9
civil servants for state institutions. By the end of the 17
th
century, practical
needs were fulfilled within institutional frameworks.
As a result, this thesis will try to find answers to the following
questions: What were different channels fostering Russian oriental studies?
Under what conditions Russia had started conducting research on the
language, history, geography and culture of the East? What are the effects
of the other societies, which the Russians fought or traded with over the
Russian oriental studies? It is clear that such a study can be undertaken by
only utilising Russian sources. However, as Svetlana Krillina puts it:
“
… for many Western scholars, work done by Russian orientalist remains
nearly a terra incognita, due primarily to the language barrier.
”
17
It is true that while there are a considerable variety of books in
French and German over Russian oriental studies, this is not very common
in English. Therefore, in order to undertake this research I aimed to reach
and utilize as many Russian sources as I could. Since conducting research
by means of Russian sources requires an extensive amount of time, I chose
to limit the scope of this thesis as the period until the end of the 19
th
century with a focus on the nature of the oriental studies in Russia and their
relation to Russia’s foreign affairs and therefore did not include the Soviet
period.
17
Svetlana Kirillina. "Russian Historiographical Tradition in Oriental Studies: the
Arab Periphery of the Ottoman Empire." EJOS II, no. 1 (1999): 1-13, p. 1.
10
CHAPTER 2
RUSSIA’S INTERACTION WITH THE EAST: COMMERCIAL AND
MILITARY ORIENTALISM
2.1 Early Relations with Eastern Peoples
Eastern Slavic tribes which are known to be the ancestors of today’s
Russians –such as Poliane, Severiane, Viatichi, Radimichi, Dragovichi, Ilmen
and Krivichi- were settled on the west of today’s Russia and around the river
banks of Dnepr, Pripyat, Bug and Volkhov in Ukraine.
18
These tribes who
made their living by food gathering, fishing, trade and agriculture moved
towards the east and the south and resettled around the rivers of Volga
(Edil), Kama and Oka due to the Varengian migration from the north and the
erosion of agricultural lands. Before the Varengian expansion, these
settlement areas were known to be inhabited by Turkified locals such as
Khazars, Finno-Ugric, Bulgars, Bashkorts, Chuvashes as well as other
nomadic groups along the Volga. Steppes of the Lower Volga, Don and
Dnepr rivers were occupied not only by Turkic speaking tribes but also
18
For origins of Russians, see George Vernadsky. The Origins of Russia. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1959.; Marija Gimbutas. The Slavs. London: Thames and
Hudson, 1971.; Omeljan Pritsak. "The Origin of Rus." Russian Review (1977):
249-73.
11
sedentary Persians left from Scythians and Sarmatians. The rivalry between
the Varengians and the Khazars over trade with the Slavs, Persians and
Arabs via the rivers of Don and Volga marked the 9
th
and 10
th
centuries.
While the Khazars had boats for river trade, they did not posses any ships
that would transport their goods to Istanbul through the Black Sea.
Moreover, the Varengians had trade fleets that had put them superior in
sea-commerce. Hence, these two factors were to the detriment of Khazar
trade.
19
However, the Khazar influence over the Slavic tribes before the
Kievan Russia and indirectly over the political, social and cultural spheres of
Kievan Russia is considerably high. One evidence to this is that the first
Russian “kagan” has been announced in history before a Russian prince.
20
The well-known Russian Orientalist Bartold argues that the military
campaigns of Russia against the Khazars strengthened the idea of a “state”
in the 10
th
century Russia.
21
It is also argued that numerous place names
come from Khazar, which is a dialect of Turkish. An example for this,
although perhaps an exaggerated one, is that J. Brutzkus argues that
Sambat comes from the words sam (meaning high, upper or mother) and
bat (meaning powerful); and within this framework, corresponding to
Vyshgorod, meaning high fortress. Similarly, he argues that Kiev, a
19
Kaplan, Frederic I. "The Decline of the Khazars and the Rise of the Varangians."
American Slavic and East European Review 13, no. 1 (1954): 1-10.
20
Bartold, op. cit., in note 4, p. 357. The first ruler who used this title was the
Kiev’s first ruler Vladimir.
21
Ibid., p.359.