Introduction. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries witnessed an intensified Russia–UK confrontation in Persia, which was paralleled by penetrations of other great powers (France, Germany, USA) into the Near and Middle East. Under those conditions, Russia’s traditional economic methods of influence in Persia became insufficient. Goals. The study seeks to examine the phenomenon of Russian educational institutions in Northern Persia as another way of pursuing own national political goals in the designated country. The work aims at confirming — with evidence from archival documents — the activities of Russian-Persian schools during the specified period were to shape a positive image of Russia in Persian society. Materials and methods. The most important sources characterizing the process of opening Russian-Persian schools in Northern Persia (their goals and objectives, training agenda, certain results) are documents of both central authorities and diplomatic, economic and military institutions of the Russian Empire to Persia discovered at the Russian State Historical Archive. Analytical and generalization methods — with comparative into historiographic and archival materials — have proved most instrumental therein. Results. The article identifies some prerequisites for the emergence of Russian-Persian schools in Northern Persia, determines the validity of their activities in this particular region of the country, clearly outlines the context of Russia’s competition with other governments in this matter to conclude as follows: the Russian government was perfectly aware of the need to open such schools that would disseminate the Russian language and Russia-related ideas among Persia’s population; graduates of those educational institutions would serve an important element in pursuing Russia’s interests both in trade, economy, and politics; despite various difficulties — primarily financial ones — the schools were popular enough among ethnic Persians both in Tehran and in other cities of Northern Persia.

Introduction. In the early 1970s, Mongolia’s executives ― in accordance with the Comprehensive Program of Socialist Economic Integration ― were seeking to gain economic ground and bring the MPR to the level of its partners. In this regard, a number of initiatives were put forward by CMEA, one be discussed herein. Goals. The article examines how CMEA bodies would coordinate the making of the International Geological Expedition in Mongolia. Materials. The source base for the study comprises both published and unpublished materials from the Russian State Archive of Economy and Russian State Archive of Contemporary History. Results. The approval of the Expedition’s establishment was a relatively long and non-linear process. The three-year review witnessed at least two appeals by the CMEA Standing Commission on Geology to the Executive Committee requesting due coordination of most controversial issues. Conclusions. The long and sometimes heated negotiation process resulted in that key provisions of the Agreement on the establishment of IGE were dramatically different from the initial proposals of the Mongolian side. The meetings of 1972–1973 proved decisive for the future functioning of the Expedition, since the former articulated the main goals of the endeavor. When it came to initiate such an expedition, the Mongolian side’s draft implied its work would be paralleled by arrangements on ‘issue no. 11’ to avoid any thematic overlaps, but this idea was opposed by the European socialist countries. In response, the July 1973 meeting launched a new initiative of the Mongolian side suggesting a detailed exploration of three deposits (a project of joint development was then being lobbied by Mongolian representatives in CMEA bodies). In our opinion, the contradictions were rooted in differing visions of the IGE’s goals adopted by Mongolia and European socialist countries. Nevertheless, the very fact of the IGE’s establishment in Mongolia can be viewed as a completely positive experience, since it was one of the few Mongolian initiatives within the CMEA that resulted in the signing of a multilateral agreement.

Introduction. The article discusses some actual conditions experienced by Muslim clerics of Yenisei Governorate (Eastern Siberia) in the context of Imperial Russia’s religious policies throughout the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. Attention is drawn to that the mid-to-late nineteenth century witnessed a Muslim population increase across the region, which implied that increased spiritual needs be duly satisfied. Goals. The article aims at specifying the role of official authorities in electing Muslim clerics within Yenisei Governorate. Materials and methods. The study focuses on corresponding imperially approved regulations for Muslim clergy and archival materials housed at the State Archive of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Central State Historical Archive of Bashkortostan, and Russian State Historical Archive. It is noteworthy that quite a number of the archival materials are being newly introduced into scientific circulation. The work rests on the methodological principles of objectivity and historicism that prove instrumental in assessing the government’s role in shaping the institution of Muslim clergy in Yenisei Governorate. To accomplish this, the chronological and historic-genetic methods are used. Results. The region’s sociohistorical agenda made any elections of required clerics somewhat problematic. The imperial statutes banned exiled (relocated) believers from participating in such processes, but sometimes legally capable members of a community were even fewer that the former. The obtained status of a mediator between the mahalla and government agencies would, inter alia, give rise to internal controversies. However, believers tended to perceive their mullah as a defender of their interests even at the government level. Our insights into archival materials attest to governorate-level executives had no clear understanding of how to arrange elections of Muslim clerics. Virtually being a government-sanctioned body, Orenburg Mohammedan Assembly would take pains to guarantee trustworthiness of to be appointed candidates. In the early twentieth century, such applicants would face even more restrictions enshrined by regulations and procedures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Introduction. The article examines the 1873 proposals by the Ministry of Internal Affairs Commission headed by F. K. Girs to place the Kirghiz Inner Horde under the administrative control of Astrakhan Governorate. The mentioned proposals constituted a total of five journals and were an earliest reform-related resolution that basically dealt with and somewhat criticized the preceding initiatives of Orenburg-based authorities to restructure the Horde. Results. The paper discusses a number of issues pertaining to the Inner Horde’s administrative restructuring project, relocation of its headquarters from Naryn-Peski, centralized localities for uyezd-level authorities, and its judicial system. Conclusions. The major criteria for the Inner Horde’s resubordination to Astrakhan Governorate included geographical, political, and socioeconomic ones. In terms of geography, the Governorate’s capital was closer, there were vacant pastures and a water transport route, the region was characterized by a sparser population and ‘well-rounded’ borders. The political reasons were that the Bukey Kazaks had somewhat detached from their fellow tribesmen that inhabited Trans-Ural steppes and were subordinate to Orenburg frontier-guarding forces, and from the latter’s Cossack-inhabited lands. Any further division into northern and southern parts — with the former be incorporated into Samara Governorate — would give rise to the necessity that ethnic Kazakhs get involved into zemstvo-level activities, which the authorities believed hardly feasible because of the population’s low civic awareness. The latter circumstance and a meagre population were also viewed by the aforementioned officials as hindrances to that the Inner Horde be transformed into an autonomous oblast. However, the Russian authorities did tend to retain the court of biys for certain spheres of Kazakh life. The socioeconomic criterion was manifested in that the Inner Horde’s executives would stay economically and financially dependent on the Astrakhan office, need to coordinate activities with neighboring nomads of the Governorate (Kalmyks, Kundrau Tatars), and take due account of stationary settlements. The proposals set forth by the Commission may serve a historical source indicative of Imperial Russia’s positions and viewpoints on further administrative resubordination of subject nomads.

Introduction. In 2024, Mongolia shall celebrate the 155th birthday of the Eighth Bogdo Gegeen — the political figure who founded modern Mongolian statehood in the early twentieth century. This charismatic leader was the one who took both secular and religious power over the new Mongolia. The article introduces into scientific circulation a variety of documents from the State Archive of Buryatia that show the actual attitudes of Imperial Russia’s Buddhists — articulated by the Twelfth Pandito Khambo-Lama — to the restoration of Mongolian statehood, and their reverence to the inspirer of the Mongolian Revolution. The examined official correspondence between Khambo Lama of ethnic Buryatia D.-D. Itigelov and Governor-General of Transbaikalia A. I. Kiyashko reveal a number of issues pertaining to the interaction between the spiritual leaders of Mongolia and Russia, show the actual attitude of Russia’s officials toward the Mongol statehood’s restoration, this very attitude to become, in fact, a political guarantee for the very existence of that statehood. Goals. The study attempts an insight into the official 1911–1913 correspondence between Pandito Khambo-Lama and Russian/Mongolian regional officials. To facilitate this, the paper shall analyze the correspondence between Pandito Khambo-Lama and Governor-General of Transbaikalia (December 1911 – February 1912); examine the former’s correspondence with Russian and Mongolian authorities (December 1912 – January 1913); investigate his letters discussing a dispatch of a special delegation comprising Buryat clerics and officials to Urga (April–May 1913). Conclusions. The study attests to Buryat Buddhists in the face of Pandito Khambo-Lama of Eastern Siberia D.-D. Itigelov sincerely welcomed the newly established Mongolian Government headed by the Eighth Bogdo Gegeen. The official correspondence between the spiritual leader of R ussian Buddhists and regional, Mongolian authorities shows both Imperial Russia’s cautious policy in the Mongolian question, and the bureaucratic slowness. Buryat Buddhists led by Pandito Khambo-Lama D.-D. Itigelov succeeded in arranging a special delegation to Urga to congratulate the Eighth Bogdo Gegeen and Mongolian people upon the declared independence of theirs.

Introduction. The article discusses the shaping of largest ethnic clusters (besides those of Kalmyks and Russians proper) across the Kalmyk ASSR in 1957–1991. The process is of certain scientific and practical interest, since it may extend our knowledge of how ethnic structures in Russia would take shape, including in the particular region of Kalmykia. Goals. The article aims at outlining the specified process in the territory of the Kalmyk ASSR at the final stage of the Soviet era. The study employs the historical/comparative and historical/genetic methods to examine materials from the National Archive of Kalmykia, published documents and statistical tables, republican newspaper articles. Results. The work investigates some circumstances behind the emergence of new ethnic clusters, shows their population dynamics, types and forms of resettlement, analyzes official policies and interethnic relations between locals and migrants. The present-day ethnic structure of Kalmykia started taking shape after the Kalmyk people’s autonomy was restored in 1957. The Government invested considerable funds to reconstruct and develop the Kalmyk ASSR but the available labor resources of Kalmyk homecomers and Russian natives were insufficient. So, the authorities were forced to recruit laborers in other regions. Stable new ethnic communities emerged in rural areas, the majority of the migrants having arrived from neighboring North Caucasian republics then characterized by intense population growth and excess labor resources. Shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union, urgently evacuated Meskhetian Turks and Kurds were also resettled to the republic. Conclusions. The emergence of new ethnic clusters in the Kalmyk ASSR was facilitated by the Government’s large investments that resulted in increased jobs unable to be filled by homecomers and locals. There were no special ethnic resettlement projects but the granted employment opportunities in the reestablished republic were attractive enough, which led to a migration surge and the shaping of new ethnic communities.

Introduction. The study provides a first insight into the official Soviet policy and anti-HIV nationwide arrangements (1985–1990), and reviews the 1988–1989 HIV outbreak in the southeast of the RSFSR. The paper’s chronological framework covers the era of dramatic political and socioeconomic changes and restructuring endeavors commonly referred to as ‘perestroika’. Goals. The study attempts a comprehensive analysis to identify some features of the policy pursued by Soviet executives and healthcare agencies in the face of the emerging HIV threat throughout the mid-to-late 1980s. The work focuses on the activities of government institutions, certain measures, preventive and anti-epidemic arrangements, as well as the efforts of a special commission for organizational and practical assistance to Soviet Kalmykia’s Ministry of Health. Materials and methods. The study rests on the fundamental principles of systemacity, objectivity, historicism and complexity that have proved instrumental in analyzing documentary sources and comparing the obtained materials; describing the development and changes in official HIV-related policy; examining social, political and economic shifts across the regions under consideration as integral to what was being experienced nationwide; articulating objective evaluations of the Soviet government’s policy pertaining to the epidemic. The article primarily investigates a variety of newly discovered documents from the National Archive of Kalmykia and State Archive of the Russian Federation. Results. The arrived HIV served an indicator that would test the strength of Soviet healthcare system, and the latter — like the whole country — was not ready to fight the ‘plague of the twentieth century’. The adopted anti-epidemic policy proved inefficient. Meanwhile, the limited access to research, established practices of secrecy, and incompetence of the country’s leadership had negative impacts on the struggle against the dangerous disease. The then changes did negatively affect such an important social sphere as healthcare, which led to a severe decline of what once had been a leading public health system of the world.

Introduction. The work publishes some results of excavations at the Maksimovka I grave field. Goals. So, the article seeks to introduce materials of the 2019 excavations. To facilitate this, the paper shall describe and characterize the investigated archaeological complexes, establish their cultural and chronological attributions. Materials. Archaeological material from the occupation layer comprises Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, and eighteenth/twentieth century pottery, flint tools, and stone processing waste. Six burials were investigated at the site. Two burials had been destroyed and are nothing but heaps of heavily fragmented bones with no grave goods observed. In the third burial, the skeleton was lying on back in a northern-northwestern direction, accompanied by an iron knife and goat/sheep bones. The next burial consisted of four skulls and compact clusters of skeletal bones located nearby. The latter’s grave goods included flint arrowheads, a scraper, a bone spearhead, a pendant, beads, piercings and marmot incisors. The fifth burial contained a seated skeleton facing northeast and accompanied by a flint plate, an arrowhead and beads. In the last burial, the skeleton was lying on back in a northern-northwestern direction, accompanied by an ornamented clay vessel. A part of structure 1 was also examined. Results. The work shows that a total of three burials date back to the Late Chalcolithic, one — to the Late Bronze Age, and one — to the Middle Ages. The cultural and chronological attribution of the remaining burial has not been determined yet. Conclusions. The excavations at the Maksimovka I grave field have yielded materials from different cultures and periods, including Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, and Medieval complexes.

Introduction. The article examines stone artifacts from a Northern Caspian Eneolithic site of the Khvalynsk culture. Stone tool industries also serve to characterize Early Metal Age cultures. Goals. The work seeks to determine the cultural affiliation of stone implements from the site of Kombak-te. To facilitate this, the paper shall analyze a variety of such stone implements and their groups. Materials and methods. The publication focuses on finds from the third major Khvalynsk site of Kombak-te. The latter was investigated in 1989 but only some pottery data were published. The article is the first to introduce into scientific circulation and analyze stone artifacts excavated on the site. The study employs the typological and radiocarbon dating methods. Results. Our preliminary typological analysis of pottery yielded a number of cultural/chronological groups, which made it possible to classify the stone artifacts in greater detail. The technical and typological features serve a basis for distinguishing between items representing the Caspian and Khvalynsk cultures. The identified differences are manifested in the involved source materials (quartzite and flint), blank manufacturing techniques, categories and types of the implements. Conclusions. The comprehensive insights attest to the stone artifacts of Kombak-te come from different cultures and eras. So, Khvalynsk-type items are paralleled by some of the Caspian culture. The paper identifies some characteristic and specific properties of source materials, primary splitting and subsequent processing techniques, describes various tools. The available radiocarbon determinations confirm those of the Caspian culture are more ancient.

Introduction. In 2021, the Mugodzhar (Mugalzhar) Crew of the Margulan Institute of Archaeology investigated the site of Tarangul and discovered a casting mold ― a rare artifact of utmost interest related to metal production and processing. Goals. The article seeks to describe and analyze the Bronze Age mold from Tarangul located in the Aktobe Cis-Urals, introduce into scholarly circulation some newly obtained scientific data. Results. The implemented analyses include those of natural science (micro-wear and spectral ones) and comparative typology, the latter to yield a classification of castings and their cultural affiliation. The tool mold has two surfaces with negative impressions. The first one was used to cast three sickles, while the second one (once consisted of two pieces) would cast a flat adze. The shapes attest to the mold was used to cast Kundravinskaya-type sickles widespread across the Late Bronze Age Southern Urals, Middle Volga, and Western Siberia. Kundravinskaya-type sickles are associated with the Alakul culture, the Kozhumberdy cultural group being a local variant of the latter in the region under study. The shape of the impression on the reverse side is characteristic of adzes from the Alakul era discovered in western parts of Eurasia’s steppe zone. The study concludes the mold had first consisted of two pieces and been used to cast adzes, and after the other piece was lost or damaged it started being used to cast sickles. The spectral analysis shows the castings were basically made from copper, and detects some traces of alloying. Another finding is that the three mold negatives were used not simultaneously but rather when and as it was necessary. In general, the conducted tests have well reconstructed the manufacturing techniques and stages of use for the mold from the Late Bronze Age settlement of Tarangul in the Aktobe Cis-Urals, and highlighted certain aspects in the study of molds as a specific source on metal production techniques and technologies in prehistory.

Introduction. The paper considers body armor patterns with hidden plates worn by warriors of Hulaguid Iran, Chagatai Ulus, and the Timurid Empire. In contemporary weapon studies, such armor is known as ‘kuyak’ or ‘brigandine’. Goals. The study aims at identifying features of design and cut inherent to some types of Hulaguid, Chagatai and Timurid ‘kuyaks’ from the fourteenth–fifteenth centuries. Results. Comparative insights into archaeological and graphic materials yield a hypothesis there may have existed a special variety of combined ‘kuyaks’ with some plates riveted and some sewn to an organic backing on the inside. Such armor garments could have been used by warriors of Hulaguid Iran in the late thirteenth or early fourteenth centuries. From a historical perspective, such armors could be a variation between thirteenth-century armor garments with sewn-in plates and — ‘brigandines’ with riveted-in plates of the subsequent era. Our comprehensive analysis of written and graphic data also concludes that the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in Transoxiana, Khorasan and adjacent territories were characterized by a widespread occurrence of special plated-and-riveted armors combining an armored torso part and a long unarmored skirt. The unusual design resulted from the appearance and spread of a new mail-and-plate hip defense element referred to as ‘dyzlyq-butluq’, which made the heavy armored Central Asian skirts not that relevant. In view of the armors’ distribution area, they can be labeled as ‘Timurid-type kuyaks’. Conclusions. The replacement of ‘Timurid-type’ armors (with riveted-in plates) from combat practices of Central Asian peoples was caused by a change in the local military-cultural tradition in the aftermath of collapses of the Timurid states throughout the early sixteenth century.

Introduction. Data from Tibetan-language sources on Ayuka’s full title ― Daichin Khan Ayuka ― have never been introduced into scientific circulation, nor have those been subject to any essential analysis. Goals. So, the article introduces a variety of messages dealing with the ruling era of Khan Ayuka and narrating how the latter received the title of Daichin Khan from the then Dalai Lama. Materials. The paper investigates Tibetan-language biographies of the Fifth Dalai Lama Lobsang Gyatso, Sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso, and Fifth Panchen Lama Lobsang Yeshe. Results. The study figures out the date when the mentioned ruler did receive the title of Daichin Khan, and specifies the dates of embassies that delivered the Kalachakra seal and that of Khan from the Sixth Dalai Lama. Conclusions. The article examines materials contained in various Tibetan-language texts, such as the autobiography of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama and that composed by Desi Sangye Gyatso, biography of Fifth Panchen Lama, etc. The work ascertains the ruler of the Kalmyk Khanate received the title of Daichin Khan Ayuka from the Sixth Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso in 1697. The paper also reveals some data on Khan Ayuka’s embassy to Tibet led by Arabjur and on the latter’s mother Tsojal. Another newly identified and important historical fact is that the Dalai Lama did send an embassy to Khan Ayuka to deliver a secret message about the Great Fifth’s death. 

Goals. The article introduces an unknown manuscript by A. Bogolepov titled ‘Bulun Village of Verkhoyansk District (Yakutsk Oblast)’ and compiled during an exile to the isolated Arctic locality of Yakutia. The narrative was written before the revolutionary events of 1917 and is of certain interest since it lacks any political bias, being characterized by restrained neutrality and sufficient depth of observations over everyday realias of the small northern settlement. A. Bogolepov’s text is attractive for the breadth of issues covered, its consonance with the social and cultural problems faced by the era and discussed by the advanced public. So, it seems reasonable enough to publish the identified document for further discussion in an interdisciplinary perspective. Materials and methods. The manuscript was discovered at the State Archive of Irkutsk Oblast (Coll. 293 ‘East Siberian Department of the Russian Geographical Society’). Furthermore, in search of additional data on the former’s author we investigated the State Archive of Altai Krai (Barnaul), State Archive of Krasnoyarsk Krai (Krasnoyarsk), National Archive of Sakha-Yakutia (Yakutsk), Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) and its St. Petersburg Branch, and the efforts have yielded a variety of precious finds. The methodological basis rests on the principles characteristic of the field the researchers are actually engaged in — cryoanthropology. Results. The discovered materials open a previously unknown page in the Yakut pre-Soviet Northern studies. A. Bogolepov’s manuscript is rich in data on natural conditions, economic and cultural activities in the small remote settlement somewhat representing the polar world in miniature. The author highlights the interpenetration of Russian and Yakut cultures, mentions some specific local sociocultural phenomena resulting from the geographical location and climatic features. The long cold period — as is stressed by A. Bogolepov — shapes the entire life cycle of the settlement: it completely determines the functioning of the transport network, household and trade agendas, everyday life and leisure pursuits of locals. The isolation and scarcity of social activity, temporal and event-based ‘frozen’ everyday life of the northern society are emphasized. The manuscript is an important source for the research of cryoanthropology, and also contains valuable information on Yakutia’s socioeconomic and cultural history throughout the early decades of the twentieth century.

Introduction. The identification of specific responses generated by religious traditions to present-day global challenges actualizes the rethinking of astrology as a traditional understanding of the world structure and influence of natural forces on man in Tibetan Buddhism. Goals. The study attempts an evaluation of astrology as a form of sacred knowledge in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition from the perspective of understanding its principles of ecology. Materials and methods. To facilitate this, the work employs a systematic approach of cultural anthropology according to which sacred astrological knowledge is viewed as an integral element to the specified religious tradition. The paper focuses on The White Beryl: A Treatise on [Tibetan] Astrology by Desi Sangye Gyatso, as well as works by modern Tibetan astrologers. Results. Tibetan astrology arose from integrated Indian, Chinese and ancient Tibetan ideas about the influence of natural elements on human life, and is a required tool in Tibetan medicine. Those ideas are based on some esoteric premises of the Buddhist Kalachakra Tantra which articulates the relationship between external natural cycles and internal human energy ones, as well as suggests methods of restoring the latter’s balance. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, sacred astrological knowledge is widely popular both in cult practices and non-religious activities. Astrologers draw prediction and natal charts, calculate favorable periods for rituals, healing practices, harvesting, weddings, funerals, etc. The three Lamrim-derived motives — to improve this lifetime, gain liberation from samsaric suffering, achieve enlightenment for the sake of universal well-being — may accordingly direct the intentions of Buddhists toward the use of sacred astrological knowledge to solve problematic situations, identify oneself, understand others, restore the balance of external and internal cycles. With due account of that followers of Tibetan Buddhism are basically oriented to altruism and rationalism, the paper presumes astrology can be considered a form of sacred knowledge instrumental in understanding (and implementing) principles of ecology. Restoration of balance in man-nature interaction through the rational use of astrological knowledge for the common good predetermines the sacredness of ecological knowledge in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.

Introduction. The article deals with semantics and etymology of several basic terms of Mongolian culture vocabulary relating to education and science. Goals. The study shall primarily describe how the lexical layer in question was formed, and trace the sources of such borrowings. Materials and methods. The materials were collected from Mongolian-Russian and Mongolian explanatory dictionaries via continuous sampling. The identified lexemes were checked against corresponding entries to Mongolic / Turkic etymological dictionaries and bilingual dictionaries of Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan. Results. Some of the analyzed words happen to have been borrowed into Mongolian from Uighur, but Uighur was not the ultimate source of the lexemes: Mong. шавь ‘disciple, pupil’ < Uig. šabï had come to Uighur from Sanskrit via Chinese; Mong. багш ‘teacher’ < Uig. baqšı and Mong. бичиг ‘writings’ < Uig. bitig are originally Chinese; Mong. ном ‘book’ < Uig. nom had come to Uighur from Greek via Sogdian. Some other words, such as Mong. боловсрол ‘education’, эрдэмтэн ‘scientist’, ухаан ‘intelligence’ (in шинжлэх ухаан ‘science’), оюутан ‘student’ ― have common Turko-Mongolic (bol- ‘become’, uqa- ‘comprehend’) or even common Altaic (ere- ‘male’, oyu- ‘mind’) stems, but their new semantics referring to various phenomena of education and science appeared comparatively recently, to a large extent, as a result of attempts to find new words for the notions introduced by Chinese culture and Uighur Buddhism. The words зүй and судлал, as well as derivatives from the stem sur- belong to common Mongolic lexis. Conclusions. Most of the analyzed words were borrowed into Mongolian from Uighur as part of religious vocabulary. Some of these terms originally derive from Chinese, Sanskrit or even Greek. Indigenous Mongolic lexemes are derivatives from sur- ‘to study’, and the terms зүй ‘theory’ and судлал ‘study’ that are used as parts of science names.