Russian Cadastral Surveys Before and After Peter the Great

Abstract

This paper examines the changes in the nature and purposes of Russian land and forest cadastres in the age of Peter the Great in order to illustrate the changes in Russian society and the priorities of state policy. The scientific basis of the Petrine cadastre had been borrowed from English mapmaking, but geography and cartography developed in a different social context. This resulted in the emergence of a 'resource' paradigm in Russian geographical practice, associated with the reforms carried out by the central power. This demonstrates the decisive role of the practical demands of the state for geography and cartographic development in Russia. Science and technology did not necessarily mean more freedom from Russians. The reforms allowed the state to control people more effectively. The emergence of the new cultural basis was merely the next step by which scientific and philosophical thought started to develop, enriched by ideas of the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution.