Muslim Population in the Siberian Cities according to the Census of 1897

Abstract

Processes of urbanization and modernization created preconditions for qualitative changes in the demographic, social and professional structure of the cities, as well as for the formation of specific socio-professional groups. Meanwhile the active region development contributed to the individual ethno-confessional communities and diasporas formation and institutionalization in cities. The main authors’ task in to identify the ways of forming and the role of the Muslim community in the Siberian cities, based on the analysis of aggregated and nominative materials of the First General Census of the Russian Empire in 1897. The use of census lists makes for the specificity and novelty of the study. On the one hand, the data allow to obtain the most complete list of Muslim persons who were in the cities at the time of the census; on the other hand, it helps to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the demographic, social and occupational characteristics of the Muslim population. We present the socio-demographic characteristics of Muslims who lived in Siberia at the late 19th century including the map of the Muslims’ location in the counties, as well as their number and gender composition in the Siberian cities. The general portrait of the Muslim in the Siberian cities was shaped based on the aggregated data of the 1897 census. The information taken from the census lists made it possible to surmise on about the formation of the Muslim community in individual cities, and to characterize the Muslim society structure in the Tobolsk province cities. The article is intended for specialists-historians, ethnographers, social anthropologists and a wide range of readers.

Keywords

• moslimism
• islam
• the census 1897
• urban population
• foreigners
• tatars
• historical source
• historical database
• siberia
• russian empire