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.