Altai Russia Map

The Altai Republic is a mountainous subject in the Russian Federation surrounded by the jagged landscapes of Central Asia. It has a total area of 92,903 sq km, a bit more than Portugal, with less than 220,000 inhabitants within its territory, a difference that makes it the least-populated republic of Russia. Its capital, Gorno-Altaysk, is located at the foot of the western Sayan range, where the Katun River cuts a green passage through primaeval forests of the taiga.

History

The history of human activity in Altai starts deep in prehistory. Near the river Katun, stone tools date back to at least one million years, and thus the region was one of the earliest settlements in Eurasia. Hunters of the Palaeolithic probably accompanied the migrations of megafauna across the Siberian steppe, leaving traces of hearths and crude knives.

In the Bronze Age (around 2000 BC to 800 BC), nomads identified with the Karakol culture wandered in these valleys with their herds of sheep and goats. Toward the end of the Bronze Age and into the early Iron Age, there developed the mysterious Pazyryk culture with its famous horse graves and its animal style art. The excavations of Kurgan (burial mound) sites provided a near-perfect state of carpets, felt hats, and tattooed mummies, allowing a unique insight into the ceremonial life of steppe aristocrats ceremonial life.

With and against strong confederations emerging and collapsing in Eurasia, Altai became populated by various empires. The Xiongnu confederation, which was arguably the first great nomadic empire, expanded its influence here during the 3rd century BC. By the 6th century AD, the remains of the Gokturk Khaganate (and later the Uyghur Khaganate) had an impact on the local societies, bringing the Turkic languages, which became the modern Altai.

Altai was absorbed by the expanding 13th-century Mongol Empire under the leader Genghis Khan and thus became a part of a huge route of trade route connecting Beijing and Europe. During the following two centuries, the region switched between the Golden Horde and the Chagatai Khanate, as well as the emerging Oirats. The Dzungar Khanate claimed the territory until the Qing China armies and diplomacy had absorbed the territory into the Qing realm during the mid-1700s in the 17th century.

In 1864-65, the politics on the frontier changed radically as the so-called Altan Nuur Uriankhai became part of the Russian Empire with the Treaty of Tarbagatai. Altai got a remote frontier, and Russian settlers, Cossacks and colonies of Old Believers, persecuted because they did not follow the official religion, came to Altai. Gorno-Altaysk was established in 1824 as Ulala and renamed to changed its name to express being in the midst of mountains and glens.

The political upheaval took place in the early 20th century. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Altai proclaimed the fruition of a semi-autonomous state of the “Confederated Republic of Altai”, a struggle to renew pan-Turkic heritage. It was not involved in the Civil War until 1920 when the Bolsheviks took over power. To reflect native rights, Oyrot Autonomous Oblast was delimited in 1922 and renamed Gorno-Altai Autonomous Oblast in 1948 and by the elevation to Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991. After the fall of the USSR, the Altai region reappeared under the name of Altai Republic in 1992, becoming a constituent of the Russian Federation and a party of the Russian constitutional convention with the right of local autonomy.

Culture

Altai culture is an animist, Buddhist and Orthodox Christian palimpsest combined into a bright tapestry of oral traditions, ritual art and communal festivities. Fundamental to it is a deep respect for nature. Rivers, springs, mountains, animals and winds are perceived as intelligent beings who need to be respected, made offerings to, and communicated with through rituals.

Shamanism is an active system of spirituality. Kam (shamans) are put through intensive training and become skilled in the rules of the pathways of the three worlds-sky-earth-underworld. They hold the ceremony of kamlanie, which is medicine of incantations, drumming and rhythmic dance, on behalf of communities to heal diseases, ensure rich hunts and provide blessings to livestock. In both rituals, the watchmaker Ülgen, the good creator, is appealed to in cosmic dramas played out upon the Siberian steppe against Erlik, the master of death.

Folk arts present centuries-old methods. The process of wood carving displays complex tackling of stylised beasts, stags, snow leopards, birds of prey, which reflect paths found in Pazyryk ruins. The result of felt crafting is shrdak rugs, which are stamped brightly with geometrical shapes to denote water, sun and fertility. Saddles and harnesses have been made by leatherworkers, jewellery by silversmiths whose work is characterised by a combination of Turkic filigree with Russian imperial style.

Communities are linked through music into a shared memory. Two-stringed instruments like the topshur, lute, and jaw harp (khomus) give eerie and otherworldly sounds that are used in accompaniments of epic recitals, famously known as the Altai goleks. These extended poems describe tribal histories, heroic adventures and the beginning of the universe. The traditions have been updated with modern harmonies and instrumentation spun in the ears of contemporary folk ensembles.

Festivals are markers of culture. Black Sea shore. The smallest village on the sea, Altyn-Kol (Golden Lake), hosts pilgrims on its shores during horseback tournaments, eagle-hunting demonstrations, and a yurt symposium by firelight, listening to elders telling their stories. The National Holiday of Altai Republic, which is celebrated every September, highlights the events of traditional clothing pageants, kumis drinking contests, and a collective display of folk dances.

Food traditions are examples of nomadic practicality and minerals of the mountains. The hearty noodle dish called beshbarmak, and cooked with meat, consists of boiled meat and is a traditional festive dish. A local speciality is Kamin, which is a fish pie crammed with Panarak trout, native to cold, oxygen-rich streams. Fermented mare milk, known as Kumis, is still appreciated as a part of nutrition as well as a part of a ritual. Collection of Siberian pine nuts, wild berries and herbal medicine rounds off the cuisine and folk medicine.

Language

The Altai language is Turkic, which is in the recognition as Russian in the republic. Its modern standard stemmed mainly from the Southern Altai languages spoken by the Altays-kiжде, Mayma and Telengit peoples. The world of such dialects (e.g. Tuba and Kumandy in Northern Altai) is quite different, and such dialects are usually considered by linguists to be distinct but related languages.

Revitalisation of the language cannot only take place in the classroom. Mobile apps are used to learn standard Altai now, and there are conversation clubs in the community centres. One finds bilingual signs on highways and in buildings. Translators also engage in translating Hindu-Buddhist sutras in Altai to the practice of Gelugpa practitioners in the area. Competitive folk songs reward lyrics written in Altai only and promote among the newer generations a poetic spirit.

Still, there are obstacles. Intergenerational interruption can take place when the family members leave to Gorno-Altaysk or further abroad in order to work in remote southern villages. Russian is still the media, governmental and university lingua franca. Further regulatory assistance and the local activism will be critical to make sure that Altai does not simply survive but flourish as a living medium of everyday life.

Geography

Covered with the meeting of three ranges of mountains, namely Altai, Eastern Sayan and Teleutskiy ridges, the mountainous area of the republic is one of the roughest and most beautiful in Russia.

The highest spot in the republic is the mountain Belukha, soaring to 4,506 meters above the surface and also the spiritual hub. With its two peaks always glacier-crowned, it supplies the headwaters of the Katun River. The local myth says that Belukha holds the entrance to the legendary land of enlightened people, Shambhala. Its slopes are difficult to explore, but base camps on the eastern side are now available through forest winding roads.

The hydrographic network of the Altai is complicated. More than 20,000 watercourses, such as 64,000 kilometres (40,000 mi) of rivers and streams, empty into the Ob basin. The rivers Katun and Biya, which have been spawned by icefields of Belukha, or by Lake Teletskoye, meet at Biysk, forming the Ob River, one of the chief veins of Siberia. The single lake, Teletskoye, is 230 kilometres in length, has depths of more than 300 metres, and it holds approximately a quarter of the republic's fresh water. Highland meadows are peppered with hundreds of smaller lakes, many of which are of glacial origin and act as nurseries to endemic fish such as omul and marinka.

There is a radical movement in vegetation zones with altitude. There is a birch-aspen forest on the valley floors with some grasslands. Intermediate elevations are covered with Siberian pine, spruce and larch, and the treeline is followed by the alpine meadows with their summer wildflowers. The highest rainfall area is above 2,500 meters; it is characterised by bare rocks and perpetual snowfields. Approximately 25 per cent of the republic is forest cover, and an additional 20 per cent of it forms a protected area in national parks and reserves.

Geologically, Altai is a patchwork of tectonically scrunched and seismically sundered ancient terranes that have undergone a billion years of tectonic collision. The slopes are covered by rich mineral deposits such as gold, silver, iron ore, lead, zinc and lithium. Although small-scale mining has proliferated over the past few years, large-scale mining is still hindered by topographical difficulties and resistance by locals to maintain the status of the water and the ecology.

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