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INCARNATIONS AND THE SPIRITUAL LEADERS AS SUBJECTS AND OBJECTS Unkovsky, who was sent on December 1721, by the Russian Tsar Peter the Great to the Dzungarian ruler to discuss the border problems of Dzungaria and Russia. According to Ivan Unkovsky, one holiday evening the lamas of Tsewang Rabden arranged the special ceremony: about 650 meters away from the place of the action (holiday), on the eastern side, “something of a cane and all sorts of trash was erected, it was like a haystack with gunpowder inside. The senior lama came up to this construction and set fire to the gunpowder. The haystack did get fire, and the Kalmyks, in carapaces, thirty men, began to fire from the rifles to the eastern side and all the people, grabbing whatever fell into their hands (stone, stick or piece of soil), with a loud cry did throw it to the eastern side, as if they would march with a victorious war against the Chinese, and Kontaisha [Tsevang Rabden] himself marched on.” It is possible to assume that the above mentioned Lobsang Puntsok, the close associate of Tsevang Rabden, had been among those lamas, who arranged the ceremony, which could be a part of the tantric practice, aimed to win over the Chinese. The Russian Kalmyk lamas could be both subjects and objects of the political activities of their leaders. It depended on the political situation within Kalmyk Khanate. For instance, the famous Shakur lama, being the spiritual leader of the Kalmyks (at the first third of the 18" century), “constantly was in fear, as rivals did know on his influence on the Governor.” For that period the Governor of the Kalmyks was Tseren Donduk (r. 1735-1741) — the principal Kalmyk ruler, in Russian — namestnik, who was supported by the Russian authorities and Shakur lama. The Kalmyk leaders, so-called owners, according to Shakur, “are very fickle and frivolous, therefore they can join the side which they believe is stronger, and then, ‘being furious,’ they could attack the u/us of the lama, ravage the ulus and kill the lama himself — from Donduk Ombo” everyone could expect anything.” Therefore, Shakur, being the object of the inner Kalmyk policy, depending on the situation, could become a subject of the regional political activities, and verso. Another illustrative example is the case of Anjjatan lama, who spent over 25 years in Tibetan monasteries (mainly in Drepung) and came back to the Volga, holding a high scholarly degree of rabjamba (Tib. rab ‘byams pa), about in 1712. Before his departure he had had an audience with the Dalai Lama who presented him with gifts — several thangkas. Unlike his contemporary Shakur, Anjjatan devoted his life to the spreading of Buddha’s teaching among the Kalmyks, and his disciples became wellknown religious figures among those people. Later, some of these disciples along with the incarnation of Anjjatan*> had been among those Kalmyks who driven back to China (Xinjiang) in 1771. The subsequent incarnations of this lama, in accordance 2° Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire. List 113/1, 1724, case I, p. 45. 3 Donduk Ombo, the rival of Tseren Donduk, was the Kalmyk khan from 1737-1741. 4 The National Archive of Kalmyk Republic. Collection 145, list 1, case 199, p. 168. That is very likely, that his name was Louzan Jalchin lama, known also as Louzan Lachin and Lauzin Lanchin, who had played the important role in the exodus of Kalmyks back to China, and who was the seventh (?) incarnation of the famous Anjjatan lama. This issue needs to be studied further. 93
