Oriental Studies (Dec 2020)
He Who Was Redeemed Twice: Afanasy Shorin, a Stavropol Host Interpreter. Reconstructing a Non-Typical Biography of the Kalmyk Christian, Second Third of the 18th century
Abstract
Introduction. Religious policies of the Russian Empire in early modern history is a topical issue of historiography. An important (though poorly researched) aspect of this question is the role of Kalmyk Christian elites. Being part of the diverse ethnoreligious cluster, the latter served as a conductor of Russia’s influence on subject nomadic communities (Oirats, Turkic tribes) during the period under consideration across southeastern steppe peripheries and adjacent territories. The Stavropol Kalmyk host established in 1737, quartered next to the fortress of Stavropol-on-Volga, and since 1745 referred to as Stavropol Corps of Kalmyk Christians was one of such groups.Goals.The study seeks to reconstruct the biography of Afanasy Shorin, an interpreter socially representing army elites. His life journey may be instrumental in tracing the shaping (and details) of communication patterns between Russian authorities and steppe leaders during the mentioned period. Materials and Methods. The study analyses rich source materials from Russia’s central and local institutions that reflect certain phases of Afanasy Shorin’s biography. The research tools include those of source criticism and archaeography which provided a systematic insight into the documents. Special attention is paid to the collected indirect testimonies that would clarify separate aspects of the person’s life. Results.The biography reconstructed from the documents contains a number of milestones, such as birthright privileges, military career prospects, escape attempts and refusal of active service, two discharges from any liability for the offences by the Russian authorities as a tribute to the social status and merits of ancestors, admission to the Collegium of Foreign Affairs, civil service in Stavropol-onVolga, and an important political mission in 1757–1758. The article identifies how and why the life trajectory unusual for a representative of such background and status — a school teacher, interpreter but not a military officer — reflected the processes of interaction between Russia proper and steppe nomads. It also underlines the importance of the Oirat factor for the state before and after the fall of Dzungaria. In the meantime, the text describes sentiments of the Stavropol host leadership and emphasizes the dissatisfaction with restrictions to have resulted from social class policies of Russian authorities by the late 1760s. The article contains the idea that it was the discontent with his position, which was fully characteristic of many including Afanasy Shorin, that pushed the highest authorities of the host to participate in the Yemelyan Pugachev’s Rebellion. As a possible prospect, the departure was suggested, by the example of the Kalmyks of Ubashi Khan, who departed to China in 1771. The article proves first to reveal the mechanism of how service conditions, kinship and confessional contacts influenced the inclusion of Kalmyk Christian elites into the border Russian military-andpolitical system. The text gives arguments that essentially contradict the trend (previously expressed in historiography) to consider the anti-serfdom protest as the only reason why Stavropol Kalmyks supported Pugachev’s Rebellion. Conclusions. The paper concludes the Kalmyk Christian nobility and related elites of the Kalmyk community played a significant role in foreign and religious policies under Elizaveta Petrovna and in the early years of Catherine the Great’s reign, which explains the increased attention of the government towards them. However, their relevance within the established border system and, consequently, their positions were largely exhausted in the 1770s. This was also facilitated by the decline in the importance of the Oirats, and the rise of the Turkic direction in Russia’s foreign policy in the south and southeast.
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