Acknowledgments
This project and the present book would not have been possible without the help and support of many people whom I was very fortunate to meet and work with. First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Prof. Kollmar-Paulenz from the Institute of the Science of Religion at Bern University, who was not only the author of the project that produced this study but also supported and encouraged me throughout my work, offering invaluable advice and much-appreciated criticism. Second, I want to express my gratitude to my second supervisor, Prof. Skrynnikova from the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts at the Russian Academy of Science in St. Petersburg, whose help and professional advice were a great support during my stay in St. Petersburg.
I am also grateful to all the people whom I had the pleasure to meet and work with during my stay in Buryatia. First, thanks are due to Dr. Tsyrempilov for his generous help with my research in the libraries and archives of Ulan-Ude. Without his assistance and advice, this study would not have become what it is.
I would like to express my gratitude to the employees of the Ulan-Ude and Chita archives for assisting me in finding the materials relevant for my reasearch. I would especially like to thank the director of the National Archives of the Republic of Buryatia, Dr. Butit Tsydypmunkuevna Zhalsanova. I also thank the other great scholars and their families whom I had the pleasure to meet in Ulan-Ude, including Dr. Badagarov, a great scholar of the Buryat languages, and Dr. Nanzatov, an expert in Buryat ethnicities. Their help and companionship during my research meant a lot to me. My special thanks go to Evegnij Kozlov for making my stay in Ulan-Ude exceptional. I would also like to express my gratitude to Prof. Vanchikova and Dr. Ayusheeva for their help during my work in the Instituted for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science.
I would never have been able to work on this topic without great teachers who shared both their knowledge of Mongolia and their passion for scholarship with me. My foremost thoughts go to Prof. Kałużyński (1925–2007), who was not only a mentor at the Warsaw Institute but also, for me personally, someone who always encouraged me to continue working in the field of Mongolian studies. I would also like to express my thanks to all my teachers at the University of Warsaw – Prof. Godziński, Prof. Tulisow, Prof. Bareja-Starzyńska, Dr. Ragchaa; and Dr. Rogala.
Finally, I offer my thanks to the most important people in my life. To my wife Katya, thank you for all your patience, encouragement and professional help. To my sons Grześ and Michał, this work was also written because you came into this world.
Last but by no means least, I would like to thank Franz Morrissey and Sarah Epplin for their proofreading and corrections of the text, and the anonymous reviewer for invaluable comments.
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