“Expect grief from the sea, and trouble from the water”: about water disasters in the Kalmyk steppes of the second half of the 19th century

Annotation

The issues of organizing assistance to victims of natural disasters (floods and rain storms) by foreign administrations in the conditions of a nomadic society in the second half of the 19th century are explored, using the example of two Kalmyk uluses: Yandyko-Ikitsohurovsky uluses of the Astrakhan province and Bolshederbetovsky Stavropol Territory. The source base for the study consisted of office documentation, first identified in the funds of the State Archives of the Astrakhan Region, the State Archives of the Stavropol Territory and the National Archives of the Republic of Kalmykia Russian and State Historical Archive. Particular attention during the study was paid to the actions of the authorities, during which the number of victims and the scale of damage, primarily dead livestock and carts, were established. For every natural disaster that brought casualties and caused damage to the population, it was immediately reported down the chain to the capital, the emperor. The main instrument in organizing assistance to the victims was Kalmyk social capital. Society did not remain aloof from the tragedy. Everyone sought to make a contribution within their power to help the people of their kind, and, above all, the Buddhist clergy. The authors emphasize that the population of the Kalmyk steppe, despite the arid climatic conditions, was subject to floods from the Caspian Sea and rain storms.

Keywords

• Kalmyk steppe
• Astrakhan Province
• Bolshederbetovsky ulus
• Mochagi
• natural disaster
• flood
• rain storm
• public Kalmyk capital
• foreign administration
• damage
• victims
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Contribution of the authors

Shurguchieva Ju. S. – development of the research concept, work on identifying sources, preparation of the source text; Batyrov V .V. – analysis of historiography; revision of the text.

Acknowledgments

the work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, Project No. 22-18-00313 “Transformation of nomadic societies of the South of Russia in the context of natural and factors (XIX – mid XX centuries)” (https://rscf.ru/project/22-18-00313/).

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