The paper outlines the life and works of the prominent Russian orientalist and rightist conservative statesman Grigoryev, the founder of Europe's first department of Oriental history, the president of 3rd International Symposium of Orientalists (St. Petersburg 1876). Grigoryev was not only a world-renowned scholar but also a top imperial bureaucrat of colonial type. In 1854-1862 he virtually ruled “the Kyrghyz” (Kazakh) steppe. This article is an output of the research project ““Minority” vs “Majority” in the Historical and Cultural Continuum of Asia and Africa” implemented as part of the Basic Research Program at the Higher School of Economics (HSE).