The history of the study and preservation of the historical and cultural heritage of the Caucasus at the end of the 18th - first third of the 20th centuries: source study and historiographic review

Abstract

The history of the study and preservation of the historical and cultural heritage of the Caucasus in the history of Russian Caucasian studies is a constituent component. The subject of the research is the source study and historiographic concepts of Russian historians who consider the key problems of the history of the study and preservation of the historical and cultural heritage in the late 18th - early 20th centuries. This article analyzes a significant amount of sources of various species, stored in archival, museum and library funds, characterizing the process of formation and development of Russian Caucasian studies. The historical-descriptive tradition of interdisciplinary Caucasian studies is viewed as an evolutionary model that integrates various research practices addressing local lore discourse, theoretical and applied regional studies, intellectual historical reflection and biographical reconstructions. Particular attention is paid to the so-called "new stories": economic, social, political, cultural, gender, intellectual, local, economic. National Caucasian studies are the result of the collective work of professional scientists (archaeologists, anthropologists, ethnographers, historians, philologists) and amateur local historians. They made a huge contribution to the study of the North Caucasus and to the preservation of various sources. Local historians-amateurs, military, travelers stood at the origins of the formation of historical knowledge about the region, the organization of historical research in the region. Professional scientists have recreated the history of academic Caucasian studies, the history of scientific institutions and societies, reconstructed the biographies of researchers and analyzed their creative heritage. The article shows the process of development of Caucasian studies and historical local history. The organic synthesis of differentiated cognitive developments made it possible to form a comprehensive picture of regional development, which in the sectoral dimension is an objective result of the practical development of modern Caucasian studies.