Problems of the History and Historiography of the Peoples of the North Caucasus in the Studies of P.A. Kuzminov

Zhurtova Anzhela Arikovna PhD in History Associate professor, Department of Ethnology, History of Ethnic Groups of Kabardino-Balkaria, and Journalism, Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H. M. Berbekov 360004, Russia, respublika Kabardino-Balkariya, g. Nal'chik, ul. Chernyshevskogo, 173 anzhelka28@mail.ru Other publications by this author     Kumakhova Zairat Khasanbievna PhD in History Senior Lecturer, Department of Russian History, Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education "Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after Kh.M. Berbekov" 360004, Russia, Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, Nalchik, Chernyshevsky str., 173 kzaira@list.ru

Konovalov Andrei Anatol'evich PhD in History Associate professor, Department of Russian History, Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H. M. Berbekov  360004, Russia, respublika Kabardino-Balkariya, g. Nal'chik, ul. Chernyshevskogo, 173 homunculus2@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

IntroductionHistoriography absorbs the memory of the development of historical knowledge, thus performing a reflexive function.

At the same time, we associate the special role of historiography with the constantly occurring processes of self-identification of a historian. In this context, the importance of historiographical research is great, directed to the study of the creative heritage of individual scientists, which allow the modern historian to adequately respond to the challenges of science and society.

The historian, as an object of research, is perceived, on the one hand, as a member of society, performing various roles in it, on the other hand, he is interesting in the context of scientific communications. In this regard, the tasks of modern historiography are determined by the perspective, which can be designated as "life in science". From the point of view of A.I. Zevelev, a historiographer is a historian of a broad profile by education and scientific work, a philosopher by the way of thinking and a public figure by the tasks facing him ^{[1, p. 10]}.

The purpose of this article is to analyze the main works of P.A. Kuzminov devoted to various problems of modern Caucasian studies.

The novelty of the article lies in the fact that in modern Caucasian studies there are no works devoted to the scientific biographies of individual scientists who in their works determine the course of development of research on various problems of historical science.

P.A. Kuzminov began studying the problems of historiography in 1978, choosing for analysis the most difficult problem of the liberal reforms of the 1860s and 1870s in the North Caucasus. The historiographical context gave him the opportunity to consider a private, regional version of the preparation and implementation of reforms against the background of the all-Russian processes of transformation of society.

The main partIn the research of P.A. Kuzminov, several problem-thematic blocks can be conditionally distinguished:

1. Works devoted to the historiographical understanding of the reforms of the 1860s-1870s in the North Caucasus. According to the scientist, the accumulated experience of studying reforms makes it possible to identify the role of the state in developing strategies and mechanisms for their implementation, to determine the reaction of various segments of the population to social transformations ^{[2, p. 3]}.

In the historiography of reforms, P.A. Kuzminov traditionally distinguishes three periods: pre-revolutionary, Soviet and modern stages. The author suggests considering the change of concepts of the history of transformations within the framework of the Hegelian method (the law of "negation of negation") as a continuously developing, dialectically contradictory process.

In the pre-revolutionary historiography of the problem, according to the author, there were three trends: conservative (officially protective), liberal and democratic. The authors of the official protective current (e. Startsev, P.A. Gavrilov, P. Przhetslavsky, etc.) emphasized the exceptional role of autocracy in the development of the North Caucasian peoples and sought to form a benevolent public opinion about the ongoing transformations. They became the basis for further study of the reform, and in the view of P.A. Kuzminov – the beginning, the "thesis" in the Hegelian triad.

Almost simultaneously, and this was first proved by Peter Abramovich in Caucasian studies, works of a liberal nature appeared (K. Krasnitsky, D. Kodzokov, Ya. Abramov, N. Tulchinsky, etc.), in which some negative aspects were noted in the reform of public life in the North Caucasus, attempts were made to "suggest" to the government the most acceptable solutions to certain issues. In these works, a "vector" of critical understanding of reforms was identified ^{[3, p. 86]}, thereby expanding the "thesis" of the authors' research approach.

In the 90s of the XIX century, a democratic trend in the study of transformations among the peoples of the North Caucasus was developing in Caucasian studies. Representatives of this trend (V.I. Semevsky, later V.I. Lenin, etc.), in the words of P.A. Kuzminov, "attacked" the conceptual provisions of the "thesis", calling the peasant reform "serfdom and predatory", and "liberation" – a continuous "abuse" of the peasants ^{[3, p. 87]}. As a result, an "antithesis" is formed, which, with the approval of the Marxist methodology in science in the twentieth century, is introduced into the mass public consciousness ^{[3, p. 88]}. In the Soviet period, as the scientist emphasizes, there is a fundamental rethinking of the role and significance of the transformations of the 1860s and 1870s in the life of North Caucasian societies. In the future, the assessments of the "predatory" nature of the reforms were supplemented by the statement that they contributed to the integration of the mountain peoples "into the sphere of commodity-money relations, guiding them along the path of progress."

The scientist analyzed not only traditional historiographical sources in the form of published books and articles, but also used an almost undeveloped complex of pre-revolutionary sources deposited in the mass media, in which the first responses to the ongoing reforms among the mountain peoples were voiced. P.A. Kuzminov emphasizes the special role of the largest newspapers in the process of studying the history and culture of the peoples of the Caucasus, magazines, annual periodicals: "Caucasus", "Stavropol provincial Vedomosti", "Terskiye Vedomosti", "Kuban military (regional) Vedomosti", "Kazbek", "Terek", "New Review", "Collection of information about the Caucasian highlanders", "Collection of information about the North Caucasus", "Tersky collection", "Tersky calendar", "Kuban collection", "Kuban calendar", "Collection of materials for describing the localities and tribes of the Caucasus", "Caucasian calendar", "News of the Imperial Archaeological Commission", etc. Their introduction into a wide scientific circulation, of course, contributed to the development of Caucasian studies.

Following E.S. Tyutyunina ^[4], the scientist focuses on a special type of historical and historiographical sources – legislative and clerical materials of government institutions: the Caucasian Committee, the office of the Governor of the Caucasus, the Caucasian Mountain Administration, the administration of Dagestan, Kuban and Terek regions, the management of districts and departments into which the regions, committees, commissions were divided ^{[5, p. 70, 71]}. These documents made it possible to determine the personal contribution of officials to solving acute problems of preparation and implementation of transformations ^{[6; 7; 8; 9]}.

In the Soviet historiography of transformations of the 50-70s of the XIX century, P.A. Kuzminov identifies three stages: the 1920s-1930s; the 1940s-1950s and the 60s-80s of the XX century.

In the 20-30s of the XX century, the first scientific centers (research institutes, departments in universities) were established in the North Caucasus, where research on the history of the peoples of the North Caucasus was conducted, scientific and pedagogical personnel were trained. The main ideological content of Caucasian studies, as well as the entire Soviet historiography, was Marxism. Based on the new methodology, the scientists investigated the nature of land and public relations among the mountaineers of Dagestan, Tersk and Kuban regions. Thanks to the efforts of historians U. Aliyev, V. Galtsev, L. Dobruskin, A. Ivanov, G. Kokiev, A. Ladyzhensky, G. Martirosyan, B. Skitsky, etc. the material on the preparation, the "predatory nature" and the "bourgeois essence" of peasant and land reforms was collected and analyzed ^{[10, p. 511]}.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the geography of the study of reforms in the North Caucasus expanded, the first dissertations were defended (S.S. Gadzhieva – on Kumykia, V.P. Krikunov – on Stavropol province, T.X. Kumykova – on Kabarda and Balkaria, V.P. Nevskaya – on Karachay and Cherkessia, H.H. Ramazanova – on Dagestan, etc.) the interest in monographic research of the problem has increased. Thanks to these studies, new documentary materials were introduced into scientific circulation ^{[10, p. 512]}.

In the 60-80s of the twentieth century, significant progress was made in the study of liberal reforms in the Caucasus, according to the scientist. In particular, there was a group of researchers who devoted their work to reforms: K.G. Azamatov, B.G. Aliyev, Z.M. Blieva, B.P. Berozov, V.G. Hajiyev, N.P. Gritsenko, B.M. Jimov, H.M. Dumanov, J.A. Kalmykov, T.H. Kumykov, E.D. Muzhukhoeva, V.P. Nevskaya, H.H. Ramazanov, A.I. Khasbulatov and others ^{[10, p. 514]}, in whose works the nodal problems of reforms, general patterns and features of transformations in the region were developed.

The process of studying reforms in the North Caucasus, according to P.A. Kuzminov, went on simultaneously with the formation and development of scientific institutions, the training of professional scientists, the expansion of the source base of research, the appearance of generalizing works, the defense of the first dissertations on various problems of Caucasian studies, etc. ^{[11, p. 494]}. The combination of these factors determined the qualitative growth of research on socio-economic changes in the mountain society.

A certain "synthesis", the historiographer claims, took place in modern historiography, within the framework of the theory of modernization, the civilizational method and other approaches (the works of S.A. Aylarova, V.M. Batchaev, A.H. Borov, P.A. Kuzminov, V.N. Maltsev, E.G. Muratova, D.N. Prasolov, N.Y. Silaev etc.). The Soviet "antithesis" was replaced by a "synthesis" of the best scientific research of the "thesis" and "antithesis". The peasant reform, both in Russia and in the North Caucasus, really freed the serfs, but at the same time it was necessary to pay a ransom for the received social freedom, to give part of the accumulated property to the owner, which made the economic situation of the liberated peasant difficult ^{[11, p. 90, 91]}.

Methodological pluralism, which has developed in modern Caucasian studies, is, according to P.A. Kuzminov, the key to the general "health" of Caucasian studies and the successful solution of scientific problems, including in the study of reforms among the peoples of the North Caucasus ^{[11, p. 502]}.

2. History is a reconstruction of certain events based on the sources involved. The restoration of the past also presupposes its interpretation, which is carried out by historians. The quality of interpretations is largely due to the personality of the scientist, so it is no coincidence that P.A. Kuzminov pays so much attention to those who offer their vision of "past deeds" ^{[12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19; 20; 21; 22; 23; 24; 25; 26; 27; 28; 29; 30; 31; 32; 33]}.

One of the historian's works is devoted to the creative activity of the pre-revolutionary researcher N.F. Grabovsky ^[12]. According to the scientist, his worldview was based on idealistic ideas about the ways of social development, which were combined with pronounced anti-serf sentiments characteristic of the democratic strata of the Russian intelligentsia of the post-reform period ^{[12, p. 446]}. Being a liberal, N.F. Grabovsky defended the need for peaceful and harmonious inclusion of the peoples of the North Caucasus into Russia.

The article dedicated to the first rector of KBSU H.M. Berbekov ^[13] analyzes not only the most important life events of the historian and public figure, but also shows the socio-political situation and the situation in the field of education and science of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic in the middle of the XX century.

The creative heritage of H.T. Medaliev was studied in one of the articles by P.A. Kuzminov ^[14]. In it, the author highlighted the views of H.T. Medaliev on the process of industrial development of the North Caucasus region in the 1930s, the formation of national cadres of the working class, engineering and technical intelligentsia, the formation of vocational education, etc.

The scientific and social activities of the famous kavkazologist V.V. Chernous have been analyzed in a number of the author's studies ^{[15; 16]}. As P.A. Kuzminov emphasizes, the ideas of V.V. Chernous laid the methodological foundation for the development of historical science in the Caucasus. He was one of the founders of the authoritative scientific forum of historians-kavkazov, one of the developers of the Ethical Code of the scientist-kavkazov, had an undoubted talent for reconciling researchers in the framework of scientific discussions ^{[15, p. 132]}.

V.H. Kazharov's concept of the specifics of socio-economic relations in Kabarda was studied in detail by P.A. Kuzminov ^[17]. V.H. Kazharov, unlike most pre-revolutionary and Soviet authors, did not oppose communal and feudal land ownership, but justified the need for their research in unity.

According to the author, the new nature of land relations that developed in the post-reform period was not created artificially during external administrative transformations. In the region, in his opinion, by the middle of the XIX century. there are already real prerequisites for the transformation of land use and land ownership forms, which has greatly simplified and accelerated the solution of the task of "reorganizing local rural communities according to the Central Russian model" ^{[17, p. 103]}. However, at the same time, in the conditions of Kabarda's inclusion in the socio-economic and political-legal system of the Russian Empire, the desire of the Kabardian elite to legally secure the privileges legalized by the norms of customary law with the help of existing imperial laws was opposed by local administrative bodies ^{[17, p. 105]}.

In P.A. Kuzminov's articles about V.D. Dzidzoev ^{[18; 19]}, the process of formation of the professor's scientific school, whose young representatives work in various regions of Russia, is considered. V.D. Dzidzoev has published more than 460 scientific and popular scientific works, 40 candidate and 7 doctoral dissertations have been defended under his leadership ^{[18, p. 92]}. The study of the scientific experience of such schools contributes to the formation of an idea of the mechanisms and forms of organization of productive collective creativity, within which there is a translation of scientific knowledge, the transfer of skills of effective research work, etc.

To the same block of P.A. Kuzminov's historiographical research, we also include publications devoted to the history of the development of historical science in the North Caucasus, scientific institutions, organizations, editorial boards, which fill with concrete content the process of formation and development of Caucasian studies ^{[34; 35; 36]}.

3. A large number of works by P.A. Kuzminov are devoted to the historical study of the implementation of liberal reforms in the North Caucasus, various internal political processes in the region, etc.

According to the historian, the nature of Russian-Caucasian relations at the end of the XVIII century is changing due to external and internal factors, trade and political ties, which sometimes took allied and partner forms, enter a military-confrontational phase. As a result, two different social systems collide, having their own unique structure, management system and economic practice ^{[37, p. 65]}.

The research space in the XIX century was characterized by the gradual formation of a certain system of ideas about the need to develop peaceful relations with the highlanders: both among representatives of the imperial administration and among the mountain elite. The tragic nature of the situation, according to P.A. Kuzminov, is due to the fact that all the proposals made, including at the highest level, remained only good wishes ^{[37, p. 74]}.

The practice of Russian-Caucasian relations has shown that the imperial government was able to achieve real success only when it changed the tactics and strategy of interaction with local peoples, in particular, with the beginning of the organization of socio-cultural space, improving the living conditions and everyday life of mountain societies, which ultimately became decisive in their choice of further development path. According to the historian, the so-called order, organization, system, which were the goal of the administration in the region, became categories of existential order for the mountaineers, synonyms of peace, security and well-being, which changed their mental orientation and ensured the integration of the peoples of the North Caucasus with Russia. The final alignment of the trajectories of the movement of Russian and North Caucasian societies occurred in the era of liberal transformations of the 1860s and 1870s, when, as a result of the loss of political independence of the highlanders, the process of large-scale modernization of the traditional way of life of local peoples began ^{[37, p. 80]}.

At the same time, there is a change in the ethnosocial policy of Russia in the region. Along with the use of force methods to solve emerging problems, "flexible, pragmatic adaptation to regional realities" was carried out in accordance with the chosen diplomatic and social strategy. The state sought not just to integrate local social elites, but to organically fuse them with the authorities and Russian society ^{[38, p. 94]}.

The question of the reasons for the reforms was raised by almost all historians who studied the era of transformations among the mountain peoples. But the "palette" of opinions turned out to be extremely poor. Pre-revolutionary researchers associated them with the desire of Emperor Alexander II to introduce the highlanders to European civilization, "they proceeded from the exclusive role of the autocracy, which decides the fate of peoples at its discretion" ^{[39, p. 154]}. Soviet historians, relying on the works of V.I. Lenin, repeated his words an infinite number of times about the need for the economic conquest of the Caucasus by tsarism, about the predatory and serf-like nature of peasant reform.

In the new conditions of the development of the scientific community, these "postulates", of course, required a different interpretation. Speaking about the causes and prerequisites of the liberal reforms of the 1860s and 1870s in the Caucasus, P.A. Kuzminov focuses, firstly, on the military-political or geopolitical factor that required the inclusion of the region in the all-Russian system to create a reliable rear for the Russian provinces in Transcaucasia. The policy of the local feudal elite prevented the solution of this problem.

The next reason for the reform of North Caucasian societies is related to the need to reduce the colossal government costs of maintaining the army in the region, the Caucasian administration, Cossack settlements, mountain militia, and solving various local problems, which forced the Russian authorities to accelerate the economic development of the region ^{[40, p. 188]}.

Thirdly, after the creation of new administrative-territorial units in the North Caucasus in 1860: the Tersk and Kuban regions, in which, along with the military, civilian government bodies also appeared, there was a need to revise the established methods of exercising power in the region and solving local issues based on the Russian regulatory system.

Fourth, as P.A. Kuzminov emphasizes, mountain feudal lords, entering the tsarist military service, replenishing the army of Cossack troops, local militia units, inevitably joined the ranks of the noble elite, which made it necessary to legally secure ancestral lands that they owned in accordance with the norms of the adat. Numerous petitions of Kabardian owners of the imperial administration for the issuance of appropriate legal documents confirming the attachment of family land plots to them are a clear evidence of the interest of the feudal lords themselves in reform. Legal acts testifying to the equating of the North Caucasian elite with the Russian nobility provided it not only with new privileges, but also opened up opportunities for building a military career and public service, which formed the readiness of the local elite for transformations and changes in social status.

The process of preparing and abolishing serfdom in the Stavropol province in 1861 could not go unnoticed in neighboring regions, which led to peasant demonstrations and inter–class clashes, which acquired a particularly acute form in Kabarda. P.A. Kuzminov argues that the presence in Russian legislation of the law "on yasyr" (yasyr - slave, slave), which did not allow the official use of the very concept of "yasyr", as unusual for Russian society, created a legal basis for the liberation of the social stratum of serfs from the highlanders. Also, the norms of customary law, which regulated in detail the ways of eliminating the personal and economic dependence of peasants, the possibility of their transition to the category of freedmen – Azats, indicate the existence of an operating mechanism of a "social elevator" that allows changing the social situation of individual individuals.

It is also important to take into account, the historian believes, the processes of mutual influence of Russian and North Caucasian societies ^{[40, p. 189, 190]}, since not only local ethnic communities have changed, adapting to new realities of life, but the military-administrative system that has developed in the region has also undergone transformation.

The indicated set of factors predetermined the implementation of transformations in the region ^{[40, p. 191]}. Thanks to the abolition of feudal land ownership, the elimination of class dependence, the territorial reorganization of traditional settlements and the creation of official institutions of communal self–government, the patrimony, the main socio-economic unit of feudal society, was actually abolished. From now on, the community becomes a subject of legal relations, can act as a legal entity with a set of rights and obligations, and its members are collectively responsible to the state for their implementation ^{[40, p. 202]}.

According to P.A. Kuzminov, by creating a legally legalized class of landowners, the Caucasian authorities received a legitimate opportunity to keep the mountain nobility under strict administrative and economic control. The peasants, having freed themselves with the help of Russia from the administrative and social power of the feudal lords, received a higher status of communal peasants, who owed freedom and land to the Russian government. As a result, the institutional transformations carried out formed the foundations of the commodity-money economy, bourgeois land ownership and land use and made it possible to introduce the payment of land taxes in the North Caucasus without any special conflicts. At the same time, lands that were not included in the allotments of auls or owners were declared state-owned ^{[40, p. 203]}.

Thus, liberal reforms in the North Caucasus were carried out by the Russian government as a chain of successive transformations aimed at creating new forms of social relations, the foundations of land use and land ownership. After the conquest of the region, the imperial authorities took the socio-political initiative of reforms and implemented them, including through military force. According to the scientist, the quality of transformations, the amplitude of their actions, the dynamics of the process of implementing reforms in the North Caucasus were higher than in Russia as a whole, and the conditions for the liberation of peasants, which is ultimately the main thing in the ongoing reform, among local peoples "were softer and more humane than in central Russia" ^{[41, c. 16]}.

P.A. Kuzminov is convinced that "whatever goals the government pursues, whatever economic calculations it builds, whatever dividends it intends to receive from the "pacification" of the Caucasus," the most important result was the involvement of mountain societies in the all-Russian modernization processes that contributed to the development of new social, economic and cultural relations in the region ^{[42, p. 11]}.

4. The fourth block of research consists of works in which methodological and organizational problems of modern Caucasian studies are raised. According to P.A. Kuzminov, modern Russian historical science has found itself in a unique position: on the one hand, it no longer experiences the former ideological pressure "from above", on the other hand, it is subject to various forms of "politicization from below", which is especially relevant for national and regional historiography ^{[43, p. 76]}.

The termination of joint regional scientific research in the 1990s led to the closure of historians on the ground in their "ethnic apartments" and the formation of a zone of confrontation of the nearest neighbors. The reality of the scientific life of the North Caucasus has become: the withdrawal into the shallow lands of historical research, vulgar politicization and ideologization of the sphere of science, outright manipulation of stereotypes of mass consciousness, the historical memory of local peoples, "mythologization of national stories against the background of demonization of the history of Russia" ^{[43, p. 77]}.

Such "patriotism" of historians often takes the form of nationalism and leads to a violation of scientific principles, which, as P.A. Kuzminov is convinced, only demonstrates the "peculiar difficulties" of the growth of "modern Caucasian studies" ^{[44, p. 43]}. However, the historian argues, it is important to take into account that all the peoples of the North Caucasus, regardless of their size, political status, and ability to influence regional processes, want to be heard.

In connection with these factors, the problem of the quality of historical research has become more acute in modern science. Overcoming the crisis of historical science, including Caucasian studies, is associated by scientists with the need to apply interdisciplinary approaches in research ^{[44, p. 42]}.

According to P.A. Kuzminov, the following tasks can contribute to the qualitative growth of Caucasian studies: firstly, the creation of a coordinating scientific center in the North Caucasus (5-6 people), which will develop a research program that unites historians of the region; secondly, monitoring of all printed and electronic products about the peoples of the North Caucasus published in Russia and abroad through the efforts of a special bibliographic department opened at this coordination center; thirdly, the collective preparation of generalizing works on the history and culture of the peoples of the North Caucasus, etc. ^[45].

5. P.A. Kuzminov has done a lot of work on the collection and publication of historical sources. In particular, within the framework of the "CLIO" project (Editors who were replaced in the series: R. Tuganov, V. Kotlyarov, A. Musukaev, V. Atalikov, X. Dumanov, A. Bizhev, P. Kuzminov, etc.), texts of many pre-revolutionary authors were found, translated, verified, extensive documentary material was collected in the archives of the country, published earlier unknown manuscripts and monographs. "CLIO" includes five sections: "History", "Ethnography", "Archive", "Bibliography" and "Literature". Over 17 years of work, the editorial board of "CLIO" has published more than 70 volumes ^{[46, p. 47]}.

P.A. Kuzminov also published collections of documents devoted to the solution of the land issue in the Terek and Kuban regions, the eviction of the highlanders of the North-West Caucasus to Turkey and the delimitation of lands between the highlanders and the Cossacks ^[47]. The two–volume book "Agrarian Relations among the peoples of the North Caucasus in Russian politics of the XVIII - early XIX centuries" contains studies by pre-revolutionary authors on the nature of land relations in the region ^[48].

The two-volume book "The peoples of the Central Caucasus in the 40s – early 60s of the XIX century" ^[49] includes archival materials published for the first time, covering a difficult period in the history of the peoples of the Central Caucasus in the middle of the XIX century, the inclusion of the territory and population of the Caucasus in the administrative and political system of the Russian Empire, a multifaceted palette of relations between the mountain peoples with the new power. The paper contains documents that allow analyzing the activities of the Caucasian administration to solve various problems of the daily life of the mountain peoples, the process of preparing numerous projects for the implementation of agrarian and socio-political transformations in the region.

ConclusionThese are the main nodal problems of P.A. Kuzminov's research.

Based on modern theoretical and methodological approaches, the historian conducted a comprehensive historical and historiographical analysis of various problems of modern Caucasian studies. Most of the scientist's works are devoted to the history and historiography of the liberal reforms of the 1860s - 1870s in the North Caucasus, various socio–political and agrarian issues of the region's development during its integration into the Russian Empire. It should be noted that P.A. Kuzminov's research has been highly appreciated in modern literature, including outside the Caucasus.