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.
Between 1905 and 1912, the monk Iliodor (Trufanov) set Russia ablaze with his inflammatory right-wing rhetoric, causing scandal after scandal. In this episode, we...
The colour photographs of Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii fascinated the imperial public of the early 20th century, persuading Emperor Nicholas II to sponsor expeditions across the...
On 1 December 1911, the priest's wife Zinaida Troitskaia was found murdered in the backwoods village of Alajõe in eastern Estland province. This episode...