Siberia In The Seventeenth Century: A Study Of The Colonial Administration

249 Pages·1943·12.919 MB·English

by  George Vjatcheslau Lantzeff

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
PUBLICATIONS IN HISTORY
VOLUME XXX
194$
EDITORS
R.J. KERNER
G. H. GUTTRIDGE
F. L. PAXSON

SIBERIA IN THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
A Study of the Colonial Administration
BY
GEORGE V. LANTZEFF
From the Library of Fritz T.
Epstein, Professor of History and
Curator of Slavic Collections, Indi­
ana University, 1962-1969.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
BERKELEY AND LOS ANGELES
1943
University op California Publications in History
Editors (Berkeley) : B. J. Kerner, G. H. Guttridoe, F. L. Paxson
Volume 30, pp. x + 1-236, 2 illus.
Submitted by editors December 13,1940
Issued October 18,1943
Price : cloth, $2.75 ; paper, $2.00
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles
California
Cambridge University Press
London, England
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PREFACE
One of the most spectacular aspects of Russian history is the
) unique, enormous, and continuous expansion of Russia. The
insignificant Muscovite principality succeeded in welding to­
gether numerous, mutually antagonistic segments of the Russian
nation, creating a large state on the plain of eastern Europe.
Blocked in the west by strong neighbors, this state, by the sixteenth
century, had thrown tenacious offshoots and tentacles toward the
East. Over the Ural Mountains went Russian merchants, wave after
wave, adventurers and colonists, very much in the same way as
Spanish, Portuguese, English, and French empire builders pushed
across the ocean toward the Americas. The conquest of Siberia
presents a picture somewhat analogous to the conquest of the Amer­
ican continent, and it is remarkable for the speed of the Russian
advance. At the end of the sixteenth century the fall of the Siberian
khanate (a small Tatar kingdom just beyond the Urals) opened the
gate to Asia. By the middle of the seventeenth century the Russian
Cossack conquistadors were on the shores of the Pacific. The end of
the same century brought the whole of northern Asia under the
hand of the Muscovite sovereign. Parallel with the conquest, pre­
senting another human saga of heroism and viciousness, of valiant
and vile deeds, went the less picturesque, but far more important
process of the development and growth of colonial institutions.
It is to be noted, however, that while the acquisition of colonies and
their consequent administration by west European powers have
aroused a great deal of interest and been studied in detail, the
Russian conquest and colonial administration of Siberia have not
as yet received sufficient attention.
In the twentieth century the subject of Russian expansion began
to interest American historians. The ice was broken by Professor
Frank A. Colder, who in 1914 published his Russian Expansion on
the Pacific. Since then there have appeared two impressive bibli­
ographies dealing with Russian history, compiled by Professor
Robert J. Kemer, contributions toward the study of the Russian
past and present. Also, in one of his numerous publications, Profes­
sor Kemer made clear the significance of the search for a food base
in the Russian exploits on and across the Pacific. Under his direc­
tion several investigations were prepared treating different phases
[V]
Ti Preface
of Russian history, among them The Russian Fur Trade1 by Profes­
sor Raymond H. Fisher, who analyzed the fur trade as a motive for
Russian expansion. Finally, in 1942 Professor Kerner published
The Urge to the Sea,* * which investigates the fundamental causes
and methods of Russian expansion and offers a new approach to
the interpretation of Russian history. At the suggestion of Profes­
sor Kerner this study has been undertaken to show the mechanism
of the early Russian colonial administration and the policies
practiced in Siberia by both central and local authorities.
Perhaps an explanation should be made of Russian terms used
in this study for which there are no English equivalents. Because
the plural of Russian nouns is often unrecognizable to an English
reader, the following system was used : For Russian nouns which
form the plural simply by adding » or y to the singular, instead of
these endings the English plural ending s has been used ; thus the
Russian singular of diak has been changed in the plural form to
diaks, instead of diaki. When the structure of the Russian norm in
the plural form was quite different from that in the singular form,
however, the Russian plural has been retained in order to avoid
mutilation, as in the word streltsy, which has the singular form
strelets. An index of Russian terms, with accents to indicate their
correct pronunciation, has been added; page references designate
the place where the explanation or translation of the term is given.
In addition to the aid which I received from Professor Keiner
in the selection of the topic, I am under deep obligation to him for
his helpful and stimulating guidance, as well as for his assistance
in various ways.
I am also indebted for helpful suggestions to several friends.
a. v. I».
Berkeley, California.
1 Uniy. Calif. Pnbl. Hiat., Vol. 31 (Berkeley, 1943).
* Pull title: The Urge to the Sea: The Course of Russian History—The Role
of Rivers, Portages, Ostrogs, Monasteries, and Furs (Berkeley, 1942).
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAO*
I. The Siberian Pbikaz, as a Central Agency of
Siberian Colonial Administration...................... 1
Origin of the Prikazes—History of the Siberian Prikaz—Per­
sonnel of the Siberian Prikaz—Organization of the Siberian
Prikaz—Policies of the Siberian Prikaz in Siberian Affairs—
Relations between the Siberian Prikaz and Other Prikazes—
Position of the Siberian Prikaz with Respect to the Boiarskaia
Duma
II. The Feudal Background of Siberian Administra­
tion .......................................................................................19
The System of “Kormlenie”—Administrative Experimentation
in the Sixteenth Century—Introduction of Administration by
Voevodas
III. Territorial Organization of Siberia..............................33
Rise of the Principal Towns—Siberian Razriads
IV. Siberian Officials..................................................................47
Voevodas—The Staff of the Voevodas—Minor Officials
V. Military Administration of Siberia................................62
The Boiar Sons—Litva—Streltsy—Cossacks—Auxiliary Troops
—Origin of the Siberian Army—Burdens and Hardships of the
Siberian Service—Discontent and Disturbances among the
Serving Men
VI. Administration of the Natives......................................87
Methods of Conquest—Russian Treatment of the Native Upper
Class—Government Policies toward the Natives in General—
Obligations and Grievances of the Natives
VII. Financial Administration of Siberia..........................116
Personnel of the Siberian Financial Administration—Iasak—
The Customs Administration in Siberia—The Siberian Tax Sys­
tem—The Wine Monopoly—Government Trade—Local Govern­
ment Enterprises—Siberian Expenditures—Colonial Profits
VIII. Government Colonization of Siberia..........................155
Nonagricultural Colonization—Agricultural Colonization—Vil­
lage Administration—The Development of Agriculture in
Siberia
IX. State and Church...............................................................176
Encouragement of the Activities of the Church by the State-
Business Activities of the Church—Government Opposition to
the Acquisitiveness of the Church—Conflict between Local
Ecclesiastical and Civil Authorities
[Ttt]
viii Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
X. General Survey of the Siberian Colonial Adminis­
tration .....................................................................................200
Bibliographical Essay.....................................................................207
Bibliography
Bibliographical and Historiographical Literature . . . 215
S ources..................................................................................217
Contemporary Accounts.........................................................220
Secondary W orks...................................................................220
Articles and E ssays..............................................................225
Index of Terms, with Page References.....................................233
ILLUSTRATIONS
Winter Travel in the Seventeenth Century . . facing 49
The Gate Tower of the Former Ostrog of Ilimsk . facing 89
ABBREVIATIONS
A. A.E. Akty arkheografioheskoi ekspeditsii
AJ. Akty istoricheskie
Chteniia Chteniia v imperatorskom obshohestve istorii i drevnostei
rossiiskikh pri moskovskom universitete
DJL.1. Dopolneniia k aktam istoricheskim
D.R.V. Drevniaia rossiiskaia vivliofika
Ezh. soch. Ezhemesiachnyia sochinenia
P.5.Ä.L. Polnoe sobranie russkikh letopisci
P.S.Z. Polnoe sobranie zakonov rossiiskoi imperii
B. I.B. Bus8kaia istoricheskaia biblioteka
S.G.G.D. Sobranie gosudarstvennykh gramot i dogovorov
Frcmennik Fremcnnik imperatorskago moskovskago obshchestva istorii
drevnostei rossiiskikh
Zh.M.N.P. Z humai minist erst va narodnago prosveshcheniia