The Documentary History of the Kazakhs (1867-1918): Based on the Collections of the Central State Archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Abstract

The article presents and analytically examines archival records on the history of Kazakhstan and Central Asia preserved in the collections “I-1. Chancellery of the Turkestan Governor-General,” “I-2. Diplomatic Official under the Turkestan Governor-General,” and “I-3. Russian Imperial Political Agency in Bukhara” for the years 1867–1918, identified in the funds of the Central State Archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The materials under study include normative legal acts, statistical reports, official correspondence, petitions and complaints, as well as documents reflecting fiscal practices, land disputes, judicial procedures, and mechanisms for controlling population mobility in a region inhabited by Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Karakalpaks, and other ethnic groups.

The purpose of the article is to identify new sources and reveal their analytical potential for studying the socio-economic, legal, and demographic processes among the Kazakh population, as well as other peoples of the region – Uzbeks, Kyrgyz, Karakalpaks, and Turkmens – in  Turkestan Krai between 1867 and 1918.

Within this objective, the structure of the Chancellery is analyzed, key thematic groups of documents are identified, and the possibilities of reconstructing administrative procedures and everyday forms of interaction between the colonial administration and the local population are demonstrated on the basis of specific archival records.