The name “Buryat” comes from the Mongolian root “bul”, which means “forest man”, “hunter”. This is what the Mongols called numerous tribes that lived on both banks of Lake Baikal. The Buryats became one of the first victims of the Mongol conquests and paid tribute to the Mongol khans for four and a half centuries. Through Mongolia, the Tibetan form of Buddhism, Lamaism, penetrated into the Buryat lands.
At the beginning of the 17th century, before the arrival of the Russians in Eastern Siberia, the Buryat tribes on both sides of Lake Baikal still did not form a single nationality. However, the Cossacks did not soon manage to conquer them. Officially, Transbaikalia, where the bulk of the Buryat tribes lived, was annexed to Russia in 1689 in accordance with the Treaty of Nerchinsk concluded with China. But in fact, the annexation process was completed only in 1727, when the Russian-Mongolian border was drawn.
Even earlier, by decree of Peter I, “indigenous nomads” were allocated for compact settlement of the Buryats - territories along the Kerulen, Onon, and Selenga rivers. The establishment of the state border led to the isolation of the Buryat tribes from the rest of the Mongolian world and the beginning of their formation into a single people. In 1741, the Russian government appointed a supreme lama for the Buryats.
It is no coincidence that the Buryats had the most lively affection for the Russian sovereign. For example, when in 1812 they learned about the fire of Moscow, it was difficult to restrain them from going against the French.
During the Civil War, Buryatia was occupied by American troops, who replaced the Japanese here. After the expulsion of the interventionists in Transbaikalia, the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Republic was created with its center in the city of Verkhneudinsk, later renamed Ulan-Ude.
In 1958, the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was transformed into the Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, and after the collapse of the Union - into the Republic of Buryatia.
The Buryats are one of the most numerous nationalities inhabiting the territory of Siberia. Today their number in Russia is more than 250 thousand. However, in 2002, by decision of UNESCO, the Buryat language was listed in the Red Book as endangered - a sad result of the era of globalization.
Pre-revolutionary Russian ethnographers noted that the Buryats have a strong physique, but in general they are prone to obesity.
Murder among them is an almost unheard of crime. However, they are excellent hunters; Buryats boldly go after a bear, accompanied only by their dog.
In mutual interactions, the Buryats are polite: when greeting each other, they offer each other their right hand, and with their left they grab it above the hand. Like the Kalmyks, they do not kiss their lovers, but smell them.
The Buryats had an ancient custom of honoring the color white, which in their minds personified the pure, sacred, and noble. To sit a person on white felt meant to wish him well-being. Persons of noble origin considered themselves white-boned, and those of poor origin considered themselves black-boned. As a sign of belonging to the white bone, the rich people erected yurts made of white felt.
Many will probably be surprised to learn that the Buryats have only one holiday a year. But it lasts a long time, which is why it is called the “white month”. According to the European calendar, its beginning falls on cheese week, and sometimes on Maslenitsa itself.
The Buryats have long developed a system of ecological principles in which nature was considered as the fundamental condition of all well-being and wealth, joy and health. According to local laws, the desecration and destruction of nature entailed severe corporal punishment, including the death penalty.
Since ancient times, the Buryats have revered holy places, which were nothing more than nature reserves in the modern sense of the word. They were under the protection of centuries-old religions - Buddhism and shamanism. It was these holy places that helped preserve and save from imminent destruction a number of representatives of the Siberian flora and fauna, the natural resources of ecological systems and landscapes.
The Buryats have a particularly caring and touching attitude towards Baikal: from time immemorial it was considered a sacred and great sea (Ekhe dalai). God forbid that a rude word should be uttered on its banks, not to mention abuse and quarrel. Perhaps in the 21st century it will finally dawn on us that it is precisely this attitude towards nature that should be called civilization.
Greetings, dear readers.
There are three Buddhist republics in our country - Buryatia, Kalmykia and Tuva. However, the Buryats and Kalmyks have relatives - the Mongols.
We know that the bulk of the Buryat population is concentrated in Russia. To this day, debates continue about how the Buryats differ from the Mongols and how similar they are to each other. Some say that these are the same people. Others tend to believe that there is a big difference between them.
Maybe both are true? Let's try to figure it out! And first, of course, let's go back to the origins.
Origins of the Mongol peoples
Previously, the territory of present-day Mongolia was forested and swampy, and meadows and steppes could be found on the plateaus. Studies of the remains of ancient people have shown that they lived here about 850 thousand years ago.
In the 4th century BC. e. The Huns appeared. They chose the steppes near the Gobi Desert. A few decades later they began to fight with the Chinese, and in 202 BC. e. created the first empire.
The Huns reigned supreme until 93 AD. e. Then Mongolian, Kyrgyz, Turkic, and Uyghur khanates began to appear.
The emergence of the Mongol Empire
The tribes repeatedly tried to unite into a common state. Finally they succeeded, although only partially. Education, in essence, represented a tribal union. It went down in history under the name Khamag Mongol.
Its first leader was Khaidu Khan. The tribes that were part of the state were distinguished by belligerence and often entered into fights with their neighbors, in particular with residents of the regions of the Jin Empire. In case of victory, they demanded tribute from them.
Yesugey baatar, the father of the future legendary ruler of Mongolia, Genghis Khan (Temuzhina), also took part in the battles. He fought until he fell at the hands of the Turks.
Temujin himself, at the very beginning of his path to power, enlisted the support of Wang Khan, the ruler of the Kereits in Central Mongolia. Over time, the army of supporters grew, which allowed the future Genghis Khan to take active action.
As a result, he became the head of the most significant tribes of Mongolia:
- Naimanov (in the west);
- Tatars (in the east);
- Kereitov (in the center).
This allowed him to receive the title of Supreme Khan, to whom all Mongols submitted. The corresponding decision was made at the kurultai - a congress of the Mongolian nobility. From that moment on, Temujin began to be called Genghis Khan.
The ruler stood at the helm of the state for more than two decades, conducted military campaigns and thereby expanded its borders. But soon the power began to slowly disintegrate due to the diversity of cultures of the conquered lands.
Now let's turn to the history of the Buryats.
Formation of the Buryat ethnic group and culture
Most researchers are inclined to think that the current Buryats come from different Mongol-speaking groups. Their original homeland is considered to be the northern part of the Khanate of Altan Khans, which existed from the end of the 16th to the beginning of the 17th century.
Representatives of this people belonged to several tribal groups. The largest of them:
- bulagats;
- hongodor;
- Khorin people;
- ehirites.
Almost all of the listed groups were under the strong influence of the Khalkha-Mongol khans. The situation began to change after the Russians began to explore Eastern Siberia.
The number of settlers from the West constantly increased, which ultimately led to the annexation of the coastal Baikal territories to Russia. After joining the empire, groups and tribes began to get closer to each other.
This process seemed natural from the point of view that they all had common historical roots and spoke dialects similar to each other. As a result, not only a cultural but also an economic community was formed. In other words, an ethnic group that was finally formed by the end of the 19th century.
The Buryats were engaged in raising livestock, hunting animals and fishing. That is, traditional crafts. At the same time, sedentary representatives of this nation began to cultivate the land. These were mainly residents of the Irkutsk province and the western territories of Transbaikalia.
Joining the Russian Empire also affected the Buryat culture. From the beginning of the 19th century, schools began to appear, and over time a layer of local intelligentsia emerged.
Religious preferences
The Buryats are adherents of shamanism and what makes them similar to the Mongols. Shamanism is the earliest religious form, called “hara shazhan” (black faith). The word “black” here personifies the mystery, unknown and infinity of the Universe.
Then Buddhism, which came from Tibet, spread among the people. This is about . This was already “shara shazhan”, that is, yellow faith. The color yellow here is considered sacred and symbolizes the earth as the primary element. Also in Buddhism, yellow means jewel, higher intelligence and exit from.
The Gelug teachings partially absorbed the beliefs that existed before the advent. High-ranking officials of the Russian Empire did not object to this. On the contrary, they recognized Buddhism as one of the official religious movements in the state.
It is interesting that shamanism is more widespread in Buryatia than in the Mongolian People's Republic.
Now Mongolia continues to demonstrate its commitment to Tibetan Gelug Buddhism, slightly adjusting it to suit local characteristics. There are also Christians in the country, but their number is insignificant (a little more than two percent).
At the same time, many historians are inclined to believe that at present it is religion that acts as the main connecting link between the Buryats and the Mongols.
Separate nationality or not
In fact, this formulation of the question is not entirely correct. The Buryats can be considered as representatives of the Mongolian people, speaking their own dialect. At the same time, in Russia, for example, they are not identified with the Mongols. Here they are considered a nationality, which has certain similarities and differences from citizens of the Mongolian People's Republic.
On a note. In Mongolia, the Buryats are recognized as one of their own, classified among various ethnic groups. They do the same in China, indicating them in the official census as Mongols.
Where the name itself came from is still not clear. There are several versions on this matter. According to the main ones, the term can come from the following words:
- Storms (in Turkic - wolf).
- Bar – mighty or tiger.
- Storms are thickets.
- Burikha - to evade.
- Brother. Written evidence has reached our times that during the Middle Ages in Rus' the Buryats were called fraternal people.
However, none of these hypotheses has a solid scientific basis.
Difference in mentality
Buryats who have visited Mongolia admit that they are different from the local residents. On the one hand, they agree that they belong to the common Mongolian family and act as representatives of one people. On the other hand, they understand that they are, after all, different people.
Over the years of close communication with Russians, they became imbued with a different culture, partially forgot about their heritage and became noticeably Russified.
The Mongols themselves do not understand how this could happen. Sometimes they may act dismissively when interacting with visiting brothers. At the everyday level, this does not happen often, but it still happens.
Also in Mongolia, they wonder why the majority of residents of Buryatia have forgotten their native language and ignore traditional culture. They do not accept the “Russian manner” of communicating with children, when parents, for example, can make loud comments to them in public.
This is what they do in Russia and Buryatia. But in Mongolia - no. In this country it is not customary to shout at small citizens. Children are allowed almost everything there. For the simple reason that they are minors.
But as for the diet, it is almost identical. Representatives of the same people living on opposite sides of the border are mainly engaged in cattle breeding.
For this reason, as well as due to climatic conditions, their tables contain mainly meat and dairy products. Meat and milk are the basis of the cuisine. True, Buryats eat more fish than Mongols. But this is not surprising, because they extract it from Lake Baikal.
One can argue for a long time about how close the residents of Buryatia are to the citizens of Mongolia and whether they can consider themselves one nation. By the way, there is a very interesting opinion that by Mongols we mean those who live in the Mongolian People's Republic. There are Mongols from China, Russia and other countries. It’s just that in the Russian Federation they are called Buryats...
Conclusion
WHAT THEY ARE DRILLING!
Drilling is a technological process aimed at obtaining a hole in the bowels of the earth, or, as drillers say, a well. Unlike any hole, a well has a very small ratio of diameter to depth. The construction of a well is achieved in many ways, hence the wide selection of different types of drilling.
Wells are used in mining for blasting and construction work, in exploration of mineral reserves of the earth's crust, for the extraction of certain minerals, primarily such as gas, water, oil, salt brines, etc.
Everyone can get a general idea of drilling based on existing life experience, for example, from the experience of drilling a hole using a hand drill. If we continue the analogy further, the drill should be compared with a tool that destroys rock in the lowest part of the well, at its bottom. Such tools are called a drill bit, and in some special types of drilling - a drill bit.
Rotation is transmitted to the drill through a rod from the drill chuck. There are similar devices in drilling. The difference is that the length of the hole is hundreds and thousands of times greater than the depth of any hole in metal or wood. Therefore, it is necessary to use a special split pipe string. They are called drill pipes, and the individual components of the column are called candles.
So, at the bottom of the well when drilling there is a bit connected to drill pipes. At the top of the well on the surface of the earth, in other words, at the mouth, drill pipes are clamped in a special mechanism to transmit rotation to them and the bit. This mechanism is called a rotor, or in some drilling rigs, a rotator. The drilling method in which the drill pipes are rotated by a rotor is called rotary.
When drilling wood or metal, the destroyed material is removed from the hole along the spiral flutes of the drill. This method is also applicable in drilling wells. The corresponding tool is called an auger, and the drilling method is called an auger. It is used when drilling shallow wells - up to several tens of meters. With increasing well depth in modern drilling, destroyed rock is removed with a special flushing fluid, which is pumped through the drill pipes, comes out of the bit holes, captures rock particles - slurry - and is carried to the surface through the annular space between the walls of the wellbore and the outer surface of the drill pipes . There it is cleaned in special devices and pumped back into the well. The cycle is repeated throughout the drilling process. Reliable cleaning of the bottom of the well is possible with certain parameters of the flushing fluid - density, viscosity, static shear stress, etc. The liquid column in the well also plays another very important role. Due to back pressure on the walls of the well, it ensures the stability of the walls, preventing their collapse. If there is a collapse in the well, an accident may occur and the tool will be backfilled with rock - stuck.
The drilling process is assessed by the rate at which the well deepens per unit time. It is called the mechanical drilling speed and depends on the drilling mode, the properties of the rock, the correct choice of the type of bit and the wear of its working elements. The drilling mode is determined by the load on the bit, its rotation frequency and the amount of drilling fluid. Of the wide variety of existing bit designs, the most widely used are the so-called roller bits. On the bit body, three cone-shaped cutters rotate on supports at an angle of 120°, the generatrices of which touch the bottom with special teeth or carbide (sometimes diamond) inserts (bit armament).
As well depths increase, the energy required to rotate drill pipes increases and is wasted. The wear of pipes increases, and accidents with them become more frequent. Back at the end of the last century, inventors were looking for a way to rotate a bit while the drill string was stationary. And only in the 30s in Baku, Soviet engineers solved this difficult problem. They tried to use the flushing liquid not only for its intended purpose, but also to rotate the turbine. The turbine installed above the bit is called a turbodrill, and the drilling method is called turbine.
In recent years, another screw-type hydraulic downhole motor has become increasingly widespread. It operates on the principle of well-known screw pumps, but in a reversed manner: when pumping liquid, the motor shaft rotates (for the pump it’s the other way around).
There are attempts to use other downhole motors, electric and pneumatic. Accordingly, the motors are called electric drills and air hammers. With their help, a relatively small number of wells are drilled.
Once the bit wears out, it must be replaced with a new one. Drilling stops, the pumps stop, and the entire string of drill pipes is removed piece by piece from the well. These operations are called hoisting operations. To carry them out, special devices and mechanisms are designed, primarily a winch and a powerful pulley device - a tackle system. It consists of a combination of traveling blocks, a crown block at the top of the derrick and metal cables. The traveling system is designed to lift a column weighing several hundred tons.
The used bit is replaced with a new one and the entire string of drill pipes is lowered into the well in the reverse order. Running and lifting operations with drill pipes is a long and labor-intensive process, since each drill pipe or stand must be connected with threaded devices - locks. Engineering thought has long been looking for a solution that would save drillers from unproductive labor. In recent years, one of the options for such a solution has become the so-called hose-cable drilling. Instead of drill pipes, a hollow hose with a built-in electrical cable is used here. An electric drill is installed at the end of a durable but fairly flexible hose. To change the bit, a hose-cable is wound onto a drum, similar to what is done in a fire truck. The time required for hoisting operations is significantly reduced.
When drilling oil and gas wells, there are emergency releases of oil and gas located in rocks under high formation pressure. Correct adherence to the necessary technological methods (sufficient density of the flushing fluid, monitoring the level of the latter in the well - it must always be filled with fluid, etc.) completely prevents emergency situations. For even greater reliability, special blowout preventers are installed at the wellhead, and sometimes in the well itself, in the drill pipe string. They block the wellbore and are called preventers.
After drilling is completed, the wellbore must be secured. Such fastening is primarily necessary for wells intended for long-term operation, such as production oil, gas and water-lifting wells. Fastening is achieved by a special string of casing pipes and their subsequent cementing for a stronger connection of the pipes with the rock of the well walls.
Most wells have a vertical direction. Maintaining this direction is one of the difficult tasks of a driller. Wells, for a number of geological and technical reasons, are constantly bent. Often, distortion leads to complications, and sometimes to the death of an expensive well. However, in a number of cases, for example, when drilling in hard-to-reach areas (mountains, swamps, seashores, lakes or rivers, in residential areas, etc.), it is necessary to bend the well artificially, maintaining the direction specified in space. This type of drilling is called directional drilling. The distortion begins immediately after the start of drilling or after passing through the vertical section of the well to a certain depth. For such purposes, there is a very complex technology and the necessary measuring equipment.
A few words about drilling methods. A well is drilled by destroying rock using various methods. The chisel can be rotated, subjected to impact, combined, and combined. Hence the development of the so-called rotary, impact, impact-rotary, impact-rotary, vibration and other types of drilling. There is a somewhat unusual method of drilling - by crushing.
Rock destruction is possible without mechanical impact, for example, under the influence of thermal, electrical, high-frequency electromagnetic and other fields. Instead of chisels, appropriate drill bits are used here: plasma and thermal drills, lasers and other devices.
Particularly notable is core drilling, which subsoil prospectors cannot do without. It differs in that the bottom of the well is not destroyed completely, but selectively with the formation of an annular bottom. An undestroyed column (rock column) remains in the well - the core. It is used as a rock sample for geological study after being lifted from the borehole using a special core tool.
The list of complex technical terms that the reader has now encountered has a very specific purpose: with its help, the author tried to give a certain idea of the required level of knowledge of a modern drilling engineer, including mechanics, hydraulics, mathematics and other sciences.
The Chinese tribes (Shono and Nokhoi) formed at the end of the Neolithic and in the Bronze Age (2500-1300 BC). According to the authors, tribes of pastoralists-farmers then coexisted with tribes of hunters. In the Late Bronze Age, throughout Central Asia, including the Baikal region, lived tribes of the so-called “tilers” - proto-Turks and proto-Mongols. Since the 3rd century. BC. the population of Transbaikalia and Cisbaikalia is drawn into the historical events that unfolded in Central Asia and Southern Siberia, associated with the formation of early non-state associations of the Huns, Xianbei, Rourans and ancient Turks. From this time on, the spread of Mongol-speaking tribes in the Baikal region and the gradual Mongolization of the aborigines began. In the VIII-IX centuries. region a was part of the Uyghur Khanate. The main tribes that lived here were the Kurykans and the Bayyrku-Bayegu.
In the XI-XIII centuries. The region found itself in the zone of political influence of the Mongolian tribes of the Three Rivers - Onon, Kerulen and Tola - and the creation of a unified Mongolian state. The territory of modern Buryatia was included in the indigenous inheritance of the state, and the entire population was involved in the general Mongolian political, economic and cultural life. After the collapse of the empire (XIV century), Transbaikalia and Cisbaikalia remained part of the Mongolian state.
More reliable information about the ancestors appears in the first half of the 17th century. in connection with the arrival of the Russians in Eastern Siberia. During this period, Transbaikalia was part of Northern Mongolia, which was part of the Setsen Khan and Tushetu Khan khanates. They were dominated by Mongol-speaking peoples and tribes, subdivided into the Mongols themselves, the Khalkha Mongols, the Barguts, the Daurs, the Khorins, and others. The Cis-Baikal region was in tributary dependence on Western Mongolia. By the time the Russians arrived, they consisted of 5 main tribes:
- bulagats - on the Angara and its tributaries Unga, Osa, Ida and Kuda;
- ekhirits (ekherits) - along the upper reaches of the Kuda and Lena and the tributaries of the latter, Manzurka and Anga;
- Hongodors - on the left bank of the Angara, along the lower reaches of the Belaya, Kitoy and Irkut rivers;
- Khorin residents are on the western bank and near the river. Buguldeikhi, on Olkhon Island, on the eastern shore and in the Kudarinskaya steppe, along the river. Ude and the Eravninsky lakes;
- tabunuts (tabanguts) - along the right bank of the river. Selenga in the area of the lower reaches of Khilok and Chikoy.
Two groups of Bulagats lived separately from the rest: the Ashekhabats in the area of modern Nizhneudinsk, the Ikinats in the lower reaches of the river. Okie. The ov also included separate groups that lived in the lower Selenga - Atagans, Sartols, Khatagins and others.
Since the 1620s. Russian penetration into Buryatia begins. In 1631 the Bratsk fort (modern Bratsk) was founded, in 1641 - the Verkholensky fort, in 1647 - Osinsky, in 1648 - Udinsky (modern Nizhneudinsk), in 1652 - the Irkutsk fort, in 1654 - the Balagansky fort, in 1666 - Verkhneudinsk - stages colonization of the region. Numerous military clashes with Russian Cossacks and Yasash warriors date back to the 1st half of the 17th century. Prisons - symbols of Russian domination - were especially often attacked.
In the middle of the 17th century. the territory of Buryatia was annexed to Russia, and therefore the territories on both sides were separated from Mongolia. Under the conditions of Russian statehood, the process of consolidation of various groups and tribes began. After joining Russia, they were given the right to freely practice their religion, live according to their traditions, with the right to choose their elders and leaders. In the 17th century The Chinese tribes (Bulagats, Ekhirits and at least part of the Khondogors) were formed on the basis of Mongol tribal groups living on the periphery of Mongolia. The ovs included a number of ethnic Mongols (separate groups of Khalkha Mongols and Dzungar-Oirats), as well as Turkic, Tungus and Yenisei elements.
As a result, by the end of the 19th century. A new community was formed - the Chinese ethnos. The Buryats were part of the Irkutsk province, within which the Transbaikal region was allocated (1851). The Buryats were divided into sedentary and nomadic, governed by steppe dumas and foreign councils.
Soviet sniper, Buryat Radna Ayusheev from the 63rd Marine Brigade during the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation of 1944At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. In Buryatia, a volost reform was carried out, which increased administrative and police oppression. 53% of their lands were confiscated from the Irkutsk people for the colonization fund, and 36% from the Transbaikal ones. This caused sharp discontent and the rise of the national movement. In 1904, martial law was declared in Buryatia.
In 1902-1904, under the leadership of political exiles (I.V. Babushkin, V.K. Kurnatovsky, Em. Yaroslavsky, etc.), social democratic groups arose in Buryatia. One of the active members of the Social Democratic group was the Russian revolutionary Ts.Ts. Ranzhurov. During the Revolution of 1905-1907. The revolutionary movement (railroad workers, miners, workers of gold mines and industrial enterprises and peasants of Buryatia) was led by the Verkhneudinsk and Mysovo groups of Bolsheviks, who were part of the Transbaikal Regional Committee of the RSDLP. Strike committees and workers' squads were created at large railway stations. Russian and Russian peasants seized lands that belonged to monasteries and the royal family (the so-called cabinet lands), and refused taxes and duties. In 1905, congresses were held in Verkhneudinsk, Chita and Irkutsk, demanding the creation of local governments and the return of lands transferred for colonization. The revolutionary uprisings of the working people were suppressed by the tsarist troops.
The social organization of the Mongol period is traditional Central Asian. In the Cis-Baikal region, which was in tributary dependence on the Mongol rulers, the features of tribal relations were more preserved. Divided into tribes and clans, the Cis-Baikal ones were headed by princes of different levels. Transbaikal groups were directly within the system of the Mongol state. After being separated from the Mongolian superethnos, Transbaikalia and Cisbaikalia lived as separate tribes and territorial clan groups. The largest of them were Bulagats, Ekhirits, Khorits, Ikinats, Khongodors, Tabanguts (Selenga “Mungals”). At the end of the 19th century. There were over 160 clan divisions.
In the XVIII - early XX centuries. The lowest administrative unit was the ulus, governed by a foreman. The union of several uluses constituted a clan administration headed by a shulenga. A group of clans formed a department. Small departments were governed by special councils, and large ones by steppe dumas under the leadership of the taisha. Since the end of the 19th century. The system of volost government was gradually introduced.
Along with the most common small family, there was a large (undivided) family. A large family often formed a farm-type settlement within an ulus. Exogamy and bride price played an important role in the family and marriage system.
As the Russians colonized the region, the growth of cities and villages, the development of industrial enterprises and arable farming, the process of reducing nomadism and the transition to sedentary life intensified. The Buryats began to settle more compactly, often forming, especially in Western departments, significant settlements. In the wall departments of Transbaikalia, migrations took place from 4 to 12 times a year; a felt yurt served as a dwelling. There were few log houses of the Russian type. In the South-Western Transbaikalia they roamed 2-4 times, the most common types of housing were wooden and felt yurts. Felt yurt – Mongolian type. Its frame was made up of lattice sliding walls made of willow branches. “Stationary” yurts are log, six- and eight-walled, as well as rectangular and square in plan, frame-post construction, domed roof with a smoke hole.
Some of the Transbaikal people carried out military service - guarding state borders. In 1851, consisting of 4 regiments, they were transferred to the estate of the Transbaikal Cossack Army. The Buryat Cossacks, by occupation and way of life, remained cattle breeders.
The Baikal ones, who occupied forest-steppe zones, migrated 2 times a year - to winter roads and summer roads, lived in wooden and only partly in felt yurts. Gradually, they almost completely switched to sedentary life; under the influence of the Russians, they built log houses, barns, outbuildings, sheds, stables, and surrounded the estate with a fence. Wooden yurts acquired an auxiliary value, and felt ones completely fell out of use. An indispensable attribute of the courtyard (in Cisbaikalia and Transbaikalia) was a hitching post (serge) in the form of a pillar up to 1.7-1.9 m high, with carved ornaments on the top. The hitching post was an object of veneration and symbolized the well-being and social status of the owner.
Traditional dishes and utensils were made of leather, wood, metal, and felt. As contacts with the Russian population intensified, factory products and items of settled life became increasingly widespread. Along with leather and wool, cotton fabrics and cloth were increasingly used to make clothing. Jackets, coats, skirts, sweaters, scarves, hats, boots, felt boots, etc. appeared. At the same time, traditional forms of clothing and footwear continued to be preserved: fur coats and hats, fabric robes, high boots, women's sleeveless outerwear, etc. Clothing, especially women's, was decorated with multi-colored materials, silver and gold. The set of jewelry included various kinds of earrings, bracelets, rings, corals and coins, chains and pendants. For men, decorations included silver belts, knives, pipes, and flint; among the rich and noyons, there were also orders, medals, special caftans and daggers, indicating a high social status.
Meat and various dairy products were staples in the diet. Varenets (tarag), hard and soft cheeses (khuruud, bisla, hezge, aarsa), dried cottage cheese (airuul), foam (urme), and buttermilk (airak) were prepared from milk. Kumis (guniy airak) was prepared from mare's milk, and milk vodka (archi) was made from cow's milk. The best meat was considered to be horse meat, and then lamb; they also ate the meat of wild goats, elk, hares and squirrels, and sometimes ate bear meat, hog meat and wild waterfowl. Horsemeat was prepared for the winter. For coastal residents, fish was no less important than meat. The Buryats widely consumed berries, plants and roots and stored them for the winter. In places where arable farming developed, bread and flour products, potatoes and garden crops came into use.
Culture
In folk art, a large place is occupied by bone, wood and stone carving, casting, metal chasing, jewelry making, embroidery, wool knitting, making appliqués on leather, felt and fabrics.
The main genres of folklore are myths, legends, stories, heroic epic (“Geser”), fairy tales, songs, riddles, proverbs and sayings. Epic tales were widespread among (especially Western) people - uligers, for example. “Alamzhi Mergen”, “Altan Shargai”, “Aiduurai Mergen”, “Shono Bator”, etc.
Musical and poetic creativity associated with uligers, which were performed accompanied by a two-stringed bowed instrument (khure), was widespread. The most popular type of dance art is the round dance yokhor. There were dance-games “Yagsha”, “Aisukhay”, “Yagaruukhay”, “Guugel”, “Ayarzon-Bayarzon”, etc. There were a variety of folk instruments - strings, winds and percussion: tambourine, khur, khuchir, chanza, limba, bichkhur, sur, etc. A special section is made up of musical and dramatic art for religious purposes - shamanic and Buddhist ritual performances, mysteries.
The most significant holidays were tailagans, which included prayer services and sacrifices to patron spirits, a common meal, and various competitive games (wrestling, archery, horse racing). The majority had three mandatory tailagans - spring, summer and autumn. Currently, tailagans are being revived in full. With the establishment of Buddhism, holidays became widespread - khurals, held at datsans. The most popular of them - Maidari and Tsam - occurred in the summer months. In winter, the White Month (Tsagaan cap) was celebrated, which was considered the beginning of the New Year. Currently, the most popular traditional holidays are Tsagaalgan (New Year) and Surkharban, organized on the scale of villages, districts, districts and the republic.
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For several centuries, Buryats have lived side by side with Russians, being part of the multinational population of Russia. At the same time, they managed to preserve their identity, language and religion.
Why are the Buryats called “Buryats”?
Scientists are still arguing about why the Buryats are called “Buryats”. This ethnonym first appears in the “Secret History of the Mongols,” dating back to 1240. Then, for more than six centuries, the word “Buryat” was not mentioned, appearing again only in written sources of the late 19th century.
There are several versions of the origin of this word. One of the main ones traces the word “Buryat” to the Khakass “pyraat”, which goes back to the Turkic term “buri”, which translates as “wolf”. “Buri-ata” is correspondingly translated as “father wolf.”
This etymology is due to the fact that many Buryat clans consider the wolf to be a totem animal and their ancestor.
It is interesting that in the Khakass language the sound “b” is muffled and pronounced like “p”. The Cossacks called the people living to the west of the Khakass “pyraat”. Subsequently, this term was Russified and became close to the Russian “brother”. Thus, “Buryats”, “brotherly people”, “brotherly Mungals” began to be called the entire Mongol-speaking population inhabiting the Russian Empire.
Also interesting is the version of the origin of the ethnonym from the words “bu” (gray-haired) and “Oirat” (forest peoples). That is, the Buryats are peoples indigenous to this area (Baikal region and Transbaikalia).
Tribes and clans
The Buryats are an ethnic group formed from several Mongol-speaking ethnic groups living in the territory of Transbaikalia and the Baikal region, which did not then have a single self-name. The formation process took place over many centuries, starting with the Hunnic Empire, which included the Proto-Buryats as Western Huns.
The largest ethnic groups that formed the Buryat ethnos were the Western Khongodors, Bualgits and Ekhirits, and the Eastern ones - the Khorins.
In the 18th century, when the territory of Buryatia was already part of the Russian Empire (according to the treaties of 1689 and 1727 between Russia and the Qing dynasty), Khalkha-Mongol and Oirat clans also came to southern Transbaikalia. They became the third component of the modern Buryat ethnic group.
To this day, tribal and territorial divisions have been preserved among the Buryats. The main Buryat tribes are the Bulagats, Ekhirits, Khoris, Khongodors, Sartuls, Tsongols, Tabanguts. Each tribe is also divided into clans.
Based on their territory, the Buryats are divided into Nizhneuuzky, Khorinsky, Aginsky, Shenekhensky, Selenginsky and others, depending on the lands of residence of the clan.
Black and yellow faith
The Buryats are characterized by religious syncretism. Traditional is a set of beliefs, the so-called shamanism or Tengrianism, in the Buryat language called “hara shazhan” (black faith). From the end of the 16th century, Tibetan Buddhism of the Gelug school - “Shara Shazhan” (yellow faith) began to develop in Buryatia. He seriously assimilated pre-Buddhist beliefs, but with the advent of Buddhism, Buryat shamanism was not completely lost.
Until now, in some areas of Buryatia, shamanism remains the main religious trend.
The advent of Buddhism was marked by the development of writing, literacy, printing, folk crafts, and art. Tibetan medicine has also become widespread, the practice of which exists in Buryatia today.
On the territory of Buryatia, in the Ivolginsky datsan, there is the body of one of the ascetics of Buddhism of the twentieth century, the head of the Buddhists of Siberia in 1911-1917, Khambo Lama Itigelov. In 1927, he sat in the lotus position, gathered his disciples and told them to read a prayer of good wishes for the deceased, after which, according to Buddhist beliefs, the lama went into a state of samadhi. He was buried in a cedar cube in the same lotus position, bequeathing before his departure to dig up the sarcophagus 30 years later. In 1955, the cube was lifted.
The body of Hambo Lama turned out to be incorrupt.
In the early 2000s, researchers conducted a study of the llama's body. The conclusion of Viktor Zvyagin, head of the personal identification department of the Russian Center for Forensic Medicine, became sensational: “With the permission of the highest Buddhist authorities of Buryatia, we were provided with approximately 2 mg of samples - these are hair, skin particles, sections of two nails. Infrared spectrophotometry showed that the protein fractions have intravital characteristics - for comparison, we took similar samples from our employees. An analysis of Itigelov’s skin, carried out in 2004, showed that the concentration of bromine in the llama’s body was 40 times higher than the norm.”
Cult of struggle
Buryats are one of the most fighting peoples in the world. National Buryat wrestling is a traditional sport. Since ancient times, competitions in this discipline have been held as part of surkharban - a national sports festival. In addition to wrestling, participants also compete in archery and horse riding. Buryatia also has strong freestyle wrestlers, sambo wrestlers, boxers, track and field athletes, and speed skaters.
Returning to wrestling, we must say about perhaps the most famous Buryat wrestler today - Anatoly Mikhakhanov, who is also called Orora Satoshi.
Mikhakhanov is a sumo wrestler. Orora Satoshi translates from Japanese as “northern lights” and is a shikonu, a professional wrestler's nickname.
The Buryat hero was born as a completely standard child, weighing 3.6 kg, but after that the genes of the legendary ancestor of the Zakshi family, who, according to legend, weighed 340 kg and rode two bulls, began to appear. In the first grade, Tolya already weighed 120 kg, at the age of 16 - under 200 kg with a height of 191 cm. Today the weight of the famous Buryat sumo wrestler is about 280 kilograms.
Hunting for the Nazis
During the Great Patriotic War, the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic sent more than 120 thousand people to defend the Motherland. The Buryats fought on the war fronts as part of three rifle and three tank divisions of the Transbaikal 16th Army. There were Buryats in the Brest Fortress, which was the first to resist the Nazis. This is even reflected in the song about the defenders of Brest:
Only stones will tell about these battles,
How the heroes stood to the death.
There are Russians, Buryats, Armenians and Kazakhs here
They gave their lives for their homeland.
During the war years, 37 natives of Buryatia were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, 10 became full holders of the Order of Glory.
Buryat snipers became especially famous during the war. Which is not surprising - the ability to shoot accurately has always been vital for hunters. Hero of the Soviet Union Zhambyl Tulaev destroyed 262 fascists, and a sniper school was created under his leadership.
Another famous Buryat sniper, senior sergeant Tsyrendashi Dorzhiev, by January 1943, had destroyed 270 enemy soldiers and officers. In a report from the Sovinformburo in June 1942, it was reported about him: “A master of super-accurate fire, Comrade Dorzhiev, who destroyed 181 Nazis during the war, trained and educated a group of snipers, on June 12, snipers-students of Comrade Dorzhiev shot down a German plane.” Another hero, Buryat sniper Arseny Etobaev, destroyed 355 fascists and shot down two enemy planes during the war years.
