"This book seeks to fill a sizeable gap in both Russian and Islamic studies by elaborating on the relationship between Russia and Islam. Its contention is that, historically, Russia developed special relations with the world of Islam which differ significantly from the relations between the West and Islam. The book is particularly concerned with non-official interactions between Muslims and Russians; these have been neglected by scholars who have tended to view them through the prism of official Russian policy towards Islam and Muslims."--BOOK JACKET.

Includes maps of: Middle and Lower Volga; Caucasus; Central Asia; Soviet Union.

1.Russia's Encounter with Islam (622-1480). Russia before Rus. Kievan Rus. The Mongol Period -- 2. Russia and its Muslim Neighbours: 1480-1881. The Russian Conquest of Genghizid Khanates. The Russian State's Assault on Islam. The Reigns of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. The Conquest of the Caucasus. The Conquest of Kazakhstan and Central Asia -- 3. Russia's Umma and Modernization at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century. The Great Reforms. Al-Usul al-Jadid. The Constitutional Period. The Impact of the First World War -- 4. Muslims under Soviet Rule: 1917-91. Muslims and the Russian Revolution. Stalinism and Islam. Muslims in the Great Patriotic War. Muslims in Late Soviet Society -- 5. Russia's Muslims after the Collapse of Communism.