XXXI Международный конгресс ИИСАА. 23–25 июня 2021 г. Т. 1

96 XXXI Международный Конгресс по источниковедению и историографии стран Азии и Африки СЕКЦИЯ III • SECTION III ИСТОЧНИКОВЕДЕНИЕ И ИСТОРИОГРАФИЯ ОСМАНСКОЙ ИМПЕРИИ И РЕСПУБЛИКАНСКОЙ ТУРЦИИ HISTORIOGRAPHY AND SOURCE STUDIES OF TURKEY Meskhidze Julietta (Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) RAS, Saint-Petersburg) Prince Grigory Shakhovskoy’s Diplomatic Mission to Istanbul (1759–1760): Peace in the Shadow of War Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (1709–1761)’s reign was marked by peaceful co-existence between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Mustafa III (1717–1774), designated Sultan from 1757, dispatched an ambassador to the Russian Imperial Court, who was granted an audience in Peterhof on June 28, 1758. In mid-December, Elizabeth appointed Prince Grigory Shakhovskoy (1706–1774) to head the Russian embassy in the Ottoman Porte. Historiographical coverage of this mission is quite limited. Thus, the handwritten document not published till now — Shakhovskoy’s “Journal of the Travel from Moscow to Constantinople” — is of particular value. Upon arrival in the “capital of the Sultan”, Shakhovskoy twice was invited to an official reception at Mustafa III’s palace, where through the exchange of credential letters he secured assurances of his host’s dedication to preserve the two countries’ “true propensity” and “eternal peace”. Curiously, while Shakhovskoy’s “Journal” details everyday life in Istanbul, it is silent on political matters such as his negotiations during the Seven Year’s War (1756–1763). Additionally, he withholds commentary on Turkish politics, and his personal impressions regarding the country’s true culture and customs. In addition to Shakhovskoy’s “Journal” are the “Letters” of another