Buryat guides of geographical expeditions as a historical and cultural phenomenon

The names of the Buryat interpreters and guides who accompanied geographical expeditions in Central Asia in the late XIXth and early XXth centuries and were nominated for Russian and foreign awards for their achievements are known only to a few specialists today. The article attempts to analyze the origins of the phenomenon of Buryat guides. The author concludes that its emergence became possible due to the development of cross-border trade between Russia and China in Kyakhta, which by the mid-XIXth century, thanks to investments in culture and education, became not only a commercial but also an intellectual center of Asian Russia. In turn, this paved the way for the galaxy of talented Buryat guides who managed to remain deeply rooted in their own traditional culture while getting an access to the latest scientific knowledge of their time.