only good soldiers, they also had considerable agricultural skills. Their basic social unit was the semi-autonomous 'ulus' or band. But Nogais were proud of their nomadic traditions and independence, which they considered superior to settled agricultural life.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the Kalmyks or the Oirats, migrated from the steppes of southern Siberia on the banks of the Irtysh River to the Lower Volga