With the support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), in July 2021, a scientific expedition took place under the project “Lingvo-folklore and historical-cultural heritage of the Sart-Kalmyks of Kyrgyzstan through the eyes of Russian scientists: history and modernity (based on archival and field materials)”. The purpose of the expedition was to obtain new data on the history, ethnography, language and folklore of the Sart-Kalmyks. Sart-Kalmyks – (Issyk-Kul, Karakol Kalmyks) is the Mongolian-speaking ethno-confessional group living in the valley of the Karakol River.
The route of the expedition ran through the Ak-Suu region (Karakol, Chelpek village, Beryu-Bash village, Tash-Kyya village, Burma-Suu village, Ak-Suu village) and Jeti-Oguz region (Dzhenish village , Tamga village) of Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan.
During the expedition, over 100 informants were recorded, whose age ranged from 8 to 83 years. The survey was conducted in Kalmyk, Russian and Kyrgyz languages. In the recorded materials, a significant part is occupied by oral stories (history, toponymy, everyday life, ethnic composition of the Sart-Kalmyks, religion, folk medicine, etc.), legends, songs, good wishes, proverbs, etc.
The expedition members express their gratitude to Marat Ryskulovich Omurbekov, chairman of the board of the Issyk-Kul regional public association of hunters and fishermen, for his assistance and assistance in the work of the expedition. It should be noted that M.R. Omurbekov, from 2012 to the present, has been carrying out extensive career guidance work to recruit applicants from Kyrgyzstan to Kalmyk State University. He recruited over 200 applicants, 70 of whom have successfully completed their studies at KalmSU.