#Kalmyks

[songs-of-the-east]

Kalmykia Europe's only Buddhist Republic

Kalmykia is an autonomous republic located in the steppes of western Russia formed while Lenin was the leader of the USSR. The republic was created for the national-self determination of the Kalmyk people, Europe's only indigenous Buddhist population.

Kalmyks are mainly descendants of Oirats from Dzungaria who migrated through the steppes and first inhabited the Volga region in western Russia, but as a group they've also mixed with ethnic Russian peasants, Don Cossacks, North Caucasian people, and Kazakhs.

Due to internal strife among different clans in Kalmykia, many Kalmyks sought refugee in the neighbouring Don Cossack lands. Eventually most of those Kalmyks became a part of the Don Cossack Army, and developed into their own sub-ethnic group known as the Buzava or Don Kalmyks. The Buzava adopted much of Don Cossack culture, and intermixture between both groups was common; however, they were able to preserve a unique identity due to maintaining their own language and religion though most also spoke Russian. In the flag of the Don Cossacks the first blue vertical stripe represents the Kalmyks, with its origins in a law formulated during the existence of the temporal Don Republic stating: "Three nationalities have lived on the Don land since ancient times and constitute the indigenous citizens of the Don region - the Don Cossacks, Kalmyks and Russian peasants. Their national colours were: the Don Cossacks - blue, cornflower blue, the Kalmyks - yellow and the Russians - scarlet. "

Photo source: "Kalmykia, Chess, and Buddha" - Tomas van Houtryve

[postcard-from-the-past]

Kalmyks from Russia

Russian vintage postcard, mailed in 1902 to Rybnik, Poland

[vintage-russia]

Kalmyk alphabet

[folkmania]

"Juan y paty 2" fb wrote: Kalmyk people are a Mongolic ethnic group living mainly in Russia, whose ancestors migrated from Dzungaria.

From Wikipedia: Kalmyks are the only Mongolic-speaking people living in Europe, residing in the easternmost part of the European Plain. This dry steppe area, west of the lower Volga River, known among the nomads as Itil/Idjil, basin on the Northwest shore of the Caspian Sea was the most suitable land for nomadic pastures. Itil or Idjil, the ancient name of the Volga River, written in the archaic Oirat script means exactly that, the "pastures" (Oirat-Kalmyk dictionary, 1977).

The ancestors of Kalmyks were nomadic groups of Oirat-speaking people, who migrated from Western Mongolia to Eastern Europe three times: in early medieval times, establishing in the 6th-8th century the Avar-Rouran Khanate; in medieval times, establishing the Ulus of Juchi and Il-Kanate as Khuda-in-laws of Chiggis Khan (Juvaini A-M. Genghis Khan: the history of the world conqueror. Manchester, UK: Manchester Univ. Press; 1997), and finally, in early modern times, establishing the Kalmyk Khanate in the 17th century.

[sitting-on-me-bum]

"Dune Wrestling"

"I visited this small dune in the Kalmyk semi-desert in different months for several years. Each visit added new information about the most interesting local residents, the secret toadhead agamas. I observed their mating behavior, building new burrows, hunting insects, and territorial conflicts. It was these fights while defending their territory that were the most exciting spectacle. A whole ritual with initial “negotiations” with the help of various movements of the tail, demonstration of intimidating poses, and a preliminary warlike dance culminated in a tough fight. This is one of the moments of such a fight in which small lizards look like grappling wrestlers on a sports mat."

By Victor Tyakht

Close-Up Photographer of the Year 

[folkfashion]

Kalmyk girl, Russia, by Гаспар Лалаян

[thinkingimages]

1929. Kalmyk woman in terlg and toortsg hat

[unpopradicalism]

" Who are any of us, anyway? We all generally operate on this notion of a true self. Yet, is there really such a thing as a true self? "

[auilix]

Hear me out, what if period drama but make it Kalmyk?

[kelasian]

finally working on sorkish numerals and 16 ended up being "urvntŕ" [ʊrβn̩ˈdr̩]. good luck to any 16 year old sorkans

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

Танец Взросления • Темная Степь • Черные Быки Войны • Веселые Воины

Spotify ♪ Bandcamp ♪ YouTube

[postcard-from-the-past]

Kalmyks from Russia

Russian vintage postcard, mailed in 1901 to Romans, France

[thenuclearmallard]

Kalmykian woman speaks up

[humongsstuff-binbin0111]

Example sayings in the seed of the soul (Mongolic languages)

[futuristicearthquakepatrol]

「Vasily Vereshchagin. A Kalmyk Lama」

[vernalloy]

From a purely aesthetic perspective-- lovely sound and color. The oranges/reds and blues have a depth to them. It's realistic, but not dull, and very atmospheric, a lot of putting the environment into focus.

One scene that stood out to me was David mentioning he doesn’t keep Shabbat, not framed as a violation, but… multiple paths. For one, his character flaw, keeping himself distant with his work, never letting himself rest or, more relevantly, feel. Second, the question of tradition, not on if to discard it, that’s not what the film is about, but the distance one gets with heritage. These characters are immigrants and descendants of immigrants, only one or two generations removed, yet leading vastly different and often more comfortable lives. There’s a shame you feel, because your grandparents and parents had to sacrifice so much for you to struggle with what feels like comparatively shallow mental illness. 

What a beautiful film. I don’t think I fully understood it but a deep well of sadness started scratching at me