Historical battles in Altai folk legends: interpretation and dating
https://doi.org/10.25205/2713-1165-2025-2-96-109
Abstract
This study seeks to identify, interpret, and date the historical battles described in a collection of Altai folk legends, drawing upon both written and archaeological sources. The Altai folklore tradition contains accounts of several significant historical battles, some of which reference events from both earlier andlater periods. These include: the Battle of the Teleuts and Dörbets (Oirats) on the left bank of the Tom River (1672); the Siege of Erdeni-Dzo by the troops of Galdan-Boshoktu (1688); the Tibetan campaign led by Tsewang-Rabdan (1717); the confrontations involving the supporters of Dabachy zaisans Mamut, Moonysh, and Köö-Kökshin against Amyr-Sana (1754); the battles between the armies of zaisans Tödööt, Mola, and Kuljukai against the Khalkha-Manchu army commanded by the Uriankhai zaisan Er-Chadak (1755); and the raid executed by Kochkorbai’s detachment on the nomadic camps of zaisan Köö-Kökshin (1759). The study highlights the presence of legends that feature overlapping themes of battles occurring at different times in the same locations, often resulting in similar outcomes, as well as collective portrayals of specific historical figures. The findings suggest that Altai folk legends serve as a valuable historical resource for examining the military actions of Dzungaria, the Teleut Khanate, and the state of the Yenisei Kyrgyz.
About the Author
E. V. Koroleva
Siberian Writer Foundation
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Elena V. Koroleva, expert-consultant
Novosibirsk
References
1. Abysova S. V., Oynotkinova N. R. Neskazochnaya proza altaitsev: teoreticheskie aspekty [Altai 2. Non-Fairy Tale Prose: Theoretical Aspects]. Gorno-Altaisk, NII altaistiki im. S. S. Surazakova, 2024, 320 p. (In Russ.).
2. Butanaev V. A., Abdykalykov A. N. Materialy po istorii Hakasii: XVII — nachalo XVIII vv. [Materials on the History of Khakassia: 17th — Early 18th Centuries]. Abakan, Laboratoriya etnografii Khakasskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta im. N. F. Katanova, 1995, 260 p. (In Russ.).
3. Chistov K. V. Russkaya narodnaya utopiya [The Russian Folk Utopia]. St. Petersburg, Dmitrii Bulanin, 2003, 540 p. (In Russ.).
4. Ermakova T. V., Ostrovskaya E. P. Klassicheskii buddizm [Classical Buddhism]. St. Petersburg, Izdatel’skii Dom «Azbuka-Klassika»; «Peterburgskoe Vostokovedenie», 2009, 256 p. (In Russ.).
5. Golodyaev K. A. Teleutskaya mezha (istoriya neizvestnoi stoletnei voiny) [The Teleut Boundary (The History of an Unknown Hundred-Year War)]. Territory Development, 2017, no. 3 (9), pp. 13–20. (In Russ.).
6. Kitinov B. U. Buddiiskii faktor v politicheskoi i etnicheskoi istorii oiratov (seredina XV v. — 1771 g.) [The Buddhist Factor in the Political and Ethnic History of the Oirats (mid-15th — 1771)]. Diss. Dr. Hist. Sci. Moscow, 2020, 53 p. (In Russ.).
7. Kitinov B. U. Tibetskii kontekst v khoshutsko-tsinskih otnosheniyakh: ot ravenstva k podchineniyu [The Tibetan Context in Khoshut-Qing Relations: From Equality to Subordi nation]. Oriental Studies, 2018, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 20–28. (In Russ.).
8. Koroleva E. V. Obraz Oirot-Kaana v istoricheskikh predaniyakh altaitsev [The Image of Oirot-Kaan in the Context of the Altai Historical Legends]. Humanitarian Sciences in Siberia, 2024, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 33–40. (In Russ.).
9. Koroleva E. V. «Zony umolchaniya» altaiskikh istoricheskikh predanii: genezis i evolyutsiya vo vremeni [“Zones of Silence” in the Altai Historical Legends: Genesis and Evolution in Time]. Languages and Folklore of the Indigenous Peoples of Siberia, 2018, no. 1 (35), pp. 58–65. (In Russ.).
10. Moiseev V. A. Tsinskaya imperiya i narody Sayano-Altaya v XVIII v. [The Qing Empire and the Peoples of the Sayan-Altai in the 18th Century]. Moscow, Nauka, 1983, 149 p. (In Russ.).
11. Oktyabrskaya I. V. «Svoi» i «chuzhie». Etnicheskaya istoriya Altaya skvoz’ prizmu fol’klora [“Ours” and “Others”. The Ethnic History of Altai through the Prism of Folklore]. Tartaria Magna, 2011, no. 1, pp. 66–84. (In Russ.).
12. Potanin G. N. Ocherki Severo-Zapadnoi Mongolii [Essays on North-Western Mongolia] / 2nd ed. Reprint reproduction of the 1883 ed. Gorno-Altaisk, Ak-Chechek, 2005, 1025 p. (In Russ.)
13. Propp V. Ya. Fol’klor i dejstvitel’nost’: izbrannye stat’i [Folklore and Reality: Selected Articles]. Moscow, Nauka, 1976, 326 p. (In Russ.).
14. Samaev G. P. Gornyi Altai v XVII — seredine XIX v.: problem politicheskoi istorii i prisoedineniya k Rossii [The Mountain Altai in the 17th — Mid-19th Century: Problems of Political History and Accession to Russia]. Gorno-Altaisk, Gorno-Altaiskoe otdelenie Altaiskogo knizhnogo izd-va, 1991, 256 p. (In Russ.).
15. Sherstova L. I. Aborigennaya politika Rossii i etnopoliticheskie protsessy v Sibiri: konets XIX — nachalo XX v.: uchebnoe posobie [Aboriginal Policy of Russia and Ethnopolitical Processes in Siberia: Late 19th — Early 20th Centuries: A Textbook]. Tomsk, Izdatel’stvo Tomskogo universiteta, 2017, 252 p. (In Russ.).
16. Sherstova L. I. Altai-kizhi v kontse XIX — nachale XX vv.: istoriya formirovaniya etno-konfessional’noi obshchnosti [Altai-Kizhi in the Late 19th — Early 20th Centuries: The History of the Formation of an Ethno-Confessional Community]. Abstract Diss. Cand. Hist. Sci. Leningrad, 1985, 16 p. (In Russ.).
17. Sherstova L. I. Etnopoliticheskaya istoriya tyurkov Yuzhnoi Sibiri. XVII — nachalo XX vv. [Ethnopolitical History of the Turks of Southern Siberia. 17th — Early 20th Century]. Abstract Diss. Dr. Hist. Sci. Tomsk, 1999, 46 p. (In Russ.).
18. Sherstova L. I. Istoriya ne pishetsya — istoriya rasskazyvaetsya… [History is not Written — History is Told…]. In: Altaiskie istoricheskie predaniya Oirotskoi epokhi: XVII–XIX vv. [Altai Historical Legends of the Oirot Era: 17th — 19th Centuries] / ed. and comp. by B. Ya. Bedyurov; transl. by E. V. Koroleva. Novosibirsk, Akademicheskoe izdatel’stvo «Geo», 2014, pp. 23–32. (In Russ.).
19. Sherstova L. I. Tyurki i russkie v Yuzhnoi Sibiri: etnopoliticheskie protsessy i etnokul’turnaya dinamika XVII — nachala XX veka. [Turks and Russians in Southern Siberia: Ethnopolitical Processes and Ethnocultural Dynamics of the 17th — Early 20th Centuries]. Novosibirsk, IAET SO RAN, 2005, 312 p. (In Russ.).
20. Tulokhonov M. I. Buryatskie istoricheskie pesni [Buryat Historical Songs]. Ulan-Ude, Buryatskoe knizhnoe izdatel’stvo, 1973, 245 p. (In Russ.).
21. Umansky A. P. Teleuty i russkie v XVII–XVIII vekakh [The Teleuts and the Russians in the 17th-18th Centuries]. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1980, 296 p. (In Russ.).
22. Verbitsky I. V. Altaiskie inorodtsy. Sbornik etnograficheskikh statei i issledovanii altaiskogo missionera, protoiereya V. I. Verbitskogo [Altai Indigenous Peoples. A Collection of Ethnographic Articles and Studies by the Altai Missionary, Archpriest V. I. Verbitsky] / ed. A. A. Ivanovsky. Moscow, 1893, 221 p. (In Russ.).
23. Zlatkin I. Ya. Istoriya Dzhungarskogo khanstva: 1635–1758 [History of the Dzungar Khanate: 1635–1758] / 2nd ed. Moscow, Nauka, 1983, 334 p. (In Russ.).
Review
For citations:
Koroleva E.V. Historical battles in Altai folk legends: interpretation and dating. Universum Humanitarium. 2025;(2):96-109. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.25205/2713-1165-2025-2-96-109
Views:
20
Email this article 