Первая печать тайши Аюки (1684 г.)

Introduction. Sphragistic sources play an important role in the historical study of the Kalmyk Khanate. Seals of the Kalmyk nobility gain particular importance for further insights into the shaping of the institution of khanship, genesis of Kalmyk nationhood, and religious-political ties between the Khanate and Tibet. Goals. The article introduces into scientific circulation a previously unknown seal of the Kalmyk Taishi (future Khan) Ayuka put by him in early 1684 on a shert manuscript. Materials and methods. The original document has been discovered at the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts. It rarely attracted the attention of historians who preferred to use its outdated publication of 1830. The study employs a set of research methods inherent to historical science, philology, and linguistics. Results. The paper investigates the circumstances that witnessed Ayuka’s use of the seal when the Kalmyk nobility were taking an oath of allegiance to the Russian Tsar, analyzes its appearances and Sanskrit-language legend. As compared to similar ceremonies in 1673 and 1677, the fact that Ayuka certified his oath with a seal in 1684 was a novelty in the oath taking procedure. Conclusions. The work suggests this seal be the earliest one of Ayuka’s personal seals known to date. The presence of the Indian title ‘rāja’ in the seal’s legend makes it possible to presume that even then Ayuka tended to position himself as supreme ruler of all Kalmyks in the status of Khan, although he received this title from the Dalai Lama over the subsequent years.