Problems of trade and economic relations between the Russian Empire and Central Asian countries in the beginning of the 18th century

In the early 18th century the Russian Empire was a powerful state experiencing a cultural and scientific boom and possessing a developed industry, structured and centralized administration, high-qualified armed forces, including the navy, and secular education. That state differed dramatically from the 17th-century Russia that fell behind time in economy, warfare and culture.In the 18th century, Russian diplomacy started to move in a new direction, of critical importance for Russia, towards relations with Asian states. For the whole century Russia was opposed by Central Asian Khanates, mainly by the Khiva Khanate. In this area, it was the expansion to India that had been put forward by Peter the Great as the main objective. The Russian emperor viewed the British colony as a land of immense riches. But the Khanates laid down as a buffer zone between the emperor's ambitions and the area that actually represented the sphere of influence of the British Empire. However, any kind of expansion to India was impossible without the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Khanates. Having realized that, Peter the Great set a course for active penetration into the region by means of expeditions and diplomatic missions, which opened the era of Central Asian studies in Russia and provided a demand for a thorough analysis of bilateral trade and economic cooperation perspectives. For Russia-Khanates 18th-century relations studies, the introduction of new primary sources into scientific use is both a necessity and a great chance for a researcher. Although a great number of the 18th-century documents have already been revealed and for contemporary historical studies it is definitely not a complete singularity, plenty of sources related to Russia-Central Asia ties are still unexposed. One could view this as a considerable omission, as it was the 18th century, when the relations actually started to evolve. The course of Russia-Khiva relations in the beginning of the 18th century stimulated many Russian scholars of that time to seek the most favorable means of interaction with the Khanates. A great opportunity to review these studies is provided by the analysis of a unique document discovered in the Archive of the Institute of Russian History (Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg). As a result of such an analysis, it can be concluded that Russian political and military elite in the early 18th century was not only well-informed on Khiva, but developed the plans of military expansion as well.

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