The Caucasus Viceroyalty was a special administrative unit of the Russian Empire located in the Caucasus region, existing from 1801 to 1917 under the governance of various administrative offices. It included the present-day countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as the Russian republics of Adygea, Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia and North Ossetia–Alania and portions of Southern Russia and Turkey.

Russia conquered the Caucasus in the early 19th century, beginning with the annexation of the Georgian Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti and continuing with the Caucasian War and a series of conflicts against the Ottoman and Persian empires.

History

The first time Russian authority was established over the peoples of the Caucasus was after the Russian annexation of the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti (eastern Georgia) in 1801. General Karl Knorring was the first person to be assigned to govern the Caucasus territory, being officially titled as the Commander-in-Chief in Georgia and Governor-General of Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi). Under his successors, notably Prince Pavel Tsitsianov, General Aleksey Yermolov, Count Ivan Paskevich, and Prince Mikhail Vorontsov, Russian Transcaucasia expanded to encompass territories acquired in a series of wars with the Ottoman Empire, the Persian Empire, and local North Caucasian peoples. The scope of its jurisdiction eventually came to include what is now Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the North Caucasus, as well as parts of Northeastern Turkey (today the provinces of Artvin, Ardahan, Kars, and Iğdır).

Russia utilised a divide and rule strategy in the Caucasus, favouring local Christian groups (or, in the case of the Ossetians, converting them to Christianity) over Muslims. Georgians and Armenians were uniquely recognised as "culturally advanced" due to their Christian faith and often collaborated with the colonial administration in the South Caucasus, while Muslim Azerbaijanis were designated as "culturally backward" and did so less frequently. The Ossetians, who adhered to a melange of beliefs including Christian, Islamic and pagan traditions prior to Russian colonisation, were conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army, separating them from other ethnic groups in the North Caucasus. The Russian government also used Arabic as the official language of colonial administration in the North Caucasus following the defeat of Imam Shamil's Caucasian Imamate; at the time, Arabic was the lingua franca of the region's Muslim population.

Headquartered at Tiflis, the viceroys acted as de facto ambassadors to neighboring countries, commanders in chief of the armed forces, and the supreme civil authority, mostly responsible only to the Tsar. From 3 February 1845 to 23 January 1882, the viceregal authority was supervised by the Caucasus Committee as the Caucasus Krai, which consisted of representatives of the State Council and the ministries of Finances, State Domains, Justice, and Interior, as well as of members of special committees. After the 1917 February Revolution, which dispossessed Tsar Nicholas II of the Russian crown, the Viceroyalty of the Caucasus was abolished by the Russian Provisional Government on 18 March 1917, and all authority, except in the zone of the active army, was entrusted to the civil administrative body called the Special Transcaucasian Committee or Ozakom (short for Osobyy Zakavkazskiy Komitet, Особый Закавказский Комитет).

Administrative divisions Over more than a century of Russian rule in the Caucasus, the structure of the viceroyalty underwent a number of changes, with the addition or removal of administrative positions and redrawing of provincial divisions. Hambaryan, Azat S. (1981). "Հայաստանի սոցիալ-տնտեսական և քաղաքական դրությունը 1870-1900 թթ." [Armenia's social-economic and political situation, 1870–1900] in Hay Zhoghovrdi Patmut'yun [History of the Armenian People], ed. Tsatur Aghayan et al. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, vol. 6, pp. 15–17. In 1917, there were six guberniyas ("governorates"), five oblasts ("regions"), two special administrative okrugs ("districts"), and a gradonachalstvo ("municipal district") within the Caucasus Viceroyalty: ProvinceTypeRussian nameCapitalPopulationSize (km2)Location18971916BakuGovernorateБакинская губерніяBaku826,716875,74637,948.97BakuGradonachalstvoБакинское градоначальствоBaku405,8291,059.76BatumOblastБатумская областьBatum (Batumi)122,8116,975.65DagestanOblastДагестанская областьTemir-Khan-Shura (Buynaksk)571,154713,34229,709.63ElizavetpolGovernorateЕлисаветпольская губерніяYelisavetpol (Ganja)878,4151,275,13144,296.15ZakatalOkrugЗакатальскій округъZakataly (Zaqatala)92,6083,985.77KarsOblastКарсская областьKars290,654364,21418,739.50KubanOblastКубанская областьYekaterinodar (Krasnodar)1,918,8813,022,68394,783.07KutaisiGovernorateКутаисская губерніяKutais (Kutaisi)1,058,2411,034,46819,956.06SukhumiOkrugСухумскій отдѣльный округъSukhum (Sukhumi)209,6716,591.42TerekOblastТерская областьVladikavkaz933,9361,377,92372,443.86TiflisGovernorateТифлисская губерніяTiflis (Tbilisi)1,051,0321,473,30840,861.03Black SeaGovernorateЧерноморская губерніяNovorossiysk57,478178,3066,675.68ErivanGovernorateЭриванская губерніяErivan (Yerevan)829,5561,120,24226,397.11Caucasus Viceroyalty8,416,06312,266,282410,423.66

Demographics

Kavkazskiy kalendar According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Caucasus Viceroyalty had a population of 12,266,282 on , including 6,442,684 men and 5,823,598 women, 9,728,750 of whom were the permanent population, and 2,537,532 were temporary residents: NationalityUrbanRuralTOTALNumber%Number%Number%Russians757,90838.683,262,35931.654,020,26732.77Armenians518,16426.451,341,49913.021,859,66315.16Georgians163,4828.341,628,12815.801,791,61014.61North Caucasians48,7222.491,469,78314.261,518,50512.38Shia Muslims221,99611.331,287,49512.491,509,49112.31Sunni Muslims82,3844.20862,0648.36944,4487.70Asiatic Christians38,0961.94170,8271.66208,9231.70Other Europeans52,0002.6587,6230.85139,6231.14Kurds3,3310.1793,7610.9197,0920.79Jews66,2603.3826,8780.2693,1380.76Roma1,8550.0940,7850.4042,6400.35Yazidis5,1170.2635,7650.3540,8820.33TOTAL1,959,315100.0010,306,967100.0012,266,282100.00

Largest cities +NamePopulationGovernorateCountry189719161Tiflis (Tbilisi)159,600346,766Tiflis Governorate2Baku 111,900262,422Baku gradonachalstvo3Ekaterinodar (Krasnodar)65,600 103,624Kuban Oblast4Vladikavkaz48,84373,243Terek Oblast, 5Yeysk35,446 44,765Kuban Oblast6Maykop33,276 54,762Kuban Oblast, 7Yelisavetpol (Ganja)33,02257,731Yelisavetpol Governorate8Kutais (Kutaisi)32,49258,151Kutais Governorate9Alexandropol (Gyumri)30,73551,874Erivan Governorate10Erivan (Yerevan)28,91051,286Erivan Governorate11Batum (Batumi)26,41720,020Kutais Governorate12Shusha25,65643,869Yelizavetpol Governorate13Kars20,89130,514Kars Governorate14Nukha (Shaki)24,73452,243Yelizavetpol Governorate15Shemakha (Shamakhi)20,00727,732Baku Governorate

High commissioners and viceroys of the Caucasus

Karl Heinrich von Knorring 1801–1802 Pavel Tsitsianov 1802–1806 Ivan Gudovich 1806–1809 Alexander Tormasov 1809–1811 Philip Paulucci 1811–1812 Nikolay Rtishchev 1812–1816 Aleksey Yermolov 1816–1827 Ivan Paskevich 1827–1831 Gregor von Rosen 1831–1838 Yevgeny Golovin 1838–1842 Aleksandr Neidgardt 1842–1844 Mikhail Vorontsov 1844–1854 Nikolay Muravyov-Karsky 1854–1856 Aleksandr Baryatinsky 1856–1862 Grigol Orbeliani (acting) 1862 Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich 1862–1882 Aleksandr Dondukov-Korsakov 1882–1890 Sergei Sheremetyev 1890–1896 Grigory Golitsyn 1896–1904 Yakov Malama (acting) 1904 Illarion Vorontsov-Dashkov 1904–1916 Grand Duke Nikolay Nikolayevich 1916–1917

Notes

References

Bibliography

Further reading

See also

Caucasus Viceroyalty (1785–1796)