摘要：Within the framework of this study, the process of the introduction of the Russian military-administrative system in Chechnya and Dagestan in the late 1830s – early 1840s was examined. The purpose of the presented work is to identify key trends in the development of the military-administrative policy of the Russian leadership in the specified region. The research methodology is built through a combination of structural, comparative and descriptive analysis. The source base of the work includes materials from the fund of the Caucasian Committee, stored in the Russian State Historical Archive, and sources of personal origin, reflecting the experience and opinions of representatives of the Separate Caucasian Corps.The author comes to the conclusion that the Russian leadership in the period under review was implementing the strategy of the phased expansion of the military-administrative apparatus, designed to ensure in the long term the full integration of the region into the structure of the national control system. At the regional and interregional levels, institutions developed to tighten the control of the military and civilian apparatus over the life of local communities. At the local level, the authorities were forced to preserve the traditional system of government for the region due to their interest in supporting the aristocracy and discontent of the population with attempts to expand the imperial administrative apparatus. The political leadership of the empire regarded this compulsory measure and, in the future, hoped to completely eliminate the independence of the feudal possessions.The program for the development of the military-administrative system of the region did not lead to the achievement of the set goals. Failures in the course of its implementation were largely due to the lack of an adequate understanding of the real practice of the work of the controlling bodies in the localities and the reluctance of local officials to adapt the usual management methods to the North Caucasian customs and mentality.At the local level, the military-administrative policy of the Russian authorities made it possible to maintain stability in most of the fiefdoms and guaranteed the loyalty of the aristocrats who ruled them. At the same time, the used management model preserved a conflict of interests between local rulers and the leadership of the Russian military and civilian apparatus, which was pursuing the goal of eliminating the independence of quasi-state formations in Chechnya and Dagestan.These problems led to the deterioration of the position of Russian troops in the region in the first half of the 1840s. However, to a large extent, the identified difficulties in the course of the military-administrative reforms were inevitable, since the reforms assumed either the destruction or a significant weakening of the traditional institutions of public authority.
