Buddhist collections in the museum space of Russia: reasons and conditions of formation

This article is devoted to identifying items of the Buddhist cult of the Kalmyks by applying the method of continuous sampling in the process of studying the State Catalogue of the Museum Fund of the Russian Federation using the keywords "Kalmyks" and "Buddhism". The object of the study is Buddhist collections associated with the Kalmyks and currently located in museum institutions of the Russian Federation, the subject is Buddhist exhibits identified by the author and other Russian researchers. The purpose of the article is to study the history (conditions and reasons) for the formation of such collections. Results: the conducted study made it possible to identify a number of Russian museums that are the owners of Kalmyk collections of Buddhist items. It is shown that museum collections were formed during the 19-20th centuries based on the study of the history of the peoples subject to the Russian Empire, which in the 17th century included the Oirats who came from Dzungaria. The author identified the main conditions for the formation of Kalmyk collections: gifts from Kalmyk deputations to members of the imperial family during official events; collection of ethnographic information about the subjects of the empire; all-Russian exhibitions (historical costume, industrial, etc.); administrative and territorial affiliation of the territory of compact residence of Kalmyks. The author examines some exhibits in detail. The need for further study of religious objects of Kalmyks as part of the cultural heritage of all peoples of the world professing Buddhism is asserted. Obviously, a complete and multifaceted analysis of Buddhist culture requires a comprehensive study that combines in an interdisciplinary direction the methods of historical research with various approaches of other scientific disciplines — philosophy, art history, ethnocultural studies, etc.