KALMUCK, an Autonomous 6ocianst Soviet Republic, con stituted 1935, extending from the right bank of the Volga to the Manich depression on the south-west, and the Dagestan A.S.S.R. on the south-east, and from the Ergeni hills on the west to the Caspian Sea on the east. It was created in 1920 from the former Kalmuck reservation of the province of Astrakhan. A tongue of the area thrusts westwards from long. 5' E. to about 41° 5' E., to include the Manich lakes and the settlement of Bashanta. A tiny patch on the left bank of the Volga, in lat. N. also belongs to the Kalmuck Area. Much of the Kalmuck steppe was formerly part of the Aral-Caspian sea, and is a plain 3o-4o ft. below sea level, sloping gently to the south-east. Large areas of moving sands exist near Enotayevsk, where high dunes or barkhans have been formed. A narrow tract of land along the coast of the Caspian, "the hillocks of Baer," is covered with hillocks elongated from west to east, perpendicularly to the coast-line, the spaces between them being filled with water or overgrown with thickets of reeds, various willows, elms and almond trees. An archi pelago of little islands is thus formed close to the shore by these mounds, which are backed on the north and north-west by strings of partly desiccated salt lakes. The escarpments of the Ergeni Hills represent the former shore-line of the Caspian. The hills are Tertiary, belonging to the Sarmatian division of the Miocene period and are covered with loess and black earth ; the remainder of the region is salty, clayey or sandy soil, with islands of chest nut and light brown soils, favourable to agriculture if irrigated.
The water supply is poor. Streams from the eastern slopes of the Ergeni Hills lose themselves in the sand, while those on the western slopes flow in spring only. Water on the steppe is obtain able from wells where sunk, but from no other source. About 50% of the steppe cannot be cultivated. Of the land available, is pasture, 20% salt pasture, and ploughed land is less than 5%. This lies in the Ergeni region, where wheat, rye, barley, millet, oats, maize, sunflower seed, mustard and a few grapes are grown. The rainfall is 4 to 8 in. per annum; winter is severe, with an average temperature much below freezing point ; summer temperatures average 85° F. Dust spouts and fierce winds are common, and the air is very dry and the sky cloudless. The chief occupation is nomad stock-raising; sheep are the most numerous, draught cattle, goats, horses and camels are also bred, and there is some fishing. There are no towns; agricultural villages exist in the west, but the Kalmucks are mainly tent-dwelling nomads. The administrative offices are in the city of Astrakhan at present (1928). The Kalmucks, however, are in a semi-dying condition. Their region was an active centre during the civil war following the 1917 revolution, and their flocks and horses were requisitioned. Upon this followed the terrible Volga famine, when fugitives from other areas added to the starvation and distress consequent on the previous heavy depletion of their flocks. In 1909 only 3%
of the nomads were without cattle; in 1924-25, 36% had none, while only to% had the minimum number necessary for produc tive stock raising.
The Kalmucks are a Mongol race, and are Buddhists. In the 6th century, under the name of Oirat (confederation), four tribes occupied a vast region in Central Asia, between the Altai and Tian-Shan, and the Desert of Gobi and Lake Balkhash. Inter necine quarrels led to the migration of the western Kalmucks through the Kirghiz steppe into Russian territory. In 1636 they crossed the Emba river and settled in the Trans-Volga steppe, from which they raided the Russian colonies. By 1646, however, they had submitted to Russia, though retaining their own Khan and their own tribal methods of government. They furnished troops for the Russian army, which proved a valuable fighting asset in Peter the Great's campaign against the Persians. In the 18th century, the pressure of the increasing agricultural settle ments limited the range of their nomad herders and attempts were made to convert them to Christianity. During the troubled sixties of the 18th century, discontent among the peasants and native tribes of the Volga came to a height, and the Kalmucks, alarmed by rumours of further oppression, and of sterner efforts to sup press their religion, determined to leave the Volga region and return to China. The Emperor of China and the Dalai Lama of Thibet encouraged the conspirators, and the scheme was so suc cessfully initiated that the first stages were taken before the Russians were aware of their decision. A vast horde of Kalmucks, men, women and children, taking their flocks and herds and kibitkas or felt tents with them, assembled on the east bank of the Volga on January 5th, 1771, after having destroyed all their villages in a general conflagration. By some accident, still un explained, the Kalmucks of the western Volga were unable to join their brethren, and it is their descendants who still inhabit the western steppes. The hardships endured in this unprecedented exodus of a whole nation form one of the great tragedies of history. Thousands succumbed to the bitter frosts of the steppe and desert winter journey, and to the heat and drought of the southern deserts which they reached five months later. In addi tion, their sworn enemies, the Bashkirs and Kirghiz, pursued them throughout their journey, perpetually harrowing their rear, and they were attacked by the tribes of the countries they passed en route; for many years their path could be traced through the desert and steppe by the skeletons of the fallen. Barely a third of the 300,00o who started crossed the frontier into China, where the Chinese came to their help and drove off their Bashkir and Kirghiz persecutors. The survivors were settled in the fertile Ili basin of Chinese Turkistan. See MONGOLS.