Ethno-social features of the economy of the Southern Ural service mishars in the 17th - 19th centuries

The article attempts to analyze the main directions and specifics of economic activities of the South Ural service Mishars (meshcheryaks) in the 17th - 19th centuries, who appeared in the region along with other service people aimed at protecting the fortresses of the region. The relevance of the topic is determined both by the practical absence of such works on the Mishars of the southern Urals in Russian and foreign historiography, and by the importance of studying the economy of the service class, which combined military service with economic activities. The authors analyze the relations between military service and economic activities of Mishars, and conditions and opportunities for farming in different periods of the studied time. Attention is paid to the analysis of the problem during the period of the cantonal administration in the region, when the machine of the military-bureaucratic system, brought to a universal state, not only regulated the conditions of military service, but also directly managed the economy of the Mishar class. The authors state that the service Mishars, living in the places of exodus in the middle Volga region and having moved to the southern Urals, remained within the borders of the Volga-Ural historical-ethnographic region, where, for many centuries, there was a close interaction between the peoples of the Middle Volga and Southern Urals. Nevertheless, as a result of the migration of Mishars to another territory, they were waiting for a new socioeconomic reality, a slightly different natural and geographical environment than in the places of exodus, as well as the specifics of the existing ethnic environment, which led to the formation of various options for their economic activities. In the Southern Urals, Mishars, having successfully retained their previous skills, acquired some new features of economic activities that distinguish them from the Mishars living in the Middle Volga region. The academic novelty of the study lies in a comprehensive study of the economic activities of the Mishars of the southern Urals in the period of the 17th - 19th centuries, closely related to their presence in the military service class, interethnic interaction with the living peoples of the region and, above all, their colleagues and neighbors - the indigenous inhabitants of the region - the Bashkirs. At present, the ethnic group of the Mishars of the southern Urals is the least studied ethnic community in the region, although it has been formed on this territory for centuries. The main methodological principle of the research is the principle of historicism, which involves the study of the economic activities of the South Ural military officials as a process of formation and development in close connection with the natural geographical environment, and the dynamics of socio-economic and socio-political relations in the region. The article uses archival and published sources, as well as data from ethnographic research of scientists of the 18th - 21st centuries.