ABSTRACT
Chapter Eleven, “The politics of Qazaq deputations”, brings into discussion the new practice of sending delegations of Qazaq nobles to the imperial court in St Petersburg that was elaborated by Russian officials within the protectorate framework in the beginning of the nineteenth century. Rather than producing a civilizing impact on the nobles by imposing European culture on them, these trips came to be viewed by them as a gratifying act of power sharing by their Russian patrons. The symbolical aspect of the act manifested not only in ranks, medals and generous gifts, with which they were rewarded during their trips, but also in the largess, esteem and magnanimity with which Russian authorities arranged them.
