«Those fleeing from the cruelty of the owners should be taken under the protection of…»: prisoners and fugitives on the Kuban border in the 20s of the xix century (according to the State archive of Krasnodar region)

The geopolitical realities that developed as a result of the victory of the Russian Empire in the war against Turkey in 1787 – 1791 carried new challenges for St. Petersburg related to the arrangement of the border along the Kuban River. Here it was necessary to build relations with the mountain peoples, whose specific way of life could not be unconditionally accepted by the Russian side. Raids aimed at capturing prisoners have become a serious challenge to good-neighborly relations. This provoked retaliatory military actions, which further complicated the process of peaceful coexistence.

Not only military personnel, but also representatives of the civilian population living in settlements located near the border cordon were captured by the highlanders. Many polonyaniks, having passed the most difficult conditions of slave life, sometimes got the opportunity to escape from captivity, and the only salvation for them was the Russian border. The Adygs also ran out here, who often found themselves in captivity with their compatriots as a result of internecine strife. In the hope of receiving protection on the right bank of the Kuban, representatives of the Adyghe dependent estates also left, who experienced increasingly increasing feudal and serfdom oppression from their owners. The tsarist administration provided protection and guaranteed freedom to the Circassian poor, captive Nogais and Tatars who fled to the Russian side. This led to complications in relations with the mountain aristocracy, provoked new military clashes. It was not possible to overcome mutual hostility and build a model of relations that would suit all parties to intercultural dialogue during the period under review.

1. Blaramberg I. F. Kavkazskaya rukopis’ (Caucasian manuscript). Stavropol’: Kn. izd-vo, 1992. 240 p. (In Russian)

2. Bliev M. M. Rossiya i gortsy Bol’shogo Kavkaza na puti k tsivilizatsii (Russia and the highlanders of the Greater Caucasus on the way to civilization). Moscow: Mysl’, 2004. 878 p. (In Russian)

3. Bliev M. M., Degoev V.V. Kavkazskaya voyna (Caucasian War). Moscow: Roset, 1994. 592 p. (In Russian)

4. Bobrovnikov V.O. Abreki i gosudarstvo: kul’tura nasiliya na Kavkaze (Abreki and the state: a culture of violence on Kavkaz) // Vestnik Evrazii. 2000. No. 1. P. 19 – 46. (In Russian)

5. Bronevskiy V. B. Istoriya Donskogo Voyska, opisanie Donskoy zemli i Kavkazskikh mineral’nykh vod. Part 4. Poezdka na Kavkaz (History of the Don Army, description of the Don land and Caucasian Mineralinye Vody. Part 4. Trip to the Caucasus). St.Petersburg, 1834. 324 p. (In Russian)

6. Bronevskiy S. M. Noveyshiya izvestiya na Kavkaze, sobrannyya i popolnennyya Semenom Bronevskim: v 2 tomakh: t.1, t.2 (News in the Caucasus, collected and complete by Semyon Bronevsky: in 2 volumes: vol. 1, vol. 2) / ed by I. K. Pavlovoy. St.Petersburg: Peterburgskoe Vostokovedenie, 2004. 459 p. (In Russian)

7. State archive of Krasnodar territory (GAKK). F.261. Inv.1. D. 63. (In Russian)

8. GAKK. F.261. Inv.1. D.64. (In Russian)

9. GAKK. F.261. Inv.1. D.74. (In Russian)

10. GAKK. F.261. Inv.1. D.80. (In Russian)

11. GAKK. F.261. Inv.1. D.83. (In Russian)

12. GAKK. F.261. Inv.1. D.94. (In Russian)

13. GAKK. F.261. Inv.1. D.100. (In Russian)

14. GAKK. F.261. Inv.1. D.242. (In Russian)

15. GAKK. F.261. Inv.1. D.269. (In Russian)

16. Dubrovin N. F. Istoriya voyny i vladychestva russkikh na Kavkaze (History of war and Russian rule in the Caucasus). Vol.1. St.Petersburg: Tipographia Departamenta udelov, 1871. 656 p. (In Russian)

17. Dudarev D. S., Dudarev S. L. Severnyy Kavkaz glazami predstaviteley rossiyskogo obshchestva pervoy poloviny – serediny XIX veka (North Caucasus through the eyes of representatives of Russian society of the first half - mid-19th century). Armavir; Stavropol’: Dizayn-studiya B, 2017. 402 p. (In Russian)

18. Il’yasova A. A., Grankin Yu. Yu. Torgovyy faktor v sisteme politiko-ekonomicheskogo razvitiya Severnogo Kavkaza v XVIII – pervoy polovine XIX vekov (Trade factor in the system of political and co-economic development of the North Caucasus in the XVIII – first half of the XIX centuries). Pyatigorsk: PSLU publ., 2013. 224 p. (In Russian)

19. Kerashev A. T. Pobegi adygov v Rossiyu (1828 – 1864 gg.) (The shoots of the Adyghs to Russia (1828 – 1864) // Voprosy obshchestvenno-politicheskikh otnosheniy na Severo-Zapadnom Kavkaze v XIX v. / ed V.N. Ratushnyak. Maykop: Maykopskoe knizhnoe izddatelstvo, 1987. P. 35–58. (In Russian)

20. Klychnikov Yu. Yu., Tsybul’nikova A. A. «Tak buynuyu vol’nost’ zakony tesnyat…»: bor’ba Rossiyskoy gosudarstvennosti s khishchnichestvom na Severnom Kavkaze (istoricheskie ocherki) («So violent liberty for the horses are being squeezed»...: the struggle of Russian statehood with predation in the North Caucasus (historical essays) / ed by B.V. Vinogradov. Pyatigorsk: Reklamno-informatsionnoe agenstvo na Kavminvodakh, 2011. 256 p. (In Russian)

21. Klychnikov Yu.Yu. Severokavkazskiy «ochag» rabotorgovli («plenoprodavstva»): k postanovke problemy rabstva (North Caucasus «hearth» of the slave trade («captive-selling»): to the formulation of the problem of slavery) // Slavery: Theory and Practice. 2020. No.5(1). P. 4–18. (In Russian)

22. Kuz’minov P. A., Oguzova D. A. Transformatsiya sotsial’nogo statusa adygskogo krest’yanstva v traditsionnom obshchestve (konets XVIII – pervaya polovina XIX veka) (Transformation of the social status of the Adyghe peasantry in traditional society (late XVIII – first half of the XIX century) // Nauchnaya mysl’ Kavkaza. 2017. No. 1(89). P. 80–87. (In Russian)

23. Marzey A. S. Cherkesskoe naezdnichestvo «zekIue». Iz istorii voennogo byta cherkesov v XVIII – pervoy polovine XIX veka (Cherkess horseback «zekIue.» From the history of the military life of the Circassians in the XVIII – first half of the XIX century). Nal’chik: Izdatel’skiy tsentr «El’-Fa», 2004. 305 p. (In Russian)

24. Pokrovskiy M. V. Iz istorii adygov v kontse XVIII – pervoy polovine XIX veka: Sotsial’no-ekonomicheskie ocherki (From the history of the Adyghs at the end of the 18th – the first polo wine of the 19th century: Socio-economic essays). Krasnodar: Kniznoe izdatelstvo, 1989. 319 p. (In Russian)

25. Priymak Yu. V. Severo-Vostochnoe Prichernomor’e vo vnutri- i vneshnepoliticheskikh protsessakh formirovaniya yuzhnykh granits Rossii (konets XVII – pervaya tret’ XIX v.) (North-Eastern Black Sea Region in the internal and foreign policy processes of the formation of the southern borders of Russia (the end of the XVII – the first third of the XIX century). Armavir: «Poliprint», 2011. 358 p. (In Russian)

26. Spenser E. Puteshestviya v Cherkesiyu (Travels to Cherkessia). Maykop: RIPO «Adygeya», 1994. 153 p. (In Russian)

27. Stepanenko N. S. Beglye kazaki i krest’yane – rabovladel’tsy na Severo-Zapadnom Kavkaze v seredine XIX v. (Runaway Cossacks and peasants are slave owners in the Se-vero-West Caucasus in the middle of the XIX century) // Slavery and Practice. 2019. No. 4(1). P.171–173. (In Russian)

28. Stepanenko N. S. Obstoyatel’stva pereseleniya adygskogo «chernogo naroda» na podkontrol’nye Rossii territorii v 30– 40-e gg. XIX v. (The circumstances of the resettlement of the Adyghe «black people» to the territories controlled by Russia in the 30-40s. XIX century) // Narody Kavkaza v tsivilizatsionnom prostranstve Rossii: materialy VI Mezhdunarodnogo foruma istorikov-kavkazovedov (g. Rostov-na-Donu, 13-15 noyabrya 2019 g.) Rostov-on-Don: SSC of RAS publ., 2019. P. 144–151. (In Russian)

29. Stepanenko N. S. Polozhenie rossiyskikh perebezhchikov sredi gortsev Severo-Zapadnogo Kavkaza v 30-60- e gg. XIX v. (The situation of Russian defectors among the highlanders of the North-West Caucasus in the 30-60s. XIX century) // Tret’i Vserossiyskie (s mezhdunarodnym uchastiem) istoriko-etnograficheskie chteniya, posvyashchennye pamyati professora Magomedova Rasula Magomedovicha. Part. 2. Makhachkala: DSU publ., 2016. P. 202–205. (In Russian)

30. Shcherbina F. A. Istoriya Kubanskogo kazach’ego voyska: In 2 Vol. Vol.2: Istoriya voyny kazakov s zakubanskimi gortsami.Krasnodar (The history of the Kuban Cossack army: In 2 Vol. Vol.2: History of the war between the Cossacks and the Zakuban highlanders): Krasnodarskie izvestiya, 2007. 744 p. (In Russian)