The Kazakh population of the steppe region in the perception of tax supervision officials in the late XIX - early XX centuries

The tax supervision officials, who grew up and received higher education in the Russian environment, and, perhaps, had served in areas with Russian population, found themselves in this region, where colonization had not yet managed to overpower the traditional way of life of the Kazakhs. The Revenue Department was no stranger to the habit of regularly moving its subordinates from one district to another, as a result of which rarely any tax inspector stayed in one place. Due to this, inspectors were able to compare different counties, even different regions of the country, and to observe local peculiarities more clearly. Even greater opportunities for comparison were the tax auditors, who appeared in 1889. The peculiarities associated with the presence of the Kazakh population in the area of operation were perceived by the newcomers as something unusual, which was reflected in the reports.