Russian Colonization Research Articles

Historical Preservation in Rust-Belt China: The Life and Death of Jihong Bridge in Harbin

This article examines how China’s rust-belt cities deploy historical preservation for urban revitalization. Drawing upon fieldwork interviews and online debates, it investigates the preservation battle over Jihong Bridge in Harbin in northeast China. Built by Russian settlers in the early 20th century, Jihong Bridge symbolizes the birth of Harbin as a railway city, but a century later, it stood in the way of the local government’s ambitious plan for building high-speed rail. The municipal government elevated the bridge, significantly modifying its structure to allow high-speed trains to pass underneath. The renovation was heavily criticized by local preservationists, who invoked the government’s own preservation regulations to try to save the bridge. The study highlights the dilemma faced by local governments of rust-belt cities, as they are caught between the desire to deploy historical architecture for city branding and competing priorities of infrastructure investment.

Mutations of the VCORC1 Gene of Resistance to Anticoagulants in Synanthropic Rodents in Urbanized Areas of Russia.

This is the first study to analyze the variability of two exons (the 1st and 3rd) of the VCORC1 gene in Russian populations of mice and rats, namely, 125 Mus musculus and 19 Rattus norvegicus captured in 13settlements. Previously, it has been shown that a number of mutations in these exons in the countries of Western Europe are associated with resistance to anticoagulants in synanthropic rodents. We did not find such mutations in house mice in Russia. However, in the first exon, two previously unknown mutations were identified that could potentially have such an effect (Lys58Arg and Ser31Trp). In three districts of Moscow, Norway rats were found carrying in the third exon a previously known resistance mutation (Tyr139Ser) in the heterozygous state. The results are discussed in connection with the intensity of the use of anticoagulants in the settlements of Russia and the mutation rate of the VCORC1 gene.

Peasants’ bynames in the Yeniseian Siberia of the XVII century as a reflection of work activity of the first settlers

The object of this research is the anthroponymic space of business writing records in the Yeniseian Siberia of the XVII century, while the subject is the peasants’ bynames. The unpublished manuscripts preserved in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (Moscow) served as the sources for this research. Emphasis is placed on the semantic content of bynames as part of the anthroponymic formula. Using the traditional onomastic and lexical-semantic methods of research (descriptive, statistical, semantic and definitional analysis, etc.), the author describes bynames united by the concept “the type of work activity”. The semantics of the anthropological grounds of bynames, clarification is given to the composition of the social group under review, as well as to the types of economic activity of the peasants of Yeniseian and Krasnoyarsk counties. The acquired results indicated that semantic diversity of peasant bynames is substantiated by the objective situation during the colonization of Siberia, as well as complex composition of the peasantry, which could include the representatives of service class and suburb inhabitants. The scientific novelty consists in expanding the scope of sources for carrying out a comprehensive research of the regional anthroponymicon, as well as in broadening the knowledge on byname nomination within a single social group. The obtained results can be used as comparative materials in the analysis of anthroponymic systems of other regions, as well as in development of the regional dictionary of non-calendric personal names and bynames of the first Russian settlers of Yeniseian Siberia.

Assimilation of the Chulym Turkic People by the Russians in the First Half of the XIX Century: the case of the Kolmogorov Family from Chumay Village

The article deals with the assimilation of Siberian indigenous peoples by the first Russian settlers in the north of the Kemerovo region. The research was based on the historical and genealogical methods and featured a microhistorical analysis of a particular settlement of the Chulym Turkic people who lived in the Kiya river basin in the first half of the XIX century. The paper introduces the case of the Kolmogorov family of old-timers from the village of Сhumay (Chebulinsky municipal district of the Kemerovo region). The author studied memoirs and parish documents to trace the changes in the status of the Kolmogorovs: from representatives of the indigenous peoples who paid a regular tribute in furs (yasak) to peasants. The research also helped to define the borders of the yasak territories and establish the conditions that encouraged the yasak-payers to settle down as peasants. The exposure to peasantry and Russification was a long stage: it took the Kolmogorovs 25 years to enter the peasant community of Сhumay village. Moreover, the process was small-scale and random in the period under review.

From The Formation Historiy Of Russian Settlements In Hunger Steppe And Their Socially Economic Position (The End Of XIX – Beginning XX Centuries)

Revealing the origin of the new populated centers in the territory of Hungry steppe, economic life, rites, religious beliefs, demographic condition, analysis of the influence stranger populations on social-economic situation of the territory at the end of XIX – at the beginning of XX.

From the Demotic to the Literary

Abstract Understanding why Persian ceded ground to the vernacular Turkic in Central Asia in the 18th century is key to detecting major cultural realignments in the Balkans-to-Bengal complex. To date, however, focus has been predominantly on the constraining of Persian’s hegemonic status in Asia, its shaping colonial knowledge, and its stamping an imprint on other literary languages in post-colonial situations. Taking this literature as a point of departure, I change perspective and examine the process whereby a vernacular idiom acquired prominence prior to the onset of Russian colonization. By setting aside the issue of scope of Persian, I turn to an exploration of writing practices in Turkic in the early modern period in Khorezm, a major oasis in Central Asia within the territory of what is today Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. Interpreted in the literature so far as an isolated phenomenon, the ascendance of Chaghatay Turkic in Khorezm has been in fact studied in isolation from similar processes of vernacularization. By reconnecting writing practices in this oasis to patterns of literary consumption in Central Eurasia more generally, I point to an area of shared vernacular sensibilities across Khorezm, the Middle Volga, the Kazakh Steppe and the Tarim Basin. Furthermore, I argue that the promotion of the vernacular among Turkic-speaking Muslims in the Russian empire in the early 20th century was built on earlier processes of elevation of a written culture from the demotic to the literary.

Внедрение розничных расчетов по QR-коду в России как фактор развития национальной платежной системы (экономические аспекты)

Problem statement. Drawing on macroeconomic analysis (2011-2019), the author formulates the key problems in the functioning of retail segment of the national payment system: a) differentiation of regions according to the degree of payment infrastructure development; b) disproportion in the availability of trace elements of the payment infrastructure; c) high cost of acquiring services. The underlying scientific hypothesis is the possibility to overcome the above-mentioned problems by introducing retail payments using QR codes. The study examines economic relations arising in calculations using QR codes in Russia’s retail payment system. The methodological base of the study includes theoretical assumptions of banking management, as well as a problem-oriented approach. The study identifies a range of economic problems in the implementation of QR settlements in Russia which include: the need to upgrade mobile banking; banks’ lack of interest in promoting QR code settlements due to fears of lower transaction returns; a decrease in citizens’ interest in cashless payments caused by a contraction in bank loyalty programs; the inertia of entrepreneurs unwilling to switch from cash-based interaction with customers; the inertia of some customers and their lack of financial literacy; cyber threats; risks of unfair behavior of buyers. The author offers and justifies the ways to overcome them. The findings may help improve state regulation in Russia’s financial and banking sector.

Прозвищные именования крестьян в памятниках деловой письменности Приенисейской Сибири XVII в.

The study aims to reconstruct the anthroponymicon of the first Russian settlers of Yenisei Siberia in the XVII century. The article considers nicknames of one socially significant group - peasants. The regional components of the onomastic and lexical-semantic system of the Old Russian language are restored through nicknames. Scientific novelty of the work lies in introducing new manuscript sources and anthropological materials, which make it possible to expand knowledge about composition of not only the regional but also the all-Russian onomasticon of the XVII century, into scientific use. The attained results have shown that semantic diversity of peasant nicknames is accounted for by their genetic connection to various dialects of the European part, mainly the North of Rus.

The Balance Model in Russian and Chinese Culture: Preliminary Study and Comparative Analysis

This article focuses on the transcultural aspects of the Peseschkian Balance Model. The goal was to conduct a preliminary study of the balance models of Russian and Chinese respondents, to carry out quantitative characteristics of the balance model of the two groups and to compare out quantitative characteristics of the balance model of the Russian and Chinese sample group. Object of research: settlements in Russia and China according to N. Peseschkian ‘s balance model. Objectives: to form two control groups for the study; create a questionnaire in Russian and Chinese for conducting research; study the population model of China (Group 1) using a questionnaire; study the model of the population of Russia (Group 2) using a questionnaire; to carry out a comparative analysis of quantitative indicators of Group 1 and Group 2 in four areas of the balance model N. Peseschkian. It was measured the quantitative parameters of the four spheres of the balance model of Group 1 and Group 2 and compared the quantitative parameters. It was found that the sphere of meanings and the sphere of contacts are quantitatively differ little in Group 1 and Group 2, and in the spheres of activity and the sphere of the body there are significant quantitative differences Group 1 and Group 2. Detailed results of the study were displayed in tables and diagrams.

Archaeoparasitological data and pathoecology of the town of Mangazeya in Western Siberia in the 17th century

In 2002–2003 years, excavations were conducted in the town of Mangazeya, one of the northernmost Russian settlements in Western Siberia. Herein, we report data on the incidence and range of intestinal parasites discovered in samples taken from the occupation layer of Mangazeya and human and animal coprolites.Among the eggs found, Diphyllobothrium sp. and Opisthorchis felineus eggs predominate. They were discovered in most of the examined samples. Considering the obtained results in a historical context, it can be concluded that the most frequent parasitoses in humans and dogs were associated with the consumption of raw fish. Consumption of poorly cooked and/or raw fish most likely derived from relatively stable dietary habits of the first Russian settlers in the region. The clinical problem can also be explained by the adaptation of the settlers to the conditions of the Far North where raw fish was served as an antiscorbutic agent. Taenia sp. eggs found in samples of toilet contents probably indicate that the fish-based diet was supplemented by beef and/or pork.Our analysis also revealed eggs of two geohelminth species, Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura, in human coprolites and samples of toilet contents. Eggs of these geohelminths don't reach the invasive stage at the latitude of Mangazeya. Nevertheless, we cannot exclude that local secondary foci of these invasions could have formed under certain conditions leading to infestations in the town.This study made it possible to supplement, confirm, and reconstruct, in some detail, certain aspects of the economic activities conducted by the inhabitants of Mangazeya. For example, the high incidence of diphyllobothriasis and opisthorchiasis in dogs gives evidence that raw fish was an integral part of their diet. The discovery of Oxyuris equi eggs in a sample from the occupation layer confirms that the population of Mangazeya kept horses. The discovery of Alaria alata and Capillariidae sp. eggs in dog coprolites and samples from the occupation layer allows us to partly determine possible risk factors for some parasitoses in humans.We took the pathoecological approach in this study, as particularly suitable for this kind of research, and, for the first time, it allowed us to outline the urban environment that appeared in the Far North of Western Siberia in the 17th century.

Foreigners' Historical Research and Life in the Soviet Union

Foreigners' Historical Research and Life in the Soviet Union Dietrich Beyrau Translated by Georg Wurzer Sheila Fitzpatrick, A Spy in the Archives: A Memoir of Cold War Russia. 346 pp. New York: I. B. Tauris, 2015. ISBN-13 978-1784532956. $29.95. Lewis H. Siegelbaum, Stuck on Communism: Memoir of a Russian Historian. 202 pp. Ithaca, NY: Northern Illinois University Press, 2019. ISBN-13 978-1501747373. $27.95. As a rule, historians do not lead a very exciting life in comparison with other professions, inasmuch as they do not suffer from censorship or other reprisals or become witnesses of interesting events.1 It is more, if anything, about intellectual adventures, about the thrill of researching in archives and libraries, and sometimes about controversy and interpretive authority. Sheila Fitzpatrick, born in 1941, and Lewis H. Siegelbaum, born in 1949, are contemporaries of the Cold War. They developed very different attitudes for dealing with this political constellation, in spite of sympathies for the Soviet Union, or respectively for some Soviet milieus. While the memoirs of Siegelbaum provide a retrospect of his entire life till 2018/19, those of Sheila Fitzpatrick concentrate on her study years in Oxford and her research in Moscow on the topic of the People's Commissariat for Enlightenment under A. V. Lunacharskii (1918–29) at the end of the 1960s. She tells about her life in Moscow in the circle of Igor´ A. Sats, a former collaborator of Lunacharskii, who was on the editorial staff of the journal Novyi mir in the 1960s, and under the care of a daughter of the people's commissar, Irina [End Page 420] Anatol´evna Lunacharskaia. They both helped her with her research into the people's commissariat. ________ To remain "stuck on communism" more than 30 years after its downfall, one must be pretty devoted. Siegelbaum underlines this by referring to himself as a "Russian" historian. (Sheila also calls herself "a Soviet historian" on several pages in her book.) However, Lewis Siegelbaum is a US citizen, and his father Martin was born in New York in 1915 as well. His grandparents were originally from the Pale of Jewish Settlement in Russia and Austrian Galicia. His Jewish origin is of negligible importance for the author: he calls himself a "non-Jewish Jew" following Isaac Deutscher (33). His interest in (Soviet-) Russian history stemmed less from his family's origin and more from his admiration for the Russian Revolution. It was a remote love. This love cannot necessarily be linked to the witticism of Moshe Lewin: according to Lewin, the American Left knew what it disliked—American capitalism; it liked what it didn't know—communism (15). This may be valid for Siegelbaum's teenage years but not for the decades in which he devoted himself to Soviet and Russian history and got to know the reality of communism. His love of communism was closely connected to his lifelong attachment to his father, who was a member of the Communist Party of the United States and was made to pay for this. In the McCarthy era he was dismissed from his position as a schoolteacher and stayed afloat as a sales manager for computer firms. Even after his retirement, Lewis felt dedicated to the ideals both of his father and of Rosa Luxemburg, despite his privileges as a "white male" (168) and scholar, notwithstanding some reservations against the Soviet Union. His leftist orientation meant participation in anti-Vietnam demonstrations in his young years. He was a member of the radical SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and participated actively in demonstrations at Columbia University. The end of Siegelbaum's revolutionary activities was largely due to Stephen Cohen, whom he admired as his mentor and who remained in dialogue with the leftist students. His system-critical and leftist attitude coincided with his later antipathy to the upper-class attitudes of the dons at Oxford University. He had this in common with Sheila Fitzpatrick, who hid her difficulties of adaptation as an Australian and leftist by learning to "mimic the Oxford style" (103). She also descended from a family that was embedded in the leftist milieu in Australia. For Fitzpatrick, this was an obligatory legacy...

Planning organization of facilities for the municipal solid waste processing for use in the structure of small cities of Russia

The range of problems, related to the environmentally dangerous accumulation of solid domestic waste (SDW) in Russian cities and settlements and the lack of effective ways of handling them, has been analyzed. The importance of this problem is substantiated for the difficult location conditions of geographically remote small towns and settlements of Russia, where the rational solution for solid waste collection conditions, transportation and processing still has not been found. The planning organization concept for small cities with the inclusion in their structure a modern system of objects for processing solid waste is proposed. A new methodological approach to the formation of functionally completed and environmentally friendly small residential agglomerations in the Russian regions is substantiated. The proposed methodology is focused on the use of advanced native technologies, using domestic waste as a renewable source of fuel for the production of electric and thermal energy. The new methodological approach is based on the complete exclusion of domestic waste landfill disposal in small towns in Russia and provides an effective scheme for waste collecting, advance preparation and container delivery for it complex processing with extensive use of the local railway transport network. The results of the study allow us to identify new directions in the field of small towns design and development in Russia, in relation to the requirements of a sustainable ecological environment ensuring.

Реконструкция палеопожаров Кулундинской степи для последних 3500 лет по данным из донных отложений озера Малое Яровое

For several millennia, Kulunda has been inhabited by the peoples with different types of economy, but the paleoecological aspect of their habitation has remained understudied. The most promising source of paleoecological information is natural archives of lake sediments. This article presents the first results of studying macro-charcoals in the sediment core from Lake Maloe Yarovoe. Fire conditions for the last 3500 years and type of fuel (wood or grasses) are reconstructed for each period, based on macro-charcoal analysis. Data on the type of fuel and distribution of charcoals by depth in the core were compared with palynological data, reconstructed level of mean annual precipitation, and reconstruction of vegetation from the same core obtained by other methods. The results were also compared with another macro-charcoal column from Lake Kuchuk, which was the only researched column for the south of Western Siberia. The results were compared with archaeological data on the type of economy among the different cultures which inhabited the area in various periods. It has been established that the patterns of coal distribution do not correlate with changes in vegetation and show a weak negative correlation with the level of average annual precipitation, which means that fire activity increased with increased level of precipitation. A temporal connection of change in fire regimes and types of fuel, with change in the types of economy has been observed. From 3500 to 2700 BP, during the prevalence of cattle-breeding type of economy, fire activity was maximal, occurring mainly in the steppe. By the end of the Bronze Age, with the beginning of transition to the nomadic type of economy, intensity of fires decreased, and forest began to be burned. After 1500 BP, when the nomadic type of economy prevailed, fire activity in the area of Lake Maloe Yarovoe sharply decreased. The increase in fire activity with predominance of wood charcoals in the last 200 years coincided with exploration of the region by the Russian settlers.

The “Yellow” and “Jewish” Question in the Russian Far East: Managing Foreignness, Productivity, and Colonization, 1858-1914

This article compares the Russian empire’s “Yellow” and “Jewish” question in the Far East, contrasting imperial officials’ attitudes toward Chinese, Korean, and Jewish settlement and economic activities in the Priamurskii Krai. Considering these groups side by side reveals how the empire treated Jews as its own internal other, and how discourse about Jews in the Western borderlands could be broadened to include other groups the Russian empire viewed as a threat: in this case, Chinese and Korean migrants and settlers. The article details the legal limbo these three groups existed in between 1858–1884, and the development of anti-Asian and anti-Jewish attitudes after administrative boundaries were redrawn in 1884. Despite the small number of Jews in the region, local officials and the Ministries of Justice and Interior debated the “Jewish Question” in the Priamur, and Jews were considered the archetypical economic exploiter for those Russian officials and Russian settlers who wanted to underscore the perceived economic threat of Chinese and Korean settlers. While the empire formerly considered Jews as a potentially productive colonizing element, this article uses the regional example of the Far East to consider how imperial attitudes toward non-Russian elements of the population weighed the economic usefulness of undesirable groups against their perceived cultural threat.

Sources of tsarist Russia's resettlement policy in Turkestan

The article discusses the policy of resettlement of the Russian Empire in Turkestan, the Russian settlements built in the country, their way of life, the main goals of the resettlement policy of the colonial authorities, the conditions created for the resettled population through primary sources. illuminated. Many more Russian settlements have sprung up in Turkestan, in remote areas, around military fortifications or forts. The IDPs were initially exempted from any fees and obligations, and were given cash and an unlimited amount of land.

История, локализация и планиграфия Бергамакского острога

Purpose. Bergamaksky Ostrog is the westernmost element in the chain of fortified points, designed to ensure safe and uninterrupted traffic along the section of the Moscow-Siberian Route from Tara to Tomsk. The history of this defensive fortification is presented in the works of several researchers, however the complete picture has not been presented in available literature so far. The reason for this is that different types of sources were looked at separately, and the most informative evidence of contemporaries has remained out of sight of the researchers. The source base is represented by archival documents on the history of the Bergamaksky Ostrog, published by various researchers, information from travel diaries of D. G. Messerschmidt (1721) and J. G. Gmelin (1741), materials from archaeological excavations of 1996 and 1998 (L. V. Tataurova and S. F. Tataurov), the results of dendrochronological dating of wooden structures selected during archaeological research. Results. A comprehensive and interlinked consideration of all types of sources made it possible to form a complete picture of the history of the Bergamaksky Ostrog and identify a number of erroneous statements entrenched in scientific literature. It is established that before 1668, there were no Russian settlements on the site of the modern village of Bergamak in the Omsk Oblast. The records that report that the Bergamak settlement appeared in 1627 are false, since it belonged to the Tatar village of Bergamak. It has been established that the Ostrog was built in the settlement in 1670. By the turn of the 17th – 18th centuries it fell into complete disrepair and was not mentioned as a defensive fortification in the office administration. Conclusion. As a result of the introduction of new sources (travel diaries of D. G. Messerschmidt and J. G. Gmelin), it was established that no earlier than 1721, a second Bergamaksky Ostrog was constructed in a new place. The article developed a hypothesis about its localization and a graphic and descriptive reconstruction of its layout plan was completed.

Остеометрическая характеристика русского населения Тарского Прииртышья XVII–XVIII вв.

The article presents the osteometric characteristics of the Russian population of Tara Cis-Irtysh region in the 17th–18th centuries. The research based on the analysis of anthropological bone remains from the territory of Ananyino 1 burial ground. This site located in the Tara district of the Omsk region was discovered and studied since 2005 by Larisa Tataurova. The Ananyino village founded at the beginning of the 17th century is one of the first Russian settlements near the Tara city. The osteological collection includes the remains of 19 individuals, of which 12 belong to men, 7 to women. The research was carried out according to the standard osteological technique (the measuring program included 51 signs and 25 pointers). According to the results of analysis, it was found that the absolute values of the longitudinal dimensions of the long bones of the male Russian population fall mainly in the category of medium (shoulder, forearm, lower leg) and large (thigh) sizes. Women are generally characterized by large sizes of long bones, except for the length of the lower leg, which shows average values. The male group can be characterized as moderately massive with a tendency to increase the massiveness of the lower extremities, while the female group is moderately massive. The body length of men varies from 166 to 168,1 cm, of women from 159,2 to 161,4 cm. According to Rudolf Martin's conditional rubrication, the obtained values fall into the category of large values. The values of the intersegmental proportions (humeral-femoral and radial-tibial markers), as well as the values of the intermembral index, demonstrate a harmonious ratio of arms and legs, which corresponds to the mesomorphic body type. We used data on four groups of the male population from Siberia (Krasnoyarsk, Yeniseisk, and Irkutsk) for comparative analysis. Intergroup analysis showed that all samples are characterized by average skeletal dimensions. The data also show that the male population has an average ratio of the lengths of the upper and lower extremities. In general, the male Russian population of Siberia in the 17th–19th centuries can be characterized as a population with a mesomorphic body type.

Землепользование жителей Большетуралинского сельского поселения Омской области во второй половине XIX — начале XXI в. (краткая характеристика)

The brief description of the land use of the inhabitants of the Bol’sheturalinskoye rural settlement of the Tarsky district of the Omsk region was given. It is based on the analysis of field ethnographic materials, as well as archival documents and literature. Three stages were identified in the use by the population of land in settlements attributed to this rural center. At the first stage (before the 1917 revolution), land use was carried out through a system of land domaine («dachi») of the indigenous population and peasants. At the second stage, collective farms had priority use of land. During this period, the maximum expansion of land occurs due to the merger of collective farms of Tatar and Russian settlements and into a single large agricultural enterprise, which had resources for the development of inaccessible, swampy, territories. At the third stage, from 2006 to the present, land use was mainly carried out by one yard to provide personal subsidiary farms. During this period, the agricultural zone of developed land was compressed due to various factors.

ИСТОРИЯ СОЗДАНИЯ И ФУНКЦИОНИРОВАНИЯ ИСТОРИКО-КРАЕВЕДЧЕСКОЙ ЭКСПОЗИЦИИ «ПО РЕКЕ ВРЕМЕНИ» В МУЗЕЕ Г. СЕВЕРСКА

The Exhibition Hall Museum of Seversk was opened on December 24, 1987 as an exhibition hall. In the first years of its existence, it hosted temporary exhibitions from abroad, central museums of the Soviet Union, as well as exhibitions of local artists and the Children’s Art School. In the early 1990s, the government ceased to financially support traveling exhibitions. The museum faced the problem of how to fill its space. The archaeological excavations conducted by the Tomsk State University and the Seversk Archaeological Inspectorate, which were well known to the Seversk Administration, suggested the idea of creating a Department of Archeology and Ethnography at the museum. This Department was created in 1993. PhD of History P.E. Bardina, E.A. Vasilyev and L.M. Pletneva, came to the Department from the Tomsk State University. From the very beginning, they made it their goal to open a local history exhibition in a few years. In order to create its own collection, the museum needed to undertake archaeological and ethnographic expeditions. It developed a clear plan to excavate already known monuments and, with significant financial support from the Seversk Administration (then known as the City Council of People’s Deputies), brought this plan to life. The museum actively collected ethnographic materials in the surrounding villages. After each year of work, it presented exhibitions. At the same time, the museum developed a Scientific Concept and a Thematic Exposition Plan. In 1997, both documents were approved by the Scientific and Methodological Council of the museum. The Thematic Exposition Plan consisted of three sections: archeology, history of the first Russian settlement on the site of the future city, and ethnography. The exposition as a whole covers the ancient history, the Middle Ages, modern and contemporary times. The archaeological section presents exhibits dating back to the Stone, Bronze, Early Iron, and Middle Ages. The historical section demonstrates documents from archives on the history of the Virgin MaryAlekseevsky Monastery, religious items, photographs of churches from the surrounding villages and priests, a copy of a fragment of the S.U. Remezov’s map. A model of a Russian log cabin with three walls, a front corner and a Russian stove is the central part of the ethnographic exposition. Agricultural and haymaking tools, tools for handicrafts, such as cooperage and blacksmithing, as well as for women's handicrafts, are presented on the outer wall of the log cabin. At a certain distance from the log cabin, there is a hunting hut with tools for hunting, fishing and pine nut harvesting. The exposition is continually updated and supplemented. A particularly large update took place in 2009. In subsequent years, considerable attention was paid to the introduction of innovative technological developments into the exposition. Using the exposition, the museum provides guided tours, classes for schoolchildren and senior kindergarten groups on the basis of museum research and educational programs.

Becoming Armenian: Religious Conversions in the Late Imperial South Caucasus

AbstractIn the nineteenth-century South Caucasus, hundreds of local farmers and nomads petitioned Russian authorities to allow them to become Christians. Most of them were Muslims and specifically requested to join the Armenian Apostolic Church. This article explores religious conversions to Armenian Christianity on Russia's mountainous southern border with the Ottoman Empire and Iran. It demonstrates that tsarist reforms, chiefly the peasant reform and the sedentarization of nomads, accelerated labor migration within the region, bringing many Muslims, Yazidis, and Assyrians into an Armenian environment. Local anxieties over Russian colonialism further encouraged conversions. I argue that by converting to Armenian Christianity many rural South Caucasians benefited from a change in their legal status, which came with the right to move residence, access to agricultural land, and other freedoms. Russia's Jewish communities, on the other hand, saw conversion to Armenian Christianity as a legal means to circumvent discrimination and obtain the right to live outside of the Pale of Settlement. By drawing on converts’ petitions and officials’ decisions, this article illustrates that the Russian government emerged as an ultimate arbiter of religious conversions, evaluating the sincerity of petitioners’ faith and how Armenian they had become, while preserving the empire's religious and social hierarchies.