Baku Governorate Бакинская губерния (Russian) | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
 Administrative map of the Baku Governorate (1905–1917) | |
| Country | Russian Empire |
| Viceroyalty | Caucasus |
| Established | 1846 |
| Abolished | 1920 |
| Capital | Baku |
| Area | |
• Total | 37,948.97 km2 (14,652.18 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 4,466 m (14,652 ft) |
| Population (1916) | |
• Total | 875,746 |
| • Density | 23.0769/km2 (59.7690/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 8.28% |
| • Rural | 91.72% |
TheBaku Governorate,[a] known before 1859 as theShemakha Governorate,[b] was a province (guberniya) of theCaucasus Viceroyalty of theRussian Empire, with its center in the booming metropolis andCaspian Sea port ofBaku. Area (1897): 34,400 sq.versts, population (1897): 789,659.[2] The Baku Governorate borderedPersia to the south, theElizavetpol Governorate (theTiflis andErivan governorates before 1868) to the west, theDagestan Oblast to the north, and theBaku gradonachalstvo to the east on theAbsheron Peninsula.
The governorate was originally established in 1846 as the Shemakha Governorate, replacing what had been several military precincts. Following the catastrophic1859 Shamakhi earthquake, the capital of the governorate was transferred from Shamakha (Shamakhi) 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.[3] Initially, the Baku Governorate included the areas of the former khanates ofKarabakh andShaki until these areas were detached in 1868 to form part of the adjacentElizavetpol Governorate.
TheArmenians were dominant in the commerce of the Baku Governorate, as evidenced by them controlling 29% of enterprises in the province as opposed to theAzerbaijanis owning only 18%. Whilst Armenians enjoyed more favourable treatment under the Russian administration and produced oil tycoons such asAlexander Mantashev, Azerbaijanis made up most of the unskilled low-paid labor jobs and were virtually absent from the administration of the province despite their preponderance. In the early 20th century, Russian officialGrigory Golitsyn increased the number of Azerbaijanis in the administration and confiscated properties of theArmenian Apostolic Church, however, hisanti-Armenian policies (which provoked theArmenian–Tatar clashes) were later repealed in 1905 under the rule ofIllarion Vorontsov-Dashkov.[4]
Upon the establishment of theAzerbaijan Democratic Republic, the Baku Governorate was incorporated into the fledgling state and subsequently separated into a smallerBaku General-Governorate and aLenkoran General-Governorate, the latter being the location of theProvisional Military Dictatorship of Mughan which was suppressed in spring 1919. The governorate was eventually abolished in its entirety following the establishment ofSoviet rule in Azerbaijan in 1920, however, itsuezds ("counties") continued to exist until their administrative reorganization intoraions ("districts") in 1929–1930.
The counties (uezds) of the Baku Governorate in 1917 were as follows:[5][6]
| Name | Administrative centre | Population | Area | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1897[7] | 1916[8] | 1897 | 1916 | |||
| Baku uezd (Бакинский уезд) | Baku | 182,897 | 262,422 | 182,897 | 16,268 | 2,610.22square versts (2,970.59 km2; 1,146.95 mi2) |
| Geokchay uezd (Геокчайский уезд) | Geokchay (Goychay) | 2,201 | --- | 117,705 | 134,098 | 4,676.58square versts (5,322.24 km2; 2,054.93 mi2) |
| Javad uezd (Джеватский уезд) | Salyan | 11,787 | --- | 90,043 | 162,305 | 8,396.97square versts (9,556.27 km2; 3,689.70 mi2) |
| Kuba uezd (Кубинский уезд) | Kuba (Quba) | 15,363 | 26,956 | 183,242 | 198,204 | 6,308.61square versts (7,179.59 km2; 2,772.06 mi2) |
| Lenkoran uezd (Ленкоранский уезд) | Lenkoran (Lankaran) | 8,733 | --- | 130,987 | 203,319 | 4,726.88square versts (5,379.48 km2; 2,077.03 mi2) |
| Shemakha uezd (Шемахинский уезд) | Shemakha (Shamakhi) | 20,007 | 27,732 | 121,842 | 161,552 | 6,625.99square versts (7,540.79 km2; 2,911.51 mi2) |
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, among them,Russians,Ukrainians andBelarusians consisting of 76.3 thousand (35.5%), Tatars 46 thousand (21.4%),Armenians 42 thousand (19.4%),Persians 25 thousand (11.7%), Jews 9.7 thousand (4.5%),Georgians 4 thousand (1.9%),Germans 3.3 thousand (1.5%), and Kazan Tatars 2.3 thousand (1.1%).[9] 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.[10]
According to theRussian Empire Census, the Baku Governorate had a population of 826,716 on 28 January [O.S. 15 January] 1897, including 458,065 men and 368,651 women. The majority of the population indicated Tatar[c] to be their mother tongue, with significantTat,Russian,Armenian,Kyurin, andTalysh speaking minorities.[5]
| Language | Native speakers | % |
|---|---|---|
| Tatar[c] | 485,146 | 58.68 |
| Tat | 89,519 | 10.83 |
| Russian | 73,632 | 8.91 |
| Armenian | 52,233 | 6.32 |
| Kyurin | 48,192 | 5.83 |
| Talysh | 34,994 | 4.23 |
| Kazi-Kumukh | 11,811 | 1.43 |
| Jewish | 8,172 | 0.99 |
| Persian | 5,973 | 0.72 |
| German | 3,430 | 0.41 |
| Ukrainian | 3,372 | 0.41 |
| Avar-Andean | 2,898 | 0.35 |
| Georgian | 1,616 | 0.20 |
| Polish | 1,439 | 0.17 |
| Turkish | 1,155 | 0.14 |
| Belarusian | 677 | 0.08 |
| Mordovian | 531 | 0.06 |
| Swedish | 347 | 0.04 |
| Greek | 278 | 0.03 |
| Lithuanian | 272 | 0.03 |
| Other | 1,029 | 0.12 |
| TOTAL | 826,716 | 100.00 |
| Faith | Male | Female | Both | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | |||
| Muslim | 372,770 | 303,473 | 676,243 | 81.80 |
| Eastern Orthodox | 32,164 | 23,926 | 56,090 | 6.78 |
| Armenian Apostolic | 31,403 | 21,160 | 52,563 | 6.36 |
| Old Believer | 11,075 | 10,837 | 21,912 | 2.65 |
| Judaism | 6,599 | 6,154 | 12,753 | 1.54 |
| Lutheran | 1,911 | 1,869 | 3,780 | 0.46 |
| Roman Catholic | 1,574 | 644 | 2,218 | 0.27 |
| Baptist | 313 | 350 | 663 | 0.08 |
| Armenian Catholic | 96 | 109 | 205 | 0.02 |
| Reformed | 102 | 88 | 190 | 0.02 |
| Karaite | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0.00 |
| Anglican | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0.00 |
| Buddhist | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0.00 |
| Mennonite | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.00 |
| Other Christian denomination | 42 | 31 | 73 | 0.01 |
| Other non-Christian denomination | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0.00 |
| TOTAL | 458,065 | 368,651 | 826,716 | 100.00 |
According to the 1917 publication ofKavkazskiy kalendar, the Baku Governorate had a population of 875,746 on 14 January [O.S. 1 January] 1916, including 465,711 men and 410,035 women, 838,717 of whom were the permanent population, and 37,029 were temporary residents:[6]
| Nationality | Urban | Rural | TOTAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Shia Muslims[d] | 34,499 | 47.58 | 395,319 | 49.22 | 429,818 | 49.08 |
| Sunni Muslims[e] | 12,905 | 17.80 | 249,851 | 31.11 | 262,756 | 30.00 |
| Russians | 3,788 | 5.22 | 68,847 | 8.57 | 72,635 | 8.29 |
| North Caucasians | 631 | 0.87 | 49,144 | 6.12 | 49,775 | 5.68 |
| Armenians | 5,663 | 7.81 | 37,258 | 4.64 | 42,921 | 4.90 |
| Jews | 14,948 | 20.62 | 2,613 | 0.33 | 17,561 | 2.01 |
| Asiatic Christians | 22 | 0.03 | 139 | 0.02 | 161 | 0.02 |
| Other Europeans | 53 | 0.07 | 36 | 0.00 | 89 | 0.01 |
| Georgians | 0 | 0.00 | 30 | 0.00 | 30 | 0.00 |
| TOTAL | 72,509 | 100.00 | 803,237 | 100.00 | 875,746 | 100.00 |
باكو غوبیرنیاسنڭ غوبرناتوری تاینی سوویتنڭ کنیاز ناکاسیدزی.
Capital: Tiflis (Tbilisi) | |||||||||||||
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40°22′00″N49°50′07″E / 40.3667°N 49.8352°E /40.3667; 49.8352
