“It is ordered to send annual statements about the amanatchiks of different estates in Kizlyar to the Astrakhan provincial chancellery": documents to the history of amanateship in the North Caucasus in the XVIII century
Authors:   Kh. M. Berbekov Kabardino-Balkarian State University, Nalchik, Russia, Muratova Elena G. 
Published: December 2024

The publication introduces documents related to the history of amanatstvo in the North Caucasus. In the 18th century, this institution remained an effective regulator of Russian-Gorussian relations. Amanats were a reliable means of influencing the North Caucasian rulers in determining their political orientation and a guarantor of their loyalty to the Russian throne. A historiographical review has shown that there are significant differences in the assessment of the role of amanatstvo. The publication of archival documents makes it possible to continue studying this institution in the context of Russian-Caucasian relations in the mid-18th century, during the period of Kabarda's so-called independence. With the foundation of the Kizlyar fortress in 1735, amanats from Tersk town, Sulak and Holy Cross were transferred to it. The imperial administration closely monitored the conditions of detention of amanates in Kizlyar and attached great importance to their education in the spirit of political trustworthiness and Russian citizenship. The state treasury allocated funds for the maintenance of amanats and their servants. The size of the “fodder allowance” can serve as an indicator to determine their socio-political status and rank. Information about the amanates kept in the Kizlyar fortress was annually submitted to the Astrakhan provincial chancellery, and from there to the State Collegium of Foreign Affairs. The published documents are the statements on the amanates kept in the Kizlyar fortress and the fodder money due to them, sent to the State Collegium of Foreign Affairs by the Kizlyar commandant von Frauendorf in 1754. They are reproduced from the materials of the archival collection of F. R-1209 of the Office of the Central State Archive of the Archive Service of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic (UTSGA AS KBR), inventory 8 supplementary, case 26, folios 9-15. The originals are kept in the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (AVPRI), Kabardinian Affairs, fond 115, inventory 1, 1754, case 6, sheets 19-22 ob. Lists of amanates kept in the Kizlyar fortress in 1754, are interesting in that they not only indicate their personal composition, but also contain information that makes it possible to determine the place and significance of each owner's surname in current historical events, trace the family and marriage relations of North Caucasian owners, determine the structure and age composition of family groups, as well as the origin and success of individuals in a different sociocultural environment. Расширение источниковой базы позволяет подтвердить ранее высказанные в историографии суждения об эволюции института аманатства на Северном Кавказе в течение XVIII–начале XIX в., уточнить существующие представления об общественно-политической структуре северокавказских сообществ и характере их в взаимодействия с российской коронной и местной властью.