标题：The Kokand Khanate as an Object of Russia's Geopolitical Interests in the Representation of Travelogues of Imperial Experts in the first half of the 19th century
摘要：In the article, based on the materials of travelogues of Russian travelers F.M. Nazarova and N.I. Potanin to the Kokand Khanate, the representations of the region as an object of geopolitical interests of the Russian Empire in the first half of the 19th century are revealed. The methodological basis of the study is the approaches of the “new cultural-intellectual” and “new imperial” history, and the reliability and validity of the conclusions is ensured by the involvement in the work of a wide range of additional materials: reports of travelers who visited the states of Central Asia during this period with diplomatic visits.It has been established that when organizing the expedition, not only current goals related to escorting foreign embassies to their homeland were taken into account, but also promising ones, involving the examination of lands included in the orbit of Russia's geopolitical interests. The heads of such embassies, as a rule, were appointed persons of the Cossack rank, who had an average educational qualification, but at the same time knew oriental languages and/or the skills of route shooting and mapping. In the course of the study, it was proved that the range of problems faced by travelers was determined by the foreign policy situation in the eastern periphery and the place of Russia in this disposition, which to a certain extent provided them with relative freedom of action in making decisions. The result of the imperial expertise of the Kokand Khanate was the preparation and publication of detailed reports on the progress of the expedition, the territory of its movement, population, administrative structure, which was accompanied not only by textual material, but also by route maps. All this together constructed a plausible picture of the world of the inhabitants of the east, made it possible to form ideas of the military and the administration about the possibilities of moving to the east not only by means of diplomacy.
