Buddhist Clergy in Social and Political Life of the Kalmyk Steppe in the Late 18th Century
https://doi.org/10.22162/2075-7794-2016-24-2-3-9
Abstract
The article examines participation of the Buddhist clergy in social and political life of the Kalmyk uluses and interaction with the government of Russia and regional authorities after 1771. The exodus of a considerable part of Kalmyks to China determined creation of a new system of social and political contacts between the Russian government and Kalmyk secular and clerical elites, a new structure of interaction between Buddhist monastic complexes of the Kalmyk uluses. The measures implemented by the government for isolation of the Kalmyk Buddhist clergy from their coreligionists in China and Tibet and those of the regional authorities aimed at isolation of politically dangerous lamas to prevent further decampment are analyzed in the article. Specific changes in missionary activities of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Kalmyk uluses in the 1770-1780s are investigated. Defined are the main directions of restrictive policies imposed upon the Kalmyk Buddhist clergy by the Russian government at the same time striving to retain constructive bilateral contact in the context of the social and political crises in the Kalmyk uluses. Using a set of unpublished historical records (correspondence between Astrakhan governor N. Y. Arshenevskiy and Sobing-bagshi) formation of the new interaction system between the Kalmyk clerical elites and Astrakhan governors in the 80-90s of the 18th century has been described.
About the Author
A. A. Kurapov
Astrakhan State Consolidated Reserve Museum of History and Architecture
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
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For citations:
Kurapov A.A. Buddhist Clergy in Social and Political Life of the Kalmyk Steppe in the Late 18th Century. Oriental Studies. 2016;9(2):3-9. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22162/2075-7794-2016-24-2-3-9
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