Research On The North Caucasus Orthodox Church From The Perspective Of Imperial-Russian Frontier Governance

From the late 18th century,Russia's influence in the North Caucasus increased.For the north Caucasus,a border region with extremely complex natural geographical environment and ethnic and religious distribution,the Tsarist government not only conquered and ruled by military means,but also made full use of the power of religious culture to consolidate its ruling base in the region and safeguard its own interests and security.As an important part of Russian official ideology and national thought,Orthodox Church became an effective means for tsarist government to govern the multi-ethnic frontier.This paper discusses the spread,development,functions and characteristics of The Russian Orthodox Church in the north Caucasus from multiple perspectives,in order to reveal the role and influence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the north Caucasus border governance.The czars of Russia were keen on expanding their territory.Under Catherine II,Russia defeated the Ottomans and gained coveted access to the Black Sea.Since then,Russia's influence in the Caucasus has increased dramatically.In the first half of the 19 th century,Russia won another war against the Ottoman Empire and Persia and soon took over the south Caucasus.However,Russia's annexation of the north Caucasus was extremely difficult.Beginning in 1817,Russia waged the Caucasus War to achieve the total annexation of the North Caucasus.The Caucasus war lasted nearly half a century until 1864,when it finally came to an end.During this long period of time,Murid thought based on Islam became the spiritual bond of Muslim mountain people to unite against the Russian army.As a result,religious issues have become an important factor for stability in the North Caucasus.In order to prevent the North Caucasus region from becoming a breeding ground for Islamic forces,the Orthodox Church shouldered an important mission entrusted by the Tsarist government in the north Caucasus frontier governance,and the church and clergy played an important role in maintaining the ruling order of the frontier.First of all,in the first half of the 19 th century,the Tsarist government realized the purpose of constructing Russian cultural space in the north Caucasus frontier by spreading Orthodoxy and establishing the church management system.Early Orthodox imports into the North Caucasus came from Cossack immigrants fleeing from Russia's interior.At the end of the 18 th century,the Tsarist government organized the Black Sea Cossacks to move into the Kuban River valley,after which the influence of the Russian official church in the North Caucasus gradually deepened.In 1844,the Caucasian diocese was established,which marked the formal establishment of the Russian church management system in the North Caucasus.With the continuous influx of Russian immigrants,the population of The Eastern Orthodox church in the North Caucasus has been increasing,and the construction of churches,parishes,monasteries and clergy has been increasingly perfect,which has consolidated the dominant position of the Eastern Orthodox Church in the region.Secondly,the Orthodox Church shoulders the task of popularizing education and improving the cultural level of the people.Parochial schools,civilian schools and clergymen play an important role in the development of education in the North Caucasus.In addition,the traditional social charity function of the church is extremely important in the North Caucasus,where the living environment is harsh and the war conflicts are frequent.It contributes to the disadvantaged groups such as the old,the young,the sick and the disabled and the war logistics work.Finally,the official Orthodox Church was a tool for the Tsarist government to contain heretical forces in the North Caucasus and assimilate the indigenous peoples there.The north Caucasus' s large number of old believers,sectarians and Muslim mountain natives are a thorn in the government's side.The North Caucasus Orthodox church and its clergy became the main force in the tsarist government's efforts to persuade heretics and assimilate the Muslim mountain people.In fact,this Russification policy proved difficult to achieve the goal of the Russian government to unify the cultural space,and not only had little effect,but also aroused the resistance of the indigenous mountain people.In general,although orthodox dissemination plays a prominent role in Russia's governance of the north Caucasus frontier,it is only a tool to maintain tsarist autocracy system and colonial rule.It does not fundamentally solve the root problem of conflicts in the North Caucasus,and as a result,it also leads to the worsening of ethnic and religious contradictions in the region.