skarn from the Dovyren Highlands, Buryatia
Mongolian people have lived around the area of Lake Baikal since the fifth century, with
Mongolic-related
Slab Grave cultural monuments found in
Baikal territory. Over time, the Mongolic peoples of the regions developed into distinct groups, one of which became the Buryats. Further divisions of the Buryats came from those living on the western shore of Lake Baikal, with better land for agriculture, and those in the east, who practiced
nomadism more regularly and continued residing in moveable felt
yurts. As a result of the superior farmland, the western side of Lake Baikal was settled by European peasants during the time of the
Russian Empire – western Buryats were more exposed to and influenced by the culture, religions, and economy of their European neighbors, whereas the eastern Buryats maintained closer ties to other Mongolic peoples, Buddhism, and Asian civilizations. Medieval Mongol tribes such as the
Merkit,
Bayads,
Barga Mongols and
Tümeds inhabited Buryatia. From 1727 it was the border crossing for the
Kyakhta trade between Russia and
China. Kyakhta's founder, the
Serb Sava Vladislavich, established it as a trading point between Russia and the
Qing Empire. The 1820 reforms of
Mikhail Speransky established indirect rule over Buryatia by codifying the local clan leaders as official members of the "steppe
duma" in order to incorporate them into the existing imperial government. The Buryat national leaders saw the Japanese as potential and critical allies in assisting the independence movement, but the cooperation ultimately failed due to the conflicting agendas.
The Red Army advanced in Buryatia in 1920 and continued to
Outer Mongolia in 1921. Attracted to the promises of
self-determination and territorial autonomy by the
Bolsheviks, and having lost the cooperation of the Japanese, the Buryat leaders embraced the idea of building a Buryat nation with the new Soviet state. In 1923, the
Buryat Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (; ) was created as a result of the merger of
State of Buryat and
Buryat Oblast and promised territorial autonomy. In 1929, a
revolt was suppressed in Buryatia, caused by collectivisation and repression of
Buddhism. In 1937,
Aga Buryatia and
Ust-Orda Buryatia were detached from the
Buryat-Mongolian ASSR and merged with
Chita and
Irkutsk Oblasts, respectively. In 1958, the name "Mongol" was removed from the name of the republic and simply became the
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Buryatia within the vast multi-ethnic, diverse Soviet Union. The
Ivolginsky Datsan was opened in 1945 as the only Buddhist spiritual centre of the USSR, home to the
Central Spiritual Board of Buddhists of the USSR, the state-controlled
sangha. The Buryat intelligentsia were active throughout Buryatia and beyond, into
Tibet and Mongolia. At the turn of the 20th century, Buryats leaders, such as
Batu-dalai Ochirov and Mikhail Bogdanov, began actively writing political articles about the threat to Buryatia and Buryat existence from Russia. Despite their noted influence from 1900 to 1930, most of them were
purged, killed outright or sent to
concentration camps, in the 1930s. The leader of the Buryat ASSR from 1962 to 1984 was
Andrei Urupkheevich Modogoev. In the 1970s, Soviet authorities began two major industrial projects in Buryatia: the
Gusinoozerskii power station to the south of Ulan-Ude and the construction of the
Baikal–Amur Mainline railway in northern Buryatia. The construction of both projects, particularly the railway, required recruiting campaigns to bring workers from other parts of the country to Buryatia. Towns developed along the railroad, and the urban population in northern Buryatia doubled between 1979 and 1989. This agreement was abolished on 15 February 2002. Following the
dissolution of the Soviet Union,
autonomous republics such as Buryatia did not have the right to secede. However they retained considerable
autonomy, with a separate legislature and president. However this autonomy has been curtailed following the 2004 law passed by
Vladimir Putin that decreed regional governors and presidents were to be appointed, rather than directly elected. ==Politics==