摘要：In the literature, there are conflicting interpretations of the Russian citizenship of the Bashkirs of the XVI-XVIII centuries caused by the assertion that the Bashkirs did not have a political structure, which was understood exclusively as a form of chiefdom or state. At the same time, a number of researchers at the end of the XX century noted that the political unity of the people is not always achieved through the formation of rigid forms that alienate the sovereignty of the communities. Bashkir society of the middle of the XVI – first third of the XVIII century is an example of the creation of a military polity without the power vertical that is customary for nomads. In the middle of the XVI century the tribal formations of the Bashkirs united into a horizontal structure, which in Russian official documents of the XVIII century received the name “Bashkir Horde”. The absence of an institutional elite in Bashkir society, represented by the Chingizids, who have the right to state power, determined the democratic character of the Bashkir polity. All decisions related to political existence (declaring war or concluding peace) were made at the yiyyn – “worldly gatherings” of Bashkir clans. The unification of the Bashkir clans into a single military structure was the result of an agreement with the Russian state, which obliged the Bashkirs to guard the southern border of their lands. In the south, the Bashkirs were opposed by nomadic chiefdoms and states (Kalmyks, Nogai, Kazakhs, Karakalpaks), then the Bashkirs were forced to create a single military structure, taking into account their specific social structure. The protection of its southern border is becoming a common concern of the entire Bashkir people, therefore, the most economically valuable territories located in the border zone have become the property of all Bashkir clans.The main test of the military polity of the Bashkirs passed during the massive invasion of the Kalmyks in the 1920s and 1930s of the XVII century. If the former rulers of Bashkiria, the Nogai and Siberian Sheibanids, were forced to recognize the power of the Kalmyks, then the Bashkirs, even having lost the steppe estates behind the Yaik, not only managed to repel the onslaught of a numerically superior enemy, but went on the offensive. In the early 60s of the XVII century Kalmyk leaders conditioned the acceptance of Russian citizenship by the cessation of the raids of the Bashkirs and the return of prisoners. However, in the 20s of the XVIII century, the military organization of the Bashkirs faced the threat of disintegration for the first time. The southern clans, who lost their estates beyond Yaik as a result of the advance of the Kazakhs to the north, supported Russia's intention to build a city on the border of the Ufa province. However, the majority of the Bashkirs saw the intentions of I.K. Kirilov's desire of the state to take control of the southern border. The Bashkirs took this step by the authorities as an intention to terminate the citizenship agreement of the middle of the XVI century, which guaranteed the Bashkirs unprecedented privileges in the Russian state.
