| content | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Altay people |
|---|
 |
| Oirat -- Messenger of the White Burkhan (Nicholas Roerich, 1925) |
| Total population |
|
200,000 |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Altai Republic 64,000 Kuznetsk Alatau 59,000 |
| Languages |
| Altay Turkic |
| Religion |
| Tibetan Buddhism, [1] Russian Orthodox, [2] Shamanism, Burkhanism |
| Related ethnic groups |
| other Mongols |
The Altay or Altai are a ethnic group of Mongols living in the Siberian Altai Republic and Altai Krai and surrounding areas of Tuva and Mongolia. For alternative ethnonyms see also Teleut, Tele, Telengit, Mountain Kalmuck, White Kalmuck, Black Tatar, Oirat/Oirot.
The Altay people were one of the sub-tribes of the Oirat people (a Mongolian origin). They have had skills in metalworking dating back to the 2nd millennium BC.[3] The Altay came into contact with Russians in the 18th century. In the tsarist period, the Altay were known as oirot or oyrot (this name means oirat and would later be carried on for the Oyrot Autonomous Oblast). Many of the Altay became addicted to the Russians' vodka, which they called "fire water".[4]
The Altay were originally nomadic, with a lifestyle based on hunting / trapping and pastoralism (mainly cattle, sheep, goats), but many of them settled as a result of Russian influence. In regard to religion, some of the Altay remain Shamanists, while others (in a trend beginning in the mid-19th century) have converted to the Orthodox. (The Altai mission took shape under Saint Makarii Glukharev, Apostle to the Altai.) In 1904, a religious movement called Ak Jang or Burkhanism arose, perhaps in response to Russian colonization.[5]
Prior to 1917 the Altai were actually considered to be many different ethnic groups.[6]
With the rise of the 1917 revolution, the Altay attempted to make their region a separate Burkhanist republic called Oryot, but their support for the Mensheviks during the Civil War led to the venture's collapse after the Bolshevik victory and the rise of Stalin. In the 1940s, the Altay were accused of being pro-Japanese, and the word "oyrot" was declared counterrevolutionary. By 1950, Soviet industrialization had cost the Altay 80% of their population.[7] Ethnic Altaians currently make up about 31% of the Altai Republic's population[8].
See also
Notes
- ^ Golden Mountains, Altai Republic, Russia
- ^ Altay conference, 2003
- ^ "Iron", Turkish Turan History, Ozturkler.com, retrieved 16 October 2006.
- ^ "People from Russia — Interviews on the Streets", Way To Russia, 24 September 2003
- ^ Hunmagyar
- ^ Kolga et. al, The Red Book of the Peoples of the Russian Empire, p. 29
- ^ "Altay", Centre for Russian Studies, NUPI, retrieved 17 October 2006
- ^ Altai Republic :: official portal
External links
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