The land ownership, the general land survey and the Russian colonization of the Crimea in the late eighteen and the first half of the nineteenth centuries

Estudios Geograficos. 2023.

Platonova N.

the initial stage of the Russian colonization of Crimea was about settling and allotting of lands to incoming people for agriculture and other projects. The distribution of lands was extensive but had not been well managed. The confusion of ownership rights and the lack of demarcation of the property boundaries caused frequent conflicts. In the present paper, we examine how the Russian imperial authority tried to remedy this situation. As we explain below, it did not initially aspire to use coercion. Its approach was, on the one hand, reviewing the land rights of the inhabitants of Crimea, on the other hand, sending special commissions and land surveyors on the spot to investigate land conflicts and to demarcate both the state- and privately owned lands. We argue that their activity was beneficial, which contributed to ease the social climate in the region. Moreover, the Crimean land tenure was formalized and redefined under the law of the Russian Empire and its economic interests.

Keywords: экономическая история России 18 - первой половины 19 веков, social and economic history of Russia, Экономическая история Крыма в имперский период, Economic history of Crimea during the imperial period