Governance of the Turkestan Region: Some Principles

Abstract

Russia's advance into Central Asia posed issues of administrative-political, legal and economic development of the region. The issues were aggravated by the multi-ethnicity of the population and different religious dogmas. Differences in the socioeconomic development between Russia and Central Asia were reinforced by the presence of nomadic and settled peoples. Therefore, a need for differentiation in approaches to different territories and peoples of the region became explicit. Several territorial governance clauses were issued to deal with the new territories (1865, 1867, 1873, 1886, 1901, 1903, etc.). The inseparability of military and administrative power was maintained by the introduction of the Governor-General position in July 1867. Administrative issues were governed together with military tasks. Overall, the main duty of the Turkestan Governor-General was to ensure order and political calm and to consolidate the region firmly. The gradual spread of the Russian influence was followed by incorporation into the economic and civil life of the Russian state. The current article distinguishes the core principles of the Russian policy implemented in the Turkestan region in 1865-1917. Four main principles were distinguished. (1) The study of Turkestan as a way to strengthen the central authority and facilitate the rapprochement of Russian and local peoples. It included learning of the local languages, religious traditions of the population, organization of special courses in oriental studies, distribution of the Russian language among the local administrations and population. (2) Avoidance of conflicts and building good-neighborhood relations. (3) No direct intervention in the internal life of the population; preservation of local self-government. (4) Dissemination of all-Russian administrative and governing principles: equal responsibility of officials, regardless of their Russian or local origin; a tax system based on the form of economic activity, not on nationality, etc.