Abstract:

The Murgab Sovereign’s Estate was established in the Merv oasis at the crossroads of the Russian Empire, Persia and Afghanistan. The conquest of this oasis was also due to the need to ensure regular and convenient communication between the Turkestan Region and the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea. Soon after, the emperor decided to create a new irrigation system in the Murgab River valley and populate the irrigated lands with tenants. The construction and reconstruction of dams and the construction of water canals required huge regular investments. The Ministry of the Imperial Court expected that the effect of these investments would greatly exceed all costs in future. It seems that one of the main goals of establishing the sovereign’s estate was to create a model economy that would make tenants value their land and would become a kind of advertisement for the Russian presence in Central Asia. This image, presumably, should have become attractive to both Russian citizens and foreigners. No wonder dozens, if not hundreds, of foreign tourists came to the estate every year. Later, factories for processing agricultural products and a power plant appeared on the estate. However, the special position of the Murgab Sovereign’s Estate, its distance to the center of the state and the great powers of local headmen created the preconditions for abusive activities. But even this did not stop the emperors in their desire to develop a distant but very important possession.

The study is supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation № 24-28-00915 (https://rscf.ru/project/24-28-00915/) and implemented at the Russian Academy of Entrepreneurship.

Abstract:

Mangystau (Mangyshlak) is a special region in Central Asia. The Mangyshlak Peninsula (the modern name of Mangystau) is located on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea of Kazakhstan.

In the report, we will explain why the uprising is called "Adayevsky".

The Aday uprising of 1870 on Mangystau was preceded by the uprising of the Kazakhs of the Younger Zhuz in the Ural and Turgai regions of 1869, which was brutally suppressed by the tsarist government. These uprisings were a reaction to the introduction of the Provisional Regulations for the Management of the Steppe Regions in 1868.

The Russian Empire pursued a special policy in the region, taking into account all its geopolitical, geographical, and ethnic features. Temporary provisions of 1867–1868 were introduced in Mangistau later, in 1870, but nevertheless met with active resistance from the Kazakhs of the Adai clan, which resulted in an uprising.

The history of the Adaevsky uprising is not very extensively presented in the scientific literature.

In our report, we would like to analyze the features of the imperial policy in the territory of a special region, analyze the causes, course and results of the Adayev uprising, and its significance. We will also analyze the reasons why this uprising was practically not studied in Soviet historiography.

Abstract:

Cotton growing in the Murgab Estate played a major part in subregional economics, but also, potentially, in regional economy of Russian Turkestan. That`s why it`s important to understand the correlation between what was planned and what was really built and practiced. Moreover, the process of constructing of irrigation, infrastructure, factories, experimental fields, likely, could be a part of a modernization project in general, that would be aimed at general "civilizing" of local people in agricultural (and, potentially, cultural) terms. Researching the history of Murgab Estate through this lense can help in understanding was cotton really an aim of imperial governance or a lever that could pull general "development" of local communities` life? Also, successfull and failed projects that were (and were not) implemented in the Murgab Estate can say a lot about how the Russian empire actually viewed its economic policy and the essence of its governance at all: was it preoccupied with unsuccesfull results or was it ready and, even, eager to find an every possible solution that can help improve cotton growing in Transcaspian region?

The study is supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation № 24-28-00915 (https://rscf.ru/project/24-28-00915/) and implemented at the Russian Academy of Entrepreneurship.

Abstract:

Speaking about the national elites of Turkestan, Soviet historical science created a collective portrait of the “national liberation movement” that fought against the double oppression of Russian tsarism and local feudal lords and “religious fundamentalists,” backward retrogrades who did their best to hinder the development and modernization of local society. But there was another alternative and extremely small archetype of the national elite. On the one hand, he seemed to be absolutely integrated into the noble environment of the empire, and enjoyed all existing rights and privileges. On the other hand, he remained in a kind of “gray” transition zone, from distrust and the status of “stranger” to full incorporation and receiving the status of “insider”.

The Russian government initiated and in every possible way encouraged the process of training the children of the national aristocracy in Russian military educational institutions. In Turkestan, this practice, for various reasons, is not widely used. There were very few people among the local elite who went through adaptation to military service. If these representatives of the local elite accepted Orthodoxy, they subsequently acquired a unique status – “friends among strangers, strangers among their own.” At the same time, the imperial authorities did not always trust them completely, and when possible, they did not forget to remind them that they were “strangers.”

Among the Russian generals and senior officials, the most complementary attitude towards the Turkmen was formed, in comparison with other peoples of Turkestan. Paradoxically, this was largely due to the fact that the Turkmens offered the most stubborn resistance to the Russian army in the Central Asian region. The Turkmens were considered by St. Petersburg as the least Islamized, and, therefore, as a less alien community for Russians in Turkestan. This gave some hope for the success of the subsequent integration of the Turkmens into Russian statehood. The Tekin Turkmen were considered the most loyal to the empire, despite the heroic resistance of the Russian army of the Ahal oasis. The Tekins were repaid for their loyalty with loyalty, an emphasized manifestation of which on the part of the empire was the informal recognition of the status of the ruler of the Merv oasis, Guljamal Khan.

Relations with the Yomud Turkmens were more difficult. However, in their midst there was a leader figure. He was Nikolai Nikolaevich Khan Yomudsky.