Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2020 number

Indigenous peoples of Siberia subjugated by the Russian state were obliged to pay a tribute numbered in the sable pelts almost universally in the XVII - first half of the XVIII century. But at the early XVII century the sable population decreased crucially due to hunting, therefore the authorities were forced to accept as payment both less valuable furs and other goods. The article analyzes the amount of yasak payments and their characteristics depending on the ethnicity of the yasak people (those who pay tribute) in different administrative subdivisions (uyezd, volost, ulus) based on materials of the Second Kamchatka expedition of 1733-1743 (registries of local administration offices compiled according to G. Müller’s questionnaires, his travelogue and descriptions of Siberian lands, monographs by S. P. Krasheninnikov and G. V. Steller). The author argues that the number, as well as the hierarchy of prices for sables and other furs, were not regulated by the central government, and were determined by the local authorities at their discretion. The highest payments were set for the poorest and most defenseless peoples (Khanty, Selkups, Kets, etc.). The peoples whose representatives had been serving the Russian state like the Cossacks, as well as the peoples who lived near the southern borders in Transbaikalia (Buryats, Tungus) paid less. The distinctions in the cost of fur of different types in various administrative subdivisions, or depending on particular ethnic groups or even clans, were rather significant. This study confirms that sable and other furs became a minor part of the collected yasak tribute due to the fur animals’ extermination in the second quarter of the XVIII century in many areas. Instead of this, the authorities were forced to accept money in ever growing amounts. Moreover, in the westernmost territories, the local authorities completely replaced sable pelts with cash. The materials of the Second Kamchatka expedition allow the author to state that corrupt practices while collecting yasak were widespread in areas located far away from the provincial centers.