ARCHIVAL HERITAGE ON THE HISTORY OF THE FORMATION OF THE KAZAKH–RUSSIAN BORDER

Abstract

The article is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of the archival heritage that reflects the history of the formation of the Kazakh-Russian state border. The research aims to identify, systematize and interpret the documentary complexes preserved in the major federal and departmental archives of the Russian Federation. The process of border formation between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation was a multilayered and long-term phenomenon shaped by political, administrative-legal, socio-economic and strategic factors, which caused repeated changes in the border line throughout different historical periods. Although certain studies have examined individual aspects of this topic, a complete scholarly description of the documentary corpus enabling a full reconstruction of the border formation process from the sixteenth to the twentieth century has not yet been produced.

The relevance and scientific problem of the research stem from the fragmented and dispersed nature of archival data, which complicates the work of researchers and hinders the development of a comprehensive picture of territorial delimitation. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the first expanded review and multi-aspect systematization of archival collections containing documents on interstate delimitation and the administrative organization of border territories. The introduction into academic circulation of previously unused files and inventories eliminates a significant gap in the source-based study of the topic.

The empirical basis of the research includes materials from RGIA, RGADA, the State Archive of the Russian Federation, AVPRI, and the Archive of the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The application of source-study, archival, historiographic and comparative-historical methods made it possible to distinguish chronological and personal groups of sources that reflect the key stages of the Kazakh-Russian border formation. The findings form a structured “map” of the documentary heritage and create a foundation for further research in the field of interstate relations and cross-border cooperation