О документах, касающихся религии и ламства Монголии, из Центрального архива Федеральной службы безопасности Российской Федерации (1920–1930-е гг.)

Abstract

Goals. The article seeks to characterize some archival documents dealing with religion and Buddhist clergy of Mongolia and housed by the Central Archive of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of Russia (Moscow) and Omsk Oblast FSB Department, which have remained unavailable for research till recently. Materials. The archival papers include special reports, coded telegrams, letters, communiques, reviews of political, economic, military and religious conditions in Mongolia. Quite a share of the documents examine different aspects of Mongolia’s religious affairs during the mentioned period. Those describe responses of the Buddhist clergy and clerical hierarchy to policies pursued by the Mongolian People’s Party and the national government, and aimed to restrict the influence of the Buddhist church, monasteries; also depicted are responses of the former to antigovernment sentiments, disturbances and revolts (1925, 1930, 1932, etc.). The work actually focuses on the latter documents. Results. The papers discovered display‑ the measures undertaken towards Mongolia’s religion and Buddhist clergy during the mentioned years. The repressions conducted by the MPP and government essentially undermined the leading positions of the latter. Punitive actions against religion and Buddhist priests would be launched throughout the 1930-1940s, and those were cruelest ones ever held in the country.