ELSHAN ASLANOV
Baku State University,
PhD in History
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3823-4350
TRANSITION FROM KARABAKH KHANATE TO PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION
IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF XIX CENTURY: ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES AND CENTER-PERIPHERY RELATIONS (on the basis of
Acts of Caucasus Archaeographic Commission)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36719/2708-065X/112/251-259
In the research work, the process of transformation of the Karabakh Khanate from an independent political unit into a province of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the XIX century is analyzed on the basis of official documents reflected in the Acts of the Caucasian Archaeographic Commission (ACAC). The main purpose of the article is to reveal the stages of transformation, radical changes in property relations and the essence of the military-commandant management system, starting from the Kurakchay Treaty of 1805 and continuing until the abolition of the Khanate in 1822.
In the course of the study, it was found that the Russian administration formally retained local administrative structures (naib, KendKhuda (rural Khuda)) in order to ensure central control in the region, but abolished their political powers and turned them into police-fiscal agents of the Empire. At the same time, with the confiscation of property belonging to the Khan's descendants and the transfer of demographic mobility to military control, Karabakh has become the periphery of the Russian imperial system, performing the functions of a "military base" and a "zone of financial exploitation". This transition laid the foundation for the military-civilian control system necessary to bring Karabakh's socio-economic life in line with Imperial standards.
The article also explains the mechanism of operation of the center-periphery model over the St. Petersburg – Tbilisi – Karabakh hierarchical chain. The results of the study show that this model of military-bureaucratic governance applied in Karabakh was a fundamental stage that determined the administrative-geographical and geopolitical landscape of the South Caucasus for the next two centuries.
Keywords: Karabakh Khanate, Commandant management, ACAC, center-periphery model, confiscation of property, Kurekchay contract, administrative geography.