A Request for Provisions to Aid in the Pacification of the Nogay Tribes (Other (Not Listed) Sample)

Student’s Name Instructor Course Title Due Date A Request for Provisions to Aid in the Pacification of the Nogay Tribes Dear sir, it is with great trepidation that I write to you concerning a matter of some importance which I hope will not be burdensome to you and your esteemed office. I understand, of course, that the periphery is vast and that the needs are many. But acting as I do on behalf of the sovereign czar and charged with peacekeeping in this region, it is my unhappy task to act as liaison between those tribal peoples which live in these lands and the imperial core. I will be brief. I have a list of requests made to me by several clan leaders belonging to the Nogay tribe humbly requesting the forgiveness of taxes for one year, provisions in the form of food stuffs and other perishables. The impudence of such a request is no doubt already evident to your excellency. The reasons for these requests are complex and varied and I will attempt to relate them to the best of my ability. First, it should be understood that this particular tribe came under the benevolent hand of our sovereign czar with great trepidation. Some not unappreciable number of Nogay fell upon encountering the imperial rangers on campaign, but seeing that opposition to the empire was hopeless they submitted in the usual way. Being unlettered, these Nogay and leaders of other tribes within the Nogay confederation swore obedience using pictorial drawings representing their rightful domain, pledging not to move beyond its boundaries as have so many similar tribes (Kivelson 195). Being unaccustomed to this manner of living, it was only with great reluctance that the Nogay submitted to the Czar’s civilizing mission for them and agreed to give up their nomadic existence, though submit they did. In the time since the pledge of submission was signed, no Nogay of this tribe has reneged on its promise. I stress this point in particular since it demonstrates the loyalty of the Nogay. They have not carried out armed resistance or rebellion and have generally acted in good faith, loyally serving the Czar. The Nogay have contributed in the form of grain yields which are nearly equivalent to the iasak they were charged with producing (Kivelson 196). I stress that these facts must be understood in light of the impudent requests made by the Nogay under my personal charge. I should make clear that the Nogay I refer to here do not represent the whole of the people who bear that name. Rather, the Nogay operate as a loose confederation, and the tribal leaders with whom I am in personal contact represent only parts of the broader whole. The local toibuga, is in charge of the internal peacekeeping of only a small section of a much larger territory and it is with this man that I have direct communication, not the beg who represents the will of the broader confederation (Khodarkovsky 10). The Nogay are not kinsmen nor do they share a common language but are instead joined in common cause due to having a prior leader in common. Predictably, their alliance among the various groups is subject to change according to the whims of whatever local strongman holds sway. This means that internal rivalry and strife are at least as common as harmony, if not much more so. It is generally the policy of the imperial administration to remain above the fray when petty squabbles arise, and quite rightly so. The imperial purse is not boundless, and were every conflict to be resolved with force the empire would be overtaxed to an unimaginable degree. I know as well as anyone the limited resources which can be allocated for peacekeeping at the periphery, being an imperial official who must secure clothing, food, fodder for animals, ammunition, men and all the rest that a fighting force needs to maintain order. I realize that the very desperate need of resources has more than once shaped Moscow’s approach to the hinterlands, sometimes necessitating the use of paper money to ensure that resources continue to flow (LeDonne 2). I stress these points not because I believe you to be unaware of the problems we face. Rather, I wish to acknowledge the heavy burden which the administration undertakes in the name of our honorable and righteous czar as one of the many who feel its yoke. When I ask for money to be allocated to the Nogay it is only because I believe that this course of action will ultimately be more cost efficient in the long term. Fighting brought these tribes to heel, but paying them to remain the fold is certain to be cheaper in keeping them passive and manageable. Moreover, peace and order have always been the aim of the civilizing mission of which we are all a part (Kivelson 197-198). An armed rebellion is not in the interest of the capital, still less for those of garrisoned along the periphery, such as myself. And though the Nogay have not yet acted against the czar, this well may change in light of what more I have yet to recount. I spoke before of meeting with the local toibuga of the tribe. He came to me with complaints that his people were vulnerable to encroachment by the nearby Mangkits. I told him I knew of no such threat but that as a sign of good faith I would look into the matter. I sent a patrol of soldiers to survey the areas he mentioned. The captain reported to me after returning to camp that there was a scuffle. It seems that his men were threatened by a group of Mangkits as they huddled around a cooking fire. He told me that two or three of the Mangkits were killed in the resulting scuffle. I said that this was unfortunate but at least my toibuga might be satisfied. However, to my distress, the toibuga informed me that the two killed were not Mangkits but members of his own tribe. As you can well imagine, my rangers are unable to distinguish one local dialect from another, and the styles of dress that distinguish one group from another are likewise similar. Since these steppe peoples are difficult to sort out when they cannot be relied upon to remain rooted in place, it is easy to confuse friend with foe. In defense of my men, I wish to make clear that the populations here are typically unfriendly and the fear for their safety was entirely justified based on what information they had. As many officers in my position have readily admitted, the steppe peoples are treacherous and will fight with our servicemen on the slightest provocation, or because of no provocation at all (Kivelson 198). True, we possess the greater weapons, training and discipline. But spears and arrows can kill just as readily as muskets in the hands of a capable marksmen of which the steppe peoples have many among them (Khodarkovsky 17). Therefore, it was entirely right for my men to fire upon those who might very well have killed them instead. However, in light of the fact that those men who might have killed them were friends instead of enemies, it seems prudent to treat this matter delicately. The toibuga asks for blood money to appease the relatives of the dead tribesmen, as well as the forgiveness of the iasak for one year. I told him that this was quite impossible, since forgiveness of the iasak would mean depriving the capital of resources it is rightfully owed. This vast frontier has been pacified only at great expense and loss of life, and his majesty the czar deserves compensation for all that he has lost in ...