Kaluga Turmani
By
K.D. Spurling (2002)
The
Kaluga Turmani (Russian: Kalujski CzernoPegije Turmani) is considered one of the
foremost breeds of West Russian origin and is closely related to the Moscow Red
Pegije Turmani (Moscovski KrasnoPegije).
Although
this breed bears the name of the city of Kaluga, situated roughly 50 miles from
Moscow, the breed is actually a product of the basic surroundings of Moscow and
was known there previously as "Czerno Pegije Turmani", literally
translated as "Black Magpied Turmani". Prior to the 20th century, this
breed was one of the most poular in Western Russia and had been cultivated in
the region since the early 1600's
side
by side with the Moscow Red Pegije, the Moscow Gray Turmani (Serije Turmani),
the Moscow Gray-Red Turmani (Moscovski Serije-Krasno Turmani), the Moscow White
(Moscovski bela), the Orlov Borodun (Orlovski Borodunski), the Orlov White (Orlovski
bela) and others.
Between
the period of 1905 to 1916, this traditional West Russian breed undertook
serious damage due to the pre-revolution chaos brought on by Russia's defeat in
the Russo-Japanese war, the incident known as "Bloody Sunday",
Russia's war against the Turks in the Stans, the beginning of World War One
against Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Empire and other events which
thrust Russia's economy into collapse and eventually made the Bolshevik
Revolution inevitable. At that time, in the last decade of Czarist Russia, the
dominant breeder of the Black Pegije marked Turmani was Ivan Bondarov of Kaluga
city. Nowhere in the world; not before, nor since, was there living a more
domineering, nor devoted Turmani breeder than an aging Bondarov, who at the
start of the Bolshevik Revolution had already invested over 60 years of his life
into the refinement of this breed. Bondarov's father and grandfather too, also
favored this breed. Unlike other serious fanciers of the day, the Bondarovs were
not men of wealth who possessed the time and means to be serious breeders, but
were in fact, not just commoners, but extremely poor individuals.
Despite this, the impact of the youngest Bondarov on Turmani culture
spread far and wide throughout the world and even into the circles of Russia's
Bojaren, where even Russia's most elite fanciers payed a great deal of respect
to one Ivan Bondarov.
Still,
under normal circumstances and the passage of nearly a century, even Bondarov
may have become a forgotten hero of Russian Pigeondom had he not made the
ultimate sacrafise for his breed at the cost of his own life during those hard
times of the Bolshevik Revolution that plunged the country into such an economic
desperation that it extended from the lowest, to the highest of classes. During
the revolution, over 90% of Russia's 350 plus native pigeon breeds were either
brought to extinction or damaged so severely that they have still yet to recover
over 90 years later. Ivan Bondarov is attributed to saving the Black Pegije
Turmani from extinction by denying himself bread for the sake of his own select
pigeon's survival. In 1919, after suffering several years of intense hardship,
Bondarov finally died of his ill health brought on by lack of food, but his
pigeons on the other hand, survived and their descendents exist to this day. Due
to Bondarov's ultimate sacrafise, this breed took on the Kaluga name in his
honor and even today, the highest honor that can be bestowed upon any Turmani
breeder is to be awarded the Ivan Bondarov Memorial Award For Turmani Excellence
issued annually by the International Federation of Slavic Breeds Clubs
powerbased at Smolensk, Russia.
The Kaluga Turmani is almost identical to the Moscow Red Pegije Turmani and the Moscow Gray Turmani to which it is related. The primary difference is in its color. Where the Moscow Red Pegije is red with pegije markings, the Kaluga is a high sheen black with white markings and always lacks the ribbon marked tail. In addittion, pastel blues also exist in the modern Kaluga genre.
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