“…The representative form of administration, grounded in collaboration with local Kazakh aristocracies13 -such as sultans, tt, u t i,14 elders and heads of kin groups (Bek-| hybrida | limeS makhanov, 1992, p. 31) -enabled some of them to attain high-ranking positions and privileges within the structure of imperial power (Walikhanov, 1904). Consequently, a phenomenon of rie uir -like (Gawrycki & Szeptycki, 2011) behaviour among the nomads emerged, marking the formation of a group of intercultural intermediaries who reaped material benefits from cooperation with the colonisers. This is exemplified in the organisation of legations, or so-called itvuoi, in peripheral capitals as mentioned by Zaleski in his article (Z O ho t nu, 1881, p. 79), or in the appointment of judges and "senior sultans" loyal to the government, about whom Januszkiewicz wrote in a letter to Zieliński.15 The exclusivity and elitism of Russian posts, reserved for a select few steppe deputies lured by "career opportunism" (Cywiński, 2013, p. 598), allowed the Empire to dictate interaction rules, which progressively assumed an authoritative tone.…”