What language do Buryats speak and is it endangered?
Buryats speak Buryat, a central Mongolic language. UNESCO's 2010 edition of the Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger classified it as "severely endangered."
Questions about Buryats
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Where do Buryats live today?
Most Buryats live in and around Ulan-Ude, the capital of the Republic of Buryatia in Russia. Smaller populations inhabit Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug, the Agin-Buryat Autonomous Okrug, north-eastern Mongolia, and Inner Mongolia in China.
What religion do most Buryats follow?
The majority of Buryats are adherents of Tibetan Buddhism, which they adopted in the early 18th century under Tibetan and Mongolian missionaries. Shamanism, also referred to as Tengrism, also has deep roots in Buryat culture and has undergone a revival in rural areas.
Who was the Buryat monk Agvan Dorjiev?
Agvan Dorjiev was a Buryat Buddhist monk who served as tutor to the 13th Dalai Lama. The Buryats had converted to Tibetan Buddhism in the early 18th century under the influence of Tibetan and Mongolian missionaries.
What happened to the Buryats during Stalin's purges?
Stalin had more than 10,000 Buryats killed and, in 1937, broke up the Buryat-Mongol Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic to disperse the Buryat population. A 1929 rebellion against collectivisation was crushed by the Red Army with the loss of 35,000 Buryats. Stalin's purge also extended into Mongolia, in an episode known as the incident of L'humbee.
What was the Buryat kalym marriage tradition?
The kalym was a traditional Buryat marriage exchange in which the groom delivered an agreed number of cattle and the bride's family provided a yurt and household goods. By the 1890s, a bride price could involve 400-600 rubles and 86-107 head of livestock. The system declined after Russian colonisation and was replaced by marriages based on courtship.