Handmaidens of continental colonialism? The ambiguities of the imperial Russian geographical society’s central asian expeditions

Abstract

Knowledge and power intersected in the Central Asian expeditions of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. Founded in 1847 in St Petersburg, the Geographical Society included many military officers amongst its members. While its exploration of Central Asia was primarily undertaken to enrich geographical knowledge, the voyages also provided intelligence to the army’s general staff, which provided soldiers and financial subsidies. However, this did not ipso facto mean that the Geographical Society’s explorers necessarily surveyed Central Asia to add more territory to the Russian Empire. They were primarily motivated by scientific curiosity.