Russia is |
Peoples of Russia
Buryats
Their self-designation is Buryaad. They are the population of the Buryat Republic and the Transbaikal territory.
Language
The Buryats speak the Buryat language of the Northern group of the Mongolian branch of the Altai language family. Before 1956, the language was called Buryat-Mongolian. After the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR was renamed as Buryat ASSR, the language began to be called Buryat. From the 17th-18th century, the Eastern Buryats used the Mongolian writing system. The western ones used the Cyrillic alphabet. In 1931, a Latin-based alphabet was introduced. Since 1939, a Cyrillic one. The standard is based on the Khori subdialect that is understandable for most Buryat speakers.
Ethnic groups
The following ethnic groups can be distinguished among the Buryats: Bulagad (former Ust-Ordynsky Buryat Autonomous District), Ekhirid (Barguzinsky, Bayandayevsky, Kudarinsky regions of Buryatia, former Ust-Ordynsky Buryat Autonomous District), Khondogor (Irkutsk region Buryats outside of the former Ust-Ordynsky Buryat Autonomous District), Khori (Aginsky Autonomous District of the Transbaikal Territory, Khori and other regions of Buryatia), Buryats from northern regions (Baunt and others) of Buryatia (mostly assimilated Evenks) and Selenga Buryats (central and southern districts of Buryatia).
Dwellings
The traditional Buryat dwelling was the yurt. After switching to settled lifestyle, the Buryats started building many-cornered log yurts, and later Russian-style izbas.
Food
The Buryats’ food complex was based on milk and dairy products. Milk was drunk, sour milk was preserved, milk was used to make the alcohol-containing araka (arkhi), dried curdy mass (khurut) was used instead of bread. Meat was eaten frequently only in families that owned a lot of domestic cattle. The tea was popular, taken with milk, animal fat and salt.
Economic structure
The traditional occupation of the Buryats is nomadic cattle breeding. The families migrated after their herds from one pasture to another. The Western Buryats also had a developed agriculture, fishing and hunting. Gradually only rich cattle breeders continued to migrate, others switched to a settled lifestile. Agriculture became the basic industry for the pre-Baikal Buryats. They sowed winter and spring rye, wheat, barley, buckwheat, oats, hemp. Cattle breeding remained in the form of raising cows, goats and other animals on the homestead. Jewelry and smithing were well-developed. The smiths were also venerated as shamans, since iron objects were considered magic.
