Orenburg Governor I. I. Neplyuev and the Russian policy of pacifying the Kazakh nobility after the death of Khan Abulkhair (1748—1750)
The article examines the activities of the Orenburg governor I. I. Neplyuev to clarify the circumstances of the death of Abulkhair Khan of the Junior Zhuz, which happened in 1748 as a result of an unequal battle with the Sultan of the Middle Zhuz Barak, and the “policy of pacification” of his heir Nuraly Khan. The analysis of departmental and diplomatic documents shows that the subsequent death of Barak Sultan two years later was perceived by the Orenburg administration as an ordinary and expected incident. The legitimization of Khan’s power by the Russian monarch, even more than a treaty of citizenship, turned the heirs of Abulkhair into vassals of the Russian Empire. Thus, the events related to the change of power in the Junior Zhuz in the middle of the 18th century should be considered as an important indicator of the involvement of the Kazakh elite in the Russian political space. At the same time, the essence of the Central Asian policy of Russia, based on the “balance of power” of competing clan families and the pacification of their warlike aspirations, remained unchanged.