In the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, a large Indian diaspora lived in Central Asia. The Indians settled compactly in caravanserais. If there were no caravanserais nearby, they settled down in one area, creating "Indian rows" (Old Margelan, 80s of the XIX century). and "Hindu quarters" (Namangan, early XIX century). The Indian community on the territory of Central Asia was formed from representatives of the emerging national capital, who were mainly engaged in trade and usury activities. In addition to trade and usury, natives of India were engaged in entrepreneurship. Together with Russian partners, they built two cotton gins (in 1896-in the village of Mashad, Namangan district; in 1907 - in the city of Andijan). Among the Indians there were cooks, bakers, confectioners. At the beginning of the 20th century, Indian laborers began to arrive in Turkestan1.

In the second half of the 19th century, the Indian diaspora grew steadily. If in the first half of the XIX century there were about two thousand of them in the Bukhara Khanate alone, 2 then in the second half of the XIX century there were more than five thousand Indians [Logofet, 1911, p. 181]. Most of the emigrants were from Shikarpur, Sindh, Multan, Punjab, while a smaller number were from Madras, Calcutta, and Bombay [Serebrennikov, 1914, p. 142]. In the Bukhara Khanate and in the Turkestan region, Indians usually lived temporarily. Usually, they were engaged in commerce for 10-15 years, and then returned to their homeland. In rare cases, the residence of Indians in the Turkestan region was extended. As a rule, this was due to their acceptance of Russian citizenship [Nebolsin, 1855, p. 313]. Indians lived not only in such large cities as Bukhara, Samarkand, Namangan, Andijan, Ferghana, but also in small towns and even villages. There were no large Indian settlements on the territory of the Turkestan region, but rather the Indians were scattered throughout Central Asia.

A significant number of Indian entrepreneurs chose Bukhara and its suburbs as their permanent place of work and residence. Bukhara retained its status as a trade center of Central Asia. "Bukhara owes its importance to this very important city.

1 Turkestan is a historical and geographical region that included the territory of modern Central Asia, Kazakhstan, and part of Central Asia in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Conventionally, Turkestan is divided into Western or Russian (the southern part of Kazakhstan and the Central Asian possessions of Russia), Eastern or Chinese (Xinjiang Province), and Afghan (the northern part of Afghanistan). On the territory of Western Turkestan, which was annexed to the Russian Empire in 1867, the Turkestan General Government was established; since 1886, the official name is Turkestan Krai.

2 On the Indians in Bukhara in the first half of the 19th century, see [Kalandarova, 2002, pp. 54-61].

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its advantageous central position in relation to neighboring countries. It is located in the center of trade routes that connect the east and south of Asia with the north and west, as well as with Europe through Russia," wrote L. F. Kostenko [Kostenko, 1871, p.253]. The main occupation of Indians in Central Asia is trade and usury. The annexation of Central Asia to Russia did not interrupt trade relations. 19th-century caravan routes They connected important shopping centers of Central Asia with the Indian cities of Shikarpur, Multan, and Peshawar. One of these routes went from India via Lahore, Peshawar, Khyber Pass to Kabul. Here, in Kabul, all the trade caravans united and went through Bamyan, Aibek, Tashkurgan, Mazar-I-Sharif, then crossed the Amu Darya by the Kelif ferry and entered the possession of the Bukhara Khanate. The entire journey from Bukhara to Kabul took 27 days (Nebolsin, 1855, p. 186).

Indian exports remained the same as in the previous period: these are indigo, spices, tea, semiprecious stones, metal and earthenware products, rice, sugar, manufactured goods of English and Indian production. According to A. K. Gaines, goods for 10-15 thousand camels, i.e. from 160 thousand to 240 thousand poods 3 per year came to Bukhara, Kokand, Kashgar, and other Central Asian cities via Kabul [Gaines, 1898, p. 532]. Silk, goat down, horses, and hashish were sent from Bukhara to Afghanistan and then to India. Bukhara did not produce silk, it was made in Kokand, exported to Bukhara, and from there sent to India. Silk of the highest quality in Kokand itself was sold for 197 rubles. 60 kopecks. for a pile, and in Bukhara the price was raised to 240 rubles. [Turkestanskiye vedomosti, 1871, No. 29]. In addition to silk, which was exported to India annually by 800 bales, other silk products were also exported: kanaus 4, shawls (6 thousand tons). poods) [Klemm, 1888, p. 51], Bukhara tablecloths embroidered with silk [Gubarevich-Rodobylsky, 1905, p. 77], calico, cheap furs [Kostenko, 1870, p. 420]. This is evidence that India occupied an important place in Bukhara's foreign trade relations. This situation persisted almost until the end of the 19th century.

In the 60s of the XIX century, Indian merchants began to import tea to Central Asia. Subsequently, it became one of India's most profitable exports. Previously, tea came here from China via Kashgar and Kulja. But the uprising of 1864 in East Turkestan caused significant damage to the tea trade. At the same time, it opened up access for Indian tea to Central Asian markets. Tea delivered from India was sold at low prices, moreover, large batches of tea were sold on credit for up to two years. A little later, the practice of selling tea on credit became common [Kostenko, 1871, pp. 264-265]. Only in the period from 1875-1889 tea exports from India to Central Asia increased 5-fold [Subbotin, 1892, p. 24]. In order to combat Anglo-Indian competition, duty-free delivery of tea to Turkestan from Kyakhta via Irkutsk was introduced in 1868, and Indian tea was subject to a high duty. However, this measure was ineffective. Tea from Turkestan was smuggled to Russia.

Indian tea exports to Central Asia have reached colossal proportions, and this situation caused alarm in the trading circles of Russian society. Tea and related problems were discussed on the pages of Turkestan Vedomosti and other print media. In 1877, a group of officials headed by N. A. Mayev was sent to Bukhara to collect information about the tea trade. 5 According to him, tea was delivered from Calcutta to Peshawar, then the caravan went through Kabul and Tash Kurgan and reached the Kelif ferry. Here caravans crossed the Amu Darya, then followed to

3 pud = 16.38 kg.

4 Kanaus-silk fabric made of raw or semi-raw materials.

5 Mayev Nikolay Aleksandrovich (1835-1896) - historian, geographer, ethnographer. From 1870 to 1892-editor of Turkestan Vedomosti. Author of several works on the history of Central Asia.

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Kelif and Karshi, and from there the caravan arrived in Bukhara. Here bales intended for Bukhara, without unpacking, were delivered to special caravanserais intended only for storing tea, of which there were six. The largest of them, Abdurashid's caravanserai, received up to 3 thousand camels with tea a year; two smaller caravanserais-Mirzagul-up to 1.5 thousand camels and Badriddin - up to 1200 camels [Turkestanskiye Vedomosti, 1877, N 16].

The import of Indian tea to Bukhara and the Turkestan region continued to grow due to the opening of the Transcaspian Railway.6 Goods from India were delivered by sea to Batum, via the Caucasian Railway to Baku, and then via the Caspian Sea to Krasnovodsk. This road was very profitable for Russia, as the cargo was delivered by Russian steamships and railways and brought in large revenues. With the opening of the sea transit route in 1895, the import of green tea increased to 25 thousand pounds, which was 1/15 of the total import of tea [Gubarevich-Rodobylsky, 1908, p. 88]. Indian merchants specialized in selling green tea in Bukhara and Central Asia. This tea was mostly purchased in Shanghai by Peshawar merchants and shipped on Russian steamboats to Batum, and from there to Bukhara and Samarkand. In 1894-1900, China exported 70-80 thousand pounds of green tea a year to Central Asia, while India exported only 20-30 thousand pounds [Gubarevich-Rodobylsky, 1905, p. 104]. It should be noted that all Chinese tea was sold under the brand name of Indian tea. The most popular varieties of Chinese tea were "lyunka", known in Europe as "hisson", as well as Indian tea varieties "pari", "pata" and "nauzugur", which, according to Russian researchers, meant "mountain" [Gubarevich-Rodobylsky, 1905, p. 104; Kolomiytsov, 1916, p. 28]. The cost of these varieties of tea, according to the members of the tea expedition to Bukhara, was from 16 to 30 tilly for four pood7 (or from 67 rubles to 126 rubles) [Turkestanskiye Vedomosti, 1877, N 16].

Tea of poor quality and cheap in price was in great demand among the poor strata of Central Asian society. Indian tea merchants were monopolists in Bukhara and Central Asia. The tea trade was so lucrative that many Indian merchants, with initial capital, left their masters to set up their own businesses. In the territory of the Bukhara Khanate at that time there was an impressive Indian tea trading colony "freely living and traveling all over the region" [Dmitriev, 1967, p. 146]. Indian merchants, using Bukhara as a stronghold, sold tea on the territory of the entire Turkestan region. As before, they operated through a system of long-term loans, creating a network of clients in order to further expand trade in Central Asian markets. Gradually, from Bukhara, Indian tea merchants settled throughout the Turkestan region. During the period from 1902 to 1911, 199 Indians moved from Bukhara to the cities of the Turkestan region. From 1909 to 1916, 120 Indians arrived in the Samarkand and Ferghana regions and called the tea trade their main profession. Successful promotion of tea products in numerous markets of the Turkestan region allowed Indian entrepreneurs to organize tea weighing factories. Of the 10 enterprises that existed in Samarkand, three were owned by Indians (Dmitriev, 1967: 146-147).

6 The construction of the Transcaspian Railway was started in November 1880 from the Mikhailovsky Bay of the Caspian Sea (Mallakor) to Kizil-Arvat. Five years later, the builders reached Ashgabat, and in 1886 - Chardzhou. In May 1888, a wooden bridge was built across the Amu Darya River, and traffic to Samarkand was opened. In 1899, the road reached Tashkent. In January 1906, the Tashkent-Orenburg road was put into operation, opening direct access to Central Russia for Central Asia. On March 1, 1901, the Murghab branch (Merv-Kushka) was opened. The total length of the road as of January 1, 1905 was 2,382 versts.

7 1 tilla = 20 tengs; 1 tenga = 21 kopecks (exchange rate of 1877 in Bukhara).

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Another commodity that generated considerable revenue was Anglo-Indian muslin, which was imported in huge quantities. High-quality and inexpensive (4 rubles per piece), satisfying the buyer with its length and width (22 arshina 8 - this is how much fabric is required for a turban and for a shroud), muslin was in great demand among the Central Asian consumer. Russian muslin was cheaper than English muslin (3 rubles), but it was not in demand among the local population9. The profits of Indian merchants from the sale of tea and muslin were partly spent on the purchase of Central Asian silk, which was in demand among Indian fashionistas. The lion's share of profits flowed from Central Asia to India in the form of gold. However, the same situation was observed in the first half of the XIX century in the Bukhara Khanate. At that time, instead of the gold and silver exported by the Indians, the Bukhara mint was forced to mint a lot of counterfeit coins. Silver was added to gold money, copper was added to silver, or simple copper, semi - tinned ones were made. Silver came to Bukhara from Kashgar as a result of the sale of Russian-made goods by Bukhara merchants. Gold went to Bukhara from Russia, then through the Indian money changers sailed to Kabul, and then to India. There was so little gold in Bukhara that it was very difficult to get two or three chervonets [Notes..., 1983, p. 125]. At the end of the XIX century, when the Russian gold exchange rate was low in Bukhara (6 rubles 30 kopecks). for a semi-imperial fee) and the high cost of goods imported by the Indians, this was an extremely profitable operation [Turkestanskiye Vedomosti, 1877, N 16].

Indian-Central Asian trade at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century took place in a sharp struggle between two powers, Britain and Russia, for new markets for their goods in Central Asia. The measures taken by the tsarist government were aimed at strengthening the position of Russian capital in Central Asia. In order to displace British goods from Central Asian markets, decrees (1869, 1881) were adopted on the temporary prohibition of the import of Anglo-Indian goods into Russian Turkestan and new rules for paying duties on Indian tea were introduced. Under the new rules, the duty on tea was 14 rubles. 40 kopecks per pound, regardless of the type of tea; indigo - 6 rubles per pound; muslin-1 rub per pound, regardless of its quality.

However, all these measures were ineffective. Thanks to the open borders of the Khanates of Bukhara and Khiva, Indian goods arrived there without hindrance and spread throughout Central Asia, and enterprising Central Asian merchants brought them to the central markets of Russia. All products were delivered to Turkestan via Iran. Foreign goods arrived in Northern Iran via the Caucasus, from where the goods were partly sent to Central Asia. Trade by this route went on for decades, until under pressure from Russian entrepreneurs associated with Central Asian trade, a decree was adopted to eliminate transit trade through the Caucasus. This was a small economic victory for Russia in the trade struggle over England. The situation in trade changed with the commissioning of a section of the Transcaspian Railway (May 1888), which opened traffic to Samarkand. The former trade route between India and Central Asia through Afghanistan did not suit merchants due to political instability in the latter. Rebellions by mountain tribes, looting on caravan routes, and high import duties made this route unprofitable.

In May 1888, at the request of Bukhara and Indian merchants, a new trade route was opened. From then on, trade between Bukhara and India was carried out as follows: by sea from Bombay to Batumi, then by rail through Baku and Uzun-Ada to Bukhara. This path had several advantages: first, it was faster-

8 yards = 71.12 cm.

9 In order to study the demand of the population, in 1890 the Ministry of Finance of Russia invited the Turkestan administration to present samples of muslin available in the markets of the cities of New Margelan, Samarkand, Osh, as well as the cities of the Bukhara Khanate.

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rym (previously the goods were on the way for more than 5-6 months), secondly, safer (no robberies and robberies on the roads), and, thirdly, most of the new road was in the hands of Russian merchants, whose trade activities suffered from the policy of the Bukhara customs authorities. Russian goods imported into India passed through Bukhara, and this trade was insignificant. The new trade route opened up great prospects for Russian industrial and commercial circles. Since 1888, Indian goods arrived in Central Asia via Bandar Bushir and Mashhad, or via Batumi and Krasnovodsk. However, high duties on the Transcaspian Railway significantly reduced the import of Indian goods to the Turkestan region. In just one year (1891/92), the import of muslin and indigo decreased by 1,128 thousand rubles. [Remez, 1922, p. 16].

In all subsequent years, the Russian government's activities were aimed at developing new markets, as well as protecting them from the influx of Anglo-Indian goods to Central Asia. To this end, in 1893, a special commission for the study of Central Asian trade was established under the Ministry of Finance of Russia. Based on the conclusions made by the commission in 1894, a decree was issued on the establishment of a new customs line, which included the Bukhara and Khiva khanates.10 Following the decree, additional measures were taken to restrict the import of Indian goods in general and tea in particular. Allowed to import muslin, sugar, precious stones, indigo, which were subject to a special duty-in gold currency; with tea collected duty: black-25 rubles., green-14 rubles. 40 kopecks. from a pood. In 1915, by order of the Minister of Trade and Industry of Russia, the duty on the latter was increased to 18 rubles per pood (Kolomiytsov, 1916: 101, 104). Bukhara, which for centuries served as the central market for Indian goods, began to be supplied with tea, which was delivered directly from Shanghai. Trade was conducted mainly by Moscow and Kyakhta firms [Gubarevich-Rodobylsky, 1905, pp. 105-106]. Thus, Indian merchants lost their monopoly positions in the Bukhara market.

The trading activities of Indian merchants were closely intertwined with usury. After making a fortune in trading, they left the business and began to engage in usury. Indian moneylenders began to enter Central Asia as early as the 18th century, but they became more active in the 19th century. Some sources (Kushakevich, 1871, pp. 173-206) report that the names of many Indians included the component "marwari". The word Marwari has two meanings: a people living in the Marwar region of northeastern Rajputana, as well as a community that unites several dozen merchant-usurer castes and groups whose original territory of residence was Marwar and its surrounding areas.

In the first half of the XIX century. Rajputana was ravaged by internecine wars. Merchants and moneylenders began to leave the region. The mass emigration of moneylenders from Rajputana began in the first half of the 19th century [Pavlov, 1955, p. 106]; this suggests that moneylenders not only from Shikarpur, one of the main cities of the Bombay Presidency, but also from Rajputana were active in Central Asia, Iran, and Afghanistan. The Marwari caste status was quite high, as traditionally in India trade and usury were considered more honorable occupations than agriculture and handicrafts.

Both in India and abroad, including Central Asia, members of this trading community usually operated under a single scheme. When Marwari arrived in a particular locality with the available capital of bills of exchange, gold and silver jewelry, he received the necessary help and information from members of his caste who were already active there, then traveled around the area for a month or two, studying the conditions of the local economy.

10 The line ran from the mouth of the Atrek River along the southern Central Asian border to the Tien Shan, then it went along the borders of the Ferghana and Semirechensk regions.

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trading. Finally, he would stop at the place where his stay promised the greatest benefits, rent a small house, open a shop, and start selling textiles, grain, and groceries. Soon, he began to lend small amounts of money to secure household items or jewelry. As soon as his connections expanded, Marwari began to lend money to secure land or crops. Its grain reserves grew from year to year, the usurer sold some of them, and kept the rest in reserve in case of crop failure or higher prices [Kireev, 2004, pp. 37-48].

According to a similar scheme in the Turkestan region, Indian moneylenders gave loans to almost all layers of Central Asian society, from artisans and peasants to wealthy merchants and officials. In the second half of the 19th century, in the countries bordering Central Asia (for example, in Iran), the clients of Indian moneylenders were government officials and merchants who paid "huge interest rates, being constantly in debt" to the Indians (Baumgarten, 1896, p.202). In Seistan, 11 Indians gave money at interest to "impoverished khans and elders" (Astsaturov, 1901, p.133). In Afghanistan, Indian moneylenders actively lent money to merchants. In order to limit the activities of usurers, local merchants were allowed to use credit in the Kabul Treasury, which allowed them to "get rid of the monstrous interest of Hindu usurers from whom they were previously credited" (Hamilton, 1908, p.137).

Using the age-old methods of lending, proven in their country, Indian moneylenders took over all monetary and trading operations in the Turkestan region. "There is not a single market, even in the village, where a Hindu with his usurious bag did not trade," the traveler noted [Vambery, 1874, p.339]. There were 19 Indians living in Khujand and Ura-Tyube (Tajikistan) (7 in Khujand and 12 in Ura - Tyube). These were local bankers and usurers [Turkestanskiye Vedomosti, 1872, No. 11]. In 1901, 28 Indians lived in Namangan, 52 in Kokand, and 4 in Osh. In Andijan, two out of ten trading firms were owned by Indians [Guidebook..., 1903, p. 379, 393]. Many moneylenders owned real estate in Central Asia: houses and caravanserais, gardens and land plots [Logofet, 1911, p. 181].

The favorite place of activity of Indian moneylenders was Bukhara. Here credit and banking operations were carried out by immigrants from Shikarpur, a North Indian city that was famous for its bankers and usurers who had extensive connections in the Central Asian khanates and Western India [Masson, 1842, p. 353]. Clients of the Shikarpur moneylenders were Bukhara feudal lords and large merchants, dehkans (farmers) and artisans, even Russian merchants and officials (Khoroshkhin, 1876, p.508). However, if it was possible to " get a loan elsewhere, that (client. - M. K.) did not address them (the Indians-M. K.)" [Aini, 1960, pp. 426-427].

Indian moneylenders were especially active in the Turkestan region and in Bukhara during the period of crop failures. This can be seen in the example of the Zeravshan district 12. In 1869, the entire crop was destroyed by locusts, and the cold winters of 1856, 1868, 1870, and 1871 led to the total death of cattle. Especially difficult for the population was the poor harvest of 1870, which caused an increase in grain prices. And only two categories of the population were not poor at that time: residents of the mountainous regions of Farab and

11 Seistan ( or Sistan) is a historical region in Asia, on the border of present-day Iran and Afghanistan.

12 The Zeravshan district was formed at the end of June 1868 from the eastern part of the Bukhara Khanate, occupied that year by Russian troops; the district included the cities of Samarkand, Urgut, Kata-Kurgan, Chilek, Yany-Kurgan and Panjshambe. At the end of 1868, the city of Panjikent with its villages was added to the district, and in 1870 and 1871 - all the beks in the upper reaches of Zeravshan and the beks of Farab, located in the upper reaches of Kashkadarya. On January 1, 1887, the district was incorporated into the newly formed Samarkand region.

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Magiana, as well as Indian loan sharks. The first gathered a rich harvest of grain and sold it from 1 rubles. 40 kopecks. to 2 rubles. per pood. As for the Indians, when they opened their barns, they sold grain at 3 rubles per pood for cash or in debt, under a documented condition, according to which the ruble turned into 4 rubles in 10 months, in 14 months - into 4 rubles 80 kopecks, in two years-into 7 rubles 60 kopecks. The moneylenders were enormously enriched by this disaster: after six years of bountiful harvests, most of the population was still in debt to the Indians.

Indian loan sharks lent their customers not only money, but also seeds for crops. For example, if a farmer took 8 poods of grain from a lender, he was obliged to return 16 poods in 4 months. An experienced Indian pawnbroker entangled his illiterate victim with numerous debt obligations. If the farmer could not pay off the lender on time, then in six months the amount increased to such an extent that it could buy 40 pounds of grain, and in 10 months the amount increased five times more than the loan itself.

The same scheme was used by Indian moneylenders when making money loans, with the only difference being that the moneylender charged a lower percentage from a rich client, so that in the future he could use his services again. A poor farmer fell into bondage, who was forced to pledge his real estate: a house, a garden, arable land. If the mortgage was not paid on time, the client received several months of deferral, and in case of insolvency, the collateral was lost. Moreover, it has become a practice for usurers to receive interest on agricultural products that are deliberately discounted in such cases by half of the market value [Turkestanskiye Vedomosti, 1877, N 44].

The entire process of lending-from issuing loans to repaying loans and paying interest - was developed in detail in the course of centuries-old practice of Indian merchant and usurer castes and was applied in the Turkestan region without significant changes. All calculations were carried out by usurers on tags, which were semi-arched tetrahedral sticks, on each face of which complete information about the client was given (the name of the debtor, the amount of debt, the date of loan issuance and the terms of its return) [Aini, 1960, p.315]. Payments by debtors were made on a monthly basis. Often this procedure was accompanied by fraudulent frauds. One of the most common types of fraud was repeated collection of loans under the same document. Receiving monthly payments, the moneylender did not make notes about the receipt, and when it came to court proceedings, the debtor was charged the principal amount, as well as compound interest. Before leaving a particular area, the moneylender sold the paid receipts to his fellow countrymen for a nominal fee, and they, in turn, let them go around a new circle.

Usurious frauds existed in the Turkestan region for a long time, since there were no laws or regulations on their local activities. G. A. Arandarenko 13 wrote: "Indians who trade in the Zeravshan district, on average, generate a net profit of 1,700 rubles each year, having received 452,200 rubles for 266 Indians living in the Samarkand department. rub. (for 68 Katta-Kurgan people - 115,600 rubles, for 9 people living in Penjikent-15,300 rubles, for 32 people fishing in Urgut-54,400 rubles), and all 375 Indians collect 537,500 rubles from the population of the Zeravshan district. annually. In six years, after which the Indians liquidate their businesses, this will amount to 3,225,000 rubles, irrevocably floating away to India in the form of only Russian gold." He wrote that the total income of the Zeravshan district was 3 million 450 thousand rubles. "Dropping from this figure 537500

13 Arandarenko Georgy Alekseevich, born in 1846, ethnographer. He served in Central Asia for 20 years and was a military governor of the Ferghana region (1904).

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collected every year by the Indians, we are convinced that the loan costs the population 15 1/2% of the total earnings" [Turkestanskiye Vedomosti, 1877, N 44].

The calculations and conclusions made by G. A. Arandarenko gave an impetus to the adoption of decisive measures to protect the interests of the local population. State-owned and private credit institutions were opened in the region. In 1881, the Central Asian Commercial Bank was opened with an authorized capital of 500 thousand rubles, which pushed the Indian moneylenders in the credit and banking market [Geyer, 1909, p. 37]. However, the tsarist administration was still concerned about the export of Russian gold and especially the acquisition of land plots - this could lead to the fact that the Indians would eventually become owners of a significant part of the land in the region. In order to restrict the activities of usurers, Governor-General K. P. Kaufman14 issued a circular dated October 27, 1877. "On paralyzing the exploitation of the native population by Indian immigrants" [K. P. Kaufman's circular is in the Central State Administration of the Republic of Uzbekistan, f. 1., op. 11, d. 39, l. 1-95]. Indian moneylenders were forbidden to take the property of the local population for debts, and insolvent debtors were required to pay 1/3 of their income on account of the debt. The Circular played a huge role in the fight against usury. A significant part of the Indian moneylenders turned down their activities and returned to their homeland. By 1882, out of seven thousand usurers in the Zeravshan district, only 20 people remained [Arandarenko, 1889, p. 361].

K. P. Kaufman's circular was originally introduced as a temporary measure that restricted the activities of usurers. However, in 1886, the main provisions of the document were approved by the State Council of Russia and received the force of law. The activities of usurers were persecuted by the law on usury of May 24, 1893, which applied to all Russian subjects and foreigners who were on the territory of Russia. On the basis of this law, in 1898, an Indian Balemal Khalemanov was convicted of usury for two months in prison with a fine of 25 rubles. In the same year, six other English subjects, Indians, were sentenced to two months ' imprisonment for usury. The perpetrators filed a petition to the highest name. A letter from the Ministry of War to the Ministry of Justice on this case, in particular, stated:: "Usury is an almost exclusive occupation of the Indians who come to live in the Turkestan region, and it is practiced by them in such severe forms that their activities in the Russian Asian suburbs can be recognized as completely harmful to the local population, which is why any punishment of the law imposed for usury on this particular class of newcomers brings, as an example to others, public benefit... " [Russo-Indian relations..., 1999, p. 92].

However, in the" noble " Bukhara, Indian moneylenders were still in demand - Russian laws were not in force here. The Bukhara Khanate, being under the protectorate of Russia, retained the right to independently conduct foreign trade operations with neighboring states: Russia, India, Iran, and Afghanistan. The treaties of 1868 and 1873 concluded between Bukhara and Russia gave the right "to all Russian subjects, of whatever religion, and to all subjects of the Emir of Bukhara, to free trade everywhere, first throughout Bukhara, and second throughout the entire Russian Empire" (Remez, 1922, p.46). Fees were collected, according to Sharia law, in the amount of 1/40 of the property from Muslims, 1/20, or 5%, from non-Muslims. Thus, the Indian moneylenders who combined trading and usurious activities-

14 Konstantin Petrovich Kaufman (1818-1882), Adjutant General (1864). Since 1867-Commander of the Turkestan Military District and Governor-General of Turkestan. He led military operations against the Emirate of Bukhara (1868), the Khanate of Khiva (1873) and the suppression of the Kokand uprising (1874-1876).

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they paid taxes and replenished the treasury of the Emir of Bukhara. The activities of Indian moneylenders in the territory of the Bukhara Khanate ended only in 1920.

The administration of the Turkestan Region continued its policy of ousting Indian moneylenders from Central Asia. In connection with the introduction of Russian civil law and order in the Turkestan region, the issue of the passport system was raised. Before the Turkestan region joined Russia, foreigners (Indians, Afghans, as well as natives of Bukhara and Khiva) moved through Central Asia without presenting their national passports. In March 1888, the Governor-General of the Turkestan Region, N. O. Rosenbakh15, developed a draft of special rules on passports, which provided for the admission of Asian immigrants to Turkestan without presenting national passports (they were required for traveling to the interior of Russia). Moreover, this document reserved for the governor the right to expel from the region persons whose activities will be recognized as illegal 16.

N. O. Rosenbach's circular was valid until the introduction in 1903 of the new All-Russian charter on passports, which was also distributed in the territory of the Turkestan Region. From now on, all foreigners were required to present their national passports, which were approved by the Russian consulate, to the regional authorities at their place of residence. In return, they received Russian residence visas for a period of one year. After the expiration date, if necessary, the visa was extended. For Indian subjects of the British Empire, there were territories closed to visitors: the Kushka branch, the Amu Darya above Chardzhou, Termez, Chikshilar, the Atrek line, the Pamirs, the border with China from the Semipalatinsk region, except for the roads Osh-Andijan-Kashgar, Jarkent-Kulja, Jarkent-Kashgar. For a long stay in the Bukhara and Khiva khanates, it was necessary to have a special permit from the local Russian administration [Russo-Indian relations..., 1999, p. 244].

The introduction of a passport and visa regime for Indian entrepreneurs on the territory of Russian Turkestan caused significant damage to their commercial activities. Indian merchants have been trading throughout Central Asia for centuries, moving freely from large settlements to villages. The new rules led to delays and refusals in issuing visas, which threatened major financial losses. Impotent before the innovations of the Russian administration, they applied for help to the British Embassy in St. Petersburg. One of these petitions addressed to the ambassador was filed on February 10, 1910 by Indian merchants Khalil Rahman, Muhammad Amin and Muhammad Sadiq Sultan Mukhamedov, who had been living in Bukhara since 1890 in the Rishita caravanserai. These merchants often traveled to Turkestan to collect debts for goods sold, but "... this year (1910 - M. K.) entry to the above-mentioned places was prohibited " [Russo-Indian Relations, 1999, p. 244]. A long correspondence began between the British Embassy and the Russian Foreign Ministry, which led to two verbal notes (dated June 27, 1909 and March 3, 1910) from the English side. These documents pointed out "the inconvenience and significant financial losses of Anglo-Indian subjects who settled in Bukhara from the introduction of a new rule, according to which they were denied free movement through the Russian Central Asian possessions and Russian territories" [Russo-Indian relations..., 1999, p.247].

15 Nikolai Ottonovich Von Rosenbach (1836-1901) - Lieutenant General of the Infantry. In 1884-1889 - Governor-General of the Turkestan region.

16 On the basis of article 15 of the Regulations on the Administration of the Turkestan Region, the Governor-General was granted the right "to expel natives of neighboring khanates and foreign subjects from the region entrusted to him abroad, when, due to the harmful nature of these persons 'activities, he considers their stay in the region undesirable" [Abramov, 1916, p.110].

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This problem was discussed in more detail in a letter from the British Ambassador to Russia, J. Buchanan, 17 to the Russian Foreign Minister, S. D. Sazonov, 18 dated February 7, 1911. In it, the ambassador reported on a petition to the Government of India by a group of Anglo-Indian subjects (22 people) who had been trading in Bukhara and Russian Turkestan for sixty years. Merchants complained about the new passport regulations, which proved to be a serious hindrance to their agents when collecting debts and generally conducting business. Under the new rules, a passport-issued visa permit had to be obtained from the Governor-General of Turkestan in Tashkent - a formality that caused long delays. Further, Indian merchants were forbidden to live and conduct trade operations in the Ferghana region, use the Merv-Kushka railway line and follow this route to Herat. The trade of Indian merchants was based on a system of long-term loans, and the restrictions imposed threatened to ruin them, since agents could no longer move freely from one place to another to collect debts and conduct business.

Dissatisfaction among merchants was also caused by laws on the affairs of deceased and insolvent debtors. According to Russian law, if a debtor died or was insolvent and his property was less than 40% of the debt, the Bukhara authorities sold his property and transferred the proceeds to the Russian authorities. Cases of Russian creditors-Christians, Jews, and Muslims-were tried in a Russian court. The Indian creditor should have received a refund from the Bukhara court in accordance with Muslim law (Sharia). Merchants claimed that they suffered heavy losses and demanded that they be treated in the same way as Russian creditors [Russo-Indian Relations..., 1999, p.248-250].

There were also problems with the issue of inherited property of Indian merchants who died in the Turkestan region. For many years, officials of the Turkestan General Government have been working on the problem of simplifying the procedure for executing inheritance claims. Thus, in a letter dated December 14, 1911, the Governor-General of Turkestan, A. V. Samsonov, 19 informed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, S. D. Sazonov, that it was necessary to select a trustworthy person from the local Indian community, who could be entrusted with the task of confirming the inheritance rights of Anglo-Indian subjects and provide them with a power of attorney from interested parties. Further, A.V. Samsonov proposed "in order to facilitate the heirs of the formalities required by law and possibly speed up the production of inheritance cases... appointment there (to the Ferghana region - M. K.) by the British government of an official consular representative responsible to its government" [Russian-Indian relations..., 1999, pp. 46-47].

By the beginning of the 20th century, the Indian diaspora in Central Asia had sharply declined. With the opening of a network of financial and credit institutions (loan offices, Central Asian Commercial Bank), usury began to bring less income. In rare cases, due to one reason or another, persons who were unable to obtain a loan elsewhere turned to Indian usurers [Turkestanskiye Vedomosti, 1894, N 9]. According to V. I. Massalsky, only 250 Indians were registered in the Turkestan region by 1913 (there is no information about Bukhara). They still lived in caravanserais, engaged in trade and secret usury [Massalsky, 1913, p. 413].

17 J. Buchanan (1854-1924), English diplomat, served in Rome, Tokyo, Sofia. In 1910-1918 - British Ambassador to Russia, author of the book "My Mission in Russia" (Berlin, 1924).

18 Sazonov Sergey Dmitrievich (1860-1927) - Russian diplomat. In 1910-1916 - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, in 1917 - Ambassador to Great Britain.

19 Alexander Vasilyevich Samsonov (1859-1914), general of cavalry, participant of the Russo-Turkish (1877-1878) and Russo-Japanese (1904-1905) wars. From 1907-ataman of the Don Army, from 1909 to the beginning of the First World War-Governor-General of Turkestan.

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After the events of 1917, a small number of family Indians, who had almost forgotten their native language, chose Turkestan as their permanent place of residence.

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Aini S. Memoirs. Vol. 1. Moscow-L., 1960

Arandarenko G. A. Dosugi v Turkestan 1874-1889. SPb., 1889.

Astsaturov M. A. Description of the journey of the Merv merchant M. A. Astsaturov from the city of Serakhs through the city of Mashhad to Seistan and back from Seistan along the Afghan-Persian border through Pul-i-Khatun to Serakhs. 76. St. Petersburg,1901.

Baumgarten. A trip through Eastern Persia of the Life Guards of the Volyn regiment of Lieutenant Baumgarten / / SGTSA, Issue 63, St. Petersburg, 1896.

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Gubarevich-Rodobylsky A. F. Ekonomicheskiy ocherk Bukhary i Tunis [Economic sketch of Bukhara and Tunis]. Experience of a comparative study of two protectorate systems. St. Petersburg, 1905.

Gubarevich-Rodobylsky A. F. Tea and the tea monopoly. St. Petersburg, 1908.

Dmitriev G. L. Deyatel'nost ' indiskikh vykhodtsev v Srednoi Azii (vtoraya polovina XIX v.) [Activities of Indian immigrants in Central Asia (the second half of the 19th century)].

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Kalandarova M. S. Indytsy v Bukhare v pervoi polovine XIX V. [The Indians in Bukhara in the first half of the 19th century]. 2002, N 5.

Kireev V. S. The caste of usurers and bankers in colonial India. 2004, N 1.

Klemm V. O. Sovremennoe sostoyanie torgovli v Bukharskom khanstvo [Current state of trade in the Bukhara Khanate].

Kolomiytsov N. P. Tea. World trade in tea and the question of the state tea monopoly in Russia, Moscow, 1916.

Kostenko L. F. Central Asia and the establishment of Russian citizenship in it. St. Petersburg, 1871.

Kushakevich A. A. Information about the Khojentsk uyezd. Book 4. St. Petersburg, 1871.

Logofet D. N. Bukharian Khanate under the Russian Protectorate. Vol. 1. SPb., 1911.

Massalsky V. I. Turkestan krai / / Russia. Complete Geographical Description of our Fatherland, vol. 19, St. Petersburg, 1913.

Nebolsin P. I. Ocherki torgovli Rossii s Srednoi Azii [Essays on Trade between Russia and Central Asia]. Book 10. St. Petersburg, 1855.

Pavlov V. I. Ocherk deyatel'nosti torgovtsev i usovshchikov v kolonialnoi Indii [Essay on the activities of merchants and usurers in colonial India]. Indian collection, Moscow, 1955.

Remez I. A. Foreign trade of Bukhara before the World War. Tashkent, 1922.

Russian-Indian relations 1900-1917. Collection of archival documents and materials, Moscow, 1999.

Serebrennikov A. G. Turkestan region. Collection of materials for the history of its conquest. Tashkent, 1914.

Subbotin A. P. Tea and tea trade in Russia and other countries, St. Petersburg, 1892.

Turkestan Vedomosti. Tashkent. 1871-1872, 1877, 1894.

Khoroshkhin A. Collection of articles concerning the Turkestan region. St. Petersburg, 1876.

Masson Ch. Narrative of Various Journeys in Baloochistan, Afghanistan and the Panjab Including a Residence in those Countries from 1826-1838, by Charles Masson. Vol. 1. L., 1842.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ZRGO-Notes of the Russian Geographical Society.

SSTSA-A collection of geographical, topographical and statistical materials on Asia.

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