TRADING, ENTREPRENEURIAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES OF THE TATARS IN THE INNER KIRGHIZ HORDE IN THE ASTRAKHAN PROVINCE (LATE 19th – EARLY 20th CENTURIES)

In the early 19^th century, by the assent of Alexander II the Astrakhan province at the left bank of the Volga River gets inhabited by the Kazakhs of the little jüs led by the Bukey Khan. Under his successor, Zhangir Khan the basic governing bodies of the Inner Kirghiz Horde were formed; new settlements were laid which hosted the administration and became centers of trade with the nomadic Kazakh population.

At the turn of the 20^th century these communities became centers of trade and economic life of the Horde. The leading role in it within the described period was played by the Tatars coming from the Middle Volga and the Urals provinces, as well as from Astrakhan. Due to religious, ethnic and linguistic community with the Kazakh population, Tatars easily found a common language with the local population which  favoured their trading success. Some representatives of the Tatar families managed within a very short time (one to two decades) to make significant capital out of it.

Peculiarity of the Tatar entrepreneurship in the Horde consisted in the reciprocal nature of trade relations. Supplying the Kazakh population with products of the young Russian industry from the central provinces, Tatars bought their livestock products. These products, in their turn, were in high demand in cloth, leather, textile and other industries in Russia.

In the early 20^th century the Tatar population of the Horde became actively involved in community activities. Cultural and educational society and "new method" schools were created that had a significant impact on the growth of national consciousness and the general level of development of the Tatar community. Despite modest results, they were a factor indicating the growth of social activity of the Tatar population in the Astrakhan province in particular and in the Russian Empire altogether.