About the year 1616 a horde of Kalmucks, impelled by motives with which we are unacquainted, abandoned the confines of China, and crossed Asia in order to establish themselves in the Khanate of Kazan, upon either shore of the Volga. They placed themselves under the dominion of Russia, who readily received the new colonists and respected their patriarchal government. In return, the Kalmucks proved themselves faithful subjects, and on several occasions, furnished the Russian army with numerous and valuable detachments of cavalry. This good feeling lasted till the time of the Empress Catherine, when she, having to choose between two aspirants named Oubacha and Zebeck-Dorchi, nominated the former to the government of the horde. The infuriated Zebeck determined, in revenge, to lead his fellow-countrymen back to China. Seconded by the chief Lama, he even persuaded Oubacha himself to join, and the conspiracy, though it included the entire nation, was conducted with such secrecy that it escaped the interested vigilance of Russia.
On Jan. 5th, 1771, the Kalmucks might have been seen assembling on the left bank of the Volga. Every half hour groups of women, children, and aged numbering from 15,000 to 20,000, set out in waggons or upon camels, escorted by a body of cavalry 10,000 strong. A rear-guard of 80,000 picked men covered the retreat of the emigrants. A Russian officer, who was detained a prisoner for part of the journey, and has preserved these details for us, estimated the whole assemblage at more than 600,000 souls.
The Kalmucks felt the necessity for haste, in order to escape the attempts which would assuredly be made by Russia to detain them. In seven days they had accomplished more than 100 leagues, with the weather dry but cold. Many of the cattle had succumbed, and the want of milk was beginning to be felt, even for the children. On arriving at the banks of the Djem, they met with their first serious disaster; an entire clan, numbering 9000 horsemen, was massacred by Cossacks.
At the first intelligence of this flight, however, Catherine had despatched an army with instructions to bring back the fugitives. The latter had to pass, at a distance of eighty leagues from the Djem, a defile which must be taken at any price. They advanced by forced marches. Unfortunately snow set in, and they were obliged to stop for ten days. On arriving at the defile, they found it occupied by Cossacks, who were however routed, defeated, and massacred by Zebeck.
The defile was passed, but they were forced to redouble their speed, for the Russian army was upon them. They killed and salted all the remaining cattle, and left behind every incapable woman or child, and all their aged or sick. The winter increased in severity, and though they burnt all their saddles and waggons, every encampment was marked by hundreds of frozen corpses. At length the spring came to alleviate their sufferings, and in the beginning of June, they crossed the Torgai, which flows into Lake Aksakal, to the N.N.E. of Lake Aral. In five months the emigrants had accomplished 700 leagues; they had lost more than 250,000 souls, whilst the camels alone remained of all their animals. The Russian officer, Weseloff, who was shortly after set at liberty, was able to regain the Volga with no other guide than that of the trail of corpses left upon the route.
The unfortunate fugitives had hoped to enjoy a rest after having crossed the Torgai. But the Russian army still followed, and was even reinforced by terrible auxiliaries, the Bashkirs and Kirghises, hereditary enemies of the Kalmucks. This light cavalry was now in advance, and it would be necessary to fight with them while still flying from the Russians. They were also obliged to skirt the desert, where they would have perished from hunger, and to cut their way through countries where the inhabitants rose in arms to protect their territories against the famished invaders. Winter had given place to Summer; the emigrants suffered as much from the heat as they had done from the cold, so that the rate of mortality was unaltered.
At length, in the mouth of September, the horde reached the frontiers of China. For many days they had had no water. At the sight of a small lake they all rushed forward to quench their thirst; the confusion was general, when the Bashkirs and Kirghises, who had never for a moment ceased to harass the fugitives, threw themselves upon the infatuated crowd, and would, in all probability, have annihilated them. Fortunately, the Emperor Kien-long was hunting in the neighbourhood, accompanied, as usual, by a small army. Informed of the arrival of the Kalmucks, he had recognised them in the distance. The sound of his artillery restored the courage of those who were allowing themselves to be massacred, and their persecutors suffered a bloody defeat. It should be added that Kien-long distributed amongst those whom he had saved, the lands which are occupied by their descendants at the present time.
The exodus of the Kalmucks is a sufficient answer to every argument that can be advanced on the subject of primitive migration by land. In eight months, in spite of the intense extremes of cold and heat, of incessant attacks from implacable enemies, and in spite of hunger and thirst, this nation had accomplished a distance equal in a straight line to one-eighth of the circumference of the earth. If we take into consideration all the enforced detours, we ought probably to double the amount. With such facts as these, how can we doubt the possibility of still longer expeditions for a tribe advancing peacefully by stages, and having only to contend against the difficulties presented by the soil or wild beasts?