CALMUCKS, Om.otTs, or Eturns, supposed to be the Hippophagi of Pliny, and other ancient historians, ..re a tribe of indepewlent Tartars, and a branch of tI lose dizing barbarians, who in the beginning of the 13th et:11 m.y, under the name of Moguls, and led on by is Khan, subdued and desolated the finest provinces of They are the only Tartar nation that has retained tilt an cient language of the Moguls in all its purity. They have also preserved the manners, the dress, and the re ligion, which all historians have attributed to these con querors ; and their Contaish, or Great Khan, claims the honour of being the true descendant of the Great Zengis. The well. tion of Calmuck was bestowed upon them by the Mahometan 'Tart ft, as a term of reproach, on ac count of their pagan wet ship ; but they ;nett:11d that they have a better right to the name of Moguls than their neighbours on the frontiers of China, now k1101111 by the name of Mongales ; and indeed the territory of this peo ple, in the beginning of the last century, embraced the very states which Zengis left as a patrimony to his suc cessors, and coniprelwnds the most cmisideralde and rich est part of Tartary. From the river Jaick, or Ural, on the west, their possessions extended along the southern boun daries of Siberia as far as the river Selinga on the east, and skirting the empire of China, they reached on the south towards the confines of the kingdom of A va. Turn ing then to the north west, they were bounded by the Mogul empire, Great Bucharia, and Turkestan. These extensive territories, however, have been greatly cur tailed by the encroachments of the Russians and the con quests of the Chinese.
The Calmucks were driven from Thibet in 1720, and about forty years after, Kiang Long extended his domi nions as far as the mountains of Belur ; so that such of the Calmucks as refused to submit to his authority, there compelled to seek for new settlements towards the west. Many of them dispersed themselves in the interior parts of Asia, and among the cities of the Usbeck Tartars; others took refuge in Russia : some thousands fled to Siberia ; but the greatest number accommodated them selves to the Chinese sovereignty. At present the most numerous and powerful of the (Wilma hordes, accord ing to Crosier, inhabit the country lying between the Caspian sea, 'Muscovy, Samarcand, and Cashgar. Others also occupy, with their flocks and herds, both banks of the Volga, between the Irghis and the Caspian, and extend their excursions on both sides of the Don and the Ural.
Before their subjugation and dispersion, the Calmocks were dit ided into three principal branches, viz. the Soon
gares, the Cosehotes, and the Torgots. Of these, the Soongares were the richest and most formidable, and were engaged ul almost perpetual hostilities w ith the' Mongalcs and Chinese. They resided about the Balk hash lake, and its rivers Tselmy and fly ; and held in tribute the Great Kirgusian horde, and the towns of Lit tle Bucharia. The Coschotes, upon the conquest of Thibet, became subject to the Chinese, and still con tinue under the protection of that power, except a small er part which had retired to the Irtish, and fell under the dominion of the Soongares. Those under the domi nion of China are estimated at 50,000, and are said to have derived their name, which implies warrior or hero. from the courage which they displayed in the wars of Zengis. The Torgots, who had separated from the Soon gales, and had formed themselves into a particular horde, settled at an early period among the steppes on the Vol ga, and received from the Russians the appellation of the Volgaic Calmucks. But many of them being dis gusted by the interference of the Russian government re specting the authority of their taish, or clan, returned ht great numbers in 1770 and 1771, of er the river Ural on the ice, and across the Kirgusian steppes into Soongaria.• These different branches, however, since their expul sion from their ancient habitations, have become so in corporated with one another, and are so assimilated in manners and customs, that most of them are ignorant of their particular origin. The Callum:Its, according to Mr Tooke, are divided into three ranks; the nobility, who are called white-bones; the common people who pay tribute, and are termed black-bones ; and the cicrgy. The noble ladies arc also called white flesh, and the com mon women black flesh ; but pedigrees are reckoned only by the bones. The tribute is about the tenth part of their cattle and other property. In the time of war, up5n the first summons, every man inuat appear on horse back before the prince, who dismisses such as are unfit for service. All the subjects belonging to one prince arc termed an auss, and are divided into inzaks, each con taining from 130 to 300 families, and commanded by a saissan or noble. But though each oluss has its petty prince, or taish, yet they all acknowledge more or less the sovereignty of the Contaish, or Great Chan of the Calmucks, whose authority is considered as a right per fectly established and sacred, but whose interference is only admitted in affairs of general importance.