https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8875-0572
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ABSTRACT
This article studies an early-twentieth-century reform in local administration on the Kazakh Steppe. It was catalyzed by the massive in-migration of peasant settlers from European Russia, which required fundamentally new administrative forms and institutional decisions from the state. In 1902 the Russian Empire extended the Temporary Regulation on Peasant Nachalniks, which was previously law only in Siberia, to the steppe oblasts of Akmola, Turgai, Semipalatinsk and Uralsk. In examining discussions surrounding the implementation of the new law, this article uncovers the complexity and ambiguities of the decisions that were made, the problems the new law faced, and the wide array of participants in enacting it. The article also compiles a socio-cultural portrait of the peasant nachalniks and the activities they undertook. Finally, it addresses how the Kazakh population perceived these new officials, and how they interacted with representatives of the Kazakh administration, which was crucial to their effectiveness.
Acknowledgements
We thank the Central Asian Survey editors and anonymous peer reviewers for their exceptionally helpful comments and suggestions for revision.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
ORCID
Gulmira Sultangalieva http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8875-0572
Notes
1 TsGARK, f. 64, op.1, d. 818, l. 323, ‘Delo ob uchrezhdeniia v Stepnom gen-gubernatorstve instituta zemskikh nachal’nikov o vvedenii ustanovlenii po krest’ianskim kirgizskikh i inorodecheskim delam polozheniia o krest’ianskikh nachalnikakh, 7 oktiabria 1897 g.-4 fevralia 1902 g’.
2 Nachalnik has been translated as both ‘boss’ and ‘chief’. To avoid confusion, this article uses the untranslated term. Similarly, instead of using translations like ‘county’ for uezd or ‘region’ for oblast, this article keeps these terms in their original form.
3 For discussion of the role of zemskii nachalniks in European Russia, see Popkins (Citation2000, 90–114).
4 PSZRI, collection 3, volume 18, law 15503 (Saint Petersburg, 1901), 403–416.
5 PSZRI, collection 3, volume 21, law 19984 (Saint Petersburg, 1903) 253–260.
6 PSZRI, collection 3, volume 22, law 21505 (Saint Petersburg, 1903) 394–395.
7 Under the Provisional Statute of 1868 Kazakhs were included in the category of ‘rural inhabitants’ (para. 243). For discussion of the complicated nature of imperial subjecthood in the Kazakh Steppe during the late Empire see Morrison (Citation2012, 327–364).
8 PSZRI collection 3, volume 17, law 13838 (Saint Petersburg, 1901), 104–106.
9 Candidates for this position were approved by the Ministry of the Interior, which could dismiss or prosecute officials for improperly carrying out the duties of their office.
10 TsGARK f.64 op.1 d. 818 l.347–348.
11 TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 818. l.105.
12 TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 818, ll. 178–180.
13 TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 818, ll. 254, 286–287.
14 TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 818, l. 322.
15 TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 818, ll. 322–323.
16 TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 818, l. 323 ob.
17 TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 818, ll. 292–293.
18 TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 818, ll. 254, 286–287.
19 ‘Charter on the Punishments Imposed by Magistrates’ (Saint Petersburg, 1867), 31–33.
20 TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 818, l. 265–273.
21 TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 818, l. 347–348.
22 TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 818, l. 268.
23 Uchastok is often translated as ‘plot’, but it can also refer to an administrative area. In the steppe, these administrative uchastoks were also the divisions that were overseen by a single peasant nachalnik. On peasant settlement in Siberia, see Treadgold (Citation1957). On peasant land and administration in Siberia, see Masoero (Citation2010, 9–32).
24 TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 818, l. 265 ob.
25 TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 818, l. 267.
26 PSZRI, collection 3, volume 22, law 21640 (Saint Petersburg, 1903), 593–594.
27 TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 818, l. 279.
28 TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 818, l. 282 ob.
29 TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 1009, l. 86. ‘Delo o privedenii v deistviya vremennogo polozheniia o krest’ianskikh nachal’nikakh v Akmolinskoi i Semipalatinskoi oblasti, 15 iiulia 1902 g.-7 oktiabr’ 1903 g’.
30 In the Kazakh Steppe, volosts were administrative units for overseeing nomadic Kazakhs and usually comprised between 10–12 auls (Martin Citation2010, 83).
31 For example, the third uchastok in Petropavlsk uezd included three peasant villages (Fedorofskii, Riasskii and Novopokrovskii) and one Kazakh volost. The population of this uchastok was 12,699. TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 1009, l. 27 ob.
32 PSZRI, collection 3, volume 22, law 21640 (Saint Petersburg, 1903), 593.
33 TsGARK f. 64, op. 1, d. 818, ll. 292–293.
34 TsGARK f. 64, op. 1, d. 818, l. 354.
35 TsGARK f.64, op.1, d. 2322, ll. 63–64 ob. ‘Otchet upravliaiushchego kantseliarii Stepnogo gen-gubernatora 1905’.
36 TsGARK f.64 op.1 d. 2322, l. 2 ob.
37 TsGARK f.64, op 1, d. 2523, l. 12, ‘Zhaloba kirgiza №15 aula Kuludzhunskiy volosti Dzhubandyk Bulgumbayeva na nepravil’noye deystviya krest’yanskogo nachal’nika 2-uchastka Ust’-Kamenogorskogo uyezda Kozhevnikova’.
38 TsGARK f.64, op.1, d. 2322, l. 112.
39 TsGARK f. 64, op. 1, d. 818, ll. 265–273. Inorodtsy’ is hard to translate. Here, rather than simply ‘foreigner’, as it is sometimes translated, it referred to non-Russian and non-Orthodox populations in the empire.
40 TsGARK f. 25, op. 1, d. 2944, l. 1 ob, ‘O vozlozhenii na krest’ianskikh nachal’nikov ob’iazannostei po khoziastvennomu i obshchestvennomu ustroistvu pereselentsev’, 15 Oct. 1909- 13 Sept. 1910.
41 TsGARK f. 25, op.1, d. 2841, l. 15. ‘O territorial’nom razdelenii Kustanaiskogo i Aktiubinskogo uezda na uchastkii mezhdu krest’ianskimi nachal’nikami i pereselencheskimi chinovnikami’.
42 TsGARK f. 25, op.1, d. 2841, ll. 451–565.
43 TsGARK f. 64, op.2, d. 754, l. 12, ‘Delo o krest’ianskom nachal’nike 1-go uchastka Kokchetavskogo uezda Bostrema V’.
44 TsGARK f. 64, op.2, d. 327, l. 2, ‘Delo o krest’ianskom nachal’nike 3-go uchastka Petropavlovskogo uezda Zhdanova S’.
45 Ertov was appointed peasant nachalnik of the second uchastok of Omsk uezd in 1902. TsGARK f. 64, op. 2, d. 274, ll. 1–7, ‘Delo o krest’ianskom nachal’nike. 1-go uchastka Omskogo uezda Ertova’.
46 Bostrem was appointed peasant nachalnik of the second uchastok of Kokshetau uezd in 1902. TsGARK f. 64, op. 2, d. 754, l. 17, ‘Delo o krest’ianskom nachalnike 1-go uchastka Kokchetavskogo uezda Bostrema V’.
47 TsGARK f. 64, op.2, d. 616, l. 1, ‘Formulyarnii spisok krest’ianskogo nachal’nika A. Serebrianskii’.
48 TsGARK f. 64, op. 2, d. 576, ll. 1–4, ‘O krest’ianskom nachal’nike 3-go uchastka Kustanaiskogo uezda Prozorova’.
49 TsGARK f. 64, op.2, d. 524, ll. 1–69, ‘O krest’ianskom nachal’nike 1-go uchastka Akmolinskogo uezda Netsvetayeva G’.
50 TsGARK f. 25, op.1, d. 2691, ll. 21, 99, ‘Formuliarnii spisok krest’ianskogo nachal’nika 1-go uchastka Irgizskogo uezda Garfa’.
51 Andrei Likhachev was a graduate of the Pavlovsk Military School and later peasant nachalnik for the first uchastok of Kostanai uezd; Aleksandr Danilov was a graduate of the Aleksandrovskoe Military School and was the peasant nachalnik of the first uchastok of Ust-Kamenogorsk uezd. TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 2759, l. 8 ob, ‘O krest’ianskom nachal’nike 1-go uchastka Kustanaiskogo uezda Likhacheve predsedatel’stv. Kustanaiskogo uezda krest. nachal’nikov’.
52 It is not by chance that Andreev, the peasant nachalnik of the 1st uchastok of Kostanai uezd, wrote to the governor of Turgai oblast that he had served honestly for 18 years in Turgai oblast in accordance with his military oath and feeling due to his corps training. TsGARK f. 25, op.1, d. 2811, ‘Po obvineniiu krest’ianskogo nachal’nika. 1 i 2 uchastkov Turg. uezda shtabs kapitana Andreieva i statskogo sovetnika Dobrosmyslova’.
53 Nikolai Pasev’ev, the peasant nachalnik of the first peasant uchastok in Semipalatinsk uezd, was a graduate of the Lazarev Institute of Eastern Languages; Vil’gel’m Garf had a diploma in law from Saint Petersburg University, and Korpotov, the peasant nachalnik for the third uchastok of Kostanai uezd, had a diploma from Warsaw Imperial University. TsGARK f. 25, op.1, d. 2691, l. 39; f. 25, op.1, d. 2759, l. 66; f. 64, op.1, d. 621, l. 3, ‘Formuliarnii spisok krest’ianskogo nachal’nika Kropotova’.
54 Dmitrii Murzaev, the peasant nachalnik of the second peasant uchastok of Karakarlinsk uezd, and Aleksandr Dobrosmyslov, the peasant nachalnik of the second peasant uchastok of Turgai uezd, were both graduates of veterinary institutes. TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 1009, l. 168.
55 After graduating from Moscow Real School, Alexandr Serebrianskii worked at the Moscow State Bank and after five years began work as a peasant nachalnik. TsGARK f. 64, op.2, d. 616, l. 23, ‘Formuliarnii spisok krest’ianskogo nachal’nika A. Serebryanskii’.
56 G. Seleznev was a graduate of the Petrograd Theological Academy and in 1914 was appointed peasant nachalnik of the first uchastok, Zaisan uezd. TsGARK f. 64, op.1, d. 1287, ll.118–118 ob, ‘Kopii zhurnalov obshchego prisutstviia Semipalatinskogo oblastnogo pravleniia po krest’ianskim delam o revizii deloproizvodstva krest’ianskikh nachal’nikov №1-2-3 i dr. uchastkov. 2 fevral’ 1911g-26 noyabr’ 1915 g’.
57 TsGARK f. 64, op. 2, d. 158, ll. 1-1ob, ‘Pis’mo tovarishcha ober prokurora sviateishego sinoda tainogo sovetnika Soblera o predostavlenii byvshemu deloproizvoditeliu glavnogo sviashchennika pri glavnokomanduiushchim na Dal’nom Vostoke tituliarnomu sovetniku Avtukhovu’.
58 TsGARK f. 64, op. 2, d. 158, l. 2.
59 TsGARK f. 64, op. 1, d. 621, l. 3, ‘Delo o krest’ianskom nachal’nike 1-go uchastka Ust’-Kamenogorskogo uezda Smirnova’.
60 TsGARK f.64, op.1, d.2322, ll.51–52, ‘Otchet upravliaiushchego kantseliarii Stepnogo gen. gub. 1905’.
61 For example, the chief of the settlement Vsesviatskoie (fourth peasant uchastok, Petropavlovsk uezd) was himself a noted cattle thief. TsGARK f.64, op.1, d.2322, l. 32.
62 TsGARK f. 64, op. 1, d. 818, ll. 292–293.
63 TsGARK f. 64, op. 1, d. 2322, ll. 107–108, ‘Otchet upravliaiushchego kantseliarii Stepnogo gen. gub. 1905’.
64 TsGARK f. 25, op. 1, d.2896, l. 20–29. Petition of the Kazakhs of Taupskoi volost, Irgizsk uezd, to the Senate.
65 A vivid example of these conflicts is the report of the head of Turgai District to the regional government on 11 August 1906, describing the beating of the peasant nachalnik Nazarov and his assistant Garf. The two were attacked and kidnapped by the Kazakhs of Tusunskii volost. The apparent reason was that Nazarov had illegally granted permission for the construction of peasant settler dwellings (zemliankii) on the Kazakh winter pasturelands. TsGARK f. 25, op. 1, d.2835, l. 1.-7, ‘Ob izbienii kirgizami Turg. uezda i.d. krest’ianskogo nachal’nika Nazarova i pomoschnika Turgaiskogo uezdnogo nachal’nika’.