Formation of an entrepreneurial economy in animal husbandry (Southern Urals, mid-19th – early 20th centuries)

Abstract

After agriculture, the second main branch of farming in the Southern Urals was animal husbandry, especially for semi-nomadic and nomadic peoples. Since the 19th century an entrepreneurial, market economy is being formed, primarily in horse breeding and sheep breeding. However, due to the short duration of the livestock trade, identifying the actors in the livestock market remains a challenge for historians. The article uses new methods of searching and analyzing sources. In addition to the published data on the noble, landowner economy, where there is information about the number of livestock, direct and indirect information about large-scale, market livestock raising in the Bashkir-Meshcheryak army, as well as information from veterinary point doctors who controlled the arrival of cattle from other regions, was involved. The widest possible coverage of sources made it possible to establish that already from the first half of the 19th century. in the southern Urals there was trade horse breeding and sheep breeding. A large number of horses were sold at the Menzelinsky fair; individual herds were even brought to Nizhny Novgorod. Horse breeding for sale existed among the Turkic peoples (Bashkirs and Tatars), it was represented by both large stud farms and small businesses in the countryside. he development of market relations in the 19th – early 20th centuries in the Southern Urals was observed in animal husbandry, which was stimulated by the ancient traditions of the semi-nomadic Bashkirs.
 For citation: Rodnov M.I., Tagirova L.F. Formation of an entrepreneurial economy in animal husbandry (Southern Urals, mid-19th – early 20th centuries). From History and Culture of Peoples of the Middle Volga Region. 2023. vol.13, no.3, pp.78–96. https://doi.org/10.22378/2410-0765.2023-13-3.78-96 (In Russian)