Managing Buddhism in the Russian Empire: Buryats, Kalmyks, and Imperial Officials

• In Event: Imperial Boundaries and Borderland Communities: Exploring Injustice in Eurasia

Abstract

The Russian Empire created legal and administrative reforms from the 1820s to the 1850s for managing its Buryat and Kalmyk subjects that largely remained in place until the 20th century. This paper compares these reforms that were guided by empire-wide policies, influenced by multiple bureaucratic agencies that changed over time, and impacted by specific regional concerns. Significantly, the tsarist government did not work alone on these administrative reforms. Imperial officials sometimes worked with Kalmyk and Buryat lamas and lay leaders to gather information and create reports. Kalmyks and Buryats also wrote down their own ideas about governing themselves and their religion within the empire. This work influenced the final forms of legislation that came out in the middle of the 19th century even if they did not adopt the most favorable policies toward Buddhism. In addition, while the Buryats and Kalmyks had to accept many of the changes that came with new legislation, they also found ways to actively resist it. There were great differences between the laws and administrative regulations on paper and what happened in practice. This led to rather mixed results in regards to the government’s goals of halting the growth of Buddhism and implementing greater Russification.

Author

• Melissa Andrea Chakars, Saint Joseph's U