National education in the Central Asian periphery of the Russian empire as an object of acculturation

Starting the civilization development of the Kazakh steppe at the end of the 18th century, the Russian Empire took the main role to Islam. It hoped to extend to the region the Tatar model of intercultural and interconfessional interaction, which showed its effectiveness in internal Russia. A special role in the cultural development of the region was assigned to public education. The government was confident that local children would actively attend regular Russian schools. But that did not happen. The government was forced to change tactics from the support of Islam to the protection of the population (especially nomadic) from its influence. But even in the new conditions, the Muslim school still remained a successful competitor to Russian educational institutions. The acculturational influence of the Russian education in the Turkestan and Steppe Governorates General was minimal. The fears of the Muslim resistance held back the transformation of the traditional confessional school in the state interest, and the sluggish imperial bureaucracy turned out to be unarmed in front of the new method maktabs which had taken on the Kulturtrager function.