The Central National Committee of the Buryat-Mongols of Eastern Siberia (russian: Центральный национальный комитет бурят-монголов Восточной Сибири), generally known by its

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

abbreviation ''Burnatskom'' (Бурнацком), was an organization of

Buryat people The Buryats ( bua, Буряад, Buryaad; mn, Буриад, Buriad) are a Mongolic ethnic group native to southeastern Siberia who speak the Buryat language. They are one of the two largest indigenous groups in Siberia, the other being the Yak ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

during the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

. Immediately following the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

Gombojab Tsybikov Gombojab Tsybikov (russian: link=no, Гомбожаб Цэбекович Цыбиков ''Gombozhab Tsebekovich Tsybikov''; bua, Цэбэгэй Гомбожаб, mn, Цэвэгийн Гомбожав, alternatively romanized as Gombozhab and ...

(chair of Mongol Philology at the Oriental Institute of Vladivostok) travelled to Buryatia and together with , Tsyben Zhamtsarano, , Elbegdorj Rinchino, and others founded the nucleus of Burnatskom in March 1917. The group gathered virtually all Buryat prominent leaders at the time. Burnatskom supported

Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky, ; Reforms of Russian orthography, original spelling: ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months ...

Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

and promoted national autonomy. On 25 April 1917 the First All-Buryat Congress formalized the foundation of Burnatskom.''

Buryad Unen ''Buryad Unen'' ( bxr, Буряад үнэн, , "The Buryat Truth") is the main newspaper in the Buryat language, founded in December 1921 and originally published in the top-down Mongolian script before switching to Latin script in 1931-1938 an ...

''
100 лет назад появился Бурнацком - первый официальный орган самоуправления бурят
/ref> In April 1917 Burnatskom set up the autonomous

State of Buryat-Mongolia The State of Buryat-Mongolia ( Buryat: ''Буряад-Монгол улас'' ''ᠪᠤᠷᠢᠠᠳ ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠪᠤᠯᠤᠰ'') was a buffer Buryat-Mongolian state,''Бабаков В. В.'', Бурнацком - Бурнардума: п� ...

.Rathcliffe, Jonathan.
Becoming-Geser, Becoming Buryat: Oral Epic and the Politics of Navigating Four Identity Crises
' Burnatskom had its headquarters in Chita and a branch in

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...

. The leaders of Burnatskom sympathised with the

Socialist-Revolutionary Party The Socialist Revolutionary Party, or the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (the SRs, , or Esers, russian: эсеры, translit=esery, label=none; russian: Партия социалистов-революционеров, ), was a major politi ...

and envisioned a socialist state compatible with Buddhism. Burnatskom sought to reform and modernise

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

religious practices. The organization promoted a regional parliament, education in the

Buryat language Buryat, or Buriat (; Buryat Cyrillic: , , ), known in foreign sources as the Bargu-Buryat dialect of Mongolian, and in pre-1956 Soviet sources as Buryat-Mongolian,In China, the Buryat language is classified as the Bargu-Buryat dialect of the Mon ...

, and

pan-Mongolism Pan-Mongolism is an irredentist idea that advocates cultural and political solidarity of Mongols. The proposed territory, called "Greater Mongolia" ( mn, Даяар Монгол, ''Dayaar Mongol''), also known as (Хамаг Монгол) which me ...

. However the organization also expressed its willingness to cooperate with the Soviet government if Buryat national institutions would remain intact. In the political strife of 1917, the Burnatskom competed with the Transbaikal Cossack Party for influence over the region. As Buryat leaders were not given prominent positions on the Socialist-Revolutionary list, Burnatskom fielded its own list in the Transbaikal constituency in the

1917 Russian Constituent Assembly election Elections to the Russian Constituent Assembly were held on 25 November 1917, although some districts had polling on alternate days, around two months after they were originally meant to occur, having been organized as a result of events in the Feb ...

, obtaining 17,083 votes (17.39%). Burnatskom joined the Nationalities Council of the Provisional Siberian Government in

Tomsk Tomsk ( rus, Томск, p=tomsk, sty, Түң-тора) is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, located on the Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. The city is a not ...

in December 1917.Schorkowitz, Dittmar.
Imperial Formations and Ethnic Diversity: institutions, practices, and longue durée illustrated by the example of Russia
' Burnatskom organized military units, to "defend religion and national welfare", which the

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

ataman

Grigory Mikhaylovich Semyonov Grigory Mikhaylovich Semyonov, or Semenov (russian: Григо́рий Миха́йлович Семёнов; September 25, 1890 – August 30, 1946), was a Japanese-supported leader of the White movement in Transbaikal and beyond from December 19 ...

used as rear-guard troops. Nevertheless, relations between Burnatskom and Semyonov remained tense. Burnatskom continued to exist until 1919. After the establishment of Soviet power in Buryatia, Burnatskom came to be branded as "bourgeois nationalists" and "anti-Soviet". In 2017 the National Museum of the

Republic of Bashkortostan The Republic of Bashkortostan or Bashkortostan ( ba, Башҡортостан Республикаһы, Bashqortostan Respublikahy; russian: Республика Башкортостан, Respublika Bashkortostan),; russian: Респу́блик� ...

organized an exhibition to celebrate the centenary of Burnatskom, highlighting its role as the first expression of Buryat self-governance.

References

{{reflist Political parties of the Russian Revolution Political parties established in 1917 Socialist Revolutionary Party