Buryats
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Buryat
| Буряад |
| Total population |
| c. 500,000 |
| Regions with significant populations |
 Russia |
461,389[1] |
 Mongolia |
45,087[2] |
 China |
8,000[3] |
 Uzbekistan |
900 |
 Kazakhstan |
600 |
 Ukraine |
400 |
 United States |
100 |
| Languages |
| Buryat, Mongolian, Russian, Chinese |
| Religion |
| Tibetan Buddhism ("Lamaism"), Shamanism. |
| Related ethnic groups |
| Mongols (Barga, Khalkha, Oirats, Khamnigans), Tuvans, Manchu, Khakas, Altay people |
The
Buryats (
Buryat: Буряад,
Buryaad;
Mongolian:
Буриад/Buriad), numbering approximately 500,000, are the largest indigenous group in
Siberia, mainly concentrated in their homeland, the
Buryat Republic, a
federal subject of
Russia. They are the major northern subgroup of the
Mongols.
[4]
Buryats share many customs with other Mongols, including
nomadic herding, and erecting
gers for shelter. Today, the majority of Buryats live in and around
Ulan-Ude, the capital of the republic, although many live more traditionally in the countryside. They speak a central
Mongolic language called
Buryat.
[5] According to
UNESCO's 2010 edition of the
Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, the Buryat language is classified as
severely endangered.
History
Buryat-Mongol ASSR in 1929.
Traditional wooden hut of Buryatia
The Buryat people are descended from various
Siberian and
Mongol peoples that inhabited the
Lake Baikal
Region. Then in the 13th century the Mongolians came up and subjugated
the various Buryat tribes (Bulgachin, Kheremchin) around Lake Baikal.
The name "Buriyad" is mentioned as one of the forest people for the
first time in
The Secret History of the Mongols (possibly 1240).
[6] It says
Jochi, the eldest son of
Genghis Khan, marched north to subjugate the Buryats in 1207.
[7] The Buryats lived along the
Angara River and its tributaries at this time. Meanwhile, their component,
Barga, appeared both west of Baikal and in northern
Buryatia's Barguzin valley. Linked also to the Bargas were the
Khori-Tumed along the Arig River in eastern
Khövsgöl Province and the
Angara.
[8]
A Tumad rebellion broke out in 1217, when Genghis Khan allowed his
viceroy to seize 30 Tumad maidens. Genghis Khan's commander Dorbei the
Fierce of the
Dörbeds smashed them in response. The Buryats joined the Oirats challenging the imperial rule of the
Eastern Mongols during the
Northern Yuan period in the late 14th century.
[9]
Historically, the territories around
Lake Baikal belonged to
Mongolia, Buryats were subject to Tusheet Khan and Setsen Khan of
Khalkha Mongolia. When the Russians expanded into
Transbaikalia (eastern Siberia) in 1609, the
Cossacks found only a small core of tribal groups speaking a Mongol dialect called Buryat and paying tribute to the
Khalkha.
[10] However, they were powerful enough to compel the
Ket and Samoyed peoples on the Kan and the
Evenks
on the lower Angara to pay tribute. The ancestors of most modern
Buryats were speaking a variety of Turkic-Tungusic dialects at that
time.
[11]
In addition to genuine Buryat-Mongol tribes (Bulagad, Khori, Ekhired,
Khongoodor) that merged with the Buryats, the Buryats also assimilated
other groups, including some
Oirats, the
Khalkha, Tungus (
Evenks)
and others. The Khori-Barga had migrated out of the Barguzin eastward
to the lands between the Greater Khingan and the Argun. Around 1594 most
of them fled back to the Aga and Nerchinsk in order to escape
subjection by the
Daurs.
The territory and people were formally annexed to the Russian state by
treaties in 1689 and 1727, when the territories on both the sides of
Lake Baikal were separated from
Mongolia. Consolidation of modern Buryat tribes and groups took place under the conditions of the
Russian state. From the middle of the 17th century to the beginning of the 20th century, the Buryat population increased from 77,000
[12] (27,700
[13]-60,000
[14]) to 300,000.
Another estimate of the rapid growth in people referring to
themselves as Buryat is based on the clan list names paying tribute in
the form of a
sable-skin tax. This indicates a population of about 77,000 in 1640 rising to 157,000 in 1823 and more than a million by 1950.
[15]
The historical roots of the Buryat
culture are related to the Mongolic peoples. After Buryatia was incorporated into Russia, it was exposed to two traditions –
Buddhist and
Christian. Buryats west of
Lake Baikal and
Olkhon
(Irkut Buryats), are more "russified", and they soon abandoned nomadism
for agriculture, whereas the eastern (Transbaikal) Buryats are closer
to the Khalkha, may live in
yurts and are mostly Buddhists. In 1741, the
Tibetan branch of Buddhism was recognized as one of the official
religions in Russia, and the first Buryat
datsan (Buddhist
monastery) was built.
The second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th
century was a time of growth for the Buryat Buddhist church (48 datsans
in Buryatia in 1914). Buddhism became an important factor in the
cultural development of Buryatia. Because of their skills in
horsemanship and mounted combat, many were enlisted into the
Amur Cossacks host. During the Russian Civil War most of the Buryats sided with the White forces of
Baron Ungern-Sternberg and
Ataman Semenov.
They formed a sizable portion of Ungern's forces and often received
favorable treatment when compared with other ethnic groups in the
Baron's army. After the Revolution, most of the lamas were loyal to
Soviet power. In 1925, a battle against religion and clergy in Buryatia
began. Datsans were gradually closed down and the activity of the clergy
was curtailed. Consequently, in the late 1930s the Buddhist clergy
ceased to exist and thousands of cultural treasures were destroyed.
Attempts to revive the Buddhist cult started during
World War II,
and it was officially re-established in 1946. A genuine revival of
Buddhism has taken place since the late 1980s as an important factor in
the national consolidation and spiritual rebirth.
In 1923, the
Buryat-Mongol Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
was formed and included Baikal province (Pribaykalskaya guberniya) with
Russian population. The Buryats rebelled against the communist rule and
collectivization of their herds in 1929. The rebellion was quickly crushed by the
Red Army with loss of 35,000 Buryats.
[16] The Buryat refugees fled to
Mongolia
and resettled, however, only a few of them joined the Shambala
rebellion there. In 1937, in an effort to disperse Buryats, Stalin's
government separated a number of counties (
raions) from the
Buryat-Mongol Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and formed
Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug and
Agin-Buryat Autonomous Okrug; at the same time, some raions with Buryat populations were left out. Fearing Buryat nationalism,
Joseph Stalin had more than 10,000 Buryats killed.
[17] Moreover,
Stalinist purge
of Buryats spread into Mongolia, known as the incident of Lhumbee. In
1958, the name "Mongol" was removed from the name of the republic
(Buryat ASSR). BASSR declared its sovereignty in 1990 and adopted the
name
Republic of Buryatia in 1992. The constitution of the Republic was adopted by the People's Khural in 1994, and a bilateral treaty with the
Russian Federation was signed in 1995.
The Buryat national tradition is ecological by origin in that the
religious and mythological ideas of the Buryat people have been based on
a theology of nature. The environment has traditionally been deeply
respected by Buryats due to the nomadic way of life and religious
culture. The harsh climatic conditions of the region have in turn
created a fragile balance between humans, society and the environment
itself. This has led to a delicate approach to nature, oriented not
towards its conquest but rather towards a harmonious interaction and
equal partnership with it. A synthesis of
Buddhism
and traditional beliefs that formed a system of ecological traditions
has thus constituted a major attribute of Buryat eco-culture.
[18]
Subgroups
Major tribes
Other tribes
Notable people
See also
Mongol Empire circa 1207
Buryat-Mongol ASSR in 1925.
Buryat-Mongol ASSR in 1929.
Map of autonomous Buryat territories (until 2008): Republic of Buryatia and autonomous okrugs of Aga Buryatia and Ust-Orda Buryatia
Traditional wooden hut of Buryatia
Traditional Buryat dress
The Buryat people are descended from various Siberian and Mongol peoples that inhabited the Lake Baikal Region. Then in the 13th century the Mongolians came up and subjugated the various Buryat tribes (Bulgachin, Kheremchin) around Lake Baikal. The name "Buriyad" is mentioned as one of the forest people for the first time in The Secret History of the Mongols (possibly 1240).[6] It says Jochi, the eldest son of Genghis Khan, marched north to subjugate the Buryats in 1207.[7] The Buryats lived along the Angara River and its tributaries at this time. Meanwhile, their component, Barga, appeared both west of Baikal and in northern Buryatia's Barguzin valley. Linked also to the Bargas were the Khori-Tumed along the Arig River in eastern Khövsgöl Province and the Angara.[8] A Tumad rebellion broke out in 1217, when Genghis Khan allowed his viceroy to seize 30 Tumad maidens. Genghis Khan's commander Dorbei the Fierce of the Dörbeds smashed them in response. The Buryats joined the Oirats challenging the imperial rule of the Eastern Mongols during the Northern Yuan period in the late 14th century.[9]The Selengyin Buryats, (c. 1900)
Mongol states in the 14th to 17th centuries.
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