Yashkul

The country around Yashkul lies in the open Kalmyk steppe west of the Caspian. Before the later village existed, Oirat pastoralists moved their herds across these grasslands as part of the Kalmyk Khanate. In 1771 Ubashi Khan led a great migration east towards Dzungaria; many Kalmyks left the lower Volga, though others remained. Catherine II abolished the khanate that year, placing the remaining steppe communities under a changed Russian administration.