Representation of the mountain peoples of the North Caucasus
https://doi.org/10.37493/2409-1030.2025.3.7
Abstract
The Caucasus “exposure” as an imperial subject in the process of acquisition of the region looks to be one of the significant issues of modern history studies. The Russian ranks and files, including D.A. Milyutin – the gifted serviceman of the XIX c. – were its active participants.
Materials and methods. The description of the North Caucasus peoples was set in the papers of a military-statistical and historical-ethnographic character. Together with the articles, we use some manuscripts written by D.A. Milyutin in the late 1830s – 1840s whilst his Caucasus Corpus service and now kept in the Scientific Research Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library. The analysis from the point of historical imagology helps to understand and explain the plot of Milyutin way of the North Caucasian highlanders representation.
Analysis. As a professional serviceman, he studied the North Caucasus peoples’ ethnic characteristics of from some practical point. The focus of his examination was on mountain dwellers, include their social structure and everyday characteristics, culture, traditions and mentality. He managed to show the ethnic diversity of the Caucasus inhabitants, taking into consideration the point of extending the Russian empire influence in the region.
Results. Like most military authors then, Milyutin followed the stereotypical ideas about the highlanders. The image of the “Other” he created, showed them as the nuisance of the Russian presence in the region. Milyutin’s merit is that by the Caucasian narratives he prepared the ground for a gradual shift from the idea of “the highlanders as enemies” to their acceptance as “new subjects of the Empire”. Milyutin’s rapidly developing military career did not allow to expose himself as a scientist. Anyway, the information he collected about the North Caucasus highlanders formed a part of the empirical base for the ethnographic direction of Russian Caucasian studies developing subsequently.
Keywords
D. A. Milyutin,
North Caucasus,
Russian Empire,
Caucasus studies,
ethnography,
integration,
highlanders
Supporting agencies: the study has been funded by the Russian Science Foundation, № 25-28-00152, https://rscf.ru/project/25- 28-00152/
About the Authors
T. A. Kolosovskaya
North-Caucasus Federal University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Tatiana A. Kolosovskaya - Doctor. Sc. (History), Associate Professor
1, Pushkina St., Stavropol, 355017
S. A. Suray
North-Caucasus Federal University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Sergey A. Suray - Laboratory assistant
1, Pushkina St., Stavropol, 355017
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Review
For citations:
Kolosovskaya T.A., Suray S.A. Representation of the mountain peoples of the North Caucasus. Humanities and law research. 2025;12(3):409-419. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.37493/2409-1030.2025.3.7
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