BOOK REVIEWS

This  week, i am going to review on two books which are dealing with the Tsarist Russia's policies on its non-Slavic, non-Orthodox subjects.These two works are primarily discussing  on Islamic Turkic peoples of Imperial Russia.How come it relevant for Modern Russia and world? It is highly relevant in two ways : 1) Modern Russia inherited a lot from its Tsarist predecessor.For example,the renewed interest in Russia as an European power,2) West's interest in Islam. Russia successfully ruled and still rules significant Muslim population. Tsarist strategies also have a major impact on Modern Russian minority policies.The west can learn lot from it. 

BOOK REVIEW-1

Crews, Robert D. For Prophet and Tsar: Islam and Empire in Russia and Central Asia. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2006.463pp.

This work is a study of imperial Russia’s relationship with its Muslim subjects. For Prophet and Tsar : Islam and Empire in Russia and Central Asia covers the period between late 18^th century when empress Catherine introduced toleration policies to the demise of Romanov dynasty in 1917.By the early 20^th century, Russia became home for nearly twenty million Muslims. Or in other words, Russia had more Muslims than the so called custodians Sunni Islam, the Ottoman Empire. Russia’s Muslim population concentrated mainly in its southern and eastern borderlands. Russia ruled its Muslim subjects for nearly 500 years which was much longer period compared to any other European empire. How did imperial Russia achieve it with minimum resources? For Prophet and Tsar explains how Russia became a Muslim power and Russian state became the major custodian of religion of Muhammad without losing its Orthodox Christian character. This work also depicts how did Muslims collaborate with their infidel ruler.

Imperial Russia’s Muslims were heterogeneous in nature. But they were concentrated in certain parts of empire like Volga and Ural region, Crimea, Northern Caucasus, Central Asian steppe and Turkistan. There were both settled and nomadic groups. Communities like Volga Tatars were reasonably urbanized and highly Islamic but at the same time their Islamic brethren from east like Kazakhs were nomadic and hardly followed Islamic way of life. Through this work Crews displays how the Russian state created, nurtured and protected  Islamic intermediaries for policing its Muslim subjects. It was quite lengthy process and was initiated under Empress Catherine. Empress got influenced by German Cameralist ideas which believed that both Christianity and Islam had much in common. It led to the formation of ‘Orenburg Assembly’ for the management of Muslim affairs. Orenburg Assembly hierarchized religion and controlled all major aspects of official Islam under the aegis of Russian state. Russian state preferred the ‘orthodox view’ and acted as the custodians of true Islam in imperial borderlands. But at the same time state controlled the influence of Islamic clergy with the help of Muslim laymen who always questioned the wrong deeds of their clergy. Besides through the clever manipulation of imperial law, Russian state even managed to enter into the domestic space of their Muslim subjects.

Formally Russian state always looked for some sort of intermediaries for controlling their Muslim subjects. State was successful in these aspects in places like Volga and Ural region of Central Russia. Here state depended on religious elite. But, in Kazakh steppe where religion was not so institutionalized (even Kazakh religious identity was questioned), state depended on secular elites for controlling their subjects. There was a big shift in the state policy towards Islamic institutions from mid 19^th century onwards. Due to the mistrust of Islam which was exacerbated by both the Russo-Turkish wars and the Orthodox missionary propaganda, the Russian state didn't try to develop an Islamic hierarchy in newly acquired territories of Central Asia. Instead in Central Asia, the Russian state managed to police the Muslim subjects with the help of local elites. Again Tsarist state effectively neutralized the elite’s power through the exploitation of highly divided Muslim society. Russian state supported westernized reform movements like Jadidism and at the same time feared the traditional Sufi fraternities.

For prophet and Tsar divided into six chapters with an introduction and epilogue. The Chapter 1 discusses the evolution of state backed paramount Islamic organization in the Ufa under Empress Catherine. The chapter 2 discusses the expansion of the authority of ‘Orenburg Association’ over the entire breadth of Volga and Ural region and its impact on the mosque communities there. The chapter 3 discusses the Muslim family and how Tsarist state tried to define it on its own terms. The chapter 4 discusses the process of Islamization of Kazakh nomads under Tsarist state with the help of Tatar intermediaries’. State wanted to make the Kazakhs more civilized and disciplined through the process of Islamization. The integration of more orthodox Muslim communities of the Central Asia or Turkestan is the topic for the chapter 5.The chapter 6 explains the process of renegotiation of the pact between Russian state and Muslim elites for the orthodox Islam at the wake of rising Russian nationalism.

Through epilogue Crews tries to explain the scope of this project in the contemporary world especially in contemporary west. Crews argues that the long experience of Russia in dealing with Muslim subjects is really a good lesson for the contemporary west which are worry of significant Muslim migrants from oriental world. Crews also discusses how Soviets adopted a lot from its Tsarist predecessor for formulating its Muslim policy. Similarly author wonderfully explains the impact of Ottoman Empire on the Muslim policies of Russian state. Finally he also mentions the Muslim policies of post-Soviet states of Eurasia and the role of Islam in the legitimization  of various Central Asian elites. Through this work Crews shows the positive aspects of Russian rule.But he undermines the Orthodox Christian domination over non-Orthodox religions of the empire. After all Tsar always remained as a Orthodox Christian emperor who was responsible for protecting Orthodox Christian principles at the expense of other inferior creeds. Similarly Crews neglects the experience of Caucasus Muslims who led major rebellions against both imperial Russia and post-Soviet Russia.

BOOK REVIEW-2

Brower, Daniel R and Edward J Lazzerini (ed.) Russia’s Orient: Imperial Borderlands and Peoples, 1700-1917.Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1997.339pp.

This work is a study on Russia’s Orient and exactly on its southern and eastern border lands. The Russia’s Orient: Imperial Borderlands and Peoples, 1700-1917 covers wide range of issues. The book deals entire breadth of Russian Empire from Crimea on west to Sakhalin Islands on east. It also deals with various Asiatic subjects of Russian Empire like Tatars, Caucasus hill tribes, Central Asian Turkic people both sedentary and nomadic and East Siberian people like Gilak. By theme wise, Russia’s Orient : Imperial Borderlands and Peoples,1700-1917 deals with topics such as non-Christian identities of early modern Russia, scientific naturalism and ethnicity, citizen and citizenship and its application in 18^th century imperial border lands,19^th  century Russian literature on Caucasian savagery, Tsarist education policy and its impact on Turkic people, accommodation and resistance to Russian imperialism by various colonized people, trading frontiers in Caucasus between colonizer and colonized, impact of Russian imperialism on Central Asian tribal practices like ‘Barymta’, influence of Islam on so called converted Tatars of Volga basin and at last an ethnographic study on the one of the most primitive and isolated people of Russian Empire, The Gilak.

There is a revived interest on the history of Russian Empire after the decline of Soviet Union. As we know Russian Empire was multi-ethnic and multi-religious like its communist successor. Resurgent western Interest on Islam contributed to the revival of Borderland Study of Russian Empire because Orthodox Russian Empire was dealing with significant number of Muslim subjects. This work is a combination fourteen essays which were presented in one of the two day conference of University of Berkeley in 1994. This work is also a study of expansion of Russian Empire in to both east and south and the influence of non-Slavic Asiatic people on it. Or, in other words, Russia’s Orient is not just a story of Russia’s dominance over its less developed neighbours but also the influence of natives over the evolution of Russian Empire.

Thematically, Russia’s Orient is divided into two parts: 1) Empire and Orient, 2) Frontier Encounters. The first part is dealing with various activities and perceptions of Russians towards its newly acquired and partially stabilized Asian borderlands. Khodarkovsky is discussing about early perception of Russian state towards its non-Christian neighbours. Slezkine discusses on the changed attitude of Russian elite towards non-Slavic, non-Christian subjects. The so called, enlightened monarchy of the Empress Catherine had a serious role in this change. Then onwards Russia was starting to accept the different lifestyle of their neighbours. Both Yaroshevski and Jersild are also discussing on enlightened ideas like citizen and citizenship which was quite popular in late 18^th and early 19^th centuries of Russia especially on its elites. Jersild discusses on the application of enlightened ideas among Caucasian tribes as an ideal way to pacify and civilize them. Brower discusses on ethnic study of early colonial Turkestan and how did Russian rulers try to understand their newly acquired possessions of Central Asia with the help of various experts like other European empires. We can see that Russia’s dealing on Muslims of Central Asia was quite different from Caucasus. Layton discusses on representation of Caucasian tribesmen in early 19^th century Russian literature. It loved and hated the hill men at the same time. Geraci discusses about Tsarist educational policy regarding the treatment of Islam.

The second part of Russia’s Orient is dealing with the accommodation and resistance of native people towards Russian Empire. Lazzerini tries to explain the accommodation and resistance of a Crimean Tatar elite like Ismail Bey Gaspirinski towards Russian Empire. Here, Gaspirinski reminded South Asian elites under British Empire. Khalid masterly deals with Jadidism, a Turkic Islamic movement of early 20^th century. He describes how did native elites use modern western (Russian) education as a tool against Russian Empire. Ann Gross explains the Russian conquest of Bukhara through the eyes of a Bukharan historian Mirza ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz Sami. Barret discusses on various kind of relationship existed between Terek Cossacks and Caucasus mountain tribes on southern borderlands. Paradoxical to imperial claim, here Russians were getting nativized through the influence of their so called uncivilized neighbours. Martin discusses on the impact of Russian judicial system on the nomadic peoples of Kazakh steppe especially Middle Horde Kazakhs. Here, she wonderfully explains the changes happened to the Kazakh customs like ‘Barimta’, which was labeled as criminal activity by colonial government. Kefli discusses on the impact of Islam on the converted Tatar Christians of the Volga basin and their perceived reconversion to Islam. It shows that how failure was imperial religious policies. At last, Grant deals with least known people of Russian Empire, The Gilak. They were primitive and custodians of natural communism at the same time.

The Russia’s Orient is very detail and well researched work. Moreover, it is well written with the help of authentic sources. Some of the contributors use Edward Said’s Orientalism for explaining their topic. But people like Layton is criticizing Said for impracticability of ‘Orientalism’ model for the study of Russian Empire in comparison with British or French Empires. She explains that there was subaltern among colonizers and elite among subalterns. Besides Russian Empire had its own unique geographical structure. So it was very difficult to say that where did European Russia end and Asian Russia did begin. European inclusiveness or superiorly were also missing in Russian case. The major defective of this book is that even though book’s title talks about orient but it considers only Turkic Muslim people of the Russian Empire. It is not dealing with major Buddhist or Animist people of the Empire except minor players like Gilak of Sakhalin. The inclusion of them may bring more authenticity to this work.