DEDICATED TO THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF VITALY NAUMKINThe article deals with the introduction of vassal monarchs in Russia in the XVII-XIX centuries. The central government constantly monitored the situation in the annexed lands and tried to prevent the dangerous strengthening of their rulers, deprived of full power. The figure of the vassal ruler was useful to the government as a symbol of the authorities ' tolerance for the ethnic traditions of peoples, demonstrative respect for their original life principles. The enthronement ceremony of a ruler dependent on the Russian tsar was an important part of Russian politics. It was designed to combine instilling the greatness and power of Russia in its subjects with demonstrating the emperor's favor for a new vassal appointee. When a ruler subject to Russia assumed office, the traditional ceremonial procedures adopted in dependent possessions were usually observed, and the highest authority only confirmed and approved (or did not approve) such an election or appointment. The origin of the ruler's powers both from the "election" of his people and from the will of the tsar turned the Moscow/St. Petersburg protégé into a conductor of the center's policy, into a tool for adapting his fellow tribesmen to Russian statehood. Keywords: ethnic policy, empire, khanate, protectorate, vassals, investiture, enthronement. Possessions with monarchical rule or with traditional sole leadership within Russia appeared, as a rule,during and as the territorial expansion of the state. These are the Junior and Middle Kazakh zhuzs, political formations of Siberia and the Caucasus headed by "princes" of various ranks and titles, the Little Russian Hetmanate (1654-1764), patronized by the Kartli Empire-the Kakheti Kingdom (1783-1801), the Bukhara Emirate (protectorate in 1873-1917), the Khiva Khanate (protectorate in 1868 Other quasi-state structures were the Kasimov Kingdom (mid-15th century - 1681), the Kalmyk Khanate (1664-1771), and the Bukeevsk ... Читать далее