Pastoralism in Kalmykia: Historical Experience and Modernity

摘要

The article discusses the developing of pastoralism in Kalmykia that is being studied in a limited number of works. Moreover, the researchers did not try to make comparative historical parallels with modernity. Even though nomadology has been developing over two centuries, in the modern period, discussions are still ongoing on its key problems. It is largely due to the complex and protracted transition in Russian historiography from the formational to civilizational approaches. In this regard, the authors of this article are trying to consider the historical experience of the Kalmyk nomadic economy and to determine its criteria indicators and development trends. As an example, the authors have studied the beginning of the 20th century, because it was at this time that the optimal basic elements in the development of pastoralism were formed in Kalmykia. It was a period of intensive involvement of the region in the all-Russian market that caused significant changes in Kalmyk economy: an active transition to settled life, the beginning of the multi-sector economy formation, the development of economic zoning, changes in the specific structure of Kalmyk farming under the influence of market conditions. The main indicators of the Kalmyk economic culture, the role and place of the Russians of the Co-Ukrainian resettlement population in the agrarian evolution were allocated. According to the authors, in the region at the beginning of the 20th century, there was a rational relationship between man and nature, which led to a relative ecological balance. The authors paid attention to the current state of the agrarian production in Kalmykia, identified its positive and negative sides, and offered their own vision of the prospects for pastoralism, considering the centuries-old historical experience of the Kalmyks