Introduction. The history of the Chagatai Ulus and Moghulistan remains an understudied area of medieval historiography, which is nonetheless essential enough and can yield a lot to researchers engaged in exploring the history of medieval Genghisid states. And it is Majmu al-Tawarikh by S. Akhsikendi which proves a most valuable source on the theme, since it contains a wealth of historical knowledge on Eastern peoples of the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries, including Kalmaks, Kyrgyzes, Moghuls, etc. Goals. The study examines Majmu al-Tawarikh for data relating to the Chagatai Ulus and Moghulistan, attempts a comparative analysis of the manuscript and other available sources on the investigated states, and seeks to determine the value of the text for Oriental historical science. Materials and methods. The work focuses on published sections of the well-known translations of Majmu al-Tawarikh and Zafarnama. In addition, the historical reliability of the identified data has been verified via the epic poem of Edige, Materials in the History of Kazakh Khanates, and History of Kazakhstan from Persian Sources. The key research principles include those of historicism and systemicity, while the key research methods are the comparative historical and ideographic ones. Results. The paper examines Majmu al-Tawarikh and analyzes data pertaining to the past of the Chagatai Ulus and Moghulistan, provides a historiographic review to explain the significance of the source. Despite some scholars tended to criticize Majmu al-Tawarikh for a variety of revealed inaccuracies and phantasmagorias, they did recognize its certain value. Majmu al-Tawarikh mentions names of a number of khans and emirs of the Chagatai Ulus and Moghulistan — with reported coincidences or differences in other sources. The work sets forth and substantiates a hypothesis that Zafarnama (‘Book of Victories’) by Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi may have been a fifth source for the author of Majmu al-Tawarikh. Conclusions. Majmu al-Tawarikh contains essential information on the history of the Chagataid states, as well as on the history of neighboring territories and peoples. However, the study of the obtained information should be approached critically, and it is urgent to compare the latter to related messages included in other sources. The introduction of the data into scientific discourse shall significantly expand and supplement contemporary historical knowledge on medieval Central Asian states.

Introduction. The article examines some rites and customs once practiced in the medieval ethnopolitical alliance of Moghuls. Goals. The study attempts an insight into Tarikh-i Rashidi by Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat for data pertaining to customs and rituals of the medieval Moghuls. Materials and methods. The study focuses on medieval Eastern Muslim historical sources — primarily the well-known Persian-language Tarikh-i Rashidi — as well as related scholarly publications. So, those are messages from Tarikh-i Rashidi by Mirza Muhammad Haidar of the Moghul Dughlat that serve as key reference data. The work employs the descriptive, historical comparative and other generally accepted research methods. Results. Our insights into Tarikh-i Rashidi by Mirza Muhammad Haidar have yielded some discoveries of rites and customs once spread among the Moghul tribes. These are of significant interest, since they cast some light on interior life of the medieval Moghuls that has remained virtually unattended by researchers of the past. Some of the Moghul customs and rituals mentioned in Tarikh-i Rashidi had also been witnessed among other ethnopolitical alliances of the Middle Ages. And some of the customs have even survived to date. For example, the First Kumis Festival used to be celebrated by many Turko-Mongols, including Kazakhs. Furthermore, the Moghul custom of yangilik is comparable enough to the Kazakh custom of amengerlik. Other customs and rituals of Moghuls described in the historical work under consideration need additional investigations with the involvement of new materials from historical sources and ethnographic data on modern Turkic and Mongolic peoples.

Introduction. In West Kazakhstan and the Volga-Ural interfluve, it is Golden Horde cities, caravan routes, and caravanserais that remain as under- or uninvestigated. Particular attention be paid to the necessity of exploring caravan routes and caravanserais from Urgench to Saraychik (Saray-Jük), and from Saraychik to the Volga Golden Horde cities. Goals. The study seeks to systemize and analyze materials on caravan routes and caravanserais in the south and southwest of West Kazakhstan and in the south of the Volga-Ural interfluve. It also aims at reconstructing some functioning patterns of caravan trade routes from Saraychik to the Volga Golden Horde cities in the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries. So, the paper shall systemize and examine archaeological, ethnographic, archival data and sources on the Golden Horde cities, caravan routes, and caravanserais across the mentioned territories; describe some identified caravan routes and caravanserais. Materials and methods. The work focuses on materials from archaeological excavations in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Uzbekistan; considers outcomes of field (expeditionary) historical, geographical, and ethnographic surveys conducted across Mangystau and Atyrau Regions of Kazakhstan in 2019–2022; performs analyses of geographical maps. The research methodology includes general scientific, historical, and geographical tools and techniques. Results. The paper basically systemizes the efforts undertaken by scholars affiliated to Saraishyq State Reserve Museum of History and Culture (Kazakhstan). The field (expeditionary) surveys have identified more Golden Horde sites and settlements to yield an improved map of caravan routes. At large, the article provides a general territorial scheme of caravan routes and caravanserais from the Golden Horde period across the south and southwest of West Kazakhstan and the south of the Volga-Ural interfluve. Conclusions. Our insights attest to that the Golden Horde caravanserais and caravan routes were characterized by quite efficient territorial patterns in the examined regions that grew to shape a comprehensive transit-trade system for the transfer of people, goods, and knowledge along a northern branch of the Silk Road.

Introduction. The German Empire was late to the colonial stage and soon witnessed the inefficiency of investment in subject economies across Africa. So, it started looking for more developed and resource-rich territories. As a result, the affluent Turkestan attracted Germany’s attention. Goals. The article examines political and economic interests of Germany in Turkestan in the 1900s to 1930s. The period is characterized by turbulent political processes, dramatic changes in Germany — and covers the imperial and Weimar eras coupled with the increasing attention to Turkestan. Materials and methods. The study focuses on documents contained in German repositories. The paper employs the historical systemic method which makes it possible to consider the subject under study as part of a comprehensively organized system. The principle of historicism also serves as a research method thereto since it implies historical insights into the emergence and evolution of the policy of German authorities in Turkestan — in the context of actual historical realities inherent to Germany’s development in the 1900s to 1930s. Results. The work analyzes some prerequisites for the emergence of German economic interests in Turkestan, reveals certain narratives as evidence of Germany’s increased attention to Turkestan during WWI and the Treaty of Rapallo. Conclusions. It is shown that Germany did lack a well-developed, coherent strategy for Turkestan and Central Asia at large.

Introduction. The tradition of worshipping the Russian Empress Catherine II by Buryat Buddhists as an earthly incarnation of the enlightened Buddhist deity White Tara is regarded as an established historical fact by researchers (and officials of Russia’s largest Buddhist organization ‘Buddhist Traditional Sangha of Russia’), and has never been questioned. Yet a careful analysis of Buryat written sources and Russian historical documents makes the statement somewhat problematic. Goals. The article attempts a comparative insight into a range of documentary, narrative and folklore sources in Buryat, Russian and Tibetan to clarify the issue of actual relationships between Buryat Buddhists and Catherine the Great. Results. The paper establishes that the statement insisting the title of Bandido Khambo Lama was recognized by Catherine II in 1767 goes back only to Buryat written sources — and is not corroborated by Russian historical documents. Our analysis of Russian-language sources, including letters and writings by Catherine II, makes it possible to surmise that the Empress’s attitude towards her ‘Lamaist’ subjects was dictated by her foreign policy plans in Asia and the Renaissance disregard for archaic cultures of ‘Siberian idolaters’ believed by eighteenth-century scholars to comprise Buryat Buddhists too. Insights into the surviving Buryat sources, including historical chronicles and biographies, also do not confirm the existence of a developed cult of venerating Catherine II as incarnate goddess White Tara. Nevertheless, such evidence has been preserved in Buryat song folklore and religious poetry but it should be borne in mind that, apparently, those are modern narratives dating from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is the latter period that was characterized by the wide dissemination of the idea of the sanctity of the Romanov Dynasty in the eyes of Buddhists, which may have been backed by prominent opinion leaders of the Russian political establishment to further promote the concept of Russia’s expansion deep into Buddhist Asia.

Introduction. In the eighteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries, Imperial Russia was characterized by one particular phenomenon — presence of ethnic troops, namely: Bashkir-Meshcheryak, Stavropol Kalmyk, Volga Kalmyk, and Crimean Tatar hosts. In addition to direct combat activities, such ethnic military units were to integrate their peoples into imperial environments. So, Bashkirs and Kalmyks had been recruited for military service among the first. Materials and methods. The article analyzes archival and published sources. It employs the historical genetic, historical comparative, and structural methods for due insights into the military history of frontier-based Bashkirs and Kalmyks throughout the eighteenth to the mid-nineteenth centuries. Results. In Bashkir society, there were no institutionalized Genghisid elites believed to have monopoly on political power, and clan structures were somewhat equal. The Kalmyk Khanate did have a vertical structure of power, army and administrative apparatus. Peter I had been the first to actively involve Bashkirs and Kalmyks in Russia’s military endeavors. The imperial government had been seeking to subjugate the autonomous Khanate via Christianization (a separate host compiled from Kalmyk Christians) and control over elites. These ended in a political protest — the 1771 Exodus of Kalmyks to Dzungaria. So, since 1825, Kalmykia remained under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The accelerated integration of Bashkiria began with the activities of the Orenburg Expedition, which led to the Bashkir Rebellion of 1735–1740. The latter resulted in that the region was reshaped administratively, former elites of Bashkir society replaced by new ones, and tribal volosts substituted by territorial subdivisions. Since 1798, the canton system gave rise to new service elites. The institutionalization of military service was implemented via the 1834 establishment of the Bashkir-Meshcheryak Host that existed until 1863. Great importance was assigned to symbolic policies pursued by the imperial government towards ethnic elites of peoples in military service — awards in the form of weapons, cloth, banners, orders, and medals (subsequently). The peculiarity of the awards was that the government feared the nobility’s expansion at the expense of non-Russian elites and would bestow some surrogate awards, money, and mediocre ranks. Conclusions. In the eighteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries, Bashkirs and Kalmyks proved active participants of Russia’s foreign policies as guardians of its southeastern and southern borders. Military service did accelerate the integration of the peoples into imperial institutions — legal, social, economic ones. However, the process ended more successfully for Bashkirs, which was largely facilitated by the presence of patrimonial rights to land and the absence of a hierarchical vertical structure in society. Meanwhile, the presence of a vertical power structure in the form of an autonomous domain, Russian government’s intervention in the latter’s internal affairs (creation of a separate host from Kalmyk Christians), the Exodus of 1771, and the subsequent abolition of the Khanate slowed down the integrative processes never to be completed in the examined period.

Introduction. The study examines some aspects of everyday life once led by inhabitants of Kalmyk uluses (Astrakhan Governorate). The relevance of the topic arises from the necessity to compile a more complete panorama of Kalmyk life witnessed by the period when Russian and local authorities were seeking for ways of introducing the region into Russia’s administrative and political agenda. Goals. So, given that the topic has remained somewhat understudied, the paper aims to characterize some aspects of everyday life viewed by governorate-level officials as ‘bottlenecks’ in the path toward Russia’s integration of Kalmyk society. Materials and methods. The work focuses on records-keeping material primarily housed at the State Archive of Astrakhan Oblast, and introduces the former into scientific circulation. The study basically employs both general scientific and special historical approaches, with particular roles be played by the method of systems analysis and principles of historicism and objectivity. These have proved most instrumental in outlining a true panorama of Kalmyk nomadic life in the second decade of the nineteenth century. Results. The paper characterizes some questions and proposals set forth by the civil Governor on various aspects of Kalmyk life — and related opinions of local landlords and ulus rulers. Conclusions. Our insights into the material attest to that most important issues of everyday life across Kalmyk uluses in the early nineteenth century included those of land, interior affairs, and trade. The then Kalmyk elites and governorate-level officials did come to consensus on some points, while others proved controversial enough.

Introduction. The year 2023 commemorates the 80th anniversary of the Kalmyk deportation (28 December 1943) to the eastern parts of the Soviet Union. In December 1943, ethnic Kalmyks were groundlessly repressed and forcibly relocated from native lands to be scattered across Siberia toward the Far East and Extreme North for the long thirteen years (1943–1957). Key aspects of Kalmykia’s contribution to the Great Victory have been duly investigated. However, the deportation and exile proper had remained untackled for quite a long time, and this period of Kalmyk history still lacks comprehensive investigation. It is urgent to assemble a complete picture of how people were relocated and survived in special settlement areas, which makes further endeavors aimed at obtaining additional related material timely enough. In February 2023, Kalmyk Scientific Center (RAS) arranged a scientific expedition to the Republic of Kazakhstan for documentary material on Kalmyks deported to the Kazakh SSR. The employees were granted a unique opportunity to consider documents housed at the Archive of the President of Kazakhstan, repositories of Almaty Region, Qyzylorda Region, and Aral District Archive proper. Goals. The article attempts a review of some documents discovered at Aral District Archive (Qyzylorda Region, Kazakhstan) and dealing with Kalmyks deported from Lagansky Ulus of the Kalmyk ASSR in the late 1943. Materials. So, the paper focuses on official papers contained in the mentioned repository and related scholarly publications. Conclusions. Insights into the documents prove instrumental enough in outlining how residents of Lagansky Ulus were relocated to the target territory and adapted to new living conditions. The former primarily deal with the years 1944, 1946, 1948, and 1950. However, even the reduced data are of utmost significance. The still unanswered questions are how many residents of the Ulus were deported to the Kazakh SSR and Siberian territories, and what the actual proportions were. The archival papers say that in January 1944, the Bureau of Aral District Party Committee and District Soviet of Workers’ Deputies decided to accept and accommodate a total of 745 households to be engaged in local fisheries. Another dispatch of April 1944 addressed to the Secretary of Kazakhstan Party Committee and the Head of Qyzylorda NKVD Department mentioned 1,200 individuals or 400 households of ‘special settlers’, while additional 2,200 fishermen and their family members were accepted thereafter. So, the actual number of accommodated Kalmyks was larger than the one in published scholarly works. Further detailed insights into the papers from Aral District Archive shall shed light on living conditions and challenges faced by relocated residents of Lagansky Ulus across special settlement areas.

Introduction. The government’s turn toward relative liberalization of religious life and somewhat moderated positions on religious freedom witnessed since 1943 were replaced by a new trend in the late 1940s. The new vector implied an increased state control over activities of religious communities, and would introduce a variety of deterrent mechanisms aimed at reducing religiosity, limiting possibilities for official registration, increasing taxation of clergy, intensifying atheistic propaganda, etc. Goals. The article attempts an insight into the situation resulting from the Soviet religious policy of the late 1940s / early 1950s ― and faced by Tuva’s religious communities. Materials and methods. The study focuses on documents housed at the State Archive of Russia. The employed research methods include the retrospective, comparative historical, and chronological ones. Results. Since the late 1940s, religious communities of Tuva came under strict control and limitations. The paper reveals the actual Soviet post-war religious policy in Tuvan Autonomous Oblast was specifically characterized by that only Russian Orthodox Christians would enjoy somewhat relatively official status and activities, while other faiths and their groups remained as illegal regardless of the central government’s proclaimed agenda and changing sentiments. Local authorities and the Commissioner of the Soviet Council for Religious Cults in the region would turn to various excuses to avoid any legal registration of such communities. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the intensified restrictive measures (heavy taxation) finally undermined the once intensive activities of Buddhists. Furthermore, Evangelical Baptist Christians failed to reopen their prayer house in Kyzyl, while Old Believers of Belokrinitskaya Hierarchy never resolved the issue of a prayer building in Medvedevka (Kaa-Khemsky District).

Introduction. The article deals with the beginnings of Kalmykia’s public road industry, reveals some features and significance of motorways network construction across the region in the late 1950s. Materials and methods. The paper examines archival documents contained in collections Р-218 (‘Highways Design and Construction Association of the Kalmyk ASSR’) and Р-309 (‘Council of Ministers of the Kalmyk ASSR’) at the National Archive of Kalmykia. The study employs the historical/genetic and historical/comparative methods. Results. The article reveals certain features of Kalmykia’s road network after the restoration of autonomy, identifies key vectors of the then modern highways construction agenda in the Kalmyk ASSR, clarifies some issues pertaining to logistics and financing of the emerging road industry. The leading executives of the republic did understand that motor transport was of utmost importance for Kalmykia’s economic recovery, and invested great efforts to build modern highways. Conclusions. However, despite the mentioned efforts, the share of paved roads remained extremely small, which was caused by insufficient funding, staffing problems, and shortage of road construction equipment.

Introduction. The article presents some latest absolute dates for Neolithic pottery from the Vilovatoye site, the latter being characterized by a most impressive pottery collection from the Middle and Late Neolithic across the forest-steppe Volga River basin. Goals. The work shall introduce a series of radiocarbon dates for Neolithic patterns of the Vilovatoye site. To facilitate this, the paper shall describe the vessels that yielded such radiocarbon dates, analyze and interpret the absolute values, compare the latter to those of the Middle Volga culture. Materials and methods. In 2018–2019, shards from a total of fourteen Neolithic vessels excavated in the site of Vilovatoye were selected. Four of them were decorated with pricks of different shapes, one bore pricks combined with blackened lines, and nine vessels had comb stamps. Radiocarbon dating by liquid scintillation was conducted at the Radiocarbon Laboratory of Herzen University. Results. The pricked vessels of the Vilovatoye site dated from the third quarter of the 6th millennium BC to the second quarter of the 5th millennium BC. These results tend to well correlate with dates yielded by pricked pottery of the Middle Volga culture. The shards of the vessel decorated with pricks and blackened lines were dated to the first half of 5th millennium BC. The absolute dates for the comb-imprinted pottery cluster within a vast interval — from the last quarter of the 6th millennium BC to the third quarter of the 5th millennium BC. So, the latter dates also well correlate with available radiocarbon values for comb-ornamented pottery of both the Vilovatoye site and the Middle Volga culture. Conclusions. The newly obtained radiocarbon values shall significantly add to the set of dates for the Middle Volga culture. Those are evidence that the traditions of pricked and comb-stamped pottery somewhat co-existed — on the Vilovatoye site in particular, and within the Middle Volga culture at large.

Introduction. The publication finalizes the series of paleodemographic studies into materials from Catacomb burials discovered by archaeologists in grave mounds across the three territorial zones of Kalmykia — Sarpa Lowland, Yergeni Upland, and Caspian Depression. The current paper focuses on anthropological material from burials investigated in the Caspian Depression. Goals. The study shall introduce new anthropological material from the Middle Bronze Age once discovered in the territory of Kalmykia. Materials and methods. The work examines human bone remains from grave fields of the Caspian Depression stored at the Osteological Materials Repository of Kalmyk Scientific Center (RAS). Age and sex determination procedures have been conducted following a comprehensive anthropological program. Results. The diverse research efforts have yielded paleodemographic characteristics of the population that once inhabited the Caspian Depression, a comparative intra-group principal component analysis involving synchronous anthropological series in the territory of Kalmykia (multivariate statistics), and a discussion of summarized results of our insights into the demographic situation across Middle Bronze Age Kalmykia. The paper notes some similarities (and differences) between the identified paleodemographic indicators and those of neighboring regions (Republic of Dagestan and Rostov Oblast) on average age of death, high mortality of children, and predominance of male individuals, the two latter being typical for societies of that era. The Kalmykia-based materials are characterized by almost equal mean ages of death in the male and female groups, and a larger number of individuals aged fifty and more, with a small but evident predominance of female ones among the latter.

Introduction. The article discusses the results of a study of ash layers from Holocene deposits at the Selungur (Surungur) Cave. Goals. So, the work attempts a practical evaluation of a method of identifying coprostanols in archaeological sediments. The investigation of Holocene deposits of the site was carried out in 2018 and 2021 field seasons. The study identifies a total of 7 Holocene layers that represent the typical ‘fumier’ facies of cave and rock shelter deposits connected to pastoralism and animal husbandry practices, and built up of stratified layers of burnt herbivore dung. The sequence contains a record of multiple earthquakes that disturbed the sediments and effected in water escape structures, plastic deformations, and faults. Nevertheless, the stratigraphy remains easily readable. Unfortunately, archaeological and paleofaunistic materials were never found but a series of ash-containing interlayers suggests that the cave was repeatedly visited by ancient humans. Materials. In the ash deposits, our micro charcoal analysis has identified areas of concentration of burnt dungs which was used for fire. Series of samples were taken throughout the section of Holocene deposits for gas mass spectrometry analysis. The research efforts have also included the analysis of modern dung from herbivores inhabiting the area, such as cows, sheep, goats, horses and donkeys, for the latter obtained data to serve as a reference collection. Results. Unfortunately, layer 7 of the Selungur Cave proved characterized by poor preservation of fire products, while layers 6–1 yielded somewhat rich data. The obtained results make it possible to identify coprosterols and determine that equine dung was used in layers 6-2 as a fuel, and goat dung — in the first layer. The most widespread distribution of equines in this region occurred during the existence of Dayuan (Parkan) state, in the third century BC and later in the Middle Ages. Most likely, during these periods the mountain corridor comprising the Selungur Cave could have been used as a pass of the Silk Road that connected the Fergana and Alay valleys. The accumulation of the upper layer, in our opinion, is associated with the modern era.

Introduction. The article reviews the Chronicle of Rabzha Sanzhiev dealing with the history of Khori Buryats, written in Classical Mongolian, and housed at the Center of Oriental Manuscripts and Xylographs (IMBT SB RAS). Goals. The article attempts a source analysis into a history (historical accounts) of Buddhism from the Chronicle of Khori Buryats to be newly introduced into scientific circulation. Materials and methods. The study investigates a voluminous work by R. Sanzhiev that can be considered a continuation of the Chronicle of Shirab-Nimbu Khobituev written in 1887. Our analysis employs both a descriptive/narrative approach and the comparative historical method that make it possible to examine R. Sanzhiev’s Chronicle and other Buryat historical accounts in interrelation. Results. The Chronicle of Khori Buryats by R. Sanzhiev follows the traditions of Buryat chronicle-writing, contains new data, and is rich in factual material, in particular relating to the history of Buryat Buddhism missing in earlier texts. Messages on the history of Buddhism have been divided into three groups: history of persons, history of temples and religious objects, and history of corresponding traditions. It should be noted that such a division is conditional enough, since one and the same fragment can actually cluster within more than one group. Conclusions. The paper reveals the author did add a wide range of diverse archival and documentary materials to significantly expand the history of Aga Buryats and the history of how Buddhism had been disseminated within this Buryat ethnic group. Furthermore, R. Sanzhiev included messages about most significant late nineteenth to early twentieth century events in Russia and the world, and explained how the latter influenced the then life of Khori Buryats.

The paper deals with the Transcaucasian prehistoric period in the history of the ancestors of the Chuvash people. Goals. The study aims to identify and analyse the sources and literature on the topic relating to events of the 7th to 1st centuries BC. Materials and methods. The work employs a complex approach to the examination of the material, which made it possible to analyse the sources and the thoughts of predecessors consistently and systematically. The study focuses on works of historians, ethnographers and linguists about the ethnic groups that previously inhabited and now inhabit the areas to the south of the Greater Caucasus. The sources that proved important include the works by such historians as Herodotus (5th century BC), Apollonius of Rhodes (3rd c. BC), Pseudo-Orpheus (4th c. AD), Priscus Panionensis (5th c.), Menander Protector and Stephanus of Byzantium (both 6th c.). The paper also makes use of some pronouncements by such remarkable researchers as Andrey Golovnev, Sergey Arutyunov, Alikber Alikberov, Nicholas Berdzenishvili, Vera Budanova, Murtazali Gadzhiev, and David Muskhelishvili. Results. Impartial investigation shows that the ethnonym of the Chuvash has undergone a lengthy course of transformation through history in the form of Savir (Saspir/Sapir, Savar, Sabir) → Suvar (Suvas, Suvan) → Suvash → T’šăvaš (Chuvash). As far back as the 7th century BC, to the southeast of Colchis a large confederation of tribes headed by the Saspirs came into being. The study reveals and confirms traces in the pre-history of the distant ancestors of the Chuvash that are shared with the peoples of Georgia. In the period under examination, the historical forerunners of the Chuvash lived in a territory between Media and Colchis, between the Medes and the Colchians. In the 3rd century BC and the 3rd century AD, they were recorded to inhabit the Chorokh River valley. Alongside historical events, the publication traces ethnographic parallels with the ancient Georgian peoples and some shared elements of vocabulary.

Introduction. The cultural heritages of the Sakha (Yakut) and the Tuvan are distinguished by a similarity of basic worldview ideas pertaining to the structure of the Universe, multi-storeyedness of each of the Three Worlds, the pantheon of deities, etc. Goals. The article aims to interpret semantics of ethnic jewelry as a visual narrative articulating the ideas of individual soul in traditional Sakha and Tuvan cultures. To facilitate this, the paper shall summarize the available descriptions of these ideas from ethnographic material, identify some facts confirming jewelry used to serve as markers of soul, consider semantics of traditional jewelry signs. The study hypothesizes as follows: when it comes to soul visualizations, folklore sources manifest repeated indications localizing one of the three souls (aorta, blood, belt, etc.) ― hence, the other two must also have some certain locations and related beliefs, too. Methods. With due regard of the dynamics in religious and aesthetic preferences, the employed interdisciplinary and comparative historical approaches comprise the structural/functional, interpretative, and axiological methods. The method of mosaic reconstruction proves as instrumental in revealing jewelry symbolism. Results. The paper confirms adornments (jewelry pieces) act as means to visualize some valuable worldviews, ideas of human soul and its whereabouts, prestige and behavioral norms. The former are defined as utmost identity signs for an inhabitant of the Middle World that serve as markers and protective amulets for each of the three human souls, also viewed as mediators between the sacred and profane worlds, triggers in ritual communication, and social status indicators. Conclusions. Being a universal form, circle (silver disk, bead, infinity knot, and button) denotes the place and function of each soul. For instance, the air one of the Sakha and the middle one of the Tuvan are placed in the head and identified with head adornments (jewelry pieces). According to Sakha beliefs, the maternal soul is localized in the mediastinum (pulse and blood ― heart and liver), while Tuvans place soul one into the navel. Yakut women of fertile age tend to mark this soul with solar breast jewelry, with no identified symbolic parallels in the Tuvan costume. Yakuts believe the third earthly soul be indicated with a belt buckle and dwell in the navel, while the Tuvan tradition says the good soul dwells in the belt. So, the Yakut have retained somewhat more archaic version of the symbolic corpus. And the differences are largely determined by the late influence of Manchu-Chinese culture and Buddhism on worldviews of southern Tuvans.

Introduction. The Sakha Republic (Yakutia) — the largest northeastern federal subject of Russia — is distinguished by that it rests on permafrost. The present-day permafrost degradation has significant impacts on rural everyday life characterized by persistent traditional economic practices largely dependent on environmental conditions. Goals. The article seeks to analyze some local experiences of human adaptations to current and potential threats resulting from permafrost thawing and cold deficit. Materials and methods. To facilitate this, the paper shall introduce materials collected during 2019, 2020 and 2022 field surveys, the former to include expert interviews, results of questionnaires filled in by residents of Amga village, and our visual landscape observations. Historical and anthropological approaches prove most instrumental, as is the personal history method that focuses on the respondents’ individual perceptions of the ongoing changes. Results. The study identifies some patterns of individual behavior adopted by rural residents in the face of emerging climate threats. Special attention is paid to separate aspects of how various rural groups tend to perceive permafrost degradation. The paper resumes that the most pressing challenges include agricultural land reduction, deterioration of rural housing stock and social infrastructure. It has been revealed that residents of Amga village strive to adapt to the current changes via the use of new technologies and introduction of modern construction elements that used to be rare or completely absent in rural practices. The work emphasizes there are both direct and indirect threats — including the ‘delayed’ ones — resulting from the changes in permafrost soils. So, certain direct risks for the traditional livestock-breeding and agricultural agendas do increase pressure on social stability and employment.

Introduction. The article deals with the memorialization of victims of deportations and contemporary commemoration practices witnessed in Siberian recipient society. Goals. The study attempts an insight into the deportation-related memories of recipient communities, memorialization means and trends, commemoration forms in the region’s society and cultural environment. The hypothesis is that the memorialization processes were actually (and largely) ignited among the deported peoples (and their local autonomies) by Russian government policy of the 1990s. It was the rehabilitation of Soviet ethnic deportees that triggered the memorialization movement and the emergence of related commemorations. The publication presents results of the long term research into memories of rural Siberians conducted through the methods of oral history and ethnology. Materials and methods. The study focuses on eyewitness accounts and interviews with individuals representing the once recipient communities, commemoration sites that include not only monuments to deported victims installed in the Altai but also some traces of deportations evident from folk toponymy, rural housing stock, burials across local cemeteries, and other types of ‘memory solidification’. Results and conclusions. The paper seeks to supplement the published history and historiography of deportations — largely based of the deportees’ memories and experiences — with insights into perceptions of recipient communities and Siberian cultural landscapes. Special attention is paid to certain distinguishing features of the memorialization processes and ways in places of actual residence and death of the deportees and related commemoration forms. The work also strives to reveal an actual correlation between the ‘downward’ (from government agencies) and ‘upward’ (from the public) initiatives, and specifically the contribution of rural Siberian population to the memorialization of deportations in the 1990s–2020s.

Introduction. Russian translations of Kalmyk official letters housed at Russia’s archives may serve as vivid historical sources both on seventeenth–eighteenth century Kalmyk-Russian relations — and on how translation studies emerged and developed in our country. So, archival files often contain draft translations with original revisions that somewhat show the shaping of the final text and the translation process at large. Materials and methods. The paper examines several Kalmyk-to-Russian synchronic translations of Kalmyk Tayiji Ayuka’s letter dated 21 February 1688. The variants are analyzed with due regard of why the translator would select certain lexemes, replace the already selected ones, and virtually ignore some quite sizeable fragments of the source text. The comparative method proves key to the study. Results. The comparative insight outlines the overall translation strategy: a synchronic translation does focus on the source text and articulate major messages contained therein — but is also replete with additional details. In general, the translation process in not reduced to copying the source text with the aid of target language means, and some distinctions of traced revisions attest to there may have been a transmitter of oral information, though written speech patterns did prevail. The lexical substitutions, corrections of word forms, changes in syntactic constructs clearly illustrate how the translator was making his way through the text. 

Introduction. The article examines a dictionary of Mansi compiled from lexemes recorded along the Chusovaya River in the early-to-mid eighteenth century. The dictionary was discovered in G. F. Müller’s archives. Other available archives (e.g., those of A. J. Sjögren and P. S. Pallas) contain no mention of the dictionary. So, the only source referring to the latter is a 1958 article by Hungarian linguist J. Gulya that analyzes several Mansi words recorded in the eighteenth century across the Lower Tagil, Lower Tura, and Chusovaya river basins to determine a total of three distinct features inherent to the local Mansi dialects. A comparison of lexemes contained in G. F. Müller’s dictionary of Chusovaya Mansi against the ones published in J. Gulya’s work has yielded a number of discrepancies with the scholar’s conclusions. Goals. So, the paper compares Chusovaya Mansi against other Mansi dialects — Berezovo, Solikamsk, Cherdyn, Kungur, Upper Tura, and Karpinsky ones — recorded during the same period and in the same area. The most extensive description and analysis of the latter sources based on L. Honti’s classification are to be found in J. Normanskaya’s article titled ‘How the Classification of Mansi Dialects Was Changed (On the Material of the First Cyrillic Books and Dictionaries of the 18th and 19th Centuries)’ (2022). Materials and methods. The work employs the comparative and comparative historical methods to examine a variety of Mansi-language archival sources. Results. The paper reconsiders the data contained in J. Normanskaya’s publication for a comparative analysis, and shows that the Chusovaya Mansi dictionary does confirm the Russian researcher’s conclusions: Northern and Western Mansi dialect differences developed by L. Honti were non-existent or had only just appeared in the eighteenth century. However, the proto-Mansi *k>χ transition before back vowels identified by J. Normanskaya as the one and only feature exclusively characteristic of Northern Mansi dialects has not been confirmed in the Chusovaya dialect traditionally clustered within Western Mansi: it happens to contain the traditional Northern transition (chot ‘шесть’, chórom ‘три’).

Introduction. The article attempts a first analysis of animal names of Arab-Persian origin in standard Bashkir and its dialects in their relation to other Turkic languages. Goals. The study aims to identify and systematize this lexical/thematic group of borrowings to Bashkir and its dialects, identify word-formation patterns of such borrowings, reveal how and when these lexemes appeared in Turkic languages. Materials and methods. The work explores a variety of available dictionaries to provide a most complete selection of animal names of Arab-Persian origin in standard Bashkir and its dialects. The employed research methods include the lexical/semantic and descriptive ones, those of structural, comparative and diachronic analysis, as well as the etymological method. Results. The paper introduces a comparative analysis of the mentioned zoonyms against ones traced in other Turkic (sometimes even Altaic at large) languages, provides insights into their etymologies, and determines approximate chronological boundaries of when the loanwords occurred in the Turkic languages. Our lexical/thematic classification efforts have yielded a number of name groups, such as ‘mammals’, ‘birds’, ‘fish’, ‘insects’ and others. Special attention is paid to Arab-Persian lexemes expressing common animal names. The following word-formation patterns for the examined zoonyms have been identified: 1) borrowings in the form of ready-made root stems be divided into subgroups, such as exotic names, culturally significant words, and medical terms; 2) composite combinations clustering within two subgroups, such as attributive constructions with ezāfe particles and ones without the latter (incl. compounding). So the study attests to the share of names borrowed to the Turkic languages via books are used only in standard Bashkir or considered outdated to be found only in classical Bashkir literary texts. However, the share of animal names introduced orally can be traced exclusively in dialects and have correspondences of Bashkir origin in the standard language.

Introduction. Classification of the Samoyedic languages ranks among most popular topics of Uralistics in recent years, with at least six different perspectives — often in contradiction with one another — expressed by leading experts. In fact, there is no single subgroup of the Samoyedic languages on which all the authors would unanimously agree. Goals. The article attempts an analysis of word lists of the Samoyedic languages available on the LingvoDoc platform (lingvodoc.ispras.ru) — recorded from the last native speakers and collected from archives. Materials and methods. The LingvoDoc platform stores a total of 16 Samoyedic-language dictionaries (and text concordances) containing some basic vocabularies. Ten dictionaries were compiled from native speakers (Nenets, Enets, Nganasan, and Selkup dialects), while six others were derived from archival and published sources. They are processed using the glottochronology formula developed by S. Starostin. The LingvoDoc-based analysis yields 3D proximity degree graphs calculated depending on divergence time points of the Samoyedic language unity. Results. It has been determined that, from a glottochronological perspective, there was a certain proximity between Nenets, Enets, and Nganasan traditionally grouped into the North Samoyedic cluster, while Selkup, Mator, and Kamassian are regarded as South Samoyedic. However, these communities were short-lived enough, a longer period of unity be observed between Mator and Kamassian, and between Nenets and Enets. The highest number of words with no etymology in other basic vocabulary lists was found in Selkup dialects (up to 18 lexemes) and in the Nganasan language (13 words), which attests to their prolonged isolated existence. Conclusions. The current analysis supports the validity of the traditional classification of the Samoyedic languages. The involvement of materials from early Selkup texts provides more reliable evidence for delineating a South Samoyedic group.

Introduction. The article deals with phraseological means of modeling gender stereotypes that reflect certain femininity- and masculinity-related peculiarities observed in the Turkic languages. Gender stereotypes are a key category of contemporary gender linguistics. The typological study of gender stereotype modeling phraseological tools across a number of Turkic languages makes it possible to outline some linguistic and cultural features inherent to the phraseological representation of femininity and masculinity in Kazakh, Tatar, Bashkir, Uzbek, and Kyrgyz. Goals. The work seeks to describe linguistic and cultural features of phraseological gender stereotype modeling in the Turkic languages. Materials. The paper focuses on phraseological units contained in various dictionaries of the examined Turkic languages, in particular, phraseological, explanatory and bilingual ones. Results. The study yields a number of key theses as follows: 1) phraseological units serve as linguistic and cultural means of modeling gender stereotypes in the Turkic languages; 2) linguoculturological features of femininity and masculinity are represented in the investigated Turkic languages by various models of phraseological units containing characteristic components of cultural codes; 3) certain Turkic languages have a number of typological similarities and differences in the formation and representation of gender stereotypes, irrespective of actual genealogical connections between corresponding languages; 4) the study of phraseological gender stereotype modeling shall contribute to further development of gender studies and provide deeper insights into the phenomenon of gender in the Turkic worldview. Conclusions. The analysis of phraseological material shows the Turkic languages are distinguished by various ways of gender stereotype modeling, reveals some linguoculturological features of representing femininity and masculinity in genetically related languages characterized by certain similarities and differences in the formation of such stereotypes, contributes to the identification of priority components of linguoculturological codes that shape the peculiarities of gender stereotypes in Turkic languages. A significant part of phraseological units express gender stereotypes through the following components of cultural codes — astronomical, zoomorphic, somatic, vestimentary, gastronomic, color and physical ones — that are characteristic of each language and gender separately.

Introduction. In Khanty dialects, the category of grammatical case shows its largely heterogeneous character and varies in terms of quantity and quality. As for Eastern Khanty, linguists hold different views on the composition of this category and its representatives, which results from a discrepancy in interpreting statuses of some case indicators. Goals. The article seeks to systematize available data on case indicators identified in Vakh Khanty and presented in scholarly studies of the nineteenth-twentieth centuries, compare them to field data obtained in the twenty first century and digitized on the LingvoDoc platform for independent research. Methods. The analysis of published data on Vakh Khanty has been carried out via the descriptive/comparative and structural research methods. Field data collection techniques for Vakh Khanty included direct observations of native speakers’ speech, a survey, interviews on various topics, audio recordings, and transcriptions of the latter. Results. Our review of the scholarly literature from the past centuries on the Vakh Khanty dialect shows a variety of opinions about the number of attested case markers and their functional specifics, an inconsistency of approaches to terming some of them, and a variance of the morphemic form designations. Analysis of the contemporary field data with the LingvoDoc platform’s functional tools and comparison of the results against some previously described data do confirm a stability of the Vakh Khanty dialect case system, identify the source of terminological synonymy in the nominal paradigm, and develop a classification of case markers based on their functional features. The functional parameter makes it possible to distinguish between a case marker with a predominantly grammatical orientation and a group of case markers whose profile is associated with the expression of semantic relations. In the group of semantic cases, further division into subgroups is also possible, due to the type of semantic specialization of individual case markers. Conclusions. Semantic cases fall into a subgroup of cases with spatial semantics, a subgroup with the semantics of compatibility, and a subgroup that combines cases with oblique (indirect) semantics. The distribution of case formants into subgroups is complicated by certain syncretism of semantics in a large number of case morphemes, which ultimately leads to some blurring of the subgroups’ boundaries and a variance in the terminological nomination of case morphemes.

Introduction. The paper attempts a scholarly insight into medieval historical chronicles for a new comprehension of Derbend-Nameh by Muhammad Avabi Aktashi (sixteenth–seventeenth centuries) that stands at the beginnings of Dagestani prose. Goals. The study seeks to identify the literary task set forth by the medieval author when he set to create the historical/literary narrative, reveal some meanings hidden therein, and show how the author influences a reader with the aid of stylistic techniques and expressive means. Methods. The work employs the cultural/historical and receptive methods, the latter be manifested (implemented) via ‘readers’ expectations’, certain derived genre norms, implied correlations between fiction and reality, text and context. The hermeneutic method proves most instrumental in revealing opportunities for multiple interpretations of one and the same text. Results. Our study attest to the author used not only documents and facts from the preceding Tawarikh-i Derbend-Nameh (The Book of Derbent Stories) but also invested his own knowledge of ancient fiction and undertones — to establish the genre of historical prose in Kumyk literature. This is evidenced by the author’s appeal to the key characteristic features of fiction: abundance of folklore legends, fragments from Arab, Oriental and European chronicles and fiction texts; hyperbolized narration about the size of Derbent and the Derbent Wall; fantastic elements, images of historical personalities, such as Zulkarnein Iskander (Alexander the Great), Kubad-Shah, Abu-Muslim and others; the formal and compositional division of the text (war between Arabs and Khazars, war between Persians and Khazars, ruling years of Abu Muslim); hidden meanings of the narrative about Khazars and the city of Anji (emotional narrative of battles attended by Khazars and Muslims); reflections on the turning point in history, impacts on the reader’s feelings by means of literary devices and artistic expressions. Conclusions. Despite the book by Muhammad Avabi Aktashi deals with the history of Derbent, it clearly shows the author’s intention and literary task to shed light on another city, the ancient Anji, as well as on the tragic collapse of the Khazar state. It is shown that the book served a landmark at the beginnings of Kumyk prose — and gave impulse to the latter’s further evolution.