Dalgat, Elmira M.
Izvestia SOIGSI. 2020. IIS 37 (76).

Abstract:
The article discusses the formation of the postal service in Dagestan and its role in the transmission
of urban culture to the Dagestan village in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. Postal and telegraph
communication appeared in Russia in the last third of the 19th century; at the same time, post offices
began to open in the Dagestan region. This was done with the aim of integrating the conquered
lands into the economic and cultural space of the empire. The question of the formation of the postal
service and its role in the transmission of urban culture to the Dagestan village is considered for the
first time in the historical literature. The problem is urgent, since one of the many measures taken
by the Russian government to accelerate the involvement of the peoples of the outskirts of the empire
in its economic and cultural space is being considered. Along with administrative, agrarian and
judicial reforms, the creation of the postal service contributed to the socio-economic and cultural
development of the region, the growth of contacts between the city and the countryside. The article
is mainly based on new archival material. These are reports of the heads of districts, also Reviews of
the Dagestan region, etc. It reveals the great work carried out by the authorities to build new roads
in Dagestan, improve postal routes, which contributed to the development of postal and telegraph
communication. It is noted that during the period under study, the movement of the population also
increases, the number of migrant workers who left the region for a long time is growing. Thanks to
the postal service, they were able to send money orders and parcels to their families. In the late XIX
– early XXth centuries the development of civil mail is taking place, the ratio of private and official
correspondence sent by mail is changing. The growth of literacy of the population, the appearance
in Dagestan of periodicals in Russian and Arabic, required an increase in postal exchange among
the population. Textbooks and literature, as well as metropolitan and Caucasian periodicals for
Dagestan subscribers, were sent by mail to libraries at educational institutions of the region. By
mail, wealthy Dagestanis subscribed to European-style furnishings for their homes. The mail was
gradually improved and became more accessible for Dagestanis.

Keywords: Dagestan region, post office, telegraph, roads, village, urban culture

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