Problems of the Buryat society of the late XIX – early XX centuries (based on archival materials of the Republic of Buryatia and Irkutsk Region)

In the late XIX – early XX centuries, the Buryat people were struggling to survive due to numerous social problems that had accumulated over time. The absence of basic sanitation, low cultural level and moral standards, widespread alcoholism led to mass infectious diseases and issues in reproductive health. The established menacing situation is described by the researchers, medical personnel, and representatives of the European academic science, who worked in the Baikal Region at that time. The goal of this article consists in giving an outlook on the situation from the perspective of Buryat society. The research employs the analysis of previously unpublished materials stored in the State Archive of the Republic of Buryatia and State Archive of the Irkutsk Region. This article is first to publish the notes of the little-known Buryat researcher Mangutkhan Malasagaev. He lived his entire life in the Baikal Region, was engaged in the traditional peasant activities, and thus can be considered a true representative of the Buryat people. His elementary education and lively analytical mind allowed him keeping records of his own observations, and thus leaving a range of manuscripts that describe and analyze various aspects of life of the Buryat people. The article presents his observations on social problems of the Buryat society.