Confessional aspect in the migration policy in the kalmyk lands in the second half of the 19th century

• Published in: Vestnik Pravoslavnogo Svi͡a︡to-Tikhonovskogo gumanitarnogo universiteta. II, Istorii͡a︡, istorii͡a︡ Russkoĭ pravoslavnoĭ t͡s︡erkvi Vol. 99; no. 99; pp. 50 - 62
• Main Author: Belousov, Sergey
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: St. Tikhon's Orthodox University 01-12-2021
• Subjects: astrakhan province; immigrants; kalmyk lands; religious policy; russian orthodox church; астраханская губерния; калмыцкие земли; переселенцы; религиозная политика; русская православная церковь
• ISSN: 1991-6434; 1991-6434; 2409-4811
• DOI: 10.15382/sturII202199.50-62

The article examines the confessional aspect of the state migration policy in the Kalmyk lands of Astrakhan Province in the second half of the 19th century. It analyses the features of religious policy in the resettlers’ villages in the Kalmyk lands and reveals its infl uence on the process of the development of parishes. The conclusion of the study is that the main religious component of the state resettlement policy in the Kalmyk lands was assisting the Russian Orthodox Church in forming a parish system in order to serve the spiritual needs of the resettled farmers. The resettlement project was intended primarily to make settlements along roads of strategic importance and transfer part of the Kalmyks to a sedentary lifestyle. It did not directly aff ect the Christianisation of the Kalmyks, but in the future it meant that new settlements would create more favorable conditions for the deployment of missionary activities. In this regard, the state imposed a ban on the resettlement of Old Believers and sectarian population to the Kalmyk lands and took measures to prevent the strengthening of the position of the Buddhist clergy in new settlements. The article pays special attention to the characteristics of the relations between the authorities and the resettled people as to the issue of creating a network of Orthodox parishes; the article reveals the sources of funding for the development of parishes, the diffi culties encountered here, and the results. The necessity of parishes was related both to the farmers’ religiosity and to everyday needs of their daily life. It is shown that despite the desire of the farmers to quickly build a church and open a parish, the tempo of these processed in diff erent settlements varied. They were infl uenced by the intensity of the infl ux of migrants and their fi nancial situation, success in adapting to the conditions of a new place of residence and establishing economic activities. After analysing the facts of parish development for each locality, the article demonstrates that in general it was completed by the beginning of the 20th century. The draws on a wide range of documents from one central and two regional archives of Russia, many of which are made public for the fi rst time.