The beginning of the eighteenth century was a time of severe trials for the Kazakh steppes. The period known in history as the “Years of Great Calamity” was accompanied by devastating raids of the Dzhungar Khanate on Kazakh territories. In these critical geopolitical circumstances the ruler of the Mladshii zhuz (the Younger zhuz), khan (ruler) Abulkhair, made the strategic decision to find a powerful protector to defend his people. He sent his envoys to Russia — Kutlumbet-Koshtaev and Seitkul-Kuydantulov — with a verbal petition for himself and all his possessions to be accepted into Russian subjecthood.
For the Russian Empire this appeal represented enormous interest. The integration of Kazakh territories would not only secure the southeastern borders from nomadic raids, but would also open crucial trade routes to Central Asia (Khiva, Bukhara) and even to India.
Diplomat, translator, and envoy
On 19 February (2 March) 1731 the State College of Foreign Affairs prepared a unique historical document — a detailed instruction (Law No. 5703) for the translator of Eastern languages Mamet (Aleksei) Tevkelev. In Russian documents of the time the Kazakhs were called “kirgiz-kaysaks” (a contemporary term used to distinguish them from the Cossacks and the Kara-Kirghiz). It was to this warlike people in the “boundless steppes” that Tevkelev was sent with the task of announcing the will of Her All-Russian Majesty Empress Anna Ioannovna.
Nuances of steppe protocol
The diplomatic mission required strict observance of etiquette. The instruction directed Tevkelev, upon arrival at Abulkhair’s court, to present a charter bearing a gold seal and rich gifts: a sharp sabre, a sable coat, a hat trimmed with black fox, and valuable cloths. The translator was to convey gently but firmly that Russia stood ready to offer protection. The principal political task was to bring Abulkhair, the other khans, and the hereditary nobility (starshina) to an official oath. The steppe people were to swear on the Alkoran (the Quran) eternal fidelity and confirm this by their signatures.
Next came the most delicate part of the negotiations. The Russian government wished that the Kazakhs, like the Bashkirs, pay yasak (tribute in kind — furs or livestock) and hand over amanats (hostages, typically children of notable families) who would be sent to Ufa at state expense as guarantees of peace. However, the College of Foreign Affairs displayed an extraordinary flexibility for imperial policy: if the proud khan stubbornly refused to pay tribute or provide amanats, Tevkelev was categorically forbidden to press the matter. The document explicitly stated that the principal aim was a strong alliance and peace, not financial gain. The only strict condition Tevkelev was to insist upon was the release of Russian prisoners, which would constitute the chief proof of the khan’s good faith.
Intelligence passions in the Great Steppe
Alongside open diplomacy, a large-scale intelligence task fell to Tevkelev. The instruction ordered him to be “cunning as a fox”: to collect strategic information so that no one, not even members of his own delegation, would suspect he acted by imperial command. He was directed to keep a secret daily journal and to record literally everything, beginning with the types of dwellings and encampments encountered on the route from Ufa.
Tevkelev was to compile a detailed map of the region: to note distances, the great rivers, fords, woods, crossing points, and the presence of defensive fortifications. Of special interest was the military-industrial potential of the Steppe: how many sabres the khan possessed, whether they themselves could cast cannons and produce gunpowder with saltpeter, and if not — from whom they procured arms. The intelligence officer was also to investigate internal political links: how obedient the other khans were to the chief khan Abulkhair, how their commerce with neighbors was organized, and with whom the Kazakhs were at war or at peace. On his return to Moscow the diplomat was obliged to furnish the College of Foreign Affairs with a most detailed memorandum of everything observed, as well as an exact accounting for each state altyn (a Russian coin) expended.
Historical consequences
Tevkelev’s complex mission was crowned with success. In October 1731 khan Abulkhair officially swore allegiance, which legally fixed the beginning of the incorporation of Kazakh lands into the Russian Empire. For the defense of the new frontiers and the administration of the region the Orenburg expedition was soon launched and the city of Orenburg was founded.
However, this diplomatic triumph was only the beginning of a long and contradictory historical process. Abulkhair’s oath produced a deep split among the steppe elite. Many influential sultans and khans perceived Russian protectorate as a direct threat to their traditional independence, and the integration of Kazakhstan into the empire thus became a protracted and complex era of internal conflict. Nevertheless, the 1731 Instruction remains in history as an outstanding monument of diplomatic thought, combining subtle political maneuvering, extensive intelligence work, and an aspiration for bloodless territorial expansion.
Time: early eighteenth century, 1731, 19 February 1731, 2 March 1731, October 1731, Years of Great Calamity
Persons: Abulkhair (khan of the Mladshii zhuz), Kutlumbet-Koshtaev (envoy), Seitkul-Kuydantulov (envoy), Mamet (Aleksei) Tevkelev (translator of Eastern languages), Anna Ioannovna (Empress)
Geographical names: Kazakh steppe, Russian Empire, Khiva, Bukhara, India, Central Asia, Ufa, Moscow, Orenburg
Events, processes: raid, acceptance into subjecthood, diplomatic mission, oath, payment of yasak, delivery of amanats, Orenburg expedition, incorporation of Kazakh lands into the Russian Empire, Russian protectorate
Organizations, institutions: Kazakh Khanate, Dzhungar Khanate, Mladshii zhuz, State College of Foreign Affairs
