The Failed Kalmyk Pilgrimage to Tibet at the Beginning of the 19^th Century: Historical and Source Study Aspect (Based on the Materials of the State Archive of the Astrakhan Region)

Abstract

For the first time in Russian historiography, the article analyzes the collection of documents from the State Archive of the Astrakhan Region and the Russian State Historical Archive related to the failed pilgrimage of the Kalmyk Buddhist clergy’s representatives to Tibet at the beginning of the 19th century. A significant amount of interdepartmental correspondence accompanied the whole preparation process for this pilgrimage, which was supposed to be part of the government policy on developing the Russian-Chinese diplomatic cooperation. The permission for Buddhist clergy to contact fellow believers in Tibet followed the organization of the Russian embassy to China in 1805, headed by Yu. A. Golovkin. The Russian government expected the successful completion of the embassy, one of the tasks of which was to get free access for Russian citizens to Tibet. Kalmyk pilgrims, escorted by government officials, should be the first Russians officially granted by China to visit Tibet in the second half of the 18th century. The unsuccessful completion of the embassy prevented the pilgrimage from realization but intensified the interaction of the Russian government with the Buddhist clergy of the Kalmyk steppe. The article provides information on compensation for the expenses of the Kalmyk clergy, the organization of the trip of lamas to St. Petersburg, and the permission to build a Buddhist temple in the Astrakhan province at the request of one of the participants of the never-realized pilgrimage. The article presents a transliteration and a modern (diachronic) translation of two letters written by the Kalmyk clergy in “todo bichig” (“Clear Script”) to representatives of the Russian government.