Baku Governorate
The Baku Governorate (pre-reform Russian: Бакінская губернія; Azerbaijani: Bakı quberniyası), known before 1859 as the Shemakha Governorate (pre-reform Russian: Шемахинская губернія; Azerbaijani: Şamaxı quberniyası), was one of the guberniyas of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its center in the booming metropolis and Caspian Sea port of Baku. Area (1897): 34,4000 sq. versts, population (1897): 789,659.[1] The Baku Governorate bordered Persia to the south, the Elisabethpol Governorate (previously the Tiflis and Erivan Governorates before 1868) to the west, the Dagestan Oblast to the north, and the Baku Gradonachalstvo (municipal province) to the east on the Absheron Peninsula.
Baku Governorate
Бакинская губернія | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
 Administrative map of the Baku Governorate | |
| Country | Russian Empire |
| Viceroyalty | Caucasus |
| Established | 1846 |
| Abolished | 1920 |
| Capital | Baku |
| Area | |
| • Total | 39,149 km2 (15,116 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 4,466 m (14,652 ft) |
| Population (1916) | |
| • Total | 875,746 |
| • Density | 22/km2 (58/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 8.28% |
| • Rural | 91.72% |
| History of Azerbaijan |
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 Azerbaijan portal |
History
The governorate was originally established in 1846 as the Shamakha Governorate, replacing what had been several military precincts. Following the catastrophic 1859 Shamakhi earthquake, the capital of the governorate was transferred from Shamakha (Shemakhi) to the fast-growing city of Baku, and on July 12, 1859, the governorate's name was changed accordingly. The coat of arms of the Baku Governorate was instituted on July 5, 1878. Initially, the Baku Governorate included the areas of the former khanates of Karabakh and Shaki until these areas were detached in 1868 to form part of the adjacent Elisabethpol Governorate.
The Baku Governorate upon the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was incorporated into the new state, and subsequently separated into a smaller Baku General-Governorate and a Lenkoran General-Governorate, the latter previously being the location of the Provisional Military Dictatorship of Mughan which lasted until the spring of 1919. The governorate was finally abolished in its entirety following the establishment of Soviet rule in Azerbaijan in 1920, however, its uezds continued to exist until their abolishment and administrative reorganisation into raions in 1929.
Administrative divisions
After the establishment of the Elisabethpol Governorate in 1868, the Baku Governorate had six uezds:[2]
- Baku Uyezd (Russian: Бакинский уезд)
- Geokchay Uyezd (Russian: Геокчайский уезд)
- Javad Uyezd (Russian: Джеватский уезд)
- Kuba Uyezd (Russian: Кубинский уезд)
- Lenkoran Uyezd (Russian: Ленкоранский уезд)
- Shamakhi Uyezd (Russian: Шемахинский уезд)
Demographics
Russian Imperial Census of 1897
According to the Russian Empire Census of 1897, the Black Sea Governorate had a population of 57,478, including 34,776 men and 22,702 women. The plurality of the population indicated Russian to be their mother tongue, with significant Ukrainian, Armenian, and Greek speaking minorities.[3]
| Native language | Baku | Geokchay | Javad | Kuba | Lenkoran | Shemakha | TOTAL | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Tatar[lower-alpha 1] | 63,415 | 34.67 | 92,962 | 78.98 | 84,054 | 93.35 | 70,150 | 38.28 | 84,725 | 64.68 | 89,840 | 73.73 | 485,146 | 58.68 |
| Tat | 34,503 | 18.86 | 3,995 | 3.39 | 0 | 0.00 | 46,430 | 25.34 | 74 | 0.06 | 4,517 | 3.71 | 89,519 | 10.83 |
| Russian | 43,893 | 24.00 | 2,458 | 2.09 | 4,009 | 4.45 | 2,516 | 1.37 | 9,481 | 7.24 | 11,275 | 9.25 | 73,632 | 8.91 |
| Armenian | 22,583 | 12.35 | 12,994 | 11.04 | 699 | 0.78 | 1,191 | 0.65 | 483 | 0.37 | 14,283 | 11.72 | 52,233 | 6.32 |
| Kyurin | 1,235 | 0.68 | 2,045 | 1.74 | 79 | 0.09 | 44,756 | 24.42 | 4 | 0.00 | 73 | 0.06 | 48,192 | 5.83 |
| Talysh | 3 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 34,991 | 26.71 | 0 | 0.00 | 34,994 | 4.23 |
| Kazi-Kumukh | 128 | 0.07 | 6 | 0.01 | 0 | 0.00 | 11,614 | 6.34 | 1 | 0.00 | 62 | 0.05 | 11,811 | 1.43 |
| Jewish | 2,034 | 1.11 | 847 | 0.72 | 8 | 0.01 | 3,972 | 2.17 | 207 | 0.16 | 1,104 | 0.91 | 8,172 | 0.99 |
| Persian | 4,774 | 2.61 | 265 | 0.23 | 147 | 0.16 | 549 | 0.30 | 89 | 0.07 | 149 | 0.12 | 5,973 | 0.72 |
| German | 3,204 | 1.75 | 14 | 0.01 | 29 | 0.03 | 38 | 0.02 | 132 | 0.10 | 13 | 0.01 | 3,430 | 0.41 |
| Ukrainian | 981 | 0.54 | 17 | 0.01 | 619 | 0.69 | 1,426 | 0.78 | 243 | 0.19 | 86 | 0.07 | 3,372 | 0.41 |
| Avar-Andean | 737 | 0.40 | 1,772 | 1.51 | 152 | 0.17 | 97 | 0.05 | 1 | 0.01 | 126 | 0.10 | 2,898 | 0.35 |
| Georgian | 1,127 | 0.62 | 235 | 0.20 | 122 | 0.14 | 66 | 0.04 | 17 | 0.01 | 49 | 0.04 | 1,616 | 0.20 |
| Polish | 982 | 0.54 | 27 | 0.02 | 60 | 0.07 | 64 | 0.03 | 205 | 0.16 | 101 | 0.08 | 1,439 | 0.17 |
| Turkish | 837 | 0.46 | 11 | 0.01 | 0 | 0.00 | 216 | 0.12 | 82 | 0.06 | 9 | 0.01 | 1,155 | 0.14 |
| Belarusian | 636 | 0.35 | 0 | 0.00 | 7 | 0.01 | 29 | 0.02 | 4 | 0.00 | 1 | 0.00 | 677 | 0.08 |
| Mordovian | 353 | 0.19 | 1 | 0.00 | 5 | 0.01 | 1 | 0.00 | 169 | 0.13 | 2 | 0.00 | 531 | 0.06 |
| Swedish | 345 | 0.19 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.00 | 347 | 0.04 |
| Greek | 249 | 0.14 | 12 | 0.01 | 7 | 0.01 | 0 | 0.00 | 9 | 0.01 | 1 | 0.00 | 278 | 0.03 |
| Lithuanian | 115 | 0.06 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 0.00 | 5 | 0.00 | 5 | 0.00 | 143 | 0.12 | 272 | 0.03 |
| Other | 763 | 0.42 | 44 | 0.04 | 42 | 0.05 | 122 | 0.07 | 50 | 0.04 | 8 | 0.01 | 1,029 | 0.12 |
| TOTAL | 182,897 | 100.00 | 117,705 | 100.00 | 90,043 | 100.00 | 183,242 | 100.00 | 130,987 | 100.00 | 121,842 | 100.00 | 826,716 | 100.00 |
Ethnic groups at the start of the 20th century
The ethnic group composition of the governorate changed considerably in the latter part of the 19th century. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were 214,700 inhabitants, amongst them, Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians - 76,3 thousand -> (35.5%), Azerbaijanis ("Caucasian Tatars" back then) - 46 thousand -> (21.4%), Armenians - 42 thousand -> (19.4%), Persians\Iranians - 25 thousand -> (11.7%), Jews - 9,7 thousand -> (4.5%), Georgians - 4 thousand -> (1, 9%), Germans - 3.3 thousand -> (1.5%), the Kazan Tatars - 2.3 thousand -> (1.1%).[5] Muslims generally lived in the historical centre of Baku (Old Baku), surrounded by the khan's castle in the west of the city. Armenians mostly lived in the industrial zone in the north of the city. During the construction of the new city centre, various ethnic groups started to move to different districts.[6]
Caucasian Calendar of 1917
The 1917 Caucasian Calendar which produced statistics of 1916 indicates 875,746 residents in the Baku Governorate, including 465,711 men and 410,035 women, 838,717 of whom were the permanent population, and 37,029 were temporary residents:[7]
| Uyezd (district) | Russians | Other Europeans | Georgians | Armenians | North Caucasians | Other Asian Nationalities | Jews | TOTAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orthodox | Sectarian | Christian | Shia Muslim | Sunni Muslim | |||||||
| Baku | 355 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 15,746 | 93 | 12 | 16,268 |
| 2.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 96.8% | 0.6% | 0.1% | 100.0% | |
| Geokchai | 975 | 2,321 | 3 | 0 | 17,207 | 153 | 0 | 48,681 | 63,943 | 815 | 134,098 |
| 0.7% | 1.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 12.8% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 36.3% | 47.7% | 0.6% | 100.0% | |
| Javad | 23,863 | 2,265 | 24 | 0 | 984 | 0 | 0 | 127,440 | 7,688 | 41 | 162,305 |
| 14.7% | 1.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 78.5% | 4.7% | 0.0% | 100.0% | |
| Kuba | 5,086 | 297 | 0 | 0 | 1,512 | 49,105 | 22 | 20,457 | 106,690 | 15,035 | 198,204 |
| 2.6% | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 24.8% | 0.0% | 10.3% | 53.8% | 7.6% | 100.0% | |
| Lenkoran | 7,813 | 10,267 | 56 | 0 | 836 | 0 | 0 | 176,962 | 7,168 | 217 | 203,319 |
| 3.8% | 5.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 87.0% | 3.5% | 0.1% | 100.0% | |
| Shemakha | 2,669 | 16,724 | 6 | 0 | 22,350 | 517 | 139 | 40,532 | 77,174 | 1,441 | 161,552 |
| 1.7% | 10.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 13.8% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 25.1% | 47.8% | 0.9% | 100.0% | |
| TOTAL | 40,761 | 31,874 | 89 | 30 | 42,921 | 49,775 | 161 | 429,818 | 262,756 | 17,561 | 875,746 |
| 4.7% | 3.6% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 4.9% | 5.7% | 0.0% | 49.1% | 30.0% | 2.0% | 100.0% | |
If combining the data of the Baku Governorate with the Baku Gradonachalstvo (municipal district), there would be 1,281,575 residents, including 701,603 men and 579,972 women, 1,012,206 of whom were the permanent population, and 269,369 were temporary residents.[7]
Governors
- Konstantin Tarkhanov-Mouravov, 1859–1863
- Mikhail Kolyubakin, 1863–1872
- Dmitry Staroselsky, 1872–1875
- Valery Pozen, 1875–1882
- Justin von Huebsch Grostal, 1882–1888
- Vladimir Rogge, 1888–1899
- Dmitry Odintsov, 1899–1904
- Mikhail Nakashidze, 1904–1905
- Andrei Fadeyev, 1905
- Vladimir Alyshevsky, 1905–1915
- Leo Potulov, 1916–1917[8]
Notes
- Later known as Azerbaijani.
References
- ЭСБЕ/Баку (in Russian). Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
- Кавказский календарь .... на 1913 год (in Russian). Tiflis: Office of the Viceroy of the Caucasus. 1913. pp. 271–317.
- "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
- "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей". www.demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
- Современный Азербайджан. // Новый Восток. 1926. № 4. С. 174
- Йорг Баберовски. (2004). Под ред. И. Герасимова (ed.). "Цивилизаторская миссия и национализм в Закавказье: 1828-1914 гг". Новая имперская история постсоветского пространства. Казань: New Imperial History: 322. ISBN 9785852470249.
- Кавказский календарь .... на 1917 год (in Russian). Tiflis: Office of the Viceroy of the Caucasus. 1917. pp. 349–352.
- Baku Lands Archived 2011-04-26 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 230.