ОТДЕЛ КАК ОСОБАЯ АДМИНИСТРАТИВНО-ТЕРРИТОРИАЛЬНАЯ ЕДИНИЦА НА ОКРАИНАХ РОССИЙСКОЙ ИМПЕРИИ: КАВКАЗ И ЦЕНТРАЛЬНАЯ АЗИЯ

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of otdel (division) as an extraordinary administrative-territorial unit of the Russian Empire. On the example of the Sukhumi, Transcaspian, Amudarya and Namangan otdels, it considers the history of their emergence and administrative structure. The named otdels were part of the Caucasus Viceroyalty (Transcaucasian Krai) and the Turkestan Governor-Generalship. The study is based on the published legislative acts, as well as act and office documents from the Russian State Historical Archive and the National Archive of Uzbekistan. The carried out comparative analysis allows typifying otdel as an institution that came into existence on the national periphery of the state, it was equated in the status to the governorate, but smaller in area and population. They were established on the newly conquered lands with a population capable of actively opposing the Russian authorities. A system of military-and-civic administration was introduced in otdels, it assumed the combination of military and civil power at all levels and the preservation of the traditional self-government of the indigenous population and the court to a large extent. The Sukhumi Military Otdel was transformed into a district (okrug) and existed until 1918. The Transcaspian Military Otdel in 1881 was transformed into the Transcaspian Oblast. The Amudarya Otdel in 1887 became part of the Syr-Darya Oblast and existed until 1920. The Namangan Otdel did not function as an independent administrative-territorial unit. It became an uezd of the Fergana Oblast formed in 1876.