Implementation of O.A. Igelstrom's reforms in the steppe of Orenburg region

The article describes the process of implementing the reforms by O.A. Igelstrom in the Small Kazakh Horde. The author briefly acquaints with the main content of reforms of governance of the Orenburg part of the Kazakh steppe in the 1870. The main motives and the purposes of regional administration in carrying out administration reforms in the region and the necessity to take local traditions of the organization of the power into consideration are reflected. The reasons of O.A. Igelstrom's reforms failure are revealed and discussed. The author studies the issue related to the authority and the influence of the khan's power among the Kazakhs and the government measures on the restriction of this power. Attempts of the imperial government to manipulate with elections of new khans are described in the article. Reaction of the Kazakh elite on those actions is shown. The special attention is paid to the movement of Syrym Datov and to the way the Russian government took the advantage of this movement under various political circumstances. Winning round the Kazakh opposition and pushing it away under the changed circumstances, the Russian administration steadily solved one of the main political tasks to replace the elected head by a person or an institution loyal to the emperor and suitable for carrying out the requirements of the Russian regional administration. But it was impossible to solve the problem in the conditions of O. Igelstrom's reforms. The way to achieve the desired goal was opened with M. Speransky's reforms of 1820.