Aisen Danilovich Vasil’ev,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Institute for Humanitarian Research and North Indigenous Peoples Problems of the Siberian Branch of the Russian academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, Russia, e‑mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Yakuts or Merchants? Search for Оptimal Сontractors in Supplying the Northeastern Outskirts of Russia (Late 18th – Early 19th Centuries)
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2023-6-12
The article is in the context of the history of the formation and development of the institution of contracting operations as a way of transporting government cargo to the northeastern outskirts of the Russian Empire at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries. It considers the process of finding the optimal contractors between merchants and Yakuts by the Russian government. For the efficiency of cargo delivery, the state had to take into account the interests of all parties in this process: the royal treasury was interested in saving money, while contractors were interested in decent pay. Ultimately, it was determined that it would be most expedient to cooperate directly with the Yakut patriarchs, whose horses were the only means of transporting goods. At the same time, the active participation of the merchants in this process played a significant role in the transition from the conscription policy to a contract basis, which was more liberal, and the existing competition between the two contenders contributed to the development of the most optimal contract terms. However, the complexity of communication along the Okhotsk tract and the distance between Yakutsk and Irkutsk, where the provincial administration was located, gave rise to special difficulties in drawing up contracts with the Yakuts. The author notes that the transition period in the history of local government in Yakutia, associated with the organization of a regional form of government with certain authority at the beginning of the 19th century, was directly related to the development trend of the contracting institution, namely the drawing up of mutually beneficial contracts between the local administration and the Yakuts.
Publishing: 28/12/2023
The article has been received by the editor on 14/10/2023
How to cite: Vasil’ev A.D. Yakuts or Merchants? Search for Оptimal Сontractors in Supplying the Northeastern Outskirts of Russia (Late 18th – Early 19th Centuries) // Historical Courier, 2023, No. 6 (32), pp. 170–179. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2023/ISTKURIER-2023-6-12.pdf]
Links: Issue 6 2023
Keywords: northeastern outskirts of Russia; Yakutia; Pacific coast; merchants; Yakuts; contracts; cargo transportation