Building Empire: Russian Rule over Muslim Communities in the Nineteenth-Century Caucasus

• Applicant: Dr. Evgeniya Prusskaya
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 567559907

My research project explores Tsarist rule over Muslim communities in the nineteenth-century Caucasus, analyzing their incorporation into the imperial space and the broader process of empire-building on the Russian imperial periphery. The primary focus is on the southern Caucasian borderlands, which have been largely overlooked in studies of the Russian Muslim empire. I will examine how Russian authorities developed their policies toward Islam and how competing models of Muslim governance in other empires influenced Russian administrative practices in the region. To address these key questions, I will investigate specific issues such as the transimperial position of the Muslim population and its impact on Russian policy, as well as the transfer of administrative practices and colonial discourses between empires.

• DFG Programme: WBP Position