Introduction. By the time Mongolia joined the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance, it was a remarkably agriculture-oriented economy, which made it logical that Mongolian representatives would raise the problems of their national agriculture at meetings and sessions of the Council’s bodies. Goals. The study aims to investigate some specific decisions that facilitated the compilation of the CMEA expert group report dated 12 September 1963, and attempts an analysis of its key provisions. Materials and methods. The paper focuses on archival materials contained in Collections 561 (‘CMEA Secretariat’) and 302 (‘Permanent Mission of the USSR to the CMEA’) of the Russian State Archive of the Economy, as well as files from Collection 10 (‘International Conferences and Meetings’) of the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History. The main research methods employed are the historical-descriptive and historical-genetic ones. Results. The report was prepared by a group of agricultural experts representing CMEA member countries which worked in Mongolia from 13 August to 12 September 1963. The experts’ departure was a consequence of a change in the initial procedure for developing proposals aimed at improving Mongolia’s agricultural production. Conclusions. The CMEA expert group report of 12 September 1963 had a complicated and ornate background be traced back to the 16th Session of the CMEA which admitted Mongolia to the organization. Structurally, it consists of 7 same-type sections describing various areas of assistance to Mongolia’s agriculture. In the course of the works, the expert group reviewed the list and scope of positions for the proposed assistance, and at the same time — most importantly — expert support was provided to meet the requests of Mongolia’s representatives, while the latter were still to defend the implementation of the measures recorded in the Report in the course of coordinating the national economic plans of the CMEA member countries.

Introduction. The constellation of Kazakh public activists from the imperial period is distinguished by the outstanding scientist, traveler, and commissioned officer of the Russian Empire Chokan (Muhammed Qanafiya) Valikhanov. However, another Valikhanov — Gazi — was also substantially involved in important historical events of that period. One can trace quite a number of parallels between the two figures — family ties, tragic destinies. Still, due to some circumstances the latter’s name is not that widely known. Goals. The article aims to explore genealogical backgrounds, professional and personal life of the prominent Kazakh public figure — the most honored representative of the Horde, a regular officer of pre-revolutionary Russia’s army, General and Sultan Gazi Bulatovich Valikhanov. Materials and methods. Comparative insights into documentary sources and available historiography serve to consistently trace key milestones in the biography of Gazi Valikhanov, determine his role in the history of Kazakhstan, comprehend the events and circumstances that influenced the shaping of his personality and fate. Results. The amazing intertwining of Chokan Valikhanov and Gazi Valikhanov’s destinies has led to several historical inaccuracies and preconceived assumptions. But the examined materials attest to that assumptions about somewhat complicated, hostile relationships between the two Kazakh sultans have no serious grounds. In his lifetime Sultan Gazi Valikhanov did a lot: he built a brilliant military career and was simultaneously engaged in research activities as a member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, attended the Amu Darya Expedition, was an initiator and co-founder of the Muslim Charitable Society in St. Petersburg, and also assisted some prominent educators and figures of that time, in particular, I. Gasprinsky. Gazi Valikhanov is a worthy ethnic Kazakh of the 19th–20th centuries. His name has been revived from oblivion. However, his life and results of sociopolitical, research activities need further investigation.

Introduction. The article introduces into scientific circulation a set of documents contained in Collection 597 — ‘Astrakhan Diocesan Committee of the Missionary Orthodox Society’ — of the State Archive of Astrakhan Oblast to examine translation and publishing activities of Orthodox missionaries in Kalmyk Steppe during the 19th – early 20th centuries. Materials and methods. The method of comparative historical analysis proves instrumental in investigating unpublished archival files from Collection 597 of Astrakhan Oblast’s Archive dealing with translation and publishing endeavors of Astrakhan Diocesan Committee during the mentioned period, namely: reports by individual missionaries, annual activity reports of the Committee, interdepartmental correspondence, correspondence of the Committee with regional branches of Orthodox Missionary Society, Kazan Theological Academy and its representatives sent to Kalmyk Steppe, Translation Commission affiliated to the Orthodox Christian Brotherhood of St. Gury, the Holy Synod, and Russian academic Mongolists K. Golstunsky and A. Pozdneev. Results. The paper introduces documents covering the main stages in translation and publishing activities of Astrakhan Diocesan Committee during the 19th – early 20th centuries. Conclusions. The study of the documents discovered in Collection 597 makes it possible to consider translation and publishing activities of the Committee members in their evolution, interregional interaction between missionary committees aimed at exchanging and clarifying Kalmyk translations of Orthodox Christian texts, identify impacts of the Holy Synod into the mentioned processes, including those made by teachers of Kazan Theological Academy, St. Petersburg University, and outstanding Russian Mongolists.

Introduction. The article examines gift donations practiced during the 1923–1926 expedition to Mongolia and Tibet led by the outstanding Russian explorer of Central Asia Pyotr K. Kozlov. Goals. The paper seeks to analyze items approved by the Soviet Government for P. Kozlov to have selected from the State Depositary, reasons why the traveler did receive the precious artifacts of gold and silver, circumstances of donations, addressees, and the latter’s perceptions. Materials and methods. The work focuses on materials from the State Archive of the Russian Federation and P. Kozlov’s expedition diaries, the objectives set be articulated via individual gift donation stories (occasions) with Mongolian elites and the 13th Dalai Lama, corresponding motives and offering forms. Results. The paper shows the gift-giving practices were viewed by the traveler not only as some homage be paid to local cultures but rather as a means of communication with Mongolian officials and authorities for the latter’s assistance in solving problems faced by the Expedition. No other Russian explorer ever delivered such high-value items to have been used as gifts. Conclusions. This suggests the Bolshevik Government was hoping — with the help of Kozlov’s expedition — to facilitate positive images of Soviet Russia in Mongolia and Tibet (during a scheduled meeting with the Dalai Lama). The Appendix to the article includes several documents from the State Archive of Russia describing the selected gifts and their distribution by individuals.

Introduction. Nomads once maximally incorporated into nature and surrounding landscapes had tended to retain their identity through the pastoral way of life, way of thinking, and mentality. The gradual — though further accelerated — emergence of the new development logic set forth by the Russian Empire made the Kazakhs develop new adaptation mechanisms for survival and self-realization in the suggested circumstances. Goals. The article analyzes a variety of sources, works and studies characterizing existential specifics of nomadic economic patterns — to examine the shaping of new life strategies adopted by Kazakh nomads across the frontier zone in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Materials and methods. The analyzed materials include those contained in Collection 175 of the State Archive of Orenburg Oblast, Interim Provisions on Governance in Steppe Areas of Orenburg and West Siberian Governorates-General, and Materials on Kirghiz Land Use published between 1896 and 1915. Besides, a number of Kazakh literary works that serve as unique historical sources have been considered. Results. The critical approach to different historical sources makes it possible to compare factual materials and reconstruct the transformation and changes in self-identity and outlooks of ex-nomads. At the turn of the 20th century, Kazakh elites were trying to answer the traditional questions of the intelligentsia: Who is to blame and what is to be done? Then and there it was urgent to decide on further prospects of life — whether to preserve nomadism or to seek for other forms of semi-nomadic life, or gradually get sedentarized at all. Conclusions. The Russian Government did not interfere with the nomads’ land use practices, and tended to solve land matters of exclusively plowmen’s communities. In these conditions, the nomadic Kazakhs were left to themselves. As a result, they had to develop new daily practices. Having lost their traditional lifestyle, the Kazakhs still succeeded in preserving their national distinctness in terms of language, oral folklore, genealogies, rituals, etc. The specificity of the frontier zone manifested itself in that Kazakh nomads were actively involved in daily life transformations and developed a habit of turning to local authorities for support (rather than relying on their own resources only) to defend lands from competing peasant immigrants. 

The article deals with the history of Kalmykia Komsomol Committee in 1921–1991. Goals. The paper aims to investigate personnel policies towards First Secretaries of Kalmykia Committee of the RKSM/VLKSM between 1921 and 1991. Materials and methods. The work analyzes archival and published materials from the National Archive of Kalmykia. The key principles employed are those of objectivity and historicism that prove instrumental in examining the issue in certain historical circumstances and contexts. Results. The study concludes somewhat specific factor that influenced activities by First Secretaries of Kalmykia’s Komsomol was that their terms of tenure were not that long. The insights into their personal characteristics show in 1921–1991 the bulk of them came from poor peasant families and had no university degrees, though were experienced enough in party activities and tended to combine both Komsomol and party duties. The postwar period witnessed an increase in educational levels of Kalmykia’s Komsomol executives, all of them had diplomas of higher education. A candidate pool system also took shape. Komsomol activists were recommended for postgraduate programs, and the organization served as cadre training unit not only to the Communist Party but rather to Soviet agencies at large.

Introduction. The article discusses our experience of compiling a database of fatal casualties among Red Army soldiers and officers conscripted in the Kalmyk ASSR during the Great Patriotic War. The analysis of the database makes it possible to draw a collective portrait of that category of 1941–1945 war participants. Goals. The paper aims to analyze some experiences of compiling prosopography databases of 1941–1945 fatal casualties conscripted in one region, and specifically in the Kalmyk ASSR. Results. The study shows that mass sources characterized by homogeneity or similar properties provide ample opportunities for a quantitative approach in the historical study of the Great Patriotic War. When it comes to compile a database, one may face a significant number of errors and inaccuracies that had arisen initially and result from procedural (technical) features of information delivery. So, there is a need of certain qualified preparation for subsequent machine processing. Still, a properly compiled database of fatal casualties affords insights on a number of parameters and facilitates a due prosopography.

Introduction. The article outlines the results of excavations at Kryazh II workshop site located in the forest-steppe Volga region. The site is unique and contains an impressive collection of flint products and manufacturing wastes. Goals. The work aims to introduce materials from the excavations of 2017–2019 into scientific circulation. To facilitate this, the study shall describe and characterize the archaeological complexes, determine their cultural and chronological affiliations, and clarify the natural and climatic contexts to have witnessed the formation of the occupation layer. Materials. During three field seasons (2017–2019), an area of 192 m2 was studied. The total collection of artifacts numbers 5,989, of which ca. 250 items are ceramics and over 5,700 items are flint products — flakes and tools estimated at 6 % and less than 1.5 %, respectively. The majority of the finds over the entire area of the excavation lay in a thin layer (15–20 cm) of dark brown loam and in the upper part of brown loam. The performed palynological analysis makes it possible to identify three spore-pollen spectra in the section of the occupation layer. The paper also reveals six radiocarbon dates marking the time when the site was active. Results. The uniqueness of the flint complex at Kryazh II is determined by an increased concentration of flint artifacts per square meter of the studied area, an absolute predominance of manufacturing wastes, and a high percentage of products with indurated nodules, which makes it possible to interpret the site as a workshop. From a typological point of view, most of the ceramic items and flint inventory reveal similarities with materials of the Middle Volga culture from the Late Neolithic. At the same time, individual flint items and several fragments of ceramics are close enough to Eneolithic antiquities of the region in a number of aspects. The formation period of the site’s occupation layer dates to the mid-6th – mid-5th millennia BC characterized by the existence of forest-steppe landscapes close to modern ones. Conclusions. The study of Kryazh II workshop site has provided a collection of stone products — unique for the forest-steppe Volga region and dating mainly to the Late Neolithic era.

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.

Introduction. The study analyzes Russian places of memory in contemporary Harbin. Goals. The paper seeks to answer the question if a memorial consensus regarding the Russian heritage in China is possible, the term ‘memorial consensus’ as such denote a certain formal or informal agreement — between governments or within the community — whether to accept or reject certain symbols of the past, and how to interpret the historical events. That would guarantee conflict-free attitudes to places of memory and their due use for ritual purposes. Moreover, such an agreement regulates how certain memorials or memorable dates associated with a common history may be used in a way most acceptable to all the parties. And the present-day war on monuments around the world makes the study timely enough. In this regard, the Chinese experiences of forming a model for accepting a common past are of essential interest. Materials and methods. Methodologically, the work clusters with memory studies. The paper relies on the concepts ‘places of memory’ and ‘cultural memory’ to apply them to empirical materials of Heilongjiang and focus on toponyms, monuments, cemetery, museum exhibitions, architectural monuments, including Orthodox Christian churches. The discussion shall comprise not only monuments associated with White Russian émigrés but also later Soviet memorials. The paper investigates topographic data, visual materials, reference books dealing with historical and cultural landscapes, and historical works. Discussion. In terms of academic disciplines, the study involves historical, political science, sociological, and cultural approaches. This makes it possible to combine the analysis of the position of memorial objects with political changes in the region. Results. The work shows that a memorial consensus about the ‘Russian past’ has been formed in Harbin to meet tourist needs within the city’s image. This has been facilitated by the rapid development of domestic tourism in China. An important role in finding a memorial consensus was played by the constant dialogue between leaders of the two countries. The study identifies a total of three periods when relationships between national leaders had positive impacts on the policy towards the past. The first period is the time of the union between I. V. Stalin and Mao Zedong, the second period is the dialogue between B. N. Yeltsin and Jiang Zemin, and the third one is the tandem of V. V. Putin and Xi Jinping. 

Introduction. The article examines the authors’ field data for an insight into a key wedding element — the matchmaking ceremony practiced by Tuvans inhabiting Bayan-Ölgii and Khovd provinces of Mongolia. It is due to the latter’s isolation that their material and spiritual culture — and specifically life-cycle rites — still retain somewhat unique features to be identified with the aid of comparative analysis. Goals. The paper aims to investigate the matchmaking ceremony of Tuvans from Bayan-Ölgii and Khovd provinces of Mongolia and, thus, shed light on most ancient beliefs and cults, customs and rituals, clarify questions of ethnogenetic and ethnocultural ties with the core ethnic community — Tuvans of the Tyva Republic (Russia). Methods. The work employs contemporary interdisciplinary research methods that facilitate a comprehensive approach involving methodological principles of related scientific disciplines, such as source studies and ethnography. Investigation of objective reality at the nexus of several related humanities fields shall yield a wider picture of ethnic specificities inherent to the examined culture and its functioning principles in the Tuvan ethnos at large. Results. The article considers archival and newly obtained field data on the matchmaking ceremony practiced by Tuvans of Khovd and Bayan-Ölgii aimags of Mongolia. Conclusions. Thus, the work presents a comparative ethnographic analysis of ritual matchmaking practices observed among Tuvans of Mongolia.

Goals. The study attempts etymological analyses of several rare military terms attested in 17th-century Mongol chronicles. The following terms are specifically touched upon in the article: aγuraγ ~ aγuruγ ‘base camp’, bayirildu- ‘to battle each other, fight a battle’, bulγaldu- ‘to fight each other or together’, čaγuraγul- ‘to send on a military campaign’, ide- ‘to capture and plunder (a city)’, nengde- ‘to attack unexpectedly’, niγtarqa- ‘to be in close order’, toyin ‘(military) camp’. All these terms are either totally unattested in the dictionaries of written Mongolian, or used with unique or rare meanings in sources, and reflect important features of military structure in the era of the Mongol Empire. Materials and methods. The paper analyzes three Mongol chronicles of the 17th century, namely: Quriyangγui Altan tobči ‘Brief Golden Summary’ (ca. 1604 to 1634, or mid-to-late 17th century), Erdeni tunumal neretü sudur ‘The Jewel Translucent Sūtra’ (ca. 1607), and Altan tobči ‘Golden Summary’ by Blo-bzaṅ bstan-’jin (ca. 1651 to 1655, or late 17th – early 18th century). The work employs a number of research methods inherent to comparative-historical linguistics and textology. Results. The article presumes the Mongol Empire’s military structure still remained more or less efficient — with some modifications — when the examined Mongol chronicles were being compiled, but completely lost its relevance in subsequent times. In view of this, only a small number of medieval military terms have survived in modern Mongolic languages, sometimes greatly changed in meaning (aγuraγ ~ aγuruγ), used only as obsolete forms (bulγa/bulγaldu-) or bound morphemes (ča’ur). Conclusions. The paper suggests some of the terms are of foreign origin and bear obvious traces of the intensive areal contacts between Mongolic and neighboring languages, notably Turkic (aγuraγ ~ aγuruγ, bulγa(-), toyi/n), Tungusic (nen(g)de-), and Khitan (ča’ur) ones. Some are attested as hapax legomena in individual chronicles (bayirildu-, čaγuraγul-, niγtarqa-), while others articulate highly specific meanings that have no parallels in our sources, and thus either correspond to the semantics of the donor forms (toyi/n) or possibly reflect the influence of local dialects of that time (ide-).

Introduction. The article demonstrates the logical vulnerability of the opinion that ‘language categorizes the world in different ways’, and considers the existing idea of language motivation as interrelation and interdependence of various phenomena — and as proof of inseparability of the cognizer, what can/is to be cognized, and what has been cognized. Goals. Based on the fact that the common beginning of cognition for various linguistic collectives is neither some objective external world nor the inner world of a person, but rather the presence of the cognitive ability inherent in all humankind, the work articulates and tests a hypothesis that cognitive bias be a predetermining factor of linguistic categorization and incomplete interlanguage equivalence. Materials and methods. The paper provides comparative insights into groups of situations involving the use of signs denoting a result of an object’s position shift in Russian and Chinese. The main research method is deduction. Results. The non-equivalence of the considered signs from the two languages is predetermined by that Russian is characterized by the strategy of a person who ACTS and concentrates directly on the dynamics of his/her movement. The signs associated with the preliminary assessment of the initial arrangement of objects and the selection of an appropriate direction of movement become significant. Chinese is dominated by the strategy of a person who OBSERVES, which includes the latter’s own position in the coordinate system and shows much more interest in the relocated object’s position to the subject proper. The two strategies can be sometimes compatible and sometimes contradictory. Accordingly, there is both a zone of conditional equivalence and a zone of lacunarity for the examined signs. Conclusions. The paper shows that language categorizes no world independent of a person but rather — the person’s experience from interacting with the environment. And since at the moment of interaction with the environment a person necessarily performs a certain role, cognitive bias proves inevitable. Awareness of the features underlying linguistic categorization depends on the role of the individual in this interaction.

Introduction. Russian writers quite actively use pragmatic markers (PM) to create a speech portrait of a particular character. At the same time, studies have shown that Russian PMs are characterized by increased syntagmatic activity and tend to appear in text not alone but in ‘company’ with other similar units. Goals. The study seeks to analyze the methods employed to translate PM chains contained in Russian literary texts into Chinese — through the example of the markers eto, eto samoe and kak yego (yeyo, ikh). Materials and methods. The paper analyzes a total of 19 contexts from 8 Russian fiction works included in the main subcorpus of the National Russian Corpus — and their Chinese translations. The work employs purposeful sampling, as well as contextual, comparative and discursive types of analysis. Results. The study shows that the Russian eto samoe has no absolute Chinese equivalent in terms of form and function, which presents big challenges for translators. Only few of the latter were able to translate eto samoe using the Chinese counterparts 这个 zhe ge or 那个 na ge. Structural variants of the Russian pragmatic markers eto and kak yego (yeyo, ikh) are often found both in literary texts and Russian oral (live) speech. Translators easily associate the pragmatic marker kak yego (yeyo, ikh) with the full-value expression kak yego (yeyo, ikh) zovut/nazyvajut performing the same search-hesitation function, and the pragmatic marker eto with its Chinese counterparts 这个 zhe ge or 那个 na ge. As a result, when it comes to translate PM chains with the components kak yego (yeyo, ikh) and eto, functional equivalence is achieved much easier than in case of PM chains with the component eto samoe. Conclusions. The ability of pragmatic markers to ‘attract’ to each other further complicates both the procedure of their identification in a text and their translation into other languages.

Introduction. The black-faced are mentioned in different Muslim texts — from the Quran to Sufi poems. One can trace not just diverse but rather opposite interpretations, and researchers have to face certain problems when it comes to analyze some related images. Goals. The study attempts an insight into functioning and semantic features inherent to images of the black-faced in Sufi poetry. Materials and methods. The work analyzes a number of classical Persian and Arabic writings, such as The Walled Garden of Truth by Sanai, and others. The employed research methods include those of textual reconstruction, contextual analysis, and descriptive poetics. Results. The paper shows in medieval Islamic culture the black-skinned were often treated not just as second-class individuals, they were sometimes not even viewed as humans. In the Quran, a black face symbolizes disgrace and infidelity. The blacks in Islamic culture were discriminated twice: by skin color and on religious grounds, since most of them were pagans that actively resisted Islamization. This circumstance served a legal rationale for their enslavement. Thus, for many Arab writers a black was a slave, an uncivilized ungodly pagan. These characteristics one can find both in Arabic and Persian literatures. But in Persian Sufism the image of the black-skinned gets revisited. Their outward blackness is the trace of the black light of the divine selfness rather than just an ugly imperfection. The Divine selfness is dark for it cannot be conceived, and is above all human ideas about it. However, the Divine selfness is the being itself, so every existent thing had received being from this Divine source. In this context, Sanai writes that a black-faced is singed by the black light (or fire) of the Divine selfness, and is thus involved with this being. Besides, Sufis tended to view the low social status of the black as a means of liberation from worldly attachments and social connections, each black-skinned individual be thus believed to have united with the One Divine selfness to annihilate his own self (fana). Conclusions. So, the image of the black-faced performs functions similar to those characteristic of a wide layer of characters from other religions in Sufi literature: just like images of infidels, pagans, Zoroastrians, and Christians — this was reinterpreted by Sufi authors in a positive manner. 

Russian Orientalism is distinguished by its territorial proximity to Asian countries and the shaping of Russia-Asia frontier in bordering areas where peoples blended and cultures synthesized to form a multicultural environment. Goals. The study aims to identify the specifics of Orientalist motifs in works of the Soviet Russian poet Pavel Nikolaevich Vasiliev. Materials and methods. The paper analyzes works of P. Vasiliev with the aid of the historical/literary and comparative methods. The methodology is based on theses of Orientalism and transcultural literature. Results. The literary mainstream of that time was implementing the trend toward a class orientation with the dichotomy of US —  the proletariat, the poor, and THEM — kulaks, merchants, aristocrats, beys, biys, begs, coupled with the proclaimed civilizing role of Russians in the life of indigenous peoples, which was dictated by the early Soviet ideology. Pavel Vasiliev also depicted the civilizing mission of Russian engineers, builders, railroad men; industrialization in Kazakh steppes; the images of ‘civilized’ Kazakh savages — fighters for Soviet power, builders of a new life. He draws typical negative images of mullahs, which was prompted by the Bolshevik struggle against religion and its influence on the masses. At the same time, he is aware of his spiritual kinship with the Kazakhs and does not portray the latter as THEM, for him they are US, relatives. In early Soviet literature, the image of ‘sleeping’ Asia was widespread enough, and the region was thus to be awakened with bayonets and machine guns — to turn into the ‘red’ East as part of an ideologically unified Soviet state. In this regard, Vasiliev was standing away from the mainstream, since he never viewed Asia as a backward or dormant territory. That was rather an ancient, millennia-old, mysterious country, his homeland. Orientalist poems by Pavel Vasiliev (Hunting with Golden Eagles, Jut, Melon Field near Semipalatinsk, Camel, etc.) also deviate from the mainstream, since they emphasize ethnic and cultural specificities of the Kazakhs — an indigenous people of the Asian frontier — and this somewhat contradicted the Soviet policy of depreciating indigenous cultures of Asia. Conclusions. The insight into Orientalist motifs of Vasiliev’s poetry attests to the latter were influenced by transcultural nature of the poet’s artistic worldview, since his creative mind was shaped within the Kazakh-Russian frontier.