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  L.P.POTAPOV (1905-2000)
ETHNIC COMPOSITION AND ORIGIN OF ALTAIANS
HISTORICAL ETHNOGRAPHICAL ESSAY
"Science" Publishing house, Leningrad branch, Leningrad, 1969
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part 2. Closest ethnic ancestors of Altaians 80

Historical review 17th c.

80

Chagats - Chiks

82

Teleuts

85

Enisei Kyrgyzes

87

Tuvinians

88

Russians are coming

89

Argyns

90

Mongols

91

Teleuts

98

Naimans

103

Ases

103

Telenguts

103

Teleses

104

Kumandy

107

Chelkandy

111

Historical review - 18th c. (continued)

112

Teleuts

114

Southern Altaians

140
L.P. POTAPOV
ETHNIC COMPOSITION AND ORIGIN OF ALTAIANS
Part 2 Closest ethnic ancestors of Altaians
80

CLOSEST ETHNIC ANCESTORS OF ALTAIANS

To clarify the origin question of the modern Altaians ethnic composition, described above mainly using the materials of the 1897 census and some ethnographic studies, should be examined materials that would help to define the nearest historical ancestors for both Southern and Northern Altaians. Execution of thic task is practically possibly, for the factual materials are contained in the Russian written sources of the 17th and 18th centuries, which allow to generally reconstruct a picture of the Southern Siberia ethnic composition, and its change during that period. We shall try to follow the written sources not only for names of the main tribal or ethnic groups, but whenever possible for their resettlement and movement, and for the genetical continuity with modern Southern or Northern Altaians' ethnic composition, etc.

The ethnic composition of the Southern Siberia population during the examined period was stable only in the most general outline. Under influence of various specific, mainly political reasons it changed quite often. Processes of fractioning and mixture of the various population groups, change in their political situation, administrative form, and ethnic nomenclature, at times essentially influenced the general state of ethnic composition. From that comes a necessity to examine the subject on the backdrop of that complex political situation that developed at the end of the 16th and first decades of the 17th century in connection with such outstanding historical events as the fall of the Siberian Khanate, annexation of the Siberia territory by the Russian state, emergence of the Dzungar Khanate. Obviously, we are not venturing to investigate or examine in detail these events. Some from them, like for example the absorption of Southern Siberia by the Russian state, we covered repeatedly while studying the history of the Shors, Altaians, and Khakases. 1

1 See our books: Essays on Shoria history, L., 1936; Essays on history of Altaians. Novosibirsk, 1948 (second edition, M.-L., 1953); Brief essays on history and ethnography of Khakases (16-19 centuries). Abakan, 1952; Origin and formation of the Khakass nation. Abakan, 1957.
80

A special work addresses the history of the Dzungar Khanate. 2 An exception in respect to the level of study and publication is perhaps the Siberian Khanate. But brief information on it nevertheless is available in the scientific historical literature. They can be taken as sufficient for the objective of the present chapter ( These are funny zigzags of the Russian historiography. A neighboring state was somehow studied, but their own annexed state was not. Was this pathetic or pitiful? First monograph on the Siberian Khanate was published 30 years later, after the collapce of the former Soviet Union - Translator's Note).

The Siberian Khanate appeared as a result of gradual disintegration of the Kipchak Khanate (Golden Horde in Russian lingo) or Djuchi Ulus. During feudal fracturing (Soviet lingo for dynastic quarrels) at the end of the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century the Kipchak Khanate broke down into two parts, of which the eastern part with a strip of steppes from Volga to Western Siberia received a name White horde. The feudal conflicts and intestine wars gradually resulted in disintegration of the White horde, which in the first half of the 15th century splintered into separate isolated large feudal uluses in its territory: Nogaian led by khan Edigei, Sheibanid headed by descendants of Sheibani-khan (from Chingisid dynasty), and Siberian, in the beginning ruled by members of Tatar nobility of the local ulus from the "Taibugin clan", and after 1560's by khan Kuchum (a Sheibanid newcomer from nomadic Uzbeks). The population of Altai, especially western, was usually subordinated to the various feudal lords of the other uluses that were coming to power during feudal partitioning of the White horde. The administrative political centers which ruled over the population of Altai and adjoining steppes in the interfluvial of the Ob and Irtysh were mainly located along the Irtysh. Although, the so-called Tyumen Khanate that existed prior to the beginning of the 16th century had its center on the bank of the river Tura, where now is located the city Tyumen (Chinki Tura on the map).

Siberian Khanate (From Wikipedia )

The tribes of Altai were in contact with Türkic-speaking, mainly Kypchak nomadic tribes of the Sheibanid and Siberian uluses. Some of the (nomadic) tribes of these uluses were gradually included into the Kazakh and so-called "nomadic Uzbek" people, Kirgizes, Altaians, and even in the ancestral composition of the modern Khakases.

The Siberian ulus, or the Siberian Khanate, was located mostly in the Tobol and Irtysh interfluvial. From the east it was protected with a well fortified fort Kullar located along the river Irtysh, opposite of the mouth of Ishim (Opposite of Qizil Tura/Kizil Tura on the map). In the southeast the border run in the Baraba steppe. In the west a fortified point was a small Tarhan town along the river Tobol (and Tura). The Altai tribes, especially western and northwestern Altai, maintained relations with the nomads of the Siberian ulus through the Irtysh and Ob steppes.

2 I.Ya.Zlatkin. History of the Dzungar Khanate (1635-1758). M, 6 L.P.Potapov
81

After a military defeat in 1591 khan Kuchum fled to the headwaters of the rivers Ishim, Osha and Kamysh, where his possession bordered on the pasturing routs of Oirats-Kalmyks. There (in 1598) he was once again defeated, this time finally, and fled to Oirats in the Irtysh headwaters, where he tried to seize horses, but was expelled to the Nogai steppe.

The main population of the Siberian Khanate were Türkic-speaking tribes genetically called Tatars by Russian written sources. Many of them were somehow related with Kazakhs and nomadic Uzbeks, and apparently with Nogays (ethnologically, Kazakhs and Nogays were ethnically identical two political and geographical branches of Kazakhs. - Translator's Note).

Political dependent on khan Kuchum also were various tribes and clans, not only within the Khanate, but those on some adjacent territories. In the southeast they were Türkic-speaking "Baraba Tatars", so called genetically in the Russian historical sources after the name of the Baraba steppe. D.Messershmidt recorded from the words of one Baraba Tatar with whom the traveler talked in 1721 that some Baraba Tatar people traced their origin from the local Ostyaks (Istyaks) lwho adopted the Türkic language and the name "Baraba Tatars". 3 (L.Potapov concludes his review of the ethnical composition of the Western Siberia without even naming, unless they were Türkified, the Western Siberian aboriginal Ugric and Ket people, limiting his introduction by the political history and the Türkic settled and nomadic populace. This omission reflects the sorrowful general Russian historiographical trend of leaving the natives out of the picture unless they directly impact the history of the Russian state - Translator's Note)

Chagats - Chiks

Then should be named Djagats (Chagats), or in usual Russian utterance of that time "Chats" (usually "Chat Tatars"), their dependence on the Siberian Khanate apparently had a formal character (That is unclear definition, since all Mongolian dependencies, including the Rus ulus, were autonomous, and a direct home rule applied only to the central ancestral lands. That societal structure was hierarchical, with dependent uluses having their own centers on hierarchically reducing scale. The "Baraba Tatars" had their own autonomous center, subordinated to the autonomous Tumen ulus, subordinated to the autonomous Kipchak ulus (Golden Horde), subordinated to the Great Khan. Subordination meant political recognition, rendering taxes, and rendering a limited number of service duties. The decision who the "Baraba Tatars" were dependents of did not rest with the "Baraba Tatars", but was was resolved as conflicting claim between their overlords, in the later period without a formal approval from the Great Khan. Expulsion of khan Kuchum did not mean a liberation of the "Baraba Tatars", but a transfer of their dependency from the Chingizid-controlled ulus center to the Russian-controlled ulus center, if they accepted that. Those who would not accept had to organize a mass migration, and join an alternate suzerainty as a tribe or as a seok, continuing the eternal saga of the Türkic people - Translator's Note).

They had their own feudal rulers, who were collecting various renditions and assessing duties on the ordinary local nomads. Djagats or Chagats probably, were a part of the Türkic-speaking tribes, related to Teleuts (Telenguts). Per G.Miller testimony, after Kuchum exile the Chat Tatars for some time lived in the headwaters of the Ob (i.e. in the Altai foothills, where they were called Chat which has a folk etymology with a meaning "cape"). Ostensibly, they received this name because their main ulus was once located on a cape. 4 D.Messershmidt, was addressed this question long before Miller, tells that when he in 1721 visited an Uur-Karagai settlement on the right bank of Ob, he found out that the "Local Tatars belong to the Chat tribes... Their origin arose during khan Kuchum time... They could not explain how they did receive the name Chat Tatars". 5 In the overwhelming majority of the Russian historical documents, the Chagats are called Chats, but frequently also ChatTatars.

3 D.G.Messerschmidt. Forschungsreise durch Sibirien 1720-1727. Teil 1. Tagebuchaufzeichungen 1721-1722. Berlin, 1962, p. 68.
4 G.Miller. History of Siberia, vol. 1. L., 1937, p. 314.5D. G. Messerschmidt, Ibid., p. 77.
82

Dismissing the purely Russian name "Chat Tatars", and not looking for the etymology of the ethnonym, the name Chat is quite possible to understand as a rediced form from Chagat = Chaat 2, Chat. As is well known, in Türkic languages such loss of the consonant "g" in inter-vowel position ia a widespread phenomenon. At the same time should be noted that the full form of the ethnonym Chagat, as we saw, was retained in the Altai mountains among Tubalars (and even earlier among Teleses) in the name of seok Chagat (Chygat). It is also found in some Russian 17th century historical documents in the form Djagat. 6 From that follows a conclusion that the Altai Chagats, who according to the tale initially lived with Teleses of the Teles lake ( i.e. lake Altyn Gol, Türkic "Golgen Lake"), and then migrated to the Tubalars, are descendants of the Djagats, or Chagats (Chygats), whose name is recorded in the Ob area in the Russian historical documents dated by the end of the 16th century

To complete the examination of the ethnonym Chagat for the16th - 17th centuries, we can bring up a valuable historical documentary material. The source is a well-known Sanan Setsen (Tsetsen) historical chronicle, which describes division of tribes in Ordos between 9 sons of the Mongolian the Beg Gun-Biliktu Mergen Djiiung from the Chingis-khan line (17th generation) who died in the 1550. To his seventh son by the name Badme Sambhave were assigned tribes among which were the above Chagats and Mingats, belonging to the left wing of the Ordos Mongols. 7 Thus, it is documented that in the middle of the 16th century Chagats were located in Ordos, on the southern side of Gobi. They have got there, like the Telengits, Mingats, etc., from the Khangai -Altai mountains together with the northern Mongols and Oirats, apparently before 1635, i.e. before the conquest of the Ordos Mongols by the Manchurian dynasty of China. Hence, the Türkic-speaking tribes with the 16th century name Chagat were spread in a large territory, mainly in the Sayano-Altai mountains and north of them, in the basin of the Ob headwaters, reaching Ordos in the south. In the Mongolian historical compositions they are called Chagat, and in the Russian historical documents we believe they are called with a reduced form of that ethnonym, in the form Chaat-Chat. The Chats had fortified small towns, their main center was a small town (shown as Chagat on the map, Russian name "Chat town") on the left bank of Ob along a main track between the cities Tomsk and Tara. 8 Some of the Chats were coaching along the lower course of the river Chik (left tributary of Ob in the vicinity of modern Novosibirsk). 9

6 G.Miller, Ibid., p. 507.
7 Antoine Mostaert. Ordosica. Bull, of the Catholic University of Peking, 1934, No 9, p. 28-29.
8 G.Miller. History of Siberia, vol. 2. L., 1841, p. 91.
9 Ibid., p. 476.
83

Possibly in the ethnonym Chagat, pronounced the same as Chygat, lays even more ancient name Chik (plus plural suffix of the Mongolian language). In that case we could regard the Chagats-Chigats of the 16th century as the descendants of the ancient Chiks, known from the ancient Türkic inscriptions (the Chiks of the ancient Türkic inscriptions are being associated with the Chi of the Chinese annalistic chronicles, see here about their tamga and here about their own local Upper-Enisei alphabet of the Türkic runiform script, and here about their pre-Mongolian history and their Manichaean religion - Translator's Note), who in the 8th century were living in Tuva along Enisei, and later were displaced by the Uigurs and other tribes. That the ethnonym Chagat-Chigat is connected with the ethnonym Chik can also be deduced because one of the small rivers on the left bank of Ob, where lived Chat Tatars, received a name Chik that survived into present (Same with the river Kemchik = Kem-chik = "Chik's river" - Translator's Note) (And we can speculate that Chagatai was a Chingiz-khan son from a Chagat wife, in accordance with Türkic tradition of naming kids after the tribe of their mothers - Translator's Note).

For our purposes presents interest that one of the volosts of the Siberian Khanate, located along Irtysh above the mouth of the river Ishim, had a name Tokuz. Though that volost, when after the fall of the Siberian Khanate it was attached to the Tobol district, had only three persons, it is hardly doubtful that these people belonged to the group (probably a clan) of Tokuz, whose descendants till now are living among the Northern Altaian Tubalars. It certainly is difficult to tell, whether these three persons that were registered as a separate volost, were a part of the seok Togus which also lived then in the Altai (at least in the first decades of the 17th century), or on the contrary, which is more likely, the Western Siberian seok Toguswas a remainder of the Toguses who lived in the Western Siberia during Kuchum time, but moved to Altai after the fall of the Siberian Khanate, which caused mass outflow of the nomads.

In addition to the Chats - Chagats (Djagats), should be noted two significant groups of the Türkic-speaking nomads who lived along Ob in the Tomsk area and further south: Eushta Tatars and Teleuts. The Eushta Tatars, ruled in the beginning of the 17th century by the Beg Toian, were living at a mouth of Tom and in its vicinity. The Teleut pastures began 5 days of travel south of Tomsk. From the historical documents is known that Eushta Beg Toian after the fall the Siberian Khanate and the final defeat of Kuchum went to Moscow to the Russian Czar Boris Godunov with a request to be addmitted with all his people by the Russian state.

He rendered his petition on March 25, 1604, where he suggested "to put up a city (fort) in his ancestral lands in Tom" and pointed out that with a construction there a city, the Russian state could control with his assistance a number of coaching nearby ethnic groups, among which, in addition to the Chat Tatars, he named Teleuts (Telengugs), Kyrgyzes (Enisei), and others. The offer of Beg Toian was accepted, and at the end of September 1604 was erected the Tomsk fort.

Eushta Tatars, as was stated by Toian, had about 300 persons, apparently were meant adult soldiers. Probably, during the Siberian Khanate the Beg Toian was one of the khan Kuchum functionaries to supervise and gather yasak from the nomads in that area. Now he likewise intended by means of the Russian Czar to keep his position and influence, bargaining for himself and his Eushtans an exemption from yasak. The Eushtin Tatars only carried cavalry service for the military authorities of Tomsk.
84

Teleuts or Telengu/its

Teleuts or Telenguts (self-name - Telengit) in the 17th century were the most numerous Türkic-speaking nomads scattered in the huge space of mainly Western and Southern Siberia from the Tomsk (56.5°N 85°E) and Baraba steppe (Cherlak 54°N 74°E - Semipalatinsk 50°N 80°E) in the north to the Altai mountains in the south (48°N 85°E). Moreover, some Telengut-Telengit groups lived not only in the "Russian" Mountain Altai (Tau-Teleuts), but also to the south, in the north-eastern part of the Mongolian Altai, and in the territory of the modern Tuva (51°N 95°E), and also in the headwaters of the river Irkut (52°N 103°E) and in the area of the lake Hubsugol (Kosogol) (51°N 100°E).

The main mass of Teleuts lived south from Tomsk in the Ob steppes or forest-steppes. These Teleuts the 17th century Russian historical documents frequently call "white Kalmyks", in contrast with the "black Kalmyks", or Dzungars (or Oirats), who spoke Mongolian. The main pasturing areas mentioned in the records about the Teleut Ob groups were the steppes and forest-steppes along the Ob, and the valleys of the rivers running into it (Inya, Chumysh, Charysh, Alei, and others). The Teleut pasturing routs began from the river Inya and went up (to the south), almost to the beginning of this great river Ob, formed by merging of Biya and Katun (Katun is a Queen, the river name indicates that these were the ancestral territories of the Katun's tribe, which allows to to suggest a potential name of the tribe that lived there before the demise of the Katuns as a social institution. In the Seyanto and Türkic Kaganates, the tribe Ashtak (Ch. Ashide) was a Katun tribe, see here. It appears that the presence in the Altai of the splinters from the As tribes closes the loop - Altai river Katun - Katun tribe - Ashtak tribe- Tört-As/Dieti-As Altai tribes - Altai. - Translator's Note)

To the west their pasturing routs reached Irtysh, and in the east reached the interfluvial of Ob and Tom, including not only the steppes and forest-steppes extending to Kuznetsk, but also the mountain area of the Salair range.

Teleuts consisted of a number of small feudal uluses headed by hereditary Begs. A largest of them in the beginning of the 17th century was Beg Abak, mentioned in the petition to Moscow by the Eushta Beg Toian. He had a thousands people, which should be understood as one thousand soldiers. The nomadic court of Abak (and later of his senior son and successor) was on the small river Meret running into Ob on the right bank, a little above the river Chumysh and below the river Talmenka.

Abak power partially spread over the population of the northern Altai, and some areas of Kuznetsk Ala Tau, for example, along the river Kondoma. He held that population as his tribute payers, kishtyms, whom he assessed with various commodity impositions (iron products, furs, barley, etc.).

Alongside with Abak, Russian historical documents also name others, smaller Teleut Beks. Bek Kogutei 10 for example, as is seen in the 17th century Russian the yasak books, had an ulus called by his name, and paid yasak at least from the 1629. Kogutei ulus was registered in the Iteber volost. In the name Iteber is impossible not to recognize the seok Chediber, in our days a convention holds it to be Shor only because that seok lived during more than a century among the Shors, where it constituted a special (Etiber) volost in the area of the river Kondoma.

10 In the Altaian Teleuts epos, Kogutei appears as the hero of the eponymous heroic legend.
85

Apropos, on a P. Remezov map the Etibers (Chediber) are shown on the right bank of Tom, against the mouth of Uskat (tributary of the river Tom), in the area of the so-called Uskat White Kalmyks (Teleuts). Chediber doubtlessly was one of the Teleut tribal divisions. Probably, already in the 19th century from Chedibers in the basin of the river Kondoma, in particular its tributary Mundybashu, separated a group that for some not yet established reasons began to be called Kalar, and under that name also surfaced in the list of the Shor seoks. 11 To the Itiber volosts probably belonged a small ulus of the Beg Ozylbai, who owed yasak for only 8 or 14 persons (1629-1630), while in Kogudei ulus in the 17th century were registered on the average 40 payers of the annual yasak. 12 In 1630's, after Abak's death, when Teleuts began to be headed by his son Koka, almost to the end of the 1650's is frequently mentioned a name of the Teleuteg Madjik (among the eastern Teleut groups) with whom Koka at times united for joint actions against cities of Tomsk or Kuznetsk or against Dzungars, and at times quarreled and had armed clashes with. About an independence of the Beg Madjik is evidencing the fact that he sometimes joined into a coalition with the Beks of "Upper Sayanians" beyond the Teles (Altyn Gol) lake In the documents known to us nothing is said about what "volosts", or rather Teleut seok clans headed Madjik, like there are no such records concerning Beks Abak, Koka and his further descendants (Beks Tabunok, Baigorok), or about the number of the yasak payers. Finally, we have Teleut historical tales about their two Beks, Mamyt and the Balyk. The name of the Beg Balyk Kajanov (unfortunately, without naming the seok) is found in the 1670's Russian historical documents as an ally of the Russian military detachments (headed by the "Tomsk boyar son" Roman Starkov) in a fight against the Teleut Beg Koka's Tabunka (a grandson of Abak). 13 From the tale about these two Beks follows that both of them coached in the area of Kuznetsk, and were under protection of Tomsk authorities, where they were rendering yasak.

11 In the "Description of Kuznetsk district", the made by G.F.Miller in 1734, the statement about Etiber volost (upstream of the river Mandabash) said: "Inhabitants also are called Kalars, though now this name is not especially common" (TSGADA, f. 199, file 1, l. 23).
12 B.O.Dolgih. Clan and tribal structure of Siberian peoples in the 17th century Ì., 1960, p. 105.
13 Additions to Historical Acts, vol. 6. SPb., 1858, p. 317.
86

In à heat of a quarrel Mamyt killed Balyk, after which the people of Balyk separated from the Mamyt group and began coaching along Tom closer to Tomsk, where later they accepted Islam. 14 In accordance with the historical documents, the Beg Balyk was killed by a detachment of the Teleut Beg Tabunka because he participated in the raids of the Russian mercenaries from Tomsk. 15 In the Mountain Altai in the beginning of 1680's Beg Matur was a lieutenant the of the Dzungar khan Galdan with a title Teleut taishi. In his area were also the Mountain Altai Teleuts, a part of them was called Tau-Teleuts, i.e. Mountain Teleuts. These Teleuts, from the Russian historical documents and Siberian annals, definitely had seoks: Mundus, Naiman, Kershl, Todosh. What groups of Teleuts were in Tuva is not known so far, but in the lake Hubsugul (Russ. Kosogol) area, like in the headwaters of the river Irkut, the Russian documents of 1660's call Teleuts Dolonguts (i.e. Telenguts). They were coaching together with Soets, Uryanhs, and Tuvinians. Sometimes in the historical documents they are registered as Tuvinians of a Dolongut clan. About the number of the Kosogol and Irkutsk Telenguts there is no information, except that in the 1660's they several tens people paid yasak into the Irkutsk fort. 17

Enisei Kyrgyzes

In area of the Chulym headwaters, especially in the basins of White and Black Yuses and in the valley of southern Enisei, in limits Minusinsk depression also dominated the independent Enisei Kyrgyzes. They were divided into a few small feudal uluses (Djesar or Yezer, Altyr, and Altysar) headed by the hereditary Djesar Beg Nemek.

As the Russian ambassadors informed in the 1616, "they have Nemek prince and ruler, and all that lands are his, and previously that was his father's, and under him Nemek are 2 lesser best princes Nomcha and Kora". 18 In respect to their numbers, B.O.Dolgih writes that "Tomsk Eushta petty Beg Toian in 1604 has determined the number of Kirgizes as 1000 people", apparently meaning only men. In 1653, scared by the arrival of Altyn-khan, Kirgizes "all in scope" and "hid in a palisade" on a small river Enik. It was thought that they had 1500 of "combatant people". In 1668 the number of all Kirgizes of "useful people", without kyshtyms, was determined as 1000 persons.

14 V.Verbitsky. The Altai Aliens. Ì., 1893, p. 121-122. Compare: W. Radloff. Aus Sibirien, Bd. 1. Leipzig, 1884, p. 177-178.
15 P.E.Tadyev. A turning point in the history of the Mountain Altai. In Coll.: Great friendship, Gorno-Altaisk, 1956, p. 9.
16 History of Tuva, vol. 1. M., 1964, p. 209.
17 Ibid., p. 209;. B.O.Dolgih, Ibid., p. 295, 298.
18 More detailed account of that, and generally about the history of Enisei Kyrgyzes see in my book "Origin and formation of the Khakass nation", page 4-69.
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Citing some more figures for later time, Dolgih determines the total number of Kyrgyzes as 4-5 thousand. The beks of each Kirgiz ulus had their kyshtyms, who were small and different-lingual tribal groups that mainly lived in the mountain taiga part of the Minusinsk depression and in the Kuznetsk Ala Tau, were engaged in animal hunting, fishing, primitive (mostly hoe) agriculture, iron smelting, and manufacture of iron products. Some kyshtyms were nomadic cattlemen (for example, Kachins). The Altysar Beks viewed as the kyshtyms the Türkic-speaking Kizils, Achins, Basagars, etc., who lived along Chulym, and also Kachin, then the Keto-lingual Arians, Yastyns, etc., who were living near modern Krasnoyarsk.

The Altyr Beks held for kyshtyms the Türkic-speaking Shors, Sagais, Sayans, Tuvinians and others.

Tuvinians

Along the Western Sayan mountains ridge and on its southern side in the territory of the modern Tuva lived the nearest historical ancestors of modern Tuvinians, the Türkic-speaking tribes and clans: Mady, who were coaching along the rivers Hemchik and Ulug-Hemu, Mingats (along Hemchik), Sayans in the headwaters of the Hemchik basin, but frequently also appearing in the Altai and in particular in the Teles lake (Altyn Gol) area, Tochi or Todjins (whose descendants till this time occupy the north-eastern Tuva), the Telenguts dicsussed above, Orchaks, Kujugets, Karsals, and others. Some of these tribes, for example Mady, Orchaks and Kujugets, summertime were appearing on the Teleut pasturing routs, between Ob and Tom, and participated with them in raids on local yasak-paying and Russian population. As to the Orchaks (sometimes in Russian documents they are "Kourchaks"), at the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century a part of them were coaching even further west, in a number of volosts of the Tar district, where some of their groups were registered as yasak payers of that district. However, when the Dzungar Kalmyks began frequently enough pasturing in their routs, the Oirat taishi violently drove the "Tar" Orchaks to their territory, from which the Orchaks then were escaping. 20 B.O.Dolgih, who discovered in the archives that information about Orchaks, for some reasons considers Orchaks to be the "Mongol-speaking Kalmyks", even though he himself cites a reference to one Russian document dated by 1625 in which Orchaks in the Baraba steppe are directly called "white Kalmyks " i.e. the same as the Teleuts. 21 Orchaks had long-standing contacts with Teleuts, certainly helped by closeness of their languages. The Tuva tribes, at least in 1580's, in a political relation were independent. They were ruled by Beg Sain-Mashik, and they had their own military forces. In the 1587, for example, when Tuvinians participated in a military campaign against the Oirat western Mongols, , they supplied 15 thousand soldiers.

19 B.O.Dolgih, Ibid., p. 117.
20 Ibid., p. 55.2: Ibid., p. 115.
88

At last, to the south of modern Tuva was à Mongolian state headed by Altyn-khans dynasty. It sfounder was Sholoi-Ubashi, a great-grandson of Geresendze, an ancestor of the Halha Beks, who had his ulus on the western slopes of Khangai ridge. In the beginning of the 17th century the court of the first Altyn-khan was located near lake Upsa-Nor, and sometimes along the river Tes that runs into the lake from the east. This state already existed in the 1680's, and by the end of the 16th century it grew so much that the tribes of Tuva and Enisei Kyrgyzes lost their independence and became tribute payers - kishtyms. By the 17th century the possessions of Altyn-khans reached from the Sayan mountains in the north to the southern foothills of Mongolian Altai in the south, and from from the lake Hubsugol in the east through Tuva almost to the Black Irtysh the west.

Russians are coming

The picture of the Southern Siberian population at the beginning of the 17th century would not be complete without mentioning the settling of Siberia by the Russian state. We shall note only the erection dates of the Russian cities (in reality, forts - Translator's Note). In the 1586 Tyumen, and the following year - Tobol. On the Ob in 1593 arose Berezov, and in 1594 Surgut. In 1598 appeared Verhoturie and Narym, in 1601 Mangazeya. With the construction of Surgut, some Chulym volosts started to deliver yasak there, later they were transferred to the Kets (or Ket) fort erected in 1597. Then in 1604 the Tomsk fort was started, heralding the Russian annexation of the Southern Siberia.

The fall of the Siberian Khanate caused relocation the local nomadic population. A part of Türkic-speaking groups of the "Siberian Tatars" coached away to the east, which is documentarily evidenced by the Russian historical acts of the 17th century 22 Some of the migrants reached Chulym and Enisei. That finds confirmation in a number of the Chulym Tatars legends recorded in the first quarter of the 18th, then at the end of the 19th, and at the beginning of the 20th century They tell absolutely definitely about the arrival of the Türkic-speaking population from the west to Chulym. Can be cited references to some legends, widespread among the Chulym Kyzyls, about their arrival from the rivers Tobol and Ishim. The records (1888) of D.A.Klements from the Achin district say: "The Kizyls still remember that they once lived on the Ishim and Tobol and they had their Czar Kochjun". 23

22 Historical Acts, vol. 2. SPb., 1841, p. 2.
23 D.A.Klements. Preliminary information about excursion to Achinsky and Kansky districts. News of East - Siberian branch of Russ. Geogr. Society, vol. 20, No 1, p. 45.
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N.Katanov recorded in the village Askiz a legend that said: "The Kachin people have come from the river Tobol; there they were a people of the Czar Kuchum. (The adventurer) Ermak, fighting Kuchum and pursuing him, subjugated (Kachins) to the Russian Czar. Coming from Tobol, half of the people began settle along the river Kacha, near Krasnoyarsk, the other half began to settle in the lands where now stands Achinsk". 24 We should note in that connection that Kachins called the river Kacha, where they settled, not Kacha, but Izyr-Su, i.e. Ezer, or Desar river. Hence, the Kachins appeared there later than the Kirgiz Djesars have (In respect to toponymy, Vasmer does not have an entry for Russian "ozero" = "lake", and probably not without a reason. Its cognates are in Slavic and Türkic languages, and belong to the oldest layer of the Slavic languages. A proposition that Enisei Kirgizes waited for the Russians to come to bring them the word for a lake would be preposterous, as much as the idea that Slavs in the Pripyat, Vistula, and Danube basins did not have their own word for the lake The only reasonable explanation is that Türkic-Slavic bilingual and therefore symbiotic people defaulted to a single version , and that version happened to be Türkic, of which the 5th c. people may not even have suspected - Translator's Note).

Especial interest presents the D.Messershmidt's record belonging to the 1721 (one hundred eighty years after the defeat of Kuchum) "One knowledgeable Tatar informed me, that the majority of the Tatars who live along the rivers Chulym and Kiya descend from the peoples of khan Kuchum, and earlier they were one people with the Kazakh Horde. After khan Kuchum was banished from Tobolsk, a part of them came here, another part went to Tomsk". 25 In another record Messershmidt informs: "I have met a sensible Tatar in Urup, who confirmed to me that Chulym Tatars come from the Kuchum-khan. First they settled near estuaries of the Chulym and Kiya, but when the Kirgizes were expelled, they spread to here". 26 In the cited Messershmidt field records belonging to the beginning of 1720's, were reflected fresher at that time memoirs of some Chulym Tatar groups about their historical past, than among the Kachins or Kyzyls at the end of the 19th century They should be also trusted because they conform to the Russian historical documents about migration to the east of the Siberian Tatars after the defeat of khan Kuchum, and also with some other materials.

Argyns

For example, among the Kyzyls was a group called Argyn. Its presence is quite a confirmation of the Messershmid message about the "Tatar from the river Kiya" that Chulym Tatars earlier were one people with the Kazakh Horde (Translated into human language, Argyns were a part of the Kazakh people, and not the army. maybe in some peculiar language horde is a people, but in normal human language horde is an army, and frequently these army, Türkic and Russian, consisted of foreigners. The Argyn people could not be the same people as the Kazakh army, though the Kazakh army could be the same people as the Kazakh people. - Translator's Note).

 The Argyns were (and still are - Translator's Note) a large Türkic-speaking group (or a tribe) that belonged to the Djuchi Ulus (Kipchak Khanate was a banned expression in the Russian humanity sciences. In the modern lingo, the Golden Army and Djuchi Ulus were face-saving political euphemisms to cover the former political vassalage - Translator's Note). With the disintegration of Djuchi Ulus a part of Argyns was involved in the process of formation of the Kazakh nation ("Kazakh nation" in Stalinist-Soviet sense of the word, like apples get involved into the process of formation of apple harvest - very sophisticated - Translator's Note). Argyns also were one of those nomadic Türkic-speaking tribes that participated in ethnogenesis of the modern Uzbeks (Again, the "Uzbeks" in Soviet political sense, because ethnically the Uzbeks were quite formed and distinct a millennium before the Kipchak Khanate Khan Uzbek was born - Translator's Note). Argyns also were among the Siberian Tatars. With the fall of the Siberian Khanate they migrated eastward to the headwaters of Chulym, where in the 17th century they constituted a special volost Argun (mentioned from 1623), paid yasak to Tomsk, and with time (first quarter of the 19th century) participated as a Lesser Argun clan in the Kizyl steppe duma (Counsel) (During the Soviet times it was an anathema to even mention the existence of local democratic institutions among the Türkic peoples under the cursed Czarist regime, when the Russian domains within the Russian empire still were slave-holding fiefs. The "liberation" of the people was ascribed to the "Great October Revolution" that 10 years later totally demolished any and all vestiges of democratic institutions - Translator's Note). Thus, the existence among the Chulym Tatars of a group with ethnonym Argyn is a testimony of the Türkic-speaking tribes' infiltration from the west, from the territory of the former Siberian Khanate, and certainly reflects the commonness of some Türkic-speaking ethnic components of Kazakhs, Uzbeks and modern Khakases.

24 Samples of people's literature of the Türkic tribes, Part 9. Translation. SPb., 1907, p. 533-534.
25 D. Messersñhmidt, Ibid., p. 134.
26 Ibid., p. 136.
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Mongols

The fall of the Siberian Khanate had one more very serious consequence in respect to the change in the Western and Southern Siberia ethnic composition. There appeared the western Mongols, or Oirats, in the Russian historical documents of the end of the 16th and the first half of the 17th century usually called Black Kolmaks, and then Dzungars (Russ. Zengortses ). Naturally, the arrival of Oirats in Siberia had its reasons, and the fall of the Siberian Khanate only facilitated their advance to the Siberian territory, because the former Khanate borders became unprotected (In the Russian historiography, the westward migration of the Mongolic tribes and the demise of the Türkic Siberian population was indiscriminately attributed to the Chingiz-khan time, any facts notwithstanding, and the concept of "invading aliens" was exploited from the Middle Age period to literally the present, and culminated in the 20th c. with the Stalinist dismemberments and deportations of whole nations - Translator's Note).

Because the penetration of Oirats-Kalmyks into Siberia seriously influenced not only the ethnic composition, but also the political fate of the Southern Siberia local population, we shall dwell on it in detail, attracting newly published sources and studies. 27 First we briefly review the main stages in the history of the western Mongols, or Oirats.

After the fall of the Mongolian (Yuan) dynasty in the 1368 among Mongols began quickly developing a process of feudal division, which infected not only the eastern, but also the western Mongols, reaching a maximum by the end of the 16th century Once dependent on the "Great Khan" as a head of the Mongolian empire and a supreme owner of the lands, the Mongolian feudal lords of various ranks that were earlier receiving from him bestowed pasturing routs and attached population, now aspired to a political and economic independence, to a transformation of the bestowed lands and population to a hereditary property. There was a continuous division and fractioning of feudal domains. The attempts, for example by Esen-khan (1440-1455) from a Choros house, or his great-grandson Batu-Munke also known as Daian-khan (1470-1543), to overcome the feudal disintegration of Mongols, to create a uniform all-Mongolian centralized state did not have a lasting success, and could not stop this process. After the death of Daian-khan who greatly contributed to the unification of Mongols and creation of the centralized state, Mongolia was again divided into domains shared by his 11 sons, of whom the elder sons became ancestors of some Southern Mongolian princes, and his mentioned above younger son Geresendze received the ulus of his father (actually, the family or clan ulus, a traditional inheritance scheme among the Türkic peoples - Translator's Note) with the pasturing routs in Khangai, and became an ancestor of the Halha princes.

27 Materials on history of the Russian-Mongolian relations. 1607-1636. Collection of documents. Ì., 1959; I.Ya.Zlatkin. History of the Dzungar Khanate. Includes list of various historical sources (Because the Western and Central Siberia were in the Dzungar hands, this 1959 book became a subtle textbook on the Siberian history - Translator's Note).
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During the rule of Daian-khan the center of the political life moved from rivers Tola, Orkhon and Kerulen area to the south, to the Chahar area, where was a the court of the last recognized all-Mongolian khan.

At that time the eastern Mongols expanded their pasturing routs to the Ordos and Kuku-Nor steppes. The western Mongols in the 15-16 centuries were concentrated in a fairly small territory (chiefly Mongolian Altai and adjoining areas), including the territory which eventually received a name of Dzungaria, delimited in the east by the western slopes of Khangai mountains, and in the west by the lake Zaisan (in the northwest) and Karashar (in the southwest). In the south their pasturing routs were north of Turfan and Hami. In northwest they bordered the Siberian Khanate and the pasturing routs of the Kazakhs and Kirgizes. In the north they did not reach neither Altai, nor Tuva. Thus, the Southern Siberia was not included into the Oirat coaching territory.

The Oirats during that time had a great need for pastures. It was necessitated by the growth of nomadic herds and incessant division of the feudal possessions. Every new feudal entity, even the small ones, aspired first of all to secure sufficient pasturing routs, in any imaginable way, including seizure by force. Therefore, the Oirat feudals continuously warred among themselves and with neighbors, which considerably weakened their forces. If in 1550-1560's they quite often warred with the eastern Mongols, from the 1570's such warred with Halha princes, especially with Altyn-khans. In 1530's Oirats started fighting for pasturing routs with Kazakhs, with breaks the wars lasted for two centuries, and repeatedly ended up in serious defeats for Oirats. In these conditions Oirats at the end of the 16th century attempted to penetrate Siberia around the northwestern slopes of the Altai mountains. The external incentive for movement to Siberia was the defeat of the Siberian Khanate. The historical sources make it clear that in the second half of the 16th century Oirats coached southwest from the Mountain Altai, in Dzungaria along the Black Irtysh, and in the western adjoining areas of the Mongolian Altai. Along the Black Irtysh were, in particular, the pasturing routs of Derbets. In the valley of the river Ili were pasturing routs of Choroses, and in the Tarbagatai those of Torgouts. In the 1580's the Oirat pasturing routs reached only the southern areas of the lake Zaisan, i.e. the headwaters of Irtysh, 28 and the headwaters of the river Ishim still belonged to the possessions of Kuchum-khan.

28 Upstream of lake Zaisan Irtysh is called Black Irtysh, downstream from the lake simply Irtysh.
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In 1587, when Altyn-khan allied with Tuva ruler Sain-Madjik went to a campaign against Oirats (through Tuva), the Oirats were coaching along the left bank of Irtysh, the Hoshouts' pasturing routs at that time reached the rivers Emel and Ili.

Oirats appeared in Siberia only in the beginning of 1590's, when the Western Siberia was already in the Russian hands, though the Russian population there still was very small. And in general the Siberia at that time was populated extremely thinly. In the beginning Oirats appeared in the headwaters of the Irtysh (after a flight of Kuchum), and later, in the first decade of the 17th century, in the headwaters of the river Omi near the city Tara. Oirats certainly did not abandon their old pasturing routs. In 1596 they battled, for example, with the detachments of the expelled khan Kuchum near the lake Issyk Kul, though in the 1598, 500 Oirats turned up in the area near river Ob.

The fall of the Siberian Khanate coincided with a period when Oirats, in need of pastures, wanted to gain new territories, and were gradually creeping from the Dzungaria in the only open for them northwestern direction. 29 In a couple decades a significant group of Oirats reached the lower course of the Volga. During that movement, the fact of the fall of the Siberian Khanate could not fail to attract Oirats' attention, as it enabled them to even temporarily and partially to mitigate the political stress of that time in the historical conditions of the western Mongols. A flow of new Oirat groups began moving to Siberia. A document of 1604, referring to the Susha Tatars Beg Toian, says that even around Tomsk coached "hordes of the Beg Binei". Toian informed that Binei had 10 thousand people, and that his closest pasturing routs are only 10 days of travel from Tomsk, and the distant are in 4 weeks of travel. Bek Binei was an Oirat feudal lord. His name is also mentioned in another document dated by 1609, where it appears alongside with names of a Beg Uzenei and others. Uzenei then headed a group of Oirat feudal lords, from among people ruled by Derbet taishi Dalai (This lyrical description dramatizes situation by presenting a permanent nomadic trait as a single event. Russia and Oirats were equally opportunistic and studious in their expansion. In any nomadic society, at any given time, the natural growth of herds exceeded the limits of the existing pastures, and pushed nomadic pastoralists to expansion, within and outside of their domains, and to seek external trade. There was nothing special in the Oirat move to the vacant pastures after the people of the Siberian Khanate deserted their lands in tumultuous time. The Oirats were not looking for a temporary relief, numerically the Russian forces were in hundreds, the Oirats' forces were in tens of thousands, and nobody could predict a future balance of power. The term "feudal lords" is a calque from the Soviet political economy textbook, scarcely applicable to the leaders of the nomadic tribal societies with their kurultais and elected leaders. Without a public recognition of the legitimacy of the ruler and his capabilities in ensuring wellbeing of his supporters, no ruler could hold on to the support of his subjects. The Chingizid Khan Kuchum was a good example of that, instead of coming under his banner, his subjects dissipated and left him without people and without horses. Khan Kuchum was not outdated and illiterate, he personally witnessed the technology and methods employed by Babur in the conquest of Afganistan and India, and should have been in a position to organize a viable defense of his state from the attacks of small troops of mercenary adventurers. For example, in the decisive battle for the Khanaate new capital Iskar, that opened a road to the Western Siberia, Kuchum managed to lose a battle to the tiny Ermak army of only 600 troops - Translator's Note).

The most intensive Oirat advance in Siberia was occurring at the end of the 1610's. It was connected with a threat of war by Altyn-khan of Halha. In January, 1607. Oirats, on behalf of a large group of feudal lords headed by Dalai-Taishi and Torgout Dzoriktu, ostensibly totaling 120-thousand army, asked the Czar authorities in Tara to be allowed to coach "upstream along the Irtysh to to the salt lakes". This request was satisfied. However, Dzoriktu brother Ho-Urluk, a future head of Torgouts, at that time remained in the old pasturing routs, near lake Zaisan. A few months later, in May of 1607, Beg Uzenei emissaries came to Tomsk and this time asked "to protect them from Altyn-Czar and Kozak horde", because military assaults started between the Oirats and Altyn-khan and Kazakhs (Oirats demonstrated their respect of the Tara suzerainty over its domains, under whoever ruled that domain. The lands were obviously defenseless, but Oirats were studious in their affairs - Translator's Note).

29 I.Zlatkin, Ibid., p. 118.
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In September of 1607 in Tara again arrived Dalai-Taishi embassy asking to be allowed to coach not only "upstream along the Irtysh to to the salt lakes"", but also "along Kamyshlov". The emissaries asked the Czar authorities to protect Oirats from Altyn-khan and Kazakhs. The Tar commanders sent ambassadors for negotiations to Moscow, and Tomsk just informed Moscow about the request they received. The answer came to Tomsk in 1608, it recommended to send from the Tomsk emissaries to Uzenei with an offer to accept the Russian overlordship, and after that to satisfy his request. The Tomsk commanders tried to do it, but could not, because the Teleut Beks, whom they planned to send as emissaries to Oirats, respnded that they cannot go to "Kolmaks" because "now the Black Kolmaks coached far away and were at war with Altyn-Czar and Kozak horde, and Black Kolmaks fight among themselves, and their the prince Uzenei lost his best people".

Under a military threat of danger In the 1608 from the headwaters of Irtysh to Tara coached taishi Ho-Urluk, who also asked the Czar authorities to be allowed to coach in Western Siberia along the river Om and to erect there ("5 days of travel" from Tara a small fort for his protection against Altyn-khan.

All this information taken from the Russian written sources, not only allows to track the time and reasons for Oirats' flooding in to Siberia, but also prove that at that time Oirat feudals of various ranks unconditionally recognized the territory of (Western) Siberia as Russian state possessions, and wanted to secure consent for their presence of the local representatives of the Russian state (This is doubtful, because Oirats and all their neighbors had a confederate structure, where local rulers are autonomous and empowered to make all decisions about local affairs, including matters of war and peace, and Oirats likely were not aware of the supposedly centralized state as was projected later by the Russian historians of the Imperial and Soviet periods. Neither was the Russia at the time as centralized as that idea is projecting, for example Ermak wielded a private army of his not only independent from the Moscow government, but in defiance of it - Translator's Note). But soon, invariably receiving permits for temporary pasturing in Western Siberia, large Oirat feudals could not fail to learn that the Russian local military forces, like the number of Russian population in (Western) Siberia, were insignificant, and certainly far from being sufficient to secure the huge territory and its thin and scattered yasak-imposed population. Consequently, the Oirat feudals sharply changed their attitude to the territories of Siberia, where soon they began behaving as absolute masters. They declared themselves the owners of salt lakes in the upper and middle course of Irtysh, and obstructed salt extraction by the Russian population (since there practically was no ethnically Russian population, L.Potapov refers to the politically Russian population of local Türkic and non-Türkic people that traditionally mined and sold salt to their neighbors, and who became Russian tribute payers at about 1620's - Translator's Note), began imposing thir tribute on the the yasak (tribute) population of the Western and Southern Siberia, i.e. Teleuts, Barabans, Kuznetsk Tatars, etc. Moreover, as soon as Oirat feudals successfully ended the 1608-1609 war with Altyn-khan, some from them started talking with the representatives of the Czar power in Siberia with a different language.
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A group of feudals headed by the widow of the Beg Uzenei by the name Abai for example claimed their rights on the lands occupied previously by them for pastures with the consent of the Czar authorities, and on the local yasak-imposed population ("yasak-imposed population" here is the local population pying tribute to the local Czar authorities - Translator's Note). At that time some Oirat feudals have already found a common language with the local feudals, in particular with the Teleuts headed by the Beg Abak, and even were coaching in the Teleut pastures (Evidently, neither local people, nor Oirats were happy with the Russian pretensions on the right of conquest and forced impositions, and they confederated along the traditional scheme of tribal confederations - Translator's Note).

The victory over Altyn-khan and the new and fairly safe from the enemies pasturing routs in the territory of Siberia enabled Oirat feudals to regroup their forces and attempt to advance to the Nogai steppe (western Kazakhstan), because at that time the Great Nogai horde that was coaching between Volga and Emba was very weakened and could not protect their pastures. On contrast, the Oirat feudals became stronger to a such degree that the Great Kazakh Horde and Kirgizes temporarily became their dependents. 30 But even in those conditions the largest Oirat feudals such as Dalai-taishi or the future founder of the Dzungar Khanate Hara-Hula nevertheless were mindful of open and direct aggravation of the relations with the Russian state, preferring to act stealthily and within limits. Oirats were preparing for a new war with Altyn-khan, they were very interested in reserving an opportunity in case of need to seek safety in the territory of the (Western) Siberia claimed by the Russian state and substantially annexed by it.

The succeeding war with Altyn-khan was initiated by the Oirat Hara-Hula, but it was unsuccessful for the Oirats. In the 1620-1621 it was known to the authorities in Tyumen and Tobol . After the defeats, Oirats again began drawing closer to the Russian forts and asking for consent to their coaching along the rivers Tobol, Kamyshlov, and upper Ishim. Some of them appeared in the area between the lake Chany, Om and Irtysh. 31 Many taishis occupied in 1621 pastures near lake Yamysh, which was a salt extraction base for the Russian (i.e. Russian-subjugated native "yasak" serfs) population of Siberia.

Soon to Tomsk came a news that many Oirat taishis coached near Ob, and even built in the mouth of the river Chumysh, among Teleut pasturing routs, a small fortified town. 32

30 The subject certainly is the Central Asian Kirgizes, instead of Enisei Kyrgyzes, as believes I.Zlatkin (History of the Dzungar Khanate, p. 135). Enisei Kyrgyzes at that time were subordinated to Altyn-khan and did not adjoin Oirats .
31 Materials on history of the Russian-Mongolian relations, p. 78,105-107..-.-
32 Ibid., p. 11Ç.
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Under the impact of the Altyn-khan army, who joined with the Kazakh feudals, many Oirats came to various places of Siberia, where they found safety literally from annihilation. The Oirat feudals were certainly obligated to the Russian state, which allowed them to hide in the Siberian territory, and that without special requirements or conditions. Finding the safety, Oirat feudals quickly got accustomed to the new conditions, and again attempted to subjugate the local neighboring population. They again imposed tribute of iron and furs on some groups of the Kuznetsk Tatars and Northern Altaians located far from the Kuznetsk fort, built in the 1618, which is described in one of the Russian documents of 1622. The Northern Altaians, especially the Shors, for a long time were famous for their skill to extract and smelter iron, and make from it "cuirasses, chain mails, helmets, lances, pitchforks and sabers and all iron things, except harquebuses". That was pointed out by the Beg Toian in his petition to the Moscow Czar about his acceptance as a subject, noting that the population living in the headwaters of the river Tom, "makes armor and shooting irons" (i.e. iron arrowheads). 33 The Oirat feudals tried to completely seize these skilled metallurgists and to obtain weaponry, military equipment and cavalry horse harnesses (bits, stirrups, girth buckles, etc.), as was usually done by Kirgiz and Teleut feudals. Notably, the development and iron production level, and manufacturing from it of various products by the tribal groups of the Altai-Sayan mountains for many centuries were supported by the unlimited and insatiable demand of numerous nomads from the eastern part of the Central Asia, Middle Asia and Siberia. The numerous nomadic military units desperately needed the above products. However, precisely for that reason these small tribal groups were always in tribute dependency from the stronger nomads. Among them the small-scale, but extremely widespread manufacture of iron products was not a source of their well-being, as could be in the normal peaceful conditions, but on the contrary a reason for their dependent and oppressed position from various feudal conquerors.

The governmental circles of the Russian state perfectly understood that for the Oirats-Kalmyks, "except Kuznetsk lands, there is no place to buy weapons". Therefore in the 1622 order the Moscow sovereign demanded from the Kuznetsk commanders to exact from the Kuznetsk tribute-paying people "sables, and any soft stuff, and helmets, and pitchforks, and sabers, who can for give to the sovereign whatever for the yasak, and to Kolmak people by no means to not give yasak order, and with Kolmak people not to trade them, in addition to sables, no iron, helmets, and cuirasses, and pitchforks, and sabers not ordered". 34

33 See in more detail in our books: Essays on Shoria history. L., 1936: Essays on a history of Altaians.
34 Collection of Hilkov's Books. SPb., 1879, p. 193.
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The small Russian forces quartered in Kuznetsk were not always able to protect local yasak-imposed population from the Oirat feudals attacks, followed with property robbery, first of all of the iron products. The Oirat feudals cooperated with local leading feudal, especially with Teleut feudal. Oirats grazed their cattle on Teleut pastures, even sometimes assessed alman on some groups of Teleut kishtyms, united with the members of the Teleut feudal nobles into military alliances, involved them in plots against the Russian state, established marriage kinships, etc. Some Oirat feudals were contriving plans for the capture of extensive pastoral territories in the western and southern parts of Siberia, and for that purpose used not only the local Teleut feudals, but also refugee princes from the Khan Kuchum house, mainly his sons, assembling temporary military unions under their aegis, for revolts against the Russian state and its population in Siberia.

From the Russian historical sources at the end of 1620's is known a series of armed uprisings in the Western and Southern Siberia organized by the Oirat feudals, with participation of the Kuchum crown princes and local feudals (Chats, Teleuts, Tuvinians, Kirgizes, etc.). 35 Apparently not without a reason the Teleut Beg Abak visited (1625) the court of Hara-Hula taishi. 31 Being a (conquered and subjugated) subject of the Russian state, and not without an influence of Oirat rulers, in 1633 Beg Abak did not allow a passage of Tomsk cossacks to the the river Biya, and in the 1634 even attacked the yasak White Kalmyks (i.e. Teleuts) in the basin of the river Uskat (Being an autonomous ruler, he would do exactly the same it Kuchum or Hara-Hula sent troops through his territory without his consent. His acceptance of Russian suzerainty did not make him anybody's serf, as the Russian mentality saw and treated him - Translator's Note).

The Oirat wars with Altyn-khan also continued the following years, influencing location of Oirat uluses. The largest change in the Oirats' location happened by the end of 1620's, it was caused by the external military and internal events. Torgouts coached away to the lower course of Volga, and Hoshouts went to Tibet. In Dzungaria remained mainly Choroses. 37

A successful war with Altyn-khan at that time enabled Oirats to regain their old pasturing routs west of the Mongolian Altai, where some Oirat uluses began to return to. The Oirats ruled by Hara-Hula fought for consolidation of forces, they contracted territorially.

Ç5 Among the participants of the revolt is named Teleut Beg Kogutei, who at that time, together with Barabans, Tuvinian Orchaks, and others was among the Beg Abak Teleuts. In the Altaian epos, Kogutei appears as a hero of an eponymous heroic legend.
36 G.Miller, Ibid., vol. 2, p. 320..
37 I.L.Zlatkin, Ibid., p. 148.
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After the death of Hara-Hula (1634) emerged a Dzungar Khanate, in 1635 Batur, a son of Hara-Hula, became its ruler with a title Hongtaishi.

The Dzungar Khanate and its policy influenced quite substantially the life of indigenous population in the Southern Siberia, including its ethnic composition. Dzungar rulers were hostile to representatives of the Russian state in Siberia and, were contriving plans to capture extensive territories of Siberia suitable for pastures, and not any lesser desired to get its yasak-imposed population, especially in the southern Siberia, which were for Dzungar khans tribute payers from which could be obtained plenty of iron products and precious furs (L.Potapov relays the common belief that any colonialism is bad, except for the Russian brand. The local subjugated population id depicted as experiencing a love at a first glance toward the banditry employed by the Czar, and if not for the bad Mongolian apples would love to be fleeced in the name of the Russian Czar. But the robberies of the 16-17th centuries were still a good life for those generations, the real free-for-all ball started in the 18th c. with the Peter I - Translator's Note).

Therefore the Dzungar khans struggled for gaining the tribute payers in different ways, one of which was a regular preparation of the yasak-imposed population for a struggle against the Russian state generally, and against the peaceful Russian population that lived in Siberia, in particular. We shall not address here to what degree the Dzungar khans were successful, and we shall only look how the new political situation after the formation of the Dzungar Khanate was reflected in fate of all Teleuts first, and then some groups of the Northern Altaians.

Dzungar Khanate ca 1750 AD (From Wikipedia )
Khanate borders are marked in blue

As we saw above, during the Abak's life Teleuts were in close contact with the Dzungar feudals, but retained their independence. After death the of Abak the ulus headed his senior son Koka (probably, in 1635). Another apparently significant part of the Teleuts constituted then another ulus, headed by Beg Madjik, with whom Abak's Koka (this Russified form of the name evidently follows the Russian reports) cooperated (especially for joint robberies of the yasak-imposed population of Kuznetsk district whom they considered to be their tribute payers), quarreled, and was hostile. The Tomsk commanders, surely, aimed to receive a recognition of submission to the Russian state from the new Teleut ruler, but practically were not succeeding for a long time. Only in the 1650 Abak's Koka, in his ulus, in the presence of (the Russian) ambassadors, swore an oath of allegiance to the Russian state (actually, it normally was a mutual concord, and both sides were sworn on to keep its conditions. A portrayal of a mutual agreement as a unilateral submission, popular in the Russian historiography, is a falsification - Translator's Note). But in the 1652 he already collected a tribute and plundered the "yasak Tatars" of the Kuznetsk district (Kuznetsk "yasak Tatars" were Koka's Teleut tribesmen, so the event was a tribal affair within the Teleut domains, and unlike the Russian extractions they could not be called robberies, unless in the politics of the divide and rule policies. Presumably, Koka contract with Russians swore his autonomy in his domains, and the Russians were obligated to go through him if they wanted any extractions from his people named Kuznetsk "yasak Tatars" by the Russians - Translator's Note). Probably afraid of unpleasant consequences for such action on the part of the Tomsk commanders (or disappointed by the treacherous conduct of his Russian counterparts - Translator's Note), Koka in 1653 joined Dzungar Hongtaishi (Russ. Kontaishi, frequently not capitalized, Mong. title Hongtaishi, Altan Khan = Golden Khan, 1507-1582), to which undoubtedly for a long time he was courted by the Dzungar feudals. Dzungar khan allocated for his protection three thousand armed Dzungars, assuming that the Tomsk authorities will chase after Beg Abak, who went to the steppes on the western side of the Ob. Abak's Koka's example was followed by the Beg Madjik, who was systematically showing aggressive intentions toward Kuznetsk fort and assigned to it yasak-imposed population (i.e. the Kuznetsk fort was a military enforcement base for subjugation and forced exactions from the local part of the Teleit tribes, who were "assigned" to it for that purpose, were put in serfdom, and imposed a bondage as a "yasak" tribute population. The Teleut prince found that status of his tribesmen scornful and was tagged "aggressor" for that - Translator's Note).
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After joining Dzungaria, Madjik was sometimes allied with the Beg of the "Upper Sayans" Manzei, who was living near Teleses (in Tuva), and was also a Dzungaria subject, for an attack on the Kuznetsk district. Joining Dzungaria, Abak's Koka was not getting along with his patrons, and the quarrels grew into armed conflicts that ended badly for Teleuts. In the 1655 the Tomsk cossacks coming to Teleuts for trade became witnesses of Teleut mass flight from the Ob western side. Teleuts were crossing day and night in haste on the right bank of small river Irmen (near river Chik near modern Novosibirsk). They responded to cossacks that it is not a time for trade, that they barely escaped, abandoning in the steppes on that side of Ob their cattle and property.

There is no doubt that the Teleut pasturing routs in the second half of the 17th century in the west were spread to Irtysh, despite of the constant invasions to Irtysh of the the Dzungar nomadic groups wishing to settle there, and to declare that territory as their property. One of the documents dated by 1660 directly stated that "Telenguts the children of Ishken... are coaching up and down along the river Irtysh, between Almas and Chigir". 38 Therefore is doubtful the B.O.Dolgih's remark in respect to the Teleuts or White Kalmyks, about whom he writes: "In the west the pastures of "White Kalmyks" (Teleuts) in the 17th century, apparently did not reach the bank of Irtysh". 39 However, as the Dzungar feudals were seizing and securing territories along the Irtysh on its exit from the Altai mountains, the Teleut pasturing routs became possible only for those groups who were recognized the authority of the Dzungar khans. However, as we shall see further, Teleut Beks quite often wanted to free of that dependence, from time to time rising in armed resistance, or sometimes seeking protection and refuge near the fortified Russian cities of Tomsk and Kuznetsk.

From the time of the formal transfer of Teleuts under the control of Dzungaria, Teleuts constantly lived under a threat of trouncing, and nothing remained of their former independence. On the contrary, their dependence on the Dzungar khans was growing, in their hands Teleut Beks were instruments of the Dzungaria policies and executors of various orders, and Hongtaishi's officials.

38 G.Miller. History of Siberia, vol. 3. (Manuscript prepared for print by the USSR Academy of Sciences Ethnography Institute, editors A.I.Andreeva and L.P.Potapov), document No 258.
39 B.O.Dolgih, Ibid., p. 115.
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Let's turn now to the historical materials containing information on the nearest historical ancestors of the modern Altaians.

As should be expected, during the 17th century more and much the written Russian sources mentioned Teleuts. They usually are noted generally, without of tribal names and clans, and quite often they still are called White Kolmaks in contrast with Oirats or Dzungars, who in the same documents are called Black Kolmaks. But sometimes the (Russian) historical sources of the 17th century also mention names of some Teleut tribal groups. Of them, the earliest references belong to Ak-kishtyms and Toguls. The document of 1627 talks about newly imposed tributes in the volosts and lands, and are named volosts Askeshtim and Togul. 40 These volosts (together with Kersagal) in 1675 were "from Kolmaks most remote frontier volosts". 41 In the yasak books (tribute accounting books) of the 17th century the Askishtym and Togul volosts are called "steppe volosts", which confirms the Tubalar legend about seok Togul coming to them from the steppe. By the beginning of the 18th century the Askishtyms lived between the headwaters of Ini and Uskat and along river Tom, and the Toguls lived by the headwaters of the Chumysh. 42 The White Kalmyks (Teleuts), registered in the yasak books of the beginning of 1670's, lived along Uskat, and a part of them was considered at that time "expats" of the petty prince Abak's Koka. Attention to the "White expat Kalmyks" arose after the death of Dzungar Batur-khan (Baatur Khan, or rather Bagatur Khan with silent "g"), but before the accession to the Khan throne of his successor Galdan. The Dzungar Hongtaishi (evidently, the Russian records treat the Mongolian title-name of Altan Khan as a generic title, and L.Potapov follows that without reservations or explanations - Translator's Note) dared to demand a return to him of the mentioned Kalmyks. This only shows how far Oirats reached in their aggressive actions and claims, the same Oirats who in some tens of years of the coaching in the lands of Siberia fancied themselves there an almost main political force, at least not lesser in comparison with the Russian state, which rights to Siberia at the end of the 16th century seemed to them to be indisputable (funny, Russian "rights" are the rights of conquest, which do not recognize any rights. After stealing others' property, in defense of the theft the Russians invoke their property rights. In reality what was indisputable was a fact of conquest - Translator's Note). The Oirat feudals behaved so rudely and roughly toward the local yasak-imposed population that that began to be repulsed ba the population. During described time after the death of Batur-khan, among the Oirat or Dzungar feudals arose serious conflicts (normally associated with the election process of the successor in egalitarian societies - Translator's Note), which badly weakened the Khan's power. In those conditions some Siberian kishtyms tried to free from the dependence. In the summer of 1658 against Dzungars rose the Teleut Beg Abak's Koka. He again was defeated. Nevertheless, a part of Teleuts ruled by Abak's Koka coached to and remained close to Tomsk. In the 1665 taishi Sengge (a son of Batur) complained to the Russian ambassador Vasily Bubennoi, who came from Tomsk, that "from famine his, Seng's (Sengge's), yasak Kolmyks from Teleut Koka ulus, left, and nowadays live in Tomsk, and the Czar majesty's commander those kyshtyms of his do not return" .43

40 G.Miller, Ibid., vol. 2, p. 586.
41 Additions to Historical Acts, vol. 7, p. 322. In Fisher, Kersagal volost was in the headwaters of the river Tom.
42 So they are shown in the "Drawing book of Siberia" by S.Remezov, composed in 1701.
43 I.Ya.Zlatkin, Ibid., p. 215.
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Abak's Koka himself again fell into the dependence on Dzungaria. But the Teleuts who have broken away from him remained to coach along the Uskat (a tributary of Tom), and in the yasak books of the Kuznetsk district of the beginning of the 1670's they are registered as "expat white Kalmyks", and with such notations: "of the former leave", then "of the last to leave, who left the petty prince Abak's Koka. They were registered as 75 paying souls". 44 Abak's Koka at that time already coached in the headwaters of the river Alei, a left tributary of Ob, in the location south-west of the present Ust Kamenogorsk. From the report of the Russian ambassador V.Litosova who stayed in the 1666 in the court of taishi Sengge, located "between high mountains on a small river Kusutan in the Djair Shere Moudun gorge" follows that Teleut Beks Koka and Madjik were ruled by Sengge. In the spring of the 1668 in conversation with an ambassador B.Bylin was again discussed the question about "expat White Kalmyks (Teleuts)". Sengge told the ambassador that he knows that the "Russian sovereign against my Teleuts did not send a war and did not take them by force, they fled from me, and the great sovereign should not order to hold them in Tomsk and in Kuznetsk, and his sovereign's servants (order not) to harass (them), and I shall take them from the Tomsk and near Kuznetsk (and jail them) in a fort.". 45 Then Galdan, at that time still simply the llama "kutuhta" told the ambassador Bylina about it, formulating hisopinion in this form: "Our expat Teleuts have no business staying (in the possessions) of the great sovereign". But Sengge-taishi did not agree with his brother. In the summer of 1668 he sent to Tomsk his emissary with a requirement to let go the "expat White Kalmyks (Teleuts)", otherwise he threatened, "Sengge taishi will go with a war to the Tomsk and Kuznetsk forts". In three years about these expat White Kalmyks (Teleuts) wrote a son of the already late Sengge-taishi, Tsewang-Rabdan. Finally, in the 1679 Galdan himself, now a khan of Dzungaria, demanded the "expat White Kalmyks (Teleuts)", threatening to crush Kuznetsk. 46 Despite the vigorous representations of the Dzungar taishi and khans, "expat White Kalmyks (Teleuts)" remained to live in the Russian state. The Czar representatives in Siberia refused to carry out the groundless demands of the Dzungar feudals, and their threats were left hanging in mid-air.

It should be noted in this connection that from the beginning of the 1670's after Galdan accession to the Khan position in Dzungaria, his claims on taxing with alman the yasak-imposed population, mainly the southern Siberian population, become insistent and were frequently accompanied by military threats.

44 B.O.Dolgih, Ibid., p. 107.
45 I.Zlatkin, Ibid., p. 220. The commander Veliyaminov message to the Russsian Czar also says: "The expats white Kolmaks left to Tomsk and Kuznetsk to serve the great sovereign voluntarily, and they live in Tomsk and Kuznetsk on their own will, and not because of bondage" (Additions to Historical Acts, vol. 6, p. 314-315). The subject was 60 families that run away to Omsk.
46 Additions to Historical Acts, t, 6, p. 42
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As his forces grew, and after some military successes over his opponents, Galdan was executing his intentions toward yasak people by using force. So, after a victory over Ochirtu Tsetsen-khan (1678) Galdan again subjugated Teleuts-Telenguts and Enisei Kyrgyzes. At the same time he also did not object that they kept paying yasak to the Russian state, and even developed an idea of the necessity of a double taxation, but that idea was certainly rejected by the Russian side.

In the second half of the 17th century, at least in 1675, the Teleuts under headed by Tabunka (a son of Abak's Koka and a grandson of the Beg Abak) coached along the river Alei. 47 The location of the Teleuts at the end of the 17th century is given in "Drawing book of Siberia" by S.Remezov, generally speaking distinguished by accuracy and based on good documentary material. There the Teleuts residence is shown in a large territory, namely on the right side of Tom, in the headwaters of small rivers Black and Garlik, between the estuaries of the rivers Ini and Verdi (near modern Novosibirsk), on the right bank of the river Verdi along its middle course. Further are shown "White Kalmaks: beyond Ob, against the river Chumysh are Tabunka's people" (i.e. people belonging to the ulus of the above mentioned Beg Koka's Tabunka), and on a left bank of Ob between the estuaries of the rivers Charysh, Alei and Anui, and by the mouth of the river Katun on the left side.

In respect to the Tau-Teleuts, or mountain Teleuts, the yasak books of the Kuznetsk district contain a record that Tau-Teleuts in 1692 were registered as yasak-paying volosts.

Proceeding to the review in the 17th century sources of the other Teleut tribal names, in the beginning of the 20th century recorded as seoks of the Southern Altaians (including Teleuts), first of all should be notes Munduses. The Mundus volost (together with Totosh volost) is mentioned in the 1642 as a volost "beyond the ridge" and not paying yasak. 48 The data of the yasak books shows that Munduses started paying yasak from 1671 by two small groups, 14 and 8 persons. 49 An evidence exists that in 1681 Munduses paid yasak in Kuznetsk 50 Judging by such sources as for example the "Copy from the Drawing of the Siberian lands of 1672" (made by commander P.Godunov), Munduses or Mundujtses, as they were named there, lived near the Teles lake (Altyn Gol) together with Tau-Teleuts, and Naimans, and consisted of some groups. At least alongside with simple Munduses there are also mentioned Yau-Munduses (should be Tau-Munduses, i.e. mountain Munduses). All listed groups, as states the source, paid yasak to the Russian sovereign. 51

47 Ibid., vol. 7, p. 332.
48 G.Miller, Ibid., vol. 2, p. 486-489.
49 B.O.Dolgih, Ibid., p. 106, 108.
50 Ibid., p. 102.
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Naimans

In the cited "List from the Drawing of the Siberian lands of 1672", like in some Siberian annals, together with Teleut Munduses and the mountain Teleuts who were living in the vicinity of Teles lake (Altyn Gol), were also listed Naimans. Then, in the 17th century Naimans neighbored not only Teleuts, but also Teles, the old inhabitants of that gave the Russian name to the lake Teles (Altyn Gol). Probably already by that time the Teleses so much intermixed with Naimans that the Naiman group in essence was assimilated into Teleses, retaining only their name. Maybe, because of this assimilation has appeared a notion about Teles consanguinity of with Naimans and also a ban on marriages between them.

A long neighborliness of Naimans with Teleuts can probably also explain the presence of the seok Naiman among the Teleuts, though the majority of the seok Naiman population concentrated in the group of Altaians called Altai-kiji.

Ases

It is impossible to pass by name the Turtas (Tört-As, Russ. Tert-As) of the yasak Tatar volost of the Tobol district. It was located below Tobol on a right bank of Irtysh. In its name we recognize the Teleut (or Akkyshtym) seok Tert-As (Tört-As) recorded by W.Radloff. The volost Turtas is mentioned in the document of 1660. It was subdivided into the Kul-Turtas and Bi-Turtas, and in these names is tempting to see the Altaian language form of the Tertases (Tört-Ases) social divisions, meaning "Tert-As (Tört-As) slaves" and "Tert-As (Tört-As) Biys". But that is definitely simply a suggestion.

The presence of the Tertases (Tört-Ases) was reflected in the Irtysh hydronymy. A large right bank tributary of the Irtysh until this moment is called Big Turtas, it also accepts a river Small Turtas. In the final chapter we will review the ethnonym Tertas (Tört-As) as an ancient tribal name, and here we shall only note that in S.M.Abramzon's opinion, in all probability this ethnonym survived among the modern Kirgizes in the name of Azyk tribe, whose members call themselves Tört Tamgalu, i.e. the Azyks with four tamgas, or "Four-tamgas Azyks". 52

Telenguts

Then in the documents of 1680's we meet the name Telengut (or Dolongut). From them we learn that Dolonguts-Telenguts also lived in the area of the lake Hubsugul (Kosogol), and paid yasak to the Irkutsk fort. The yasak was rendered not only with furs (mink, foxes, squirrels, etc.), but also with Chinese fabrics and silver. 53

51 See "News of Russian History and Antiquities Society at Moscow university", 1849, p. 6; Compare: N.Spafaria Travel in 1675, Notes of Russk. Geogr. Society Ethnography Branch, vol. 10, b. 1, SPb., 1882, p. 69. Questions of Kirgizes' ethnogenesis according to ethnography. Works of Krigiz archeological ethnogr. expedition, vol. 3, p. 36.
53 B.O.Dolgih, Ibid., p. 98-299.
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Then are mentioned Irkits, they paid yasak in the Tunkin fort. The Irkits are named as a clan of Soets (i.e. Tuvinians). A part of Irkits were breeding deers. They bred riding deer.

The seoks Todosh and Kergil of the modern Southern Altaians are also mentioned in the 17th century documents as residing in the Altai, but are called volosts. The volost Totosh (Todosh, also Russ. Totosh/Totush), for example, is mentioned as a "beyond the ridge" volost (together with Munduses) not paying yasak in 1643. The document of 1671 says about it that the its population partially left to the Sayan mountains, i.e. to the Sayan Tuvinians. These clans possibly ruled by the Tuva Beks, in turn dependent from the Altyn-khans (L.Potapov uses the name-title of the king Altyn-khan as a descriptor of his state - Translator's Note). According to the records of the yasak books, in the 1681 was received yasak from the Totush volost . 54

The Kergil volost in the 1671 rececords paid yasak.

Teleses

Quite frequently are mentioned Teleses (especially in the documents of 1630's), who were living by the Teles lake (Altyn Gol). The main pasturing routs and a political center of Teleses were on the southern side of the lake. At that time they were ruled by Beg Mandrak and then by his son Aidarka (Aidar/Aydar/Hidar/Gaidar; Aydar = Light Soldier). For the first time from them was taken yasak in the 1625 by cossacks Sidorko Fedorov and Ivashko Putimets, who counted that "estimate of the Teles people is 200 persons". More regularly they paid yasak since 30's, without specifying what number of souls (Russian term for counting serfs) rendered the quantity of furs.

In the 1633 the Russian cossacks from Tomsk tried pass to the south, to the merging point of Biya and Katun, where begins the river Ob. There they planned to erect a fort. By that time the Dzungar Khanate wanted not only to exclusively take hold of the Mountain Altai population, but spread their territorial claims also on the Mountain Altai. A construction of a fort at the merging of Biya and Katun, the local Russian authorities believed then, would assist on one hand in solidifying the Russian influence on the Tubalar yasak-paying volosts, and on Tau-Teleuts, and on another hand to protect them and the whole Mountain Altai from the enslavement and seizure by Dzungaria. The intentions of the Tomsk cossacks at that time were prevented by the Teleut Beg Abak, who was coaching on the right bank of Ob in the territory between the modern cities of Novosibirsk and Barnaul (and even further south). Abak battled with the small group of cossacks near the mouth of the river Chumysh (a right tributary of Ob above Barnaul) and forced them to retreat. But in the same year to the headwaters of Biya and even to the Teles lake (Altyn Gol) sneaked Peter Sobansky has penetrated with cossacks, and extracted yasak from the Teleses ruled by the Beg Mandrak who were residing near the Teles lake (Altyn Gol). Sobansky returned there for the yasak in the 1642, he succeeded in extracting it only after a battle with Teleses, during which Beg Mandrak was captured and taken to Tomsk as a hostage. Sobansky inspected territory in the headwaters of the Biya, and noted a place at the mouth of the river Swan for erection of a fort, but his suggestion was not followed.

54 Ibid., p. 107-108.
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Later in the 1646, the Tomsk cossacks showed up again. By then, Beg Mandrak died in jail, and his son Aydar refused the demands to pay yasak. Again a military combat broke, and the Teleses were defeated. A little later they coached away to Tuva, where lived their Upper Sayans neighbors, ruled by Beg Mansi (or Manzei).

The Sayan Beg was shielding Teleses, and helped them in the armed conflicts with Russians, even though he, like the Teleses, at that time was in tribute dependence from the Dzungar khan.

Teleuts also were collecting tribute from Teleses during that period. When the Russian yasak collectors in the 1652 came to the Teles lake (Altyn Gol), they did not find population there. It turned out that at that time the Teleuts evacuated the Beg Aydar, who was resisting the domination of the Russian state. Somewhat later Teleses returned from the Teleuts to their place, and already from the end of the 1650's they appear in the (Russian) historical documents as "yasak-paying people". Sometimes Teleses were sending their yasak to Kuznetsk with Chelkandy, with whom they were in close contact.

In the middle of the 17th century the Dzungar Khanate succeeded in expanding its control to the Mountain Altai, and it was collecting alman not only from the northern, but also from the Southern Altaians. The alman collectors of the Dzungar khan, frequently the Teleut princes, forayed into all Altai corners, extracting valuable furs and iron products.

From our review it is seen that in the 17th century, as testify the Russian historical documents, in the Altai and its northern foothills under the same names lived the nearest historical ancestors of the modern Southern Altaians largest seoks, constituting at least a half of their population as found in he data of the 1897 census 55 Only such names as Kypchak, Kobek, and Tongjoan, who at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century were Southern Altaian large seoks, were not found in the mentioned above documents of the 17th century. However that does not mean that in the 17th century in the Altai were no ancestors of these seoks. The Russian historical sources, naturally, did not completely reflect the tribal structure of the Southern Altaians, even more so because not all their ancestors at that time belonged to the Russian state and were paying yasak.

The review also demonstrated that the Mountain Altai from the second half of the 17th century was a dependent from the Dzungar feudals (funny language, "Dzungar feudals" is a code word for the Dzungar state, while the "Russian state" is a code word for Russian feudals. Such idiosyncrasies abound - Translator's Note), who were coming to Altai mainly from the Tuva side. So, for example, for a number of years in 1660's in Tuva were stationed troops of the Dzungar taishi Sengge, they were quartered in the area of Hemchik, where they stayed to the end of his life (died in 1670).

55 In addition to Teleuts in general, they also are Mundus, Todosh, Irkit, Naiman, Kergil, and Toles (Teles).
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After his death, in the beginning of the 70's from the banks of the Ili river to the Enisei headwaters moved a Dzungar Hongtaishi Galdan, who also had a lamaist title boshoktu (blessed). He was regularly collecting alman during the period of his rule not only from the population of Tuva, where his troops were stationed, but also from the Mountain Altai population, and from the Minusinsk depression population, where resided the Enisei Kyrgyzes.

To assess how high and ruinous for the economy of nomads were the cattle exactions by the Dzungar khan, we can refer to the report of the Kuznetsk commanders about the stay in 1689 near the Hemchik "beyond Cholushman and behind the Altynei lake (Altyn Gol) at a distance of three days of travel" of the Boshoktu-khan Galdan, who at that time suffered a defeat from the northern Mongols. The formal reply of the commander said: "Boshoktu-khan (army) stands assembled, from the Kirgiz to Boshuhtu-khan (Boshoktu-khan) is being driven cattle, about twenty thousand, to feed his people" (this is not an example of systematic assessment, but of a war-time emergency call-up of the people and war material - Translator's Note). 56 Another document of 1689 said that to Kirgizes came three taishis accompanied by a small detachment, and collected from the "Kirgiz half of any cattle, and they the taishis made lists among them Kirgizes of female widows and maidens because their Kalmyk taishi Boshohtu-khan (Boshoktu-khan) was ravaged by the Cossack horde" (Predatory assaults on defenseless people, mainly women, children, and elrerly, when the male population was away on a campaign or summer pastire routs, was a traditional and favorite method of Russian warfare, starting from the 10th century's St.Vladimir - Translator's Note). 57

It is documentarily known that the Mountain Altai constantly suffered from the exactions of the Dzungar khan Galdan. In the beginning of 1680's Altai as "Hongtaishi possession" was ruled by Galdan viceroy for the "Altai lands petty prince Matur-taishi", 58 who was a Teleut Beg with a title taishi received from the Dzungar khan. The dependence of the Altai population from the Dzungar khan Galdan was also noted in the Russian Siberian annals. A fragment from one such annal: "And from the Tomsk city... to the mouth of Biya and Katun by boats is one and a half month. And about those places on both sides of the river Ob live yasak Tatar people and "White Kalmaks" (Teleuts - L.P.), the yasak is being paid to the Black Kalmak Bogoshte-khan (Boshoktu-khan ?) and other taishis, to the Khan brothers and relatives" (This is exact description how the Türkic, Mongolian, and Russian states were organised - Translator's Note). 59

On the basis of the quoted documents can be conclude that a full subjection of the Teleuts-Telenguts and Enisei Kyrgyzes to Dzungaria happened in the 1680's, which is also stated in the I.Unkovsky message. 60

56 Central State archive of ancient acts (TSGADA), Siberian department, column 1052, l. 82-83. Compare column 1038, l. 354.
57 Ibid., column 1052, l. 101-102.
58 Historical acts of the 17th century, vol. 2, Tomsk, 1897, p. 16; compare Archive USSR Akad. of Sciences, f. 21, list 5, No 152, ll. 291-301.
59 Siberian annals. SPb., 1907, p. 393.
60 Embassy to Zungar Hun-Taichzhi Tsevan-Raptan of artillery captain Ivan Unkovsky and his travel diary for 1722-24. SPb., 1887, p. 183. Further quotations: "Unkovsky Embassy".
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Let's look now how the tribal divisions of modern Northern Altaians were reflected in the sources of the 17th century. First of all can be asserted that all main Tubalar volosts known in the 1897 census are also mentioned in the sources of the 17th century. Komlyash or Komnosh volost (in the documents it is listed under both names) is registered as yasak-paying already in the 1629 61. Same can be also stated about Kuzen volost. In the 1631 this volost coached away to the Sayan mountains, but then returned back. Appears also Since 1629 is also registered among yasak-paying Tirgesh (Turgesh) volost, which after 1703 began to be called Kergesh in the documents. It was noted that that volost was associated with the Teleses and Sayans. For example in the 1642 it left "to Teleses" and "to Sayan mountains". 62 The Tubalar volost Yus is noted as paying yasak in the 1629 and 1630. Moreover, the documents also register some divisions of the modern Tubalar seoks, noted above. Those are Bolan volost (1630-1631), which we can rightfully correlate with the Tubalar seok "Palan-Komdosh", then Shanjin volost, in which name we recognize a division of the seok Yus-Shanmai. There is also a Togus volost, which forces us to recollect the numerous seok Togus, in the 1897 census listed in the Tubalar Kergesh (Turgesh) volost. At last, we shall note the Chigat volost, which we should compare with the seok Chagat, or Chygat, considered to be a descendent of Teleses. Chagats or Chygats, in 1627 already lived among Tubalars. This volost in the 17th century also sometimes left "to Sayan mountains".

The hypothesis stated above we about a connection of the Chygats or Chagats with "Djagats " in the 17th century (and during earlier time with the Chiks) remains in force. By some documents of the 17th century, a clan (or volost) Togus was a part of the Tirgesh (Turgesh), 63 and it was also observed at the end of the 19th century, when seok the Togus was registered in the Kergesh (Turgesh) volost of the Tubalar as the most numerous seok.

Kumandy

By the way, judging by the contents of one document ("to the Chagat lands, Togus lands and Volan lands the travel from Kuznetsk by ski is 4 weeks"), 64 the Tubalar seoks or volosts at that time occupied the same places as at the end of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th centuries. Early and sufficiently detailed descriptions are contained in the sources about Kumandy as a whole, and about those groups that by the 1897 census were registered as Kumandy seoks. The first mentioning of Kumandy are in the yasak books of the Kuznetsk district, where along with many Tubalar volosts they are registered as yasak-paying already in the 1629.

61 G.Miller, Ibid., vol. 2, p. 370; B.O.Dolgih, Ibid., p. 105.
62 B.O.Dolgih, Ibid., p. 107.
63 Ibid., p. 113
64 G.Miller, Ibid., vol. 2, p. 586.
107

At that time (until 1715) nothing is said about Kumandy division on the Upper and Lower. Although, in 1642 the administration of the Kuznetsk fort noted that a part of Kumandy left "to the Lower Kumanda", then "to the Sayan mountains" and even to the "Black and White Kolmaks". 65 But here the "Lower Kumanda" is not called as a volost, but as an ethno-geographical area, alongside with Soens, and Black and White Kolmaks . At the same time we know a document of 1653 which talks about small and large Kumandy and indicated their residence: "By the river Biya and along the river Katun are the volosts Small and Large Kumanda". 66

The named volosts unlikely match the Lower or Upper Kumandy, because they lived along not one, but two rivers. At the same time the document has interesting details. We are learning that Kumandy along Katun at that time were the kishtyms (L.Potapov uses spellings and kyshtyms intercheanebly - Translator's Note) of the Teleut Beg Abak's Koka (son of Abak), who himself depended from the Dzungar khan. A part of Kumandy living along Katun is called simply Kumandy. We certainly have no reasons to doubt the quoted document. A significant part of Kumandy still lived sedentary on the right bank of the the Lower Katun, in that place where the river leaves from the Altai mountains into the foothill steppe (before merging with river Biya). At last, the Kumandy also lived in the basin of the river Inga (a right tributary of Katun in its lower course). Later, in the 19th century, Kumandy continued to live there amalgamated with Teleuts, and gradually merged with the local Russian population. Many of their descendants preserved the memory of their origin until present.

Incidentally, a number of the 17th century historical documents hold that Kumandy volosts belong to the Kondoma volosts. Therefore, S.A.Tokarev wrote that in the 17th century the Kumandy volosts were definitely located along the river Kondoma. 67 It is impossible to concur with that. The 17th century documents pinpoint very precisely the location of Kumandy: along the rivers Katun and Biya. Kumandy volosts, judging by the documents prepared in the Kuznetsk fort, belonged to number of the Kondoma volosts only because the road from Kuznetsk to Kumandy first went upstream the Kondoma, and then from its headwaters the road crossed to . Incidentally, the Kumandy who were living along the river Biya in second half of the 17th century also were sedentary, they sowed barley and also were dependent from the Teleut Beg Koka. The document of 1675 says how alman collectors sent by the Beg Koka sailed upstream the river Biya in eleven boats to the Kumandy volost, "and back they sailed and those boats were full with barley, and to them, the yasak tribute people, (to) Kumandy volosts made strong squeeze, what they had that barleys was all taken away without any remainders", 68 though the Biya Kumandy were yasak-paying people of the Russian state (Russians claimed Kumandy as their serfs, apparently by the right of conquest of the territory, and as a successor state of the Siberian Khanate, presuming that the Siberian Khan owned all the people in his territory. But at the same time Russian concord with the Teleut administration pledged to respect their ancestral rights, which meant control of the Teleuts and their confederates, one of which were known as Kumandy (Kumans). The same was applicable to the Teleuts who aligned with the Dzungars who also respected their ancestral rights. In the Teleut eyes they were abiding with their agreement with Russia, which assessed them within their conquered territory a tribute on all their people including their kyshtyms, and if Teleuts did not collect from Kumandy Russia would severely punish them for underpayment. At the same time the Russian emissaries were evidently collecting yasak directly from Kumandy, holding them directly responsible for the payments. Thus, it appears that in the 1675 the Kumandy were double tribute payers, directly to the Russian and thru Teleuts to the Dzungar overlords - Translator's Note).

65. B.O.Dolgih, Ibid., p. 107.
66 G.Miller. History of Siberia, vol. 3, document No 252.
67 S.A.Tokarev. Pre-capitalistic vestiges in Oirotia. M.-L., 1936, p. 80-81.
108

In the previous year, the Koka's Tabunka collectors visited the Shor volosts up to the river Kondoma, where they "took alman with barley and sables, and different animals, and iron, and red leather, and from those Kondoma volosts sailed back to their ulus" .69 From that is visible that the Koka's son Beg Tabunka, like his father, had his kyshtyms, though Teleuts themselves at this time were the subjects of the Dzungar khan.

On the mentioned above P. Remezov's map, the Kumandy are shown only along the river river Biya, between the estuaries of the rivers Swan and Neni, but with subdivision on Kumandy Upper and Kumandy Lower. Probably, they were two territorial groups of the Kumandy, which later the administration of Kuznetsk converted into volosts.

Now we shall review the references in our sources about separate seoks of Kumandy registered by the 1897 census, starting with such typical for the modern Lower Kumandy seok as Chabat. The earliest information about this seok as about a yasak "volosts" of the Kuznetsk district belongs to the 1629. In the 1636 the Chabat volost (with families), together with Yus volost, coached away "to the Black Kolmaks". In the 1653 a Kuznetsk cossack "Pospelko with comrades", having gone upstream the Kondoma, found "behind the river Biya Chebat men", which "to the (Russian) sovereign the yasak were not paying". 70 This implies that in the middle of the 17th century the Chabats lived in the area near river Biya (on the left bank).

Seok So or Solu, at the Upper Kumandy, as correctly believes B.O.Dolgih, in the 17th century Russian documents is called Solun volost, which becomes known to the Kuznetsk administration from the 1630, but gets in the listing of the yasak-paying volosts of the Kuznetsk district only from the 1650, in spite of the fact that an attempt to impose yasak on that volost was undertaken still in the 1643, when cossacks from the Kuznetsk fort were in the Kuzen volost, two "days" from the Solun volost, which was considered at that time to be beyond the ridge. Curiously, in the document of the 1906th, when the clan composition of the Kumandy and the names of their clans were already well known, there appeared a seok Solu, 71, in which should be seen a confirmation of the B.O.Dolgih's guess about the identity of the modern seok So with the volost Solun of the 17th century.

The Seok Tastar in the 17th century was called Tastar volost. The Tastar volost appears in the yasak books of the Tomsk district in 1661. It was assigned to grouping of the Tomsk mountain frontier volosts. Its inhabitants sometimes (1661, 1681) fled from Kyrgyzes to the river Tom to the Tuluber volost. The Tastar volost is not mentioned together with any undoubtedly Kumandy volost. Probably, our opinion about late unification of the seok Tastar with the Lower Kumandy is quite justified.

70 Additions to Historical Acts, vol.. 7, p. 339-340. Ibid., p. 332.
71 G.Miller. History of Siberia, vol. 3, document No 242. Barnaul archive, file No 142, sheaf 18.
109

Seok Kerzal, Kersagal seok does not belong to Kumandy (Ort = Upper)

In connection with Kumandy we have to address Kersagal volost. The 1906 above mentioned document named seok Kerzal among the Upper Kumandy. B.O.Dolgih holds that Kersagals were a part of the Lower Kumandy still in the 17th century, though he does not provide any proofs. 72 We believe that exist no reasons to identify Kersagals with Kumandy. The researchers and travelers of the 19th and 20th centuries, who have visited Kumandy, did not note this seok among them, though among the modern Kumandy was preserved a memory about Kersagals. It is quite explainable, because the stories about events, tribes, even some historical persons belonging to the 17th century, were well preserved in the modern Altaian people's memory, which was attested repeatedly. Some Kumandy people remember Kersagals till now. Sometimes small naughty children are threatened with them: "Kersagal will come and take you away". 73 There is no worthwhile information in the historical sources that would enable to prove the Kersagals' belonging in the 17th century to the Kumandy.

A study of these documents leads to an opinion that Kersagals were not a part of the Kumandy. Some facts against the Kersagals' belonging to the Kumandy are as follows. Among the Kuznetsk district yasak-paying volosts the Kersagal volost appeared only in 1650, while all the Kumandy volosts, which are namesakes with the seoks, were registered in the yasak books as yasak-payers from the 1629. In a document of 1675 Kersagals are listed not with Kumandy volosts, but with Teleut volosts. This text reads: "In the last 183th year (1675 - L.P.) in the winter till the spring till the floodwaters, in all volosts along the river Kondoma and in Tagan, and in Togul, and in Azkyshtym and in Kersagal volosts were White Kalmyks (Teleuts)of the thief Koka's Tabunka, from his ulus best people, and brothers, and nephews, about sixty people and more, and from yasak-paying tribute people took alman with barley and sables, and different animals, and iron, and red leather, and from those Kondoma volosts sailed back to their ulus". 74 The document of 1676 states quite definitely that the Kersagal volost was along the river Katun (probably, at the lower course): "Came from the Katun river from Kersagal volost best man (noble) Tatar Babashko, and in the Kuznetsk... said: in the last 183rd in August in the time of harvesting barley, came to them to the Kersagal volost from beyond Katun river from the headwaters of the river Aliya a black almyk (alman collector ? or Black Kalmyk = Mongol ? ) Sookun with comrades with all his pasturing crowd". Further follows the text: "In the 184th year in the autumn, in October, with the last water, during frost, past their Kersagal volosts upstream the river Biya, were sailing White Kalmyks (Teleuts)) people of Bachi ulus in eleven boats to the Kumandy volost", etc. 75 From that can be conclude that in the middle of the 1670's Kersagals lived on the left bank of Biya, near its confluence with Katun, i.e. practically in the headwaters of the river Ob.

72 B.O.Dolgih, Ibid., p. 112.
73 P.I.Karalkin's, a Kumandy national, personal message.
74 Additions to Historical Acts, vol. 7, p. 332.
110

In the lists of the yasak-paying volosts in the first decades of the 18th century recorded by G.Miller, this volost is not present any more, though the Kumandy volost is present. Remezov has shown it between the estuaries of the Beh-temir and Neni (near Biysk). We hold to the opinion that Kersagals, like the Orchaks and Kujugets (or Kuchuguts), belonged to the Tuvinian tribes, which only from time to time were coaching to the Ob steppe, and then were returning home to beyond the Sayan mountains, to the Hem and Hemchik valleys. And now a significant group of Kerzals (or Karsals) lives in Tuva, they are the descendants of the Kerzals of the 17th century Russian documents. The Tuva tribes from time to time coached not only in the Ob steppes, but also in the Mountain Altai. In the valley of Katun river in Altai in the beginning of 1650's coached Sayans ( = Soens ?), Mingats, and Tochi (Todjins), who came from the Tuva. They sought a refuge from the Mongolian feudals, and were associated with Teleses. Bek Samargan, who was Sayans ruler, even asked Czar representatives to have a Russian fort built for their protection at the confluence of the Biya and Katun. His request was not met then, and they had to pay alman to the Choros' Chekur-taishi (a son of Hara-Hula). 76 Judging by the later documents, in the 1675 they remained under control of Dzungaria, and belonged to the office of the Teleut taishi Matur, who was serving the Dzungar leaders.

Chelkandy

Chelkandy become known in the Russian written sources in the first quarter of the 17th century. In the 1625 the Russian cossacks Fedorov and Putimets, sent "to the Teles and Shchelkany lands", reported: "In Shchelkan volost are estimated 20 people, and the yasak from them [we] again have taken for you sovereign 20 sables". 77 The Kuznetsk district yasak books from 1629 noted Shelkan volost as yasak-paying volost. 78 In 1642 a part of Chelkandy and Tirgeshes went to Teleses, with whom Chelkandy were closely associated, and to the Sayan mountains, apparently to the "Upper Sayans ( = Soens ?)", who were living beyond the Teles lake (Altyn Gol). Chelkandy, like some other tribes around the river Biya, in the 17th century documents were frequently assigned to the Kondoma volosts, for the reasons already discussed.

75 Ibid., p. 339.
76 Ibid., vol. 3, p. 319; G.Miller, Ibid., vol. 2, p. 534.
77 N. Ogloblin. Review of columns (ñòîëáöîâ ?) of the Siberian department, vol. 1. M.. 1895, p. 115.
78 B.O.Dolgih, Ibid., p. 106.
111

In the examined documents we have not found a division of the Chelkandys into seoks. B.O.Dolgih believes that Chelkandy are a territorially separated part of the Kumandy or Shors. But for that conjecture exist no facts. Though Chelkandy in their present places live at least from the 17th century, in respect to the seok Shakshalyg they can be viewed as a newcomer group (from the Teleses); the Chalkanyg seok has a common origin with the Tubalar seok Kuzen (Kuzen volost). The proofs of that were given above in the analysis of specific ethnographical and historical material of the 1897 census.

* * *

So, the review of the written sources shows that the modern Northern Altaians are the descendants of the 17th century yasak-paying population that lived in the same places, under the same names. The 17th century Russian names for the yasak-paying volosts and lands were undoubtedly the Northern Altaians their own tribal names (but in a Russian pronunciation). They have persevered till our time. The review of the historical ancestors of Altaians from the 17th century written documents should not fail to note a close connection at that time between the Northern Altaians, Teleses and inhabitants of the northwestern Tuva, the Sayans, who are called "Upper Sayans" in the Russian sources. These probably are the Tuva Sayans, who were inhabitants of the river Alasha basin, lake Kara-Hol, and probably, the Mongun-taiga area in the Western Tuva. It is not difficult to notice how frequently the quoted above documents talk about departure of this or that Northern Altaian group, or Teleses, "to the Sayans". The affinity of language, common culture and daily life, and the presence of mountain passes facilitated that association, and even aided in the intermixing of the population.

Historical review (continued)

Generally, we can also track the fate of the Altaians' nearest historical ancestors in the 18th century. But for that should be reviewed some political events in the history of the Southern Siberia.

The Dzungar Khanate as a state began growing and getting stronger during Batur-khan (Baatur/Bagatur, Erdeni Batur Khan, 1634-1653), who was occupied with consolidation of the Khan's power in Dzungaria, and maintained peaceful relations with the Russian state. In the beginning he did not display monopolistic tendencies in the alman exactions from the local yasak-imposed population of the Southern Siberia, though he persistently advocated an idea of double exactions of in kind payments, by the Russia and by the Dzungaria.
112

After Batur's death, the policy of consolidating the western-Mongolian forces and reinforcing Dzungaria was continued by his son Galdan (Choros Erdeniin Galdan Boshugtu Khan, 1653-1697), who run into serious difficulties. Galdan tried to expand Dzungaria possessions. He wanted to annex Halha, but failed, and Halha remained under the control of the China's Manchurian dynasty. Carrying out his Halha plan, he transferred the Khan's court from the valley of the river Ili (in Jeti-su) first to Tuva in the valley of river Hemchik (1673), and later to the lower course of the of river Kobdo (1688). The whole Tuva, Enisei Kyrgyzes, and the whole Mountain Altai, except some northern areas with yasak-imposed population controlled by the (Russian) Kuznetsk district, then fell under control of Dzungaria. The majority the yasak-imposed population had to pay alman to the Dzungar khan. From time to time the armed resistance came only from the Teleut uluses ruled by Abak's Koka and his brothers, who sometimes fought with Dzungars, not only resisting to be the kishtyms of the Dzungar khan, but also aiming to have their own kishtyms, in particular the Kumandy, Shors, Chelkandy and some Teleut yasak-paying volosts (Togul, Askishtym and other volosts) (For the Tele/Teleut history, that inability to come to terms with the reality points to a former leading status of the Tele tribes, which became a psychological barrier on the path from the lordship to the serfdom - Translator's Note). After suffering a defeat from the Manchurian or Qing empire, and after loosing the war, in the 1697 Galdan committed suicide. During his successors Tsewang-Rabdan (1697-1727) and his son Galdan-Tseren (1727-1745), Dzungaria became a great power. It ruled the Senior and Middle hordes of Kazakhs, and a number of cities in the east Turkestan: Kashgar, Aksu, Turfan, Yarkand and others. Its territorial claims have grown up remarkably. They were also aimed at Russia. Tsewang-Rabdan, for example, stated to the Russian ambassador I.Cheredov in the 1713 that the cities Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Kuznetsk are built on the Dzungarian lands, and should be demolished, otherwise he would take them by force. From that is clear that the Dzungar khan not only went against a (Russian) historical truth, but also was far from the objective evaluation of the real situation. His successor Galdan-Tseren also was not free from these faults. Zunghar OR dZungar OR Jungar khanate

In respect to the yasak-imposed population of the Southern Siberia, especially insistent and demanding were both last Dzungar khans. If during the life of Galdan (1688) his brother Sengge resolutely declared that the yasak-imposed population of the Southern Siberia (in particular, in the Krasnoyarsk district) were "my grandfather and my father yasak-paying people" (i.e. Hara-Hula and Batur-Hongtaishi), not ashamed that at least that statement distorted historic facts, Galdan-Tseren already demanded of the Russian state an exclusive possession the yasak-imposed population of the Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk and Kuznetsk districts. There is no need to prove that all these groundless demands of Dzungaria were not satisfied. And Dzungar khans certainly did not dare to solve the contention by weapons.

Failing to achieve diplomatically and by threats a desired result, Tsewang-Rabdan undertook a forceful action towards the most numerous population of the Southern Siberia, the Teleuts and Enisei Kyrgyzes. The Kirgiz events are well covered by various sources.

78 L.P.Potapov
113

In the 1702 Tsewang-Rabdan sent into the Minusinsk depression a strong contingent of 2.5 thousand soldiers which has driven Enisei Kyrgyzes by force to Dzungaria. 79 The number of relocated Kyrgyzes was "three half-thousand smokes", i.e. one and a half thousand wagon carts (over 6 thousand soles of both sexes). With the Kyrgyzes also partially migrated some of their kishtym people. In Dzungaria Kyrgyzes were a separate seok numbering 4 thousands wagon carts, ruled by four zaisans, but under a control of the Dzungar khan.

Teleuts

The Teleuts too were moved to Dzungaria by force, though this subject is not covered at all in the historical literature. The resettlement was carried out following the order of Tsewang-Rabdan, in 1716 he told about that in a conversation with the Russian ambassador I.Cheredov. 80 Dzungar Hongtaishi then emphasized that he has freed the disputed territories from the coaching there Kyrgyzes and Teleuts to eliminate the conflicts ostensibly arising because of them being the subjects of Dzungaria. In a conversation with the ambassador I. Unkovsky the Dzungar khan also once mentioned that that Teleuts previously lived "near the Ob river, and of those about two thousand were defeated and robbed, and the rest went there".81

The fact of administrative relocation to Dzungaria in the beginning of the Tsewang-Rabdan rule, and of the Teleuts full dependence is well established not only from the words of the Dzungar khan, but also by some other historical materials. The petition dated January 18, 1722, of the Teleut Beg Tabun's Baigor (a grandson of Abak's Koka and a son of Koka's Tabunka) with a complaint about the former Kuznetsk commandant B.Sinyavin, addressed to the Russian Czar through the Tobol provincial office, says: "In the past his (Baigor - L.P.) ancestors all lived for many years in the Kalmyk urge (the court of Dzungar khan - L.P.) ruled by local lords. And his grandfather, when he was in Tomsk service, served with Kirgizes to his Czar majesty with the Russian service people, and with his subordinates Kalmaks of a thousands people. And he (Baigor) was giving under his high Czar majesty hand that Kirgiz land, and collected amanats and brought them to Tomsk to render. Andhe, Baigor, was serving in the Kalmyk urge, and lived as a prince in the Ob territory, had subjected to him in-service Kalmyks 3000 smokes". 82 The petition tells about some assignments given by the Dzungar khan that had to be carried out by the Teleut zaisan Baigor as a man in the Dzungar service.

79 L.P.Potapov. Origin and formation of the Khakass nation, p. 161-168.
80 I. Zlatkin, Ibid., p. 347-348.
81 Unkovsky Embassy, p. 136.
82 Monuments of the Siberian history of the 18th century, Book 2. SPb., 1885, p. 295-297. Urga is the court of the Dzungar khan.
114

For example, he went with a detachment of one thousand Teleuts under an order of Hongtaishi to the Yamysh lake "to guard his Czar majesty treasury and Russian people from the Cossack (Kazakh ?) horde, and by that showed his devotion, and no damage was inflicted on this treasury and the people from them the Cossack (Kazakh ?) horde in that Yamysh steppe did not happen". 83 The mentioned in the petition Baigor's grandfather is Beg Abak, who in the first quarter of the 17th century really participated in the campaigns conducted from Tomsk against the Enisei Kyrgyzes (The Russian campaigns against the Enisei Kyrgyzes using Teleuts, and against Teleuts using Kyrgyzes, are also "not covered at all in the historical literature" - Translator's Note). He is called grandfather certainly incorrectly. He was a great-grandfather of Baigor, but in translation from the Teleut language the common term meaning a grandfather and a great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather (Teleuts have a classification system of relationship), was translated into Russian as a "grandfather".

There are no reasons to doubt the violent relocation of the Teleuts to Dzungaria. Anther consideration is about the motives of such relocation. Unlikely truthful was Tsewang-Rabdan explanation about the relocation of the Enisei Kyrgyzes and Teleuts with a purpose to "improve relations" with the Russian state. Probably more correct was that captured Tomsk Tatar whom an inhabitant of Tara Michael Zalivin (who was with I.Unkovsky embassy in the Tsewang-Rabdan court) has met in a forest and told Zalivin "and Hongtaishi took Kirgizes and Telenguts that they from him would not have left". 84

The only unknown remaining detail is when happened the violent relocation of the Teleuts to Dzungaria. Though undoubtedly it happened in the first years of the Tsewang-Rabdan rule, but exactly when we do not know. It would seem that the answer can be found in a document of 1699, where the Russian service people who arrived from Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, and Kuznetsk, reported that "Kyrgyzes and Teleuts are Araptan Hongtaishi people". 85 But from that message is not yet clear whether at that time were moved Teleuts, because the Kyrgyzes, for example, in 1699 still lived in their places. Apparently by that time most of the Teleuts ruled by Abak's Koka and his son Tabun coached around the headwaters of the Alei, i.e. in the territory seized by the Dzungar khans. To the Tomsk district the Teleuts were only coming for robbery (i.e. to collect yasak from their kyshtyms, as they did before the Russians took over the very same exactions not entitled to be called "robberies" - Translator's Note). During one of such attacks in the 1700 they plundered the White Kalmyks (Teleuts) near Ob, "burnt their uluses, stole cattle and captured people". 86 And still to resolve the problem of the year of the Teleuts violent relocation on the basis of these facts is obviously impossible (The L.Potapov's overuse of the expression "violent relocation" in this miniscule and debatable episode grossly contrasts with the practically complete absence in his scholarly historical descriptions of the methods used to drive the exceedingly numerous native tribes from their lands, reduce them to yasak-paying serfs, and bring their numbers from dominating to disappearing in that great Siberian motherland of theirs - Translator's Note).

83 Ibid..
84 Unkovsky Embassy, p. 93.
85 Monuments of the Siberian history of the 18th century, Book 1. SPb., 1885, p. 6 and 11. Archive USSR Akad. of Sciences, f. 21, list 5, file 152, ll. 232-281 reverse.
86 Iakinf. Historical review of Oirats. SPb., 1854, p. 132.
115

In the Chinese sources, 87 in Dzungaria Teleuts, numbered 4 thousands wagon-yurt carts, constituted a separate seok ruled by four Teleut hereditary zaisans; one of them in the beginning of 1720's was Tabun's Baigor (great-grandson of Abak). The total number of Teleuts, who mostly lived in Dzungaria, was about 20 thousand people, accepting a usual factor of 5 people per yurt-family. The ambassador I.Unkovsky, who visited Dzungaria in 1722-1724, does discuss the numbers, and writes: "Under his Hongtaishi possession are different peoples, namely, his own people called Zungars, Kirgizes, Uryanhaians (Tuvinians), Telengits and Mingats... ". 88

Kyrgyzes, relocated from Enisei, also constituted seok of 4 thousand. wagon carts and also were ruled by four zaisans, and the Tuvinians - Uryanhais had a status of a Khanate, but their quantity of yurts was not stated. Mingats, mentioned by Unkovsky, at some time were driven to Dzungaria from Tuva, from Hemchik valley. In Dzungaria they were registered as a separate seok of 3 thousand wagon carts ruled by two zaisans . 89

It is possible to indirectly judge a number, significant for those times, of Teleuts-Telenguts from the message (1723) of an Ust-Kamenogorsk fort commandant about arrival in the fort of nine Telenguts for trade business (cattle and sable pelts) who told them: "They were released from Kontashni in the past 720 (year) to coach along the Uba and Irtysh rivers, and in those places are coaching about three thousand of their people". 90 Three thousand people was only one Teleut group allowed to coach on the right bank of Irtysh near the Western Altai, it was a considerable figure. We compare to it 3000 yurts of the Ob Teleuts ruled by zaisan Tabun's Baigor. And taking later data that would reflect by then at least a half-century period after the Teleuts relocated to Dzungaria, the number would be increased. From a letter of one Teleut zaisan addressed to Czarina Elizaveta (Elisabeth) Petrovna (1756) we learn that when began devastation of Dzungaria by the army of the Qing dynasty, the Teleut zaisans rushed to flee from Dzungaria to Southern Siberia (to their native land) and went to the Russian forts bordering Altai. Along the road they were repeatedly attacked by the Chinese army, but nevertheless "about five thousand wagon carts with horses and camels barely saved their bellies, and then to the Russian borders with considerable hurry began to approach". 91

88 Unkovsky Embassy, p. 193.
89 After the the fall of the Dzungaria has begun, following the death of Galdan-Tseren (1745), Mingats together with Teleuts started to migrate from Dzungaria back home. a part of them reached Tuva and intermixed with other tribal groups. In the Kobdo area (in Western Mongolia) is located a hoshun of Mingats, Mongolised linguistically and in significant measure culturally and in daily life. They were described by G.Potanin (Essays on Northwestern Mongolia, vol. 2, 4).
90 Monuments of the Siberian history of the 18th century, Book 2, p. 435.
116

Hence, at this time just the returning Teleuts totaled approximately 5 thousand wagon carts. Thus, the Southern Siberia most numerous tribes of the Teleuts, Enisei Kyrgyzes and Tuvinians (including Mingats) during the Dzungar Khanate blossom were in its full control, and Kyrgyzes and Teleuts even were moved to Dzungaria, and some Tuvinians, particularly Mingats.

We shall cite still more documentary evidence of Teleuts' subjection to the Dzungar khan, Teleut zaisans not only were in the khan's service to rule their fellow tribesmen, but also collected alman from the Altaians in the Mountain Altai (in particular Tau-Teleuts, who were then coaching along the river Kan, in the vicinity of the lake Karakol, and other places).

The document of the 1710th pictured alman collection for the Dzungar khan by the Teleut taishi Baigorok, mentioned above. In the I.Unkovsky's travelling diary he is mentioned as a vassal of the Dzungar khan. In 1712, on behalf of the Dzungar khan was collecting alman from Kumandy a Teleut prince Dureng. He also collected alman from Kumandy in 1713, but was driven out by (Russian commander) Grigory Ryhlev and even abandoned the collected alman. Then Dureng appeared at Kumandy and Chelkandy in 1752, as a "Zengor alman collector". That year a bashlyk of the Lower Kumandy volosts Akuchai Istegechev (Russian form of Istegech's Akuchai, Istegech being a father of Akuchai, or at least a previous known bashlyk. "Bash" is a Türkic "head", bashlyk is equivalent to "in the head", "on the head", and is a term for a hat in general, and for the Türkic and Scythian bonnet hat in particular - Translator's Note) and bashlyk of the Upper Kumandy volosts complained in Biysk that before Djuren (Dureng ?) was collecting 2-3 sables from each alman payer, but now demands 6 sables, and from those who do not have sables, he takes horses, "and for underpaying alman beats them mercilessly" (Probably, the collection included a collection of arrears for the past few years, a practice equally typical for all revenue systems, including Dzungar and Russian; L.Potapov portrays it as solely Dzungar practice, but the reason may be that Russians were intervening militarily with the Dzungar collections, precipitating the arrears  - Translator's Note).

The documents of the 1713 and 1718 tell about cruelties in gathering alman among the Northern Altaians by the Teleut Beg Mandu, sent by Dzungar khan. In the 1713 this Teleut Beg was driven out from the Shors by the "boyar son" Fedor Sorokin (the name of this boyar tells that he is a descendent from the Kipchak trbe Sary Djun, Slavic "Sorochin", and the hereditary title "boyar" of his father indicates his belonging to the ruling class of the country - Translator's Note), in the 1718 he came again and "in all yasak-paying volosts ordered the yasak Tatars to prepare the Hongtaishi alman, from every man 30 forged cudgels and 30 iron arrowheads, two iron pots, an anvil, 2 mallets and 1 plyers, and in the Zabiya (Beyond Biya) foothill volost threatened people: if the whole mentioned alman is not rendered, and for that them yasak-payers wanted all hanged, and fields their burnt, and that in the Kuznetsk from them the yasak-paying aliens are many beaten". 92 In 1745 in the Maima valley a Teleut zaisan Puktush (from the seok Mundus) was collecting alman for the Dzungar Hongtaishi. 93

91 Omsk regional archive, f. 1, list 1, file 47, sheaf 22, l, 242. See: P.E.Tadyev, Ibid., p. 23.
92 Monuments of the 18th century Siberian history, Book 2, p. 319.
93 Tomsk provincial records, 1859, No 1.
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All these Teleut Beks resided in Dzungaria and were coming to Altai in the line of "service" to the Dzungar khan, plundering and oppressing the local tribes and clans, frequently their close Teleut relatives. The Dzungar khan was a sovereign possessor of the Teleuts-Altaians. He not only controlling their pasturing routs, but was also appointing their zaisans. He was not respecting the hereditary tradition of the Altai zaisans, who passed the leadership by a right of succession, and when he found it expedient he was changing that order at his own discretion. For example, in a known case Galdan-Tseren in 1739 deposed from zaisanship an Altaian zaisan Boboi (or Babai) ("Babai" is "Grandfather", "Grand-Grandfather" and generally "Pra-Father" in Türkic, cited by Herodotus as the Scythian Pra-Father "Papai" with voiceless "p/b", a feature typical for some Türkic vernaculars - Translator's Note) and installed as a zaisan his cousin Gulchugai, leaving Boboi as Gulchugai's assistant. 94

The location of the Teleut or Altai zaisans at the Dzungar khan court is mentioned by a number of documents. A Teleut zaisan Batu-Menko talked to the Russian envoy major L.Ugrumov at the Galdan-Tseren court in 1731-1732, telling him about their victories over the Chinese army in 1730-1731 95. In the Dzungar khan campaigns the Altai zaisans also served their military duty. From the Altaians who were coaching along the river Kan and near lake Karakol (nowadays Ongudai aimak in the Altai Republic and Ust-Kan aimaks in Mongolia) in 1745 became known that their zaisans Ombo, Mamyi and Kutuk were are the court of Dzungar khan for a second year in a row. 96

In respect to the location of some Southern Altaian groups around the middle of the 18th century, exist fairly detailed information, especially for Teleuts. But before reviewing materials about the Teleut locations, should be stated that for the examined time exist authentic data on the location of the Chats. We are obliged with that to the Great Northern expedition, when its participant G.Miller, a student S.Krasheninnikov, and others traveled in 1734 from the Kuznetsk to Tomsk by the river Tom and collected exact information about location of some Türkic-speaking groups, including the Chats. The Chat "Tatars" lived on both banks of the Tom from a village Zeledeevo in the south almost to the Tomsk. Their settlements were called yurts (Konstantinovs yurt, Muratovs, Tokmashevs, Kazan, and others). In the Tomsk district were 10 such settlements. Two of them had mosques (Muratovs and Kazan yurt).

Now we shall return to the Teleuts. If a large part of Teleuts still lived in Dzungaria, some of their groups lived in the Kuznetsk district. G.Miller, who visited Southern Siberia, informs (1735) about a Teleut volost, or "White Kalmyks (Teleuts)' volost" in the territory between Kuznetsk (from the Nativity monastery) to the mouth of the river Uskat. At that time there were registered 151 yasak payers.

94 P.E.Tadyev, Ibid., p. 10.
95 I.Ya.Zlatkin, Ibid., p. 368-369.
96 Omsk archive, f. 1, list 1, file 4, ll. 142-143. See reference: P.E.Tadyev, Ibid., p. 18.
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From the village register from Kuznetsk down the Tom to Tomsk, composed for G.Miller expedition by student S.Krasheninnikov who noted only the settlements on the banks of the Tom (interspersed with Russian settlements), follows that some Teleut settlements were then called yurts. Among those are, for example, Tytykovs, Porosenkovs, Kashnakovs Yurts) (all names are in Russain utterance, not authentic names - Translator's Note) in which lived "Teleut Tatars". 97 Many of them have already been Christianized, and the travellers called them "Baptized Tatars" (for example, upstream and downstream from the Russian Kemerov village ("kemer" is "coal" in Türkic, from that originate "Kemer" toponyms related to ironworks - Translator's Note)). On the river Bochat and in the headwaters of Chumysh was a Kyshtym volost (63 yasak payers). 98 On the river Chumysh, downstream to the Russian villages, lived the population of the Togul volost (31 yasak payers). The volost had its name, per G.Miller, after a small river Togul running into Chumysh from the east. The people certainly were Teleuts who also were coaching there in the 17th century, when they belonged to the Beg Abak ulus. From this volost a part of the population migrated to Tubalars in the Biya basin, where these Teleuts received a name Yalan and became a seok among the Tubalars, noted above.

Along their route, academic travelers noted Chat and Tatars. The Tuliber settlements also were called yurts. Among those were, for example, Mamysh and Shirin Yurts in the area of small rivers Tersei, tributaries of Tom; and Kokoshnik Yurt, and Sustanakov Yurt. Hence, the Tuliber Tatars lived in the western foothills of the Kuznetsk Ala Tau, east from the modern Leninsk-Kuznetsk, south from Kemerovo. G.Miller describes the location of their volost as being along the river Tom from the river Uskat and down to the Tom's confluence with Mungat. Judging by the ethnographic data relayed from his own observations by S.Krasheninnikov, Tuliber Tatars belonged to Teleuts. One of the telltale attributes that survived almost to our days among the Mountain Altai Teleuts and Bochaty Teleuts (along the rivers Large and Small Bochaty), that allows to attribute Tuliber Tatars to the Teleuts, should be recognized a presence of birch altars at their dwellings. Here is how it is described by S.Krasheninnikov, who visited the Sustanak's yurts: "There we saw at three yards 4 birches set up, inclined to the east, of which on three Chinese rags were hung, woolen, hemp, and used, and on the fourth birch, in front of them, was hanged a hare pelt, on all its legs, near paws, were tied red ribbons. At these birches these Tatars every year bring sacrifices to the God, having prepared a great barrel of beer, and, to those birches having brought it, pour it on them, and drink it, and thus paray to the God... They.., have kams, all of them have an instrument which the Russians call tambourine, and they call it turu, its rim is like of a sieve, like on a drum one side has stretched leather. Lengthways inside is a thick stick, and the middle of it where rests a holding hand is not dressed. Through this stick runs an iron rod, on which metal stripes are hung up. They beat this tool instrument with a hare-pelt beater". 99

97 S.P.Krasheninnikov in Siberia. Unpublished materials. (Prepared for printing by prof. N.N.Stepanov). M.-L, 1966, p. 38-39.
98 G.Miller. Description of Kuznetsk district. Central State Archive of Ancient acts (TSGADA) in Moscow, f. 199, file No 1, ll. 1 and 2.
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From this sensible description clearly transcends a typical Teleut sacrifice yaik (Manifestly homophonic with the East European river Yaik - Translator's Note) with typical for it cord with color ribbons and a pelt of a white hare in the middle, stretched between birches, and also a Teleut type shaman tambourine with a beater wrapped in a shrunk pelt of a hare. By the way, in Sustanak yurts S.Krasheninnikov observed a fairly curious detail: "Here we saw a maiden which 4 has braids, two on each side... asking why this maiden from maidens and women is different, because maiden have 10 and 20 braids, and women only two, one on each side are braided, we have learned that this maiden was charmed, and for that has 4 braids, and when already get married her 4 braids will be braided into two braids. Tatar women and maidens put on man's caps over hair". 100

Thus, (in the middle of the 18th century) the Teleut-inhabited areas were the right bank of Ob almost to Tomsk (56°30'N 84°58'E) and the banks of Tom from Kuznetsk (after 1931 the old Kuznetsk was renamed to New Kuznetsk = Novokuznetsk 53°45′N 87°07′E) to Tomsk.

Tau-Teleuts and Northern Altaians lived in their usual places in the Northern Altai, but they were double tribute payers. In addition to the yasak (paid to the Russian overlords), they also paid alman to the Dzungar khan, usually collected by the Teleut petty princes (And since they also supported their own Teleut hierarchy, they were triple-taxed - Translator's Note). A journal note of the ore receiver P.Shelegin who headed a governmental expedition sent to the Teles lake (Altyn Gol) in 1745 "with a task of exploring the lands and uncovering peoples living behind the Kolyvano-Voskresensk border line", listed the following:

1) "double tribute payers Yasak-paying Tatars of Tau-Teleut yurts, coaching along the river Maima",
2) "double tribute payers Yasak-paying Tau-Teleut Tatars coaching along the river Isha",
3) "Yus Tatars coaching along the river Sary-Kopsha (Sary-Koksha - L. P.) which flows from the Katun ridge from midday (direction) to the north into river Biya",
4) "Komlyaj Tatars, who had been coaching upstream of the river Biya",
5) "Yasak-paying Kergej (Turgesh) Tatars",
b) "Teleut Tatars coaching near the mouth of Chulyshman", here Teleses are incorrectly called Teleut Tatars.
7) "Kumandy Tatars with settlements near the mouth of the Swan". 101

99 S.P.Krasheninnikov in Siberia, p. 50.
100 Ibid..
101 Archival file of the Altai district No 32.
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An official report of the Kuznetsk commander Shapochnikov from August 10, 1745 inventories the Northern Altaians in better detail and more accurately: " On both sides of the river Biya, right next to the river, live yasak-paying double tribute payers in the following order:

1) Kumandy volost, from Kuznetsk 140 versts, the road is mountainous and runs in the mountain taiga, and consequently this distance is covered in 3-4 days of travel, from Biysk 1 day of travel; in this volost tribute payers 110 persons;
2) Upstream along the Biya (from them) is a second, Kuzen volost: from Kumandy 20 versts, in it yasak-paying 46 persons;
3) Komlyaj volost, 50 versts: yasak-paying 51 persons;
4) Kergesh (Turgesh) volost from Komlyaj 10 versts right near the lake Telenk (Teles/Altyn Gol): yasak-paying 43 persons, from Kuznetsk to Kergesh (Turgesh) volost 220 versts, and riding from Kuznetsk is 7, from the Biysk is 3 days of travel;
5) From Kergesh (Turgesh) volost two day by boat to the double tribute payers who are living on that (far) side of Teles lake (Altyn Gol), together with Zengor (Dzungar) Kalmyks;
6) From Kumandy volosts 60 versts to the Tau-Teleut volost, which is coaching on the banks of Katun and Maima, which runs from rocky mountains between river Biya and Katun and runs into the last... On this side of Biya (on the right side - L. P.), in the Black Forest, live double tribute payers Shelkal volost ... Yus volost... to them from Kuznetsk riding 2-5 days of travel... " 102

From both documents quoted above is abundantly clear that the yasak-paying Northern Altaians, in particular Tubalars, by the middle of the 18th century also have not changed their location, though they frequently had to pay alman to the Dzungar khan also ("also" means in addition to the Russian collections). Interesting is data about Altaian or Mountain Teleuts, who remained in the Altai in the same places as in the 17th century, about Chulyshman Teleuts, apparently the Teleses, and others. Both quoted document say nothing about the existence of Tiber volost. The name of the Tiber volost showed up once, in a document dated November 10, 1720, which remarked "of the Tiber volost yasak-payer Tatar Booshty Kobykaev, who visited the Kuznetsk office". Never again the Tiber volost is mentioned in various historical acts of the 17th and 18th centuries known to us. Apparently, it was not really an administratively yasak tribute-paying volost, but the Tubalar seok Tiber was referred to as volost, the seok probably was then included in the Kergesh or Tirgesh (Turgesh) volost.

Let's cite some data about the Northern Altaian volosts from the materials of the "Hand-written description" of the officer Plautin, also dated 1745. It already says about the division of the Kumandy onto the Lower Kumandy and Upper Kumandy volosts. In the lands of the Lower Kumandy volost is a Sagan crossing of Biya, 30 versts from the Biysk, through which crossed in the way to the Kondoma and Mrass the alman collectors in the double tribute paying volosts. For some reasons nothing is said about the Upper Kumandy volost. The Plautin materials add little to what was stated above about the Tubalar volosts.

102 Materials on history of Siberia. Readings in the Russian Society of history and antiquities..., Book 4, Ì., 1866, p. 88-89.
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The Kuzen volost was located on both sides of the Biya, above Kumandy, beginning 23 versts from the mouth of the river Kemza (above the mouth of Swan). Kuzens sowed summer grains and peas. Of the cattle they held only horses. Thus, the mentioned above legend which we recorded among Tubalars and Chelkandy, that says that earlier Kuzens lived near the river Swan by the Aktygan mountain, but migrated from there to the left bank of Biya to grow cattle, is corroborated by the Plautin's materials. Above the Kuzen, 22 versts from the sources of Biya, laid the Komlyaj volost, and beyond it on the both banks of Biya, and on the both banks of the Teles lake (Altyn Gol) to its middle extended the Kergej (Turgesh) volost. It bordered on the Teleses (Shelegin called them Teleuts), who occupied the upper part of the lake. Here also were sowed various summer grains, and of cattle were held only horses. Through this volost near the sources of Biya then passed the "Kalmyk road to Zengoria (Dzungaria)".

The Yus volost in the hand-written Plautin's materials is not mentioned.

He characterizes the Shelkal volost as follows: "The Shelkal volost begins at the river Kondoma (from the headwaters - L. P.) and lays on both sides of the river Swan middle course; they pay yasak to Russia and alman to Zengoria, but their court and punishments are closer to Russia (indicating that the Russian legal system is a blend of Slavic and Türkic systems - Translator's Note). The cattle breeding consists of horse cultivation only; they sow only barley". 103

Galdan-Tseren died in 1745. With his death flared internecine fight between Dzungar Beks for the Khan's throne, which started a fast disintegration of the Dzungar Khanate. It soon finally dissolved under attacks of the Chinese Qing dynasty army, that most determined enemy of Dzungaria. The disintegration and fall of the Dzungar Khanate greatly influenced the further fate and course of Altaian history, change of their ethnic composition, their localization.

It was discussed above that the Dzungar feudals headed by Hongtaishi severely exploited not only those kishtyms whose pasturing routs were close to them, within the the limits of Dzungaria, but also those coaching far from the borders of Dzungaria, who even were located in the territory of the Russian state (for example, Northern Altaians). If the Northern Altaian yasak-paying volosts paid to Russian Czar a yasak of 1-2 sables per person, from each payer for the Hongtaishi from them were collected 6 sables (L.Potapov compares Russian annual impositions against possible collection of arrears - Translator's Note). In addition, they were also taking iron products. When a detachment of Count Ryhlev in the 1713 set out to kick out from the Kumandy a Teleut Bek Dureng, who was collecting alman there for the Dzungar khan, the Bek hasty retreated and had to drop everything that he collected from Kumandy during that site visit.

103 About that see in more detail: L.P.Potapov. Essays on a history of Altaians, p. 122-123.
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It turned out that "Dureng abandoned taken from the Lower Kumandy volost 660 squirrel pelts (podpals), °-îøëîêà, 3 bever belly pelt, 66 iron kazans (cauldrons), 109 tagans (cauldron stand), tester (?) stirrups, iron kon (bit - L.P.)". In addition he managed to keep "900 shooting irons (arrowheads - L.P.), 100 crow-bars (?), 2 branding irons, 2 komzas (smoking pipes - L.P.) and 99 iron ladles". 104 From the list of the objects in the collected alman, up to the smoking pipes, it is apparent that in essence that was a robbery of the Altaians' property, with a full whimsy (From the this tear-dropping tale one would think that the slave-owner Robin Hood Count Ryhlev flew on a white horse from the Sankt-Peterburg all the way to Altai to free the poor Altaians and to return the booty taken from the Teleut collector to its rightful owners. The return part is however omitted, leaving an impression that the whole booty went instead into the treasury of the poor Russian Czar, who, one would naively infer from this tale, never used the same Teleut zaisans to squeeze the royal tribute from the same Kumandy kyshtyms, now upgraded to the status of the Russian kyshtyms after robbing Teleuts from their kyshtyms, but retaining them as tribute collectors - Translator's Note).

Let's review the facts from the life of the Southern Altaians. Tau-Teleuts, for example, paid Russia a rate of one sable, and Hongtaishi 51 sables. But from Tau-Teleuts were also taken not only the furs. One Altaian in the 1744 was telling to a Russian cossack B.Poilov: "Came to the Kan volost from Zengor land a zaisan and under an order of the Zengor ruler Galdan-Chirin, in all those Zengor volosts, and in Tau-Teleut volosts ordered from every five tens people to prepare thirty and three fur coats". 105 The Southern Altaian "Kan and Karakol volosts", called "Zengor volosts" as ruled by the Dzungar khan, and also Tau-Teleuts, who were coaching near Katun and Maima, despite of the remoteness of their residence from the court of the Dzungar khan, experienced oppression and exploitation not to a lesser degree than the kishtyms living in the territory of Dzungaria. The Dzungar khan dressed, equipped and fed the large army entirely at the expense of the exploited ordinary population of the nomadic Dzungars, and especially so of the population which were in the kishtym dependence. Captain I. Unkovsky, who headed the Russian embassy to Tsewang-Rabdan cited in his report a story of an ordinary Oirat woman, who complained to the Unkovsky's wife that in Dzungaria "for the whole summer gather to Urgu to Hongtaishi 300 and more women, and over the whole summer from their kosht (wool, wool cloth) they sew kuyaks (cloth or felt cover) to the armour and dresses, which are sent to the army". 106 (At that time, and for another century, Russia used exactly the same methods in equipping its army, using its own slave labor and tribute assessments - Translator's Note)

It is quite clear that weakening of the Khan power, internecine feuds of Oirat or Dzungar feudals created conditions that allowed some kishtym Beks of the Dzungar khan more leeway in choosing pasturing routs, and the danger rising from the China forced them to also think about getting far away out of Dzungaria. For the Enisei Kyrgyzes, Teleuts and Mingats it was time to return to the old places from which they were driven by the Dzungar khan.

104 See in more detail about the objects collected with alman, and collection violence in our book "Essays on history of Altaians".
105 I.Ya.Zlatkin " Ibid., p. 363
106 Unkovsky Embassy, p. 149.
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It is impossible to doubt that a part of Teleuts, leaving the collapsing Dzungar Khanate, migrated to the Kirgiz areas, to the eastern Tian Shan and other places, and gradually merged with them. From that, among modern Kirgiz tribal names are the names of Teles, Mundus and some of their subdivisions. Soon after the death of Galdan-Tseren, in second half of 1740's, the Enisei Kyrgyzes started coming back by separate groups through the Russian border forts. 106 The same, judging by the documents, can be also stated in relation to Mingats, who in the most part left Dzungaria in the beginning of its defeat by the Qing army. In respect to the Southern Altaians, who were frequently called Uryanhaians (Tuvinians), and Teleuts, the situation is less clear. It is known documentarily that a mass of the Teleuts moved to Russia at the beginning of the Dzungaria defeat. But the documents from the middle of the 18th century clearly show that a part of "Altaians" and Uryanhaians (Tuvinians) at that time lived in the Central and Western Altai (Kan and Karakol "Kalmyks") and it seems that especially indicative is that their zaisans also coached there, though at times they were visiting with the courts of temporary rulers of the collapsing Dzungar Khanate.

To summarise the data about Uryanhai (Tuvinian) and Teleut zaisans' pasturing routs, scattered in various documents, we shall assemble the following picture. Zaisan Gulchugai, to whom Galdan-Tseren gave zaisanship taken away from Boboi, in the summer coached in the headwaters of the Buhtarma (calf nursery ?), Berel and Narym, and in the winter stayed at Narym, Irtysh and its right tributary Ablaiketke (Ablaiketk ?). On same river also grazed his cattle demichi (zaisan assistant) Hohai, and zaisan Babai or Boboi grazed his cattle in the valley of Buhtarma and in the valleys of the small rivers flowing on the left to Irtysh from the Kalbin ridge, and around Ust Kamenogorsk. Zaisan Namky lived in the Kaerlyk valley (basin of river Kan), and subordinated to him Altaians (Teleuts) lived in the valley of Katun and river Kamchilu. Along Katun, above the river Sema, also coached zaisan Boohol. The Uryanhai (Tuvinian) zaisan Ombo, whom the Russian border authorities held as "highest chief", coached along the rivers Kanzg, Yabogan and in the headwaters of the Charysh. A known Teleut zaisan Batu-Menko coached in the Kan steppe. Zaisan Doldoi was coming in the summertime to the rivers Kan and Yabogan, but for the winter he was leaving to the headwaters of the Katun.

The stated material enables to conclude that in the southern and western parts of Altai the pasturing routs of the Tuva (Uryanhai) and Teleuto-Altai zaisans, especially the summer pastures, have not been strictly carved up and divided. A probable reason for that was that that these areas of Altai were among the property seized by the Dzungar khan (Two other reasons, not mentioned by L.Potapov, are, first, that these seoks were relatively new to the area, and did not have time to fossilize the traditional ranges as "ancestral" lands, and second, their traditions did not allow them to claim exclusive use of the ranges. The "property of the Dzungar khan" would be a remote third likelihood. - Translator's Note).
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After the death of Galdan-Tseren on the throne temporarily settled his natural son Lama (Llama ?) Dorji,and a grandson of the leader of the Volga Kalmyks Beg Davatsi (Debachi) challenged the throne. 107 Taishi Amursana, who was coaching, like the Davatsi, in Tarbagatai, supported Beg Davatsi. These both taishis actively fought against Lama Dorji. In the beginning of the 1753 with the help of Amursana, Davatsi or Debachi seized the throne, and soon arose frictions with Amursana. Amursana demanded a division of the Dzungar possessions, and pretended to the Altai and the the transfer of the "Kan and Karakol, Tele and Tau-Teleut volosts and people to his possessions". 108 Davatsi refused him. Amursana organized against him a campaign, but sufferred a defeat and fled to the Qing emperor. Altai and Uryanhai (Tuvinian) zaisans in this conflict were on the side of Debachi, as informs a vahmistr A.Besednov, who in August 1754 visited Uryanhai). One of them told Besednov that in 1754 "In the spring their Altai zaisans left to help Debache-khan... And now it is known that those zaisans came back and brought with them Amursana's wife and children, and many are captured, and Amursana left with all zaisans to the Mungal side". A Teleut zaisan Kutuk (from the seok Kypchak) personally told Besednov the following: "In their land are trubles, all of them left to serve Debache-khan to help, and they helped, noyon Amursana and all his lands wrecked, his wives and children, cattle and grain and his life cleaned up and brought all that to their lands, and divided the spoils, and Amursana escaped with 300 people to the Mungal land across the Teles lake". 109 Amursana from the Teles lake (Altyn Gol) and through Tuva fled to Halha and switched to the side of the Qing rulers.

Soon for the Dzungar Khanate the events took a dramatic turn. The Qing dynasty, taking advantage of the internecine feuds among Dzungars, found a suitable moment to destroy their sworn enemy Dzungaria, and to sieze its lands. 110 The dynasty troops, which included Amursana, invaded Dzungaria in the spring of the 1755, seized Davatsi, destroyed the Khanate, and installed everywhere their puppets. Military detachments of the Qing dynasty on the way to Dzungaria siezed Tuva, and did not miss Altai. The archival materials testify that in January 1755 they appeared in the valley of river Chui and offered the Chulushman Telengits and Teles to submit to the Chinese emperor. The Chulushman inhabitants not only refused that offer, but sent to Kuznetsk a representative with a request to protect them. For the refusal to submit, the Chinese army taken away from their pastures in the headwaters of the small rivers Koidy in the Teles lake (Altyn Gol) area about 400 Teles people with all their property and yurts. Possibly, Teleses taken by the Qing army ended up in Xinjiang, whence, say the legends of the southern Kirgiz Teleses, their ancestors came to Kirgizia. 111

107 See our book " Origin and formation of the Khakas nation", pp. 144-145.
108 I.Zlatkin, Ibid., p. 439.
109 Ibid., p. 440.
110 History of Tuva, vol. 1, p. 239.-
125

In Tuva, the Qing troops crushed "Yellow Sayans" who refused to submit to the Chinese emperor, and "Took all Yellow Sayanto a last man to captivity, leaving the young alive, and slaughtering all the olds, and also captured the other Zengor uluses". 112 The troops of the Chinese and mobilized by the Qing emperor eastern Mongolian and Halha armies stayed in the Kan and Karakolsk volosts, along the river Sema, etc., with a task of complete conquest of the Mountain Altai population by the Qing dynasty. And aggressors everywhere met not only a refusal, but at times an armed resistance also. The Altai zaisans, especially Gulchugai and Boboi, fought, and not unsuccessfully, with separate units of the enemy army. 113 At that difficult for the Altaians (Teleuts) time many of them sought protection and safety in the Russian state. A Teleut zaisan Batu-Menko came to Kuznetsk, asking for protection of Tau-Teleut volosts; he argued that "a strong military hand drives them and incline to submit to the Chinese khan, and they do not wish that, but wish to be eternal subjects of the Russian empire, and to pay into the treasury of its Czar majesty the yasak with other Tau-Teleut Tatars, because their great-grandfathers, grandfathers and fathers back more than hundred years to the Russian side into its treasury of the Czar majesty yasak started paying" (This unfinished story stops at a most interesting moment. In the Türkic confederations, the allied tribes bring their contributions in the form of assessments and military participation. In case of an external assault, they receive from their confederation a necessary assistance. When Russia replaced the Western Siberian Khanate, its autonomous members did not proclaim independence, but stayed with the successor state, keeping their ally obligations toward the ruling center, and expecting reciprocal obligations in return. That was the content of the Teleut zaisan Batu-Menko appeal, unanswered in the L.Potapov passage - Translator's Note).

Having subdued Dzungaria in the summer of the 1755, the army of the Chinese emperor returned home, leaving in Dzungaria stationed garrisons. At that time (autumn of the 1755) Amursana relinquished the Chinese citizenship and with a group of soldiers returned to Dzungaria, where he soon settled down in the Khanate former political center along the river Ili. He started gathering forces for the restoration of the Dzungaria. His efforts, directed to the restoration of Dzungars' independence, first of all were not successful among the surviving Dzungar feudals. Conflicts and fighting have flared again. The news about liberating efforts of Amursana agitated the Qing emperor, and he made a decision not only to finish with Amursana, but also to eradicate the Dzungars. A huge army gathered by him moved again to Dzungaria. Amursana fled to Kazakhs.

11 S.M.S.M.Abramzon. Ethnic history of Kirgizes. In Coll.: Türkological collection in honor of A.N.Kononov's 60-year anniversary, Ì., 1966, p. 167.
112 See description of the Chinese-Mongolian army invasion to Altai in P.E.Tadyev's article "Turning point in the history of the Mountain Altai" (page 23 on), whio found it in the Omsk regional archive, f. 1, list 1.

113 Ibid..
126

Without meeting any resistance, Qing's army carried out the emperor's order, exterminating Dzungars and their former kishtyms without exception. This fact of common knowledge is widely covered in our (and not only our) historical literature, and not needed to be repeated. In that connection we shall examine the tethering of the Southern Altaians (Teleuts) to the Russian state, which created new conditions in the life of Altaians (Teleuts), in their localization, and in their historical and ethnic development (From this point on, L.Potapov switches his terminology from ethnic description "Teleuts" to geographical description "Altaians, South Altaians", and episodically to the political "Dzungars", apparently following the genetical definitions of the sources, and introduces unnecessary ethnic ambiguity of the sources in his discourse. A generic and properly annotated terminology would be justified if the following events pertained to a mixed population of Teleuts and their various kyshtyms, but this is not a case, the zaisans are specifically defined as Teleut zaisans - Translator's Note).

Brutal actions of Qing army in Dzungaria caused a uniform reaction of a hatred to the subjugator and aspiration for freedom, though the resisting actions of separate Dzungar groups were isolated and could not positively impact the outcome of this unequal struggle. Against the Qing subjugator in the summer of the 1756 flashed a revolt of Tuvinians, who also supported the revolt headed by the Hotogol Beg Tsengundjap. That event aroused the activity of Amursana, who was preparing continue a struggle for the restoration of Dzungaria. Uryanhai-Altai zaisans supported Amursana financially, and helped him to establish connection with Tsengundjap. 114 Both revolts were severely suppressed. In the beginning of the 1757 Tsengundjap was captured and executed, and Amursana after a series of defeats at the end of July 1757 hid in Semipalatinsk and soon died near Tobolsk of a smallpox.

After the defeat of Dzungaria, for a long time Tuva remained under the yoke of the Manchurian dynasty, but the fate of the Southern Altaian Teleuts developed more fortunate, they were accepted in the Russian state. Even at the first invasion of Qing army to Dzungaria many Teleut and Uryanhai (Tuvinian) zaisans expressed a desire to voluntary join Russia and began caravanning to the Russian border in hope to find safety from the aggressors. They asked "to let them pass inside the empire". The border commanders dispatched that request to the central government. A Senator Nepluev prescribed to the Siberian military leaders to allow Altaians (Teleuts) to coach near the border, pending a special order. The Czar government in this situation, wishing to avoid conflicts with the Manchurian dynasty, was indecisive. In the autumn of the 1755 a commander of the Kolyvano-Voskresensk and Kuznetsk border line informed the government: "fifteen Altai zaisans have a diligent desire to be in our patronage, promising to pay yasak upfront even for three years". 115 In few months this request duplicated 19 zaisans, including zaisan Ombo.

114 I.Zlatkin, Ibid., p. 459.
115 The further discourse is given mainly from the documents we published in the book "Essays on the history of Altaians", and the documents studied in the Omsk regional archive by P.E.Tadyev, partially published in the above article (page 26-30).
127

The Empress Elizaveta (Elisabeth) Petrovna authorized it only in the beginning of the 1756, and that with a condition of relocating them, with all their people, to the Volga Kalmyks. Meanwhile, as this question was being weighed in the Petersburg, some zaisans with their people have already been forcefully driven away by the Qing aggressors. The events developed as follows. In the February of 1756 12 Altai (called so after the location of their pastures) zaisans (Ombo, Kulchugai, Kutu, Namky, Boohol, Cherep, Buktush, Buurut, Kaamyk, Namjil, Izmynak, and Sandut) gave the Commander of the border line colonel de Garriga a letter: "Give us guard people; save us from evel times in our lands; erect a fort where you want. At present we are under a white sovereign. The colonel of our white sovereign, please do it faster, they want to take us away with all our houses". This letter handed the zaisan Namky, who declared that in case of acceptance of the Altaians (Teleuts) into Russian patronage, zaisans can pay yasak upfront and on demand of the authorities supply 2000 warriors. After that, the Altai zaisans led by Ombo came to the Biysk fort asking to speed up the fulfillment of their petition. In the March of the same year zaisans wrote still another letter which said: "Beforehand we former possessions of Galdan-Cheren twelve zaisans before this already sent to you zaisan Namky with our previous letter, and nowadays again we twelve zaisans with all our ulus people wish to be in patronage of the white Czar, and from our subjects ulus people we shall pay yasak how the will of the white Czar determines, and if white Czar in a need to us twelve zaisans would enjoin to our Zengor people or where in other place to send an army to a campaign, we this army during winter time of one thousand, and in summertime of two thousand people immediately would send, and we are having intention to be in the patronage of the white Czar twelve zaisans consisting of a thousand five hundred wagon carts of people or maybe more, or little less than that. And so we twelve zaisans have sent with this Namky and certufy this with our hands (signatures)".

Finally, on May 2, 1756 a decree was sent to the Siberian governor Metlev iwhich ordered to accept Zengorsk zaisans in patronage even in the event that they refuse to relocate to the Volga Kalmyks. After that, from the June of 1756 began a mass crossing of the Southern Altai and Tuva-Uryanhai tribes of the border mentioned above, and already for the first approximately three months the oath was sworn in by more than 10 thousand people, mosty belonging to that branch of zaisans who petitioned about their acceptance into the patronage of Russia.
128

It should be note that Uryanhai (Tuvinian) and Altai (Teleut) zaisans, especially the ordinary nomads, who joined Russia were almost totally deprived of cattle and property by the pillages and excesses of the Qing dynasty army. For the zaisans Buktush and Tseren, for example, the cost of the property taken from them by the military robbers was estimated in a sum of 6723 rubles in the prices of that time (in 1750, 1 ruble = 28 g of silver, 6723 rubles = 188.2 kg = 415 lb of silver, or $90 000 at 2009 price of $13.5/oz - Translator's Note). This sum included the cost of 1069 horses, 1318 sheep and so on. 116 Nothing can be added about how badly were ruined the ordinary cattlemen. The Russian border authorities and army had to assist the new Altaian subjects of the Russian state in bringing wounded and weakened by famine lifeless people to the fort, and supplying them with food. From the food stocks stored in the border forts and settlements, the Altaians (Teleuts) were given flour and barley at the following rates: To people above 10-year olds a chetverik (26 liters) per person per month, to children under 10-years "except small babies who do not eat bread" a half of chetverik. Zaisans and foremen (demichies) were also given money. For the surviving cattle were constructed pens and stables, where the cattle was fed. 117 Thus, by acceptance to the Russian state the Altaians (Teleuts) were saved from famine and destruction in a literal sense of the word.

By the data in the preserved documents, by the November 1756 near the Russian borders were 13 thousand wagon carts of the Altaians (Teleuts) and Uryanhaians (Tuvinians) who voluntarily accepted patronage. There are a few lists of the zaisans who accepted the Russian patronage. They contain the names of Omba, Kutuk, Gulchugai, the Bolot (son of Omba), Puktush, Burut, Cheren, Namky, Enzynak (Izmynak), Batu Menko, Cheren (Tseren) appear, and others.

The majority of zaisans refused resettle near Volga and remained to coach in the Altai (along the rivers Katun, Biya, Isha, Sandy, Anui, Charysh, Ube, and others). The documents say that about 7 thousand people were settleded in the Krasnoyarsk and Kuznetsk districts. 118 From a report of colonel Kolobovsky about send-off to Volga of those who accepted the Russian patronage follows that they were sent from the Biysk on June 28, 1757 headed by fon Enden. With him were sent from the fort and forward posts of the Kuznetsk and Kolyvan border lines (Biya, Katun, Anui, Nikolai, Kolyvansky and Gulbinsky factories, advanced posts Uban, Krasnoyar, Shemanaev, Alei, Zmeevsky mine, Kabanov guardpost) 566 families, 1106 men, 1178 women, total 2284 people. They had 76 camels, 3657 horses, 157 cows, 31 rams and goats. In the list among those sent are named zaisans: Burut Chekagul, Kymyk Yamanak, Kutuk Kutuigulin, Tseren Uruk and families of diseased zaisans Gulchugai and Omba. In addition are named Kalmyks of zaisan Vuktush department, but neither him nor his family are in the list.

16 According to the Omsk regional archive. See: P.E.Tadyev, Ibid., p. 30.
17 Ibid..
18 Ibid., p. 29.
19 L.P.Potapov 129
118

It is clear from that how a part of Altaians (Teleuts) and Uryanhaians (Tuvinians) (and possibly Dzungars) ended up near Volga, where they assimilated among the Mongol-speaking Kalmyk people. This also explains how Telengits appeared among the Volga Kalmyks, though linguistically Mongolised, their ethnic name they retained for a long time.

It was already noted above that about 7 thousand Altaians (Teleuts) and Uryanhaians (Tuvinians) freed from the Dzungar khans yoke, who voluntary joined the Russian state, were resettled in the Kuznetsk and Krasnoyarsk districts. 119 This quite important documentary evidence drew insufficient attention of researchers. For the purpose of the present work it has a special significance, because the fact of the relocation to these areas of the groups who coached from Dzungaria undoubtedly influenced the ethnic composition of the Northern Altaians, including the Teleuts of the Kuznetsk district, these descendants of the Ob "White Kalmyks (Teleuts)" group. Unfortunately, this subject question not only was not yet examined, but in essence even was not raised at all in our scientific literature. This is why we should make a small addition to the illumination of this significant historical event in the life of the Altaians, which was for them the entry into the patronage of the Russian state.

The Altaians who sought salvation from the enemy army had their subjection registered in stressful and dangerous for them conditions. To facilitate the acceptance of the Altaians, Russian authorities performed it in various points, for example in Ust Kamenogorsk, Kolyvan, Biysk, Kuznetsk, even in the Kuzedeev advanced post along the river Kondoma. After completing formalities to be admitted to Russia, people were immediately let to cross the border and sent to safe places to settle. The Kuznetsk and Krasnoyarsk district were certainly such safe places. Undoubtedly, the groups of new subjects accepted in the Kuznetsk, Kuzedeev advanced post and Biysk were sent to those areas. We still cannot say anything about those (Teleuts) who were sent to settle in the Krasnoyarsk district, because of the absence of examined materials, but in respect to Kuznetsk district such material does exist.

This question can answered for the Kuznetsk district by comparing the names and quantity of the yasak-paying volosts and the number of their population from the materials of the 1730-40's, i.e. the materials belonging to the period immediately preceding the passage of the Altaians to Russia, with the corresponding materials belonging to the middle of the 19th century. Undoubtedly, the newcoming tribal or ethnic groups were settled precisely in the yasak-paying volosts of the Kuznetsk (and Biya) districts, the population of which at that time already became sedentary and in significant part in closely neighboring with Russians. 120

119 Archive of the State Council, 1, p. 254. See the quoted above article of P.E.Tadyev.
130

The newcomers should have certainly increased the number of the local yasak-paying population. It should be noted that the newcomer yasak-obligated nomadic cattlemen had to convert to sedentary life, and not only because of the loss of their herds caused by the tragical events in their life after the defeat of Dzungaria, "but especially because the fertile steppes and forest-steppes the of Kuznetsk district were occupied and ploughed (and used for grass scything) by the sedentary population, both the Russian, and the local yasak-paying population. Consequently, after a reform of 1822 (Speransky's "Charter on aliens") in the Kuznetsk district were established seven administrative volosts of "sedentary aliens", so entrenched and advanced was the sedentary condition, mainly among the different Teleut groups and related to them so-called "Kuznetsk Tatars".

Let's turn now to some historical materials, incidentally not yet published. Bn the data collected by G.F.Miller in 1734, i.e. approximately a quarter century before the mass exodus of Altaians (Teleuts) to the Russian state, in the Kuznetsk district were officially registered the following yasak-paying volosts:

Below Kuznetsk, downstream along the rivers Tom and Chumysh, are located:

1. Keret (Keresh) volost, in the former Aba Tatars location, near the mouth of the river Aba. The inhabitants call themselves Keresh, 10 of them pay tribute (yasak).
2. Teleut, or so-called White Kalmyks volost, from the Nativity monastery to the mouth of the river Uskat, on the north-eastern bank of the river Tom. 122 151 of them pay tribute.
3, 4. Tuluberd and Bayan. From the confluence of the river Uskat to the borders of Mungat fort. 123 In the first only 4 people pay tribute, in the second 28 people. G.Miller notes that the name Bayan Tatars in casual speech is almost unknown, and both volosts are called by a common name Tuluberdy (Bayan was a dynastic tribe at one time, and its vestiges are widely spread among the Türkic and Slavic peoples. Apparently, a name of a Bayan's leader later superceded and substituted their ancient ethnonym among this small splinter - Translator's Note).
5. Kyshtym volost, whose inhabitants call themselves Kyshtyms, along the river Bochat that runs from the west into Uen or Inu, and in the headwaters of the of the river Chumysh. It has 63 people paying tribute.
6, 7. Tagan and Togul. Both lie downstream of the Chumysh river, toward the Russian villages laying on the same river down from Beloyarsk. The first has total 39, the second 31 payers. The Togul volost received its name from the small river Togul that merges from the east with Chumysh; above it into Chumysh from the same side flows another small river called "Ikelep" (L.Potapov cites "Ikelep" in quotation marks, apparently to reflect that the name may be a semantical moniker "Two lands" or something similar - Translator's Note). A few Toguls also live along the river Aba commingled with Russians.

122 See the "Register of villages from Kuznetsk down the Tom river", composed by S.P.Krasheninnikov, and also his "Travel Diary of 1734-1735" in the above mentioned book "S.P.Krasheninnikov in Siberia"; G.F.Miller Description of Kuznetsk district, ll. 21-24 reverse. The Nativity monastery was on the hill side 3 versts below Kuznetsk.
123 This fort was built in the 1715 by a Kuznetsk commander B.Sinyavin, in the vicinity of the river Mungat (left bank of Tom).
131

Above Kuznetsk along the river Tom to the borders of Krasnoyarsk district lay the volosts:

1.2.3. Bogorak, where Mrassa runs into Tom. There live 27 yasak payers.
4. Moinak, above Bogorak volosts, between small rivers Usoi and Belsu, running into Tom. There are 49 yasak payers.
5. Sagai, near the Tom sources, on a small river Askys, tributary of Abakan, and at one of Chulym sources, river Yus. There are 53 payers.
6. Beltir, in the steppes along the river Abakan, and along the river Tashtyp. There are 45 payers.

On the river Mrassa and its small trubutaries:

1. Beshboyak, 10 versts upstream the Mrassa from its mouth. Number of yasak payers 46.
2. Ede along Mrassa, above Umzas and along Mrassa tributary Tashilga. There are 24 yasak payers.
3. Togoyak, above the river Umzas, in the mountains (at a half-day riding distance) 4 payers.
4. Elej along the river Mrassa (above a small river Tashilga), 27 payers.
5. Near Karga along the river Orton, running into Mrassa from the east. Yasak-payers 43 people. The word karga, noted Miller, in Tatar means "raven". The inhabitants, however, do not know why they have such name (see Yu.Zuev - Ancient Türks for a genetical link to the Usun kagan tribe).
6. Kuzesh (Kuzen) Karga, along the river Mrassa, in the location where small river Syurtka runs into it from the west, and a little higher from the east runs into it a small river Tayas. There are 17 yasak payers.
7. Kyzyl Karga on a small river Pyzasu (right tributary of the Mrassa). There yasak pay 15 people
8. Kivin, above a small river Pyzasa, 31 yasak payers.
9. Kivin in the headwaters of the Mrassa, with 12 yasak payers.
10. Izusher (Uzut-Shor) along a small river Pyzasu, above Kyzyl-Karga, 21 yasak payers.

On the river Kondoma:

1. Barsoyat, 30-40 versts above than the mouth. Yasak-payers 35 people
2. Beshboyak, or Katun, 30-40 versts above Barsoyat, in the area of confluence with Kondoma (from the east) of the small rivers Telbes and Mondubash (near Mondubash is extracted especially high-quality iron ore). The name Katun came from the Katun (Queen) mountain, located on the right bank of Kondoma between Bars and Beshboyak volosts. Yasak-payers 44 people
3. Etiber, upstream the Mundymashut (Miller's Mandabash), 40-50 versts from its mouth where into it run Bazas, Anzas and Manzas. Its inhabitants are also called Kalars, though Miller notes, that now that name is not especially common. Yasak-payers 34 payers.
4. Etiber, on Kondoma, 50 versts above the Beshboyak volosts, at the confluence with the river Antrop (left tributary). There are 47 yasak payers.
5. Elei, 40-50 versts above Etiber (Kondoma). There are 27 yasak payers.
6. Karacher, or Shor, because the inhabitants are usually called Shors, and they passed that name to their other neighbors. It is located 30 versts above the previous volost along Kondoma. 72 yasak payers belong to it.

124 Shors call river Kondoma Mondum, Mondubash, or Mondumash, its right tributary can mean "Kondoma summit", or "Little Kondoma".
132

On the river river Biya and Altyn lake (Teles) and in other neiboring districts are the volosts:

1. Shelkal, along the river Ku or Swan, 60-70 versts from its confluence with river Biya; there are 43 payers.
2. Karga, below the previous on the same river, only 11 yasak payers.
3. Kumandy, at the confluence of the river Ku and Biya, approximately half-day sail along the river river Biya. There are 105 yasak payers. " All this placeboth Tatars and Kalmyks call Kumanda", writes G.Miller.
4. Yus, or better Yut, because the inhabitants call themselves Yuts (Tenti), is located in the mountains between the rivers Biya and Katun, half-day travel from the lowermost Kumandy uluses, on a small river (rivulet) Kishcha (?), running from the east into Katun. There pay yasak 11 people
5. Kuzen, half-day travel upstream the Biya from the Kumandy volost. There are 28 yasak payers. A little above it into the Biya runs (from the east) a small river Talei (Tuloi).
6. Komlyash, half-day travel from the previous volost upstream the river Biya, where into it from the west runs river Kopsha. There are 49 payers.
7. Kergesh (Turgesh), half day travel upstream from Komlyash, on the east bank of Biya, where it originates from the lake Altyn. There are 39 people, paying yasak.
8. Tau-Teleut, in the mountains, from which it received its name, along the river Katun where into it from the west runs Sema, and from east Ishpa and Isha. There are 34 payers.
9. Telet on the lake Altyn and in the estuaries of the running into it rivers Chulyshman and Chulcha. In this volost live Telet (Teles) Tatars, they are paying a voluntary determined amount of the yasak a year, also with furs.

Thus, the Miller's description lists 36 yasak-paying volosts, of which for 35 is given a number of yasak payers, with a total figure of 1,317 people (only for the Teles volost, where lived Teleses the number is not given).

Miller also informs that Tau-Teleuts pay only one sable per person, as paying the yasak voluntary, like the Teleses, only the last pay 60 sables a year, irrespective of the population. Miller has shown that the Teleut nation along the Kalmyk border, i.e. Tau-Teleuts, totaled up to 350 families, which in his opinion, came near the number of the Teleses living beyond the Teles lake (Altyn Gol).

Now it is logical to compare G.F.Miller's materials with the earlier and later materials. For the first period we should refer to the answers sent from Kuznetsk to V.N.Tatischev, which were based on the "census of the 1719 and the evidence of the 1723" and list the names of the same 34 volosts, where are counted 1,376 people, undoubtlessly of only the yasak payers (This is a first direct indication by L.Potapov that all the counts given above referred only to the yasak paying heads of the households, and the total number of population should be adjusted accordingly by a factor of 4-5, as in the examples with the Kyrgyz wagon carts or Teleuts deported to Volga Kalmyks - Translator's Note). 125 The Tatischev list does not have Tau-Teleut volost with 34 payers, or the Teles volost, listed by Miller. With addition of Tau-Teleut volost the Tatischev list would have 1,410 yasak payers, i.e. 93 peoples more than what was recorded by Miller according to data of the 1734. The difference is obviously small, and that only reinforces a trust in the both lists.

125 Archive USSR Akad. of Sciences, f. 21, list 5, No 152. "Cities of Kuznetsk supplement, composed in the Kuznetsk office by force of orders of her Imperial majesty from the Siberian gubernatorial office and geographical descriptions", ll. 252-281 reverse.
133

As a source for the second period, we shall refer to one reliable document dated by 1745. That is the already mentioned official report of the Kuznetsk commander Shaposhnikov that named 13 yasak volosts located along Kondoma and Biya, against the 15 volosts named in these places by Miller. In the commander official report are absent the Barsoyat and Beshboyak volosts located on Kondoma and noted by Miller. The other volosts go under the same names, with a small divergence in the number of the yasak payers in them, with a difference, as a rule, of 1 to 3-4 persons (up or down) for each volost. The divergence is quite explainable by the difference in the dates of drawing the lists, estimated as 11 years. Thus, G.F.Miller information is undoubtedly the most full and exact within the framework of official administrative figures of the examined time.

From the stated above is clear what was the composition and number of the yasak-paying volosts among the Northern Altaians and the so-called Kuznetsk Teleuts and Kuznetsk Tatars almost before the exodus of the Southern Altaians to the Russian state.

Comparing now the previous period with respective data for a little more than a century later, after the inclusion of the Southern Altaians into Russia, it would be easy to be ascertain that in the Kuznetsk (and future Biya) 126 district in fact have been settled a significant number of Altaians, predominantly Teleuts, and some other admitted groups. For such a comparison we have materials collected at the beginning of 1860's by W.W.Radloff, and at the end of by 1860's by V.Verbitsky. Both authors, using the same official records of 1859, note in the Kuznetsk district seven settled "alien" volosts. The parallel list, with the indication of total population of each volost, is as follows:

By W.Radloff By V.Verbitsky
  men - women   men - women- all people
Ashchkyshtym 214 235 Ach. Keshtim 214 235 449
Bayan 309 118 Bayan 309 118 427
Togul 176 196 Torgul 129 176 196 372
Kumysh 229- 209 Komnosh 229- 209 438
Kamlar 125 129 Kamlar 125 129 254
Yachin 296 322 Achyn 296 322 618
Shui 355 385 Shu 355 385 740
Total 1704 1594 Total 1704 1594 3298

126 Biya district was established in 1783 within Kolyvan province, in the 1804 this district was transferred to the Tomsk province. W.W. Radloff, Aus Sibirien.. Bd. 1, p. 214.
128 V.Verbitsky. The Altai Aliens, p. 7
129 Correctly, Tongul.
134

In the cited lists does not coincide the name of only one volost. In the W.Radloff list it is called Komnosh, and in theV.Verbitsky list Kumysh. That these are two names are of the same volost testify the identical figures for population, total and by sex (in the volosts). Probably, the name Komnosh of this volost W.Radloff gave erroneously, because the volost Komnosh is known still from the 1620's, they lived in the basin of the river Biya. In the same territory the Komnosh volost is mentioned in the 1734 by G.Miller, it is also corroborated by the official report of the Kuznetsk commander Shaposhnikov (1745). Quite naturally, at Verbitsky the Komnosh volost is registered with the Black Tatar nomadic volosts of the Biya district. And Radloff himself informs about a tribe (and a clan) Komnosh among Black (mountain taiga) Tatars, whom he calls Tubalars. The correct name of sedentary volost in question is certainly Kumysh, which after the reforms of 1822 was transformed into Kumysh "upravas". 130 Its inhabitants lived along the river Ine, together with yasak-payers of the Shui sedentary volost.

In respect to the so-called "nomadic" aliens (terminology for sedentary and nomadic is within the framework of the indicators stipulated in the "Charter on aliens"), at W.Radloff we find the list of the yasak-paying volosts and their numbers only for those that judging by V.Verbitsky publication at that time belonged to Biya district, and were called by a generic Black Tatars term. Their list is summarized follows:

By W.Radloff By V.Verbitsky

Lower Kumandy
Upper Kumandy
Kuzen
Komnosh
Yus
Torgul
men - women
831 740
322 284
275 234
756 705
257 232
121 116

Lower Kumandy volost
Upper Kumandy volost
Kuzen volost
Komlyaj or Kondoj volost
Yus volost
Torgul volost
men - women- all people
831 740 1571
322 284 606
275 232 507
756 705 1461
251 232 483
121 116 237
Total 2562 2311 Total 2556 2309 4865

The Verbitsky's list, in addition to the Biya district, contains 22 more "volosts of nomadic aliens" of the Kuznetsk district with quantitative indicators of the population on each volost. Such list is absent in the W.Radloff's quoted work, though all the names of all these volosts are given (even with a transcription), but only as seok clans of the Shors, and without indication of their numbers. However, the Kumysh alien upravas was divided onto two halves. The inhabitants of 1-st half lived along the river Ine, and of the 2-nd half in the Barnaul district. The last were deportees from the 1-st half of the Kumysh volost.
135

At that time, Radloff insufficiently critically accepted the information given to him locally, and entered in the list of the Shor's clans some names for the volosts adopted not from the names of the clans, but from the names of the petty princes who were heading them. For example, such names are the names Barsoyat, Bejboyak, Sherogash.

V.Verbitsky published his list in 1871 for the first time (covering 17 volosts) from his own very valuable studies and corresponding numbers. 131 The first publication gives a list of all settlements along the rivers Tom, Kondoma and Mrassa, and their tributaries, with indication of the name of the taxed settlement (aul or ulus) and quantities of huts or yurts in them, with definition of their volosts. He gives there alternate names of the volosts, in addition to the official nomenclature, which sometimes enables to figure out the clan composition of the yasak-paying volosts. The Kiviy volost, for example, Shors called Kobyi, from the name of the seok-clan Kobyi, The Elei volost Shors called Chelei (clan Chelei), and others. Certainly, Radloff, despite of the noted shortcoming, the clan composition of these (mostly Shorian) 22 nomadic volosts was determined properly, because that was the author's specific objective, which is impossible to state about Verbitsky. Nevertheless, Verbitsky data are of great importance for our purpose. The Verbitsky list provides the volosts of the Kuznetsk district "nomadic aliens" (see table on page 135). (table needs proofreading):

  men - women- all people    
Aba 117 114 231    
Tagab 367 371 738    
      men - women- all people
Ashkyshtym 294 290 584 Keret 9566 324 8477 275
Kazan 437 408 845 Ede 179 143 599
Kondoma-Barsoyat 351 390 741 Bogorak 348 338 686
Kondoma-Bejboyak 383 350 733 Mrassa-Bejboyak 293 261 554
Kondoma-Elei (Chelei) 133 267 254 521 Mrassa-Elei (Chelei) 133 319 266 585
Kondoma-Karacher (Kara-Shor) 134 378 311 689 Mrassa-Izusher (Uzut-Shor) 137 36 29 65
Kondoma-Itiber (Chediber) 135 469 462 931 Near-Karga 138 243 256 499
Kondoma-Shelkal 300 214 514 Far-Karga 104 96 129
Itiber-Sherogash (Kalar) 136 167 147 314 Kyzyl (Kyzyl-Karga) 139 79 80 69
    Kiy 183 176 198
    Kiviy 140      
Total 5,583 5,125 10,708    

131 V.Verbitsky. Pasturing routs of Kuznetsk district aliens along the rivers Tom, Mrasa and Kondoma. Memorial book of Tomsk province for 1871 Tomsk, 1871, p. 242.
132 The Tabysky clan people held themselves to belong to that volost, according to Verbitsky, its members lived on rivers Chumysh, Vahta and Mejen. See : G.N.Potanin. Essays on Northwestern Mongolia, vol. 4. SPb., 1883, p. 937.
133 Elei from name of the Teleut clan Chelei.
134 From the name of the Kara-Shor clan.
135 From name of the Teleut clan Chediber.
136 Also Kalar.
137 From the name of the clan Uzut-Shor. In this volost were also members of the clans Tayash, Kechiya.
138 Also Payan, in it was registered Karga clan.
139 In the past this volost was called Kyzyl-Karga (18 century). There lived clan Kobyi.
136

Thus, the fullest and most accurate official list of the yasak-paying volosts of the "nomadic aliens" in the Kuznetsk and Biya districts, composed according to the data of 1859, was published by V.Verbitsky. It contains 29 volosts, with indication of the population number in each volost. It should be now compared in respect to the numbers of the population in these volosts with the data of G.F.Miller, where are registered 26 official volosts listed by V.Verbitsky, with the same location of the population for each of them. Miller gives the following volosts:

Bayan, Kyshtym, 141 Togul, Bogorak, Moinak, 142 Ede, Elei (Chelei) (on Mrassa), Near-Karga, Kuzesh (Kuzen)-Karga, 143, Kyzyl-Karga, 144 Kivin, Kovin, 145 Izusher (Uzut-Shor), Barsoyat, Bejboyak, Etiber (Chediber), 146 Elei (Chelei) (on Kondoma), Karacher (Kara-Shor), Shelkal, Kumandy, 147 Yus, 148 Kuzen, Komlyash, 149 Kergesh (Turgesh).

In the listed volosts in the Miller list were 901 yasak payers. Recognizing that in each family was only one yasak payer (only males from 18 to 60 years old) and the average family had 4 people, the total yasak-imposed population in the listed volosts is estimated at 3,604 people. The Verbitsky data (for 1859) in these volosts registered 14,647 people. Such momentous increase in the yasak-imposed population of the nomadic volosts (within one century) certainly cannot be explained by only a natural increase, especially considering the social and economic conditions of the yasak-imposed population life under Czarism, difficult conditions of life (absence of warm homes and clothing, often famines, etc.), which drove the children mortality rate very high. The increase in the number of inhabitants in these "nomadic" yasak-paying volosts was undoubtedly affected by settling there of the the Altaians accepted into the Russian state who survived the defeat of Dzungaria.

141 At Verbitsky - Ashkyshtym.
142 At Verbitsky - Kazan.
143 At Verbitsky - Far-Karga.
144 At Verbitsky - Kyzyl.
145 At Verbitsky - Kyi.
146 At Verbitsky one Kondoma-Itiber, the second Itiber-Sherogash (also Kalar)
147 At Verbitsky the Kumandy volost is subdivided into Lower Kumandy and Upper Kumandy
148 At Verbitsky - Yuj
149 At Verbitsky - Komlyaj or Kondosh
137

In respect to the Teleut volost, which was recorded by G.Miller along the river Tom (from Kuznetsk downstream to the confluence with the river Uskat) with 151 yasak payers. On the river Bochat and in the headwaters of the Chumysh Miller noted yasak-paying Kyshtym volost with 63 payers. A century later the picture has changed. Instead of the Teleut volost in Kuznetsk district appeared a Teleut alien upravas, officially subdivided into 3 parts (1st, 2nd and 3rd parts). In the upravas were registered 2991 souls of both sexes. Its inhabitants mainly lived in the uluses and villages along the rivers Large and Small Bochat, Ur and Uskat and only partially along the river Tom. The Kyshtym volost turned into Ash-Kyshtym (or Ach-Kyshtym) sedentary alien upravas with 449 souls of both sexes, and a nomadic Ash-Kyshtym volost with the population of 584 souls of both sexes. The sedentary officially was divided onto two halves. One of them was called 1 half Ashkyshtym, its population lived together with Teleuts (1-st, 2-nd and 3-rd parts of the Teleut alien upravas). The second, sedentary 2 half Ashkyshtym, was in the uluses along the rivers Rocky and Taraba. Thus, it becomes completely clear that the population of these both volosts in which was used the exoethnonym self-name Telenget (by Radloff), and who were called Teleuts by the Russians, have significantly increased during the examined period. It should be certainly explained that a significant part of the Teleuts, who were saved from the butchery of the Qing army in the territory of the Russian state, were added to these volosts to their fellow tribesmen who were already living there. But Teleuts during examined time also lived, numbering 2,791 people, in the Biysk district, in the foothills of Altai, in the basin of the the lower course of the river Katun, in the territory of three sedentary alien upravas: Tarhan (Bystryan), Kokshin and Sarasin. 150 A significant part of these Teleuts, emphasizes V. Verbitsky, has appeared (in the beginning of the 19th century) there as deportees from the Kuznetsk district.

One of the strongest evidence of the settling of the former Dzungar subjects in the Kuznetsk district among already living there Teleuts and Akkishtyms is the fact first established by W.Radloff, that is the homonymy of the seok clans among the Kuznetsk Teleuts, including Akkishtyms, and Southern Altaians who settled in the Mountain Altai after their joining to Russia.

150 V.Verbitsky. Altaian Aliens, p. 7.
138

Those are the seoks Munduz, Kypchak, Naiman, Teles, Todosh, Tumat, and others, a majority of them lives in the Mountain Altai, where also ended up the noble hereditary zaisans (uktu yayzan) who traced their origin from aristocratic clans (Mundus, Kypchak, Todosh). During the flight from Dzungaria the Altaians, Uryanhaians (Tuvinians), Teleuts and others reached with their caravans at different times the various Russian forts (from Ust Kamenogorsk in the west to the Kuznetsk and Kuaedeev advanced post in the east) and in the conditions of that time settled in various places allocated for them, and partially, as was noted above, even were sent to the Volga. In the Kuznetsk district ended up not only the Teleuts, but also some other fugitives from Dzungaria, including some groups of Oirats-Mongols. About that convincingly testifies the presence among the Kuznetsk Teleuts of the seok Choros, which also exists among the Mountain Altaians, but was not recorded by the 1897 census. This seok is noted in the Mountain Altai by a number of researchers. 151 In this case we undoubtedly deal with assimilated among the Türkic-speaking Altaian people of the western Mongols, Choroses, which ended up in the Altai and in the Kuznetsk district after the defeat of Dzungaria together with Teleuts, Uryanhaians (Tuvinians), and Teleses. Incidentally, the presence among Kuznetsk Teleuts (Ashkishtyms) of the seok Tertas (Tört-Ases) serves as evidence that among the Kuznetsk Teleuts' historical ancestors were Teleuts or Teleses who lived along Irtysh and constituted the "Tört-As ulus" in the Siberian Khanate.

Also noted should be the seok Purut among the Kuznetsk Teleuts. It represents the descendants of the Tian Shan Kirgizes and ended up there together with the Teleuts after the defeat of Dzungaria. Most likely that Buruts, as the Tian Shan Kirgizes were called, and by the G.Miller's information, the Enisei Kirgizes also were called Buruts the Dzungars, were forcefully relocated to Dzungaria, 152 partially ended up in the southern area of the Mongolian Altai and dissolved among the Torgout people, the western Mongols. G.N.Potanin in 1870's found a Burut bone among the Bulgun Torgouts. 153 Doubtlessly, some groups of the Enisei Kirgizes - Buruts returned during the examined time to the Krasnoyarsk district. It is known that in the beginning of the Dzungaria defeat in the 1740's small groups of Enisei Kyrgyzes, who were called in the Russian official documents Kirgizes-Kalmyks, crept across the Russian border forts and posts to the Kuznetsk and Krasnoyarsk. 154 Maybe, that was how among the Kachins in the 19th century were located clan seoks Purut and Kyrgys.

151 From the seok Choros descended a known Altaian painter I.Gurkin.
152 G.Miller. History of Siberia, vol. 1, p. 314.
153. G.N.Potanin. Essays on Northwestern Mongolia, vol. 2, p. 43.
154 L.P.Potapov. Origin and formation of the Khakass nation, p. 164-165.
139

We further believe that seok Merki among the Bachat Teleuts appeared during the same time, partially also joining the Tarbagatai Torgouts. 155 Lastly, the seok Chungus, found by W.Radloff among the Teleuts (Ach-kishtyms) can by origin be a western-Mongolian clan, getting there together with other fugitives from Dzungaria, first of all with the Teleuts. 156 Our assumption rests on the fact that Potanin recorded among the Olets a Chingys or Shangys bone. 157

So, the Teleuts and other tribal or ethnic groups located in the Kuznetsk district, who found in Russia safety from the annihilation by the Qing dynasty army, were mainly placed in the steppe and forest-steppe zone, in the foothills of Kuznetsk Ala Tau, and in the basin of the lower course of Biya. It affected the living zone of not only the Teleuts and Akkishtyms, but also small groups of Shors, Kumandy and Tubalar clans. About penetration to the Kondoma (and partially to Mrassa) of some Teleut groups tells the presence among the Shor population of the Teleut seoks Chediber and Chelei. In the middle of the 1730's the Chediber clan totaled only 80 yasak payers, with the total population of approximately 320 people. A century later already were registered 1,245 souls of both sexes, which can only be explained by arrival there of the fellow tribesmen. The same can be also asserted in respect to the both Elei volosts (Teleut clan Chelei). According to Miller, in two Elei volosts were 54 payers, we calculate that to be a little more than 200 people. In a hundred years the Teleut population in these volosts was already registered of 1,075 souls of both sexes. In the Biya district during the examined time the number of Kumandy has greatly increased. Miller recorded in the Kumandy volost 105 yasak payers, and a century later among Kumandy were registered 2,177 souls of both sexes. Recalling the Kumandy legends about arrival to Biya of some their part from the river Charysh, the elements of the Türkic cattle breeding culture and life preserved among them, then the increase of the Kumandy population should be also associated with the arrival to Biya of the Teleut people and their admixture with earlier inhabitants of the Kumandy volosts.

We believe that our excursion into the passage of the Southern Altaians to the Russian state in the second half of the 1750's, and the influence of that fact on the ethnic composition of the Northern Altaians and "Kuznetsk Teleuts", fills in a certain lacuna in our historical ethnographical literature devoted to Altaians.

Southern Altaians

The voluntary subjection of the Southern Altaians to the Russian state was recorded by one more decree from November 16, 1756, with instructions on the relations with the Altaians by the local authorities.

155 G.N.Potanin, Ibid., vol. 2, p. 44.
156 W. Radlîff. Aus Sibirien, Bd. 1, p. 216.
157 G.N.Potanin, Ibid., vol. 2, p. 42.
140

From that time the Altaians found serenity, and they gained an opportunity to be developing their economy in peaceful conditions. We can establish the affiliation of some Altai zaisans of that time with certain seoks, and by that to assist in finding the ethnic composition of the Southern Altaians two hundred years ago. From the legends of the Southern Altaians and Teleuts recorded in the beginning of 1860's, Radloff writes: "According to Altaians, during the Dzungar state they had only 5 zaisans, and these zaisans are designated as "uktu", i.e. hereditary, noble, from a blood line (uktu zaisan). From the last zaisans only 4 zaisans are uktu, and people hold them in honor. How high is valued the origin of zaisans is shown by the fact that people everywhere know their family trees". 158 Radloff was told the following four uktu-zaisans:

1) Kuduk from the clan Kypchak,
2) Puduko from the clan Irkit,
3) Kokkush from the clan Todosh,
4) Puktush from the clan Mundus.

Similar results we received during the field work within the limits of the former Tau-Teleut volost, or later of the 1st duchina, where were collected materials on the family trees of the Altai zaisans. The genealogy of the zaisans in the 1st duchina went back to Puktush, and all zaisans were from the seok Mundus. In addition to Puktush, we were able to establish from the documents the real historical persons with a rank of zaisan, named to us while listing the genealogy of the names Ereldei, Apas, Korty, and Adyi-oka. 159 The name of the zaisan Puktush, as we saw above, is repeatedly encountered in the Russian documents on the history of Siberia in the middle of the 18th century. It is also present in the list of zaisans who voluntary joined the Russian state in 1756.

A valuable evidence for the ethnic composition of the Southern Altaians serves a fact that zaisan Kutuk belonged to the seok Kypchak. The ethnonym Kypchak, even as a name of a volost, in the Russian historical documents of Siberia is absent. Certainly, it is difficult imagine that such a tribal name in the 17th-18th centuries did not exist among the Altaians. The seok Kypchak was noted by the 1897 census among the Southern Altaians as one of the most numerous. The message about zaisan Kutuk's belonging to the seok Kypchak fills in that gap. The name of Kutuk is also repeatedly encountered in the written Russian sources examined by us, and we find it in the list of zaisans accepted in the patronage of the Russian state. In that list is not present the name of the zaisan Kokush of the seok Todosh, and likewise is not also present zaisan Puduka from the seok Irkit. But that can mean that both zaisans perished during the bad time when the population of Dzungaria met with almost complete destruction, 160 and the escaped part of the population of these seoks was saved and joined the Russian state together with other related seoks. In general, the Todoshes and Irkits, as was noted above, were recorded in the Russian sources.

158 W.W. Radloff. Aus Sibirien, Bd. 1, p. 251. The subject is that group of the Southern Altaians that called themselves Altai-kiji.
159 See "Essays on history of Altaians" (second edition), p. 298.
141

It is impossible to miss that the legend of the modern Altaians recorded by Radloff tells of only four noble and hereditary Altaian (Teleut) zaisans in the Dzungar state. That coincides with the message of the Chinese written sources about existence in the Dzungar Khanate of the Teleut seok initially with four zaisans. The subject is only the hereditary ulus heads of the Altaians (Teleuts), for the number of zaisans as various ranks managers appointed by the Dzungar khan was certainly many times more than that, and as was noted, the Dzungar khan not always respected the law of succession of the subordinated to him Altai (Teleut) zaisans. At the court of the Dzungar khan we meet many Teleut zaisans, way more than four, as is seen from the documents. However, irrespective of the zaisan names named in the Altaian legends, we can confidently state that in the Teleut tribal federation, subjugated by Dzungaria, the seoks Mundus, Kypchak, Todosh and Irkit were the strongest and most numerous, for from them came the uktu-zaisans.

Certainly, also were around lesser local zaisans, who lived and controlled Altaians during the height of the Dzungar Khanate in the Mountain Altai. The above mentioned documents tell about a number of such zaisans, with indication of their place pasturing routs.

After acceptance of Altaians by the Russian state, the Czar government retained for zaisans all rights and privileges which as a privileged estate they had before, and in the beginning generally did not interfere with the internal affairs of the Altaians. The territory of the Mountain Altai was assigned to the Altai district with its Kolyvano-Voskresensky factory, and was declared a property of the Russian crown. For the Altaians (Teleuts) was allocated within the limits of the mountain part of the Altai district a huge territory named "Kalmyk villages". Administratively, the Southern Altaians were divided into five duchinas, named by the numbers, and two Chui volosts (first and second). In the 1801 from the 2-nd duchina (under zaisan Kystai Kazakov) was separated a sixth duchina, and in 40's was separated a seventh duchina. This last was separated from the fourth duchina. Its zaisan by the name Koskblok descended from the seok Naiman, and simply bought the zaisan rank. 161

160 I.Ya.Zlatkin wrote: "From the people numbered during the described time not less than 600 thousand people, has survived 30-40 thousand people, saved by flight to Russia" (History of the Dzungar Khanate, p. 462).
161 W. Radloff, Ibid., p. 252.
142

The Northern Altaians lived as of old within four volosts: Komlyaj, Kergej (Turgesh), Yus and Kuzen. The Kumandy had two volosts, Upper and Lower Kumandy, and Chelkandy and Toguls were within the 22 nomadic volosts of the Kuznetsk district. The Kuznetsk Teleuts and Ak-kishtyms were assigned to the sedentary volosts of the Kuznetsk district. In the Bachat volost in the village Semenushkina were located the governors of the 1-st, 2-nd and 3-rd halves (in Russia, 3 halves make a whole) of the Teleut volost, and the 1-st half of the Akkishtym volost. Their uluses were along the Large and Small Bochats (tributaries of the river Ini), on Uskat, in the basin of Chumysh, along river Tom. W.Radloff visited them, and established that they call themselves Telengits and are divided into 15 seoks.

A part of them in the second half of the 19th century relocated (on their own?!!) to the Biya district, and joined the Sarasin, Kokshin and Tarhan (Bystryan) sedentary alien upravas.

So, can taken as firmly established that after a voluntary entry of the Southern Altaians in the Russian state in the second half of the 18th century, the population of Altaians as a whole, and their ethnic composition generally coalesced to a status that was recorded by the 1897 census.

After the 1822 reform of the control of the aliens (M.Speransky reform) the Altaians of the Biya district were assigned to the "coaching" category, and for them was retained the administrative system described above, with division onto duchinas and volosts. As a result of reform, especially as a result of the work of the Yasak Commission, which reviewed the state of the aliens in Western Siberia during the 1828-1835, some part of Altaians were authorized to remain in the sedentary category, for them was established a "special internal administration called volosts, with the election for each such administration of one head and one assistant". In consequence, in the Biysk district in 1835 were organized the volost administrations of the sedentary aliens, which were not called volosts, but alien upravas. These upravas were officially established as the volost administrations, with the following official names and composition of the population.

1. Bystryan (Tarhan) volost uprava for the east side of Katun, assigned before to the Smolensk Russian volost (456 souls), to reside in village Bystryanskoe (Tarhan) (unless there was another Smolensk volost, the Russian Smolensk volost is located a good distance west of Moscow, the previous subjection of the Katun cattlemen to the Russian Smolensk volost sounds delusory and perverse. How could they deliver their tribute yasak payments, which they paid in-kind, to a ruler a third of a globe distant? - Translator's Note)
2. Sarasin volost uprava in a village Sarasin for the western (left) side of Katun, who also previously were assigned to the Smolensk Russian volost.
3. Kokshin volost uprava for 149 souls in the villages Ikonnikovo (20 souls), Surtai (59), Berezovka (45 souls) and Karagujin (25 souls); the internal uprava was established in Berezovka.
4. Uimon volost uprava, to reside in a village Upper Uimon to which were assigned 65 souls of sedentary Altaians, previously registered in the 6th Altai duchina.
5. Teleut volost uprava; it was created for converted Teleuts in the villages Ulala and Sarasa, numbering 61 souls that did not want to belong to the Sarasin volost uprava "because of differences in faith and disagreements in the way of life" with the population of the Sarasin volost uprava. And those from the village Ust-Koksin 52 alien people who came there at the end of 1820's from the Shui uprava of the Kuznetsk district, but were assigned to the Lower Kumandy volost, were reassigned now to the Bystryan (Tarhan) volost uprava.
143

We still have to characterize the ethnic composition of the Altaians sedentary volosts, because such data is available. 162

The Bystryan (Tarhan) uprava (or volost uprava) consisted primarily of Kuznetsk or Bochat Teleuts and Kumandy. It included seven vilages: Ulala, first occupied by the Bochat Teleuts, who moved there from the village Kokshi; Maima, originally founded by Kumandy from the Tarhan village which later received a name Bystryan; Birulya also founded by Kumandy who moved there from the river Chepshi (left tributary of Ishi) and from the Tarhan village; Balyksa, formed by Kumandy and then by migrants from the Kumysh uprava (apparently Teleuts) of the Barnaul district, and deportees from Tarhanka (?), village Soltona; Cheposh also founded by Kumandy, and Pilna, also a Kumandy village.

The Sarasin uprava primarily consisted of Kazakh clan Kopek (compare Altai seok Kobek) ("kopek" = "dog", a Türkic version of Hion/Khion/Xionites, the "red" Huns in antiquity traditionally dressed in red bonnet headdress and red caftans), who coached eastwards from beyond Irtysh (i.e. from west of Irtysh). They settled there and mostly assimilated among the local Russian peasant population. Later Bochat Teleuts (Shaburaks) joined them, forming villages Myetu (1847) and Chergu. Even later they were joined by Christianised Altaians and Teleuts from Ulaly.

The Kokshin uprava included four villages: Berezovka which founders were Kumandy; Old Surtai and New Surtai, founded in 1820's by the Kuznetsk Teleuts, and Upper Karaguj whose initial inhabitants were people from the villages Beryozovka and Surtai.

The Upper Uimon uprava included the Russian Old Believers who settled on Uimon with the rights of the aliens, and migrants from the Shui volost of the Kuznetsk district from the village Ust-Koks. The Shui sedentary volost was located on the northern slopes of the Kuznetsk Ala Tau ridge, and according to Radloff consisted of Teleut descendants. In the 18th century that volost was included in the Tomsk district and belonged to the "Chulym volosts".

In respect to the mentioned above Kumysh volost the same can be stated about the location and composition of the population. It was included in the Barnaul district in the 19th century.

162 Mountain Altais and its population. Vol. 3, issue 2. Sedentary aliens of the Biya district. Barnaul, 1902.
144

Concluding this chapter, we can accept that the ethnic composition of the modern Altaians, and their origin are generally uncovered.

Analysis of the historical material enables to unintelligibly retrace the nearest historical ancestors of the Southern and Northern Altaians. In respect to the Southern Altaians can be not doubt that they were predominantly Teleuts-Telenguts coaching in the interfluvial of the Ob and upper Irtysh headwaters. Most of them were violently transferred (probably, right at the beginning of the 18th century) to Dzungaria and on the territories seized by Dzungaria on the right bank of Irtysh, in the Western and Central Mountain Altai (Comparing this statement with the geographical picture given on page 85 of this chapter, it appears that Teleuts remained steadily in a shrinking portion of their ancestral territory, and the "violent transfer" was a local event, precipitated by a dispute about the spheres of influence between Dzungaria and Russia. At one time, Tele chose to confederate with Oirats, in exchange for a prominent status in their confederation, but the Oirat attempts to reclaim Tele lands utterly failed. The reasons of the shrinkage remain outside of the geographical limits self-imposed by the writer, but the net effect was that Tele tribes were steadily withdrawing from the areas occupied by the pervasive Russian advance. That withdrawal can be called voluntary or involuntary, depending on the observer's point of view, exactly like the much drummed up "voluntary" subjection of the Teleuts to Russia in the days of their worst national disaster. By the time Dzungaria was dismembered, The Russians occupied practically all Tele lands, and the only options that Tele had were a selection between a Chinese or a Russian patronage over them and their lands. Either one was prescient for a national doom. - Translator's Note).

The most intensive colonization of the Mountain Altai, especially that part where formed ethno-territorial community of the Altai-kiji, went on at the end of the Dzungar khan Galdan-Tseren's rule (died 1745). In the Mountain Altai were coaching various Teles, Teleut and "Uryanhai", i.e. Tuvian tribal divisions, ruled by Galdan-Tseren subordinate zaisans. The mixing of the Mountain Altai population especially increased in the middle of the 1750's caused by internecine disintegration and full defeat of Dzungaria by the China Qing dynasty. The mass flight from Dzungaria of its subject Uryanhai and Teleut tribes and partially of the western Mongols or Oirats, to the Western and Central Altai, and the acceptance of the Altai population in Russia created conditions for stable peaceful political conditions, which finally stabilized the ethnic components among the modern Altaians. The clan and tribal groups of the Teleuts, Tuvinians, and western Mongols (Dzungars) that found refuge in the Altai, together with the previous Altai population, were that "ethnic material" of which was composed the Altai-kiji. This also explains the almost full coincidence of the seoks among the modern Altai-kiji and Teleuts, and also the presence among the Altai-kiji and Teleuts of the Tuvinian tribal groups (Irkit, Soen, Kobaly, Olüp, Tandy, Tumat, and others). The flight from Dzungaria also explains the presence in the Altai of such ethnic groups as Burut, Kyrgyz, Ara, and Modor, that happened to be in Dzungaria as a result of the forceful relocation of the Enisei Kyrgyzes (from the Russian-claimed territories to the undisputably Oirat territories, and thus myopically playing into the Russian hands by converting the rightful ancestral lands into ownerless vacant lands - Translator's Note). In the Mountain Altai almost all of these groups are recorded by the 1897 census as seoks. Lastly, the Choroses that for some reasons escaped the 1897census, undoubtedly also are Altai-assimilated descendants of the Oirat Dzungars, who came to the Mountain Altai fleeing from the defeat of Dzungaria. All the listed groups, after subjection to the Russian state, began intermixing with Chui Telengits and Chulyshman Teleses. In the result of so unique, but quite specific historical conditions coalesced the ethnic composition of the modern Southern Altaians.

163 L.P.Potapov
145

The modern Northern Altaians can be described as the descendants of the Türkic-speaking tribal groups of the 17th-18th centuries that lived in the same places and under the same names. Their modern ethnic composition, as we saw above, developed much earlier in comparison with the ethnic composition of the Southern Altaians, and on somewhat different, though also mixed ethnic base.

After the above discourse, it is logical to try to track the more ancient ethnic elements, which served as a substrate from which descended the historical ancestors of both groups of the modern Altaians. We shall devote to that the following chapter, which will conclude our research.
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