Cossack service team in cases Kalmyk in the first half of XVIII century

Abstract

The problems of Russian frontier and its inhabitants have recently drawn more and more attention of domestic and foreign specialists. These researches centre on different aspects of the Russian frontier reality. Many papers are devoted to the history of the Russian Cossacks, for frontier realities exerted the most direct impact on their forming and development. Actually the Cossacks in Russia can be considered as typical representatives of a frontier nation because their whole life passed in close proximity to the border, in close contact with all its dangers. The Cossacks easily absorbed elements of their neighbors’ culture, enriching their own skills with the new experience necessary for life in a border zone. Content with the minimum help from the state, the Cossacks independently settled in the border territory and carried out important state functions of control over the country’s border. That’s why in the opinion of the Russian authorities the Cossacks were sufficiently prepared for the solution of various tasks requiring interaction with the frontier peoples. For this reason the Russian authorities quite often resorted to services of the Cossacks when the use of active armed forces was considered inexpedient for some reasons.

The activities of the Cossack team created for ensuring protection of the Kalmyk khan in the 18th century can serve an illustrative example. Our research allows to understand more deeply the specifics of Russia’s domestic policy concerning the Kalmyk khanate in the first half of the 18th century, and also to expand our idea of the Russian frontier in the Lower Volga region.