SCENARIOS OF LOYALTY IN THE RELATIONS OF KABARDINIANS AND BALKARS WITH THE IMPERIAL ADMINISTRATION: SYMBOLISM, PRAGMATICS AND POLITICAL EFFECT

The inclusion of Kabardinians and Balkars in the administrative and political space of the Russian Empire was accompanied by the formation in their political culture of public practices related to the expression of loyalty to the Romanov dynasty. Within the framework of military-popular administration one of the most widespread ways of registration of loyalty declarations were congress of entrusted of Great and Minor Kabarda and five mountain (Balkar) societies.  Based on archival documents and periodical press materials, the formation of the symbolic and practical component of the loyalty scenarios is examined. Its key symbols were the "people's banner", granted by Nicholas I in 1844, and historical examples, which emphasized the deep historical tradition of serving the Russian throne, starting from Ivan IV.  The practical side of loyalty implied regular confirmations of readiness to mobilize the human and financial resources of society. An analysis of the stories revealed a consistent pragmatism in the use of actions of loyalty to the throne for the favorable resolution of urgent social problems. Such an approach in relations with the imperial authorities has demonstrated a certain practical effectiveness. On May 21, 1889, Alexander III bestowed Kabardians and five mountain (Balkarian) societies of Zolsky and Gorny pastures under the condition of allegiance. Since August 25th, 1905 there was an administrative reunion of Great and Minor Kabarda in structure of Nalchiksky area.  

1. A.S. Ocherk vosstaniya gortsev Terskoi oblasti v 1877 godu [Overview of the uprising of the highlanders of the Terek region in 1877]. – SPb.: Tipografiya glavnogo upravleniya udelov, 1896. – 124 p. (In Russian)

2. Agrarnye otnosheniya u narodov Severnogo Kavkaza v rossiiskoi politike XVIII – nachala XX veka. Arkhivnye materialy i nauchnye issledovaniya v 2-kh tomakh. – T. II. / Sost. P.A. Kuz'minov [Agrarian Relations among the Peoples of the North Caucasus in Russian Politics in the 18th – Early 20th Century. Archival materials and scientific research in 2 volumes. Volume II / Compiled by P.A. Kuzminov]. – Nalchik: El'-Fa, 2008. – 552 p. (In Russian)

3. ARSANUKAEVA M.S. Gortsy Severnogo Kavkaza na koronatsiyakh rossiiskikh imperatorov (XIX – nachalo XX v.) [Mountaineers of the North Caucasus at the coronations of Russian emperors (19th – early 20th centuries).]. IN: Vestnik Instituta istorii, arkheologii i etnografii. – 2015. – No. 1 (41). – P. 84–87. (In Russian)

4. ATNASHEV T., VELIZHEV M. Tri dilemmy intellektual'noi istorii: the state of the craft [Three dilemmas of intellectual history: the state of the craft]. IN: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie. – 2021. – No. 5(171). – P. 11–21. (In Russian)

5. BAEV G. Boevaya sluzhba osetin [Combat Service of the Ossetians]. – Vladikavkaz: Izd-vo SOGU, 1991. – 68 p. (In Russian)

6. BAEV G. O prisoedinenii Maloi Kabardy k Bol'shoi [On the incorporation of the Minor Kabarda into the Great Kabarda]. IN: Pyatigorskii listok. – 1905. – No. 337. – P. 2. (In Russian)

7. BEITUGANOV S.N. Kabarda: istoriya i familii [Kabarda: History and Families]. Nalchik: El'brus, 2007. – 784 p. (In Russian)

8. DOLBILOV M. Attestatsiya «vernopoddannicheskikh chuvstv»: ministerstvo imperatorskogo dvora i narodnye panegiriki domu Romanovykh v 1860-1880-kh godakh [The Attestation of "Loyalty": The Ministry of the Imperial Court and Popular Eulogies to the House of Romanoff in the 1860s and 1880s]. IN: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie. – 2021. – No. 5 (171). – P. 22–37. (In Russian)

9. Golos kabardintsev [Voice of the Kabardians]. IN: Kubanskii krai. – 1914. – No. 243. – P. 2. (In Russian)

10. GRABOVSKY N. Ingushi (ikh zhizn' i obychai) [The Ingush (their life and customs)]. IN: Sbornik svedenii o kavkazskikh gortsakh [Collection of information about Caucasian mountaineers]. – Tiflis: Tipografiya glavnogo upravleniya Namestnika Kavkazskogo, 1876. – Iss. IX. – P. 1–111. (In Russian)

11. Istoricheskie svedeniya o kabardinskom narode: [K 300-letiyu doma Romanovykh / Izd. V.N. Kudasheva] [Historical information about the Kabardian people: (To the 300th anniversary of the Romanov house / Edited by V.N. Kudashev)]. – Kiev: Tipo-lit. S.V. Kul'zhenko, 1913. – 283 p. (In Russian)

12. K istorii kabardinskogo naroda [To the History of the Kabardian People]. IN: Terskie vedomosti. – 1913. – No. 2. – P. 2. (In Russian)

13. K puteshestviyu Namestnika E. I. V. na Kavkaze grafa Il. Iv. Vorontsova-Dashkova [To the Journey of H.I.V.'s Viceroy to the Caucasus, Count Il. Iv. Vorontsov-Dashkov]. IN: Tiflisskii listok. – 1905. – No. 96. – P. 1. (In Russian)

14. Kabardino-russkie otnosheniya v XVI–XVIII vv.: Dokumenty i materialy: V 2 t. [Kabardino-Russian relations in the 16th-18th centuries: Documents and materials: In 2 vols.]. – M.: Izd-vo Akad. nauk SSSR, 1957. – Vol. 2: XVIII v. / [Ed. by V. M. Bukalova]. – 1957. – 424 p. (In Russian)

15. Kavkaz. – 1877. – No. 10. – P. 1. (In Russian)

16. MURATOVA E.G. Novye sotsial'nye praktiki kak faktory integratsii kabardintsev i balkartsev v administrativno-politicheskuyu sistemu Rossiiskoi imperii v pervoi polovine XIX v. [New social practices as factors in the integration of Kabardinians and Balkars into the administrative and political system of the Russian Empire in the first half of the 19th century]. IN: Vserossiiskie Millerovskie chteniya. – 2018. – No. 6. – P. 333–338. (In Russian)

17. Novaya imperskaya istoriya Severnoi Evrazii. V 2-kh chastyakh. Chast' 2: Balansirovanie imperskoi situatsii: XVIII–XX vv. / Pod red. I. Gerasimova [A New Imperial History of Northern Eurasia. In 2 Parts. Part 2: Balancing the Imperial Situation: XVIII-XX centuries. Ed. by I. Gerasimov]. – Kazan: «Ab Imperio», 2017. – 630 p. (In Russian)

18. POTTO V.A. Tsarskaya sem'ya na Kavkaze. 18 sentyabrya – 14 oktyabrya 1888 goda [The Tsarist Family in the Caucasus. September 18 – October 14, 1888]. – Tiflis: Tip. Okruzhnogo Shtaba Kavkazskogo voennogo okruga, 1889. – 230 p. (In Russian)

19. Puteshestvie ikh imperatorskikh vysochestv gosudarya velikogo knyazya Mikhaila Nikolaevicha i gosudaryni velikoi knyagini Ol'gi Fedorovny po Terskoi oblasti [Journey of Their Imperial Highnesses Sovereign Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich and Sovereign Grand Duchess Olga Feodorovna to the Terek Region]. IN: Kavkaz. – 1863. – No. 94. – P. 2. (In Russian)

20. Russkii invalid. – 1863. – No. 231. – P. 1. (In Russian)

21. RYZHOVA A.P. «Russkie po serdtsu» prazdnovanie 300-letiya dinastii Romanovykh ["Russians at heart" celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty]. IN: Novoe proshloe / The New Past. – 2020. – No. 1. – P. 84–102. (In Russian)

22. SABLIROV M.Z. Kul'tura narodov Kabardy i Balkarii v kontse XIX – nachale XX v. [Culture of the peoples of Kabarda and Balkaria in the late 19th and early 20th centuries]. – Nalchik: Adyge kheku, 2001. – 232 p. (In Russian)

23. Sloboda Nal'chik (Terskoi oblasti), 28 iyunya (ot sobstv. korr.) [Sloboda Nalchik (Terek region), June 28 (from own correspondent)]. IN: Kavkaz. – 1889. – No. 175. – P.2. (In Russian)

24. Sovremennye otnosheniya k nam gortsev Terskoi oblasti [Modern attitudes of the highlanders of the Terek region toward us]. IN: Kavkaz. – 1877. – No. 13. – P.2-3. (In Russian)

25. Torzhestvo zakladki zdaniya dlya Nal'chikskogo real'nogo uchilishcha (13. VII. 1911) [Ceremony of laying the building for the Nalchik Real High School]. – Nalchik: Tipografiya I.A. Urusbieva, 1911. – 12 p. (In Russian)

26. TREPAVLOV V.V. Simvoly i ritualy v etnicheskoi politike Rossii XVI–XIX vv. [Symbols and rituals in the ethnic politics of Russia in the 16th – 19th centuries]. – Sankt-Peterburg: Izdatel'stvo Olega Abyshko, 2018. – 320 p. (In Russian)

27. Vernost' kabardintsev russkomu prestolu v epokhu Smutnogo vremeni: k 300-letiyu Doma Romanovykh. Sost. P.L. Yudinym. Izdanie kabardinskogo Naroda [Loyalty of Kabardians to the Russian throne during the Time of Troubles: the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. Compiled by. P.L. Yudin. Published by the Kabardin people]. – Vladikavkaz: Elektro-Tipografiya P.K. Grigor'eva, 1913. – 20 p. (In Russian)

28. Vladikavkaz. «Revolyutsionery» [Vladikavkaz. "Revolutionaries"]. IN: Russkoe slovo. – 1906. – No. 70. – P. 3. (In Russian)

29. Vospominaniya general-fel'dmarshala grafa Dmitriya Alekseevicha Milyutina, 1863-1864 / Pod red. L. G. Zakharovoi [Memoirs of Field Marshal General Count Dmitri Alexeyevich Milyutin, 1863-1864. Ed. by L.G. Zakharova]. – M.: ROSSPEN, 2003. – 686 p. (In Russian)

30. WORTMAN R.S. Stsenarii vlasti: mify i tseremonii russkoi monarkhii. V 2-kh tt. [Scenarios of Power: Myths and Ceremonies of the Russian Monarchy. In 2 vols. Vol. 2: From Alexander II to the abdication of Nicholas II]. – M.: OGI, 2004. – 796 p. (In Russian)

31. Zametki o puteshestvii Ego Velichestva Gosudarya Imperatora po Terskoi oblasti (okonchanie) [Notes on His Majesty the Emperor's Travels in the Terek Region (End)]. IN: Terskie vedomosti. – 1871. – No. 42. – P. 2. (In Russian)

32. RGIA – Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi istoricheskii arkhiv [Russian State Historical Archive]. (In Russian)

33. TsGA RSO-A – Tsentral'nyi gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Respubliki Severnaya Osetiya-Alaniya [Central State Archive of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania]. (In Russian)

34. UTsGA AS KBR – Upravlenie Tsentral'nogo gosudarstvennogo arkhiva arkhivnoi sluzhby Kabardino-Balkarskoi Respubliki [Administration of the Central state archive of Archival service of Kabardino-Balkarian Republic]. (In Russian)