Episode 2: Riot in the Altai. The Tale of Chet and Chugul

Tales from Imperial Russia

22-01-2021 • 21 mins

In 1904, a shepherd and his daughter created a new religion in the Altai mountain ranges, leading to a violent confrontation with Russian settlers and a dramatic trial. But what was the cause of this outburst and what was the ultimate fate of the new faith? [Originally released on 22 January 2021, this episode was re-recorded on 9 February 2021].

References: Danilin A.G.: Burkhanizm. Izistorii natsional’no-osvoboditel’nogo dvizheniia v gornom Altae. Gorno-Altaisk: Ak-Chechek, 1993.

Dokumenty po istorii tserkvi i veroispovedanii v Altaiskom krae. Barnaul: Upravlenie arkhivnogo dela administratsii Altaiskogo kraia, 1997.

Maidurova N.A., Tadina N.A.: Burkhanizm. Dokumenty i materialy. Gorno-Altaisk: Gorno-Altaiskgos. Universitet, 1994.

Sherstova L.I.: Taina doliny Tereng. Gorno-Altaisk: Ak-Chechek, 1997.

Sherstova, L.I.: "Burkhanism in Gorny Altai" in Religion and Politics in Russia: A Reader. Ed. M.M. Balzer. New York and London, M.E. Sharpe, 2010. P. 225–244.

Vinogradov, A. Ak Jang in the Context of Altai Religious Tradition. MA Thesis, University of Saskatchewan, 2003.

Znamenski, A.A. Shamanism and Christianity: Native Encounters with Russian Orthodox Missions in Siberia and Alaska, 1820–1917. West Port, Connecticut and London: Greenwood Press, 1999.

Znamenski, A.A. Power of Myth: Popular Ethnonationalism and Nationality Building in Mountain Altai, 1904–1922. Acta Slavica Iaponica, vol. 22 (2005), pp. 25–52.