Autobiographies and Family Trees

Lama Agvan Eshey grew up in Elista where he finished secondary school and afterwards served in the army. During perestroika, he actively participated in the work of the first Buddhist community which was established in 1988 and had its first meeting in the building of the Russian Theatre in Elista. In 1989 Kushok Bakula Rinpoche, who was the reincarnation of one of the 16 disciples of Buddha and India’s ambassador to Mongolia, paid a visit to Kalmykia. It was during his visit that the first group of Kalmyk students was sent to Gandan Monastery in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to pursue religious education. Due to personal circumstances, Agvan Eshey did not join the first cohort but remained to work as an assistant in a temple on Lermontov street in Elista. At that time lamas from Buryatia taught basic Tibetan grammar and Buddhist texts at that temple. From them Agvan Eshey learnt some prayers and basic Tibetan.

Tuvan Dordzhi, the Shajin Lama (Head Lama) of Kalmykia at that time, decided that Agvan Eshey should receive a proper religious education. Along with another boy Agvan Eshey was sent to Aginskiy Monastery in Buryatia where he received his first spiritual name of Lobsang Tsodnam. Upon his return to Kalmykia, Agvan Eshey worked in a local temple.

The second visit of Kushok Bakula Rinpoche to Kalmykia took place in 1990. From the high Rinpoche he received his current name of Agvan Eshey.

Ais was born in Krasnoyarskiy krai in Siberia. When his family returned to Kalmykia, he went to secondary school in the village of Tsagan-Nur. After finishing school, he served in the Red Army and was posted to Czechoslovakia. Later he studied history at Kalmyk State University. Apart from two years when he worked in the police, Ais spent his career teaching history in secondary schools in Oktyabrskiy rayon. He is proud of his father who was also a teacher. Ais knows about his ancestors going back ten generations.

Alena was born in Sarpinskiy rayon in Kalmykia. Having lost her mother when she was a young girl, Alena was brought up by her father. She met her future husband in Siberia when the Kalmyks were sent into exile there. Two of her oldest children died in Siberia, although the other four who were born later in Kalmykia survived.

Alexandr is of the Baga Tsoros clan. He was born in Kamyshovo village in Astrakhan’ oblast where he went to secondary school. After serving in the Red Army, he moved to Elista to work as a construction worker. He is aware of only a few of his ancestral generations.

Alexandra is of the Mangad clan. She was born in 1931 in Kutenikovskaya stanitsa. Alexandra and Galina tell of the exile of the Kalmyks in 1943 and their life in Siberia.

Having spent her childhood in orphanages in Siberia, Alexandra does not know her exact date of birth or the name given her by her parents, although she has some recollections of her early childhood in Kalmykia with her parents. She recalls how all Kalmyks were sent into exile in 1943, how her mother was arrested in Siberia, how she herself went hungry and other hardships of her life in exile. After Siberia, she worked as a teacher in a secondary school in Elista. During her childhood, Alexandra was a pioneer, then a komsomol and when she grew up she became a member of the Communist Party. In Kalmykia, she met her future husband and they brought up two children. She lives in Elista with her son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren.

Alexandra talks about her family, the place where she was born, and the deportation of the Kalmyk people in 1943. Her whole family (consisting of six children and the parents) was exiled to Siberia when she was seven. Her family was poor, but they managed to take their most valuable furniture, a big mirror, with them to Siberia. Not long after the family arrived in Altaiskiy krai, Alexandra’s father died, and then her sister. The family exchanged their mirror for food. After finishing elementary school at the age of 12, Alexandra worked as a milkmaid. Gradually their life improved. The locals treated them well. Apart from their family, there were four other Kalmyk families in the same village.

When the Kalmyks were pardoned, Alexandra’s family returned to Elista where they arrived on 10 May 1957. In the beginning, they lived in a barn but later moved in to a barrack. Two days after her arrival, Alexandra went to work in a construction company. She was the brigadier of a team of plasterers. She got married, and her oldest daughter was born in 1960. She soon received a 3-room flat from the state. Later, Alexandra worked as a courier at the People’s Court. After giving birth to a son and another daughter, she worked as a cook in a kindergarten.

Alexandra talks about her life and her family.

In 1943, when the Kalmyks were deported, both my parents were single and both were sent to the Altai region. My father had only his older sister left with him. My mother was with her elderly father and little brother, while her four other older brothers were fighting at the front. My father’s sister was sent to prison for 7 years. In 1949, my parents met each other and got married. I was born in 1950. At home I was called Shura because I was born during a blizzard. In Kalmyk shuurgn means a blizzard. My mother was illiterate, she did not even know how to count money.

I was half a year old when my father lost his eyesight. At that time he worked in a stable, and when everyone had left, he stayed on to guard the horses. When he saw a guy, German by nationality, trying to steal hay by wrapping it on his whip, my father shouted at him and began to quarrel with that guy. Angry, the guy whipped my father in his face, damaging his eyes. My father fell, with his eyesight going blurry. But since he could not leave the workplace, he just sat there until the morning, with his eyes bleeding. In the morning, he went to see a medical assistant who told him to go to the district center. He had no money, could not speak Russian and so decided to stay at home as a result of which he went blind.

My mother worked in the slaughterhouse, and brought us pig intestines. That is how we survived. There is a saying that ‘Every cloud has a silver lining’. When Sandzhi Alekseevich Kenzeev came to our village he saw how we lived and demanded that our father be granted a disability allowance. Until his death, my parents thanked Sandzhi Alekseevich Kenzeev for that.

By the end of the exile, there were already three children in our family. All the Kalmyks had returned to Kalmykia, but we were still in Altai. We returned to the homeland with the last 10 families. I remember it very well. It was April and the steppe was in mud. We settled in the farm Sharnut whose chairman was the Hero of Socialist Labour, Ivan Ivanovich Litvinov.

I graduated from Kanukovskiy high school and decided to enroll at the Pedagogical Institute, which later became a university. However, I did not pass the exams and had to return home. My mother was a seasonal worker and my father was disabled. After a while, the director of my school who knew me since my childhood called me to her office and said that it was necessary for me to work and help my family. She found me a job at the school canteen. I made sandwiches, sold candies and food.

One summer, I was called to the district centre where the head of the centre asked me if I wanted to teach in a primary school, for there was a shortage of teachers. I agreed. Then he asked me where I wanted to work, in Dogzmakin or in the Krasnoselskiy state farm. I chose Dogzmakin and moved there in 1965. I worked at the local school for 2 years, and later I entered the Pedagogical College in Elista. After my studies I returned home to the Kanukovskiy state farm. Since there were few teachers of Kalmyk language and no textbooks at all, I prepared my lessons myself. After three years, I had my wedding in Dogzmakin, where I began to work as a teacher. My husband was a driver. We had four children. I worked in the local school for 35 years, became an honorary educator of Russia and a labor veteran of Russia and Kalmykia.

I have a younger sister who was born in 1952. After graduating from university, she became an agronomist and worked in Kanukovskiy for many years. I also have a brother, Boris Mamuevich Mankhaev, a veterinarian who also worked for many years in Kanukovskiy and now lives in Elista. Our youngest sister studied accounting, worked for many years at the Kanukovskiy state farm, and now also lives in Elista.

In conclusion, I want to say that there is a Kalmyk proverb ‘From the bad comes good’ (‘Muugas mongl gardg’). Although our parents were illiterate, we all received a good education and today we live no worse than other people.

Amlgn was born in 1934 in Maloderbetovskiy rayon in Kalmykia. She was one of 15 children in her family. Amlgn recalls how they lived in Kalmykia before the Nazi invasion in 1942, how she hid during the Nazi bombardment, how her father did not return from the war, and how they were sent into exile to Altaiskiy krai in Siberia. She also tells of exile, about how people lived there, and how they performed weddings. She got married in Siberia. In 1956 Amlgn and her family returned to Kalmykia.

The Kalmyks were sent into exile when Anatoliy was two. In Siberia he was constantly ill but studied hard in school. After the exile, he returned to Yashkul' rayon in Kalmykia where he worked for many years in a secondary school. He was also an instructor in the Yashkul' regional committee of the Communist Party.

Andrei is of the Malyi Tsatan clan. His co-villagers refer to him as a ‘descendant of the Kazakh’, for one of his ancestors lived in the land of the Kazakh people for 7 to 8 years where he got married to a local woman called Fatima. Later his ancestor returned to his native place and married a Kalmyk girl.

My name is Anna Bovaevna Azvanova, Azvanova is my marital name. I was born in a place called Shorvan Kets on 22 February 1941. Four months after my birth, the Great Patriotic War broke out. On 28 December 1943 my family was forcibly deported to Siberia. We lived there for 13 years and returned to Kalmykia, to our homeland, on 15 April 1958. It was freezing in Siberia; the temperature would drop to 40-50 degrees below zero. Before the exile my parents were cattle-breeders and my elder sister (born in 1936) worked with my parents. In Siberia we had a vegetable patch where we grew potatoes. There was even a sugar factory in our sovkhoz. We had food. My mother had given birth to twins on 7 February 1951 in Siberia. I looked after the twins while my parents and elder sister worked all day. This is how we lived in Siberia. In 1958 we returned to Kalmykia. Here we settled in a sovkhoz and looked after the livestock. I got married and gave birth to six children. Today I have 11 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren. I am already 76.

Those were difficult years in Siberia, we had to steal some grain to eat. After grating grains, we fried them on a stove. We used to make cereals too. Because we worked in sovkhoz we were given a patch of land (1000-1500 squared meters in size) where we planted potatoes and pumpkins. We did not eat frozen potatoes, we planted our own and ate fresh potatoes. My mother cooked us meals from potatoes and pumpkins. We did not have cakes and candies, not even tea. In those days tea (in blocks) was expensive. My father had to divide and share tea blocks with his friends. The sovkhoz grew vegetables and there was a lot of sugar. This is how we lived in Siberia.

Anna was born in 1947 in Krasnoyarsky krai, Siberia. She talks about her childhood in a livestock breeding farm and about how they celebrated the national holiday Zul. When she was 10, the Kalmyks were pardoned and allowed to return to Kalmykia. Anna’s family settled in the village of Gashunsky in Yashkul’ rayon of Kalmykia. Anna finished secondary school in the village. Later she moved to the village of Chilgir. She also talks about her parents and about rituals that the Kalmyks performed in Siberia. In 1964 Anna fell ill with anemia. Modern doctors could not cure her, but she was cured by a folk healer called Dorzhin Shagdzh who lived in the first cattle breeding farm of the sovkhoz named after Delikov in Sarpinsky rayon of Kalmykia. Anna had folk healers in her family too. Her mother, for example, cured ill children by using traditional methods. Anna’s mother’s uncle was a monk called Sandzhi Ulanov. In 1994, however, Anna fell ill again and decided to set up a Buddhist altar in her house.

Anna talks about traditional healing methods and about how to cure a cold and sickness (by drinking a soup made of goose meat mixed with its byle). She also talks about the famous Odinokoe Derevo (Lonely Tree), a ritual called amnya dolig (life substitution) and about signs and omens. For example, to see a crow or a hoopoe is a bad omen. It is also forbidden to eat a saiga antelope or a pike fish.

Anna was born in 1945 in Novosibirsky oblast. Since her parents were both orphans, Anna does not know about her genealogy. Before the deportation in 1943, her father worked as a shepherd and her mother was a housewife. After deportation, her family returned to the village of Kotel’nikovo in Volgogradsky oblast where her father was originally from.

Antonida was born in Siberia. Snowy hills are the most vivid memories of her childhood. Later her family returned to Kalmykia where she went to secondary school and then to a medical college in Nal’chik. She says she spent her life doing her dream job in the public health service.

Baatr is from the arvn of Baga Bat of the Iki-Bukhus clan of Malyi Derbet. He has lived in the village of Iki-Bukhus all his life. He recounts his genealogy and tells of the origin of his surname Mandzhiev.

Badma was born in 1948 in Frunze (today Bishkek), Kyrgyz SSR. He has an older sister, Galina. They had loving parents – a Kalmyk father and a Russian mother. Badma recalls that in his childhood all of his neighbours got along well and always helped one another out. The Kalmyks in Kyrgyz SSR spoke their native language and celebrated holidays together. Among other childhood memories, Badma also recalls that his father always kept a copy of the Kalmyk heroic epos Jangar. During the deportation of the Kalmyk nation (1943-1957), his father, Morkhadzhi Bambaevich Narmaev, wrote a letter to Stalin, as did many Kalmyks. At some point his father even travelled to Moscow to meet with general Voroshilov.

After the Kalmyks were pardoned, Badma's family returned to Kalmykia in 1957. In Kalmykia, many returnees continued to speak Kalmyk. It was a happy and inspirational period – the economy was growing rapidly and public education improving. Badma's father worked as director of an experimental cattle farm working on the revival of Kalmyk breeds of livestock, and his mother found a job as a pharmacist in Elista. Later his father defended his doctorate degree in agriculture and was appointed director of the Kalmyk Institute for Livestock Breeding. Also a poet and writer, Morkhadzhi Bambaevich Narmaev spent his free time writing. One of his well-known novels, The Manych River, contains rich information about Kalmyk folklore, culture and history of the early 20th century.

Badma was also interested in Kalmyk culture from early childhood. He studied at the Oriental Faculty of Leningrad University specializing in Tibetan philology. Badma's father was very supportive of his son's choice of subject. Today Badma works as a lecturer at Saint Petersburg University. One of the projects that he has been working on for some time is a rare Tibetan version of the Mongolian epos Geser. Badma also talks about Buddhism, Kalmyk lamas, and about Buryat lama Agvan Dorzhiev who supported Buddhism in Kalmykia.

I was born in Altsyn-Khuta, in the settlement of Tsegrg, where the famous Kalmyk poet Seryatir Badmaev was born. Other famous people from my clan are Muuta Garyaev, Lidzhi Inzhiev and many others. Now there are few people left there. When our elders were alive, they showed us the previous place of our village where villagers planted a tree. We gather there to worship that tree.

My father was a teacher. He passionately loved his language and Kalmyk culture. For Kalmyk science he introduced the famous storyteller Sanzhi Butaev. My father brought him to Elista, helped him participate in TV programmes and festivals, and introduced him to the local scientific institute. Sanzhi Butaev was later studied by well-known Kalmyk scholars such as Nikolai Bitkeev, Erendzhen Bardaev and others.

In the 1970s my father worked in the House of Culture where he often met singers, dancers and people who knew Kalmyk folklore. It’s there where he met Sanzhi Butaev.

I went to secondary school in Ketchenery. After graduating from the Kalmyk Faculty at the Kalmyk State University, I did my post-graduate studies and the topic of my thesis was Kalmyk fairy tales. My supervisor was Andrei Vasilievich Badmaev. In 2006, in Maikop, I defended my Ph.D. and returned to Kalmykia to work at the Kalmyk Institute for Humanitarian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. There I continued to work on Kalmyk fairy tales.

At that time Nina Goryaevna Ochirova was the director of the institute. She made it her priority to support talented young scholars. With her assistance, many young scholars received additional education in leading universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg. These measures contributed to our professional growth.

When we were young our experienced colleagues, including E. Ovalov, N. Ubushaev, R. Dzhambinova, B. Okonov, helped us. This continues to this day, and they carry on helping us with their advice and knowledge.

I grew up with my grandmother, Mikhailova Matsak Tyulumdzhievna. My grandmother was born when Kalmyks still lived a nomadic life. From her childhood she was accustomed to doing chores, cooking, looking after her family’s livestock and milking cows. Despite having problems with hearing, she sang and played musical instruments.

My grandfather, Kheichiev Mikhail Badmaevich, was an educated man and he worked as a teacher. When the Kalmyks returned from Siberia, he was one of those who organized education in the Ketchenerovskiy rayon. We still keep his notebooks and his beautiful calligraphic handwriting.

Bairta is of the Gangra clan. She is retired, has four children, and three grandchildren. Born in 1923, her father participated in WWII. After the war, Bairta’s parents married in Siberia where they brought up six children. Bairta herself is the third child in her family. In 1957 the whole family returned to Kalmykia.

Bosya was born in a collective farm called Shar Luuzan in Astrakhan oblast’. Both her parents worked on the collective farm, her mother as a milkmaid, and her father as a shepherd. When Bairta was seven, her family was sent into exile to Khanty-Mansiisk okrug in Siberia where she spent her childhood and adolescence. After returning to Kalmykia, Bairta got married and gave birth to six children. She has 13 grandchildren and six grand-grandchildren.

Bulgun talks about herself and her ancestors.

I was born in 1937 in Gorodovikovsk. My father’s name is Lapsin Burbet Vasilievich. Our surname comes from our grandfather Lavs. My great-grandfather’s name is Menke. He was a non-commissioned officer in the Tersk Army. My father told me that my great-grandfather was a very strong man and even when he was 82 he could topple a bull by holding its horns. When my grandmother died during childbirth, my grandfather took his three children and left his nomadic camp to work for some Ukrainians. So, my father learned Ukrainian songs.

My father’s elder brother, Nimgir, graduated with honors from a parish school and taught his two younger brothers how to read and write. My father knew several languages, including Ukrainian, Chechen and Ossetian, and was a skillful person himself.

When we were deported, our father was fighting at the front. He was wounded in late 1944 and ended up in a hospital in Georgia. When in May 1945 he returned to Bashanta, he found no one from his family. He did not believe that the Kalmyks had been deported. He went to the local council and asked them to give him a certificate about what his family had left behind: two cows, a house, a bed and a bookcase.

Before the war, he worked as a chief accountant at the machine-tractor station. His younger brother graduated from the Soviet Party School and became secretary of the Party Committee of the collective farm Leninets. He ended up in Shiroklag (work camp for soldiers), in 1945 he was released and transported to Omsk where he died in a hospital, unable to recover.

My father found us in Siberia in July 1945. He had medals: Chevalier of the Order of Glory and the Red Star. He died in 1968 in the city of Gorodovikovsk in Kalmykia. My mother died in 1944 in Siberia. In Siberia, we lived in the Krasnoyarsk rayon of the Omsk region, where I graduated from school. My school was very good and the teachers knowledgeable. We were even taught how to properly hold a fork and a spoon. Our German teacher was an exiled German from the Volga.

After graduating from Kalmyk State University, I worked in a teacher’s college and later as head of the Civil Registry Office in Elista until my retirement. I have two children, a son and a daughter, as well as five grandchildren. My husband is 83 years old, his name is Koldunov Sergey Morokovich. He worked as a driver.

Bulyash was born in 1929 in the village of Tagkh, but later her family moved to a place called Tyong. Both of her parents were orphans. Proficient in Russian and a responsible man, her father was director of the kholkhoz in Tyong. After the death of her father, Bulyash lived with her mother, two sisters, and brother. In 1943 her family was deported to Siberia where they spent the first winter in the kolkhoz of Panovka. In 1944 Bulyash and her sister moved to another place which in 1948 was turned into a Kalmyk kholkhoz. In 1950 Bulyash got married to Mandzhi Chumudov from the clan of Uuzhakhn. After the wedding, which was performed according to Kalmyk customs, she went to live with her husband's family.

In 1957 Bulyash along with her husband and children returned to Kalmykia and settled in the village of Gashun Burgusta where she worked mainly on building sites. After her retirement in 1984, she worked in the local sovkhoz. Her husband died in 1995. Bulyash gave birth to seven children who are all educated.

Bulyash also talks about her wedding and how she lived with her husband's family.

I grew up in a close-knit family. My mother gave birth to 12 children, only 4 survived. I was born in 1934, and my siblings were born in Siberia. In Kalmykia my father worked at the newspaper Khalmg Unn. My mother was musical, she played the Saratov accordion and dombra. My father could dance well. Apparently, I inherited this gift from him. On holidays, my parents sang traditional long songs (ut dun).

My father was wounded in his right hand in the Battle of Stalingrad. (During exile) my mother and I ended up in the Krasnoyarsk territory, in the town of Bogotol, from there we were transported to the village of Yuryevskiy. One day our neighbor saw my father on the street, and we all ran out to meet him. As a disabled veteran, my father took us and moved to Bogotol, to work in Soviet Star which was an artel (a cooperative association of craftsmen living and working together). The artel had 12 cooperatives, including sausage making, carpentry, shoemaking and others. With time, my father started writing with his right hand and became an accountant. After graduating from the 10th grade, I wanted to enter the Pedagogical Institute in Krasnoyarsk, but it did not take in Kalmyk students. I went with a classmate to study how to sew clothes in the Trade and Culinary School instead. In the second year students did practice in shops where they later could become directors.

Once I was invited to the regional commandant’s office. There I was told that I was freed from the special resettlement and could move around freely. I was given a clean passport, without the word ‘special resettlement’. I wrote to my mom, and she told me to come home. I went home without getting a certificate. My father told me to go to uncle Zambo in Frunze, Kyrgyzstan, to study at a teacher’s college. I went to Frunze. But to study at the teacher’s college it was necessary to know the Kyrgyz language. I decided to give up and study at the Faculty of Foreign Languages in another university. When I was at the end of my first year, the restoration of Kalmykia began.

Ivan Kuznetsovich Ilishkin who taught philosophy at our university, gathered all Kalmyk students and urged us to go to Kalmykia to rebuild it. In Kyrgyzstan, my father was promised an apartment as an invalid of war, and I could study English in my second year. But we decided to return to our homeland. My mother and I began to persuade my father to return to Kalmykia. Ivan Ilishkin told me that he could arrange for me to find work in the village of Komsomolskiy, in Kalmykia, because there they had a better salary. I did as he told me and transferred my course to Pyatigorsk University to study from distance.

After a year of work in the village, I moved to Elista where I worked as a teacher of the German language in a secondary school. After work I participated in amateur performances, sang songs in Russian and Kalmyk. Ulan Lidzhieva invited me to sing in the ensemble ‘Tulip’. I asked my father’s advice, but he said that I did not need to leave the teaching job, and could sing in the evening.

My aunt Mosya sang songs, which the scholars Kichikov and Nominkhanov wrote down. Nikolai was also musical, they lived in Sakhalin, where he learned to play a Japanese melody. My father was well-read, loved to joke, and lived 88 years.

My maternal aunt, Matryona Zubova, also played dombra, sang songs, and people gathered in her house during holidays.

Delyash is of the Baga Shebener clan. She is married with two children. Before marriage she did not know Kalmyk but now speaks it well. She discusses the Kalmyk language.

Dzhidzha recounts her story of how her family was exiled to Siberia. She recalls that the carriage they were put in was full. At one of the stations Dzhidzha and her 17-year-old sister saw a room full of frozen corpses. Her family ended up in Kozulskiy rayon, in a small village 12 kilometers from the train station. Soon Dzhidzha’s two younger sisters died. Having found a job as a seamstress, she and her mother did not go hungry, although some people around her did. Later Dzhidzha worked in a factory that produced railways which had three shifts. If they missed the production target, the workers were punished. After Siberia, Dzhidzha returned to her native village of Khavtkha where she worked for 5 years on the grain field. In 1962 she got married. Today she has 3 children, 6 grandchildren and 1 greatgrandchild.

Ekaterina was born in 1955 in the village of Chistyunka in Altaisky krai, Siberia. Her father’s name is Lidzhi-Garya Dordzhiev and her mother’s is Andzha Basangova. Her mother was a clairvoyant and could see the future in her dreams. Today Ekaterina works in Moscow. Before that she worked as a teacher in a secondary school in Kalmykia. From her father-in-law she learnt about how to behave properly in a traditional family, how to perform rituals and respect men. Ekaterina also talks about traditional weddings, including that of her son. She says what she thinks about Kalmyk culture, how the young do not speak their native language and do not know rituals.

Elza talks about her childhood, how her family was deported and how they returned home.

My father was sick and bed-bound when two soldiers came into our house to deport us. One of them was a Russian and the other a Tatar. At first they were harsh and angry but soon calmed down and allowed us to take warm things with us. We were not deported straight away, but were first kept in an empty house till dawn and then loaded into trucks and transported to the train station. We did not have time to even slaughter a sheep for food.

On the way to exile our train passed over a bridge that had been constructed recently. When our train passed, the bridge was shaking and we all prayed that it did not collapse. Later I heard that the bridge collapsed under the next train that followed ours. No proper food was provided during the trip, and they gave us only some warmish soup. The carriages were very cold inside.

In Krasnoyarsk the train was unloaded, and we were sent to a place to rid ourselves of lice. The beads and talismans that the old Kalmyk women were wearing around their necks were taken away by Russian girls. We were put into barracks until the spring. All who could work were sent to work. In the spring we moved to the second branch of the local collective farm where life became a bit easier for us. We collected potatoes, and we could also get some food from around. In the collective farm we met Russians with whom we became friends. The following year I married a soldier who returned from the front wounded. I have 6 children and 34 grandchildren. In my 94 years I have seen so much. My children have all grown up, and now I am just resting.

After our marriage, my husband found a better place and we moved to the kormosovkhoz (collective farm that produced feed for cattle). There, our eldest daughter went to school. I myself worked as a nurse in a kindergarten.

In 1957 we were allowed to return to our homeland. We bought whatever needed for the trip and set off. Since my husband was originally from the village of Barun in Astrakhan region, he wanted to go to his native village. But I wanted our family to live in my native village. For the time being we decided to stop in Tsagan-Aman where we lived until we moved to Elista.

This video features short interviews with Boris Boktaev, Nadezhda Badmaeva, Ekaterina Dordzhieva, Nina Erenzhenova, Pavel Antonov, Galina Tekeeva, and Elvira Chumudova about their family trees and ancestors.

Felix is of the Kyurldyakhn arvn of the Kaaknakhn clan. He was born in Elista. He went to kindergarten and secondary school there. Now he is a student at Kalmyk State University majoring in Kalmyk studies.

Galina was born in Kalmykia. When she was 11, the whole family was sent into exile in Siberia. When she was 12 she already worked on a collective farm looking after cattle and sheep. After exile, she returned with her family to Kalmykia where she worked in a kindergarten until her retirement.

Galina was born in the village of Sytomino, Surgut district of Tyumen oblast, Siberia, in 1953. When she was 6, the whole family moved back to Kalmykia where they settled in the village of Uldyuchiny. After finishing secondary school, she studied at the Kalmyk Medical College, and for the next 38 years she worked as a nurse in the Republican Hospital. Galina is retired, she raises her grandchildren.

Galina is one of seven children in her family. She was born in the village of Ergeninskiy in Ketchener rayon where she went to secondary school. After graduating from Kalmyk State University in Elista majoring in Kalmyk language and literature, Galina taught Kalmyk in a secondary school in her native village. Her father, Muta, knew many legends and stories about the origin of various clans. Galina relates in detail her father’s genealogy and about the residents of his native village.

Before the mass deportation of the Kalmyks in 1943, Galina’s parents lived in Astrakhan oblast. In 1943, the family was sent to the village of Oboinoe in Krasnoyarskiy krai where Galina was born in 1949. Her family had six children. In 1958 Galina and her family returned to the village of Karabulak in Ikryaninskiy rayon, Astrakhan oblast. There Galina finished 8 grades in secondary school. In 1969 she finished the Pedagogical college in Elista and was sent to the secondary school in Kharba. To this day Galina works in the local school as a teacher. Galina married in Kharba, has three children and seven grandchildren. Three of Galina’s sisters live in Elista.

Galina says that in her family men and boys were always respected. For example, she never quarrelled with her brother. Galina’s father had a 7-year education which was quite impressive by the standards of that time. He worked as a brigadier and as an accountant in a fruit farm. Galina’s mother was a seasonal worker in a fishery. Galina says she does not know much about her ancestors and genealogy.

When she was young, Galina did not know much about rituals either. But with age she came to appreciate Kalmyk rituals. She reminisces that her mother was a religious person and used to go to see a lama named Sharav. Later lama Sharav moved away to Tsagan-Aman.

Today along with her friend Maria, Galina looks after the local temple in her village. It was the previous temple attendant, a woman named Dusya, who asked Galina to look after the temple, because both were born in the year of the cow. Dusya also likes Galina, because Galina is a responsible person. When Dusya died, Galina and Maria took charge of the temple.

In the video Galina talks about the ritual of gal tyalgn (fire offerings).

In her village, this ritual is carried out in a designated place in October. The villagers pull among themselves money to buy food for offerings and invite a lama. Some lamas, Galina says, incorporate a sheep sacrifice in this ritual, others do not. The villagers do whatever lamas tell them to do. Food offerings include milk, yoghurt, rice, sugar, biscuits, and candies. After a fire is set up, the lama reads prayers and throws the food offerings on to the fire. Then he pours milk. All the participants partake from the food offerings and light their own candles. Since there is no water (lakes, rivers etc.) in the vicinity, people in Galina’s village do not perform usn tyaklgn (a ritual to make offerings to the masters of water).

Galina also talks about how people celebrate Zul and Tsagan Sar in her village. Before Zul, the villagers tidy up their homes, prepare 108 candles and make offerings to gods. They also do a tea party for the elderly. During Zul and Tsagan Sar the schoolchildren organize concerts.

When Galina was a child and lived with her family in Astrakhan, her grandfather used to go fishing with a net. He would leave the net in the water overnight and collect it the next morning. In her family, they ate fish prepared in various ways: cooked, salted, dried, made burgers and as a soup. Her father also made dishes from pike’s caviar mixed with flour and fried in oil. The pike, carp, pikeperch, catfish, perch, bream, and others were the fish varieties that they ate.

Her neighbors also grew, Galina recalls, various vegetables, including cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, onion, and pumpkins.

Galina says that her mother used the following traditional methods to cure illnesses. For stomachache, she boiled water and mixed it with butter. To treat a hurting knee, she wrapped it with a hare’s pelt.

At the end Galina talks about the ritual of first haircut and name giving practices among the Kalmyks. One of Galina’s boys was named Sangadzhi-Garya in honour of her grandfather, although it is not customary among the Kalmyks to name their children after their deceased relatives or ancestors. But Galina’s family decided to go along with the name, as her father insisted that the name fitted the boy.

Galina was born in 1943 in Yasta village in Dolbansky rayon of Astrakhan' oblast. Before the deportation of the Kalmyks in 1943, her father was chairman of the village council and her mother, who was a housewife, looked after the five children. Galina relays her mother's story of how her family was deported. At that time Galina's father was away from home fighting with the German army. Galina's mother and her siblings were deported to Balchary village in Kandinsky rayon of Tyumenskaya oblast. A sewing machine that Galina's mother managed to take with her was the main source of income for the whole family. Her mother made and repaired clothing in Siberia. In 1948 the family was resettled to Orlovo village on the Sakhalin Islands. Galina recalls her childhood, how Kalmyks celebrated Zul and Tsagan Sar. She also talks about her school years.

Evdokiya was born in 1942 in Orgakin village in Troitskii rayon, Kalmykia. There were six children in her family. Despite being disabled, her father worked in the fields. Evdokiya remembers the 1943 deportation and how her family was sent to Sitomino village in Surgutsky rayon of Tyumenskaya oblast. In Siberia, her parents worked at a fishery on the river Ob’. In 1948 her family was resettled to the town of Uglegorsk on the Sakhalin Islands. All the Kalmyks who were resettled on these Islands were housed in huts previously occupied by the Japanese. In 1957 Evdokiya’s family returned to Kalmykia. In 1966 she got married and worked as a teacher for 40 years. She has three children and eight grandchildren.

Raisa is also a retired woman. She has four children, 13 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. In terms of affiliation, she belongs to the Baga-Chonos clan. Raisa was born in 1942 in Elista. Her elder brother died during the 1943 deportation and her father died a year later in Ukraine while fighting for the Red Army. In 1943 shortly after they arrived in the Sakhalin Islands, Raisa's mother also died. Raisa spent her childhood living with various relatives and later she was resettled along with her uncle's family to Omskaya oblast. In 1956 she returned to Elista, Kalmykia, with her uncle and aunt. After finishing the Pedagogical College in Elista, she worked as a teacher. In 1962 she got married. She talks about her wedding.

Gerel was born in the village of Kumskoi in Chernozemel’sky rayon of Kalmykia. She has two older brothers. Today she lives and works in Moscow. She talks about her childhood, her grandmother, her grandfather’s cousin and Kalmyk weddings, including her own wedding and that of her brother.

Irina was born in 1943, although according to her passport her date of birth is 1940. In order to work, she added three years to her actual age when she was young. She has two sisters. Irina spent her childhood in the village of Minusinsk in Krasnoyarsk krai, Siberia. Since her mother was always away at work, Irina was brought up by her grandmother. In school Irina was an active girl and often participated in skiing competitions. After finishing secondary school, she worked on a chicken farm. In 1958, the whole family returned to Kalmykia where Irina got married and worked in various jobs. She was a herder, a wool cutter, and later worked on a construction site. In 1968 she gave birth to a girl. Having lived in the village of Ulan Kheech for many years, in 1980 Irina and her family moved to Elista. Despite being retired, Irina leads an active social life. She helps out her family and friends, and heals sick children.

Jangar is an architect and a philosopher. He was born in Elista in 1938. He is from the Baga-Chonos clan. Jangar’s step father, Konstantin Erendzhenov, was a famous Kalmyk poet who was Maxim Gorky’s friend and he was sent to gulag from 1938 to 1958. While in gulag he extracted 37 kg of gold for which he received a medal. Jangar’s mother, Bova Kolpakova, was one of the first Komsomol members in Kalmykia. In 1925, she went to study in Leningrad. She was a talented singer and dancer and played in several movies.

In Jangar’s family there were four children. In 1944 when their family was sent to exile to Altaiskiy krai in Siberia, Jangar’s younger brother was 4, Jangar himself was 6, and his older brothers Mingiyan and Bold were 8 and 10 respectively. After the exile, the family returned to Kalmykia where Jangar and Mingiyan worked in various cultural projects, including Kalmyk music, art, theatre and architecture.

His brother Mingiyan’s songs are well-known in Kalmykia. Mingiyan was also an architect, builder, and the first secretary of the State Construction Company of Kalmykia. The two brothers worked together on many building projects in Kalmykia, including the House of Government, Lenin’s square, various rayon centres and so on. Jangar’s another brother Bold was an Honoured Artist of Kalmykia. In this way, many members of Jangar’s family contributed to the revival of culture in post-exile Kalmykia.

Jangar also has an interest in questions about the origin of nomadic architecture, civilization and culture. Jangar describes himself as a cosmist and philosopher. He has developed a theory of nomadic architecture and nomadic city building. In 1987, his project of lunar settlement won the first prize in a competition.

Jangar says that the yurt (nomadic tent) has a circular form, and in a similar way Earth too rotates around the sun in a circular orbit. According to him, all living beings move in circles or rotate.

Jangar also talks about the origin of civilizations, world political processes, noosphera (a theory about cosmic consciousness first developed by Vernadsky), energies, the cosmic theory of memory and other topics. Jangar contends that in Russia people have what he calls ‘creative thinking’. In the west, in contrast, people have ‘rational thinking’.

I was born in Volgograd oblast. My parents lived there along with some other Kalmyks. When the war broke out, my family returned home, to live with the rest of the Kalmyks. In my family we had 5 children and all members of my clan lived next to each other. I was little and vaguely remember this time. When all men were taken to the war front, we all went to work. Kalmyks are such a people that they compose songs about all important events.

In 1943 we were all deported. It was early in the morning. Two soldiers came and I did not understand what kind of people they were. It was hard to live in Siberia, but when the decree on rehabilitation came out, we almost all returned home. Few people stayed in Siberia. When we returned there was nowhere to live in Kalmykia and so we put all the strength together to build houses and live in our homeland. Later my family built a house and we moved to Elista. I am retired now, I am a pensioner. I help my grandchildren and relatives. I also plant flowers. This is how I live now. I always pray that young people live better than my generation. As for the rest, if there is no war it is good.

I was born in Yasta village, in Dolbanskiy ulus of Kalmyk Soviet Socialist Republic. People grew cotton in my village. I was four when World War Two broke out. I remember how my family was deported to Siberia. We were not allowed to take any possessions with us. We were loaded on tracks and taken to a railway station, which was, I think, in Astrakhan. The carts that we travelled inside had an iron stove each and a bucket with coal. The journey was cold. When we arrived at a train station in Tyumenskaya oblast, we were told to undress. Our clothes were then sterilised. After that, we were given random clothes, and people ended up wearing someone else’s clothes.  Afterwards, we were transported to a village and housed in a dugout.

Many children became orphans that winter. Old people could not bear the cold and died in droves. Since the earth was frozen, we could not bury our dead that were left on the ground under the snow. In the spring, when snow melted and the corpses emerged, people buried them.  The local Germans, who were also deported, helped us to bury the deceased.

Later my nephew gathered all our relatives together and settled us in a military camp. There was plenty of food, for the army was well-provided. Afterwards, we all moved to Tyumen where we worked in logging industry and timber warehouses. There I went to school with many other Kalmyk children. Among us we did not distinguish between Torghuts, Derbets and Buzavas. We were all united by the same label of ‘the enemy of the people’.

In 1957 we heard that Kalmyks were permitted to return to Kalmykia. Excited with the news, people could not even sleep. My family decided to return to Kalmykia.

When we arrived in Kalmykia, our village had ceased to exist. The streets were empty. The local people had given the land away to another kolkhoz. We tried to get our land back, but to no avail. That kolkhoz was a Tatar village, called Dizel’. Today it is called Zenzeli. We went to that village and talked to the local Tatars, who invited us to stay with them. That is how we ended up living here. I worked as an accountant on the watermelon farm.

One day, an old Tatar man showed me a place in the watermelon field with three trees that Kalmyks considered to be sacred. Several men from Bantir village set fire to these trees, but the trees would not burn. To get rid of the trees, the men decided to dry them out by leaving them without water. Eventually the trees died. The land in that spot is bare, even in winter. We worship this sacred spot.

I often visit that place. There is a hill, which is also bare, without any vegetation. The land around that place, by contrast, is covered with grass and cane. I think that after the trees were killed, the land around became offended. Russians think that this place is haunted.

Today I am a pensioner. I worked for 41 years at the local garage. I have three children, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren. One of my daughters lives in Ovata village in Kalmykia. The other two children live with me.

Lidzhi talks about his genealogy, parents, Siberian exile, family relics and Kalmyk traditions.

Lidzhi is from Bichkn Bargs arvn of the Bag Derbet clan. Both his parents are from the Bag Derbet clan. Today his ancestral land is situated between the villages of Khanata and Ungn Teryachi in Maloderbetovskiy rayon of Kalmykia. According to his clan’s elders, their clan can be traced back to Baibagas Khan who was a descendant of Chingis Khan’s younger brother Khasar.

Lidzhi knows the names of his male ancestors five generations back: Shegshg, Shar, Omg, Muukhla, and Chuucha. Lidzhi’s father’s name is Chuucha and his mother’s is Nogan. They had 10 children among whom Lidzhi is the youngest. Lidzhi himself has three sons, and a grandchild.

Chuucha was born in 1927. His father died when he was four. During the Second World War Chuucha was captured by Germans when he was digging anti-tank trenches. He met his future father-in-law in a German camp for war prisoners from where both men managed to escape.

During the deportation of the Kalmyk people, Chuucha and his future father-in-law were sent to the town of Prokop’evsk in Siberia where Chuucha got married and had four children. He worked in the mines. Chuucha also looked after his older brother’s two children.

After Siberia, Lidzhi’s family settled in the village of Druzhnyi in Oktyabrskiy rayon of Kalmykia where Chuucha traded meat and went hunting. Later Lidzhi’s family moved to the kolkhoz of Vladimir Il’ich Lenin in order to join Chuucha’s parents-in-law.

When the Kalmyks were sent into exile to Siberia, Lidzhi’s mother, 12, managed to take with her an old picture of Buddha and a rosary. In Siberia, she looked after the family relics and brought them back to Kalmykia intact. Lidzhi says that his family kept their relics in secret until 2010. Both the picture and the rosary are very old. The rosary was used by Lidzhi’s mother, grandmother and great grandmother. Today Lidzhi uses the rosary himself.

Lidzhi also relays a story about how his brother, who fell ill, was cured by a ‘healer’.

Lidzhi and his relatives travel to his paternal grandfather’s burial place to perform gal tyalgn (fire rituals), read prayers, and ask for forgiveness from their ancestors.

Mergen talks about himself: his upbringing, childhood, schooling and his work.

I was born in Elista on 11 February1977 into a family of teachers. I finished secondary school No 18. As my grandmother worked in the Ministry of Culture of Kalmykia, I grew up knowing creative people and from my childhood wanted to be a sculptor. Although my grandmother discouraged me from this, I was persistent with my dream. When my mother was pregnant with me, she wanted a baby who would be either a dancer or an artist, so my choice was programmed. In my childhood I loved singing.

I studied in a drawing class in an art school in Elista where I was molded into an artist. Later when I went to an academy I simply replenished my knowledge. Therefore, I am very grateful to my first teachers, Evgeniy Khakhulin, Delya Vaskina and others.

When I entered the St. Petersburg Art and Industry Academy, I thought of myself as a good painter, but eventually decided to study ceramics. Most teachers know that young people who enter the academy are very ambitious, so they try to suppress their youthful arrogance. If the Repin Academic Institute of Fine Arts produces artists who draw with photographic precision, then our academy prepares specialists in contemporary art.

I wish to become an artist who propagates Kalmyk art through the use of modern visual materials. That is why I did my thesis work on the epos Jangar in the style of Suprematism and Expressionism. I think everyone liked my work. It has been exhibited not only in our academy but abroad as well.

When I was working on the epos Jangar, I reimagined all the heroes of that epos. As I was working on Mingiyan, I remembered a line in the epos describing this hero as one at whose sight the buttons in women’s dresses unbuttoned by themselves. I used this idea in his depiction.

In my work the hero Khongor has a big hole in the middle of his chest, which symbolizes his oath that he would take his heart out and dedicate it the people and his homeland.

My favorite character is Gyuzyan Gyumb. Fat and lazy, he is depicted as lying on the floor.

The most complex were the characters of Jangar and Altan Tseji, who have similar characteristics. Altan Tseji wisely directed the young Jangar, instilling in him ideas about good, evil and honor. Altan Tseji is depicted in black and white, for his vision of the world is black-or-white. His view of the world does not allow mixed colors.

Jangar himself is a very interesting and complex character. Sanal also has a colorful personality. The epos includes duality and opposite characters. Savr is the strongest among all the heroes. By contrast, Khongor, who is the embodiment of spiritual swiftness and savviness, wins not by brute force but by his strong will. Similarly, we Kalmyks may not be the strongest, but we have a strong willpower which helps us. Another example is Gyuzyan Gyumb and Altan Tseji. The former is a shaman, whereas the latter is a scholar. Mingiyan and Sanal, who are both extremely handsome, also differ. The former a little bit mischievous, whereas the latter is a strict and principled warrior.

Our epos Jangar is amazing, with its descriptions of physical beauty, spiritual strength, smartness and strength. The heroes in my work are not natural beings, but are abstract figures. Why? Because you cannot depict the divine as a person in flesh and blood.

In Kalmykia we have a legend about a saiga antelope, a nightingale and a battle horse that meet in the steppe. The nightingale says: ‘I am happy when I sing songs. Even the sun stops to listen to me. I give people happiness and they enjoy what I do’. The horse interrupts the nightingale: ‘You are wrong, because happiness is a victory. When you are a winner in a battle, competitions or races’. The saiga says: ‘You are both wrong. You, the nightingale, sing when your master orders you to do so. You, the horse, are not free either, because you bring victory to your horse-breeder only. But I, the saiga, race with the sun and the wind. I am the one who is really free and happy’. They argued and then scattered in different directions, everyone happy in their own way.

In the same way, everyone imagines Jangar in their own ways. We can argue about Jangar a lot, but everyone will ultimately understand him differently, as a sage, a warrior, a divinity etc. And everyone will be right, because Jangar is a perfect person. For me personally, Jangar is a kind of religion.

Mikhail talks about his father’s clan, his father, paternal grandfather, and mother.

My father was from a small clan called Khazhikhn, which was apparently named after one of its founders. When Derbetovskiy ulus was divided between two descendants into Maloderbetovskiy and Bolshederbetovskiy ulus, the majority of Khazhikhn people stayed in the region of the Sal river. My father Andrei was the second out of three sons in his family. He was born in 1913. He had 8-year education, during World War II fought in the 110th Kalmyk cavalry division, and survived Shiroklag (labour camp for soldiers). In 1946 he was released from the camp and joined his family in Maryanovskiy district of Omsk region. My elder sister died there of diphtheria in 1949. She had been deported there with her family. My brother, sister and I were born in Siberia. My mother – her maiden surname Ilzhirinova – was from a group of baptized Kalmyks. Her parents, who were from the Kevyudi clan, lived in the village of Shpakovskaya, Stavropol province. It is known that some Kalmyks were divided into separate clans and sent to protect the Kizlyar-Stavropol border line. Later it was decided on the order of the Russian Emperor to build a settlement for all baptized Kalmyks from the Stavropol line and other places. That settlement was named Svyatoi Krest (Holy Cross), which is today the village Krasnomikhailovka. That settlement had a church and houses made of clay bricks. The Kalmyks were also given cattle.  However, after 2-3 years the bulk of the Kalmyks fled to join the local Kalmyk clans. My mother's family went to join the Khazhikhn clan which lived nearby and came to be called Orud, which means ‘aliens’. There my parents got married. Their clan had its own small temple and a school. They lived there happily until 1929, when collectivization took place and the family was moved to Dvoinoi khutor (the village Krasnyi Partizan). One can still see the traces of old houses in that place. In 1943, the family was sent to Siberia, and the local Russian residents were relocated to the village Matrosovo.

My grandfather had three sons: Ignat Buzavinovich (who had seven children), my father, and their younger brother Nikolai (who died in Ukraine in 1943, in the rank of lieutenant). According to my uncle, before the Bolshevik Revolution my grandfather was a well-off person, and he had 200 sheep and 30 cows. The Civil War passed through the territory of the Bolshederbetovskiy ulus. Both Reds and Whites robbed people. In 1920 my grandfather died in poverty. Ignat went as a farm laborer to the well-to-do peasants in the village Solenoe, who worked on our land. It was a difficult period. People were dying of hunger. Before the war, Ignat, who was literate, worked as a clerk. Then the war began, the occupation by the Germans, and exile. My mother was deported along with my father’s mother and elder sister both of whom died in Siberia. My father found my mother in 1946, after his release from the work camp. In Siberia, my father worked as a primary school teacher and my mother as a leader in a vegetable-growing brigade. Back then it was amazing that she, a Kalmyk, could ever work as a brigadier. Kalmyks quickly adapted to the new conditions. In 1957, when we left Siberia for Kalmykia, the local Siberians lived worse than we did.

In the early 1950s a massive resettlement began in Western Ukraine. The Voronyuk family from Ukraine came to settle in our village. Their family consisted of an old man, old woman, and their grandchildren, a boy and a girl. Their daughter and son-in-law were shot by the Soviets for aiding Ukrainian nationalists. The old couple could not work, and they lived in a small dug-out on the outskirts. The old man came to our house at 6 am, prepared vegetables for storage, and looked after the cattle. The old woman cooked for us. We had a big Russian oven in the house. We ate well. My mother learnt Ukrainian cuisine: she cooked borsch, pancakes, and cutlets. My father died in 1967. War veterans died early. He relayed a story to me from the war. Once they were locked in the Daryal Canyon, on the way to the military Georgian road. It was the winter of 1943. They laid on the rock, fighting back the Germans. They could not surrender, for behind them were Azerbaijan and the Baku oil fields.

The history of my family is typical of the Kalmyks. My parents returned from Siberia and helped restore Kalmykia.

Nikolai talks about himself, his parents and grandparents.

Nikolai was born in 1959 in Krasnodar. The family returned to Kalmykia in 1961 and settled in Elista. Nikolai’s father was a driver and his mother was a seamstress. Nikolai’s grandfather bred horses, although Nikolai never met him. He fought in the Russo-Japanese War and in the First World War. He carried with him an amulet, which is now kept at Nikolai’s house. Nikolai’s grandmother knew Kalmyk traditions and her genealogy well.

Nikolai recalls that his father used to tell him to talk less and do more and to keep one’s promise. Nikolai grew up looking after his younger siblings and doing household chores.

Nikolai chose his profession when he was in grade seven in secondary school. After secondary school, he entered the Abramtsevo College of Design and Applied Arts named after V. Vasnetsov in 1977 where he studied metalwork. There he saw the works of professionals. Inspired, Nikolai also worked with other materials, including bones, trees and ceramics.

Nikolai reminisces about his grandmother, born in 1886, who smoked tobacco. He helped his grandmother light her tobacco pipe. After inhaling it, he gave the pipe to her. She also chewed tobacco and lived 91 years. Nikolai has a silver belt kept at his house, which was ordered by his grandmother. Nikolai’s grandmother had skillful hands and sewed. During the Russian Civil War, she along with her husband and children were among the refugees who were fleeing in the direction of Novorossiysk. Both Red and White soldiers attacked the refugees, pillaging and killing them. Wounded during one such raid, Nikolai’s grandmother stopped in an Adyge settlement where she worked as a midwife. From there the family later moved to Krasnodar where she gave birth to Nikolai’s father. She also had a bag with a rosary, a small altar and ornaments made from golden threads, which Nikolai keeps today at home. When Nikolai was small, his grandmother taught him how to pray.

Nikolai’s parents also had a difficult life. Both parents went through the Siberian exile and a prison.

Nina talks about herself, her family, the Kalmyk prince Danzan Tundutov, and a relic that she inherited from her aunt.

Nina is Chair of the Kalmyk cultural fund Nasledie (Heritage) named after the Kalmyk scholar Nomto Ochirov. The fund was founded in 1992.

According to Nina, Nomto Ochirov studied in the Oriental Faculty of St Petersburg University. In 1908 he spent some time with the famous Kalmyk Jangar singer Eelyan Ovla from whom he wrote down the epos Jangar. Afterwards he was sent to prison, from where he returned in 1956, paralyzed. He died in 1960.

Nina herself was born in 1931 in the village of Chervlenoe (its Kalmyk name was Modn Ger) in Maloderbetovskiy ulus. Her parents had 12 children, including 11 sons and a daughter. Nina is the only surviving child. Nina’s father, Sandzharyk Ulanov, was an aid to the last Kalmyk prince Danzan Tundutov.

Nina’s mother, Kishtya Ochirova, was Nomto Ochirov’s younger sister. Before the exile, she worked in the kolkhoz Put’ Lenina (Lenin’s Path) in the village of Chervlenoe. The kolkhoz grew vegetables all year around. With her whole family declared the ‘enemy of the people’, Kishtya Ochirova suffered a lot. Nevertheless, she never held a grudge against others, and died at 88.

Nina’s mother often told her daughter about her own childhood, about how her family celebrated national holidays. During Ur Sar, all Kalmyks in the vicinity came to the prince’s estate where they played a ball game called tsagan monda and urldan. After the Siberian exile, Nina’s mother came to her native village to pay respects to her ancestral land. She and her older daughters took soil from the pagoda and put it on their tongues. Afterwards, the whole family moved to the village of Ketchenery.

Nina says she decided to set up a fund in memory of her mother. The aim of the fund is to re-build the historical museum-estate of the prince Danzan Tundutov, including the Buddhist temple. Today this former estate is on the territory of the village of Solyanka of Svetloyarskiy rayon in Volgograd oblast. The fund has already built a Stupa of Enlightenment there with the help of Nina’s friends and people who support her course. Nina travels to the stupa every year to celebrate Ur Sar.

The Tundutovs were progressive people, and they were acquainted with the Romanovs. Princess Elzyata Tundutova had an ethnographic saloon in Moscow, which exhibited Kalmyk utensils and artworks. Among its visitors were the Romanovs. The Princess was educated at the Institute of Noble Maidens in St Petersburg. This Kalmyk dynasty also actively participated in the building of a Buddhist temple in St Petersburg.

During the interview Nina shows a relic – the gilded upper part of the clan banner (tugin bumb) of the Tundutov family. The Tundutov’s handed this relic to Nina’s uncle, Manzh Menkeev, for storage in 1917. Manzh Menkeev in his turn handed it over to his oldest daughter, Bamba.

Not long before his death Manzh Menkeev predicted a tragedy that would befall the Kalmyk people. In December 1943 the whole Kalmyk population was deported. Bamba was sent to Pavlovskiy rayon in Altaiskiy krai where the commandant of the settlement where she lived confiscated her relic. In 1945 Baatr Basanov, a Hero of the USSR, who happened to be from the same village as Nina and whose uncle was the prince Tundutov’s cook, arrived in Pavlovskiy rayon. It was with his help that Bamba managed to get hold of her precious relic. Later Bamba left it to Nina.

Although Nina does not know the exact date when the banner’s upper part was produced, what she knows is that it was used by the prince during the Napoleonic War. The temple that Nina is planning to build already has its name – Gyalten Dhargyaling – which was given by Kundeling Tatsak Rinpoche. Nina says she is proud of her fund and believes that she has been guided from above. She likes singing songs and participates in various cultural events.

Oleg reminisces about his parents and siblings. This is his story:

My father Dzhambinov Yaroslav Saykovich lived a good life. Like all in his generation, he endured many hardships, but always remained an honest and decent person. He was born in Abganer-Gakhankin district of the Western Ulus of the Kalmyk Autonomous Region on 3 March 1922. Today this village is called Esto-Altai and is in Yashalta rayon of Kalmykia. My father was orphaned when he was 14 or 15. After finishing the Astrakhan Pedagogical College in 1940, he worked as a teacher in Ulan-Kholskiy rayon, which is today Laganskiy rayon of Kalmykia, until December 1941.

Then he was drafted into the army, fought in the 110th Kalmyk Cavalry Division and from 1942 served in the 248th Infantry Division of the 28th Army, which supported the Red Army’s liberation of Elista from the German invaders. Afterwards, they also went on to liberate Stavropol and Rostov regions and Zaporozhye.

Like many soldiers of Kalmyk nationality, in January 1944, my father was exiled to Shiroklag (a work camp in Perm region where the Soviet government was building a  hydroelectric station). After release in 1945, he worked as a teacher in the Manskaya Primary School of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, where I was born.

In July 1957, after the famous decree of Khrushchev (denouncing Stalin), we returned home to Kalmykia. In Kalmykia, my father worked for a short time as a teacher at the Leninskiy state farm in Tselinniy district, which is today the village of Iki-Chonos. Afterwards, he was transferred to work as the chief editor of the ‘Lenin’s Path’ newspaper in Tselinniy rayon. I remember that in 1960 he was sent to study at the Higher Party School in Leningrad. After graduating from the HPS in 1964, he was transferred to work in the Kalmyk Oblast CPSU. We moved to Elista. From 1967 to 1983 my father worked as the chief editor of the newspaper ‘Khalmg Unn’ (Kalmyk Truth). My father knew the Kalmyk language very well. He was friends with the writer David Kugultinov since childhood. In fact they were neighbors and grew up together. David’s mother even breastfed my father, because there was only a 10 day difference between David and my father. Both boys remained friends for life. My father was a party member. He was editor of newspapers, a deputy of the Supreme Council of Kalmykia, and later its chairman. Despite his high titles and positions, he always remained a modest person. He never talked about the war at home, about his time in the work camp, or exile.

My elder sister, Lena, graduated from the Institute of Literature in Moscow, lived for a long time in East Germany where she translated Kalmyk fairy tales into German and promoted Kalmyk culture. In 1999, she died. I went to her funeral in Germany. Lena socialized with a small Kalmyk diaspora there, and did a great job as a researcher.

Our mother Ekaterina Angayevna worked all her life at school where she taught a subject called ‘housekeeping’. My mother sewed a lot. She did it in Siberia in exchange for food.

My brother, who is retired from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, looks after his grandchildren. I am also retired. I have 2 sons in Moscow, my daughter works as a doctor. We have 2 grandsons. My wife Tatyana Nikolayevna is the director of the Pedagogical College in Elista.

I am very proud of my father. The historian Vladimir Badakhaevich Ubushaev came to my father’s funeral in January 1995 and said that my father remained an honest person even in the harshest of times. We often had guests at home, including David Nikitich Kugultinov and his wife, Naran Ulanovich Ilishkin who worked as the chief literary censor, Utash Ulazganovich Ochirov, Tavshka Shashtayevich Samokhin who was the prosecutor of Kalmykia, Ochir Badmaevich Buluktaev who was a military pilot, and others.

My father published a book titled ‘A Blessing Without Good’. Over 16-17 years of work in the newspaper Khalmg Unn, he educated a whole generation of Kalmyk journalists, to whom he gave his help, advice, support, and hospitality.

In this interview Oleg Mandzhiev talks about his parents, grandfather, himself and his work.

Oleg was born in 1949 in Novosibirsk. His father, Lidzhi Ismailovich, a Hero of the Soviet Union, was not deported as were the rest of the Kalmyk population. When his wife was sent to Siberia, Lidzhi followed her, despite being warned that he would lose his title. In Siberia, Oleg recalls, his mother went to work in a factory under military escort. One day she had her boots stolen. She tore a sleeve off her coat, wrapped her legs with it, and walked to her work station. Oleg reminisces that when he went to the first grade in secondary school he sobbed, to which his teacher snapped, ‘What are you sobbing for? When you will betray your motherland as your parents did, then you will sob for real. Now it is too early for this’.

Oleg’s grandfather Ismail, who was a lama educated in Tibet, was deported to the Kuril Islands (before the mass exile of the Kalmyks in 1943). According to a legend, the commandant of the labour camp where Ismail was imprisoned had a sickly daughter. The commandant took his daughter to all doctors that he could find, but no one could cure her. Upon hearing that a Buddhist healer had arrived at his camp, the commandant called Ismail to his office and said, ‘If you cure my daughter I will give you whatever is possible in this camp. But if you fail, you will regret it’. Ismail cured the girl. Oleg recalls how his grandfather sent from the labour camp food parcels and on one occasion even a pair of American boots for Oleg. One day Ismail wrote a letter to his son, Lidzhi, foretelling him the date of his own death. At that time Lidzhi worked in a military factory in Novosibirsk, and whenever the factory received special orders the workers would be locked until they delivered the order. Having thus been locked in the factory for two weeks, Lidzhi returned home to find a letter from his father. The date of the prophesized death coincided with the day when Lidzhi opened the letter. Oleg recalls that he saw his father cry for the first time.

Oleg’s father Lidzhi had two brothers both of whom fought in the Red Army and returned home alive, just as it was prophesized by their father Ismail.

In 1957 it was the first time, as Oleg recalls, when Kalmyk songs were broadcast on the radio. The Kalmyks were returning home en mass, and many trains carrying them passed through Novosibirsk. Oleg’s father took a week off his job, bought new jackets for his sons and the three went to the train station to welcome passing trains. At the station the Kalmyk passengers played the Saratov accordion and danced, which was the first time when Oleg saw so many Kalmyks in one place.

In his childhood Oleg’s father had his spine broken with a paddle. It was Ismail who cured his son and put him on his legs. Ismail also cured horses. The famous Kalmyk healer Namka Kichikov was Ismail’s aid for some time. Even today Oleg meets people who remember his father and grandfather and offer him assistance. Lidzhi did not like to talk about war, although on 9 May, the Victory Day, he used to meet up with other Kalmyk Heroes of War, Baatr Basangov and Mikhail Selgikov. At the table the three usually sat quietly.

Oleg started to write short stories and poems in secondary school. When he was in the eighth grade the famous Kalmyk poet David Kugultinov looked at his work and praised it. After secondary school, Oleg entered the prestigious and highly competitive Maxim Gorky Literature Institute in Moscow where he studied along with students who would later become famous writers. At the Institute students often gathered together, argued and read poems to each other. After the Institute, Oleg returned to Elista where he worked at the television company, and later moved to a publishing house. On the advice of his friend Klim Chimidov, Oleg applied to study in a course for film directors in Moscow. At the end of his course he wrote a script titled ‘Sakman’ which won the first prize in the all-Soviet competition of film scripts. His script was recommended to the Mosfilm studio. The chief editor of Turkmenfilm, Karadzhaev, also offered Oleg to write a script for the movie ‘The Valley of Revenge’ (Dolina Mesti) to which Oleg agreed. He received 2,000 Rubles, which was Oleg’s first big salary. Oleg took his wife to a restaurant in the Central House of Writers where they had always wanted to go. In the restaurant, there was an old man sitting, eating a boiled egg and some sour cream. The man looked at Oleg and his wife with tears pouring from his eyes. Thinking that the old man was hungry, Oleg invited him over to his table. The old man said, ‘I am a millionaire, my name is Kozlovskiy. If my stomach permitted it, I would have paid for food in ten restaurants. I can eat only this. I would give everything just to eat like you, young people’. Oleg wrote five more scripts.

Oleg recalls his father’s words that nothing comes to people for free. One day Oleg found a gold ring in a bathroom and took it. That year he had a car accident and lost many things. Success comes to people when they work, concluded Oleg.

In his movie ‘Foretelling on a Sheep’s Blade’ (Gadanie na baran’ey lopatke), Oleg used an idea that every person has a limited number of both successes and misfortunes in their life. The script and the shooting of this movie progressed as follows. In a seminar in a Baltic state Oleg met a woman from Riga whom he told about the deportation of the Kalmyks. At that time a television series called ‘The Long Road in the Dunes’ about the deportation of the Latvians was getting popular. When the woman offered him to write a script, Oleg agreed. He wrote it and sent it to the Gorky’s Film Studio in Moscow. After censorship blocked the script, Oleg received a telegram from a Latvian director, Ada Neretnietse, who offered to shoot the film in Riga. When the Latvians set out to shoot the film, the Kalmyk branch of the Communist Party sent a telegram to the Riga Film Studio urging them to stop the work. Soon the Riga’s branch of the KGB also sent a letter recommending to drop the film. Despite the mounting pressure, Ada Neretnietse made the film, which was received well by audiences.

Sanal has three children and six grandchildren. He talks about about his clan, the Baga-Chonos, which consists of eight arvns or sub-clans. Sanal himself belongs to the Kharnud arvn. He knows his family history nine generations before him and presents us his family's genealogical tree. When in the 1990s the President of Kalmykia, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, issued a decree to 'passportize' (register) all Kalmyk clans, Sanal's clan counted 1230 male members. Sanal deslays us the passport of the Baga-Chonos clan which bears the clan's stamp, an arrowhead.

Sofia was born on 11 July 1939. Her mother, Matsak Ulyumdzhievna, was born in 1915, whose maiden surname name was Erendzhenova. Sofia’s father, Erdni Lidzhi-Goryaev, was born in 1914. Sofia’s grandfather, Ogdaev Lidzhi-Gorya Khoktaevich, was born in 1881. His wife, Tsagan Budahskievna, was born in 1886. They lived in the village of Tabun-Bulung of Dolbanskiy ulus in Kalmykia. Today this place is part of Astrakhan oblast.

Sofia says she does not remember her childhood village very well, because her family was sent to exile when she was only 4. In their native village, her family lived well in a house. Her grandfather and grandmother lived in a separate mud hut. Sofia’s mother had a Zinger sewing machine. She wore a coat, cashmere skirts and a scarf. Their house had furniture and even a gramophone. In the yard they kept geese, chickens, sheep and cows. In summer, they planted vegetables and caught fish. Sofia’s father Erdni worked as an accountant in the village.

Sofia had two brothers, Sangadzhi and Murat. In 1941 her father was called to join the Red Army, and fought in the Belorussian Front and on the Soviet-Finish border. Wounded, he found himself in a hospital in Astrakhan oblast where he had one of his hands amputated. When Sofia’s mother and grandfather came to the hospital to take Erdni home, they could not recognize him, as he looked very thin and pale.

In 1943 Soviet soldiers arrived in their village and announced that the Kalmyks would be deported. Sofia’s mother and grandmother grabbed whatever they could, including the Zinger sewing machine and clothes. The Kalmyks were transported on lorries to the train station Zenzeli where they were put on freight trains and sent off. On the train Sofia remembers seeing trees and a lot of snow outside.

Sofia’s family ended up in the territory of the mine Kommunar in Shirinskiy rayon of the Khakass Autonomous Oblast in Krasnoyarskiy krai. As soon as they arrived, they were all taken to a Russian sauna in order to cleanse the bugs from their clothes. Sofia’s family was accommodated in a small house near a forest. Her mother left home for work in a logging brigade early in the morning and returned home late at night. Family members rarely saw her. Soon Sofia’s father, who was an accountant in the logging farm and who was suffering from poor health, died. Sofia remembers her mother crying a lot. The family starved and life was very difficult. Soon afterwards both Sofia’s grandmothers died too. It was the grandfather who now looked after Sofia and her brothers. The local people helped her family with milk, potatoes and clothes.

Sofia and her older brother, Sangadzhi, collected frozen potatoes for food in late autumn. Sangadzhi also looked after cattle, and as a salary he received food. Sofia herself looked after one woman’s geese, who gave Sofia porridge in the evening.

In 1946 her family was transported to the village of Efremkino where her mother found a job in the local sauna. In 1949 Sofia’s mother became a milkmaid, and worked hard. She even received a monetary prize. Sofia remembers how she and her younger brother went to their mother’s cow barn, which was 1.5 kilometres away, to drink milk. Their mother used to smuggle out a mug of milk for them to drink.

With time Sofia’s family got a piglet, a cow, a young bull and chickens. Their cow, named Zor’ka, gave milk in abundance. All house chores were done by the children. Sofia swept and washed the wooden floor, looked after the family garden, fetched water from a well. She also salted cucumbers and sold them on the road to passing cars and buses. Her family used to prepare vegetables, potatoes, mushrooms and cabbage for winter. They also prepared a lot of fire wood, for the winters were long and cold there.

Sofia started school at 8. As she was a good pupil and already had a good command of Russian, Sofia was the head pupil of her class for seven consecutive years.

In 1956 the family returned to Kalmykia, having sold their house and animals in Siberia. Sofia finished her secondary education in the village of Oranzhereynoe in Astrakhan oblast. Her teachers were former soldiers, and they liked Sofia for her exemplary behaviour. After finishing school with a Silver Medal, she entered the Stavropol Pedagogical Institute and majored in language and history. She got the highest score at the entry exams. There were 110 students in her year, out of which 50 were Kalmyks. In year two she was awarded a letter of distinction which she received from Mikhail Gorbachev who was Secretary of the City Committee of the Komsomol of Stavropol krai. After finishing her Institute with a distinction in 1963 which gave her the privilege to choose a workplace of her liking, Sofia decided to work as a teacher in the furthest corner of Kalmykia, in the village of Achinery of Chernozemel’skiy rayon. When she arrived in the village in August, the director of the school was nowhere to be seen. The next day Sofia went to the rayon centre, the village of Yashkul’, where she stayed to work in the local secondary school. She was given a 1-bedroom flat, and the next year she was appointed Head Teacher of the school. Sofia brought her mother from Astrakhan oblast to live with her. Housed in three separate houses, the Yashkul secondary school had lessons in three shifts. Sofia was socially active, and she organized concerts with the school’s ensemble in many parts of Kalmykia. The money that they secured from ticket sales was sent to Vietnam which was at war at that time. Even today many villagers and their children remember Sofia.

Afterwards, Sofia worked as a Teaching Assistant in the Faculty of the Russian Language and Literature at the newly established Pedagogical Institute in Elista. When she was appointed Vice Secretary of propaganda in the Kalmyk branch of the Komsomol, Sofia left the Institute. In her new job she often travelled to the countryside. One day, on her flight from Moscow to Elista, she read a newspaper advert for applications for a PhD course in the Institute of Sociology of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in Moscow. Although the Komsomol branch did not approve of it, Sofia decided to take the course. In order to hinder her plans, the organisation sent her off to the remote Lagan’ region to read a lecture. Despite the long distance, Sofia managed to get back to Elista on a corn-field plane. From Elista she flew to Moscow. After passing the entry exams, in November she received a letter of invitation to study from the Academy.

For Sofia the Komsomol was not just any organization, but something more. Having neither a place to stay in Moscow nor money to pay for a hotel, Sofia was lucky to get acquainted with several Komsomol members on her way to Moscow. When they arrived in the capital of the Soviet Union, her new friends offered Sofia to stay with them at the hotel Yunost (Youth). In three days the Komsomol members set off back home, leaving Sofia in their hotel room. The director of the hotel, who was also a Komsomol member, let Sofia stay in the hotel free of charge.

After her PhD studies, Sofia worked for 25 years at the Kalmyk Institute of Humanitarian Studies of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in Elista. Today she works as Head of the Department of Sociological Studies of the Kalmyk Institute of Arid Territories. She is a prolific writer. Her most recent books are about social adaptation of the Kalmyks in the post-Soviet period and the exile of the Kalmyks in 1943-1957.

Sofia says she is grateful to her fate, her ancestors and parents. Her mother lived 90 years and always supported Sofia in work and life. Despite all the difficulties, Sofia managed to become what she is today. She has a son who lives in Moscow.

Sofia says she does not know much about her genealogy. She remembers her paternal grandmother, Tsagan Ogdaeva, and what she wore and how she looked. Her grandmother died of starvation in the first winter in Siberia when the Kalmyks were sent to exile there. She starved herself to death by giving her rations to her grandchildren. Before the exile, the grandmother helped Sofia’s mother to bring up the children and look after the household. The family kept cows, geese, and chickens. With her grandparents, parents and two brothers Sofia lived in the village of Tabun-Bulung in Kalmykia (today it is in Limanskiy rayon of Astrakhan’). Sofia’s grandfather, Lidzhi-Gorya Ogdaev, worked in a fishing brigade and looked after livestock.

Sofia’s father, Erdni Lidzhi-Goryaev, fought in the front during World War Two, while the women in the family worked in the field and caught fish. Before the exile in the winter of 1943, Sofia’s family had well prepared for the winter: they had stored salted fish, pumpkins, birds, and even prepared 500 brooms (to exchange for other things). Since the Kalmyks were deported overnight, all these provisions had to be left behind.

Sofia’s mother and grandparents were religious people. Their faith, Sofia says, helped them not only to stay strong but to survive the exile (from 1943 to 1957). Sofia recalls that her grandfather used to read prayers with his prayer beads every evening after work. After prayers, he blessed the children with his beads. Sofia and her younger brother were in the same class in the same school. Sofia’s mother got along well with her father-in-law who lived a long life. She looked after him till he died.

Sofia’s mother, Matsak, grew up as an orphan. When Matsak was only seven, both of her parents died within a week, leaving behind three children. Matsak’s sister Tsagan and brother Ilya were nine and two respectively. Although the children all grew up in different families, they always kept in touch with each other.

Sofia recalls how she met her auntie Tsagan who had amnesia. She had become frightened and neurotic since Soviet soldiers came to her house to send the family to exile in 1943. In the last months of her life, Sofia’s mother also developed amnesia and did not recognize her daughter.

Sofia says that she is grateful to her grandfather and mother who passed on their family traditions to her. According to Sofia, strong family bonds are what helps the Kalmyk nation persevere and survive.

Svetlana is an expert on Buddhist and folk art. This is her story.

I was born in 1949 in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan. I went to school there for 6 years, and in 1961 our family moved back to Kalmykia. For me the trip felt as if I had acquired a new homeland. We moved to Kalmykia on the insistence of our father. My parents always considered Kalmykia as their homeland, but for me it was where I was born. From Alma-Ata we went to Mineralnye Vody, from where we flew to Elista on a small plane. The Elista airport was a little house in the middle of the field.

I passed my youth in Elista. I graduated from secondary school No.1 in 1966. Although I wanted to become a doctor, I could not get into a medical institute, because I got only 3 points in physics. At that time, the Chemical and Biological Department was opened in Kalmyk University, where I got enrolled instead. After graduation, I worked in the laboratory, but felt that it was not my cup of tea. I got married. Then I entered the Repin Institute to study ‘the history and theory of fine arts’. Although I already had children, my parents understood me and let me go to study.

Under the influence of my father, I came to be concerned about the state of culture in Kalmykia. My father embodied his knowledge in his art works.

I started my career working in the Picture Gallery of the Palmov Museum in Kalmykia. There I worked as a museum curator. Many works from Kalmykia had been scattered in the adjacent regions, including Astrakhan. Astrakhan sent some of its Kalmyk materials to the Kalmyk museum. All this had to be described and researched. So I started to work with Buddhist art. I even had to restore some of them. All these art pieces today are stored in our museum provided with description. My coming to Buddhist iconography was natural and it has influenced my life. I wrote  my dissertation on Kalmyk Buddhist paintings kept in the Kalmyk fund. By studying Buddhism I came to folk art. Folk art has influenced Buddhist pictorial canons. For example, the standing Tsagan Aav.

Kalmyk culture is a fragment of the Mongolian one. Being influenced by the cultures of neighboring peoples, including the Russians, Tatars, Bashkirs, and Nogais, Kalmyk culture has adapted to new conditions and it acquires only what it needs to survive.

Svetlana was born in 1966 in the village of Tsagan-Usn, Kalmykia. After finishing the Oriental Faculty of Leningrad University, she did her PhD on the comparative analysis of Tibetan and Mongolian translations of Shantideva's Bodhicharyavatara at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of St Petersburg University. Today Svetlana works at the same Institute. She talks about Konstantin Golstunsky and Alexei Pozdneev's trips to Kalmykia as well as about the lives of the Kalmyks of Don, Tersk and Orenburg regions.

She also talks about her student years, her family, the Kalmyk language, Buddhism and a traditional healing method with consecrated butter. When she was a child, Svetlana was cured by a famous Kalmyk healer called Namka Kichikov with herbs and excrements of a ground squirrel that had its burrow facing south.

Tatyana was born in the village of Kharba in 1958. Her father, Monkya Muchiryaevich Boskhomdzhiev, was born in 1924. His clan affiliation was: Tsokhra bag, Zun ang. Having lost his father at a young age, Monkya was brought up by his mother, Kuuka Mandzhieva, who was born in 1905. The oldest child in the family, Monkya had many siblings, seven of whom died in childhood and only four survived into adulthood. In 1942 Monkya was called to join the Red Army where he was in the 28^th army of the 34^th division of the 105^th regiment. Tatyana’s father did not like to talk about the war. He participated in the liberation of his native Kalmykia and was heavily wounded near the town of Bataisk in Rostov oblast. After hospital he was demobilized and returned to his village of Yusta to join his family only to find them living in poverty.

In December 1943 the whole family was deported to Siberia, to the village of Maklakovo in Krasnoyarskiy krai. On their way to the place of exile the family did not feel much hardship, for Monkya had a document saying that he had fought in the front. In Siberia Monkya worked in many places. He always talked well about the local people.

After Siberia the family returned to Kalmykia and settled in the village of Kharba. In 1964 Monkya had a stroke and had a brain surgery after which he was bed-bound for a couple of years. He finally recovered and built a house for the family. In 1976 he had a second stroke. He died ten years later at the age of 62. Monkya always looked after his family and siblings.

Tatyana’s mother was born in 1925 in the village of Dzhakuevka in Astrakhan oblast. Her family was deported to the village of Novofirsovo in Altaiskiy krai. In Siberia she also worked in various places.

Both of Tatyana’s parents had families before their marriage. Tatyana’s father Monkya had two children with his first wife. After her two children died, Tatyana’s mother divorced her first husband. Tatyana’s parents met each other in Kharba, Kalmykia. Then Tatyana’s mother worked as a manager in a tea house. Tatyana herself had two siblings, a brother and a sister. Her brother died when he was 13.

Tatyana’s grandmother on her paternal side, Kuuka, wore a Kalmyk dress and carried candies in a bag to give to children. Tatyana keeps her grandmother’s cup as a memory of her.

Tatyana’s grandmother on her maternal side, Nogala, also wore a Kalmyk dress. She had a chest in her house where she kept biscuits and sweets. She also liked singing songs and took her grandchildren to visit her relatives in Astrakhan oblast and Tsagan-Aman. Thanks to her, Tatyana knows her relatives well.

In her interview Tatyana also talks about bad omens, traditional dishes and how they celebrated holidays.

It is bad omen to do the following: to cross arms, to look at the mirror in the evening, for pregnant women to go to a funeral.

Tatyana liked fish soup cooked with potatoes and onion. Her mother made khursn makhn, dumplings, soup with meat and onions.

In her childhood Tatyana celebrated the New Year at home where they put up a Christmas tree. On 7 November they had horse race in her village. During Tsagan Sar her family made bortsg, lit candles and hung brand-new clothes on a rope. Tatyana’s mother read prayers.

Telo Tulku: I went to India when I was 7 years old. I grew up very far away from my family, from my grandparents. I have very little information [about them], and as a child you have very little interest in your family’s history in general. As far as I know, my mother’s father left Kalmykia in the 1920s, because he was part of the Don Cossacks. My grandfather and grandmother settled in Yugoslavia in the late1920s - early 1930s. On my mother’s side, we are Buzava. On my father’s side, we are Derbet. My father came [to the USA] directly from Kalmykia when he was a teenager. When he was going to school [in Kalmykia], the Nazis entered Russia through the western part. The military convoy was going through Kalmykia and on to Stalingrad (today Volgograd). My father was taken by the German army to join them against the Red Army. When the Nazis were defeated, many Kalmyks who had joined them left with the Germans for Germany. When they arrived there, they were told that their services were no longer needed. They ended up in various refugee camps. Later on, they were able to emigrate to the United States. The Kalmyks who were scattered in Europe had some kind of network, a communication system, whereby they were able to share information and move people from one place to another.

Later on, I believe it was the Tolstoy Foundation in Paris, France, that was able to collect many of the Kalmyks and help them apply for a refugee status in America. That is how many of the Kalmyks ended up in America.

So, my father was born in Kalmykia, joined the Nazis, left with the Nazis, ended up in Europe in various refugee camps, and finally settled in America

My mother’s father and mother were already in Europe in the late 1920s. My mother was born in Yugoslavia, in Belgrade, and at that time there was a large Kalmyk community there. There was a temple, there was a road called Kalmyk Road in Belgrade, which I heard no longer exists. This is brief information about my mother’s side.

My father was married once before, and my mother was married once before. My mother was married to an American, they had two daughters. My father was married to a Kalmyk, they had two sons and a daughter. My father’s first wife passed away; my mother’s first husband passed away too. Later my parents met in America and had four more children.  It is a big family. I have 5 brothers and 3 sisters. I am the youngest one. This is very basic information about my family.

Baasanjav: What are your first memories from your childhood?

TT: I do not know if I have first memories. There are little patches or sketches of my childhood. It was a very tight family-oriented environment that I had grew up in. Most of my family is on my mother’s side. So, on my mother’s side we had a lot of relatives, frequent gatherings, family dinners, visits to other Kalmyk families. I have very strong memories of that.

My grandfather was very kind, generous. At the same time, he was very strict about speaking Kalmyk language in the house. When he was alive, Kalmyk was commonly spoken in the house. After he passed away, nobody would really be disciplined like my grandfather was.

B: How old were you when you grandfather died?

TT: When my grandfather passed away, I was in India. I believe, he passed away in 1983. I went to India in 1980. My first visit back home was in 1983. That was 3 years later when I went to see my family. At that time, my grandfather was very ill. After I left for India, 3 months later he passed away.

B: Did you grow up speaking both Kalmyk and English?

TT: Yes, I grew up speaking both English and Kalmyk. In the monastery, I picked up Tibetan language very quickly. First in line, I forgot Kalmyk language; second, I also forgot English to a certain extent. When I went back home in 1983, my English had been broken. My cousins were making fun of me. When I left back for India, this gave me some kind of determination to learn English, to try not to forget it. Later on, I realised that English is widely used, that it is a language of importance. I needed to try to maintain that.

My English is pretty much self-taught. I never went to school, other than a kindergarten and the first grade in America before going to monastery. By the time I was in second grade, I went to India. In first and second grades, you do not learn much other than ABC. But pretty much I self-taught myself English by reading a lot, learning how to write and spell. I picked it up on my own.

B: Which language do you speak with your family?

TT: With my brothers and sisters I speak in English. They are more or less Americanised. I see them very rarely, I grew up far away from them. I do not have much in common with any of them. When we see each other, we converse in English.

B: As the youngest child in the family how were you treated by your older siblings and relatives?

TT: I was never picked on. I was never teased. I was treated normally, I would say. Most of my childhood I spent away from my home. So, at the age of 7 I went to India. I have very little memory prior to going to the monastery.

B: In Mongolia, you may know the smallest child gets a special treatment.

TT: I think it is not only in Mongolia, but in every family where the baby is spoilt. Unfortunately, even if my parents wanted to spoil me, or even if my brothers and sisters wanted to spoil me, they never had an opportunity, a chance to spoil me.

B: Can we talk about your first years in a Tibetan monastery in India? How do you remember this time? What was your first observation? What did you feel?

TT: This is where I belong. That is what I felt. My mother took me to India, to the monastery. I believe she thought, ‘Ok, this is just a phase. He will be here for some time and then he will say “Mom, let’s go home”’. But for me, as far as I could remember, from the age of 3-4, I always wanted to become a monk. When I went to a Buddhist temple and I saw monks, it was such an attraction. I kept feeling this was where I wanted to be. Therefore, it was difficult for my parents. They did not know what to do, how to react, how to handle this case.

In 1979 my family had a private audience with the Dalai Lama. Because of the Dalai Lama’s recommendation to send me to India, my parents decided to send me to India. In the past, I was asked by one journalist who took interest in my life: ‘Do I regret leaving America and going to India at such a young age?’ I do not. I rejoice, it is probably one of the happiest times.

When my mother took me there, I fit in right away. I felt at home, I felt comfortable. I remember telling my mother, ‘You can leave now. Don’t worry’. Of course, as a mother it is not an easy thing to leave your baby in a different continent, in a different environment. So, she left the monastery and went up north to Delhi – that is where her flight was taking off from. She waited for another 3 to 4 weeks hoping that I would be crying, ‘Oh, come and get me. Pick me up! I want to go home now!’ That never happened. So, she came once again to the monastery just to double check, just to make sure. She stayed at the monastery for 2 weeks, then she said, ‘Ok, I am going home now. He is here [happy]’. She went back. Next time I saw her was in 1983.

B: Did you miss your parents?

TT: I think, in 1983 was the time when I was starting to miss my family. I got a little bit homesick. That is when I said to my teacher, ‘I want to go home’.

B: What was your routine like in the monastery? Can you describe what you did in the morning?

TT: We got up at 6 o’clock. Immediately, we washed up, cleaned the house, mopped the floor, did the dusting and sweeping. We had a very big household. There were 6 other monks of my age. Everybody was assigned to certain responsibilities. One was to pick up tea from the central kitchen. One was responsible for washing up the dishes. I was responsible for my teacher’s room, meaning I would sweep the floor, clean, make offerings on the altar. Then, we had another student who was responsible for cleaning other rooms. By 7 o’clock we were done.

From 7 to 8.30 am we memorised texts, prayers, scriptures. After that we had a 15-minute break, then from 9 to 11 am we went to a philosophy debate session. From 11 am to 12 pm lunch was served. From 12 pm to 1 pm we had to learn calligraphy in Tibetan. From 1 to 2 pm we went to a philosophy class. From 2 to 3 pm we had one-hour break. You could have a nap in the afternoon. Then from 3 to 4.30 pm we did memorisation of texts. At 4.30 pm you got ready for dinner. You had 30 minutes to have a shower, freshen up. At 5 pm dinner was served. From 6 to 9.30 pm or 10 pm we went to a debate session. At 10 pm you came home and then recited texts that you had memorised during the day. Then by 11 o’clock you went to bed. 6 o’clock you were up again.

B: What did you debate about at these debate courses?

TT: At the very beginning stage it is what we call Logic. You learn the skills of Buddhist logic. That is 3-4 years of study. Then you join a class called Mind and Logic (‘Lorik’ in Tibetan).

After that you join a higher class, the Prajnaparamita class. It gets more intense and serious. It is 5 to 6 years. But if you want to get a full degree of Geshe, it is equivalent of a PhD, I would say. In order to obtain a Geshe degree one needs to do 16 years of training in a monastic institution. Then another 6 years of exams that you have to take. They call it the Gelugpa exams to obtain Geshe Lkharamba. Lkharamba is the highest order. Once you complete your studies, you can join a programme to take your Geshe Lkharamba degree. So, every year you need to take an exam. What you are doing in free time is basically refreshing what you have studied since you were a child – all the major five subjects that were taught. When the Gelugpa exam process begins, it is a lottery system, you have to pick the topic of what you are going to debate. You never know what question is going to be at the exam. When you pick a topic, you do not know what subject is going to be, you do not know which textbook. You have about 10 minutes to create your debate.

I, unfortunately, did not complete my studies. I got involved in Kalmykia at a very young age. I never had an opportunity to take my Geshe exams. And later on, I disrobed, I left the monastic institution. I could not go back to continue my studies. But that is how the monastic life is. It is a very rigorous, very disciplined, strict environment.

B: What other subjects did you study, apart from logic, mind? Did you study mathematics?

TT: Mathematics was not taught. Any of the modern science subjects that are taught in secular schools were not taught in the monastery at all. In the monastery, it was a strictly monastic education. You do a lot of memorising, learning calligraphy, Tibetan grammar. A lot of Buddhist philosophy classes.

At my young age, the teaching system was very traditional. In many cases we did not even know what we were memorising. We knew what text it was, but we memorised texts in classical Tibetan language. A lot of the words and abbreviations – we had no idea what it was about. We came to know about this many years later, when we grew up.

B: What were the hardships that you had to encounter when you were doing your studies there? Climate, food?

TT: I think the physical comfort was probably very challenging in those days, not only for me. Most of the monastic institutions were poor financially and materially. To a certain extent, it was a challenge for many people – poor facilities, poor food. Nowadays when you go to the monastery where we studied, it is 10 times better than it was in our days. For example, in our days at breakfast we had a big mug of tea. That was it. If you had something extra to eat at home or in your living quarters, you could eat it. If not, it was just one big mug of tea. For lunch, it was the same thing – a big mug of tea and lepeshka (as they call it in Russian). For dinner, it was rice and vegetables. The following day it was rice and lentils. The rice was not of the best quality. Every time you took a bite of your rice, you had to look for stones to make sure you were not biting rocks or stones. In lentil soup, there were many stones too. That is because the monastery was poor, and they could only afford the poorest quality of rice, vegetables, lentils and so on.

Nowadays it is much better. The living conditions have improved, as well as the food. There are clinics, hospitals, there are a lot of books [in the monastery]. There was a time when the monastery did not even have textbooks. Even if they had a textbook it would have been shared between 2 monks – I could keep it for 2 days, you could use it for the next few days. These were not individual challenges; I think these were common, general challenges for everybody.

B: Did you watch TV, listen to music?

TT: There was no TV in the monastery. There was no radio.

B: Did you read newspapers?

TT: Occasionally, there were some newspapers.

B: Who were the other students?

TT: Mostly Tibetans. Then there were a lot of monks from the Himalayan region, Ladakh, from Sikkim, some from Bhutan. In the earlier days, I was the only foreigner. I was the only Mongolian until 1992-1993.

B: Do you keep contact with your classmates? Are they all monks now?

TT: Yes, I do. Some of them have left the monastery. Most of them are still monks. When I first joined the Drepung Gomang monastery, there were 130 monks overall. Now there are over 2,000 monks.

B: It has expanded.

TT: It has grown. It has changed in so many different ways.

B: What were your happiest memories in India?

TT: Probably not having the responsibilities that I have today. Those are the happiest times – you are a child, you are innocent. All you care about is little time that you want to play. Those are happy moments – carelessness, freedom, your innocence.

B: The Dalai Lama has played an important role in your life. On his recommendation, your parents decided to send you to India. Could you talk about your relationship with the Dalai Lama?

TT: I have been very fortunate and very blessed. It has been a great honour for me to be known by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Of course, he has many friends all over the world, on many different levels, of different statuses. In my case, I stood out only because of my background: being a Mongolian, being a Kalmyk, coming from America. That was very unique in that environment, or in that community. And also, to have a special attention. I am not saying I am special, because I have attention from His Holiness. His Holiness pays attention to many other people, groups, organisations. I have been very fortunate to be known by His Holiness. Not only that, but to be able to serve him in many ways. I consider myself a follower of His Holiness, of his principles, of his vision for the world, and a disciple. Of course, I do not claim that I am one of his closest, or special disciples. That is not the case. He has thousands of disciples. I am one of his disciples as well.

There a lot of people who use this term ‘I studied with the Dalai Lama’. I do not claim that I studied with the Dalai Lama. I would say that I studied under the Dalai Lama’s teachings. At the same time, just because I studied under the Dalai Lama, it does not mean that I am special or extraordinary. Thousands of people studied under His Holiness. So, I am just a disciple among many others. At the same time, I have been very fortunate out of the thousands to be one of the people that His Holiness knows. Not only that, I am currently serving as the Dalai Lama’s representative to Russia, Mongolia and CIS countries. It is a great honour and a blessing to be representing His Holiness.

B: As his representative, do you often see the Dalai Lama? How often do you see him?

TT: It depends on projects, plans, programmes. Last time I saw him was 2 months ago. That was because we organised His Holiness’ teachings for Russian Buddhists. As organisers, we got to see him. Because we see the Dalai Lama, it does not mean that we sit down and have tea and discuss matters. Sometimes we do not even get a chance to discuss anything with him. We would see him from a distance and that is about it. Sometimes we have intensive discussions. They are not scheduled, they are all random. There is no set time in the year when we get to meet His Holiness.

B: You have been the Shajin Lama of Kalmykia since 1992. Can we talk about this, how did it start?

TT: I was in my monastery. I visited Kalmykia for the very first time in the summer of 1991. I was part of the Dalai Lama’s entourage of delegation that visited Kalmykia. That was my very first introduction to Kalmykia. The visit was very short. The Dalai Lama went back to India. I had come from Mongolia and returned back to Mongolia at that time and spent another 2 months before going back to India. In 1992, when I was already in India back to my usual routine, I received a telegram from Kalmykia inviting me to an extraordinary Buddhist conference. I consulted with my teacher at that time at the monastery and I asked him, ‘What do you think I should do?’ He said, ‘Well, sooner or later you are going to get involved with Mongolian and Kalmyk affairs. Why don’t you go and see what this conference is about?’

I had very little information about what this conference was about. When I came to Kamykia, I found out that the head of Buddhists at that time was a Buryat, and that the Kalmyk community wanted to overthrow him and appoint a new Buddhist head. I was one of their candidates. I was not aware of this. People really wanted me to take over this responsibility.

During the conference, my translator was a little bit behind with her translation. By the time she finished translating to me, I had already been elected the head of Buddhists of Kalmykia. I never had an opportunity to object and say, ‘No, that is not possible. I am still studying’. Towards the end my translator said, ‘Congratulations!’ I said ‘For what?’ She said, ‘You have been elected the Head Lama of Kalmykia’. So that is how it happened.

Of course, it was a surprise to me. I had no plan, no vision, no expectation to become the head of Buddhists of Kalmykia. But immediately something clicked [inside me] and [I] said [to myself], ‘Well, you have to take the responsibility. You have to take charge – it may sound very Christian – this is your fate, or your calling’. And something within me said, ‘OK, let’s give it a try. Let’s do it’. That is how I felt, almost like a kick from behind, ‘Let’s go’.

Immediately you have to set up a plan, a proposal. So, I had one night to come up with a plan, with the help of people that I had never met. I set my ideas out. We kind of worked around it and that is how we created the Buddhist Union of Kalmykia. It became centralised – the highest authority of Kalmyk Buddhists.

So, for 25 years I have served as the head of the Buddhists, assisting, guiding the revival of Buddhism. Of course, we are all humans, we do make mistakes. There were a lot of bumps, challenges. Nevertheless, we were always optimistic and very positive. We believed in a certain goal, we held on those goals and principles. To this day we have succeeded. I never say ‘I succeeded’, because that would not be right. I always say ‘We succeeded’, because we built this community, we built this structure, this temple as a collective effort, rather than one person’s effort. That is something all of us have accomplished, all of us have achieved together.

B: In the last 25 years how many religious buildings, including temples, prayer houses and stupas, have been built in Kalmykia?

TT: So far, we have built over 31 Buddhist temples across Kalmykia that we know of. In terms of stupas it is more than 130-140. Sometimes, we do not even know that they are built. Sometimes people invite us, sometimes they do not. I would not be surprised if it turns out to be 160 stupas, not 130-140.

B: I know that you sent Kalmyk men to study in India? How many Kalmyks did you send there?

TT: I think since 1993 when the first group was sent to India till today, we sent about 100 students to India. All of those students that we sent, were not necessarily sent to monastic institutions only. Not all were male, we had some females as well. So, the majority of them went to a monastery, some of them went to the University of Higher Tibetan Studies in Varanasi. We sent 10 students to the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute. We sent students to Sara College, which is a Buddhist dialectic school. We sent students to the Tibetan Library to learn Tibetan language and grammar. There were also some who studied Tangka painting. We sent students to various institutions. Did all of them survive? No. There were many challenges – a climate difference, a cultural difference, strict discipline. There were various reasons [why some did not finish their studies].

B: How many Kalmyk lamas with Tibetan religious education do you have today in Kalmykia?

TT: 22-23, I believe.

B: Can we talk about the historical institution of the Shajin Lama? What is his role in the Kalmyk society?

TT: The Shajin Lama’s responsibility is to lead, uphold and preserve the Buddhist status, image and teachings among the Kalmyks. That was the main responsibility of every Shajin Lama in the past. In my case, I have been able to uphold this tradition and redevelop, revive it, reintroduce it in a place where Buddhism once had flourished freely. It was completely lost under Communism. I think we have done a good job.

If somebody was to ask me if I have any regrets about what we have done in Kalmykia, I do not have any regrets. I am fully satisfied with what we have done. Of course, there are a lot of things that could have been done differently. Still I do not have regrets. We did things based on the circumstances, on the situation at that time. Overall, we have achieved a lot of good and positive results. I am happy for that.

B: Do you have links with the Buddhist establishment of Tuva?

TT: Yes, we do. We have a very friendly, open communication and dialogue, consultation with one another. We have no problems whatsoever. With the administration of the Buryat Khambo Lama – from our side we have an open relationship. From their side, I do not know how they see it; we do not hear much from them, there is no communication from that side. From our side, we are always sending letters, greetings. But we never get a reply, but still. We do not know what the reasons are. But that is OK.

I am 44 now. In the past 25 years, I look back and see nothing but joy. It was difficult time for all of us. We all struggled together and I am very grateful to the people who believed us, to the people who supported us and to the people who struggled with us. I dedicate our success to those people. I often pay homage to the older generation, because they are the ones who have really suffered physically, emotionally and psychologically. Nevertheless, they never gave up their hope, their faith. They never gave up their optimistic beliefs. Because of their wishes, prayers, optimism and strength, we are who we are today as Kalmyks. I dedicate my every step towards the preservation of Kalmyk people, Kalmyk culture, Kalmyk identity, Kalmyk traditions, our religion and so on. I am very grateful to the older generation for their hardship and for entrusting us with this very rich heritage.

Now, we are getting older and it is time to pass the baton to the younger generation. I have sacrificed a lot in my life for the people, for the Kalmyk nation. And I have no regrets, but still there are a lot of things that I would like to enjoy personally. And I want to do that some day before it is too late. Hopefully, people will give me an opportunity to do that. And I wish the younger generation a great success. I am frequently asked if I were to leave the post of Shajin Lama, would I be worried? I am not worried. The future is in good hands, I believe.

B: When would you like to resign?

TT: I think, I am ready to resign now. Why not? Like I said, I am still physically fit. There are a lot of things that I want to do that I never got to do. There a lot of things that I have sacrificed, dedicated my life and time to Kalmykia.

B: Who is your successor?

TT: That is for the people to decide. I will never give any recommendation, I will never give my candidacy. That is for people to decide. Hopefully, people would use their intellect to choose the right person.

Ubush was born in 1986. He is from the Zyungar clan.

After finishing an institute in Moscow, Ubush served in the army. Today he works in Moscow. His mother, Ubush says, is half Derbet and half Torghut. His father is Buzava. Ubush’s grandfather on his paternal side lived in Zyungar stanitsa in Zimovnikovskiy rayon. Ubush’s grandmother on his paternal side is from Bogshrakhna stanitsa. Mazan Baatr was Ubush’s grandmother’s distant relative.

During World War Two Germans first arrived at the former Cossack stanitsas. The locals did not know which side they should take. Ubush’s great-grandfather on his maternal side, Egor Basanov, fought in the Red army and was awarded the St George’s cross. His family was sent into exile in the autumn of 1944 when his daughter, Ubush’s grandmother, was either 13 or 14. Upon seeing the St George’s cross on his chest, the Soviet soldiers who had come to deport them gave the family time to prepare food and warm clothes for the trip. The family was transported on American tracks under the surveillance of a Georgian battalion.

Ubush’s great-grandfather on his paternal side fought in the White army, in the Zyungar regiment which mainly consisted of Kalmyks. Many soldiers from this regiment ended up in Turkey, including Ubush’s great-grandfather. Later he returned from Turkey to the Soviet Union and built a mill. His family lived well. Then Ubush’s great-grandfather had been accused of being a kulak. The mill still stands in Rostov oblast.

Valentina talks about her family, parents and life before and during exile.

Before exile life was hard in Kalmykia. Valentina’s parents met each other and got married during the exile years in Siberia. Valentina’s mother was an orphan whereas her father was separated from his parents who had been exiled to Kazakhstan. Valentina herself was born in Siberia. When the ban on movement was lifted, Valentina’s family moved to Kazakhstan to look for their relatives and her father’s parents. In Kazakhstan they went to many villages where people had died of hunger. Finally, they found their parents, who were bed-ridden, malnourished and suffering from lice bites. A 5-year-old Kalmyk girl was looking after them, cooking meals from leftovers that the local Kazakhs brought themю

In Kazakhstan, Valentina recalls, they did not have beds and slept on cane mats. Not only did cane have sharp edges but it contained a lot of dust. In the morning the whole family used to wake up with their feet bleeding from cane cuts and their noses blocked. Valentina’s mother collected cane in the collective farm, and used it to stoke the stove at home. She also found a job at a cannery, and to feed her elderly in-laws she stole fish from work. Once she was caught stealing and sent to prison. But because she had a young child, Valentina’s mother was spared and soon released. Valentina’s paternal grandfather died in Aralsk, but her grandmother returned with her to Kalmykia where she lived 102 years. When Kalmyks were allowed to return home, it was not possible for all to go at once, so people travelled in small groups.

Valentina returned to Kalmykia with her grandmother. In Kalmykia they also worked together. They harvested cane, grazed sheep and grew watermelon.

Viktor was born in 1953 in Altai krai, Siberia. He spent his childhood at boarding school, then served in the Soviet Army, and afterwards worked as a stonemason. Later he continued his studies at the Volgograd House of Crafts and then returned to Elista. After a while Viktor decided to learn carving on wood, bone, and stone at the Abramtsevo Arts and Crafts College in Moscow oblast’. He talks about his student years.

In the past Kalmyks were cattle breeders. They had cattle and consumed meat and dairy products. This time has passed. Today young people do not speak their language or follow their customs. They do not even distinguish between their paternal and maternal relatives.

I arrived in Siberia when I was 9. My mother, grandmother and two younger siblings died there. I was left with my elder sister and we survived on handouts. I ended up in an orphanage along with many Kalmyk children. I forgot the Kalmyk language there. There is a saying, ‘You get smarter when you suffer’. I suffered a lot. I worked as a herder just to earn food when I was 11. At 12 I worked as a tractor driver. I wish our descendants would never go through this! May there be no wars! Today many complain that there is nothing good in Kalmykia. I say to them, ‘Be a master of your land, work for the benefit of others and everything will be alright!’ When our sovkhoz disbanded, I searched for another job, but instead had to take my retirement, because I had worked for 52 years as a tractor driver.

In Siberia it was hard for us. We were outcasts and did not see anything good in life. There was an old Kalmyk man in our kolkhoz who, when drunk, shouted, ‘I am a grandson of the great Lenin and Hitler’s son-in-law!’. He was sentenced to ten years for this. I learnt that his wife was German. That was it, such was our government back then.

In 1956 when I was working in Frunze I suddenly heard someone sing a Kalmyk song called ‘Sharka-barka’. My colleague and I stopped working and went out to see who was singing. It turned out that the song was coming from a gramophone. Kalmyks were returning home from exile. Upon my return from Siberia, I got married and this November I will celebrate the 60^th anniversary of my wedding. I wish that you and your wife live together as long as I have had with mine.

Teach your children not only how to read or write, but also Kalmyk folklore and customs. In the past, old people considered those who knew proverbs to be wise.

I have relatives from Artezian, who went to a temple when their children fell ill. In the temple they were told to make an offering to their ancestors. They came to me to ask where their ancestral land is. I explained to them that our ancestors demand that their living descendants make offerings to them. I myself make offerings to a fire, which is a very powerful ritual.

In the past, Kalmyks were curious about each other’s clan affiliation. I am Torghut. We all need to know which clans we belong to.

My relatives have built a stupa in our ancestral land. In the past our lamas studied in Mongolia, whereas today they study in India. Having said this, our lamas know neither their language nor customs. On my altar I keep a photo of lamas. I received this photo from the lama Tsagan Otkhaev, my father’s friend.

One of my relatives named Partyn Shar was a lama. He died before WW Two at the age of 95. Lamas did not marry at that time and were looked after by their relatives. Another relative of mine on my father’s side named Dyudrya Monkya had the title of Erketen zaisang.

Vladimir was born in Siberia in 1953. After exile, his family returned to Kalmykia and settled in the village of Komsomolets where Vladimir started elementary school. In 1962 the whole family moved to the village of Tsoros. Vladimir finished his elementary school there. After graduating from Bashanta Technical College, Vladimir served in the army. Afterwards he studied agriculture at Kalmyk State University. He spent his whole life working in the Kalmyk agricultural sector managing various collective farms. He also kept horses. He knows his ancestors six generations back. Vladimir is married, has three children, and seven grandchildren.

Yuriy talks about his ancestors, Torghut zaisangs, who lived in Limanskiy rayon of Astrakhan oblast, about his grandparents’ clan and his ancestral land before the Revolution in 1917. Accused of being kulaks, Yuriy’s paternal grandparents were sent to prison. When Yuriy’s parents got married, his mother’s parents did not acknowledge their (impoverished) son-in-law as an owner of an ulus (territory). Yuriy’s father never visited his in-laws since, although he allowed Yuriy to see them. Yuriy says that he was brought up by his father like a proper man, being taught how to work. Yuriy also says that he worked with elderly Kalmyks who taught him traditions and showed him how to behave by their own example.

In this video Yuriy talks about his origins and clan. Born in Siberia, Yuriy’s memories are mainly related to his life there. His ancestors were Torghut elite. He says that the land where his ancestors lived was captured by the Torghuts in 1640 and since then has been considered as the ancestral land of the Tsaatan and Keryad clans.