Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (KHOSHUD): Recent Episodes
Cambridge University
The ethnonym Khoshud is believed to have derived from the word khoshun 'tip of a weapon, beak, front part' and is related to the function of the vanguard units in the army of Chingis Khan. Today the Khoshud is the least populous among the four sub-ethnic groups in Kalmykia. They live in compact groups in the villages of Sarpa, Shorv, Altn Bulg, Shorvin Kets, Khosheudy, Altsyn-Khuta, and Kivz. A small number also lives in the village of Zunda-Tolga. The Khoshud consists of the following clans or lineages: Argud, Badgud, Dashakhin, Zaisang, Ketkermud, Kavshakhin, Karvdzhakhin, Luzung, Mongol, Merchikhin, Melshakhin, Maaga, Sagsag, Savgarmud, Khasgud, Khoshut, Kharakhin, Chonakhin, Sharad, Sharkakhin, Evyakin and Dermyakin.
Outside Kalmykia, small groups of Khoshud also live in China and Mongolia. On this page you can watch videos about the Khoshud, their constituent clans, lineages, legends, and much more.
Yuriy says that his ancestors lived in an aimag that belonged to Iki-Khoshud people. Iki-Khoshud means ‘Big Khoshud’ and the adjective ‘big’ was given to clans that were headed by the oldest sons of princes. Khoshuds, who had their own zaisangs (officials), lived in Iki-Tsokhurovskiy ulus.
Sanal talks about Khoshuds in Kalmykia:
I was born in Ketchenery. I am Khoshud from the Airgud clan. My mother is Zyungar from the Badmakhin clan. In Kalmykia, there are few Khoshuds, from three to five thousand in total. Outside Russia, the majority of Khoshuds live in Kukunor, China. In Kalmykia, Khoshuds live in the villages of Sarpa, Khosheut and Altsynkhuta. My ancestors lived in the village of Kivzing. Some Khoshud families also live in the Astrakhan region. Both Khoshuds and Zyungars came to the Volga later than the rest of Kalmyks. It is customary for Khoshud men to marry Zyungar women and for Khoshud women to marry Zyungar men.
Although Kalmyks came to Russia as Buddhists – in Mergen’s opinion – their Buddhist tradition was weak and relatively new. It is no accident that the lama Zaya Pandita visited the Kalmyk land twice. The word ‘kalmyk’ or ‘kalmak’ means ‘a breakaway’ who did not accept Islam. Therefore, the ethnonym Kalmyk implies a connection with Buddhism.
Sanj talks about the collection of Kalmyk skulls stored at the Moscow State University and a genetic project that he did in 2007. He says that the collection is stored at the Anthropological Museum of the Moscow State University. This collection may include skulls that belonged to Khoshud individuals. There is a research published on this collection in 1937 by Levin and Trofimova. Apart from that, there is no other research available on the anthropological characteristics of the Khoshuds. One of the first genetic researches on the Kalmyks was done in 1991, resulting in several articles. In 2007, Sanj studied 100 Khoshuds by taking their photos and blood samples. He argues that the Khoshuds consist of three haplogroups.
Sanj says that today the Khoshuds live dispersed in three countries, including Russia, Mongolia and China.
Sanj talks about Khoshud groups in Russia, Mongolia and China. He says that the Khoshuds are one of the Oirat groups with the smallest population. Scholars who worked on the Khoshuds of Mongolia are Ochir Ayudain and Nanzatov. Sanj collected data about the Khoshuds of Sarpa, Kalmykia, from the words of Shani Boktaev. There are Khoshuds who live in Orenburg. Sanj also collected data from his project called ‘Genography’.
Sanj says that in 2003 an article was published about the genetic origin of the Mongols. The authors of the article compared blood samples collected from various groups. It turned out that one particular gene was widespread, which coincided with the territory that was conquered by Chingis Khan. The article concluded that this gene must be belonging to the descendant of Chingis Khan.
Sanj mentions several works on the Khoshud dialect and the Kalmyk language by scholars such as Vladimirtsov, Pavlov and Kichikov. In Mongolia and Russia, the Khoshud dialect is not different from the Torghut one. In Kalmykia the Khoshud dialect has the following peculiarities. Khoshud names are usually made from two words (Dordzhi-Garya, Tseren-Ubush, Ulyumdzhi-Garya, etc.) Many names also have double consonants (Akka, Badda, Gagga, etc.) Names with –ara is also what distinguishes Khoshud names from those of other Kalmyks (Badma-Araev). Sanj says that the Khoshud dialect needs further research.
Sanj says that the Khoshuds are one of the largest ethno-territorial units in Kalmykia. When the Khoshuds came to Kalmykia, they were small in number. In 150 years they grew in number and even set up their own aimak. Today the majority of Khoshuds live in China. There are several explanations regarding the origin of the ethnonym khoshud. In the written language there is a word khoshigun, which has three meanings: (1) ‘a muzzle, the head of something’, (2) ‘a military formation’ and (3) ‘an administrative unit’. The Khoshuds are people who are originally from different khoshigun or administrative units. Sanj explains in detail all the four meanings of the word khoshud/khoshigun. He personally supports a hypothesis that the ethnonym khoshud emerged in the 15th century during the reign of Togon Taidzhi, although the origin of the Khoshuds themselves can be traced back to earlier periods as based on historical chronicles and the family trees of the nobility.
Once at a meeting of the Khoshuds, a man, whose name is still unknown, read a short praise to the Khoshud, as follows:
With their genealogy coming from Chingis Khan With their magnificent epos of Jangar With their great teacher Zaya Pandit With their countless healers This great clan is called the Khoshud
This praise has since become famous. In his book entitled The Great Migration, Russian historian Vladimir Kolesnik writes that this person was a cousin of Chingiz Orge on his paternal side.