The first steps toward the Far East: the Russian–Mongolian contacts in the 17th century

Abstract

Since the 13th century the Russian–Mongolian contacts have basically determined the political relationships of Inner Asia. At the time of the Mongolian conquest, this relationship was characterized by an manifest Mongolian dominance. In the middle of the 16th century, the Russian expansion toward the East created a new situation: Russians step by step eliminated the small succession states of the Golden Horde, and, by conquering the Siberian regions, they reached the Inner Asian territories populated by Mongolians. Here they found a rather desintegrated nomadic population led by different centers of power. First, the Russians contacted the Oirats and later on the khans of Khalkha Mongolian areas. At that time, the continuously rivaling Mongolian nobles often tried to act in the name of the entire Mongolian nation even though they did not possess the real power for that. This paper offers an overview of the variegated period of Russian–Mongolian relationship when the Russians got acquainted with the power relations on the Mongolian territories in Inner Asia. First, they considered the Mongols as tributaries and afterwards they treated them as rivals in their own aspiration for supremacy over the Inner Asian region.