Missionary activities of priest Ioann (John) Kharitonov among the Kalmucks of Orenburg eparchy (1914-1916)

The missionary activities of Priest Ioann (John) Kharitonov were directed against the dissemination Buddhism (Lamaism) among the christened Cossacks-Kalmucks of Orenburg Cossack Troops. The article studies the reasons of the alienation of the Kalmucks from the Orthodoxy and proposals by Kharitonov who sought for improving the missionary activities. The initiatives of the missioner were not implemented because of insufficient funding, shortage of the support from representatives of the Orthodox Church and temporal authorities, as well as because of influence of the Buddhism clergy. However reports and other documents made by Priest Ioann are the valuable source of information on the history of the religious life of Orenburg Kalmucks and on the missionary activities of the Russian Orthodox Church.