The Caucasus Museum in the Documents of the Russian State Historical Archive: Toward the Problem of Representativeness of the Source Base of Imperial Caucasian Studies

Scientific article

doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2024-4-1037-1054

For citation

Kolosovskaya, Tatiana A. (2024), Caucasian Museum in the Documents of the Russian State Historical Archive: to the Problem of Representativeness of the Source Base of Imperial Caucasian Studies, Herald of an Archivist, № 4, pp. 1037-1054, doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2024-4-1037-1054

Kolosovskaya, T. A., North Caucasus Federal University, Stavropol, Russia

The Caucasus Museum in the Documents of the Russian State Historical Archive: Toward the Problem of Representativeness of the Source Base of Imperial Caucasian Studies

Abstract

The topic of the source base of the phenomenon of imperial Caucasian studies in general, and of individual scientific institutions representing it, in particular, has not been sufficiently developed so far. Of particular interest are the sources reflecting the activities of scientific institutions specially created by the authorities to study the Caucasus and located directly in the region. These include the Caucasus Museum, which, in terms of the volume of its exhibits and its influence on the production of knowledge about the new periphery of the country, stood out among other organizations of this kind. The article characterizes the documents on the Caucasus Museum of the Russian State Historical Archive (RGIA). Consideration of their composition and content on a concrete example shows the degree of representativeness of the source base of imperial Caucasian studies and its potential for objective coverage of the interaction between power and knowledge in the new periphery of the Russian Empire. The base fund of the Russian State Archive of Arts and Sciences, which contains sources on the Caucasus Museum, is the fund of the Department of Public Education. The documents of interest to us are dominated by clerical materials: reports and initiative documents of the museum director, journals of state administration bodies, and business correspondence. The relations of the Caucasian viceroyalty on various issues of museum activities are characterized by high heuristic potential. Taken as a basis and supplemented with the accompanying correspondence with the central government bodies, such sources can initiate a more detailed study of the institutionalization of science in the Caucasus. Materials on the personal composition of the museum staff are presented sparingly, only in form lists and petitions. Sources of personal origin (diaries, memoirs, private correspondence) are absent. The RGIA documents show that the Caucasus Museum and the Public Library, which was part of its structure, were important scientific and educational centers on the Caucasian outskirts of the Russian Empire. The facts contained in them illustrate the complex process of scientific knowledge of the region and the influence of power structures on its development. A thorough source study of the records will make it possible to find out who initiated scientific projects, how they were financed, and whether the authorities could influence the results of research practices. At the same time, it should be recognized that in order to find out the degree of reliability of the information contained therein and thus reconstruct an objective picture of the relationship between the authorities and the scientific institutions subordinated to them, it is impossible to do without the involvement of other types of sources, primarily of a private nature.

Keywords

Russian Empire, Caucasian studies, archival sources, Russian State Historical Archive, Caucasian Museum, Tiflis Public Library, historical sources.

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About the authors

Kolosovskaya Tatiana A., Doctor of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, North Caucasus Federal University, Humanitarian Institute, Department of Russian History, Professor, Stavropol, Russia, 8-8652-33-01-95, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Grant information

The article was prepared with the financial support of RNF grant (project No. 23-28-00302), https://rscf.ru/project/23-28-00302/

The article was received in the editorial office on 25.03.2024, recommended for publication on 20.09.2024.