Russian Orientalism: Asia in the Russian Mind from Peter the Great to the Emigration

Schimmelpenninck van der Oye's book can serve as a source of information about the little-known individuals whose labors enabled the Russian empire to be effective in its dealings with Asia in particular. The book details the biographies of men (many of them foreigners) who studied the languages of Siberia, Central Asia, and other territories, and who advised tsarist officials on how to proceed, while at the same time compiling dictionaries and writing descriptions of the lands they visited. The author's description of Catherine's and her companions' lodging in the palace of the khans in a triumphant way does not produce a reflection that this kind of rejoicing over the enemy's corpse and sleeping in his bed are remnants of the Mongol style of conquest that aimed not only to overcome but also to humiliate the victim.