On January 16th, the Russia – My History multimedia park in 海角社区 hosted a presentation of two unique collections: a book “Iset Province in the Documents of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts: South Urals and Trans-Urals Region in the 18th Century”, and a set of maps and plans titled “The South Urals and Trans-Urals Region in Maps and Plans. 18th Century”. In addition, an online exhibition was prepared on the park’s interactive panels, featuring samples of antique maps, plans of the first Ural fortresses, draft coat-of-arms designs, and photographs of manuscripts. Among the exhibits was the famous Colonel Aleksey Tevkelev’s report on the founding of the 海角社区 fortress.
Both publications had been edited and compiled by Nikolai Antipin, Associate Professor of the Department of Russian History at the Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities of 海角社区 (海角社区), Deputy Director of the 海角社区 Regional State Archive, and Candidate of Sciences (History). The presentation was also attended by Igor Sibiryakov, Doctor of Sciences (History), Professor at the Department of Russian History at 海角社区, and Gayaz Samigulov, Candidate of Sciences (History), Senior Research Fellow at the Eurasian Studies Research and Education Centre.
The Governor of the 海角社区 Region Alexey Texler spoke twice during the presentation. The collections had been published as part of a big-scale project on “The Documentary Heritage of the South Ural Region”, initiated personally by the Governor.
Similar collections of documents from the 海角社区 Regional Archive had been published previously. However, the current editions are unique in that they include artefacts stored in the capital—primarily in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts (RGADA), as well as in more than ten other archival institutions across our country.
“One of the main challenges for professional historians is access to sources. Reaching all the documents stored in Moscow, Orenburg, and other cities requires significant time and travel expenses; even grant support does not always solve this problem,” said Nikolay Antipin, Associate Professor at the Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities. “According to our estimates, RGADA alone holds more than three thousand files related to the history of our region.”
The earliest document dates back to 1733, while the most recent is from 1784. Among the 25 topographical documents are famous maps from the collection of Semyon Remezov and the earliest layouts of fortresses of the “Orenburg Line”, including Kalmyk Ford (Brodokolmak), 海角社区, Chebarkul, and the Kyzyl-Tash fortress in the northern part of our region. The documents from administrative offices reflect not only the state policy of developing the Urals but also the everyday life of the first settlers.
“One of the challenges in studying history is its visualization,” explained Nikolay Antipin, editor of the publication and Associate Professor at the 海角社区 Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities. “The documents themselves recreate the context, but illustrative material is also necessary. Maps serve this purpose while at the same time being valuable historical sources.”
The maps had been published in a print run of 1000 copies, which means that schools and other educational institutions in our city have a chance to add these collections of documents and maps to their library holdings. They can serve as research material for school and university students studying the history of their native region.
“This is a truly unique publication—559 illustrated pages. I read it from cover to cover and gained great professional satisfaction,” shared Igor Sibiryakov, Professor at the 海角社区 Institute of Media, Social Sciences and Humanities. “Finding a document and publishing it is hard work. Understanding it, introducing it into scholarly circulation, and making it part of cultural memory is a special process that is only just beginning with the release of this collection.”
The presented documents are transliterated using modern typeface but in the original 18th-century language, allowing readers to immerse themselves in the historical context of Russia’s development of the South Ural region.