Oriental Studies (Apr 2018)
To the Issue of the Early Ethnic History of Bargu-Buryat Community
Abstract
The article presents versions and the hypothesis of early Barga - Buryat ethnogenesis and further branching of ethnic history. The study is based on ethnonym materials, as well as the latest research in the field of the history of these peoples. By the time of the disintegration of the Mongolian Empire the territory of Bargujin-Tokum was a part of the Yuan state. However, after ascent of the new Ming dynasty the northern territories remained out of control of Ming China. The ethnic history of this region was practically never reflected in written sources prior to the coming of Russians from the northwest and Manchu from southeast in the early 17th century. The ethnic history of Northern Mongolia, Baikal region and Cis-Hovsgol area in the Ming epoch has practically never been a subject of research. The majority of modern scholars consider this period a “dark age” of history. Historical ethnonymics forms the basis of this research paper. The key terms for the study are “Bargu” and “Buryat”. By the 17th century Buryat ethnonym almost lost its meaning in the local environment due to long usage in the nomadic-community stage of development in the peaceful period when various ethnoterritorial entities became dominant, such as the Bulagats on the Angara, Ekhirits on the Upper Lena, Ikinats on the Angara and Oka, Ashibagats on the Uda and Oka, Gotols on the Ida, Batulins on the Upper Kuda and so on. In this period the ethnonym Buryat lost its political significance among the carriers, but it was widely used by the neighboring peoples from whom the Russians first learnt about the “Brats”. In the stem of the brat/bratskii term apparently lied a Turkic (Khakass or Altaic) exoethnonym pyrat-purat in which the radical pyra-pura was a phonetic variant of the word “wolf”. A return to the common ethnonym was characteristic of the consolidation processes. Another characteristic feature was a new phase on the development of the ethnogenetic legends and myths in which Buryadai became the father of Ekhirit and Bulgadai and a brother to Horidoi. All these myths are based on the real historical events when the local population went through a long period of ethnic contacts as a result of which a unity with the single Mongolian proto-Buryat language was formed. The Buryat ethnonym evolved from its medieval spreading only on the Mongolian-speaking population groups and became common for all population groups in Cisbaikalia who, in their turn, already switched to Mongolian (Buryat) language.
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