Claim: In 1724-1771, the Russian Empire chipped away at the Kalmyk Khanate's autonomy, which encouraged Russian and German settlements where the Kalmyks used to roam and feed their livestock.
Evidence: The Tsarist government also gradually chipped away at the autonomy of the Kalmyk Khanate. These policies, for instance, encouraged the establishment of Russian and German settlements on pastures the Kalmyks used to roam and feed their livestock. The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus (Russian: Русское царство, Russkoye tsarstvo later changed to Российское царство, Rossiyskoye tsarstvo), also called the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I in 1721.