Authors

Malika Zekhni¹;  ¹ Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, UK

Discussion

As the Tsarist regime expanded into Central Asia, it faced challenges in ordering, tracking, and documenting its new subjects. Russian colonial officials claimed that proof of subjecthood in the form of certificates and passports would provide immense privileges and protection within and beyond the empire. These promises rarely acknowledged the troublesome, lengthy, and expensive bureaucratic process through which one had to go in order to obtain these identity documents. While some colonial subjects were convinced, many remained undocumented as they evaded and resisted the regulations. Some of the latter group would carry fraudulent papers. The question of fraudulent identity papers – whether sold, stolen, or forged – caused profound anxiety for the colonial administration over disloyal subjects and its failures to create an ordered regime in the imperial borderland. Russian Turkestan’s location adjacent to other sovereignties – ranging from protectorates to empires – also played a role, as rumours about Russian subjects of Turkestan carrying Chinese, Persian, British, and Bukharan passports spread. Exploring administrative reports, newspaper entries, and letters of correspondence illustrate ways in which the regime saw its role in identifying, recording, and verifying the population. The questions of identity documents and mobility regulations provide a window into the Russian Empire’s complex and changing relationship with its colonial subjects.