Missionary policy of royal Russian power in the Kazakh steppe

Abstract

The article presents an analysis of the religious policy of the Russian Empire and Orthodox missionary work among the Kazakh population. The Russian Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan considered the Kazakh society as the bearer of the pagan tradition. In order to consolidate the position of the Christian state in their Asian countries, the government bodies of the Russian Empire supported the idea of the missionary propaganda of Orthodoxy among the «foreigners» of the empire and the forced spread of Christianity among the Kazakhs. Thus, the colonial policy of the Russian empire in Kazakhstan was aimed at enforcing Orthodoxy through the prism of reducing the sphere of influence of Islam.
Key words: missionary, orthodoxy, Islam, foreigners, baptism