Introduction. The article focuses on the history of Tibetan Buddhism in Inner Asia. Goal. It analyzes the main peculiarities of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and the turning points of its history in the context of contradictions between Inner Asian polities, the Russian and Qing empires. Materials and Methods. The paper is based on the fundamental historical works dealing with Inner Asia. The methodology applied is determined by the understanding of Tibetan-Mongolian Buddhism as a cultural unity within which regional traditions share similar institutional forms. Results and Conclusions. The paper notes a peculiar feature of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition is the personality cult of the Teacher worshipped as an ‘incarnate’ Buddha ― tulku (Tib. sprul-sku); model of relationship between the latter and secular powers expressed by the concept of choyon (Tib. mcho-yon ‘lama-patron’); theocratic form of government manifested by the formula ‘unity of religion and politics’ (Tib. chos-sridzung-‘brel). A crucial milestone in the history of Inner Asia was the emergence of the Qing and Russian empires. The destruction of the Dzungar Khanate and delimitation of borders between China and Russia led that Inner Asia no longer existed as a cluster of struggling polities, and the subsequent historical era completely transformed the place and role of the Mongols and Tibetans in the region. The main stream policy of both the states towards Buddhism and its communities was decentralization and fragmentation, on the one hand, and patronage, on the other. This, along with efforts of Buddhists proper, resulted in that by the early 20th century Inner Asia was housing immense spaces of Tibetan Buddhism with religious centers in Lhasa, Beijing, and Urga. Despite the Buddhist tradition was not united structurally, it was still distinguished by cultural homogeneity based on the spiritual authority of the Gelug sect and the latter’s hierarchs — Dalai Lamas, Panchen Lamas and Jebtsundamba Khutukhtus, similar monastic educational systems, institution of incarnate lamas, classical Tibetan language and Buddhist Canon, Vajrayana cult system.

Introduction. The Vajracchedikā (or Diamond) Sūtra, one of the Mahāyāna Prajñāpāramitā works, was composed by the 4th century AD. Its widespread occurrence facilitated the creation of another work — a collection of 15 stories — promoting the worship of this Buddhist religious text. Such stories are common enough in the literary traditions of China, Tibet, and Mongolia. Goals. The article mainly focuses on character types and their roles in Tibetan and Mongolian works on benefits derived from reading the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā. Methods and Materials. The paper analyzes Tibetan and Mongolian manuscripts and woodblock prints contained in collections of Russia, Mongolia, and the United States. The structural method proved fundamental to the text analysis conducted. Results. The study generates a number of conclusions. The characters of these stories are definitely determined by respective spatial and temporal categories. The narratives include no explicit indications of time and whereabouts of events depicted, which makes it unimportant where and when the latter actually took place — and those become essentially timeless and spaceless. And either are all characters of the stories that emerge without any detailed physical or psychological qualities. It should be noted that the praise of the Vajracchedikā is so cosmic that the sūtra is reported most revered not only by humans but also by Buddhas, deities, and beings of the underworld. Conclusions. The structural analysis of the character system delineates two groups of images — central and secondary ones — serving as ‘functions’ (sets of actions or features) aimed to facilitate that the Vajracchedikā be recited and revered sacred. The typology of the investigated plots is as follows: a principal character gets into trouble or faces immense hardship, and further through reciting or copying the Vajracchedikā gets relieved from suffering. Minor characters, one way or another, help the former turn to the Diamond Sūtra.

Goals. The article introduces two Oirat manuscript copies of the Sūtra [Averting Effects] of Bad Dreams, a well-known dream book of the Mongolian tradition, and analyzes the texts diachronically comparing their contents to available sources dealing with Mongolic ethnography. Methods. The study employs the comparative method and that of historical reconstruction, the latter being most instrumental in outlining the functioning of this dream-book in Buddhist rituals. Results. Two analyzed manuscripts are copies of one dream-book once widely spread in Classical Mongolian too (earliest samples date back to the early/mid-17th century). Our analysis reveals the texts consist of three sections, namely: bad dreams with humans; bad dreams with birds, animals; and bad dreams with certain situations predicting death. Some of the omens are still inherent to contemporary Mongolic cultures, most of the former based on the principle of imitative and reflection magic, an integrated space of dream and ancestors’ worlds viewed as one with opposite orientation. The analysis of ethnographic data on the tradition of Mongolic dream interpretation attests to the latter had initially been associated with shamanistic practices but was subsequently incorporated into a Buddhist ritual framework. Means to avert bad dreams were transformed accordingly: complex rituals were replaced by mere reciting of special Buddhist texts without accompanying exercises. The comparison of Oirat manuscripts to Tibetan texts shows a big difference between the dream interpretation systems and respective averting methods, which complicates attempts to define the sūtra as a translated work or original Mongolic ones. The paper transliterates, translates, and supplements a facsimile of the manuscript stored in the Kalmyk Scientific Center (RAS).

Introduction. Concerns for the health of community members are universally widespread and most essential at all times. The significance attached by the Kalmyks and their ethnic ancestors Oirats to the nation’s physical health can be traced in various sources, including medical essays (Gyu-zhi and related comments, lhantabs, etc.), dhāraṇī texts and astrological collections. Materials and Methods. The paper introduces a textual analysis of the mentioned Clear Script (Oirat-language) collection containing minor Tibetan-language fragments, and employs research methods of auxiliary historical disciplines. Results. While purely medical texts prescribed specific diagnostic and healing methods, astrological works tended to focus on preventive measures and recommendations for maintaining health and social well-being. Available Kalmykia-based collections of Buddhist written monuments once owned by priests with differing Buddhist expertise (medicine, astrology, and philosophy proper) — also differ structurally, thematically, and functionally. One such collection used to belong to the astrologer Borlga Utnasna Serksh (Chkalovsky village, Ketchenerovsky District, Kalmykia), and includes separate independent works, thematic clusters of texts, and graphic images. Kalmyk astrologers considered periods of human life in accordance with Buddhist knowledge and ideas of life components that emphasized — when it came to a certain individual and his/her birth circumstances — respective new year (Oriental) dates, place of a year in the 12-year animal cycle, actual period of the five (or primary) elements, menge (congenital marks), etc. In astrological practices, special attention was (and still is) paid to the removal of ‘obstacles’ resulting from the ‘disharmony’ (Oir. xarši) between bride and groom’s birth years (and what should be done thereto); the latter also received recommendations explaining which deity was supposed to bless the marriage. Conclusions. The examined texts are a valuable historical source providing insights into actual practices of Kalmyk astrologers (Kalm. zurхači) and ethnic standards of behavior prescribed by astrology, and how the latter accumulated worldview attitudes and orientation patterns developed by Buddhist dogma at large.

Introduction. Relations between religious and social everyday life are always close enough — lifestyles influence approaches to religion, and religious norms influence lifestyles. Mundane activities of lay Buddhists — regardless of whether the latter have taken any religious vows or not — comprise a number of obligatory practices to be performed accompanied by certain ritual actions. Oil lamp offering is one such traditional and definitely important rite integral to virtually all types of religious activity. The preparation and offering of an oil lamp is accompanied by recitation of the traditional well-wishing prayer. Goals. The article introduces a text of the well-wishing prayer and analyzes the symbolism of oil lamp offering, seeking to reveal hidden meanings behind the ritual action and prayer. Methods. The study employs the historical-philosophical and comparative analysis methods. It is noteworthy that despite oil lamp offering has long become workaday, the ritual and accompanying prayer have never been duly explored. Results. The symbolic meaning of Buddhist oil lamp offering proves based on fundamentals of Buddhist doctrine, and the prayer contains a hidden level aimed at cultivating compassion within the stream of consciousness. Finally, the ritual action and prayer together facilitate detachment from everyday life, and emphasize the need to observe the Refuge vow. Conclusions. So, the analysis reveals the symbolic and hidden levels of the oil lamp offering rite and its prayer.

Goals. The article seeks to introduce into academic discourse a biography (Tib. rnam thar) of Ngag-dbang Blo-bzang Dam pa’i Rgyal-mtshan, the second incarnation of the famous Buddhist preacher Neiji Toyin (1557–1653) who was son of the Oirat Prince Mergen Tebene. Materials. The paper provides a historiographic analysis and description of the manuscript written in 1756 by the 2nd Neiji Toyin’s disciple — Dana-Samudara, also known as Urad Nomun-Dalai. The study explores the text of the biography and reveals its structure and contents: the namtar consists of seven parts, each ending with verses that briefly summarize respective chapters. The biography finishes with a lengthy colophon. Results. The article explores the text in detail and for the first time ever provides biographical data dealing with the life and activities of Neiji Toyin’s khubilgan (Mong. ‘reincarnation’), his role in the history of Inner Mongolian Buddhism, relationship with the Manchu court, and the Qing dynasty’s policies in the region. Conclusions. The biography makes it possible to conclude that some Buddhist figures — including the 2nd Neiji Toyin ― along with many objective sociopolitical factors did play a large role in the dissemination and development of Buddhism among various Mongolian ethnic groups. Despite the insufficiency of his personal characteristics described, a maximum approximation of this Buddhist monk’s biography to the actual historical realities confirms the significance of his efforts.

Introduction. Modern Russia’s sustainable legal framework is impossible without due regard for the historical legal diversity of its territories. From the 13th century to 1911, Tuvan history had been tied to that of Mongolic states and the Qing Empire. The customary law of Tuvans was influenced by Mongolian norms which formed the basis for Manchu legislation too. Goals. The article seeks to analyze the Code of the Chinese Chamber for External Relations to have served a source of customary law for Tuvans. Methods. The study employs source description and analysis methods, the historical comparative method, with special emphasis laid on principles of historicism and objectivity. Conclusions. The paper resumes that the Code is an important source of Qing-era law that provides insight into nomadic social norms. The results obtained may contribute to exploration of customary law of Russia’s nomads, processes of legal acculturation and pluralism.

Introduction. During the 1990 ‘sovereignty parade’, Soviet autonomous republics tended to adopt respective declarations as a means to denounce their autonomous status and, thus, raise their political standing in the context of reformed national and state structures. And Kalmykia was part of the trend: in October 1990, the region was reorganized into a Soviet Socialist Republic and, like other ex-autonomous republics, acquired a formal right to claim the status of a USSR member state. In RSFSR, this was paralleled by the preparation of a Federal Treaty that would reflect Russia’s new national-state structure. Goals. The paper investigates positions of regional authorities during the troubled period of fundamental reforms, and provides insight into the then emerged vision of the republic’s status as a subject of Soviet and Russian federalism. Materials. The article introduces a number of documents of the Kalmyk SSR that reveal the essence of Kalmykia’s Declaration of State Sovereignty, attitudes towards respective draft treaties developed for the USSR and RSFSR. Results. The work explores reasons underlying adoptions and principal provisions of the documents, focusing on positions of Kalmykia’s executives towards state sovereignty, renaming of the republic, change of its status within the USSR and particularly RSFSR, primacy of the republic’s laws, citizenship, economic independence, interregional and interethnic relations. Conclusions. Authorities of the Kalmyk ASSR sought to transform the republic into a USSR member state, though as part of the RSFSR. In this regard, great expectations were placed on a new Union Treaty that would recognize political and economic rights of the republic, and grant certain representative quotas in Union-level agencies. Similar efforts were made by the republic later as part of the Federal Treaty. The latter specified political and economic provisions (requirements) set forth by the republic in more detail, a significant role played there by the Law of the RSFSR on Rehabilitation of Repressed Peoples adopted in April 1991.

Introduction. The article discusses sacred codes in the space of Kalmyk traditional dwelling. Goals. The work aims to reconstruct the sacred space of Kalmyk traditional dwelling, restore symbolic meanings of its zones, and compare them to those of a modern home. Materials and Methods. The paper analyzes materials collected by I. A. Zhitetsky and P. I. Nebolsin who had explored Kalmyk traditional lifestyles. The mentioned texts describe both Kalmyk traditional dwellings, household activities, and respective sacred zones with various ritual attributes. The study employs descriptive, synchronous-diachronous, comparative methods, and that of reconstruction. Results. The nomadic way of life implied that the nomad’s portable dwelling was viewed as a small world model, and all objects inside thus served as polysemantic symbols, which made it possible to use them in two contexts simultaneously — sacred and mundane (household) ones. When assembling a traditional nomadic yurt, the Kalmyks would mark its external and internal borders through installation of special poles central to the gradually expanding and well-ordered living space. The fact that Kalmyk yurts had no supporting pillars used to be compensated through ritual actions near the pole located in the altar part, and delineation of two zones along the northwest and southeast axes marking centers of the male and female sides respectively, thus replicating two vertical projections similar to supporting pillars in dwellings of other Turko-Mongols. Sacralization of the inner space was achieved through installation and forming of the altar; the latter included a ritual pole with an offering cup which replicated most significant (ancestral) constant symbols of mountain and tree. The shape of the pole, its localization, and various related ritual actions make it possible to suggest its symbolic tie to a hitching post as a polysemantic symbol of Turko-Mongolian spiritual and material cultures.

Goals. The article studies the socio-age group of dulguyak-qadai (Tuv. ‘old maid’), specific features of their status in traditional and contemporary Tuvan society. The institution of marriage has always been highly valued in Tuva, and central life goal of any Tuvan woman was to become a hereezhen kizhi, i.e. wife and mother. So, the dulguyak-qadai used to be objects of pity or even neglect. Old maids — as well as the very concept of dulguyak — constituted and literally denoted a ‘deviation’ from the traditional worldview and established Tuvan social structure, though remaining its active integral part which would significantly undermine patriarchal foundations of Tuvan community. Materials. The work analyzes historical, ethnographic data collected during 2018-2019 comprehensive expeditions to a number of districts (and other sources) revealing why women stay unmarried, the latter’s roles in their parental families, attitudes of other relatives and those of community members in general. Results. The paper notes some present-day features of the phenomenon in the context of vanishing folk traditions and increasing globalization processes. The field materials obtained from authentic traditional culture bearers are valuable enough, and can be instrumental in compiling curricula and instructional guidelines for ethnic schools, at folk pedagogy advisory meetings, etc.

Introduction. The paper studies Tuvan women’s hairstyles and plait decorative elements, reveals their typology and features from historical and ethnographic perspectives. Being integral components of both material and spiritual cultures, such decorative elements — through materials and processing techniques, styling patterns, plots and symbols, terminology and worldview attitudes — sustainably retain valuable historical and ethnographic messages, original semantics. Goals. The work aims at exploring Tuvan traditional hairstyle types and related plait covers in historical and ethnographic aspects, thus gaining insight into most ancient beliefs and cults, customs and rites, ethnogenetic and ethnocultural ties between Central Asian peoples at large. To date, such typologies and ethnocultural parallels in the realm of traditional hairstyles and decorative elements have been either left aside or examined on a piecemeal basis only. So, insufficiency of actual data and the increasing interest towards Tuvan ethnic culture make the study relevant enough. Methods. The study employs modern interdisciplinary methods and implements an integrated approach that includes methodological principles of related scientific disciplines, such as history, archeology, and ethnography. The research at the intersection of several humanitarian disciplines helps obtain richer information on certain culture-specific features and their functioning principles within the Tuvan ethnos. Results. The paper summarizes results of ethnographic studies, analyzes field and archival materials, and classifies women’s hairstyles and plait decorative elements of Tuvans from the late 19th to the 21st centuries. Conclusions. Thus, the article attempts to compile a typology, and describes some elements of ritual practices, especially ones dealing with Tuvan women’s hairstyles.

Introduction. The article analyzes a key zoological image of fox in everyday life, socio-regulative, and ritual practices of the Khakas people. Goals. The work aims at delineating the image of fox in respective ethnic cultural contexts, and seeks to identify its role in everyday life and household activities, estimate significance of the animal manifested in Khakas worldview and ritual practices. Materials and Methods. Analyzed are late 19th – mid-20th century published ethnographic, lexical, and folklore materials. The key research principle employed is that of historicism which helps view each cultural phenomenon as an extensive process determined by respective actual conditions. History and ethnography research methods include those of relict examination and semantic analysis. Results. The paper is the first attempt to systemize and analyze historical, ethnographic, folklore, and linguistic materials dealing with the topic. It introduces some folklore texts, such as Russian translations of fragmented Khakas heroic tales ― alyptyg nymakh, characterizes the role of fox image in mundane and ceremonial practices of the ethnos. Conclusions. The study concludes the fox used to be essential enough to Khakas culture, which was due to its valuable fur and related symbolic (social status) advantages. Fox skins were used for traditional clothing and as a means of exchange. The Khakas people endowed the fox with high semiotic ranks, largely determined by its biological properties, such as zoological characteristics, acute mind, behavior, and living environment. The mythological image of fox is closely related to the Heaven and celestial objects, being simultaneously associated with lower (underground) realms and their demonic inhabitants. So, according to religious and mythological beliefs, the fox would often act as mediator. However, the cultural tradition tends to identify fox with woman and female principle at large, the latter including both positive and negative features attributed.

Introduction. Breeding of domestic animals capable of surviving across different ecological niches of Inner Asia proved crucial to nomadic culture and its biological adaptation to harsh and unpredictable natural conditions of the region. So, it is livestock embodied in the concept of taban hoshuu mal ― ‘five types of livestock’ (horses, camels, cattle, sheep and goats) ― that serves as fundamental nomadic wealth. However, the traditional livestock breeding practices of Inner Asian nomads which had ensured the development of unique nomadic civilization still remain understudied and need further research. Goals. The article seeks to analyze a corpus of ideas and irrational practices used in livestock breeding, identify their functions and meanings. Results. The study describes magical techniques aimed at increasing the fecundity and productivity of livestock, its protection against predators and thieves. The paper identifies representations that endow related household items (lashes, ropes, horse tack, dishes) with special supernatural powers. Examined are views and magic tricks associated with infectious disease control. The work proves that the key idea of the whole range of magical actions used in livestock breeding was to preserve the ‘happiness / luck of livestock’ personified by animals as such, their coat colors, wool, bones, milk, manure, and specific household items. It is concluded that the fire of the hearth has been the main guardian of ‘livestock’s happiness’ since ancient times.

Introduction. The article examines segments with Helwan retouch discovered during various excavations in the Lower Volga. Those are a key marker of the Seroglazovka culture (Mesolithic — Early Neolithic) distinguished by A. Melentiev in the mid-1970s. Lack of explicit stratigraphy of the sites to have contained the artifacts and unknown absolute dates would complicate the matter of their chronological dating. Goals. The paper aims at determining coherent periods and chronologies in the development of the complexes with the segments mentioned. The work analyzes reliable sources and results of radiocarbon dating of sites with geometric microliths. Materials and Methods. The study focuses on the Mesolithic and Neolithic etalon sites of the region characterized by well preserved cultural layers, dwellings, and good stratigraphy. The sites examined include not only ones investigated in the 1980-1990s but also those explored from 2013 to 2019. This made it possible to employ the stratigraphic, planigraphic, typological, and statistical methods. The absolute dating method used is that of radiocarbon dating, including AMS techniques. Results. The study provides new insights into different development stages of Helwan retouch segments typical for the Mesolithic Northern Cis-Caspian. So, the Zhekolgan group was dated to the Early Mesolithic, while the paper proves microliths of this type had emerged in the Early Neolithic already, and the segments are basically integral to sites with ceramics. In general, the work determines a chronological framework for sites with microliths in the Northern and Northwestern Cis-Caspian, Volga steppe areas. Conclusions. The complex analysis of sites with Helwan retouch segments proves their emergence dates back to the Early Mesolithic — last quarter of the 9th millennium BC — and further develops throughout the Late Mesolithic to become dominant among geometric items in the Early Neolithic (last quarter of the 7th – early 6th millennium BC). In the Northwestern Cis-Caspian and Volga steppe, Helwan retouch segments were used until the mid-6th millennium BC.

Introduction. The article discusses contemporary comparative-historical Altaic studies and problems of interpreting genetic and areal relations between Altaiс languages in educational discourse. Goals. The paper seeks to show that available Altaic linguistic constructs are largely determined by inertial outdated ideas about supposed affinities between independent groups of languages, and that many research paradigms in contemporary Turkology and Mongolian studies still remain somewhat biased and, thus, aimed at previously known negative results. At the same time, those are achievements in general Altaic reconstructions that yield a most reliable apparatus to separate general Altaic lexemes and original protoforms — from multidirectional borrowings, the presence of which was never denied by Altaists. So, the study theoretically analyzes ideas about the nature of relations between Altaiс languages through the lens of experience accumulated by Indo-European linguistics focusing on a group of languages with undeniable genetic ties. Materials and Methods. The work newly compares some Mongolic, Tungus-Manchu, and Turkic words, which reveals new phonetic correspondences hidden by historical changes in phonetic word structures of Turkic and partly Tungus-Manchu languages. Results. The paper substantiates a genetic kinship of Altaiс languages, and eliminates the reconstruction drawbacks identified by Acad. B. A. Serebrennikov. Conclusions. When it comes to etymological research of Altaic vocabularies, experience of Indo-European linguistics represented in textbooks and etymological dictionaries may prove instrumental enough.

Introduction. Currently, despite the results achieved, the languages of the indigenous minorities of the North remain one of the little-studied. Scientific descriptions, insights, theoretical generalizations are required both by previously accumulated linguistic and folklore materials, and those that can be collected and preserved at the present time. The undelayable task is to create a scientific base for the revitalization of the Even language — the creation of various types of dictionaries, descriptive grammars, the publication of folklore materials. Object. The article provides a brief overview of lexicographical works on the Even language, starting with the accumulation of linguistic material in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries to the present. Results. Despite the fact that the tradition of compiling bilingual dictionaries in Even linguistics has a long history, the current state of this branch of lexicographical activity in historically established conditions does not meet the needs and requirements of modern society. In connection with the need for urgent fixing and documentation of the Even language, the necessity of developing a new Russian-Even dictionary designed for a wide range of users is justified. In the absence of dialect, spelling, etymological, cultural, encyclopedic, and other dictionaries of a minority language, lexicographers face broader tasks in compiling bilingual Even language dictionaries. One of them is the codification of the current spelling rules adopted in 1958. The next important task is the most comprehensive coverage of Even lexicon, a characteristic of the grammatical signs of a word. In the course of the lexicographic description of the Even language, a systematic study of the Even language vocabulary is carried out, which contributes to the presentation of an extensive dialectal material, first introduced into scientific circulation. Nevertheless the substance of compiling the Russian-Even dictionary is in the consideration of cultural factors that reflect the specificity of the material and spiritual culture of the people. The language represents all the specificity of the material and spiritual culture of the indigenous people of the North. Therefore, in a bilingual dictionary, which, first of all, satisfies the need of the user — non-native speaker of the language and culture in gaining knowledge, the background knowledge of the native speaker is reflected. Thus, a bilingual dictionary could become not only the result of the reflection of the culture of the people, but also an intermediator for the preservation and dissemination of lost traditional knowledge. The features of the compiled dictionary are not only reliance on the literary Even language, but also taking into account dialect vocabulary, the most complete reflection of all varieties of names, their functioning through marks and illustrative examples. A modern Russian-Even dictionary will be developed taking into account the extensive dialectal material first introduced into scientific circulation. The most important application of the results of research in the socio-economic sphere will be its use in the field of education, science, culture, which will contribute to the revival, preservation and development of the Even language.

Goals. The article identifies and analyzes models of elementary simple sentences of causal spatial object relocation based on the structural scheme {NS-causrNom NOb-causvAcc AdlocDelocTrlocVfin.}. Materials. The proposals of this block diagram are based on the hypermodel of causal spatial object relocation which combines models of adlocative, delocative, and translocative movement. The causal model, in addition to the mandatory actants (subject and localizer), also requires the position of the moving object be identified. Results. The work shows that relocation of more than three actants in one model is not that typical for the Khakas language (though there are some separate examples). The adlocative model characterizes casual object relocation towards a certain point, the delocative model describes causal object relocation from any point in space, and the translocative model stands for causal object relocation along some track. Each model contains a description of typical semantics, list of most characteristic verbs used, means to delineate the localizer, and specific examples that illustrate their use. Each model varies both semantically and structurally. The adlocative model may have up to 11 variants depending on semantics of the localizer; delocative model — 8 variants; translocative model — 6 variants. A localizer of the adlocative model is represented by a noun in the aditive case (marker — =зар/=зер; =сар/=сер), less often — in the dative (marker — =ға/=ге; =ха/=ке; =a/=e); a delocative localizer employs the ablative case (marker — =таң/=тең; =даң/=дең; =наң/=нең); translocative localizers are characterized by the use of the axial-aditive case (marker — =ча/че; =ӌа/=ӌе).

Introduction. When it comes to 1930s Kalmyk poetic genres, special attention should be paid to rhymed oaths (poems) which, on the one hand, were tied to the Mongolic folklore tradition, and on the other hand, to the then historical realia and related military sentiments. Such works proved episodic — even sporadic — enough to Kalmyk poets between the 1930s and the 1960s. So, the issue has remained understudied. The study provides insight into the genre nature of rhymed oaths (poems), introduces a number of such texts, and identifies their role in Soviet Kalmykia’s literary processes. Goals. The paper aims at investigating poetics of rhymed oaths (poems) to delineate their place and role in Kalmykia’s 20th-century poetry. Methods. The work employs the historical-literary, comparative, and descriptive research methods that reveal somewhat specific features of the cluster, traditions and innovations. Results. Rhymed oaths (poems) are rare to Soviet Kalmyk poetry (e.g., joint letters-oaths addressed by the Kalmyk people to J. Stalin, and that of soldiers of the 110th Separate Kalmyk Cavalry Division) and narratives of Kalmyk poets proper — Garya Davaev, Garya Shalburov, Muutl Erdniev, Eldya Kekteev, Sanzhara Baidyev, Timofey Bembeev. Such texts usually deal with military sentiments, characterizing communicative behavior of authors. The paper draws parallels with Kalmyk oral folklore patterns, most significantly with the Jangar epic and its oath of heroes. Joint rhymed oaths (poems) were translated into Russian immediately — but not all. Conclusions. The insight into Kalmyk rhymed oaths (poems) reveals two such forms, namely: rhymed oaths (poems) by separate authors, and joint letters-oaths. The genre experienced impacts from Kalmyk folklore, historical events, Soviet ideology, communicative discourse, patriotism, and autobiographism.