The Earliest Years of Astrakhan Diocesan Committee, Orthodox Missionary Society of Russia: Analyzing Materials from the State Archive of Astrakhan Oblast

Abstract

Introduction. The article analyzes and introduces into scientific discourse a set of archival documents included in Collection 597 — ‘Astrakhan Diocesan Committee of the Missionary Orthodox Society’ — of the State Archive of Astrakhan Oblast dealing with the Committee’s earliest years and key directions of its activity. Materials and methods. The study employs comparative and historical/descriptive methods of research. The work analyzes the mentioned archival documents of 1870–1874 containing materials on work activity management within the Committee, personnel and financial policies, reports on its grand opening and the formation of a general meeting, analytical notes and appeals of committee members, interdepartmental correspondence on organizational issues, correspondence with the Orthodox clergy of Astrakhan Governorate and their reports, letters about translation, publishing, and academic efforts of the Committee. Results. The paper introduces a set of documents related to the earliest years of Astrakhan Diocesan Committee. Conclusions. The materials discovered in Collection 597 (State Archive of Astrakhan Oblast) and specifically those covering the earliest years of Astrakhan Diocesan Committee do add to the panorama of missionary tools and techniques once employed by the Russian Orthodox Church in Kalmyk Steppe throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, mention personalities to have served as members of the Committee, clarify as to sources and amounts of financing, problems and prospects faced by Orthodox Christian missionaries in Kalmyk uluses (districts). The creation of Astrakhan Diocesan Committee gave rise to extended translation and publishing activities, intensified the training of missionaries supposed to spread Orthodox Christianity in Kalmyk Steppe in the 19th and early 20th centuries.