Management of “Features”: Administrative Practices of the Leaders of the Orenburg Region in the First Half of the 19th Century and Imperial Policy of Acculturation

Abstract

The article attempts to analyze the administrative practices of the Orenburg military governors in the first half of the 19th century. in the context of the imperial policy of acculturation. The study made it possible to conclude that during the period under review, the local and central authorities followed the “policy of difference”, sought to preserve the special estate-legal status of the Bashkirs in comparison with the taxable population of the central regions, the Muslim religion, elements of the estate and ethnic estate court. The goal of the state was not to establish uniformity, but to solve domestic and foreign policy problems: ensuring the loyalty of the indigenous population and peace in the region; performing military service on the border line. The cantonal system of government, the creation of a primary system of new administration in the annexed or conquered regions were important channels of acculturation and mechanisms for the integration of indigenous peoples into the Russian administrative space.