SEMIRECHENSK OBLAST UNDER THE COLONIAL RULE: A POSTCOLONIAL ANALYSIS OF K.K. PAHLEN’S REPORTS

Abstract

This article examines the revision reports of Count Konstantin Konstantinovich Pahlen, focusing on administrative governance and the formation of the Kazakh bureaucracy in the Semirechensk oblast at the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries. Special attention is given to analyzing these documents both as valuable historical sources and as texts reflecting the colonial ideology and power of the Russian Empire in Central Asia.

Using a postcolonial theoretical approach, the author explores how the language and structure of Pahlen’s reports constructed the image of the “Other,” thereby legitimizing imperial domination and discrediting local governance institutions. The analysis is based on the concepts of Edward Said, Gayatri Spivak, Homi Bhabha, and other theorists, which helps reveal the ambiguous position of Kazakh officials as intermediaries between the colonial authority and the indigenous population.

The findings of the study expand the understanding of colonial governance mechanisms and the socio-political dynamics in the Semirechensk oblast, while emphasizing the importance of critically reflecting on official sources to prevent the reproduction of colonial stereotypes in contemporary historiography.

Key words: Semirechensk oblast, Pahlen’s revision reports, Kazakh officialdom, colonial administration, postcolonial theory, Russian Empire