Russian Empire’s Monitoring of Turkish-Kazakh and Dzungar-Kalmyk Diplomatic Relations and It’s Methods of Countering Them in the 1730-1740s

One of the consequences of Kazakh zhuzes’ and the Kalmyk Khanate’s joining Russia was supposedly their rulers’ abandonment of independent foreign policy. This demand was mainly referred to the abandonment of diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire and the Dzungar Khanate. Based on the materials...

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Main Author: Stepan V. Dzhundzhuzov
Format: Article
Language:Russian
Published: Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University) 2025-04-01
Series:RUDN Journal of Russian History
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.rudn.ru/russian-history/article/viewFile/43702/24679
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author Stepan V. Dzhundzhuzov
author_facet Stepan V. Dzhundzhuzov
author_sort Stepan V. Dzhundzhuzov
collection DOAJ
description One of the consequences of Kazakh zhuzes’ and the Kalmyk Khanate’s joining Russia was supposedly their rulers’ abandonment of independent foreign policy. This demand was mainly referred to the abandonment of diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire and the Dzungar Khanate. Based on the materials of the Joint State Archive of Orenburg Region and published documents, the author examines the evidence of such connections received by the Collegium of Foreign Affairs and the reaction of the Russian authorities to them. Their analysis shows that the Kazakh and Kalmyk rulers tried to circumvent the ban on diplomatic relations taking advantage of the openness of the steppe borders and insufficient military and administrative resources of Russia’s border provinces. The situation was complicated by the desire of the Dzungar Khanate to stir up separatist sentiments among the steppe peoples close to them in terms of the language or way of life. An objective obstacle to the Turkish-Kazakh and Dzungar-Kalmyk rapprochement was conflicts between Kazakhs and Kalmyks. The reason for the strife was usually theft of horses, cattle or the capture of prisoners initiated by each of the parties. At the same time, representatives of the Kalmyk and Kazakh elites could successfully interact when mutual interests required it, and an example of such interaction in the first half of the 1740s was the mediating mission of the Kazakh rulers to establish contacts between Kalmyk khan's wife Darma-Bala and her Dzungarian relatives. In general, during the 1730-1740s, the Collegium of Foreign Affairs and the Astrakhan and Orenburg governors who carried out its instructions managed to find ways to monitor and counteract Turkish-Kazakh and Dzungarian-Kalmyk diplomatic relations.
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spelling doaj-art-4e769dd46a274c9c8e8aed295cb603202025-08-20T03:17:03ZrusPeoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University)RUDN Journal of Russian History2312-86742312-86902025-04-01241314310.22363/2312-8674-2025-24-1-31-4321140Russian Empire’s Monitoring of Turkish-Kazakh and Dzungar-Kalmyk Diplomatic Relations and It’s Methods of Countering Them in the 1730-1740sStepan V. Dzhundzhuzov0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8937-5690Orenburg State Pedagogical UniversityOne of the consequences of Kazakh zhuzes’ and the Kalmyk Khanate’s joining Russia was supposedly their rulers’ abandonment of independent foreign policy. This demand was mainly referred to the abandonment of diplomatic relations with the Ottoman Empire and the Dzungar Khanate. Based on the materials of the Joint State Archive of Orenburg Region and published documents, the author examines the evidence of such connections received by the Collegium of Foreign Affairs and the reaction of the Russian authorities to them. Their analysis shows that the Kazakh and Kalmyk rulers tried to circumvent the ban on diplomatic relations taking advantage of the openness of the steppe borders and insufficient military and administrative resources of Russia’s border provinces. The situation was complicated by the desire of the Dzungar Khanate to stir up separatist sentiments among the steppe peoples close to them in terms of the language or way of life. An objective obstacle to the Turkish-Kazakh and Dzungar-Kalmyk rapprochement was conflicts between Kazakhs and Kalmyks. The reason for the strife was usually theft of horses, cattle or the capture of prisoners initiated by each of the parties. At the same time, representatives of the Kalmyk and Kazakh elites could successfully interact when mutual interests required it, and an example of such interaction in the first half of the 1740s was the mediating mission of the Kazakh rulers to establish contacts between Kalmyk khan's wife Darma-Bala and her Dzungarian relatives. In general, during the 1730-1740s, the Collegium of Foreign Affairs and the Astrakhan and Orenburg governors who carried out its instructions managed to find ways to monitor and counteract Turkish-Kazakh and Dzungarian-Kalmyk diplomatic relations.https://journals.rudn.ru/russian-history/article/viewFile/43702/24679dzungariadiplomatic kazakh zhuzescollegium of foreign affairspoliticsoppositionthe russian empire
spellingShingle Stepan V. Dzhundzhuzov
Russian Empire’s Monitoring of Turkish-Kazakh and Dzungar-Kalmyk Diplomatic Relations and It’s Methods of Countering Them in the 1730-1740s
RUDN Journal of Russian History
dzungaria
diplomatic kazakh zhuzes
collegium of foreign affairs
politics
opposition
the russian empire
title Russian Empire’s Monitoring of Turkish-Kazakh and Dzungar-Kalmyk Diplomatic Relations and It’s Methods of Countering Them in the 1730-1740s
title_full Russian Empire’s Monitoring of Turkish-Kazakh and Dzungar-Kalmyk Diplomatic Relations and It’s Methods of Countering Them in the 1730-1740s
title_fullStr Russian Empire’s Monitoring of Turkish-Kazakh and Dzungar-Kalmyk Diplomatic Relations and It’s Methods of Countering Them in the 1730-1740s
title_full_unstemmed Russian Empire’s Monitoring of Turkish-Kazakh and Dzungar-Kalmyk Diplomatic Relations and It’s Methods of Countering Them in the 1730-1740s
title_short Russian Empire’s Monitoring of Turkish-Kazakh and Dzungar-Kalmyk Diplomatic Relations and It’s Methods of Countering Them in the 1730-1740s
title_sort russian empire s monitoring of turkish kazakh and dzungar kalmyk diplomatic relations and it s methods of countering them in the 1730 1740s
topic dzungaria
diplomatic kazakh zhuzes
collegium of foreign affairs
politics
opposition
the russian empire
url https://journals.rudn.ru/russian-history/article/viewFile/43702/24679
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