51 The Society for the Restoration of Orthodoxy(Dagestan), pointed out Ossetian missionary Vitalii Dizhaev, are “in-
different” to questions of doctrine and correct belief. “One of the
more influential Lezgin honestly told me,” he reported, “that in gen-
eral the Lezgin believe the salvation of the soul can take place
through either the Gospels or the Qur’an.”^83 But this problem only
made missionaries more unsure of their work. If the mountaineers
were indeed so eclectic and unconcerned about matters of doctrine,
how could missionaries be sure about the true state of the heart in the
matter of conversion?
The very practices of conversion on the frontier posed a similar di-
lemma. Christian conversion in the Middle Volga and Siberia in the
early modern period had usually occurred in exchange for clothes,
boots, flour, and temporary exemptions from taxation.^84 Eighteenth-
century baptisms in Siberia sometimes meant “being herded into riv-
ers at gunpoint.”^85 In such circumstances, could missionaries be sure
that the newly expressed Christian sentiment was genuine? Many
missionaries in the mountains were eager to report an enthusiastic re-
sponse back to Tbilisi. Georgian missionary Ioseb Vatsadze claimed
that the Svan expressed a “genuine desire” for Christian conversion,
and he proceeded to baptize the entire village of Tserimi. His prepa-
ratory instruction included a brief explanation of the Lord’s Prayer
and several Christian symbols and ten stories from the Gospel.^86
Abkhaz missionary Geromonakh Gona of the Mazukhsk parish in
Pitsunda (Abkhazia) was delighted that entire villages were appar-
ently eager for conversion. They asked him to let them know when he
was ready and they would “bring the chicken and the wine” for the
ceremony. “We ourselves now see,” the villagers explained, “that the
Christian faith is better than Islam, and to be a Christian is better than
being a Muslim. The Turks have deceived our Abkhazians who emi-
grated to Turkey, and they suffer there, while we, thanks to our dear
tsar and grand prince, live peacefully.”^87 Could small peoples caught
between powerful empires so easily be believed? Gabriel, the
(Georgian) episkop of Imeretia, did not think so, especially after a few
tense encounters with local elders on his own trip to the area. He con-
cluded that Gona had been “deceived” and was insufficiently “ac-
quainted with the character and customs of the Abkhaz.”^88
Sometimes cynical priests contributed to the confusion. Ossetian
Vitalii Dizhaev was disturbed by the work of a priest, left unnamed,
who advised villagers: “If you don’t want to be Christian, then just
find some smart lawyer, pay him well, and instruct him to get the au-
thorities to allow you to return to Islam.”^89
Undeterred by conservatives who were alarmed by the implica-
tions of sanctioning linguistic diversity in the polyglot empire, or