Siberian Cossacks’ Participation in Ensuring Russia’s Interests in Central Asia in the First Half of the 19th Century

УДК 94 ББК 63.3(0)

Abstract

The article analyzes the role of the Siberian Cossacks in Russia's foreign policy in Central Asia in the first half of the 19th century. The favorable geographical position of the north-east of the Kazakh steppe allowed Russia to count on success in the competitive economic struggle with other European countries for sales markets. It was primarily about trade rivalry with England, Russia's first competitor in Central Asia. Russia had the advantage of being the only country that could conduct land trade with the inland areas of China and India, Bukhara, Kokand and Khiva. Since the time of Peter the Great, Russia has set a course for caravan trade with Central Asia through the territory of Kazakhstan, considering it a "gateway to Asia". With the construction of the new Ishim border line, the Board of Foreign Affairs for the first time proposed to the Senate of the Russian Empire to allow caravans from Troitsk to Semipalatinsk near the new fortifications, that is, through northeastern Kazakhstan.

Siberian Cossacks played a crucial role in the development and consolidation of Russia's intra-continental trade with Central Asian countries and China. Cossacks guarded caravans and merchants, erected strong points of trade and Russian administration in the Kazakh steppe. They became the main driving force behind the implementation of the provisions of the "Charter on Siberian Kyrgyz". Located in the Kazakh steppe, Cossack villages and settlements made it possible to stop the interference of Central Asian states in the life of Kazakhs, ensured the peaceful development of Kazakh lands under the rule of Russia. At the same time, at the initial stage, the establishment of Cossack settlements in the steppe and the subsequent armed clashes between Cossacks and Kazakhs became the reason for the uprising of Sultan Kenesary Kasymov.