THE ALTAI COSSACKS IN THE 18TH – EARLY 20TH CENTURIES

This article provides a brief history of the Altai Cossacks in the 18th–20th centuries and describes the main demographic, ethnic, religious, social, and economic characteristics of the local group of the military class that emerged in Western Siberia on the southern frontier of Russia and played an important role in the social and political history of the state.