On the genre composition of the Kalmyk business writing of the 17th- 19th centuries

The article is devoted to the definition of the genre composition of Kalmyk business writing of the 17th-19th centuries. As a material for the research we have used the documents from the I-36 fund of the National Archives of the Republic of Kalmykia. For the most part, the preserved business documents are official business letters from representatives of the Kalmyk elite addressed to Russian officials. This material is a one-way correspondence reflecting the pressing issues of the life of the Kalmyk people. They were compiled in accordance with the rules of Russian business correspondence, although they had been written in the Kalmyk language with the preservation of the traditions of national written etiquette. When studying this material, in addition to epistolary texts, we also have identified other types of business writing: decree, report, petition, register, letter of dismissal, legal code, and oath. The documents differ in structure, requisites, and a set of cliches, which testify to the developed state documentation management among the Kalmyks of that time. The material available in the archive has not yet been fully studied, so the genre composition proposed in the article may still be expanded and refined.