The protectorate as a form of policy of the Russian Empire in Central Asia
Authors:   Tomsk State University, Shevtsov Vyacheslav V. , Krupenkin Evgeny N. ,   Secondary School named after Hero of the Soviet Union P.A. Babichev
Published: December 2024

Russian Empire was one of the largest countries among the states of the world at the middle of the XIX century and its territory continued to grow. First of all, this growth was due to acquisitions in Central Asia as a result of military campaigns of the military general M.G. Chernyaev, the Governor-General of Turkestan, K.P. fon Kaufman. The British Empire with its big overseas possessions also had its own interests in Asia.The spreading influence of England in the region pushed Russia to take action in the region by military and diplomats. Russia has chosen a particular form of subordination of small state-owned entities - protectorate.
The purpose of this article is to justify the origins of protectorate as a form of Russian policy in Central Asia with regard to Bukhara Emirate and Khiva Khanate during the second half of XIX century.
To achieve this goal, the following challenges need to be addressed: 1) to consider the policy of the Russian government in Central Asia after its accession; 2) to analyze the authorities of the Governor-General of Turkestan with regard to the Emir of Bukhara and the Khan of Khiva; 3) to explain the persistence of their statehood. The narrative method and the problematic chronological approach are used in the research. Protectorate as a form of international relations is of great scientific interest. Eastern Georgia, the Kokand Khanate, Bukhara Emirate, Khiva Khanate were long under the protection of the Russian Empire. The population of the North Caucasus, Volga region, Siberia and Kazakhstan was part of Russia on the basis of shertnikh (shert - vows of loyalty to contractual relations), close to protectorate. In 1867, in the conquered territories in Asia, Russia created the Turkestan Governor-General with the endowment of the Governor-General broad powers in domestic and foreign policy. Henceforth a Governor-General could lead the negotiations with the neighboring countries on behalf of the Emperor and respond to the threats that inevitably arise in the suburbs. The article presents an analysis of correspondence of Kokand government officials with Russian Turkestan. The Russian government was forced to form a Ferghana region in Kokand Khanate due to the ongoing tensions in bilateral relations after the establishment of a protectorate of Russia on the territory of the Khanate. It was a coercive measure, as the khan’s power in Kokand was not stable and he was deprived of it more than once, and the urban lower classes, aristocracy and Muslim clergy, in their mass, did not support the forced union of the khan with Russia.
The documents referring to correspondence of the Governor-General of Turkestan with the Emir of Bukhara and the treaties of Russia with Bukhara and Khiva, kept in the Central State Archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan, are the source base of the research.
The documents of the diplomatic mission of S.I. Nosovich’s expedition from Tashkent to Bukhara, which was supposed to demonstrate support of the Russian government to the Emir of Bukhara, have been analyzed. This gesture showed the Bukhara opposition that Turkestan’s political and military forces would support the Khan in case of a rebellion. In addition, Russia's preservation of autonomy for these two states was also beneficial from an economic point of view. All these materials led to the conclusion about the reasons for preservation of statehood of Bukhara Emirate and Khiva Khanate until 1917.
The reasons for the delegation of broad powers by the Emperor to the Governor-General of Turkestan are justified, and conclusions are drawn on the reasons for the abolition of the Kokan Khanate, as well as the necessity of Russian protectorate as a form of policy towards Bukhara emirate and Khiva khanate and their maintenance of statehood until 1917.