Senate adopted nominal decree of Peter I about establishment of governorates

On May 29 (June 9) 1719 the Governing Senate adopted a decree by Peter the Great “On Governorates’ division and appointment of their governors”.

The administrative and territorial reform, initiated by Peter the Great, aimed to streamline taxation, transfer some management functions from the central government to local authorities, and strengthen the vertical of power. This process began with the nominal decree of Peter I on December 18 (29), 1708, which divided Russia into eight large governorates: Moscow, Ingermanland (later renamed St. Petersburg), Arkhangelsk, Kiev, Smolensk, Kazan, Azov, and Siberia. Each governorate consisted of counties, which were formed in the 17th century and were headed by voivodes (later renamed commandants) in 1710. These governorates encompassed not only cities but also the surrounding territories.

The nominal decree of May 29 (June 9), 1719, aimed to divide up poorly managed vast territories into smaller units. All governorates, except for Astrakhan and Reval, were split into provinces. A total of 45 provinces were created. Governors-general led the most important governorates, while voivodes led the rest. Provinces were divided into districts. Zemstvo commissars, elected from local nobility, managed affairs in these districts. In 1727, districts were abolished, and the historically established county system was reinstated.

There were 11 provinces in the St. Petersburg governorate: St. Petersburg, Vyborg, Narva, Reval (later converted to a governorate), Velikiye Luki, Novgorod, Pskov, Tver, Yaroslavl, Uglich and Beloozero.

The Moscow governorate had 9 provinces: Moscow, Pereslavl-Ryazansk, Kostroma, Suzdalsk, Yur'ev-Polsky, Vladimir, Pereslavl-Zalesky, Tula, and Kaluga.

Kiev governorate was divided into four provinces: Belgorod, Sesk, Oryol, and Kiev.

Azov governorate is divided into five provinces: Voronezh, Yelts, Tambov, Shatsk, and Bakhmut.

Riga is divided into 2 provinces: Riga and Smolensk.

There were 4 provinces in the Arkhangelsk Governorate: Dvinskaya, Vologda, Ustyuzha and Galician.

There are 4 provinces in Kazan: Kazan, Sviyazhsk, Penza and Ufa.

Nizhny Novgorod included 3 provinces: Nizhny Novgorod, Samara and Alatyr.yr.yr.

All cities along the lower Volga, from Simbirsk to Astrakhan, belonged to the Astrakhan province.

In the Siberian Governorate, which is the largest in Russia, three provinces were allocated: Vyatka, Solikamsk, and 19 cities in Siberia, starting with Tobolsk and ending with Yakutsk. This indicated the incompleteness of the new reform for Siberia.

By a nominal decree dated May 29 (June 9), 1719, Prince Alexei Cherkasky was appointed governor of Siberia and was given the responsibility of overseeing all cities in the region. He was also tasked with dividing the province into three separate provinces. This assignment was partially fulfilled by Prince A. Cherkasky in 1720 when he submitted a draft to the Senate for the creation of the three provinces of Tobolsk, Yenisei, and Irkutsk.

In the process of allocating resources, the governor relied on the previous division of "Siberian cities" into categories, taking into account the active trade development with China and the growing importance of the Irkutsk province. Parts of the Yenisei and Lena regions were assigned to this province.

After finalizing his draft, the governor proposed to the Senate a year later to transfer Surgut county to the Tobolsk province and Krasnoyarsk to the Yenisei province. He explained this decision by the "closeness" of the distance between these cities. All of Prince A. Cherkassky's proposals were approved by the Senate in November 1724 when Prince M. Dolgorukov became governor.

The system of local government established under Peter I was generally preserved until the provincial reform of 1775 under Empress Catherine II.

Lit.: Алексей Михайлович Черкасский // Тобольский биографический словарь: словарь. Тобольск, 2003. С.140–141; Алексей Михайлович Черкасский (1719–1724) // Сибирские и тобольские губернаторы: исторические портреты, документы. Тюмень, 2000. С. 45–49; Гергилев Д. Н. Сибирь в системе административных преобразований Петра I // Вестник Сибирского юридического института МВД России. №4 (8).2010. С. 118–123; То же [Электронный ресурс]. Режим доступа: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/sibir-v-sisteme-administrativnyh-preobrazovaniy-petra-i/viewer; До царя далеко. На окраине великой империи (1708–1780) // Сибирские и тобольские губернаторы: исторические портреты, документы. Тюмень, 2000. С. 23–35; Конев А. Сибирская губерния: от указа до открытия // Град Тобольск. 2008. № 12. С. 12–13; Милюков П. Н. Государственное хозяйство России в первой половине XVIII столетия и реформы Петра Великого. М., 1984; Сибирские губернаторы // Град Тобольск. 2008. № 11. С. 18–19; Словцов П. А. История Сибири: от Ермака до Екатерины II / П. А. Словцов; вступ. ст. В. А. Зернов. М., 2006; Тархов С. А. Историческая эволюция административно-территориального и политического деления России // Регионализация и развитие России: географические процессы и проблемы. М., 2001. С. 191–213; То же [Электронный ресурс]. Режим доступа: http://www.demoscope.ru/weekly/2003/0101/analit04.php; Учреждение губерний // История. РФ. Главный исторический портал страны: [Электронный ресурс]. Режим доступа: https://histrf.ru/read/articles/uchriezhdieniie-ghubiernii-event.

 

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

 

Полное собрание законов Российской империи, с 1649 года. Т. 5: 1713–1719. СПб., 1830 (№ 3378 «О разделении Сибири на три провинции» (с. 700–701); № 3380 «Об устройстве Губерний и об определении в оные Правителей» (с. 708–709);

Public Administration // Peter I (1672–1725): [digital collection];

Богословский М. М. Областная реформа Петра Великого: провинция 1719–27 гг. М., 1902;

Реформы Петра I: сборник документов / сост. В. И. Лебедев. М., 1937;

Воинский Т. 310 лет Сибирской губернии // Тюменская правда. 2018. № 26, 5 июля. С. 20 (доступно в электронном читальном зале);

Administrative and territorial division // Territory of Russia: [digital collection].