Konstantin Naktanov, about the Bagud clan

In this interview Konstantin talks about the history and composition of the Bagud clan.Konstantin: Our clan, Bagud, descends from the younger brother of Ayuka Khan. Ayuka Khan had many sons, and his youngest son was Galdan Danzhin who contested with his older brother for the throne. After an unsuccessful assassination attempt on his older brother, Galdan Danzhin fled to a place near Saratov. He ordered his subjects not to reveal their affiliation but to say that they simply were people ‘of the youngest brother’. Bagud means ‘youngest’ in Kalmyk. In fact, we belong to the larger clan of Keryad which consists of Iki Keryad, Bag Keryad, Keryad and Bagud. Galdan Danzhin had three sons: his oldest son was Batla, the middle son was Doida, and the youngest was Erdni. When half of the Kalmyks returned to Dzungaria in 1771, Erdni was among them. Today his descendants live in a place called Xing in Xinjiang. In Kalmykia the Batla people lived in Batlayevskaya stanitsa. Doida, who moved to Lagan, had two sons, namely Khavtkha and Sharsa. Sharsa’s mother was a Tatar woman. When his two sons started to quarrel to inherit their father’s title, Doida, an old man by then, divided his people into three groups. The descendants of these three groups came to be known as Ik Bagud, Shars Bagud and Doida Bagud. There is another group among us called Shine Bagud (meaning ‘New Bagud’) who joined us later, and worshipped our gods. Question: Which sub-group do you belong to? Konstantin: I am from Doida Bagud. Inside we divide into arvn groupings, including the Arshakhn, Manzhikhn, Khamrakhn and Chavgakhn. I am from the Khamrakhn arvn. In the past, the arvns lived together. Even today in Lagan our street is home to Khamrakhn people. The next street is where Arshakhn people live. We know each other from childhood. When we started school, I remember children asking each other: ‘Which arvn are you from?’Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi