Country: Russia

Group: Kalmyk

Date Finalized: 11/29/22

Team: Esha Kubavat (lead), Anthony Un, Jacob Kebe, Austyn Evans, Madison Schultz

Content Warning: Lethal Violence

Approximate Time Period:  1771- present

            The Kalmyk, or Kalmuck, are an ethnic minority from the Kalmyk-Khalmg Tangch Republic in the Russian Federation. They are nomadic herders who originated in western Mongolia with influences from shamanism and Buddhism. In 2010, the census counted 183,372 Kalmyk people (Minority Rights Group, 2020). In the late 1700s, the Kalmyk people migrated from Mongolia to the northern shores of the Caspian Sea because of Russian movement near their land. Many Kalmyks died during migration. Again in 1943, the Soviet government deported Kalmyks from Russia to Siberia following the labeling of the group as enemies of the state.  As much as one-fifth of the Kalmyk population in Russia died during and immediately after deportation (Minority Rights Group 2020). Violence continued with this group in 2005, when the Kalmyks and Chechens fought in a bar brawl. The brawl incited a strain of violence between the groups that ended with the burning of houses and a person killed (Minority Rights Group, 2020). In 2010, Russians killed a 22-year-old student in Moscow for speaking out about Kalmyk inequalities. The Russians also killed a 16-year-old protester during this time (Boskhomdzhiev, 2010).

            Kalmyks are actively rebuilding their community in post-soviet Russia, including language and religious outreach. Kalmyks continue to accuse the Russian government of ethnocide through policies that favor Russian language and culture, including official statements from the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people as recently as 2021 (Hurska 2021).

Data Quality: 2/3

                                                                   Sources

  1. Boskhomdzhiev, A. (2010). EarthAction: Human Rights Violations in Russia. Earth Action.Retrieved November 16, 2022, from https://www.earthaction.org/2010/05/human-rights-violations-in-russia.html
  2. Minority Rights Group International. (2020). Kalmyk. Minority Rights Group International.  Retrieved November 16, 2022, from https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Independence-movement-grows-in-Kalmykia-57007.html
  3. Hurska, Alla. (2021). Kalmykia: Russia’s Emerging Powder Keg? Eurasia Daily Monitor. Retrieved from https://jamestown.org/program/kalmykia-russias-emerging-powder-keg/
  4. Rozanskij, V. (2022). Russia Independence movement grows in Kalmykia. Asia News. Retrieved November 16, 2022, from https://www.asianews.it/news-en/Independence-movement-grows-in-Kalmykia-57007.html