In the article examines the participation of Astrakhan military and civilian governors in the management of the Kalmyk steppe and its most important socio-political institution, the Buddhist church of the Kalmyks. At the stage of the final integration of the Kalmyk people into the state machine of the Russian Empire, the Buddhist church played a significant role. The Buddhist clergy sought to actively participate in the socio-political life of the Kalmyk uluses, defending the rights of the clerical elite. Astrakhan governors, adequately assessing the importance of the Buddhist clergy in the life of the Kalmyk society, sought to integrate them into the regional political elite, regulate the activities of the Buddhist church. In the first half of the XIX century personal contacts of the Astrakhan governors and representatives of the Buddhist clergy were restored, and the most urgent problems of the Buddhist church were discussed. A characteristic feature of the policy of the Astrakhan governors in the period under review was the rejection of a radical reform of the Buddhist church of the Kalmyks, the desire to avoid political crises in the Kalmyk society in the process of realizing the main goals of state policy in the region. The Astrakhan governors (A.Ermolov, I. Popov, V. Pyatkin) made a significant contribution to the creation of legislative acts of 1825, 1834, regulating the management of the Kalmyk people and the Buddhist church of the Kalmyk steppe.
