EurasianStudies_0110..

January-March 2010 JOURNAL OF EURASIAN STUDIES Volume II., Issue 1.
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OBRUSÁNSZKY, Borbála
I. V. Otroshenko. The Role of the Buddhist Church in the
Mongolian National Movement (1905-1911)
Author: I. V. Otroshenko
Title: Roli buddiyskoy tserkvi u nationalino-vizvolinomy
Rusi Mongolii (1905-1911)
[The Role of the Buddhist Church in the Mongolian National
Movement (1905-1911)]
Publisher: Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kyiv
Year of publishing: 2005
Language: Ukrainian
Number of pages: 296
ISBN: 966-02-3501-1
This monograph examines the influence of the religious factor on the development of the liberation
idea and movement within the Mongolian society at the beginning of the 20 th century. One of its main
merits is the use of original archive sources and authentic photographs. The history and social functions
of the Buddhist community of Outer Mongolia are investigated in depth, and great attention is paid to
the role of the 13 th Dalai Lama and 8 th Bogdo gegen (the later was the head of the Mongolian Buddhist
Church) in the Mongolian liberation movement. The sources show that the peculiar historical
development of Mongolia has determined the broad participation of the clergy in political life even prior
to obtaining state independence. The great authority of the church influenced Mongolian society
thoroughly: concentration of broad social functions, comparatively developed organisation, reliable
economic base, — all these factors have facilitated the Buddhist hierarchy’s transition to dynamic
political activity that took place in the beginning of the 20 th century. Since the years 1905-1906, catalyzed
by the policy of the Tibetan governor 13 th Dalai Lama, we witness the beginning of the movement for the
separation of Mongolia from the Manchu Empire; he even suggested to the Mongolian elite to request
help from Russia.
Representatives of both the high clergy and ordinary Lamas took active part in the liberation
movement of 1911, when Mongolia got independence from the collapsed Manchu Empire. Certainly, the
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