Badma says that the 13 years of exile (from 1943 to 1957) that the Kalmyks had to endure were extremely difficult. He mentions a view voiced by the religious leader of the Torghuts in Xingjiang, Shalvan Gegyan. When the Kalmyks in Russia were sent to exile, the Torghuts in China also died in great numbers due to an epidemic. According to Shalvan Gegyan, the Kalmyks and the Torghuts were meant to pass this difficult test.