Скадарски вилајет у другој половини XIX века
Vilayet of Skadar in the Second Half of the 19th Century

Description of the Russian consulate in Skadar in 1876

Summary/Abstract: This paper contains the description of circumstances in the vilayet of Skadar in the second half of the 19th century by A. N. Spaier, who headed the Russian consulate in Ska dar. The introductory part contains the basic information about the establishment of the consulate in 1857 and the first consul Alexey Jegorovich Suchenkov, who remained on this duty for almost ten years. In their instruction to the consul, minister A. Gorchakov and envoy to Constantinople A. P. Butenjev presented the complexity of circumstances in that part of the Ottoman Empire, pointing to the need to be prudent and cautious. In addition to reporting about the local circumstances, the consuls were instructed to help and protect the Orthodox Church and its cultural heritage, particularly the Dečani monastery. The descrip tion of the vilayet of Skadar with the proposal of reforms, created in November 1876, was sent to the Russian ambassador to Constantinople N. P. Ignatiev in the context of prepara tions for the Constantinople Conference of the Great Powers in late December 1876. The aim of the Conference was to find a peaceful solution to the Great Eastern Crisis. The description contains a plenty of precious information about political, social, cultural and ethnographic circumstances in the vilayet of Skadar. It gives a particularly credible picture of the tribal society, patriarchal mentality and the manner of functioning of Ottoman rule in the parts of the Empire that were distant and difficult to access. The Russian consulate also proposed to ambassador Ignatiev the reforms to be implemented to improve the situ ation in the vilayet.

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