Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2017 number

The article is devoted to the analysis of “Notes” handwritten by V.S. Khvostov, the first civil governor of Tomsk province, represented in 1806 to the Minister of Internal Affairs V.P. Kochubei. The document allowed judging about the most problematic areas of the newly formed Tomsk province in the early XIX century. A key problem formulated by Khvostov was the characteristics of the province northern regions: Turukhansk district and Narym. The author of the “Notes” emphasized important aspects that, in opinion, required a special attention, such as the management of these vast remote territories, supplying local people with food, deplorable state of northern towns, collecting tribute, life of Russian settlers. V.S. Khvostov had not only stated the existing problems but also proposed some measures to solve them. In particular, he believed that Narym should be removed to a more convenient place, and Turukhansk had to be abolished at all, attaching the territory under its jurisdiction to the Yeniseisk district. Such radical proposals were not implemented, however, the author’s view had influenced the state policy in this area in some ways - the series of governmental orders taken during a number of subsequent years were indirect evidences of it. There are some reasons to believe that V. Khvostov’s proposals were well known to M.M. Speransky, but the question of the impact of the Tomsk governor’s “Note” on the reforms of 1820s requires further investigation. Along with the issues considered in the paper V. Khvostov proposed initiatives to develop the region as well: establishing industry, arranging horse plants, development of sheep breeding, opening schools for Siberian native peoples, cessation of exile to Siberia, constructing channels to link Siberian rivers. As a whole the “Notes” text completes the previously known information about the development of Central Siberia northern areas, indicates the interest of both local and central authorities to the region. The appendix has a fragment of “Notes” concerning shifting Narym to a new location.