“The importance of the exile place cannot be the main thing”: G.S. Batenkov on the state policy towards Siberia

The name of Gavriil Stepanovich Batenkov is usually associated with the Decembrist movement: indeed, while not formally a member of any of the secret societies, he nevertheless shared many of the beliefs of the “noble revolutionaries”, was initiated into their conspiracy and plans for the subsequent democratization of Russia. A native Siberian, G.S. Batenkov was born in Tobolsk in a large family of a retired senior officer, participated in the War with Napoleon, and was wounded several times. In 1815 he retired, and in 1816 he was enlisted as a lieutenant in the Corps of Transportation Engineers with an appointment to his hometown, where he soon headed the 10th Siberian railway district. The article is devoted to the historical views of G.S. Batenkov on the past of Siberia in the 17^th - 19^th centuries. Batenkov was not a professional historian, but, having been attracted by M.M. Speransky to draft the laws that became known as the “Siberian Institution”, he actively began studying the past of the vast region - the history of settlement and development of the territory, issues of self-government and culture of indigenous peoples, the results of the influence of “penal colonization” on the socio-economic and cultural development of the region. Being a supporter of constitutional monarchy and the abolition of serfdom in Russia, G.S. Batenkov sharply criticized the tyranny of officials, the disenfranchised status of peasants, and spoke out against the idea of Siberia as just a “place of exile” for criminals gathered here from all over the country. The Charter on Exiles and the Charter on Stages in Siberian Provinces prepared by him, as well as other documents of the “Siberian Institution”, are convincing proof not only of his high professional knowledge in the field of penitentiary theory and practice, but also, to no lesser extent, evidence of Batenkov's desire, as a true patriot of Siberia, to reduce the negative impact of penal servitude on the local population, and his desire to establish proper order in the organization of Siberian criminal exile.

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