Land management of nomadic peoples in the Russian Empire (on the example of the Kalmyk Steppe and the Inner Kirghiz Horde of Astrakhan province)

Annotation

The land arrangement of nomadic peoples in pre-revolutionary Russian society is studied in the context of studying the process of involving peoples in the common space of the state. The purpose of the article, using the example of the Kalmyks and Kazakhs of the Astrakhan province, is to study the land arrangement of the two communities, to identify common and special features in its regulation, and to analyze the measures proposed by the Russian authorities to reform the land issue of these peoples in the early 20th century. The archival case on the project of reforming the administrative, judicial and local administration of the Inner Kyrgyz Horde and the Kalmyk Steppe in 1913 is given as a source. The research methods are based on historical- developmental and comparative historical approaches. The study examines the borders of the Kalmyk Steppe and the Inner Horde, the distribution of lands and their lease, the size and order of land use, the development of agriculture, and the proposed measures by the authorities to reform the Kalmyk Steppe and the Inner Horde in 1913 in the land issue. The main common feature seems to be that the lands of both ethnoterritorial entities were the property of the Russian state, respectively, the distribution of land can only be discussed in the context of land use. The land development of nomadic peoples was temporary until the final transition to settlement and the all-Russian level of organization of local administration. However, this issue was not resolved on the eve of 1917. There was land constraint in the Inner Horde, although there were exceptions. In the Kalmyk steppe, due to the presence of surplus land, an important role belonged to the rental lands.

Keywords

• Kalmyk steppe
• Inner Kirghiz Horde
• nomadic peoples
• Kalmyks
• Kazakhs
• borders of nomadic lands
• land management
• land use
• rental lands
• 1913 reform project
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Acknowledgments

the reported study was funded by government subsidy, project no. 122022700134-6 “The Southeastern Belt of Russia: Exploring Political and Cultural History of Social Communities and Groups”.

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