SUMMARY

The present work of V.I. Sobolev «The History of Siberian Khanates» defended by him in 1994 as a doctoral thesis but not published because of the authors death is devoted to some way-out fields of the history of Western Siberia in XIV–XVI centuries. This period is extremely dimly lit in traditional historical sources (primarily, written sources). A researcher of the feudal epoch and partly that of the new time in Western Siberia is limited mainly by archaeological and few ethnographical and written evidence of the past.

V.I. Sobolev was perfectly aware of the fact that some sections of his work (he states it directly in the Introduction) are not backed by the necessary source base. This concerns first of all Chapter 2 Part II of the monograph. However, the authors viewpoint in this part of the work deserves rapt attention.

The monograph is preceded by a brief memorial section which includes an introduction to the monograph by academician V.I. Molodin and an article about VI. Sobolevs cooperation with his Omsk colleagues in archaeological – ethnographical studies.

The monograph consists of two parts. In the first part the author considers the history of Siberian khanates studies and analyses the main groups of sources on this problem. A thorough analyses of archaeological sources is placed there. This is the data obtained from about 200 monuments – settlements and burial grounds of XIV–XVI centuries AD, partially researched by V.I. Sobolev himself.

The second part of the monograph is analytical. The author uses the source analyses completed in chapters 2–3 of part I as a basis for the reconstruction of some aspects the vital activity of the population of Western Siberia in XIV–XVI centuries. He considered the basic economical activities (appropriating and producing ones) and trade relations of the population of Western Siberia in those times.

Chapter 2 of this part where the authors concept of the vision of socio-political and ethnocultural history of early state formations of Western Siberia is given an account of is more interesting and providing for discussion. V.I. Sobolev, resting on archaeological sources, widely uses written sources and ethnographical data.

In a certain respect, the monograph is a fact of historiography. It reflects the level reached by native Siberian studies by the 1970-80es. However, since 1994 (the year of V.I. Sobolevs doctoral thesis defense) no synthesizing works on the history of the region have appeared. That is why the present publication is interesting not only for the historians of science and historiographers, but also for archaeologists, ethnographers, etc.

Sobolev V.I. The History of Siberian Khanates (on archaeologic materials). – Novosibirsk, «Nauka», 2008. – P. 351. – (Ethnograrho-archaeological Complexes: Problems of Culture and Socium. V.10).