all Kalmyks in the status of Khan, although he received this title from the Dalai Lama over the subsequent years.
Supporting agencies: The reported study was funded by government assignments (2023), projects no. 122020100347-2 ‘Political and Socio-Cultural Processes in the South of Russia in the Context of Modernization (17th and 21th Centuries)’ (Southern Scientific Centre of the RAS), and no. 123021300198-4 ‘Universals and Specifics of the Traditions of the Mongolian-Speaking Peoples through the Prism of Cross-Cultural Contacts and the System of Relations between Russia, Mongolia and China’ (Kalmyk Scientific Center of the RAS).
About the Authors
Pyotr A. Avakov
Southern Scientific Centre of the RAS (41, Chekhov St., 344006 Rostov-on-Don, Russian Federation)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Cand. Sc. (History), Senior Research Associate
Bembya L. Mitruev
Kalmyk Scientific Center of the RAS (8, Ilishkin St., 358000 Elista, Russian Federation)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Junior Research Associate, Postgraduate Student
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Review
For citations:
Avakov P.A., Mitruev B.L. The First Seal of Taishi Ayuka (1684). Oriental Studies. 2023;16(1):144-152. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22162/2619-0990-2023-65-1-144-152
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