New data on the charitable activities of the Buddhist clergy of Eastern Siberia during World War I

The author studies the contribution of the Buddhist clergy of Eastern Siberia to the collection of donations and other charitable actions of the regional authorities connected with the military and other needs. The aim of the study is to identify new materials about the role of the Buddhist hierarchy and the Buryat population on the whole in organizing and holding charitable events in 19141916. The following tasks have been set to achieve the goal: 1) to study the Buryat datsans’ participation in district circle gatherings, and also the collections of donations during religious holidays; 2) to analyze the agricultural assistance of the Buddhist clergy to the local peasants; 3) to consider some resolutions of the Buryat volost assemblies adopted with the direct participation of the Buddhist hierarchy; 4) to study the charitable activities of the Buryat datsans aimed at the functioning of the infirmary on the Caucasian front. Particular attention is given to the facts of the baptized Ongotson Khamnigans’ refusal from collecting donations organized by the Buddhist clergy. The work has been based on the materials from the funds of the State archive of the Republic of Buryatia and that of the Trans-Baikal region. The new details of the charity of the Buddhist clergy and Buryat population confirming the scale of their assistance to the state during World War I have been identified as the result of studying.