Alternative History
Republic of Kalmykia
KalmykiaKalmykMongolscriptwhitebackground
Halʹmg Tanhch (Kalmyk)
Kalmykiamongolianscriptinfobox
Khalimag Uls (Mongolian)
Республика Калмыкия
Respublika Kalmykiya
(Russian)
Flag of Kalmykia (1992, 3-2 aspect ratio) Coat of Arms of Kalmykia
KalmykiaWOIOCGworldnew
CapitalElista
Official languages National
Kalmyk, Mongolian
Co-official
Russian
Demonym Kalmykian
Government Parliamentary republic
 -  President Ubashi Dondukov
 -  Prime Minister Vladimir Bakarov
Legislature State Khural
 -  Upper House Senate
 -  Lower House Assembly
Population
 -   census 683,200 
Currency Kalmyk togrog

The Republic of Kalmykia (Kalmyk: KalmykiaKalmykMongolscript, Halʹmg Tanhch; Mongolian: Kalmykiamongolianscript, Khalimag Uls; Russian: Республика Калмыкия, Respublika Kalmykiya) or just Kalmykia, is a country located in the North Caucasus. It is landlocked by Russia to the north, west and south, and the Caspian Sea to the west sharing maritime borders with Gokturkia to the east.

According to the Kurgan hypothesis, the upland regions of modern-day Kalmykia formed part of the cradle of Indo-European culture. Hundreds of kurgans can be seen in these areas, known as the Indo-European Urheimat (Samara culture, Sredny Stog culture, Yamna culture). Some of the first recorded peoples to move into this territory were the Scythians and Sarmatians from the central Eurasian steppe, bringing their respective religious systems with them. Later on, all three major Abrahamic religions also took root, with the Khazar conversion to Judaism being a notable (if historically contested) episode in the religion's history. The Alans were a major Muslim people group, who faced the invading Mongols and their Tengrist practices, with some of the latter settling permanently. The later Nogais were Muslim, but were replaced by the contemporaneous Mongolian Kalmyks, who practice Tibetan Buddhism. With the annexation of the region by the Russian Empire, there was an influx of the East Slavic-speaking Christian settlers. Many religious institutions were suppressed in the wake of the Russian Revolution.

The Kalmykia republic covers an area of 76,100 square kilometres (29,400 square miles), with a small population of about 683,000 residents. The republic is home to the Kalmyks, a people of Mongolian origin who are primarily of Buddhist faith. The capital of the republic is the city of Elista. Kalmykia's natural resources include coal, oil, and natural gas, making it prosperous.

Kalmykia is part of both the Chinese and Russian blocs, but evidently moved further in the Chinese orbit, thus, making it one of two Chinese allies in Europe, with the other being Russia.

History[]

Pre-History[]

According to the Kurgan hypothesis, the upland regions of modern-day Kalmykia formed part of the cradle of Indo-European culture. Hundreds of kurgans can be seen in these areas, known as the Indo-European Urheimat (Samara culture, Sredny Stog culture, Yamna culture).

Some of the first recorded peoples to move into this territory were the Scythians and Sarmatians from the central Eurasian steppe, bringing their respective religious systems with them. Later on, all three major Abrahamic religions also took root, with the Khazar conversion to Judaism being a notable (if historically contested) episode in the religion's history. The Alans were a major Muslim people group, who faced the invading Mongols and their Tengrist practices, with some of the latter settling permanently. The later Nogais were Muslim, but were replaced by the contemporaneous Mongolian Kalmyks, who practice Tibetan Buddhism. With the annexation of the region by the Russian Empire, there was an influx of the East Slavic-speaking Russian Orthodox settlers. Many religious institutions were suppressed in the wake of the Russian Revolution.

Kalmyk Autonomy[]

The ancestors of the Kalmyks, the Oirats, migrated from the steppes of southern Siberia on the banks of the Irtysh River, reaching the Lower Volga region by the early 17th century. Historians have given various explanations for the move, but generally recognise that the Kalmyks sought abundant pastures for their herds. Another motivation may have involved escaping the growing dominance of the neighbouring Dzungar Mongol tribe. They reached the lower Volga region in or about 1630. That land, however, was not uncontested pastures, but rather the homeland of the Nogai Horde, a confederation of Turkic-speaking nomadic tribes. The Kalmyks expelled the Nogais, who fled to the Caucasian plains and to the Crimean Khanate, areas (at least theoretically) under the control of the Ottoman Empire. Some Nogai groups sought the protection of the Russian garrison at Astrakhan. The remaining nomadic Mongol Oirat tribes became vassals of the Kalmyk Khan.

The Kalmyks settled in the wide-open steppes – from Saratov in the north to Astrakhan on the Volga delta in the south and to the Terek River in the southwest. They also encamped on both sides of the Volga River, from the Don River in the west to the Ural River in the east. Although these territories had been recently annexed by the Tsardom of Russia, Moscow was in no position to settle the area with Russian colonists. This area under Kalmyk control would eventually be called the Kalmyk Khanate.

Within twenty-five years of settling in the Lower Volga region, the Kalmyks became subjects of the Tsar of Russia. In exchange for protecting Russia's southern border, the Kalmyks were promised an annual allowance and access to the markets of Russian border settlements. The open access to Russian markets was supposed to discourage mutual raiding on the part of the Kalmyks and of the Russians and Bashkirs, a Russian-dominated Turkic people, but this was not often the practice. In addition, Kalmyk allegiance was often nominal, as the Kalmyk Khans practised self-government, based on a set of laws they called the Great Code of the Nomads (Iki Tsaadzhin Bichig).

The Kalmyk Khanate reached its peak of military and political power under Ayuka Khan (ruled 1672–1724, khan 1690–1724). During his era, the Kalmyk Khanate fulfilled its responsibility to protect the southern borders of Russia and conducted many military expeditions against its Turkic-speaking neighbours. Successful military expeditions were also conducted in the Caucasus. The Khanate experienced economic prosperity from free trade with Russian border towns, with China, with Tibet and with Muslim neighbours. During this era, the Kalmyks also kept close contacts with their Oirat kinsmen in Dzungaria, as well as with the Dalai Lama in Tibet.

Russian Civil War[]

After the October Revolution in 1917, many Don Kalmyks joined the White Russian army and fought under the command of Generals Denikin and Wrangel during the Russian Civil War.

Under Continued Russian Rule 1921-1991[]

Under the rule of Cyril I, Kalmykia continued to became a center of Buddhism in Russia. The Autonomous Kalmyk State was formed within Russia, and it maintained high ties to China and Mongolia.

Independence 1991-present[]

In the late 1980s, Russian leaders enacted a series of discriminatory practices against the Asiatic peoples, and Kalmykia was effected. Chancellor Sergey Barbolin, a hardliner conservative enacted policies that sought to promote Orthodox Christianity as the state religion of Russia, and passed a controversial law requiring only Russian be used in the public sphere, leading to the Kalmyk Revolution.

By the time Mikhail Gorbachev became Chancellor in 1985, it was too late, in spite of Gorbachev undoing Barbolin's policies.

On December 25, 1991, the Republic of Kalmykia became one of the many countries, along with Central Asia (today Gokturkia) and Ukraine that declared their independence from Russia.

Post-Independence[]

Beginning with its independence from Russia, Kalmykian leaders started making due efforts to absorb Kalmykia into the Chinese political influence, while still keeping high ties with Russia, similar to the neighboring Turkestan across the Caspian Sea.

In ???, President ??? made a bid to have Kalmykia join the SCO. Kalmykia increased its exports from China and Mongolia, and in-turn, exported foreign workers into both countries.

Language[]

Kalmykia has three official languages: they are Kalmyk, which is the native language and a Mongolic language. It is joined by Mongolian and Russian as co-official languages. After becoming independent from the Russian Empire, Kalmyk leaders co-officiated the Mongolian language to strengthen Kalmykia's ties with their brethren in the Far East. Mongolian is now taught in schools as co-compulsory to Kalmyk, and there is an increased ties between Kalmyks and Mongolians. Both Kalmyk and Mongolian are Oirat languages. Additionally within the new generations, Mongolian is now reaching a prominence in Kalmykian business, both with Kalmyk businessmen in Mongolia, and Mongolian business in Kalmykia. The Kalmyk language, as well as the Mongolian language, are both written in the Classical Mongolian script. Prior to independence, Kalmyk was written in Cyrillic but in the 1990s, the government adopted the Classical Mongolian script in order to cement the Kalmyk ties to Mongolia. Although Cyrillic is still used as much as Mongolian script, for ease of learning Russian.

Additionally, Russian has remCukained co-official, and still widely used. There are businesses where Russian is used as much as, and even more than Kalmyk and Mongolian, and Russian language news stations and media still operates in the country. Although Russian is not compulsory, it is still taught in public schools, and the overwhelming majority of students in schools still take Russian at a young age, thus, making Kalmykia a trilingual nation.

Russian and Mongolian are languages associated with business. Long after Kalmykia's independence, users of technology like smartphones, machinery, gaming consoles and etc., still relied on Russian, and is still so today. However, in the 1990s, after Mongolian as co-officialized, the younger and newer generations have spearheaded promoting Mongolian alongside Russian as a language of international trade and business. Many major companies, such as Nintendo, Apple and Microsoft have debuted Mongolian language services.

Culture[]

Music[]

The music of Kalmykia has roots in the musical culture of the Oirats. Traditional instruments include the dombra, which is used to accompany dance music. The state folk ensemble Tulpan was formed in 1937 to promote traditional Kalmyk music.

Epic bard and throat singer Okna Tsahan Zam is a Kalmyk who performs the ancient Oirat epic Jangar. He usually accompanies himself on the dombra, but has been known to have the accompaniment of the Mongolian morin khuur while singing the epic.

Kalmyk woodworkers specialized in the making of musical instruments; the prizing and value of these instruments helped preserve Kalmyk musical culture. Traditional instruments included the dombra, the morin khuur, the pear-shaped tovshuur, the psaltery (known as a jatha), and a form of bagpipies called the büshkür. The Saratov accordion was introduced to Kalmyk music in the nineteenth century and has become well-integrated. Other instruments, included conchs, drums, bells, and rattles were used as musical instruments in religious rituals, but these were mostly imported from Mongolia or Tibet.

The dombra is the most commonly played instrument; the Kalmyk dombra has seven frets and two strings, which were traditionally made from the small intestine of sheep. The Kalmyk yatkha, similar to the Mongolia zither, resembled the Ukrainian bandura in both sound and construction - it was typically found among the richest families and the Kalmyk nobility.

In the period after deportation, during which most of the traditional instruments were no longer used, only the dombra and the Saratov accordion were played often. However, during the perestroika period, the creative intelligentsia of the Kalmyk deliberately sought out these traditional instruments and began to incorporate them into modern Kalmyk music. Today, all of the above instruments can be heard in Kalmykia.

The ut dun (lit. long song) is a variety of Kalmyk folk song, contrasting with the akhr dun (lit. short song). These long songs were mentioned in some of the earliest works of Kalmyk ethnography. The ut dun is connected to the traditional Kalmyk way of life, family values, and traditional gender roles of women. A subset of ut dun, the uul'lgd ut dun, is a farewell lament urging brides to cry on their wedding day as they prepare to leave their family and join their husband's household.

Religion[]

Tibetan Buddhism is the traditional and most popular religion among the Kalmyks, while ethnic Russians in the country practice predominantly Russian Orthodoxy. A minority of Kalmyks practice pre-Buddhist shamanism or Tengrism (a contemporary revival of the Turkic and Mongolic shamanic religions). Many people are unaffiliated and non-religious.

According to a 2012 survey, 47.6% of the population of Kalmykia adhere to Buddhism, 18% to the Russian Orthodox Church, 4.8% to Islam, 3% to Tengrism or Kalmyk shamanism, 1% are unaffiliated Christians, 1% are either Orthodox Christian believers who do not belong to a church or are members of non-Russian Orthodox churches, 0.4% adhere to forms of Hinduism, and 9.0% follow other religions or did not give an answer to the survey. In addition, 8.2% of the population declared themselves to be "spiritual but not religious" and another 8% to be atheist.

Economy[]

Kalmykia has a developed agricultural sector. Other developed industries include the food processing and oil and gas industries.

As most of Kalmykia is arid, irrigation is necessary for agriculture. The Cherney Zemli Irrigation Scheme (Черноземельская оросительная система) in southern Kalmykia receives water from the Caucasian rivers Terek and Kuma via a chain of canals: water flows from the Terek to the Kuma via the Terek-Kuma Canal, then to the Chogray Reservoir on the East Manych River via the Kuma–Manych Canal, and finally into Kalmykia's steppes over the Cherney Zemli Main Canal, constructed in the 1970s.

The government of Kalmykia spends about $100 million annually. Its annual oil production is about 1,270,000 barrels.