Description

In the 19th century, the Russian Orthodox Church turned its missionary focus to the area east of Lake Baikal. The church established several missions among the native peoples of the region, in part to support the government’s broader strategy of Russification in the outlying parts of the empire. This work on the spread of Christianity in Siberia opens with a brief description of the “opening of Siberia” by the Russians, beginning in 1581. It then describes the native peoples of Western Siberia, with a focus on their religious beliefs ...