The educational policy of the Russian Empire in the Turkestan region in the mirror of Russian journalism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Klimashin Alexey L'vovich Assistant Professor; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba 10-2 Miklukho-Maklya str., Moscow, 117198, Russia klimashinaleksei@mail.ru

Arslanov Rafael' Amirovich Doctor of History Professor; Department of Russian History; Peoples' Friendship University of Russia named after Patrice Lumumba 117198, Russia, Moscow, Miklukho-Maklaya str., 10 bldg. 2 ars_raf@mail.ru

Introduction.

The study of the attitude of Russian public opinion towards the Empire of Central Asia, which became part of the Empire of Central Asia, focused in the early twentieth century in Russian journalism, has retained its relevance in our days. The fact is that the problem of acculturation of the Muslim population, which the imperial Russian government was trying to solve in the annexed Central Asian territories, has reappeared today, albeit in a different form and under different historical conditions. To a large extent, we owe its "return" to labor migration, which revived the acute discussion of the era of the development of Turkestan about the methods and ways of introducing the non-cultural population to "Russian citizenship." This is what Russian culture and national values were called at the beginning of the twentieth century, and it seems to be more accurate. In other words, the topic is largely relevant to the phenomenon of inversion, due to the fact that Russia's withdrawal from the Central Asian republics at the end of the twentieth century largely led to their peculiar "return" to the bosom of Russian civilization, along with the problems that the Empire tried to solve at the time.

In the journalism of the beginning of the last century, opinions collided about the ways of introducing the Muslim population of Turkestan to Russian society, about the methods and goals of cultural development of the region, and the prospects for its integration into the Empire. There was also sharp criticism of the government's policy, the study of which allows us to determine the contours of the socio-political discourses that have developed in the country. On the other hand, the attitude of various publications to cultural policy in the region became part of their national program, the analysis of which makes it possible to better understand the positions of conservative and liberal forces in Russia at that time.

The purpose of this article is to identify and comprehend the attitude of various Russian publications of the early twentieth century to the educational policy of the imperial authorities in the Turkestan region.

The objectives of the work are to determine the specifics of the attitude of conservative and liberal movements in Russia towards traditional Muslim schools; to consider their proposed ways of creating an education system in the region; to identify the influence of Russian public opinion on the development of a program for cultural development of the region and ways of its integration into the Empire.

In modern literature, Russia's educational policy in Central Asia has received some coverage^[1]. However, the problem of its reflection in periodicals of that time has not been the subject of a special analysis.

The sources for writing the article were materials from the Russian periodicals of that time^[2], as well as memoirs of participants in the development of the region^[3].

The work used the historical and genetic research method, which makes it possible to trace the development of the process of reflecting the educational policy of Russia in the Central Asian possessions on the pages of domestic publications; comparative, which allows to establish the general and special in its perception by various publicists; as well as the principle of historicism, revealing their attitude to the educational policy of the authorities in the historical context of the early twentieth century.

Research.

Russian scientists and officials involved in the development of the newly annexed territories of Central Asia noted their significant differences from the regions previously included in the Empire. They found the main source of this peculiarity in the monopoly position of Islam, which exerted a dominant influence on the spiritual life and way of life of the local population. Thus, the director of the Turkestan Teachers' Seminary, N.P. Ostroumov, in the spirit of Orthodox missionary work, argued that the extremely low cultural and educational level of the region's inhabitants was determined by religion and traditions that "... suppress any free expression of thought and feeling"^[4]. It was in the establishment and dissemination of secular schools as the main tool for educating the local population that many supporters of the conservative trend of Russian public thought saw the main vector of the administration's educational policy in the region. Moreover, the acculturation of the Central Asian peoples was perceived as no less, if not more difficult, than the political integration of the region into the Empire, or the development of its desert territories.

It is noteworthy that the imperial authorities, forced to take into account the sentiments of the Muslim population, its commitment to Islam and traditions, and seeking to integrate the local elite in order to prevent social explosions, pursued a more balanced, pragmatic policy. Its content was most clearly and figuratively formulated by the first Governor-General of Turkestan, K.P. Kaufman, who proclaimed the need to "ignore Islam," which in practice meant religious tolerance and non-interference of the imperial administration in local life^[5]. The legal basis for the activities of educational institutions in the region, developed with the direct participation of K.P. Kaufman, included the creation of "... the directorate of education, which was subordinate to all existing Russian and foreign schools in the Turkestan region" ^[6]. In general, the government's policy, which combined a policy of non–interference in the activities of Muslim educational institutions with the desire to establish its own control, was characterized by inconsistency and internal inconsistency^[7]. These fluctuations in the implementation of educational policy were reflected in the pages of various domestic publications of the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, which with their publications drew the attention of the Russian public to the problems of governance Central Asia, contributed to the search for the optimal course of its integration.

Local officials regularly addressed the problems of education in Russian Turkestan, largely out of duty, using the pages of central publications not only to highlight the state of affairs in educational institutions in the region, but also to publish their proposals on the necessary changes, in their opinion. At the same time, they preferred those conservative publications that often opposed the policy of the tsarist administration, pointing out its mistakes and blunders.

Yu.D. Yuzhakov, a participant in the campaigns in Central Asia, who left a number of essays on the history of Turkestan on the pages of the conservative Russian Bulletin, noted the achievements of the authorities in spreading secular education in the region, for example, in creating Tashkent male and female gymnasiums, as well as a teacher's seminary. At the same time, he associated their appearance, first of all, with the activities of the first governor of the region, K.P. Kaufman^[8]. Yuzhakov attributed the administration's religious tolerance course to its merits. However, the downside of religious tolerance was, in his opinion, insufficient attention to the position of Orthodoxy in the region^[9].

As a result, one of the results of the policy of "ignoring Islam" was the loss of control by the Russian administration over the state of affairs in the native school – mektebs and madrassas. "We do not know at all what fanatics and mullahs teach Sart children and Kyrgyz children even more fanatical Tatars," he wrote. Russian Russians believe in Islam, but in any case, their ideals and concepts are strictly Muslim, undoubtedly hostile to Russian rule and Russian nationality."^[10] Thus, the uncontrolled activities of native schools established at mosques and their adherence to Islamic traditions hindered, as the publicist believed, the establishment of Russian culture in the newly annexed territories, and as a result, their integration into the Empire.

The author proposed to implement a number of measures aimed at solving this problem. In particular, in order to establish control over educational institutions, he considered it necessary to teach only books published in Russia in Russian, which had also passed strict government censorship. Otherwise, in his opinion, the government risks losing control over this fringe of the empire, and "... the Turkestan region will forever remain a Muslim isolated, closed and politically unreliable country ..."^[11].

Thus, the official, on the one hand, criticized the government's educational policy from a conservative position, reproached it for its passive attitude towards the establishment of Orthodoxy, and, consequently, according to his point of view, towards the introduction of the local population to Russian culture. On the other hand, Yuzhakov noted the success of the spread of education, and found in this the basis for the development of the region. In general, he advocated the spread of the Russian school, fulfilling a civilizing mission and creating cultural conditions for its integration into the Empire.

The activities of local schools – mektebs and madrassas - have received an extremely mixed assessment on the pages of Russian publications. Some authors of the Orthodox Evangelist wrote about them as hotbeds of superstition that bring no benefit to either the authorities or the population^[12]. According to the publication, in these educational institutions "... knowledge, subjects of study and the very method of studying them have nothing progressive, but on the contrary, artificially keep the mind and thinking of students at the stage of development that the European peoples experienced many centuries ago" ^[13]. Thus, the authors of the publication saw the local school as the main barrier to educating the population and introducing them to the achievements of civilization.

The authorities, although they periodically discussed the need to strengthen control over the activities of local schools, nevertheless refused to take decisive measures and did not prevent the creation of new mektebs and madrassas. Thus, in a note to article 98 of the Turkestan Regulations of 1886, it was stated that "Volost and rural societies of natives are allowed to allocate the maintenance of schools (madrassas and mektebs) opened at mosques to public funds, but in no case forcing those who do not want to participate in it to pay a fee for this need."^[14]. Thus, the administration did not interfere with the creation of local schools, however, only at the expense of the residents themselves.

It should be noted that at the turn of the century, the Russian authorities maintained a contradictory attitude towards traditional educational institutions. On the one hand, especially after the Andijan uprising of 1898, they hatched plans to reform the local school. But on the other hand, fearing a surge in religious protests, they abandoned projects to introduce Russian language teaching in a traditional school.

In addition, in the early twentieth century, "new-fangled" mektabs became widespread in Turkestan, competing with the Russian school and, according to the authorities, threatening the spread of ideas of liberalism and pan-Islamism^[15]. Under these conditions, the Russian administration increasingly perceived traditional educational institutions as a guarantor of maintaining order, i.e., a "lesser evil" than a school reformed on new educational principles.

Thus, despite the criticism of the traditional school, officials eventually supported it, seeing in it intentions that, although contrary to the Empire's civilizing mission, were more in line with the interests of the authorities in the region.

The state of Russian culture in Central Asia has been highlighted in a number of essays by the famous travel writer E.L. Markov. In the conservative Russian Review, he published travelogues in which he described the development of the education system in Turkestan. His special attention was drawn to the situation in the Russian men's gymnasium in Tashkent. Markov, noting the quantitative predominance of Russian students, drew attention to the increasing number of representatives of the local population, primarily Kyrgyz. Markov explained their noticeable presence in the gymnasium by the fact that Kyrgyz people "... are more trusting of everything Russian, and Muslims are not God knows how strict"^[16]. Thus, the publicist associated the involvement of local children in secular schools with the superficial perception of Islam by Kyrgyz nomads and their tolerant attitude "to everything Russian." The sedentary farmers of Central Asia, who at that time were given the name Sarty, perceived their children's education in a Russian school differently (in 1924, this term was abolished as an "insulting legacy of the colonial past" - auth.).

According to Markov, the "Muslim clergy" were most actively opposed to the education of local children in Russian schools, fearing "... that in this way we would gradually lure all the Sarts to Christianity"^[17].

Markov assigned a special role to the teachers' seminary in the development of education in the region. "A well-trained teacher," he wrote, "is a kind of small spiritual and conquering area within the vast limits of our external conquests, which are still completely alien to us in spirit"^[18]. Thus, the author identified the teacher's activity and the widespread spread of the Russian school in the region with his political conquest. As a result, the publicist linked the future of Central Asia with the implementation of the spiritual transformation of local peoples through the school, leading, according to his assumptions, to the Russification and integration of the region.

The local administration placed special hopes on Russian-Muslim schools. However Markov was very critical of the prospects for co-education, believing that the incompatibility of Christianity and Islam stood in the way of its development. In practice, it manifested itself in the multidirectional efforts of the mullah and the Russian teacher, and especially their unequal position. "To combine a mullah and a Russian teacher in one school," he wrote, "is an almost hopeless task. In the eyes of Sart students, the Mullah will always be their main and true teacher and the only master of the school. The mules are supported and revered by the whole world around them, their fathers and brothers, and the Russian teacher is a pitiful, outcast alien who is tolerated only out of bitter necessity..."^[19].

Thus, Markov justified the need to spread specifically Russian schools, and considered attempts to create joint educational institutions as a waste of money and effort.

A number of conservative authors did not consider the prospects of joint schools as unambiguously as Markov, and saw them as the main direction for the development of education in the region, following some parts of the local administration. "These schools," Governor-General N.O. Rosenbach hoped, "were supposed to unite the domestic and economic interests of all the peoples of the Turkestan region with the national interests in the nearest and surest way and promote the lasting and final fusion of all these nationalities with the great family of the indigenous Russian people..."^[20]. Thus, it was in joint schools that the local authorities saw a means not only of Russification, but also of integrating all the peoples of Central Asia into the Empire.

Russian Russian publicists drew attention to the growing trust in Russian education on the part of the indigenous population, especially in areas where they live together with Russian settlers^[21].

In order to overcome the cultural isolationism of local peoples, it was proposed to increase attention to teaching Russian to young people, which created conditions for their involvement in public service in the interests of Russia^[22]. In the Orthodox edition, it was noted that interest in co-educational schools on the part of local residents increased where, by order of the Governor-General, people who graduated from them were primarily accepted into administrative positions^[23].

According to the proposal of some officials, along with teaching subjects in Russian, graduates' trips to the European part of Russia became a means of cultural assimilation of students in joint schools. The development of education in Central Asia was perceived by the publication as a matter of national importance, aimed at "... making the Turkestan region the same indisputably Russian region that the Volga region, Siberia and the North Caucasus have already become"^[24].

Thus, the conservative publication considered Russification of education, training and education of local youth according to programs and methods tested in Russian provinces to be the most promising and effective way not only for the cultural development of the region, but also for its integration.

It is noteworthy that the main ideas of the Orthodox journal were supported by N.P. Ostroumov, an orientalist scholar and researcher of Central Asia. He saw the main purpose of joint schools as creating conditions for the rapprochement of Russian and local peoples. To do this, in his opinion, it was necessary not only to introduce education in Russian, but also to give students the opportunity to enroll in schools and higher educational institutions in Russia itself. Ostroumov saw one of the means of Russifying education in the training of teachers for joint schools from among the local population^[25]. It seems that, in general, the projects of the academic transformation of Russian-native schools did not go beyond the framework of the national conservative discourse, aimed primarily at Russification of the local population.

The structural changes in the Russian state system that took place after the adoption of the Manifesto on October 17, 1905, and the equalization of the rights of Muslims and Orthodox Christians necessitated the reform of educational policy in Turkestan. In the new conditions Ostroumov began to urge the Ministry of Public Education not only to increase attention to the activities of national schools, but also to introduce pedagogical innovations. At the same time, he justified the inadmissibility of Western borrowings in the Muslim school and advocated the preservation of its centuries-old identity. In his opinion, the school course can only be subject to systematization and updating in disciplines not related to the Muslim faith (mathematics, history, geography, philosophy)^[26]. It seems that analyzing the results of the activities of the newfangled schools, Ostroumov, like a number of Russian administrators, saw in them the threat of spreading the ideas of freedom and pan-Islamism, which reinforced separatist tendencies in the region. That is why he became more tolerant of the local national school, advocating only partial reform, while avoiding any violence that could provoke protest from local residents.

However, later his view of the local school as a guarantor of stability and traditions underwent a change. Gradually, it was in her that he began to see a hidden threat to Russia's position in the region.

In an article with the eloquent title "Fluctuations in views on the education of natives in the Turkestan region", published in the Kaufman Collection, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the death of K.P. Kaufman, the scientist noted, first of all, the contribution of the first governor to the development of education based on the principles of religious tolerance in the region. At the same time, taking into account the challenges of the time, he began to justify the need to strengthen control over Muslim educational institutions, where, in his opinion, the ideas of pan-Islamism and pan-Turkism spread. "... The numerous Muslim maktabs and madrasas should not be ignored and unsupervised," the publicist argued. - It's time to admit our mistake regarding their supposed lack of viability and take them into our own hands; under the influence of a mistaken view of native schools, we did not protect Kirghiz from the influence of the Sarts and Tatars, and moreover not those old Tatars whom the late K. P. von Kaufman knew, but new Tatars, young Tatars, aspiring to towards progress and unity with Muslims all over the world. The first governor-General might not have thought about it, but we, the contemporaries of "Turkish unity and progress," should not close our eyes to the real and terrible fact and not take appropriate measures; otherwise we will remain with just words, and the Tatars will do for us a thing that cannot be corrected"^[27]. Thus, the scientist closely linked Russia's position in the region in the changed historical conditions and the protection of its geopolitical interests with the establishment of state control over local schools.

The majority of conservative authors noted the positive consequences not only of the region's accession to Russia, but also of the cultural policy pursued there. In their opinion, the special merit of the imperial government was to create conditions for the gradual development of education in Turkestan. At the same time, noting the increase in the number of students in local schools, they recognized the extremely slow growth rate of joint Russian-native schools, which was caused primarily by the strength of the tradition of Muslim education^[28]. I would like to note that conservative magazines did not focus on the lack of funds allocated to their creation.

Liberal publications, although less frequently than conservative ones, also addressed the topic of education development in Central Asia. At the same time, they often used materials prepared by official authors, partially repeating some of their conclusions.

Thus, military orientalist and official M.A. Terentyev argued on the pages of the liberal Vestnik Evropy, in contrast to the official course, that progress in local school education would not come as long as "... the Turkestan school is based on the Muslim faith"^[29]. At the same time, he believed that "our policy is a policy of self-sacrifice, spending more on the conquered than gaining from them. Our Great Russian peasant pays almost three times more than, for example, a Pole, but gets back, in the form of schools, roads, bridges, hospitals – almost ten times less. About our Asian subjects, who pay only up to 1 p. 10 kopecks. from the bottom of their hearts, and they don't carry any decent or recruiting duties, and there's nothing to say. This policy has been implemented throughout our history and is one of its brilliant differences. If this path leads to, now that a true Muslim begins to behave towards his neighbor, as befits a good Christian, then I am ready to forgive him his Islam! Our Christian cosmopolitanism is our strength, our glory and our future"^[30].

Thus, Terentyev considered historically justified all the costs of the imperial government for the development of Central Asia, including education, because they led to the integration of the region and the acculturation of the local population. At the same time, he was ready to support the policy of religious tolerance pursued by the administration to the extent that it guaranteed the preservation of loyalty, respect for the authorities and the Christian faith of others on the part of the peoples of Turkestan.

A number of liberal publications dealing with Russia's educational policy in Central Asia were highly critical of its practical implementation. Thus, the diplomat and scientist N.F. Petrovsky reproached the administration for its passivity and inability to involve the local population in the educational process. According to him, "... we did not even point out to the natives, by our own example, anything so tangibly useful in which they could imitate us; for ten years we did not teach them, on a commercial and practical basis, familiar to them, nothing in which they could see and understand the benefits. our European civilization. We showed them only our military strength and our money, which we threw in front of their astonished gazes."^[31] In other words, the Russian authorities, according to the scientist, limited themselves to establishing their political dominance, and did not begin to develop and implement plans for educating the local population, without which cultural integration of the region was impossible.

At the same time, some liberal authors believed that Russia had all the conditions not only for political but also cultural establishment in Turkestan. Thus, according to E. Zimmerman, "there are no contradictions between the Russian population of the region and the Turkmens, as there are between the British and the Indians. The peoples that make up Russia exist organically in the neighborhood of the Slavic population." The author believed that the Central Asian peoples were not fanatical, unlike their co-religionists in India, which made it possible for the Russians to carry out "... a civilizing mission ... in Central Asia without any withdrawal too severe for the natives and with much greater promise of success than in India"^[32].

Liberal authors, unlike conservative ones, considered an increase in government spending on its cultural development to be one of the means of establishing Russia in the region. Thus, according to M.I. Venyukov, the growth of expenses in the field of public education and medicine in Turkestan contributed to the rapprochement of local residents and Russians. "The Sarts' trust in European science," he wrote, "turns out to be in another area, namely in the field of medicine. Russian doctors treat not only women, but also children, and are very popular in Tashkent"^[33].

Liberal publications noted the very low educational level of the Central Asian peoples, which was figuratively compared to "... the sea of ignorance"^[34]. Moreover, Muslim schools, "providing only a mechanical knowledge of the Koran and Sharia law," could not change the situation. Therefore, the author saw only the dissemination of a secular school, in which it was necessary to use educational literature in both Russian and the native language, as a means of spreading "... useful knowledge that dispels the darkness of ignorance..."^[35].

The creation of such a school required considerable funds, but only an educational policy based, in the opinion of the publicist, not on pragmatic calculation, but on the principles of Christian morality could change the spiritual life of local peoples, and eventually lead them "... to rapprochement with Russia"^[36].

However, the liberal publication saw Russia's main task in the newly acquired region not in achieving geopolitical goals, but in fulfilling its historical cultural mission. According to the publicist, it consisted "... in introducing the peoples of Central Asia to the universal human civilization. We must pay for the oppression of the Tatar people to the descendants of the hordes that once conquered Russia by involving them in the global cultural work of all mankind. And it is clear that, in fulfilling this task, Russia must pay the most serious attention to ensuring the material and cultural existence of its new subjects and thereby make them zealous and sincere members of its own and through them also influence progress in its khanates. Russia should make every effort to spread education, legality and solid foundations of material security among the peoples of Turkestan as soon as possible"^[37]. Thus, in accordance with liberal principles complemented by the norms of Christian morality, the author saw the main objectives of Russia's policy in the region as introducing the indigenous population to cultural values through the development of secular education.

In liberal publications, the development of education in the region was associated with the need to take into account and preserve national characteristics. Moreover, under the conditions of the Duma monarchy, liberal authors began to support the idea of developing the cultural autonomy of the region as one of the crucial conditions for its genuine transformation. An unknown publicist from Vestnik Evropy claimed that Russian Muslims represent a cohesive stratum of the population with certain requirements and tasks, which include the provision of national and regional autonomies, with representative institutions based on broad democratic principles. According to him, "a well-designed school and broad self-government are the only sure way to create disciplined and politically educated citizens"^[38]. Thus, it was precisely in the granting of self-government rights and the development of a secular school that the liberal publication saw the future of Turkestan, the guarantee of stability, the formation of civil society in the Muslim region and its preservation as part of the Empire.

An original view on the development of education in Turkestan was offered by one of the authors of the narodnik magazine Severny Vestnik. Analyzing his condition in the Semipalatinsk region, he noted the need to create a public body, like the zemstvo in the inner provinces of Russia, which would control the activities of public schools and unite the efforts of the "cultural classes of society"^[39]. One of the primary tasks, in his opinion, was to train highly professional teachers, to spread knowledge and education, and not just literacy alone. At the same time, the author was very critical of the situation in Muslim schools, which, according to him, do not provide education and inculcate "... stupid fanaticism and fanaticism, further increasing the discord between the Tatar and Russian nationalities"^[40].

He saw a way out of the situation in the instillation of secular education among Muslims, the purpose of which, unlike conservatives, he considered not the Russification of peoples, but the spread of enlightenment^[41].

One of the conditions for the creation and development of a secular school, in his opinion, should have been "... the lowest possible cost of maintenance, because it would have the task of providing primary education not to dozens of units, as in boarding schools, but to tens of thousands of children, which is possible only with small expenses for each school"^[42]. Thus, the narodnik publicist justified the need to create a mass, secular school in the region, one of the leaders of which was to be zemstvo-type public organizations. He also justified the need for this school to receive not only administrative, but also financial autonomy, which would create conditions for solving general cultural, rather than state-political tasks.

At the same time, the narodnik publications, although they talked about public initiative, also noted the difficulties faced by private individuals when creating a school ^[43]. This was the rationale for the idea that only the joint efforts of the state and society could ensure the development of secular education in the region.

Conclusion

An analysis of the attitude of Russian journalism to the educational policy of Russia in Central Asia revealed the following. The perception of cultural tasks in this region by most Russian authors was based on the idea of Russia's civilizing mission, designed by its very history to bring enlightenment to the peoples of Turkestan.

However, for conservative publications that generally supported the official course, the main goal of educational policy, especially in the context of the aggravation of international contradictions in the early twentieth century, was increasingly filled with pragmatic content, suggesting the acculturation of the population and the integration of the region into the Empire.

Some conservatives considered the most optimal means of establishing Russia in the educational space of the region to be the spread of the Russian school and the inclusion of the younger generation of the local population in its educational process. However, the complexity of this task, which required significant funds and personnel, the strength of traditions and the dominance of Islam, determined the tolerant attitude of the administration towards local schools. In addition, for the sake of maintaining stability in the region, the government relied on the support of local elites, which was largely ensured by maintaining the position of the traditional school.

Some conservative authors supported the policy of religious tolerance initiated by K.P. Kaufman, and advocated the need not only to develop education in the region, but also to study the Muslim world itself. "We don't have people who know the spiritual world of a Muslim well," lamented one of the publicists, "there are few administrators who are suitable for absolutely (alas!) Turkestan, unknown to us"^[44]. Thus, the author set the Russian administration the practical task of studying the Muslim world as a means not only of cultural policy, but also of preventing popular uprisings in the region.

The liberal publications did not go into details of the educational policy of the Russian administration in the region, limiting themselves mainly to general assessments of the actions of the authorities to create a secular school. For liberals, the main task of educational policy in the region has long been to reduce the level of Muslim fanaticism and to introduce them to civilization through the development of education.

At the same time, they proposed plans to reform Russian-native schools, madrassas, and mektebs. The most consistent part of the liberals advocated granting cultural autonomy to the population of the region, justified the need for a synthesis of secular and national schools, and condemned the characteristics of the peoples of Central Asia as "ignorant savages" that slip through in some publications. It should be emphasized that, in general, Russian journalism lacked racial approaches towards peoples. The East.

Some liberal publicists emphasized that the Russian government, having annexed Central Asia, had not bothered to get acquainted with the peculiarities of Islamic culture, which led to failures in managing the conquered region. That is why the liberals called for studying local culture and customs, arguing that only on the basis of the knowledge gained it is possible to carry out cultural transformations and achieve positive results in the development of the region.

Populist publications suggested using the public resource in the creation and development of a local school.

It should be noted that the government was aware of the role of periodicals in covering cultural policy, and saw them as a means of shaping public opinion and promoting Russia's "civilizing mission." It is no coincidence that the Governor-General of the Turkestan region, A.B. Vrevsky, asked the famous publisher A.S. Suvorin to state the facts of the implementation of this mission more often^[45].

It seems that the press has reflected the growing attention of the Russian administration to the problem of education of the peoples of Central Asia. At the same time, it was noted on the pages of various publications that the authorities saw the activities of Russian-native schools as a means of acculturating the local population, whereas traditional educational institutions, at least since the end of the nineteenth century, were increasingly perceived by them as a mouthpiece for the spread of anti-Russian pan-Islamic sentiments. Specialists serving in the region noted an increase in the number of co-educational schools from 30 at the end of the nineteenth century to 90 by the beginning of the First World War^[46].

Representatives of all directions agreed that only through education and the dissemination of European values was it possible to overcome not only the cultural isolation of the region, but also national extremism and religious fanaticism, undermining the social stability of the region and the foundations of its integration with Russia.