"Journey through the Altai mountains and Dzungar Kyrgyz steppe" (K.F. Ledebour, A.A. Bunge, C.A. Meyer): new interpretation of the source

This article presents a critical analysis of “Journey through the Altai Mountains and Dzungar Kyrgyz Steppe” as a 19th century academic source on religious practices of the inhabitants of the Southern Altai. This work contains important ethnographic information and is widely used by modern scholars. There is a scholarly debate regarding the recognition of Burkhanism as a local variant of Northern Buddhism (Lamaism). Scholars use the evidence of the source to prove the presence of Lamaism among the Southern Altaians in the early 19th century. It is shown that this source is often incorrectly quoted in many works; wrong statements are sometimes attributed to its authors, and in some cases readers are deliberately misled. It has been discovered that scholars had no direct access to this source and were forced to quote secondary texts. Distortion of facts was caused either erroneously or on purpose, in order to present data in a specific preconceived way. For correcting these errors and presenting authentic historical information regarding the religious practices of the Altaians, the original academic work has been analyzed. It has been proven that almost all forms of religious life among the Altaians were Shamanistic. Shamanistic practices and sacrificial structures were observed by the authors of the source along their path all over the Altai. The statement that the Altai population in the valley of the Chuya River, including the Zaysans, was overwhelmingly Lamaist, has not been confirmed.