Description of the rite of approval of the Kazakh khan Nuraly in 1749

The article considers the confirmation of the Kazakh khans as the subjects of the Russian Empire. The implementation of the confirmation institute has become a new tool of Russia’s influence on the Kazakh elite. The publication allows us to imagine how Russian border officials tried to introduce new mechanisms of control over the Kazakhs. The lack of military and political resources forced Russian administrators to use symbolic resources in their relations with the Kazakhs. One of these, along with the oath, was the confirmation of the Kazakh ruler by the khan, made on behalf of the Russian ruling monarch. The first experience was the confirmation of the khan's dignity of Sultan Nuraly, the son of the elder khan of the Kazakhs, Abulkhair, who died in 1748. Nuraly’s statement became a precedent in relations with the Kazakhs. Russian authorities approved the Kazakh khan in July 1749; the first ceremony in the history of Kazakh-Russian relations took place near Orenburg. The Orenburg governor I. I. Neplyuev developed the rite of confirmation in detail. The ceremony included the arrival of Nuraly to the place of confirmation, the meeting of the khan, the announcement of his khan, the oath, the presentation of royal gifts, an official dinner with the participation of the approved khan, his entourage and Orenburg officials and military, and a number of other circumstances.