Special mission of the hero of the Civil War in Russia Vasily Khomutnikov in Tibet to Dalai-Lama XIII

This article highlights the diplomatic activities of the prominent military and statesman of Kalmykia Vasily Alekseevich Khomutnikov, who fulfilled an important task of the Soviet government. The consideration of this problem is reasoned by the attempts to revise and not to forget the role of people who made a significant contribution to the strengthening of our state at the turning points of its development. At the present stage of understanding this story, there is a growing interest to its "human" content, as history is created by people. One of them was Colonel V. A. Khomutnikov who performed a special task of the Soviet government to develop close cooperation of Soviet Russia with Buddhist Tibet, Mongolia and India. On 13 September, 1921 the expedition of travelers on 12 camels departed from the city of Urga (now Ulan Bator). Disguised as pilgrims, the members of the mission joined the caravan of "a hundred people" en route to Tibet. The half of the 100 people in the caravan were Tibetans and others were Mongols - Halaszi, Torghuts and Buryats. The caravan was headed by a Buddhist priest Gaghan-Lama. In the 1920s, the Eastern direction of the foreign policy of the Soviet state was based on the principle of active involvement of India, China, Mongolia and other Asian countries in the revolutionary process in order to ensure the victory of socialism in the East. The leaders of the Soviet state V. I. Lenin, L. D. Trotsky, I. V. Stalin also believed that after the defeat of the revolution in the Western countries it was necessary to turn the route of the world revolution to the East, as there were potential revolutionary forces. According to L. Trotsky, it was necessary to form a well-armed corps in the Urals and send it to India and Afghanistan. The same idea was actively developed by prominent political and public figures of Kalmykia and Buryatia. Based on the results of the conducted research, the author notes that the main result of the expedition of V. A. Khomutnikov was the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Soviet government and Tibet. The mission of V. A. Khomutnikov in Tibet was highly appreciated by the Soviet government. V. A. Khomutnikov was awarded with the Order of the Red Banner on January 2, 1925 for successful implementation of the intelligence and diplomatic tasks connected with risks for life.