27. AThe history of assessment of the Small, Middle and Great Hordes with Russia XVIII-XIX cc.

On September 8,1730, Abu'l Khayr, khan of the Small Horde, sent a letter to Empress Anna Ioannovna requesting to become her subject by asking for citizenship (poddanstvo).⁵ The letter, sent without the knowledge or support of the Kazakh people or the other leading sultans, was from one ruler to another, stating Abu'l Khayr's willingness (gotovnost’)to swear fealty(prisyagnut’ na vernost’) to Anna Ioannovna; he sent it on to St. Petersburg where it was debated by the College of Foreign Affairs. In early 1731, Anna Ioannovna offered Abu'l Khayr the same terms of citizenship that had previously been accepted by the Bashkir and Volga Kalmyks, who had pledged themselves to serve the empress, accepted that Russia was to specify their hunting grounds, and promised to provide safe passage for Russian caravans and merchants.

This sworn offer, dated March 26, 1731, was brought to Abu'l Khayr by Aleksander Ivanovich Tevkelev (Tatar translator for the College of Foreign Affairs). The accepting oath was sworn by Abu'l Khayr, his sons (Nur Ali and Er Ali) and his deputies, on October 10, 1731.

For Russia's part, the treaties with Abu'l Khayr and those with the khans of the Middle Horde (Semeke in 1732, Ablai in 1740) gave added security to the fortified line along the Irtysh River.

This enabled the Russians to think seriously about expanding commerce in the area; they did not, however, view these treaties as providing for the annexation of the steppe. The Small and Middle hordes, though considered to be under Russian protection, were not a part of the empire; all maps from the late eighteenth century show the Russian border north of the Ural and Mias rivers just south of Orsk and Troitsk over Omsk and thence along the Irtysh River to the Altai mountains. Kazakh merchants in the markets of Orenburg, Orsk, and Troitsk were charged the same tariff as other foreign merchants.

Tatishchev was particularly interested in expanding trade with the Kazakhs, and he had a market and trading post built on their side of the Ural River. In June 1738 Abu'l Khayr, with his sons, deputies, and allied sultans of the Small and Middle hordes, met with Tatishchev in Orenburg to renew their oath of loyalty to the empress and to promise safe passage to the Russian caravans.

In 1742 Urussov was succeeded by I. I. Nepluiev, who moved the site of Orenburg to its present site. During his administration, the Orenburg fortified line was completed and the Uisk line (between the Irtysh and Ishim rivers) begun. He also presided over the formation of the Orenburg guberniia (province), with its capital as Orenburg.

Improving the difficult conditions for trade was the main charge given to Tatishchev's successor, Prince V. A. Urussov, named commander of the Oren­burg Expedition in June 1739. He sought to expand Russia's influence to the Middle Horde, and in 1740 he convinced Sultans Abu'l Muhammad and Ablai to swear loyalty to the empress. Urussov's most notable achievement was the expansion and strengthening of the fortified line between Orenburg and Troitsk. During his administration he was able to maintain relatively good relations with Abu'l Khayr and the majority of the Small Horde.

In 1743-1744 the relations between the Ka­zakhs and the Russians were quite strained; the Kazakhs attacked, the Russians counterattacked, and trade through Orenburg was sharply reduced. During this period Abu'l Khayr contacted Nadir Shah of Persia and received permission to migrate in the northern regions of the Khivan khanate; he was also assured that Nur Ali would succeed to the throne in Khiva.

Khan of the Middle Dzhuz Semeke was succeeded as khan by his son, Abu'l Muhammad, who shared power with Sultan Ablai for two decades, until he was eclipsed. Abu'l Muham­mad resisted the initial approaches of the Russians, choosing instead to cooper­ate with the Jungar Kalmyks, who gave him the freedom to attack the Bashkirs. In 1740, though, probably because of the re-emergence of a strong and hostile Jungar confederation, both Abu'l Muhammad and Ablai went to Orenburg as the leaders of the Middle Horde promised safe conduct to the Russian caravans and agreed to reduce their attacks on the Volga Kalmyks, who were subjects of the tsarina. Ablai also urged the Russians to exploit the trading potential of Semipalatinsk, sparing the Middle Horde the need of their month-long animal drive to reach Orenburg. The role of Semipalatinsk was expanded in the 1780s to become the capital of the western Siberian province, the territory of the Middle Horde.

By the first part of the nineteenth century this third group, ruled by Sultan Suiuk (son of Ablai), found itself forced to choose between two powerful, expansionist states, Russia and Kokand. Suiuk decided that rule by Kokand was the greater evil and so in 1818 swore his loyalty to Russia. This brought an additional 55,000 Kazakhs under Russian rule. The Russians were quick to build on this advantage; in 1820 the governor general of western Siberia sent a military detachment of 120 cossacks to the territory of the Great Horde to secure the trade routes and to gain Russian control over the area without force. In 1824 an additional 50,000 Kazakhs accepted Russian administration. The population was ruled in accordance with the 1822 reforms but was released from the yasak (annual tribute). By 1826 the Russians controlled the entire Karatai region as well. Further expansion among the Great Horde was stalled by the threat of Kenisary Qasimov. It was not until June 1846 that a new okrug of western Siberia was created in the region just north of Lake Zaisan. In 1847 the Russians consolidated their hold over the Kopalsk region when all of the Kazakhs migrating between the Lepsi and Ili rivers, an additional 40,000 families, accepted Russian administration. This resulted in the formation of a council on January 10, 1848, to administrate the Great Horde; in 1854 this territory was made part of the newly created Semipalatinsk guberniia.³¹

The Russians also consolidated their hold over the Kazakhs of the Middle and Small hordes by building a series of military outposts throughout the steppe; Kokpekty was built in 1820, Kokchetav and Karkaralinsk in 1824, and Baian-Aul in 1826. Fort Aleksandrovsk was constructed in 1834 on the Man­gyshlak Peninsula and a new military line was established between the Emba and Ui rivers. During this same period Khiva, under the rule of Khan Muham­mad Rahim (reigned 1806-1825), was expanding northward into the Syr Darya and Aral Sea regions.