Ethnocultural communities in Gorny Altai during the 17th-18th centuries: ethnic identity in historical context

This article raises the problem of ethnocultural community formation in Gorny Altai and neighboring territories during the early period of Russian colonization of the Sayan-Altai highland and the Irtysh River upstream. Ethnic complexity and formation time difference are noted. The author emphasizes the problem of ethnic inhabitation borders and future administrative borders mismatch. This fact had a significant impact on the composition of modern ethnic identities within this region. The research based on Russian written documents and oral legends of Gorny Altai inhabitants showed that in the 17th-18th centuries four enthnocultural communities started their formation: Abinsk-Kumandine, Teleut-Telengit, Telengit-Uriankhai and Sayan-Telengit. During the Russian administrative reforms in the 17th-20th centuries the Abinsk-Kumandine community became a base for the formation of modern Kumandine, Tubalar, Chelkan and Shor peoples. It also became part of the Russian old timers of the Upper Ob. The aboriginal Teleut-Telengit community is an ethnocul-tural heir of the ancient Turkic Tolanko, it gave birth to the Upper Ob Teleuts, Telengits and future Altai peoples. In Russian documents of the 18th century the latter, just like western Mongolians, were named the "Kalmyks". This indicates the political dependency of Altai-Kizhi ancestors on Dzungaria and their susceptibility to its cultural and political influence. Unlike Central Altai inhabitants, Western Altai population, aside from the common Telenget ethnic basis which had been partly affected by Oirat acculturation, also comprised the Uriankhai ethnocultural layer genetically connected with the medieval migrations from the Baikal area and possessing some parallels with the ethnogenesis of Tuvinians, Western Buryats and Yakuts. The fourth ethnocultural community, Sayan-Telengit, is also connected with the events in Central Asia of the 16th century, when Altyn Khan state was established and due to it the Sayan migration from Tuva began. This led to the growth of Soyon (Tuva) ethnocultural features within the Chu Telengit community. Studying the history of Gorny Altai through the prism of ethnocultural communities formation gives us an opportunity to clearly imagine the real process of modern ethnogenesis and understand the reasons of conflicts within one nationality or between some of them. The inclusion of various ethnic components, specific features of historical context, controversial relations in the past are factors leading to the creation of new identities and affecting modern interethnic and intraethnic relations.

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