Kalmykia in Russia's Past and Present National Policies and Administrative System

3. Kalmykia’s Status in the Russian Empire (Late 18th–Early 20th Centuries)

CHAPTER 3 Kalmykia’s Status in the Russian Empire (Late 18th –Early 20th Centuries) Gradual incorporation of Kalmykia into Russia’s system of administrative and territorial control (last quarter of 18th –first half of 19th centuries) When a substantial part of Kalmyks left for Dzungaria in late 1771, the political map of the Kalmyk steppe underwent fundamental changes. The abolishment of the Kalmyk Khanate meant the liquidation of the Kalmyk national statehood, and—to use contemporary terms—cancellation of Kalmykia’s status of a constituent member of Russia. Kalmykia became a part of the Astrakhan guberniya and was under the Astrakhan governor’s control. Uluses ceased to be independent and separate domains headed by their noyons, becoming uyezds instead. Endowed with administrative power, police officers appointed by the governor were in charge of maintaining order in uluses. Kalmykia became a part of the Russian common legal space during the period. According to the serfdom regulations, ulus lords preserved their independence in controlling their subjects. As in the case of patrimonial tribunal, the landlord was entitled to administer justice and impose punishments on his ulus people “based on… Kalmyk laws and customs.” In fact, the status of landlords (noyons) was equal to that of the noble class. Under this provision and the Russian inheritance law effective at the time, and based on the Kalmyk conventional law, the ulus property rights were inherited by the son from his father, passing into the state ownership in case of absence of direct heirs. A special structural part of the Astrakhan governor’s office—Kalmyk Affairs Expedition—was in charge of general control over Kalmyk affairs. The 122 Kalmykia in Russia’s Past and Present judicial body—the Zargo (estate court similar to the high zemstvoi court and subordinated to the local administration)—was established in 1772. The Zargo comprised three zaisangs (one representative from the key uluses— Torgout, Derbet, and Khoshout) working on a regular professional basis. There were attempts to introduce elements of the principle of judicial independence . Apart from receiving an annual salary amounting to one hundred rubles, judges and their closest relatives were exempted from all fines that might be imposed by zaisangs. However, since the court was not separated from the state administration, the Zargo was not independent in practice and its resolutions would gain official force only after being approved by the governor. As we can see, the local authorities tried to combine the concept of separation of powers and the principle of absolute state control. The Zargo conducted legal proceedings in compliance with the norms stipulated by the Great Code of Nomads, Donduk-Dashi’s laws of 1758, and Kalmyk ancient traditions. Criminal cases between Kalmyks and neighboring people were resolved based on the Russian law. Having put an end to the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) by signing a peace treaty, and having crashed the peasants’ revolt led by Yemelyan Pugachev, the tsarist administration launched major reforms in the local administration and courts in 1775. On November 7, 1775, Catherine II published her manifest entitled Institutions for administration of guberniyas in the Russian Empire. The documents reflected two tendencies: centralization and decentralization of administration (“the whole can be in good order only when all its parts are in proper condition”). Under the reform, guberniyas were divided into smaller units; several guberniyas were consolidated under control of viceroys or governor-generals. In the course of the reform, the Caucasian viceroyalty that comprised the Caucasian and Astrakhan guberniyas including the territories of the nomad Kalmyks was formed in May 1785. By an order issued in 1786 by Astrakhan governor P.S. Potemkin who simultaneously acted as the viceroy, the Kalmyk Army Chancellery was set up for managing Kalmyk affairs. The chancellery was in charge of administrative, police, financial, and economic issues, and was responsible for organizing military service in compliance with the new universal service law (1784). When, in 1788, the competences of the Kalmyk Army Chancellery were revised (it did not have to organize the universal military service), it was transformed into a “Kalmyk Chancellery” and moved under the governor’s control, from Yenotayevsk to Astrakhan.1 i Translator’s note: zemstvo—a form of local self-government in the Russian countryside. Kalmykia’s Status in the Russian Empire 123 A general reorganization of the administration of Kalmyk affairs along with a judicial reform in Russia resulted in the dissolution of the Zargo in 1786. Its...