The Russian Conquest of Bashkiria, 1552-1740: A Case Study in Imperialism

224 Pages·1968·3.563 MB·English

by  Alton S. Donnelly

THE RUSSIAN CONQUEST OF BASHKIRIA
A Case Study in Imperialism
YALE RUSSIAN AND EAST EUROPEAN STUDIES 7

THE RUSSIAN CONQUEST
OF BASHKIRIA 1552-1740
A Case Study in Imperialism
by ALTON S. DONNELLY
New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1968
Copyright © 1968 by Yale University.
Designed by John О. C. McCrillis,
set in Baskerville type,
and printed in the United States of America by
Connecticut Printers, Inc., Hartford, Connecticut.
Distributed in Canada by McGill University Press.
All rights reserved. This book may not be
reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form
(except by reviewers for the public press),
without written permission from the publishers.
Library of Congress catalog card number: 68-13903
To
George V. Lantzeff

Preface
Many have written of the open frontier as one of the dominating
themes in Russian history. Although Russian literature on this
subject is extensive. Western studies are still relatively scarce. In
recent years a number of European and American scholars have
been remedying the deficiency, but much remains to be explored
before a reasonably complete picture of this history can be drawn.
The subject should be of particular interest to Americans because
of the parallels with their own frontier history. Students of im­
perialism and colonialism should also find much that is thought-
provoking in the Russian experience. This work treats one aspect
of that story.
To describe the Russian conquest of Bashkiria, I have had to
deal with a number of problems that cannot be easily resolved.
First, the expansion of the Russian state into areas inhabited by
non-Russian peoples brings up the complex and almost insoluble
problem of how to discuss objectively an aggressive, imperialist
subjugation of an alien people. A complete treatment of the sub­
ject from the other side would depend on access to written mate­
rials in the native languages. Unfortunately, few have survived
other than letters addressed to the Russian Court. In some cases
facsimiles and translations have been included in Russian docu­
mentary collections. Another difficulty in dealing justly with the
colonial peoples is the bias reflected in the Russian documents.
This bias amounts to the belief that, regardless of the motives and
actions of the Russian government in expanding into foreign terri­
tory, the conquest in the long run had progressive results, because
the cultural level of the Russians was higher than that of the con­
quered. Even at the present time this is the attitude taken by Rus­
sian specialists on the subject. American historians meet a similar
problem in treating American westward expansion at the expense
of the native Indian tribes.
I set for myself the task of examining Russian colonial policies
and activities. This has inevitably resulted in slighting the view­
point of the conquered peoples. I have tried to look dispassionately
into Russian motives and actions and to understand them from the
VIII PREFACE
Russian side. Nevertheless, my narrative attempts to provide more
than a hint of what that conquest meant in human terms to the
other peoples involved. The study of frontier history in these
terms, it may be remarked, has only begun to attract serious schol­
arly attention.1
Finding a rational system for transliterating and spelling names
from a variety of European and Asiatic languages has been a prob­
lem beyond my solution. The difficulties are sometimes compounded
by the appearance of names in the eighteenth century documents
in forms so distorted it is impossible to determine what the original
was. Names in European languages using Latin alphabets have
been spelled as in the original language, Bühren, for example,
rather than Biron. Mongolian, Persian, and Turkic names appear
in Anglicized forms when they are commonly, or even not so com­
monly known. Alternative spellings are added in parentheses to the
most important ones. As for Bashkir names, these required the
most difficult decision. Bashkir is now written in a modified Cyril­
lic alphabet which transliterates readily into Russian. Therefore,
I have transliterated from the Russian renderings, primarily be­
cause few scholars know Bashkir, and most who meet the Bashkirs
in works other than this one will meet them in Russian accounts.
I express my gratitude to the late Professor George V. Lantzeff,
who first directed me into the subject, to professors V. A. Riasanov-
sky, Nicholas V. Riasanovsky and Wolfram Eberhard, for their
kindness in reading the typescript and offering thoughtful com­
ments, and to the anonymous readers of the Press who suggested
many improvements. I owe much also to Professor Kenneth Owens
at Northern Illinois University, a student of America’s westward
expansion, for his encouragement and his critical eye in the matter
of organization, style, and for illuminating comparisons and con­
trasts with American experience on the frontier. Finally, I am
grateful to my parents for their long-term moral and economic
support, and to my wife, Kathleen Donnelly, for her unflagging in­
terest, encouragement, and assistance.
A. S. D.
State University of New York
Binghamton, New York
l. The theoretical issues on which this viewpoint is based are discussed in Robert
Redfield, The Primitive World and Its Transformations (Ithaca, 1953), and Herbert
Lüthy, “Colonization and the Making of Mankind/’ Journal of Economic History, 21
(December 1961), 483-95.
Contents
Preface vii
Chapter i Introduction i
Chapter 2 The Southeastern Frontier:
Lands and Peoples 6
Geography and Climate 6
The Peoples 8
Russian Expansion to the Southeast 12
Administration of the Frontier Area 17
Chapter 3 Moscow and Bashkiria 19
Early Russian Relations with the Bashkirs 19
Russian Tactics 26
Composition of the Russian Frontier Forces 29
Relations with the Kazakhs 33
Chapter 4 The Southeastern Frontier During
the Reign of Peter the Great 38
Policies of Peter the Great in Central Asia 39
Relations with the Kazakhs 41
The Russian-Bashkir Struggle 45
Russian Strategy on the Southeastern Frontier 50
Chapter 5 The Origins of the Orenburg Project, 1725-34 54
The Tevkelev Mission to the Kazakhs, 1730-32 54
The Orenburg Project 59
Chapter 6 The Orenburg Expedition, 1734-35 64
Another Colonial War Begins 72
Kirillov's Policies 75
Chapter 7 Kirillov's War, 1735-37 82
The Spring and Summer of 1736 82
Relations with the Kazakhs 87
The Fall and Winter of 1736-37 89
Kirillov's Last Days 94
X CONTENTS
Chapter 8 Tatishchev Takes Command, 1737-39 96
New Policies 97
Causes of the New Outbreak 99
The Summer and Fall of 1737 102
The Relocation of Orenburg 105
The December Conference of 1737 106
The Kazakhs Interfere in Bashkiria 109
The Summer and Fall Campaign of 1738 116
The Dismissal of Tatishchev 119
Chapter 9 The “Pacification" of Bashkiria 123
Initial Problems 123
Karasakal, “Khan of Bashkiria" 126
Relations with the Kazakhs 133
Last Problems and New Pressure on the Kazakhs 135
Chapter 10 Colonial Administration on the
Southeastern Frontier 139
Administrative Oiganization 139
Tribute and Other Obligations 148
Russian Colonial Courts, Religious Administration,
Corruption of Officials, and Other Problems 152
Economic Policies 154
The Defensive Lines and Their Garrisons 161
Conclusions 172
Appendixes 175
Bibliography 179
Maps
Distribution of the Peoples c. 1700 195
The Southeastern Frontier Area in 1700 196
Bashkiria in the Eighteenth Century 198
Index 201