Dzungar-Kazakh-Kalmyk Relations in the Years of Great Disasters

Abstract

Introduction. Eighteenth-century Dzungar-Kazakh-Kalmyk relations need further comprehensive and careful historical insights that would involve newly discovered archival data. The complicated relations between the specified nomadic peoples did affect various political problems that would be primarily tackled by the Russian government. Goals. The article attempts an analysis and gives an objective assessment of the 1720s Dzungar–Kazakh-Kalmyk relations with due regard of the to-be-introduced archival messages. Materials. The work focuses on materials from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, Russian State Archive of Military History, and Kalmykia’s National Archive. Particular attention is paid to a number of published documents. Results. The involved sources prove instrumental in reconstructing a fairly detailed chronology of Dzungar-Kazakh-Kalmyk relations in the Years of Great Disaster, which secures opportunities for further research into the topic. Conclusions. The Years of Great Disasters had most negative consequences for Kazakh society. The mass westward migration of Kazakhs also led to land conflicts with neighboring populations — Volga Kalmyks and Bashkirs. The two-front military operations — against Dzungars and Kalmyks — somewhat weakened Kazakhs. The minor local military successes of the Volga Kalmyks could not stop the further westward Kazakh expansion. Under the pressure of Dzungar troops, the Kazakh rulers were seeking for paths of possible retreat into the Northern Caspian steppes, and through clashes would shape relations with the Volga Kalmyks on a contractual basis. However, the lack of political unity in the Kalmyk Khanate made it quite vulnerable to external aggression from neighboring nomadic groups.