The Russian Empire on the Kuril Islands in the Middle of the 18th Century: Some Issues of Organizing the Islands Governance

The article studies the problem of organizing the management of the Kuril Islands by the Russian Empire in the middle of the 18th century. In the 1740–1760s. The ineffectiveness of the previous management system, personified in the activities of civil servants (yasak collectors) and local leaders, is becoming increasingly obvious in resolving issues related to the collection of state taxes and the return of the North Kuril Ainu (exiled) to their places their traditional habitat, bringing the South Kuril Ainu into Russian citizenship. To resolve these issues, the central government, in the spirit of enlightened absolutism, is beginning to streamline the management of the islands and humanize the attitude of state representatives towards the indigenous people. Russian entrepreneurs were to become representatives of the new state policy on the Kuril Islands.