Historical Conditions of the Formation and Evolution of the Mentality of the Kalmyks (Pre-October Period)

The article examines the role of historical circumstances in the formation of the mentality of the Kalmyks, since historical factors are rightly attributed to the most important conditions for the formation of the mentality of an ethnic group. The paper analyzes such events in the history of Kalmykia as the entry of the Kalmyks into Russia, the formation and development of the Kalmyk Khanate – its own state, which is in vassal relations with the Russian Empire, the departure of most of the Kalmyks to Dzungaria and the liquidation of the Khanate, socio-economic changes in the 19th century. These historical events had a significant impact on the formation of the ethnic mentality of the Kalmyks, their ethnic picture of the world, ethnophilosophical ideas about the individual, society, state and power, love for the motherland, etc. At the same time, one cannot fail to point out the reverse process associated
with the significant influence of the mentality of an ethnic group on its historical development.