semiagricultural at best tried to adapt to regions where the prevalence of
agriculture was relatively monocultural. Something of the same problem
seems to have emerged with Russian management of the mainly pastoral
Yakuts, whom officials nevertheless compelled to hunt sable.^99
In sum, there were, and are, practical pressures to make groups such as
the Warka“legible,”to use James Scott’s term for oversimplifications that
abbreviate human and ecological complexity to facilitate state control.^100
The Qing state oversimplified Warka agrarian practices to make diverse
basin peoples more legible for relocation. The resulting desertions, whose
precise extent remains unclear, were reportedly occurring“one after the
other”and affecting Ningguta’s security.^101 Although hardly“mass”in
the scale shown inTable 2 , these desertions, like those reported among
new Sibe and Dagur recruits in the 1690 s, reveal ongoing difficulties with
incorporating multiethnic New Manchus into a more uniform set of
arablist practices rooted in deforestation.^102
Some desertions were likely related to the precipitous implementation of
mobilization policies to rapidly deploy indigenous peoples at the expense of
time and resources they needed to adapt to Ningguta’s new conditions.
During their unit formation, some New Manchus complained that new
Table 3 (cont.)
(Clan)/Banner Companya
No. of
HouseholdsNo. of
MembersNo. of Adult
Males
Nendioken 22 236 43
Šulduha 25 247 49
Nikšan 27 283 54
(Gaijing’s Ujala)
Buku 31 377 74
Kabai 40 446 94
(Bayara)
Tahana 29 356 73
Tolonggo 17 172 42
Nadana 36 483 83
Total:c 45 1 , 196 13 , 518 2 , 768
Notes:aEach company is indented under its parenthesized clan.
bOne of these companies is probably a mistranscription of“Nona”(NFY 1 - 1676 : 117 ).
cTotals includefigures from parts of the Daidaha and Nohai companies, which appear
auxiliary and have been otherwise excluded from the table (cf. NFY KX 1 - 1676 : 115 – 20 ).
They amount to twenty-three men from twelve households containing eighty-eight members.
dTumju:company implicated in desertion attempts (NFY 2 - 1676 : 39 – 54 ).
eDundei*: company containing fugitive households (NFY 2 - 1676 : 225 – 29 ).