2 June 01, 2026

Abstract:
This article examines the history of the Kazakh Khanate's foreign policy in the 1630–1650s. One of the key areas of the Kazakh Khanate's foreign policy was the development of diplomatic and allied ties with the Bukhara Khanate, as well as countering the military threat posed by the Dzungar Khanate. During the reign of Zhanibek Khan, internal political instability in the state significantly influenced the intensification of Dzungar raids. The study also examines the diplomatic and administrative activities of Zhanibek Khan and Zhangir Khan, who played a significant role in strengthening the state's foreign policy position. A historical assessment of the Kazakh Khanate's foreign policy activities during the reigns of Zhanibek and Zhangir is provided. The military and political alliance between the Kazakhs and Bukharans became an important factor in the foreign policies of both khanates, contributing to the strengthening of their positions in the region. The Kazakh-Bukharan relations have had a significant impact not only on the development of the political situation within the two states but also on the formation of a common political space in Central Asia. The history of interaction between them not only reflects the historical past but also forms the basis of interstate ties, grounded in a shared historical heritage and the cultural affinity of their peoples. These relations are characterized by complexity and multifacetedness, which contributed to the formation of a stable and peaceful political environment in the Central Asian region. Therefore, the study of Kazakh-Bukharan relations using modern scholarly approaches focused on national interests remains a pressing task for contemporary historical scholarship.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780301020.pdf
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Abstract:
The central objective of this article is to introduce widespread sources on the history of the Ural (Yaik) Cossacks into scholarly circulation. The work is based on materials from the Yaik Cossack census conducted by Colonel I.I. Zakharov in 1723–1724, which are stored in the Russian State Military Historical Archive: the Yaik Cossack census book, the list of names of people living in the territory of the Yaik Cossack Host, and their accounts (interrogations, testimonies). Currently, these documents have not been fully utilized in historical scholarship. To fully study the social and ethnic composition of the Yaik Cossack Host population, historical and statistical methods of processing materials, scientific calculations, analysis, critique, and comparison of existing sources and materials were used. Furthermore, drawing on archival documents and research by other authors, the article reconstructs the census practices of the investigative office headed by Colonel I.I. Zakharov. The results of statistical analysis and systematization of census book, name list, and folktales presented in this article allowed us to obtain documented final data and draw conclusions about the social and ethnic composition of the Cossack community. They provide important material for further study of the personnel and numbers of the Yaik Cossack army in the first quarter of the 18th century.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780301597.pdf
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Abstract:
The article, the authors analyze the trade routes passing through Kyzylkum and the lower reaches of the Syrdarya River in the XVIII – early XIX centuries. Special attention is paid to the directions, conditions of functioning and participation of Kazakhs in the organization of international trade and caravan routes connecting Kazakhstan with the states of Central Asia and Russia. The purpose of the study is to comprehensively analyze the historical, geographical and ethno-economical features of the functioning of these trade routes. The methodological basis of the work consists of historical-comparative, statistical and historical-systematic approaches, as well as source analysis. The source database consists of archival and official statistical collections. It is shown that the studied territory served as a transit space. Many trade routes crossing the Syr Darya River connected Central Asia and the West, which contributed to economic development in cities and towns located along the banks of the river. The development of desert and water roads, the spread of trade contributed to the development of various types of crafts among the Prisyrdari Kazakhs, such as keruenbasylyk (caravan guide), zhuk tasushylyk (cargo transportation), saudagerlik (trade). Cargo transportation has provided an opportunity for the local population to earn additional funds for their livelihood. Responsibility for the organization of caravan activities among the Kazakhs was also assigned to keruenbasy (caravan manager).

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780301876.pdf
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Abstract:
This paper analyzes the state of the infrastructure and administrative system of cities in Central Russia in the mid-18th century, on the eve of Catherine the Great's large-scale reforms. The study employs elements of comparative, structural, and descriptive analysis, and draws on previously unpublished materials from the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (RGADA). The data obtained allow us to examine the development of small and medium-sized cities during this period through the lens of institutional inertia and path dependence, consistent with modern approaches to institutional theory. It is shown that by the early 1760s, cities were undergoing a complex transformation shaped by the long-term consequences of the socioeconomic and administrative reforms of Peter the Great's era, as well as the broader cycles of urbanization and state building characteristic of 18th-century Russia. Cities gradually lost their status as instruments of military and political control and began to emerge as administrative centers, but their institutional maturation remained incomplete. Significant infrastructural limitations, personnel shortages, and weak administrative institutions hinder the solution of basic urban governance tasks: dismantling functional fortifications, developing transport and social infrastructure, and modernizing fire protection and law enforcement systems. The study demonstrates that the urban crisis was systemic and structural in nature, largely predetermined by the accumulation of institutional dysfunctions and the inadequacy of urban institutions to new economic and spatial realities. This justifies the radical provincial reform of 1775, aimed at overcoming accumulated institutional inertia. In a broader context, the study's results reveal historical parallels with the contemporary problems of small Russian cities: limited administrative capacity, fragmented infrastructure, functional uncertainty, and demographic vulnerability – characteristics that are still captured by modern methods of analyzing urban dynamics.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780301930.pdf
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Abstract:
The article examines the activities of Baron Osip Andreevich Igelstrom, the governor of Ufa and Simbirsk (military governor of Orenburg), in connection with the development of Kazakh-Russian relations at the end of the 18th century. In historiography, his measures are known as the “Igelstrom reforms,” which are often viewed in a limited way and associated mainly with an attempt to “eliminate khanate power” among the Kazakhs of the Little Horde. However, as an analysis of sources shows, the institution of khanate power among the Kazakhs was not eliminated during the Igelstrom reforms. During the “Igelstrom reforms,” several proposals were put forward, most of which were approved by the central government and partially implemented. The proposals themselves covered a variety of areas and, in addition to the creation of new administrative institutions and the establishment of regular interaction with Kazakh political forces in the region, also included issues of trade development, land use in the region, confessional policy, and several others. The work is based on several archival and published sources. The archival sources used in writing the article were taken from the collections of the St. Petersburg Institute of History and Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian State Military Historical Archive. One of the tasks of the work was a historiographical analysis of contemporary literature on the subject. The article highlights the peculiarities of studying issues related to Igelstrom's activities and evaluates their results. As the historiographical analysis showed, despite the availability of sources and the introduction of new ones into scientific circulation, different descriptions and assessments of the “reforms” remain in the literature. In addition, the article pays special attention to the periodization of “Igelstrom's reforms.” As a result, three stages were identified, which required clarification and correction of the periodization previously available in historiography.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780391778.pdf
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Abstract:
The study is devoted to the analysis of the initial stage of Russian-Circassian relations in 1792–1793. The research methods were the historical-systematic method, the historical-genetic method, the classification method, etc. Archival documents published in the collection Circassian Slave Narratives were used as materials. During its penetration into the North Caucasus, the Russian Empire faced hostility from numerous local ethnic groups (including Russian-speaking, in particular, the “Nekrasov Cossacks”) in the Transcuban region. The main characteristic of the relationship was the criminal element on the part of the mountaineers, called Circassians and Abaza, as well as “Nekrasovites” (Lipovans); these ethnic groups captured non-combatants and sold them into slavery. The aggression on the part of the aboriginal ethnic groups was caused by the peculiarities of the Circassian slave trade (capture and sale of people) economy. Diplomatically, relations between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, which had the mountainous right bank of the Kuban under its protectorate, were quite even after the victory of the Russian Empire in the Russo-Turkish War of 1787–1791, and outwardly the parties were very respectful of each other's claims.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780302493.pdf
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Abstract:
The article is devoted to the students of the Mining Institute who chose a professional theatrical occupation. The focus is on the biographies of V.A. Karatygin (1802–1853), I.P. Boretsky (1795–1842) (Pustoshkin), I.V. Orlov (Kopylov) (1795–1862), and the brothers V.V. Samoilov (1813–1887) and S.V. Samoilov (1815–1900). To understand the reasons that led these individuals to the theater, the authors studied the atmosphere of the Mining Cadet Corps in detail. The privileged military educational institution, which had traditions dating back to the Noble Land Cadet Corps, fostered the development of the young mining engineers' creative abilities. The leadership of the Corps constantly supported the young people, providing them with opportunities for rehearsals and theatrical performances within the walls of the Cadet Corps. The Mining Cadet Corps had its own mechanisms of salon-based culture. Through these mechanisms, future mining engineers were introduced to the nobility. This approach helped to shape the future engineers into well-rounded individuals. Some of them became actors. V.A. Karatygin, while studying at the Mining Corps, discovered that he did not like the exact sciences, and he left the Cadet Corps and eventually entered the world of theater.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780302609.pdf
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Abstract:
This article analyzes the transformation of the traditional Kazakh customary law (adat), which had existed for centuries, under the influence of the legislative acts of the Russian Empire in the 19th century. The aim of this article is to identify the mechanisms and key directions of the transformation of the judicial system of the Kazakh steppe in the context of the Russian Empire’s imperial policy, and to determine specific features of the Kazakh judicial system at the end of the 19th century. The authors conducted a comparative analysis of the norms of traditional Kazakh customary law and the provisions of Russian imperial legislation introduced by the central authorities into the main areas of public life in steppe society. The study draws upon the laws of the Russian Empire, archival materials from the Russian State Historical Archive (St. Petersburg) and the Central State Archive of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Almaty), which contain detailed records of the norms of Kazakh customary law and the Russian legislation being introduced. In the course of the study, the authors analysed legislative acts, normative-legal documents (charters and regulations), and administrative records, which enabled them to identify the main distinctions between the norms of traditional Kazakh customary law and the legislation of the Russian Empire. The work resulted in a summary table illustrating the shift from collective to individual liability: all verbal and written complaints were recorded in the minutes of proceedings, and the minutes were entered in a report journal. Judicial decisions were registered in chancelleries and district courts, thereby forming an official archive. A gradual transition took place from the autonomy of clan-based control towards centralised supervision. Through the appeals mechanism, parties dissatisfied with the rulings of the biy courts could submit written petitions to the regional authorities, after which the cases were referred to the district courts. The authors conclude that the transformation of Kazakh law during the period under consideration was a gradual and contradictory process aimed at integrating the steppe territories into the empire-wide legal space without completely abandoning local legal traditions.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780302671.pdf
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Abstract:
The article examines the masculinity of women during the Caucasian War (1817–1864), which was a period of systemic brutality and destruction. The key objectives of this study include analyzing the practices of masculine behavior among highland women based on the memoirs and recollections of participants in the Caucasian War, and reevaluating this issue in the works of pre-revolutionary historians. The work analyzes the experience of women's participation in defensive battles, as well as the courage and resilience of women who found themselves in a desperate situation in the besieged Dagestani villages of Argvani, Akhulgo, Untsukul, Gimry, Solta, Gunib, and the Chechen village of Dadi-Yurt. During the long-lasting Caucasian War, the very image of women changed, and the need to survive in a constant state of threat developed masculine traits in women, which became a shield during wartime. The article examines examples of women's sacrifice in life-and-death situations. In order to avoid being captured, women resorted to a desperate measure: suicide. In the traditional socio-cultural norms of mountain societies, this choice was seen as a means of protecting the honor and dignity of the family. Memoirs, diaries, and reports from participants in the Caucasian War provide evidence of the deviant behavior of mothers in conquered villages, where mothers killed their own children to prevent them from being captured. These actions were a desperate reaction to the hopelessness of the situation, although they contradicted basic maternal instincts. It is concluded that the masculinity of the mountain women during the Caucasian War became an important part of the overall picture of the highlanders' resistance.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780303014.pdf
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Abstract:
The article is a critical rejoinder to the historiographical study by A.V. Bedrik and N.S. Tkalenko on the evolution of views on the Caucasian War in Soviet and Russian scholarship. The aim of the work is to identify methodological limitations in the approach of the aforementioned authors and to propose an alternative research perspective. The first part of the analysis demonstrates that the concept of a “median position” proposed by A.V. Bedrik and N.S. Tkalenko, while claiming objectivity, in practice leads to a hierarchization of historiographical traditions and the marginalization of the North Caucasian viewpoint through rhetorical strategies that qualify “national” historiographies as “emotional” and “radical”. The second part, drawing on the theoretical legacy of E.A. Sheudzhen, who developed the problems of the “external perspective”, historical memory, and the methodology of writing the history of non-literate peoples, as well as on the concept of history as a “memory space”, substantiates the necessity of moving from the search for a single “objective” narrative towards constructing a polyphonic model of historical writing. Additionally, the category of trauma, developed in contemporary memory studies, is employed to explain the “emotional charge” of certain historiographical texts not as a deviation from the norm of scientificity, but as a form of representation of collective experience. Special attention is paid to the methodological significance of E.A. Sheudzhen's works for understanding the nature of historiographical conflicts and overcoming the “war of historiographies”.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780303056.pdf
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Abstract:
This article analyzes the evolution of the Russian intelligentsia’s attitude toward the authority of the Romanov dynasty during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The article identifies a correlation between the transformation of that attitude, which ranged from consensus and hopes for reform to pronounced antagonism and open confrontation, and changes in the socio-political climate. It notes that the growing self-awareness of the intelligentsia and its aspiration to participate in state affairs encountered the institutional constraints of absolute monarchy. This discrepancy gave rise to persistent oppositional tendencies, further reinforced by the ruling monarchs' departure from expected liberal reforms and the mismatch between the idealized image and the real character of a ruler. The internal disunity among the intelligentsia, manifested in the antagonism between radical and liberal factions, weakened its consolidating power. Special attention is paid to how the personal qualities of the monarchs, namely their ability or inability to engage in dialogue and implement reforms, affected the intelligentsia's perception of their authority. The research is based on a comparative analysis of historical sources, including memoirs, diaries, and notes of contemporaries, providing a reliable basis for understanding the examined aspects of Russia's socio-political life during this period.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780303695.pdf
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Abstract:
For each individual, the place of residence is the space where important life activities and the most significant life interactions are carried out. As a result, the Fatherland is associated with the personal interests and aspirations of the personality living there, it is perceived as its own world. Awareness of the small homeland as its territory means the self-identification of a person with it, the adoption of its spiritual, moral and socio-cultural values and norms in the process of socialization, the education of the need for practical improvement of living conditions, i.e. regional identity. Local history is a powerful resource for the formation of regional identity, since it studies the nature, population, history, economy and culture of a particular territory or object (republic, region, village, etc.). Knowledge of local history is very close to each person. The idea of the cultural, historical and socio-economic characteristics of a small homeland contributes to the understanding of the individual as part of a large whole community, the awareness of his regional identity and personal involvement in historical events of any scale, the education of a sense of citizenship and morality. The purpose of the presented study is to study the local history movement as a factor in building regional identity using the example of the Penza region. The novelty of the study is that for the first time the development of the local history movement in the Penza Territory and its practice in the context of the process of forming regional identity among the population are considered. Local history material was widely used to educate regional identity among the Penza population through fostering pride in their native land, respect for its historical past and their fellow countrymen, awareness of the role of the region in the socio-economic development of the country, the formation of a desire to actively participate in the life of their region, etc.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780303747.pdf
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Abstract:
This article is dedicated to the memory of Elpidifor Vasilyevich Barsov (1836–1917), a scholar, historian of ancient Russian writing and literature, archaeographer, folklorist, and collector who dedicated his life to preserving ancient books, manuscripts, icons, and coins – many of which today are preserved in museums and libraries. His activities went far beyond collecting: he meticulously studied each edition, documented its unique features, restored lost fragments, and created detailed descriptions, transforming the collection into a living source of knowledge. Drawing on archival documents – the scholar's official and family correspondence, inventories of book collections, personal notes, etc. – this article reconstructs the researcher's professional path and his contribution to understanding Russian folk culture and history. The relevance of this work stems from the anniversary date, which provides an opportunity to examine the legacy of this outstanding scholar, the need to study historical practices with rare editions, and the need to preserve the memory of those who formed cultural collections. The novelty of this study lies in the introduction of previously unpublished archival materials related to the scholar's work into scholarly circulation. These documents allow us to: supplement biographical information and reveal the scholar's professional connections; identify the range of his scientific interests and priority areas of work; and evaluate his contribution to the development of collecting and systematizing old books. Elpidifor Vasilyevich Barsov's ethnographic, archaeological, and critical works, as well as numerous speeches delivered on various events in the academic world, occupy a prominent place in his scholarly legacy. The study demonstrates the value of archival sources for studying the history of ethnography, as well as related disciplines such as folklore studies, cultural anthropology, and regional history. The results can be used in educational and outreach projects.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780303799.pdf
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Abstract:
The article analyzes the legislative basis of legal regulation of volost justice with an emphasis on the Rural Judicial Statute for state peasants as a source of decision-making in volost courts after the abolition of serfdom in Russia. The content of the article is based on a comparative legal analysis of two interrelated reforms: the reform of the state (1837–1841) and the reform of the landlord village (1861), the continuity of which is shown through the protocols of volost courts in the Arkhangelsk province, where there was no private-feudal dependence of the peasant population. Based on the theoretical conclusions made in pre-revolutionary historiography, as well as the conclusions of modern researchers in the field of legal history, the authors of this article have made well-founded conclusions using the protocols of volost courts stored in the State Archive of the Arkhangelsk Region. These conclusions are based on the legal dualism of peasant law, where the choice of the legal norm applied by the court directly depended on the pre-reform legal status of the peasant and the administrative and judicial experience of the peasant community. The present study empirically refutes the thesis, well-established in historiography, about the weak demand for the law in the volost court. The earlier and long-term functioning of the system of estate self-government and judicial proceedings in the state village significantly influenced the legal awareness of this category of peasants, forming their attitude towards the use of legislative norms, the stable functioning of which was facilitated by volost judicial practice.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780303920.pdf
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Abstract:
The article examines the representation of the Russian nobility of Kaluga Governorate in the materials of Kaluga Governorate Gazette from the nineteenth to the early twentieth century. Based on an analysis of both the official and non-official sections of the periodical, the study identifies the administrative, socio-economic, and cultural characteristics of provincial nobility and reveals the main forms of its participation in local governance and public life. Special attention is paid to the socio-economic transformation of the nobility, including processes of property differentiation, indebtedness, and the gradual loss of economic autonomy by a significant part of the estate. At the same time, the Gazette reflects the preservation and expansion of managerial functions of the nobility through institutions of estate self-government, zemstvo bodies, judicial and guardianship institutions. The article demonstrates that the governorate gazette served not only as an administrative bulletin but also as a mechanism for constructing a public image of the nobility at the regional level. The analysis contributes to the study of regional models of social structure in the Russian Empire and highlights the value of provincial periodicals as a source for social history research.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780303967.pdf
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Abstract:
This article examines the colonial character of the Russian Empire within the framework of contemporary comparative imperial and postcolonial studies. It addresses ongoing historiographical debates concerning the nature of Russia’s imperial expansion and critically engages with interpretations that deny or relativize its colonial dimension, particularly the concept of Russia’s “self-colonization”. Drawing on a broad corpus of historiographical works, imperial-era scholarly and reference publications, and post-Soviet research, the study employs comparative-historical and discourse-analytical methods to reassess the structural features of Russian imperial rule. The analysis demonstrates that the continental form of Russia’s expansion does not negate its colonial character but rather represents a specific spatial modality of colonialism. The article argues that key characteristics of classical colonial empires – such as institutional and legal asymmetry between the center and the periphery, extractive economic relations, and cultural hierarchization – were also intrinsic to the Russian imperial model. Particular attention is paid to the territory of present-day Kazakhstan, which is interpreted as part of the colonial space of the Russian Empire. The incorporation of Kazakh lands involved military conquest, the establishment of special administrative regimes, restrictions on political representation, and the reorientation of the regional economy toward the needs of the metropolitan center. The study concludes that integrating the Russian imperial experience, including Kazakhstan, into the global history of colonialism allows for a more nuanced and analytically grounded understanding of imperial governance, beyond national-centered or ideologically driven narratives.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780305486.pdf
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Abstract:
The article examines the introduction and implementation of legislative acts regulating the governance of the Kazakhs of Western Siberia in the 1850s. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including legal and regulatory documents, archival materials, and the works of Russian and Kazakhstani scholars, the study analyzes the tactics of the imperial authorities aimed at integrating the nomadic steppe into the administrative system of the Russian Empire. This approach ensures a comprehensive consideration of the problem and the drawing of objective conclusions. The article shows the current situation in the management of the Kazakhs of the Siberian department, which belonged to various departments, and the consequences of this situation created the basis for the introduction of a new administration on the right bank of the Irtysh. The particular attention was paid to the change in tactics of the tsarist administration from allowing the transition of Kazakhs from the outer districts to the inner ones to prohibiting them, the problem of increasing horse theft is analyzed in order to identify of the tsarist authorities to the theft of horses by Kazakhs and the application of measures to stop them. The relevance of the study is due to the need for a comprehensive analysis of improving the system of governance of the Kazakhs of the region. The study of this process allows us to determine the basis for the introduction of legislative reforms and the course of their implementation. The methodological framework is based on historical-chronological and analytical methods, which made it possible to analyze the evolution of the governance system and the application of legislative norms at the regional level.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780305559.pdf
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Abstract:
The article examines the role of translators as imperial agents in the Kazakh Steppe through the case of Iskander Batyrshin, who served as a translator at the Orenburg Frontier Commission during the mid-19th century. Batyrshin’s career illustrates the dual function of translators, involving mediation between the Russian administration and the local Kazakh elite, as well as the production of knowledge about the social and political structure of the Kazakh steppe. The research draws on materials from the Central State Archive of Kazakhstan, the Russian State Military Historical Archive, the Russian State Historical Archive, and Batyrshin’s own texts, including A Note on the Khivan Khanate (1852) and A Short Diary of the Ak-Mechet Expedition (1853). The application of microhistorical, source-critical, and discursive approaches demonstrates how Batyrshin transformed local information gathered during diplomatic and translation work into strategically significant knowledge for the Russian imperial administration. The research positions Batyrshin within the analytical framework of imperial intermediaries and demonstrates that his translation practices constituted an integral component of the Russian Empire’s strategic mechanisms for the political, administrative, and epistemological incorporation of the Kazakh steppe.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780305615.pdf
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Abstract:
The purpose of this article is to reveal the personal and business qualities of two famous scientific figures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Konstantin Jakovlevich Groth (1853–1934) and Leonid Mikhailovich Savelov (1868–1947). K.J. Groth was appointed by Emperor Nicholas II as Head of the General Archive of the Ministry of the Imperial Household, and L.M. Savelov as Head of the Moscow Archive Department of the Ministry of the Imperial Court. The presentation of the work of people who perceived it as an act of civic service determines the relevance of this work. Its novelty is determined by the introduction into scientific circulation of a new historical source – the correspondence of K.J. Groth and L.M. Savelov on archive matters. As the analysis of historiography has shown, the personalities of these two scientists began to reveal themselves to the Russian reader only in recent decades. For the purposes of this work, the published memoirs of L.M. Savelov were also used. In them, L.M. Savelov gives a negative assessment of his superior. An analysis of the correspondence between the two scientists allows us to shift the emphasis. Both scientists were responsible for the assigned task. L.M. Savelov initiated an inspection of the archive, the purchase of new technical equipment at that time (a press for the restoration of documents, a telephone, a typewriter), petitioned for the hiring of new staff and the construction of a special building for the archive. K.J. Groth supported the initiatives of L.M. Savelov before the leadership of the Ministry of the Imperial Court and sought their implementation, although it was not possible to ensure all. A conflict arose between them due to the improper behavior of the Moscow archivist A.I. Uspensky, but both researchers were able to rise above their own self-esteem, and relations were established. The correspondence presents the respondents as intelligent people who support their business, spare no effort, time and money for its success, and respect each other.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780321946.pdf
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Abstract:
This article, using materials from the travelogue of Saratov merchant Yakov Prokhorovich Zharkov, identifies key patterns in Russian society's construction of the image of the Kazakh steppe as a region actively incorporated into imperial space in the mid-19th century. The study identified the motives and reasons that prompted the average Russian entrepreneur to travel, as well as the considerations that guided their decision to record their impressions in a text for subsequent publication. An examination of such imagological concepts as autoimage and heteroimage allowed us to identify Ya.P. Zharkov's self-perceptions, his class affiliation, and his ethnocultural self-awareness. These concepts significantly influenced his and the educated segment of Russian society's perception of the Kazakh steppe as a space of imaginary geography. It has been established that the Orientalist and Eurocentric views of the mid-19th century, which spread through Russia's intellectual milieu, combined with the imperial narrative, exerted an indirect influence on the understanding of the eastern outskirts of the Russian Empire as its own lands – a “Proper East”. The materials of Ya.P. Zharkov's travelogue, on the one hand, distilled the stereotyped “civilizing” view of a man of “power and culture” on peripheral regions as objects of Russian cultural influence, and on the other, revealed the specifics of the merchant "optics" of reflecting on the empire's outlying territories in the context of 19th-century population politics. Ya.P. Zharkov's representations of the Kazakh steppe during the period under study are based on the “own”/”foreign” dichotomy, which predetermined the emotional nature of his perception of territories and people, with value judgments dominating analytical descriptions of travel narratives. At the same time, unlike the understanding of the East conveyed by imperial experts from elite communities – nobility and bureaucracy – merchant Zharkov's travelogue offers an opportunity to understand the territories incorporated into imperial space as the representations of a person not separated from the indigenous peoples of the Kazakh steppe by a significant cultural distance.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780305721.pdf
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Abstract:
The article examines the historical dynamics of women's education in the Kazakh (Kyrgyz) steppe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the context of social modernization processes. The institutional and cultural factors that determined women's access to education are analyzed, and key stages in the transformation of gender practices are identified. Special attention is paid to early modernization, which influenced the formation of a stratum of educated women, the opening of the first Russian-Kazakh schools, women's schools and madrassas of a new type, as well as the activities of the national educational intelligentsia. The article analyzes the impact of education on changing the traditional position of Kazakh women in the family and society. It is shown that education contributed to the expansion of women's horizons, the formation of literacy skills, vocational training and the development of self-awareness, which gradually undermined patriarchal foundations and traditional gender restrictions. Women's education has become an important tool for social mobility, allowing women to participate more actively in social, cultural and, later, professional life. The relationship between educational initiatives and the ideas of national renewal, characteristic of Kazakh public thought at the turn of the century, is considered separately. It is concluded that women's education has become one of the key factors in the emancipation of Kazakhstani women, laying the foundations for further transformations in the field of gender relations and playing a significant role in the modernization of Kazakh society as a whole.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780305782.pdf
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Abstract:
The article introduces into research circulation for the first time the manuscript “A View on Private Gold Mining in Eastern Siberia,” which is preserved in the State Archive of Krasnoyarsk Krai and forms part of the G.V. Yudin collection. This document was created in the mid-19th century (1860) and represents an analytical essay in which an unknown author critically examines the state of private gold mining in the Russian Empire, focusing on Eastern Siberia as the leading gold mining center of that period. The text consistently analyzes the shortcomings of mining legislation concerning the allotment of plots, the taxation system, and the relations between entrepreneurs and the state treasury, while also proposing measures to improve the organization of production. The source analysis conducted made it possible to establish the probable chronological framework of the manuscript’s creation, identify its structure and the distinctive features of the author’s reasoning, as well as compare the data contained therein with official documents of that era. The introduction of the manuscript into research circulation expands existing understandings of the debates that took place among Siberian gold miners in the mid-19th century and enriches the source base on the history of mining, entrepreneurship, and state regulation in the Russian Empire. It is suggested that the manuscript may be related to the work of the Mining Commission, which at the same time was preparing a large-scale reform of private gold mining aimed at facilitating entrepreneurial activity in the Russian state.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780305841.pdf
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Abstract:
The article examines the hired labor of peasants in the monasteries of the Arkhangelsk North in the second half of the XIX and early XX centuries. The sources for this research include documents from the State Archives of the Arkhangelsk and Murmansk Regions, the scientific archives of the Solovetsky State Historical, Architectural, and Natural Museum-Reserve, publications by the Arkhangelsk Provincial Statistical Committee, historical essays. The authors investigate the reasons that prompted peasants to seek employment in monasteries, the size of their incomes. The article concludes that working for a monastery was not a priority for peasants in the Arkhangelsk region. Nevertheless, a part of the population, primarily those living in former monastic villages, were constantly employed in monasteries for a number of reasons. Social and economic ties between peasants and monasteries persisted, and various types of employment of peasants by monasteries were beneficial to both parties. The theoretical and practical significance of the research lies in the analysis of the problems of socio-economic development of the Russian North in the second half of the XIX and early XX centuries and the possibilities of using the article's materials for creating museum exhibitions, developing courses on historical regional studies, and creating educational materials.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780305886.pdf
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This article examines the Khoja Ahmed Yasawi Mausoleum in the scientific discourse of the 19th century (imperial period). The mausoleum is a significant monument of Central Asia’s religious and cultural heritage. Its study during the 19th century combined scholarly interests with imperial objectives, including gathering information about newly acquired territories, exploring religious and cultural centers, and shaping the region’s image within the imperial discourse. The present study focuses on approaches to the mausoleum’s study, identifying sources, methods, and interpretations, while also highlighting details and materials that have received limited attention in previous historiography. The research applies historical-genetic, historiographical, source-critical, and comparative-historical methods, complemented by a chronological approach, allowing the tracing of the mausoleum’s study over time and the changing focus of researchers. The special attention is given to reports of imperial officials, travel notes, drawings, and plans, which illustrate the interplay between science, authority, and ideology in shaping understandings of the monument. The findings clarify the role of imperial officials in studying and preserving materials, reveal previously underexplored aspects of historiography, and contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of Central Asia’s historical and cultural heritage, as well as contemporary approaches to its study.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780305943.pdf
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This article examines the role and historical mission of the university as an institution of elite formation in the Ukrainian Governorates at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries (using the example of Imperial Novorossiya University in Odesa). The article analyzes the multilevel mechanisms and actual scope of the university’s influence on the formation of scientific, intellectual, legal, and civic elites. The source material of the study consists of three complementary bodies of sources: official university and imperial educational-administration records, memoir and epistolary materials, and biographical and bibliographic publications. These publications served as the basis for compiling and verifying a register of the institution’s most prominent figures. The research methodology is based on a synthesis of prosopographic, historical-comparative, problem-chronological, typological, and biographical methods, as well as content analysis. As a result of verification, a personnel corpus comprising 56 individuals was compiled whose activities at Imperial Novorossiya University in Odesa took place during the imperial era. This register brought together figures who made significant contributions to science, state-building, and public administration. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the database revealed a clear dominance of the natural sciences and medicine, as well as physics and mathematics, which collectively account for 73.2 % of the total number of verified individuals. This confirms that the university served, first and foremost, as a powerful center for the formation of a scientific elite. At the same time, the significant proportion of representatives from the humanities, law, and social spheres indicates that the institution's mission of elite formation extended far beyond the strictly academic realm, encompassing the spheres of government and public life as well. It has been demonstrated that Imperial Novorossiya University in Odesa functioned as an integrated institutional system of elite formation. Its effectiveness was determined by its normative structure, the activities of the professorial body, departmental organization, the integration of teaching and research, academic mobility, and symbolic legitimation. The institution’s work unfolded in three dimensions: regional (as the intellectual core of Southern Ukraine), pan-imperial (as a center for the distribution of professional resources), and international (through the formation of world-class scholars). This allows us to position Imperial Novorossiya University in Odesa as one of the leading institutions for the formation of elites in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780306004.pdf
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Abstract:
This article examines the agricultural culture of the Kazakhs of the Syr Darya region from the mid-19th to the early 20th century. Particular attention is given to traditional agriculture practiced by the Kazakh population of the middle and lower reaches of the Syr Darya, which constituted one of the key components of their economic system and played a significant role in shaping the region’s material and spiritual culture. The aim of the study is to identify and interpret the place and significance of agricultural traditions within the life-support system of the Kazakhs inhabiting the Syr Darya territories. The scientific novelty of the study lies in a comprehensive historical and ethnographic analysis of the agricultural culture of the Kazakhs of the Syr Darya region as a stable and historically continuous phenomenon formed in a border zone of interaction between nomadic and sedentary ways of life. For the first time, because of a comparative analysis of sources from different periods, agriculture is examined not only as an economic practice but also as an element of ethnocultural adaptation to the natural-geographical and socio-political conditions of the region. The study identifies the main agricultural methods and techniques, features of irrigation practices, tools of labor, and types of agricultural products, as well as customs and ritual forms associated with farming. It demonstrates the dependence of the organization of agricultural labor on seasonal cycles and environmental conditions, allowing the Syr Darya region to be characterized as one of the centers of agricultural culture among the Kazakhs.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780306087.pdf
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Abstract:
This article examines the Semipalatinsk Interior District as a short-lived but important experiment in Russian imperial governance during the nineteenth century. Created in 1854 to administer Kazakhs living on the right bank of the Irtysh River, the district reflected the empire’s effort to regulate a population with ambiguous legal status and to integrate them into a bureaucratic framework. Drawing on archival records from the Omsk Historical Archive and a range of historiography, the study reconstructs the district’s establishment, administrative structure, and everyday practices of control. The analysis shows how imperial authorities limited the role of traditional elites, introduced new procedures for elections, and reshaped the biy courts into hybrid institutions combining local custom with imperial law. Measures such as oaths of allegiance, ticket systems, and collective responsibility reveal how the empire sought to discipline mobility and transform social life. The district also illustrates broader strategies of social engineering, where loyalty and wealth replaced hereditary legitimacy. By situating the Semipalatinsk Interior District in a comparative perspective, the study highlights common features of nineteenth‑century imperial governance and contributes to understanding how empires managed peripheral populations through authority, collaboration, and adaptation.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780307899.pdf
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The article examines the process of formation and development of Russian-native education in Karkaralinsky district as the most important area of educational activity of the Russian administration in the second half of the XIX – early XX centuries. The object of the study is the system of Russian-native education, and the research subject is the specific characteristics of its implementation in Karkaralinsky district. The purpose of the work is a comprehensive analysis of the educational policy of the Russian Empire in the Steppe region. The concepts of enlightenment and modernization of traditional society, as well as systemic, interdisciplinary, sociocultural approaches, and a number of general scientific and specific methods are used as the theoretical basis of the research. On the basis of archival materials and scientific literature we conducted an analysis of the organizational forms of education, the content of curricula, language policy and the specifics of staffing. It is shown that the introduction of Russian-native education was accompanied by a number of difficulties, including lack of funding, weak material and technical base, lack of qualified teachers, and the wary attitude of Kazakh society. At the same time, the activities of Russian-native schools contributed to the spread of literacy, the training of translators and employees from the local population, etc.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780307970.pdf
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Abstract:
The article examines the ethnodemographic dynamics of the population of Akmolinsk Oblast (Northern Kazakhstan) between 1868 and 1916 in the context of the resettlement policy of the Russian Empire. Particular attention is paid to long-term changes in the population structure caused by organized and spontaneous peasant migration from European Russia, as well as to the impact of these processes on traditional land-use practices and the social organization of Kazakh nomadic society. The source base of the study includes materials from the Reviews of Akmolinsk Oblast, data from the First General Census of the Russian Empire conducted in 1897, and land-management documentation from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Their combined analysis makes it possible to trace demographic processes over time rather than viewing them as isolated statistical snapshots. The findings indicate that the principal driver of demographic transformation in the region was the rapid growth of the sedentary population, while demographic changes among the Kazakh population were comparatively inert. The incorporation of Akmolinsk Oblast into the all-imperial economic space proceeded in an asymmetrical manner and was accompanied by the persistence of raw-material specialization and by unequal participation of different ethnic groups in the economic development of the region. Overall, the results of the study clarify the mechanisms of colonial development in Northern Kazakhstan and the associated ethnodemographic transformations, allowing them to be interpreted within the broader context of the late imperial period.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780391874.pdf
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Abstract:
In this article, the authors examine the sociopolitical preconditions for the popular uprisings in the seventies of the 19th century in the Kokand Khanate, linking them to an internal crisis in the khan's authority, the weakening of state institutions, and growing contradictions between various social strata. Increased fiscal pressure, arbitrary actions by local governors, corruption in the administrative system, and the uneven distribution of the tax burden led to deepening social inequality and growing discontent among farmers, artisans, and nomadic communities. Particular attention is given to the influence of foreign policy factors, primarily the Russian presence in the region, which contributed significantly to the stabilization of the situation. The Russian administration sought to establish a clearer system of governance, streamline tax collection, and limit the arbitrary exercise of local authorities, which paved the way for the emergence of new, more sustainable forms of social organization and economic activity. An analysis of archival documents, reports from Russian officials, oral historical sources, and the writings of local chroniclers suggests that the Russian Empire's intervention played a significant role in ending internecine conflicts, strengthening social stability, and laying the groundwork for the gradual modernization of social relations. In this context, the popular movements of the 1870s are viewed not only as a manifestation of the Kokand Khanate's internal crisis but also as a historical pattern that led to the region's inclusion in the broader and relatively stable political and economic space of the Russian Empire. This, in turn, marked an important stage in the integration of the Fergana Valley into the pan-Russian system of governance and economic development, which subsequently predetermined the transformation of social structures and a shift in the region's political landscape.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780308999.pdf
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The article analyzes the problem of marriage and family among the Kazakhs as reflected in the works of pre-revolutionary Russian researchers of the nineteenth century. Particular attention is paid to the studies of A. Alektorov, N. Grodekov, L. Ballyuzek, G. Zagryazhsky, and V. Tronov, in which the characteristics of family and marital relations, traditional norms of family law, and the social institutions of Kazakh society were recorded. These studies considered the institution of marriage as an ethnographic phenomenon and as an element of social regulation that was of interest for the administrative practice of the imperial period. These works also form an important basis for the modern historiographical analysis of the problem of marriage and family among the Kazakhs. Researchers sought to document the specific features of marital customs, family institutions, and their connection with traditional law. Attention was given to issues such as the bride price (kalym), marriage agreements, the role of clan relations, and the position of women within the family. These observations often had a dual character: on the one hand, they recorded rich ethnographic material; on the other, they reflected a colonial perspective that sought to compare Kazakh practices with Russian legal norms. Russian researchers noted that marital relations among the Kazakhs were closely connected with economic and social factors: marriage was regarded not only as a union between two individuals but also as a means of strengthening clan ties and economic interests. The family functioned as a key institution for preserving traditions, transmitting property, and raising children. The works also documented conflicts arising in cases of divorce, inheritance, and violations of marriage agreements. Thus, nineteenth-century studies provide valuable insight into how Kazakh marital and family relations were perceived and interpreted within the context of imperial scholarship. At the same time, they serve both as a source of ethnographic data and as a reflection of the ideological attitudes of the era, which makes them an important resource for the modern analysis of Kazakhstan’s cultural heritage and legal traditions. In conclusion, the significance of pre-revolutionary studies is emphasized as a foundation for contemporary historiographical analysis of the problem of marriage and family among the Kazakhs.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780316032.pdf
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The article examines the evolution of the festive daily life of Orenburg residents in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century. The object of the study is the daily life of residents of a provincial city at the turn of the century, and the subject is festive daily life as a special form of leisure daily life. The source base is the regional press of the specified period, which acts as a “collective diary” for the city's residents, recording both the key events of urban life and the opinions of the citizens regarding these events. An analysis of available sources allows us to conclude that the festive events held in various Russian cities during the period from Christmas to Maslenitsa were relatively standard. These include biblical plays, mummery, divination, sleigh rides, Christmas tree celebrations, balls and masquerades, circus and theater performances, and concerts. The festive daily life of Orenburg residents was transformed by the gradual displacement of folk forms of celebration with more Europeanized, intellectually and aesthetically oriented forms, in the same way as it happened in other provincial cities at the turn of the century. Festive events became more corporate and club-like, were combined with various charitable initiatives, and became increasingly diverse. At the same time, festive daily life was quite closely connected with the social composition of the urban population. For example, the significant presence of military classes in Orenburg, including officers, soldiers, Cossacks, and others, introduced elements of combat training and foot drill into the celebrations and made popular, for example, such a winter pastime as "the capture of the snow fortress."A significant percentage of the population employed in the service sector (modistes, seamstresses, maids, lackeys, etc.), working for the city's bureaucratic and military aristocracy, contributed to the emergence and chronological stability of the phenomenon known as the "lackeys’ ball."The presence of a large number of Asian merchants in the city (representatives of Khiva, Bukhara, Kokand, Tashkent, etc.) influenced the masquerade costumes of the Orenburg dandies, who copied the details of their national clothing.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780310716.pdf
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Abstract:
Based on a study of previously unpublished sources – materials from the State Archives of Krasnoyarsk Krai (collection no. 667) – this article examines the history of the educational activities of clergy in missionary parishes in the northern Yenisei province from 1870 to 1905. It examines the transition from an ineffective field mission to a system of permanent parishes (Turukhansky, Verkhneimbatsky, Dudinsky, Khatanga, and Tazovsky), which became centers of education for the indigenous population. Particular attention is given to the role of priests as ascetic missionaries, exemplified by Father Mikhail Ivanovich Suslov (Archimandrite Father Makarii), including the organization of parish schools and the teaching of literacy, hygiene skills, and new crafts to indigenous children. The article reveals the specific methods of work of missionary educators, including the study of the local languages of the indigenous peoples of the North and the upholding of the principle of voluntary acceptance of the Orthodox Christian faith. It was revealed that education was considered a necessary condition for the Christianization of the indigenous population of the Yenisei province, while the activities of the parishes contributed to the formation of the first foundations of the education of the Tungus, Ostyaks, Samoyeds, Yuraks and Yenisei Ostyaks in the difficult climatic and territorial conditions of the Far North.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780310792.pdf
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Abstract:
This article analyzes the processes of frontier migration from East Turkestan to the Fergana Valley at the end of the 19th century – early 20th centuries from the perspective of historical space and social transformation. The relevance of the research is determined by the need for an in-depth study of migration's impact on the structure of local society, social relations, and the cultural environment in the process of developing the frontier territories of the Fergana Valley. The article focuses on identifying common historical patterns through the analysis of frontier migration to the Fergana Valley. The study employs historical-genetic, source-based, and microhistorical methods, as well as comparative analysis, to identify the features of frontier migration. The results obtained from archival documents, official notes, reports of officials, and statistical materials on the activities of the Turkestan Governor-Generalship demonstrate that frontier migration led to social adaptation and the formation of property relations among settlers from East Turkestan. The article clarifies that frontier migration was an active instrument of the Turkestan Governor-Generalship's migration policy in the Fergana Valley. The research results confirm the effectiveness of the microhistorical approach in studying the history of frontier migration. The authors substantiate that frontier migration processes had a positive impact on the demographics of the local population in the Fergana Valley.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780310854.pdf
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Abstract:
Within the framework of the contemporary historiographical turn toward the study of imperial modernity and the production of knowledge, increasing attention has been paid to educational institutions as spaces for the formation of hybrid identities and cultural mediation. The Turkestan Teachers’ Seminary is of particular interest as a key element of the knowledge infrastructure of the Russian Empire in the region. The aim of this article is to examine the specific features of linguistic training at the Turkestan Teachers’ Seminary and to analyze the role of Kazakh graduates in processes of knowledge transfer in the late XIX and early XX centuries. Drawing on archival materials from the Central State Archives of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Kazakhstan, the study explores the content of language education (Kazakh, Sart, and Persian) as an instrument of administrative and cultural integration of Kazakh students. The methodological framework combines approaches from the history of knowledge, postcolonial theory, and microhistory, allowing the seminary to be interpreted not only as a tool of imperial policy but also as a space of interaction, adaptation, and reinterpretation of knowledge. Particular attention is given to the agency of Kazakh students, who acted as cultural mediators between imperial and local contexts. The article demonstrates that linguistic training had an ambivalent character: while facilitating graduates’ integration into administrative structures, it also enabled the formation of their own intellectual positions and participation in the socio-cultural processes of the region.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780310912.pdf
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Abstract:
To this day the topic of how Don pre-revolutionary authors described the Cossacks of other Cossack Hosts hasn’t been specifically analyzed. This article undertakes an attempt at such analysis. On the grounds of the most generalizing works of the Don authors on the history of the Don Host it shows that the topic of unity of Cossackdom and historical ties of different Cossack Hosts was absolutely peripheral for Don history-describing. That said, contacts between the Don and the Zaporizhian Cossacks in the 16th–17th centuries were mentioned most often, without, however, being emphasized specifically. Exceptions to that are the works of V.M. Pudavov and E.P. Savel’ev for whom the topic of unity of Cossackdom was important. In the first part of our article we parse texts of the Don authors written before the 1880s. It shows that originally the works of Don authors lacked any widespread common features whatsoever concerning descriptions of Cossacks of other Cossack Hosts (to the point that A.G. Popov placed Zaporizhian Cossacks on par with Turks and Tatars). However, V.D. Sukhorukov, starting from the 1820s, had set the factual outline of such descriptions for the later authors: starting with his works, they usually accentuated the connections between the Don and the Zaporizhian Cossacks. At the same time, during the aforementioned period authors usually didn’t reflect on the term “Cossackdom”, with the exception of V.D. Sukhorukov (who believed that the word “Cossack” was used for members of different groups without any commonality) and V.M. Pudavov (who believed that Cossacks are united by their Scythian descendance and the transcendent mission of safeguarding Orthodoxy in the East of Europe).

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780310969.pdf
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Abstract:
The article analyzes the role and significance of the organizational measures taken by the Russian administration to ensure order among the indigenous population of the youngest of the Central Asian regions, the Transcaspian Region of the Russian Empire. Since during the period under review (1882–1917), crimes against the order of government were most often defined as disobedience to the Transcaspian administration and crimes against justice, the author provides numerous pieces of evidence that the concentration of administrative and judicial powers in the hands of regional, county, and bailiff officials was generally in line with the Turkmen mentality, facilitating their adaptation to the new legal realities and minimizing such violations. At the same time, along with changes in the rules of the people's judicial procedure of all instances (codification of folk customs in the form of collections of decisions and processes of Extraordinary congresses of people's Judges, written recording of sentences and decisions, keeping records of protocols of cases considered at each court), there were other innovations: criminal liability was established for false swearing, perjury, slander, non-fulfillment of judicial decisions and other crimes against justice; the administration of the region gradually introduced a selective attitude towards certain norms of customary law (adat) into the legal consciousness of people's judges due to their inhumanity and injustice; penalties were modified, instead of “blood feud”, “revenge”, self-punishment and other adat rules prohibited by the imperial government, arrest was applied, imprisonment, fine, expulsion, exile, which contributed to a change in the Turkmen view of crime as a socially dangerous act and punishment; the previous principles of collective responsibility and collective protection were losing their significance, and the principle of individual responsibility for committed crimes, including those against the order of government, was being introduced.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780332282.pdf
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Abstract:
The non-self-propelled fleet in pre-revolutionary Russia accounted for the lion's share of freight transportation. However, as a literature review has shown, there are currently virtually no studies analyzing the evolution and genesis of the non-self-propelled fleet. This may be due to the lack of an adequate source base. While approximately a dozen vessel lists were published for the self-propelled fleet between 1890 and 1917, only three were published for non-self-propelled vessels a dozen lists of vessels were published, only three for non-self-propelled vessels (1890, 1900, and 1917) were published. Thus, the frequency of publication was commensurate with the average service life of wooden vessels. Furthermore, the 1890 and 1900 lists lack information on vessel names, and the Ministry of Communications numbers under which they are listed changed quite frequently. Meanwhile, an analysis of the фlists using the Vyatka-Volga Shipping Company as an example showed that they can represent a valuable source not only as a statistical but also as a narrative source. It demonstrated a complete match between vessel characteristics, with the exception of cargo capacity, which could change over the course of their service. Therefore, the use of systems analysis on a pre-limited sample is promising for analysis. All this makes it possible to use the lists in a number of areas related to the reconstruction of vessel biographies.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780311486.pdf
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Abstract:
This article analyzes the mechanisms of economic integration of the Steppe Region into the all-imperial market space on the basis of administrative records of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Empire (Russian State Historical Archive). The study is built around a single case: an example of unexpectedly attentive and personalized care shown by state officials toward the individual needs of Kazakh trainees at the Edimonovo School of Dairy Farming in Tver Province. The authorities not only provided them with scholarships to study cheese and butter production in one of the “centers of Russia’s agrarian modernization,” but also allocated additional funds for their meals. As a result, the Kazakhs were fed according to their traditions for an entire year. This instrumental case of bureaucratic situational flexibility is used not for descriptive purposes, but to revise the generalizations of previous historiography. Moreover, the study situates the Steppe Region within a broader context – the project of agricultural modernization and overcoming the agrarian crisis of the late nineteenth century. The article argues that, in pursuing its strategic goals, the imperial bureaucracy assigned agricultural education the status of a key mechanism of modernization and demonstrated situational flexibility in adapting to local conditions. The overarching objective was to integrate Siberian livestock breeding (with the Steppe Region as part of the Siberian periphery) into the all-Russian market, introduce intensive methods, establish commercial animal husbandry, and incorporate this remote region into the imperial economic space. The study contributes to the historiography of empires by shifting the focus from the simplified dichotomy of “exploitation versus civilizing mission” toward a more complex model of pragmatic investment aimed at enhancing the economic efficiency of peripheral regions. Finally, the article contributes to debates on the flexibility and adaptability of imperial governance.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780311539.pdf
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Abstract:
The study is devoted to the analysis of the activities of the Ufa province's law enforcement system during the Russian-Japanese War; this article is the first part of this study. Archival documents published in the collection of materials “Law Enforcement agencies of the Ufa province in the crucial years of history (1894–1922)” were used as materials. The research uses the historiographical method (content analysis), the system method, etc. The war has left a definite imprint on provincial law enforcement agencies, forcing them to work with increased vigilance and dedication. With the outbreak of the war, the revolutionary element became more active. According to the sources cited, the social revolutionaries and Social Democrats not only actively distributed illegal literature (propaganda leaflets, issues of the Iskra magazine, the Flying Leaf newspaper, etc.), but also planned terrorist acts against the imperial family. The agents of the Ufa provincial gendarme department and the Ufa security department promptly identified state (political) criminals, most of whom were representatives of the class of commoners (burghers) and peasants. At the same time, the provincial judicial system faced difficulties in determining whether there was a crime in the absence of an evidence base, the only element of which was the testimony of a gendarme informant. Ordinary crime has also intensified; the documents we examined indicate cases of burglary, attempted murder, including of security personnel (however, this was committed not because of their official activities, but on a “domestic” basis). The number of administrative offenses has also increased, including the illegal sale of homemade alcoholic beverages with the inaction of police authorities, as indicated by relevant archival sources.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780311608.pdf
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Abstract:
The study is devoted to the analysis of the activities of the Ufa province's law enforcement system during the Russian-Japanese War; this article is the second part of this study. The documents contained in the collection of materials “Law enforcement agencies of the Ufa province in the crucial years of history (1894–1922)” were used as materials. The research uses the historiographical method (content analysis), the system method, etc. The documents we have examined indicate that the Party of Social Democrats actively conducted propaganda activities in the Ufa province, distributing illegal literature (revolutionary propaganda leaflets and pamphlets) primarily among Ufa workers. The driving force behind this activity was the bourgeoisie. The documents show active interdepartmental relations between the national and, in particular, regional bodies of the political police (Ufa Gendarmerie Department), the administration (represented by the governor), the detective police (Ufa Police Department) and control and supervisory agencies (represented by the district prosecutor). There is also an active inter-regional interaction of the gendarmerie. The cases were considered for a very long time, but carefully, as evidenced by the level of meetings reflected in the documents. The propaganda work of the revolutionaries led to strikes and economic demands from the workers. The workers of Ufa province openly made economic demands, which was not a crime. However, each such case was recorded and the heads of the provincial political and detective police kept them under control. As for strikes, even the most minor strikes were reported to the provincial executive authorities in the capital. The resettlement of representatives of the Jewish ethnic group was also monitored, as they made up the majority of the leaders of the revolutionary movement. With the beginning and intensification of the revolution of 1905–1907, law enforcement agencies had to suppress open revolutionary actions, expressed not only in demonstrations, but also riots, cases of disobedience, violence, etc.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780311669.pdf
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Abstract:
The relevance of topics related to pedagogical heritage is undeniable: the upbringing and education of the younger generation determines not only the development of the individual, but also the overall development of the state and the future of the country. The quality of education and upbringing, and education in general, depends on the foundations that are laid in the field of pedagogy, on the approaches that will be used in the educational process. In this regard, the attention is paid to various progressive pedagogical ideas put forward by famous Russian figures in the pre-revolutionary period of time. The source base of the research includes a complex of historical materials: the works of famous scientists in the field of pedagogy (articles, essays, etc.), textbooks and educational materials. The methodological basis of the research is based on general scientific methods: analysis, synthesis, generalization, analogy and historical method. As the results of the work show, the pedagogical ideas that influenced the development of Russian pedagogy belonged not only to teachers, educators, scientists (teachers, educators, mentors, teachers), but also to representatives of other fields of science and knowledge – philosophers, historians, writers, publicists, etc. In conclusion, it is noted the need for further study of the pedagogical heritage in order to understand the genesis of pedagogical views and analyze the dynamics of the development of Russian pedagogical science, taking into account the generational change.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780336080.pdf
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Abstract:
The spread of the gramophone and gramophone records in the Russian Empire at the beginning of the twentieth century posed a challenge to the censorship system, which had historically been oriented toward controlling printed texts. Sound recording as a new type of medium possessed a dual nature: it functioned both as a material commercial product and as a carrier of acoustic text, which significantly complicated its legal classification. In the multilingual and multi-confessional environment of the Caucasian Viceroyalty, these contradictions acquired particular administrative, legal, and political significance. The aim of this study is to analyze the institutional and law-enforcement practices used to regulate gramophones and gramophone records by the Caucasian Censorship Committee and related imperial institutions between 1902 and 1913, as well as to identify the transformation of the normative logic of control under the conditions created by the emergence of audio media. The source base consists of materials from the National Archives of Georgia and the Russian State Historical Archive, which make it possible to reconstruct administrative correspondence, interpretations of existing legislation, and supervisory practices applied to gramophone enterprises. The study demonstrates that at the initial stage the imperial administration acknowledged the existence of a legislative gap regarding sound recording as a specific form of mass communication and attempted to extend to it the norms regulating printed materials. After the reforms of 1905, a hybrid model of control emerged, combining police supervision, liability for publication, and the analogical application of the provisions of the Statute on Censorship and the Press to the activities of gramophone factories. However, attempts to equate the production and distribution of gramophone records with the functioning of printing houses and bookshops revealed the limits of an expansive interpretation of censorship legislation and demonstrated the inability of the existing regulatory system to adequately encompass new forms of media production.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780391975.pdf
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Abstract:
This article examines the construction of a vision of the future within the ideological doctrines of Russian conservative and right-wing liberal parties of the early 20th century. The relevance of this study stems from the need to revise the study of this topic by rejecting stereotypes and excessive politicization. The aim of the study is to assess the specific representations of the future within the ideological doctrines of Russian conservative and right-wing liberal parties of the early 20th century, taking into account the specific historical context of their formation. The methodological framework of the study is built through a combination of structural, comparative, and functional analysis. It is concluded that, despite a basic consensus on the unconditional preservation of the autocratic political system and the unitary principle of state formation, as well as methods for resolving the labor issue, significant ideological contradictions existed between conservative and right-wing liberal parties in terms of defining the country's future. Fundamentalist conservatives (primarily members of the Union of the Russian People) linked the country's future to the preservation of traditional orders, rejection of parliamentarism in favor of pre-Petrine legislative advisory structures, the preservation of the peasant commune, and limitations on forced industrialization. Conservative reformists and representatives of right-wing liberal parties such as the Union of October 17, on the contrary, proposed a model of rational adaptation to new historical realities. Their vision of the future envisioned the organic integration of the State Duma into the system of governance (with the monarch acting as a supra-partisan arbitrator and moderator), as well as full support for P.A. Stolypin's agrarian reforms, with their transition to private farmstead landownership.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780311919.pdf
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Abstract:
The factors and specific features of the evolution of popular perceptions of regarding the prescriptive and normative nature of gender contracts in Russian society during the Russo-Japanese War examines in this article. The corpus of sources consists of administrative materials, periodicals, and personal documents. The author’s argumentation is based on the systematization and generalization of a wide range of studies devoted to general issues of the history of military conflict, gender history, the reflection of social representations in the media, diary entries, memoirs, and the formation of the image of the “warrior maiden” in Russian literature. The analysis establishes that the changing discourse of “masculinity” and “femininity” in the public sphere of Russian society is due to the modernization of military technologies, the widespread nature of mobilization practices, the growing number of combatants, and the continued high level of religiosity. Mechanisms for adapting traditional culture to the new challenges of the modern era were realized through the actualization of the ideals of spiritual and moral service; the strengthening of gender tolerance; the replication of social activism, the ideal of sacrifice of “warrior maidens” and manifestations of “female power”, which had been successfully tested in previous wars. The flip side of the coin will be the acceleration of the process of emancipation and the activation of the women’s movement in the Russian Empire.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780311961.pdf
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Abstract:
The article examines the early period in the history of Streator Commandery No. 70 (1905–1917), which formed part of the Masonic Order of Knights Templar. Particular attention is also devoted to its ceremonial and drill culture. The study is based on three groups of historical sources: published collections of documents, archival materials, and museum exhibits. In conclusion, the author arrived at the following findings: First, during the period from 1905 to 1917, the Commandery’s membership grew from 62 to 143 members – an increase of more than twofold. Particularly vigorous growth was observed during the periods of 1907–1908 and 1915–1917. Second, the membership structure facilitated the regular rotation of officers and the formation of a core group of active Knights, a group that included William H. Jennings, Abner G. Rich, James A. Curry, and others. Third, the most significant figure within the Commandery was William H. Jennings, who was elected Eminent Commander in 1907. Beginning in 1914, he was elected to officer position within the Grand Commandery of Illinois. Ultimately, in 1921, he became the Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Illinois. Fourth, the Commandery paid considerable attention to ceremonial culture, which was especially evident in the inspection reports and participation in parades. As a result, Streator Commandery No. 70 demonstrated a high level of ritual and drill discipline.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780312005.pdf
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Abstract:
The article examines the caricature images of enemies on the pages of the Russian press published at the beginning of the First World War (July 1914 – January 1915). The authors apply an iconological analysis of anti-German, anti-Austrian and anti-Turkish images, including their description and identification of visual markers identifying the enemy, the definition of plots, decoding symbolic meanings and inner meanings. The techniques of ridiculing opponents and demonizing them are identified, described and illustrated with specific examples. The article examines the historical allusions used in the caricature, which create an ironic context. The image of Kaiser Wilhelm II and a number of his caricatured recognizable features became symbols of hostile Germany, its militarism, aggressive foreign policy and military ambitions. The demonization of the Germans and the Kaiser turns them into symbols of universal evil, giving the war an existential significance. The anti-German caricature and satirical narrative is characterized by: debunking the images of pillars of culture and thinkers; reduction of militarism and drill to absurdity; hyperbolization of "German atrocities"; antiheroization and immoralization of German soldiers and lay population. Various anti-Austrian caricatures are based around the image of the elderly Emperor Franz Joseph. The anti-Turkish ironically caricatures reinterpret the cliche of the "sick man of Europe." In the caricature representations of Austria-Hungary and Turkey, ridicule prevails over demonization, the internal problems of these states and their dependence on Germany are exaggerated.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780312063.pdf
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Abstract:
The research is devoted to the historiographical study of the latest works (published over the past 10 years) on the problem of the functioning of the Caucasian Front during the First World War. The material for this work is historical works on this research problem. The methodology includes such methods as historiographical analysis, classification method, system analysis, and information synthesis method. As the historiographical analysis has shown, there are quite a lot of modern studies covering the activities of the Caucasian Front during the First World War. Most of the research is devoted to the logistical work of various services, charitable organizations, as well as propaganda. The study of combat operations and the ratio of military forces has receded into the background and (with rare exceptions) is only complex, abstract and generalizing in nature. In modern research, the vector of studying the Caucasian Front has changed: as the authors explicitly point out, the fighting, the balance of forces of the parties and their qualitative characteristics were very well studied in the last century, so modern historians focus on the study of non-combat aspects of the functioning of the Caucasian Front, namely the work of the quartermaster and other logistics services, the specifics of the supply of weapons, ammunition and supplies, military and civilian frontline, frontline and rear logistics and communications, propaganda issues, Red Cross activities, religious institutions and other humanitarian organizations, as well as other issues related to the activities of non-combatants in the First World War.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780312865.pdf
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Abstract:
This article examines the organization of refugee assistance in Eastern Siberian cities from July 1914 to February 1917, using Krasnoyarsk in Yenisei Province as an example. The institutional structure and practical mechanisms of assistance are reconstructed based on documents from the State Archives of Krasnoyarsk Krai and periodicals. The Krasnoyarsk Committee for Aid to Refugees, formed from a local public organization and then institutionally integrated into the city's public administration system, became a key element in organizing refugee assistance. However, it operated under conditions of regulatory instability, reduced funding, and increasing administrative control. The Krasnoyarsk experience, recognized as exemplary for the province, demonstrates the contradictions in the interactions between central authorities, municipalities, and the public. The city government's position in organizing refugee assistance proved ambivalent: on the one hand, it acted as the main agent of practical assistance and an intermediary between the state, society, and refugees; on the other, it became hostage to financial constraints and the centralization of refugee management. The study complements the national picture of the refugee crisis by demonstrating the specificity of East Siberian cities as spaces of forced, poorly prepared, but large-scale social mobilization, which creates the basis for further comparative studies of regional models of response to wartime challenges.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780312923.pdf
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Abstract:
Based on archival materials, the paper examines the results of the primary education system of the Russian Empire as of 1915. The attention is paid to the number of school-age children and the number of students, as well as the impact of various processes on these results. The authors made the following conclusions: 1. By 1915, the primary education system in the European part of the Russian Empire had reached a fairly high school–age enrollment rate of 54.9 %, which was significantly higher than in the Asian part of the Empire (24.9 %); 2. The highest enrollment rate was observed in the central and northwestern regions of the empire, primarily in the Moscow (69.8 %) and Petrograd (64.8 %) educational districts. This indicates a higher density of the school network and a well-developed infrastructure; 3. Educational districts with a predominance of Russian-speaking and Orthodox populations demonstrated higher rates of children's involvement in school education. This is especially noticeable in the example of the Moscow, Petrograd and Tula provinces; 4. Low school enrollment rates were recorded in the national outskirts of the Russian Empire, primarily the Transcaspian region (11.4 %), the Dagestan region (6.6 %) and some provinces of the Kingdom of Poland. This indicates the uneven educational policy and the difficulty of integrating peripheral regions into the imperial public education system; 5. Unlike the Asian part of the Russian Empire, in the European provinces, the decisive factor in educational inequality was not the sparsely populated territories, but the ethnocultural and confessional characteristics of the population; 6. The research materials show that by the beginning of the 20th century, the public education system of the Russian Empire was actively expanding, but the First World War and subsequent revolutionary events interrupted the further implementation of educational reforms.

URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780313724.pdf
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URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780392046.pdf
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URL: https://bg.cherkasgu.press/journals_n/1780313793.pdf
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