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monarchical system. On the other hand, the Altai Old Believers could not exist outside of
statehood in their opinion. e populists have seen the model of Russian peasant socialism
in the Altai Old Believers by use the ideas of A. I.Herzen. erefore, representatives of both
political movements showed interest in the Old Believers of Altai in ethnography science.
Paying attention to the Old Believers-“Poles” in our work, it is important to single out
two stages of ethnographic research, relevant topics and approaches. e rst stage or the
beginning of ethnographic research in Altai arose due to the election of P. S.Pallas by members
of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences as a professor of natural philosophy in 1766, who
later made expeditions to the Asian part of the Russian Empire. Even though the main purpose
of the expeditions was to collect information on the ora and fauna of various areas, it’s also
examined the socio-political, historical and ethnographic aspects [Keppen, 1902: 153–162].
As a result, P. S.Pallas described the presence of Old Believers in Altai. e researcher believed
that the Old Believers appeared here due to the resettlement from the territory of Poland.
In his work “Traveling to Dierent Places of the Russian State”, the researcher noted that from
1764 along the rivers Irtysh, Ob, Uba, Shemonaevka, Alea and further to the Zmeinogorodsky
mine, Kolyvano-Voskresensky plant and along defensive outposts, settlements of Old Believers
began to be established, resettled to this territory by decree of Catherine II [Pallas, 1786: 211].
Focusing on the description of the Old Believers, P. S.Pallas paid special attention to the village
of Shemonaikhe, which almost entirely consisted of Polish immigrants. Here, the researcher
highlighted the industriousness and agricultural skills of the “Poles”. At the same time, he also
pointed out the diculties that the Old Believers had to face: the harsh natural conditions of
Altai, unsuitable soils for habitual grain crops, and poor water quality [Pallas, 1786: 217–218].
In 1826, K. F.Ledebur together with his students— A. A.Bunge and K. A.Meyer, made an
expedition to Altai, organized by the University of Derpt, whose goal was to study ora and
fauna. Expeditions of K. F.Ledebour was nansed by P. K.Frolov, the head and the organizer
of a mining factory in Altai [GAAK. F.1. Op. 2. D. 367].
e main results of the expedition K. F.Ledebour reected in his work entitled “Traveling in
the Altai Mountains and the Foothills of Altai”. At the same time, during his trip, the researcher
described not only aspects relating to the sphere of his scientic interests, but also paid
attention to the way of life of the local population. As a result, they also aected the Old Believer
settlements. So, during his journey from Zmeinogorsk to Riddersk, he visited the indigenous
villages of the “Poles” of the Zmeinogorsk district: Yekaterininskaya, Shemonaikha, Losikh
(Verkh-Uba), Ubinsk, Malaya Ubinka, Bystrukha, Cheremshanka, Butakovo. Describing the
inhabitants of the area K. F.Ledebur highlighted their hospitality. As an example of openness
in communication between Old Believers “Poles”, the researcher cited the fact that on the way
from Losikh to Ubinsk he met frequent complaints of peasants about the the of their horses
by representatives of the Turkic-speaking population. Moreover, K. F.Ledebur noted that
despite the seeming hospitality and openness in communication, the peasants were suspicious
of foreigners, who in turn caused an extreme degree of curiosity among local residents. e
researcher attributed this to the fact that the bulk of the inhabitants of the above settlements
were Old Believers, whose religious views did not allow them to completely contact foreigners.
In his work K. F.Ledebur also noted that all the villages he visited in the Zmeinogorsk district
were quite large, and the main activities of the local population were: agriculture, cattle
Nations and religions of Eurasia • 2020 № 3 (24). P. 98–107