SUMMARY:

The introduction of Russian medicine into the Kazakh steppe occurred in parallel with imperial expansion in the area. Spatially this entailed a steady move from the edges, where Russian forts were being built, to the inner parts of the Steppe; in its essence it was a process of gaining control and gradual absorption. Having begun with limited medical expertise made available to Kazakh nobles and attempts to train indigenous vaccinators in the early nineteenth century, by the close of the century the imperial authorities had grown strong enough to launch wide anti-plague campaigns during which literally everyone received a medical check-up.
This medical expansion was carried out by doctors in a close alliance with the state. This union, however, was far from being stable and unproblematic. Whereas the views and attitudes of the state (imperial administration on both central and local levels) and the doctors (who were imperial officials themselves) regarding the main aims of medical policies in the Steppe were quite similar, their immediate concerns related to practical issues could be very different which created a degree of conflict between them.
In the second half of the nineteenth century professional knowledge of doctors became a powerful tool which allowed them to speak in an authoritative voice widely in the press. Although it is difficult at this point to estimate the extent to which medical data actually influenced the imperial administration’s decision-making, it is clear that the doctors contributed to the expansion of the Empire not only through their medical practice in the Steppe but also through the construction of knowledge about the Kazakhs which sought to explain their physical selves and hygienic habits.