Humanistic Measures of the Russian Government in the Nomadic World of Eurasia in the Pre-Revolutionary Period: A Source-Based Analysis of Legal Acts Before 1917

Aim. Based on a systematic analysis of the legislative acts of the Russian Empire, to identify and characterize public policy measures that contributed to improving the living conditions of nomadic societies in Eurasia, as well as to identify institutional and legal mechanisms for their implementation.

Methodology. Тhe research is based on a comprehensive analysis of regulatory legal acts and documents. The research is based on a number of fundamental principles. In particular, the principle of historicism allowed us to consider the measures of food supply for nomads in the dynamics of this process – from the Cathedral Code of 1649 to the reforms of Alexander II. The analysis of food policy as an element of imperial governance was based on the principle of consistency. When developing the topic, special historical methods were used: the historical and genetic method made it possible to trace the evolution of food policy from episodic decrees (1893 on the Turkmens of Mangyshlak) to systemic norms (the "Charter on the provision of National Food"); the problem-chronological method helped identify four main stages of the policy pursued by the central authorities; historical and legal analysis allowed to identify the content and evolution of norms, as well as financing mechanisms and procedures for the implementation of humanitarian policy among nomads. In addition, interdisciplinary approaches and methods were used in the study, such as: economic and historical analysis, ethnohistorical method, administrative and legal approach and a number of others.

Results. The author concludes that the humanism of the Russian authorities towards the nomads of Eurasia had a great positive significance in their lives, introducing them to real progress.

Research implications. The theoretical significance of the study is determined by the fact that it demonstrates that the state policy of the Russian Empire in the humanitarian sphere was not unified, but took into account regional peculiarities and ethno-social specifics. The study calls into question the rather common thesis of Soviet historiography about the practically "impoverished existence" of peoples on the eastern outskirts of the empire. The practical significance of the research is determined by the possibility of using the materials in the creation of educational modules on regional history, inclusion in courses on the history of Russia and the history of Central Asian countries.

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