Turkestan Eparchy as a mediator in spiritual colonization of the Turkestan region Muslims in the early XX century

Аңдатпа

The article analyzes the activities of the Turkestan eparchy on the spiritual colonization of Muslims in the Turkestan region at the beginning of the twentieth century. In the course of the study, the process of implementing the main directions of the anti-Muslim mission of the diocese was reconstructed, the fundamental aspects of the large-scale project of the Turkestan eparchy in matters related to the cultural and religious "re-education" of the Muslim population, educational policy and missionary activities were studied. The methodological basis of the article is the principles of historicism and objectivity of scientific knowledge. In the work with the sources, logical, problem-chronological, comparative and systemic research methods were used. Their use made it possible to substantiate the important role of the Turkestan eparchy in the implementation of the all-imperial state-confessional course, to identify the factors that had a significant impact on the implementation of anti-Islamic propaganda in the period under study.The authors lead to the conclusion that the Turkestan eparchy actively implemented the policy of Christianization and Russification approved at the official level, the policy of Christian enlightenment of the Muslim population. Anti-Islamic propagandawas considered asone of the main tools for solving this problem, which was carried out by the missionaries of the diocese. The Turkestan eparchy made efforts to establish control over the activities of spiritual and educational institutions in the region, contributing to the unification of the poly-confessional population of Kazakhstan on the basis of the spiritual values ​​of the Orthodox Church. The ultimate goal of the anti-Muslim mission was to consolidate the authority of the Russian Empire among the local population of the region.

Key words: religion, Islam, Christianity, anti-Muslim mission, Russian Empire.