Elena Olzeeva, About My Clan

Abstract

Elena talks about her linage, including her ancestors, father and elder brother. She also relays a legend that she heard from her father about a Kalmyk prince who was poisoned by a Russian official in Astrakhan: In my lineage, Zhamchakhna tokhm, which is one of 13 clans in Ketchener, we have had interesting people. According to my father, my grandfather and great-grandfather were gamblers and horse thieves. When they were at home their women would enter the home on their knees because heads of households were respected to such a degree. Today, by contrast, Kalmyks have lost this attitude towards men. My father used to tell me not to cross my arms on the chest and said that old people should not celebrate their birthday. This was a Buddhist approach to life. My relatives also had Buddhist names. One of my ancestors who married a Kabardian woman named his boy Shiryad, meaning sharia i.e. ‘Muslim’. My father told me legends in the Kalmyk language. I remember one of them which is connected with a mound where a local prince is buried. One day the prince was called to come to the administration office in Astrakhan. Although he suspected that he might be poisoned there, he could not take an antidote with him. Having calculated the distance between Astrakhan and his home, the prince prepared his horses and set out on the journey. In Astrakhan the prince was offered to share an egg with the host as a sign of friendship. The host cut a friendship egg with a knife, one side of which was smeared with poison. After eating the egg, the prince galloped back home straight away, on his way changing his horses. He managed to reach the mound, where he died, although there were only 5 kilometers left to get to his mansion. In 1936, at the age of 5, my father participated in Jangariada and read poems. My father's uncle Koozan Andzhuka was a Jangar singer. My grandfather, Azakan Lidzhi, fought at Stalingrad and had the Order of Glory. My elder brother, Namsyr, bred a Kalmyk species of cow named ‘Aita’. There are 4 types of Kalmyk cow breeds all in all. He sells his cows to Kazakhstan and Latvia.