In the early 18th century, the rugged frontier of Dzungaria (modern-day eastern Kazakhstan) was home to magnificent Oirat Buddhist monasteries, including the renowned Sem Palat ("Seven Chambers") and Ablai-Kit. Following severe internal conflicts between 1717 and 1721, these spiritual centers were abandoned, and a vast amount of Oirat Mongolian culture and history was tragically lost to time.
Yet, against all odds, a fragment of this legacy survived.
Approximately 1,500 folios of Buddhist texts in Tibetan and Mongolian were rescued from the ruins. While the majority of these priceless manuscripts are held in Saint Petersburg, a rare and deeply significant collection made its way to Europe.
We are thrilled to share an upcoming online lecture hosted by researchers at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, who will unveil new findings on these exact texts. For anyone dedicated to minority heritage preservation and the history of Buddhist teachings in the Oirat world, this is a must-attend event.
Event Details
Lecture Title: From Dzungaria to Berlin: Tibetan and Mongolian Folios in the Holdings of the Staatsbibliothek
Date & Time: April 23, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. (CET)
Guest Speakers: Dr. Anna Turanskaya (University of Inner Mongolia, Hohhot) and Dr. Alexander Zorin (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
Where: Online via Webex
Join the Lecture: Click here to attend the virtual event (Note: We are proudly promoting this event, though it is externally hosted).
Why This Matters to Oirat & Kalmyk Heritage
These surviving manuscripts are more than just old paper; they are some of the very first Tibetan and Mongolian texts to ever enter European collections, serving as an ancient bridge between East and West.
During the lecture, Dr. Turanskaya and Dr. Zorin will focus on a specific group of 46 folios (23 Mongolian and 23 Tibetan) currently preserved at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, almost all of which originated directly from the Ablai-Kit monastery.
The presentation will trace the incredible physical journey of these manuscripts across continents. Furthermore, the scholars will reveal how these specific Oirat texts profoundly influenced European academia—intersecting with the work of early German scholars of Asian languages like Johann Christoph Christian Rüdiger and Bernhard Jülg. Remarkably, these folios even played a role in the creation of the famous Tibetan typeface produced by Ferdinand Theinhardt for Heinrich August Jäschke’s 1881 Tibetan Dictionary.
A Living Connection to Our Past
Understanding the texts housed at Ablai-Kit allows us to reconstruct the spiritual and intellectual lives of our ancestors before the fall of the Dzungar Khanate. We highly encourage our community members, students, and history enthusiasts to tune in to this lecture to learn how these rare folios continue to shape the global study of the Tibetan and Mongolian Buddhist canons today.