Historical Dauria: Fact or Fiction?
DOI: 10.23951/2307-6119-2026-3-83-94
This article explores the hidden and obscure pages of the history of Eastern Transbaikalia, focusing on Dauria as one of the nomadic civilizations that vanished over time. The concept of “Dauria” survives only in Russian texts – such as the phrase “going to Dauria,” the title of Konstantin Sedykh's literary work “Dauria,” the oikonym Dauria, and the oronym Daursky Range. No reliable scientific sources describe “Dauria,” prompting the reconstruction of the lost Dauria as a distinct period of nomadic civilization. The realities of “historical Dauria” were restored and described through a synergy of two approaches: onomasiological and narrative. The narrative approach draws on scientific research and work with various sources, including archival, documentary, scientific, and popular science texts. As a result, a conceptual understanding of “Dauria” emerged, and information previously “hidden under the dust of centuries” was uncovered. The article presents these sources as verified evidence of Dauria's former existence within the narrative approach, relying on historical and documentary materials. The creation of two parts of the “Narratives of Historical Dauria,” based on the combination of different approaches, confirms the possibility of describing (as a reconstruction) the lost nomadic civilization known as Dauria. The onomasiological approach is based on J. Grimm's thesis: “There is a more vivid evidence of peoples than bones, weapons, and burials – it is their language.” Through language, and specifically linguistic evidence, we can reconstruct the historical past of both territories and peoples. In this sense, only onomastic data – ethnonyms, exonyms, toponyms, and anthroponyms – can provide important and valuable information about a vanished formation or historical concept, such as the Kingdom of Nikan, Gou-Go, or unknown Tartaria. Addressing these aspects of “historical Dauria” enabled the research team to create the two-part textual collection “Narratives of Historical Dauria” within the framework of the Russian Science Foundation grant project No. 24-2820067, “Narratives of Historical Dauria as a Meaningful Component of the Tourism Cluster of Zabaikal’sky Krai.” These parts describe different periods of the historical past, as well as the territory and peoples inhabiting Eastern Transbaikalia.
Keywords: historical Dauria, Eastern Transbaikalia, narrative approach, onomasiological approach, Dagur toponymic substrate, Narratives
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Issue: 3, 2026
Series of issue: Issue 3
Rubric: ANTHROPOLOGY
Pages: 83 — 94
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