History of Tuva
The territory currently known as
Early history
There are few written sources for the history of Tannu Uriankhai prior to the mid-18th century. Moreover, these sources often do not distinguish between the Tannu Uriankhai, the Altai Uriankhai, and the Altainor Uriankhai. In general, the land has played only a passive role in the history of Inner Asia, passing without much difficulty from one conqueror to another. It was dominated by a series of Turkic khanates of northern Mongolia; Turks, Uighurs and Kirghiz although, it appears that the real Turkification of the region began with the flight of Turkic tribes into this area after the rise of Genghis Khan in the 13th century.
Archeological finds indicate a long occupation of what is now Tuva. Tombs have been found dating back as far as the late
The
The indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Tuva Republic are a Turkic-speaking people of
Tuvans were subjects of the
Mongol rule
In 1207, Tuva was conquered by
The state of the Altyn-Khan disappeared due to constant warring between the Oirats and the Khalka of
The historic region of Tannu Uriankhai, of which Tuva is a part, was controlled by the Mongols from 1207 to 1757, when it was brought under the rule of the Qing dynasty, the last dynasty of China, until 1911.
It then came under the dominion of the
Qing rule
The
Tannu Uriankhai
The
Tannu Uriankhai (as well as Altai and Altainor Uriankhai) occupied a unique position in the Qing Dynasty's frontier administration system. Qing statutes rigorously defined procedures to be followed by the nobles of Outer and Inner Mongolia, Zungaria, and Qinghai for rendering tribute, receiving government stipends, and participating in imperial audiences. However, they are silent regarding Tannu Uriankhai.
Indeed, there is no evidence that Tannu Uriankhai was ever visited by a senior Qing official (except in 1726). Chinese merchants were forbidden to cross the pickets, a law which was not lifted until the turn of the 20th century. Instead, a few days were set aside for trade at Uliastai when Uriankhai nobles delivered their annual fur tribute to the military governor and received their salaries and other imperial gifts (primarily bolts of satin and cotton cloth) from the emperor.[18] Thus, Tannu Uriankhai enjoyed a degree of political and cultural autonomy unequalled on the Chinese frontier.[17]
Russian colonists
During the 19th century, Russians began to settle in Tuva, resulting in an 1860 Chinese-Russian treaty, in which the Qing Dynasty allowed Russians to settle providing that they lived in boats or tents. Russian gold prospectors came as early as 1838 to mine gold from the upper Systyg-Khem.[19] In the following decades, gold was mined on the Khüt, Öök, Serlig, and northern tributaries of the Bii-Khem and Ulug-Khem. By 1885, almost 9,000 kilograms of gold had been extracted.[19]
In 1881, Russians were allowed to live in permanent buildings. By that time a sizeable Russian community had been established. Their affairs were managed by an official in Russia. These officials also settled disputes and checked on Tuvan chiefs. By 1883, the total number of Russian miners had reached 485.[20]
Russian merchants from
Russian colonization followed. It started in 1856 with a sect of Old Believers called the "Seekers of White Waters", a place which according to their tradition was isolated from the rest of the world by impassable mountains and forests, where they could obtain refuge from government authorities and where the Nikonian rites of the Russian Orthodox Church were not practiced.[22] In the 1860s a different kind of refugee arrived, those fleeing from penal servitude in Siberia. More Russians came. Small settlements were formed in the northern and central parts of Tuva.
The formal beginning of Russian colonization in Tannu Uriankhai occurred in 1885, when a merchant received permission from the Governor-General of Irkutsk to farm at present-day Turan. Other settlements were formed, and by the first decade of the 20th century there were perhaps 2,000 merchants and colonists.[23]
By the late 1870s and in the 1880s the Russian presence included a political presence. In 1878, Russians discovered gold in eastern Uriankhai. There were rumors of fabulous wealth to be gained from this area, and the Russian provincial authorities at
In general, the Tsarist government was reluctant to act precipitately in Uriankhai for fear of arousing the Qing. It generally preferred a less obvious approach, one that depended on quietly encourages colonization rather than military action. This fundamentally distinguished ultimate Russian dominion over Tannu Uriankhai from that of Outer Mongolia, with which it has often been compared. In the former, the Russians were essentially colonists; in the latter, they were traders. The Russians built permanent farm houses in Uriankhai, opened land for cultivation, erected fences, and raised livestock. They were there to stay. What gave the Russian presence added durability was its concentration in the northern and central parts of Tannu Uriankhai, areas sparsely populated by the natives themselves. It was Russian colonization, therefore, rather than purposeful Tsarist aggression, that resulted in Tannu Uriankhai ultimately becoming part of Russia in the following century.[24]
Qing reaction
The Qing government was not oblivious to the Russian presence. In the 1860s and 1870s the Uliastai military governor repeatedly reported the influx of Russians to the Qing.[25] During negotiations leading up to the Treaty of Tarbagatai of 1864 between the Qing and Russia, the Russian representative insisted that all territory to the north of the Qing frontier pickets should belong to Russia. Moreover, the Uliastai military governor obtained a Russian map showing the Tannu-ola Mountains as the Sino-Russian border.[26] These incidents worried the Qing.
But in the second half of the 19th century, the Qing government was distracted by internal problems and could not deal with these issues. Instead, local officials on the frontier were left to manage the Russians as best they could, an impossible task without funds or troops. The military governors at Uliastai could only provide limp protests and inconclusive investigations.[22] In 1909, it was recorded that 9,000 Russians settled in Tannu Uriankhai.[27]
Independence
By the early 20th century the Uriankhai economy had seriously deteriorated, resulting increased poverty in the region. The causes of this decline were varied: declining number of fur-bearing animals probably due to over-hunting by both Uriankhais and Russians; declining number of livestock as a result of the export market to Siberia; and periodic natural disasters (especially droughts and plagues), which further decreased the livestock populations.
The decline in the number of squirrels also led to marked inflation since Uriankhai trade with Russians was conducted on credit using a complex system of valuation principally pegged to squirrel skins. Furthermore, Russians encouraged credit purchases at usurious rates of interest. If repayment was not forthcoming, Russian merchants would drive off the livestock either of the debtor or his relatives or friends. This resulted in retaliatory raids by the Uriankhai.[citation needed]
Due to Qing policy, ethnic Han traders were kept out of Uriankhai. These policies had actually been applied, unlike in other frontier regions such as Mongolia. In 1902, Han traders were allowed to cross the border in order to break the Russian monopoly of the Uriankhai economy. By 1910, there were 30 or so shops, all branches of Han-owned firms operating in Uliastai. Due to, among other things more aggressive selling, easier credit terms, and cheaper and more popular goods for sale, the Han were soon able to dominate commerce just as they had in Mongolia. Soon, the Uriankhais, commoners and princes alike, had accumulated large debts to Han merchants.[28]
The end of Qing rule in Tannu Uriankhai came quickly. On 10 October 1911, the Wuchang Uprising led to a full-scale revolution to overthrow the Qing, and soon afterwards many Chinese provinces rapidly declared their independence. Outer Mongolia declared its own independence from China on 1 December and expelled the Qing viceroy four days later.[29] In the second half of December bands of Uriankhai began plundering and burning Han-owned shops.
Uriankhai nobles were divided as to the best political course of action. The Uriankhai governor (Mongolian: amban-noyon), Gombo-Dorzhu, advocated becoming a protectorate of Russia, hoping that the Russians in turn would appoint him governor of Uriankhai. But the princes of two other khoshuns preferred to submit to the new Outer Mongolian state under the theocratic rule of the Jebstundamba Khutukhtu of Urga.[30] There were also nobles who wanted an independent country.[31]
Undeterred, Gombu-Dorzhu sent a petition to the Frontier Superintendent at Usinsk stating that he had been chosen as leader of the independent Tannu Uriankhai state. He asked for protection, and proposed that Russian troops be sent immediately into the country to prevent China from restoring its rule over the region. There was no reply because three months earlier the Tsarist Council of Ministers had already decided on a policy of gradual, cautious absorption of Uriankhai by encouraging Russian colonization. Precipitate action by Russia, the Council feared, might provoke China.[32]
This position changed, however, as a result of genuine concern for the safety of Russian lives and property in Uriankhai, pressure from commercial circles in Russia for a more active approach, and a petition from two Uriankhai khoshuns in the fall of 1913 requesting to be accepted as a part of Russia. Other Uriankhai khoshuns soon followed suit. In April 1914 Tannu Uriankhai was formally accepted as a protectorate of Russia.[33]
Russian interests in Tuva continued into the twentieth century.
Annexation to Tsarist Russia
During the
Following the
Communist Tuva
From July 1919 to February 1920 the communist
The state's first communist ruler, Prime Minister Donduk, sought to strengthen ties with Mongolia and establish Buddhism as the state religion. This unsettled the Kremlin, which orchestrated a coup carried out in 1929 by five young Tuvan graduates of Moscow's Communist University of the Toilers of the East. In 1930, the pro-Soviet government began to reform the writing system, first replacing Mongol script with a Latin script, then adopting a Cyrillic script in 1943. Under the leadership of Party Secretary Salchak Toka, ethnic Russians were granted full citizenship rights and Buddhist and Mongol influences on the Tuvan state and society were systematically reduced.[39]
In World War II the state contributed infantry, armored, and cavalry troops to fight against Nazi Germany. Under Soviet command a number of units distinguished themselves and received Tuvan medals.[40]
Annexation to the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union annexed Tuva outright on 11 October 1944, apparently with the approval of Tuva's Little Khural (parliament), though there was no referendum on the issue. The exact circumstances surrounding Tannu-Tuva's annexation into the USSR in 1944 remain obscure.[34] Salchak Toka, the leader of the Tuvan People's Revolutionary Party, was given the title of First Secretary of the Tuvan Communist Party, and became the de facto ruler of Tuva until his death in 1973.[41] Tuva was made the Tuvan Autonomous Oblast and then became the Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on 10 October 1961.[42] The Soviet Union kept Tuva closed to the outside world for nearly fifty years.[citation needed]
Modern history
In February 1990, the
Tuva was a signatory to the 31 March 1992 treaty that created the Russian Federation. A new constitution for the republic was drawn up on 22 October 1993. This created a 32-member parliament (Supreme Khural) and a Grand Khural, which is responsible for foreign policy and any possible changes to the constitution, and ensures that Tuvan law is given precedence. The constitution also allowed for a referendum if Tuva ever sought independence. This constitution was passed by 53.9% (or 62.2%, according to source) of Tuvans in a referendum on 12 December 1993.[44][45]
See also
References
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- ^ For a history of this period, see Ewing, The Forgotten Frontier, pp. 176-184.
- ^ Haines, R Spencer (2016). "The Physical Remains of the Zunghar Legacy in Central Eurasia: Some Notes from the Field". Paper presented at the Social and Environmental Changes on the Mongolian Plateau Workshop, Canberra, ACT, Australia. The Australian National University.
- ^ Chi Yunshi, comp., Huangchao fanbu yaolue [Essential Information Regarding the Imperial Dependencies on the Frontier], (1845; rpr. Taipei 1966), v. 1, p. 213.
- ^ a b Shurkhuu, D. (2014). "Similarities and Differences between Mongolia and Tuva in the Evolution of Bilateral Ties" (PDF). Senri Ethnological Studies. 86: 127–144. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
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- ^ Yang Jialo, ed., Zhongguo jingchi shiliao [Sources on the Economic History of China] (Taipei, 1977), p. 447.
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- ^ V.M. Rodevich. Ocherki Uriankhaiskogo kraya ("Essays on the Uriankhai Region".) St. Petersburg, 1910. p. 104.
- ^ a b c F.Ya. Kon. Usinskii krai ("Usinsk Region") Krasnoyarsk, 1914. pp. 29-38.
- ^ V.L. Popov, Vtoroe puteshestvie v Mongoliyu ("Two Travels to Mongolia"). Irkutsk, 1910. p. 12.
- ^ V.I. Dulov, "Russko-tuvinskie ekonomicheskie svyazi v. XIX stoletii". [19世纪的俄罗斯图瓦经济关系] in Uchenye zapiski tuvinskogo nauchno-issledovatel’skogo instituta yazyka, literatury I istorii (克孜勒, 1954), no. 2, p. 104.
- ^ Qingdai chouban iwu shimo [Complete Records of the Management of Barbarian Affairs] (Peiping, 1930), Xienfeng 5:30b.
- ^ Liu Jinzao, ed., Qingchao xu wenxien tongkao [Encyclopedia of the Historical Records of the Qing Dynasty, Continued] (Shanghai, 1935; repr. Taipei, 1966), pp. 10, 828-30.
- ^ "Статья в Мегаэнциклопедии Кирилла и Мефодия". megabook.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 19 December 2020.
- ^ M.I. Bogolepov, M.N. Sobolev, Ocherki russko-mongol’skoi torgovli [Essays on Russian-Mongolian Commerce] (Tomsk 1911), p. 42.
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- ^ L. Zhazhmsran. 1995
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- ^ BBC Monitoring Service, 15 December 1993 “Figures from Ingushetia, Tyva, Yaroslavl and parts of Urals and Siberia”