Oriental Studies (Apr 2018)
Social Organization of the Traditional Tuvan Community in the Mid-18th - Early 20th Centuries: Peculiarities of Formation and Transformation
Abstract
The article aims to study peculiarities in the formation and evolution of the Tuvan traditional social structure under the Qing rule (1757-1912). With evidence from archival sources, the paper investigates historical conditions for the formation of different social strata and shows characteristic features of social organization within the traditional Tuvan society. Once the Manchu Qing dynasty took control over the territory of Tuvan tribes, administrative and territorial reforms were initiated, new military ranks were introduced, and titles of nobility, insignia gradually began displacing the old titles and ranks. The Buddhist khuree temples were also constructed on the territory of Tannu-Tuva. The changes greatly affected the social organization which had existed within the traditional Tuvan society. The key feature of the formation of social organization in the mid-18th century was that new social strata were introduced into the structure of the traditional Tuvan society, namely: the princely class (Tuvan and Mongolian princes), Buddhist clergy, and bureaucracy. The author determines that offi cials made a special privileged group whose legal status depended on the position and quality of performance of corresponding duties. Since the mid-18th century, the basis of the social system was the territorial organization resulting from the 1759 administrative reform. Transformation of the social structure of the traditional nomadic civilization in the early 20th century lead to further changes in the political organization of society and culture. Under the infl uence of modernization processes that took place in Tannu-Tuva since the beginning of the 20th century there was further social stratifi cation caused by substantial property inequality. The newly marginal strata within the traditional Tuvan society resulted from fi scal policies of the Qing Empire, nomadic pastoralism and extensive penetration of elements of industrial civilization in Tuva: construction of gold mines by Russian entrepreneurs, establishment of salt works and maral farms. The paper describes the history of the formation and transformation of the social organization of the traditional Tuvan society characterizing each social layer and its legal status. The novelty of the article is that it is the fi rst attempt to analyze the Tuvan traditional social structure, reveal its composition and hierarchy of ranks and degrees in Tuva from the mid-18th to the 20th centuries.
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