«STATUTORY MULLAHS» IN THE TURKO-MUSLIM SOCIETY AS A MECHANISM FOR IMPLEMENTING THE COLONIAL STRATEGY OF TSARIST RUSSIA

The gradual colonization of the Kazakh steppes and Turkestan by the Russian Empire was accompanied by complex military-political and spiritual-cultural transformations, with the Islamic factor emerging as a systemic element. Despite the principle of non-interference in the religious institutions of Turkic-Muslim peoples declared under Catherine II, subsequent decades saw an active policy of Russification and Christianization of the local population. One of the tools of systematic spiritual integration was the institutionalized appointment of «statutory mullahs» i.e., representatives of the Muslim clergy selected based on regulated criteria to disseminate the administrative and normative directives of imperial authority through religious practices. The activities of «statutory mullahs» can be divided into two phases: the first, spanning the late 18th to late 19th centuries, focused on competing with the Kadimists; the second, associated with the rise of the Jadidist movement in the early 20th century, was characterized by antagonism between reformist initiatives and traditionalist approaches. Key actors in this process included representatives of the Tatar and Bashkir intelligentsia, as well as local mullahs, whose activities encompassed the construction of mektebs, madrasas, mosques, and the implementation of imperial regulations among the Turkic-Muslim population. The purpose of this article is to reveal the close integration of Turkey into Central Asia, the development of economic relations and the strengthening of its political influence in the region. The study is grounded in a methodological synthesis of content analysis of archival documents, historiographical review, and comparative analysis. The analysis of interactions between «statutory mullahs» and traditionalist and reformist currents provides insights into the mechanisms of adaptation of Turkic-Muslim society to sociocultural transformations amidst intensifying colonial expansion. Identifying the specifics of this adaptation contributes to a deeper understanding of the processes of spiritual-cultural integration and confrontation within the framework of the colonial policies of the Russian Empire.