Abstract:

Historians have hitherto failed to adequately explain the declarations of submission by khans and sultans of the Qazaq Middle Zhuz to the Romanov Empire in the mid-18th century. Scholars generally agree that these declarations imposed few practical responsibilities, but Chinggisid rulers seemingly had little reason to profess their obedience to sedentary, non-Muslim empires, especially given the limited Russian military presence in the steppe at the time. Historians usually contrast Abu’l-Khayr Khan’s submission of the Junior Zhuz to Russia in 1731 to Ablai’s “multi-vector diplomacy” between the Romanovs and Qing. According to this view, Ablai’s simultaneous submissions to both powers were meant to preserve Qazaq statehood in the face of imperial aggression. However, this view disregards the long process by which the Middle Zhuz came into Tsarist orbit, including the actions of Ablai’s predecessors.

This study instead focuses on the internal dynamics of Qazaq society to determine potential “domestic” motives for Chinggisid rulers to request Tsarist support. It relies on Russian and Chaghatay sources in published collections, primarily diplomatic correspondence of Qazaq rulers with Russian officials, as well as reports from the steppe by Russian officers. The analysis determines that foreign threats were probably not the primary factor behind declarations of submission. Economic benefits played a more important role in soliciting expressions of loyalty, since they allowed Qazaqs to grow their patronage networks and secure trade opportunities from the empire. However, an even more important factor was khans’ desire to centralize their own status within the Zhuz. Qazaq Khans used Russian titles and rituals to elevate their authority over the Qazaq population, sought imperial recognition of their sons as their successors, and even requested Tsarist troops to suppress their domestic rivals. Thus, submission was a strategy to consolidate “domestic” political power even at the cost of “foreign” domination. This finding challenges the image of Ablai as a Kazakh national hero and nuances our understanding of the political dynamics of imperial borderlands.