The reasons for the weakening of the institution of the Khan's power in the Kazakh Steppe in the context of the regional policy of the Russian Empire at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century

Abstract

In this article, the authors investigate the reasons, process and consequences of the liquidation of the traditional institution of Khan power by the Russian Empire. At the beginning of the 19th century, the tsarist government began a unilateral elimination of the Khan's power in Kazakhstan, for which sufficient data, military resources and funds appeared in the Russian Empire. The Genghisids represented by the Khans and sultans, who personified the independence of the Kazakh Khanate, were discredited in the eyes of the nomads. The work was written on the basis of written and archival sources; the article contains documents from the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire. In the 18th century, border settlements and trade were the main Russian interests in the Steppe, and to this end, Russian officials were ready to support Kazakh leaders who were loyal to the power of the Russian Empire in Kazakh lands. By the early 19th century, the growing influence of the Central Asian Khanates, as well as the Qing Empire, prompted the Russian authorities to actively establish a more direct form of government over the Kazakhs. Based on the available data, it can be argued that in the case of the display of the personality of Uali Khan in previous historical studies, stereotypes of public perception of the last ruler of the Middle Zhuz emerged, which were formed through the results of the liquidation of the Khan's power by the Russian Empire. In the course of an objective study of historical sources, scholarly historians still find out how much the existing work is fair in relation to a politician of the 18th and early 19th centuries.