October 3, 2025

To the Study of the Charity of the Buddhist Clergy of Eastern Siberia in the First Quarter of the 20th Century (Based on Materials from the State Archives of the Republic of Buryatia)

Key Points

Buddhist clergy actively supported charitable initiatives during major conflicts.
In 1908, they responded to threats from Japanese agents posing as missionaries in Transbaikalia.
The peak of charity occurred during World War I, with leaders creating committees to collect donations.
Buddhist monks also helped starving populations during the Civil War, facilitating food and financial support.

Abstract

The State Archives of the Republic of Buryatia store materials on the history of the Russian Buddhist Church, including relations with authorities and charity. Some of these materials are not used in historians. Documents confi rm the integration of Buddhist clergy into the imperial political system at the beginning of the 20th century. Pandito Khambo Lama adequately responded to the instructions of regional authorities, collecting donations for the Russian army and helping hospitals. Buddhist leaders assisted local authorities in mobilizing Buryat Cossacks during the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). In 1908, they took special measures when Japanese intelligence agents disguised themselves as missionaries and arrived in Transbaikalia. The peak of charitable activity by Buddhist clergy in Eastern Siberia occurred during World War I. Buddhist leaders Itigelov, Agvan Dorzhiev, and Iroltuev created the “All-Buryat Committee to collect donations for the needs of war”. The help of Buryat monks was great. Monasteries collected donations to fi nance military hospitals. Abbots brought information about the progress of military operations to the population. Lama healers visited the places where mobilized Buryats were staying, and parishioners paid for their travel expenses. During the Civil War, Buddhist clergy collected donations for starving people in the Volga region, which was carried out under diffi cult conditions of famine. The author studied sources on the collection of donations in Selenga Aimak, the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Region, RSFSR, 1921–1922, when the size of charity signifi cantly decreased. Buryat clergy managed to help starving Volga residents and Buryat students in Moscow with food and money. When Pandito Khambo Lama called for constant material assistance to the starving people of the Volga region, Buryat monks donated objects of religious worship.

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To the Study of the Charity of the Buddhist Clergy of Eastern Siberia in the First Quarter of the 20th Century (Based on Materials from the State Archives of the Republic of Buryatia)

Key Points

Abstract

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