The Role of Imperial Authorities in Electing Muslim Clerics across Yenisei Governorate, Mid-Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Centuries

Abstract

Introduction. The article discusses some actual conditions experienced by Muslim clerics of Yenisei Governorate (Eastern Siberia) in the context of Imperial Russia’s religious policies throughout the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. Attention is drawn to that the mid-to-late nineteenth century witnessed a Muslim population increase across the region, which implied that increased spiritual needs be duly satisfied. Goals. The article aims at specifying the role of official authorities in electing Muslim clerics within Yenisei Governorate. Materials and methods. The study focuses on corresponding imperially approved regulations for Muslim clergy and archival materials housed at the State Archive of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Central State Historical Archive of Bashkortostan, and Russian State Historical Archive. It is noteworthy that quite a number of the archival materials are being newly introduced into scientific circulation. The work rests on the methodological principles of objectivity and historicism that prove instrumental in assessing the government’s role in shaping the institution of Muslim clergy in Yenisei Governorate. To accomplish this, the chronological and historic-genetic methods are used. Results. The region’s sociohistorical agenda made any elections of required clerics somewhat problematic. The imperial statutes banned exiled (relocated) believers from participating in such processes, but sometimes legally capable members of a community were even fewer that the former. The obtained status of a mediator between the mahalla and government agencies would, inter alia, give rise to internal controversies. However, believers tended to perceive their mullah as a defender of their interests even at the government level. Our insights into archival materials attest to governorate-level executives had no clear understanding of how to arrange elections of Muslim clerics. Virtually being a government-sanctioned body, Orenburg Mohammedan Assembly would take pains to guarantee trustworthiness of to be appointed candidates. In the early twentieth century, such applicants would face even more restrictions enshrined by regulations and procedures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.