Paper abstract:

The history of the twenty-century-old Georgian Orthodox Apostolic Autocephalous Church began with the preaching of the Apostles Andrew the First-Called and Simon Canaan. After the Great Schism, the religious picture in Georgia changed. Catholic missionaries have been entering Georgia since the 13th century. The goal of the Catholic Church was to reunite the churches under Roman rule. Because of the consistent work of various orders of missionaries, the number of Georgian Catholics increased and the already ethnically and religiously diverse picture became even more diverse.

Our research era is the XIX century when Georgia seemed to find itself in the clutches of Russia (as if coming with kindness). Russia has not fulfilled any of the points of the treaty between Russia and Georgia concluded in Georgievsk in 1783. Russia began mass persecution of Catholic missionaries and finally banned their activities at all.

The materials preserved in the historical archives and manuscripts of Georgia are interesting both in terms of the missionaries' work in our country, as well as in terms of Russia's relationship with Catholics and monotheistic Georgia. This is the era when Russia deprived Georgia of its independence, first abolished the royal throne in eastern and then in western Georgia, abolished the 14-century-old autocephaly of the church, and made it an exarchate of Russia.

In Georgia, it seemed that the opposing Orthodox and Catholics now had a common enemy - Russia. Catholic missionaries often supported orthodox Georgians and secretly assisted them in their fight against their monotheistic believer, Russia. An example of this is priest Nicolas Rutinian, who was persecuted by Russia for its anti-Russian propaganda.

The work of Catholic missionaries in Georgia in our historiography largely is assessed in a negative light. On the positive side, their work is discussed only by scholars of the Catholic faith.

There are some contradictions in dogmatic-theological issues, but our churches continued to unite even after the division of the churches for a certain period of time. So this separation is the result of a political situation and not just a dogmatic difference. We think we owe more tolerance to Catholics.

Representing the role of the Catholic Church in Georgia, together with the history of the Orthodox Apostolic Church, makes the picture of the historical-religious situation in our country more complete.

Paper abstract:

The roots of today's environmental problems in the territory of Uzbekistan began with the occupation of Turkestan by the Russian Empire through the colonial policy in the region. One of the goals of the Russian Empire in the conquest of Turkestan was to own the country's underground and surface resources, to supply the Russian textile industry with raw cotton. To achieve this goal, the Russian Empire, in violation of the laws of nature, plundered the natural resources, flora and fauna of the region and seriously damaged the nature and ecology of the country without using them wisely.

In particular, in the process of occupying the country, they created grounds for environmental problems in the country by demolishing dams that were vital for urban and rural residents, or by owning water sources and not supplying water to non-surrendered areas. In order to expand cotton fields in the country, to develop new lands and to establish cotton monopoly, cotton fields and other agricultural crops had been irrigated through many new artificial irrigation facilities from the Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers. Due to the improper use of water by the Governor-General of Turkestan, the amount of water flowing into the Aral Sea gradually decreased, and in the last quarter of the twentieth century, the region experienced an environmental catastrophe such as the Aral Sea tragedy.

This article examines the above issues and examines the consequences of the damage brought by the Russian Empire to the nature and environment of Turkestan. It is based on a careful reading and research of 20 documents from more than 10 funds of the National Archives of Uzbekistan, as well as scientific literature, which contains information about Russia's irrational use of natural resources in Turkestan and the damage to the region's environment. These data show the attitude of the Russian Empire to the ecosystem in Turkestan.

Paper abstract:

This paper explores the series of articles authored by Nil Sergeevich Lykoshin titled Pis’ma iz Tuzemnogo Tashkenta [Letters from Native Tashkent] and published in Turkestanskiia Vedomosti. This series allows us to study Lykoshin’s work at the formative period of his career in Turkestan, as well as the everyday life of Asiatic Tashkent. The series provided an opportunity for residents of Russian Tashkent to learn more about their neighbors in Asian Tashkent, and about whom the majority of them knew very little. Lykoshin’s articles also provided a perspective on the broader character of the Russian rule in Turkestan, and in Tashkent in particular. Who was Lykoshin’s intended audience? What topics did Lykoshin cover in his Letters from Native Tashkent series? What do these articles tell us about Lykoshin as an Orientalist at the formative stage of his work and throughout his 40-year long career in Turkestan?