LEGISLATIVE AND INTELLIGENCE METHODS OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE TO SUPPRESS ISLAMIC INFLUENCE IN TURKESTAN (LATE 19TH – EARLY 20TH CENTURY)

Аннотация

Abstract. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the Turkestan region was a key area of the Russian Empire’s colonial policy, strategically positioned between Afghanistan, Iran, and Eastern Turkestan. In addition to its geopolitical significance, it featured a complex ethnopolitical structure, inhabited by a Turkic-Muslim population with deep-rooted sedentary and nomadic traditions. These characteristics hindered the implementation of Russian administrative norms and limited the spread of imperial ideological concepts. In response, the tsarist administration developed a system of legislative and administrative measures aimed at weakening the influence of Islam and integrating the region into the imperial framework. Among the most significant measures were restrictions on the activities of madrasas and Sharia courts, increased control over the clergy, regulation of pilgrimage routes, and the introduction of mandatory registration of the Muslim population. To implement these policies, specialized governmental and intelligence agencies were established to collect statistical data, monitor religious sentiments, and conduct covert operations among the local population. However, the policy of regulating Islam failed to achieve its objectives: the imposed restrictions led to a rise in religious and national consciousness, which ultimately contributed to the growth of modernist and reformist movements in the region. This study analyzes the legal and administrative mechanisms employed by the imperial authorities to manage Islam in Turkestan, focusing on key legislative initiatives, the activities of special control bodies, and their impact on the region’s socio-political processes. The research is based on the principles of historicism, retrospective analysis, and the study of normative legal acts regulating the status of Islam in the Russian Empire.