ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE BIYSK FORTRESS IN THE RUSSIAN COLONIZATION PROCESS IN THE ALTAI IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE XVIII CENTURY (TO THE 300TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ERECTION OF THE SECOND BIYSK STOCKADED TOWN

The article features the role of the Biysk Fortress in the Russian colonization process in the Altai reagion. The author revealed the place of the Fortress in the administrative and political process which took place in the Kuznetsk province and generally in the South of Western Siberia in the end of the XVII – the middle of the XVIII century. The research was based on unpublished documents from the funds of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts. The research involved various problems of the stockaded town, i.e. the number of soldiers in the garrison and its supply organization, the identity of its clerks and their relations with Kuznetsk commanders and staff officers of regular military groups. The article shows that some decisions and actions of the county authorities had a negative influence on the defensive capacity of the fortress. The author identified four stages in the Biysk Fortress history of the first half of the XVIII century and recognizes the  priority of the administrative and political development over the fortification building in the management discourse at the local level. The author also highlighted the combination of classical and hybrid strategies and the Biysk Fortress management practices. The given facts make it possible to take a fresh look at the mechanisms of the Russian colonization of the Altai and the southern regions of Western Siberia.