Description
Book SynopsisA comprehensive history of the transformation of Russia's southern steppes from border territories to Empire.
Trade ReviewThis innovative and fascinating book examines the relationship between Russia and its neighbors on the Eurasian steppe, which stretches from the northern Caucasus area into the Central Asian region of present-day Kazakhstan, from about 1500 to 1800. During these formative years, Russia's continual southern expansion into the borderlands helped transform it from a fragmented and weak frontier society into a formidable colonial empire. Kohdarkovsky (Loyola Univ.) considers the complex relationship between the Russian state and the indigenous nomadic and seminomadic societies that inhabited the steppe, emphasizing their fundamental differences in social organization, political and economic structures, and values. The author argues that Russia's southward expansion was, contrary to commonly accepted views, a deliberate process designed to colonize the new regions and to subdue their inhabitants. However, Russia's policies gradually changed during these three centuries from defending its vulnerable frontier against nomadic incursions to deliberate colonization by means of pacifying, settling, and converting the new subjects to Orthodox Christianity. Recommended for advanced undergraduates and above.September 2002
-- N. M. Brooks * New Mexico State University *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. The Sociology of the Frontier, or Why Peace Was Impossible
2. Frontier Concepts and Policies in Muscovy
3. Taming the "Wild Steppe," 1480-1600s
4. From Steppe Frontier to Imperial Borderlands, 1600-1800
5. Concepts and Policies in the Imperial Borderlands, 1690s-1800
Conclusion
Glossary
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Index
