タタール商人の町カルガルの成立--一八世紀前半ロシアの宗敎政策と東方進出 (特集 宗敎と權力)

Abstract

Russian Christianization policy during the first half of the 18th century was first focused on the Tatar upper classes who, as military officers, formed a portion of the Russia's upper class until the 17th century. Those who refused conversion to the Russian Orthodox Church, that is, those who rejected Russianization, were still referred to as military men (служилый) in the 18th century, but they were stripped of various privileges, and in reality their social status was reduced to that of farmers. The Tatar upper class ultimately disintegrated during this period. From members of the former Tatar upper class who had remained Muslims came many merchants and Islamic clerics-probably due to their level of education, a certain level of savings, and the commercial experience they had garnered since the 17th century. From the 1730s to 1750s, the Russian government promoted an organized policy of Christianization without regard to class. Some Muslims escaped religious oppression by migrating to the east. In Bashkiriia, situated to the south-east of the Volga region, religious oppression was not carried out as stringently as in the Volga region due to the rebellions of the Bashkir people as well as the policies of colonization and commercial development being promoted at the time. As a result of the eastward migration of the Tatars, the Islamic influence that had already existed in Bashkiriia became even stronger. It can be surmised that establishment of the Tatar merchant town of Qarghali was a part of this wave of migration. For the Russian government, the existence of Muslim Tatar merchants was necessary for the conduct of the eastern trade, and therefore Qarghali, a Kazan Tartar merchant village, which was granted many privileges, including freedom of belief, was established on the outskirts of Orenburg. Qarghali became a crucial base for the commercial development of Orenburg, as the government had intended, but at the same time it also developed as a center of Islamic study. When viewed from the standpoint of an attempt to grasp the position of the Tatars in Russia against the backdrop of the policies of the imposition of Orthodox Christianity and eastward expansion in the early 18th century, the role of the Russian Tatars can be seen as having evolved from that of warriors to that of serving as intermediaries in the trade between Russia and Central Asia, which was centered on Orenburg. The foundation for the revival of the Tatars during the reign of Ekarterina II was already being established during the mid 18th century through the Russian government's policy of imposing Orthodox Christianity. This contradiction, growing out of the fact that the Russian government sought to develop the eastern trade centered at Orenburg, also indicates the importance of the Russian government policy of eastward expansion.