Ulyumdzhi Mandzhiev, About the Chonos Clan

In this interview Ulyumdzhi talks about the Chonos clan, including its history, composition, and a legend about its origin.Ulyumdzhi: I will talk briefly about the Chonos. The Chonos came from north-western Mongolia a long time ago. Our ancestors still live there. We have a relationship between Kalmykia and Mongolia. A couple of years ago about ten Mongolian students came to study in Kalmykia. When our ancestors left Dzungaria (for what is today Kalmykia) there were 30,000 warriors among them, and each warrior had five family members on average. Having lived here in the Volga region, some of them later returned to Dzungaria. When I was in Xinjiang, China, people addressed me as ‘older brother’ (akh). in Xinjiang people speak Kalmyk well. One day after when we had vodka together, they started to tease me by asking: ‘Why did you come here? Is it because the Volga is already small for you?’ I was in Mongolia last year. I travelled with a Mongolian guy whose father was a member of the Central Committee of Mongolia. His father celebrated his 75th birthday last year. That Mongolian guy was a smart one, and we talked with each other all the way to Mongolia. He told me that the number of Derbets is small in Xinjiang, which I know from my trip there. In the early spring of 1771 the Kalmyk Ubashi Khan moved to the left bank of the Volga (to flee to Dzungaria), but our ancestors remained trapped on the right bank, because the ice was melting in the river. On his way to Dzungaria, Ubashi Khan had to fight the Kazakhs, to bribe them. The Kazakhs also poisoned the water along his route. In Kazakhstan there are Kalmyk diasporas that descended from the Kalmyks who stayed among the Kazakhs back then. When the Kalmyks were moving back to their historical motherland, their flanks were defended by Derbets who died in large numbers because of hostile raids. With regard to the Iki Chonos and Bag Chonos clans. These two clans descended from two brothers. Historically, the former comprised 4,500 families, whereas the latter had 800 families. Today the number of Bag Chonos population is bigger than that of Iki Chonos. Question: How many arvns are there in the Iki Chonos clan? Ulyumdzhi: Seven, including the Khasgud, Boodshnr, Syan Avgnr, Mu Avgnr, Yandyg Arvan, Orud Arvan, and others. The Baga Chonos has 11 arvns, including a Russian one called Molokanovy, if I am not mistaken. There is one story about the origin of the two clans. A long time ago a Kalmyk settlement was raided by enemies, and all the people were killed, except for two brothers. A female wolf found these brothers and brought them up. The descendants of these two brothers came to be known as Iki Chonos (Big Wolves) and Bag Chonos (Small Wolves). These are ancient clans known to have existed in the times of Chingis Khan.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi