Bailiffs’ Offices in the North Caucasus in the Last Third of the 18^th — First Half of the 19^th Centuries: Evolution of Activity

Abstract

The article considers the evolution and suggests the periodization of the activities of local judicial and administrative control institutions in the North Caucasus in the last third of the 18th — first half of the 19th centuries on the example of bailiffs’ offices. Four stages are highlighted: 1) the establishment of the first private bailiff in Kabarda (1769) and the formation of the Main Caucasian bailiff’s office (1800); 2) its separation from the Main Kalmyk bailiff’s office structure (1801); 3) adoption of an Institution for the administration of the Caucasus region (1827); 4) reorganization of the Chechen bailiff (1852) and replacement of bailiffs by institutions of military popular administration (1858). The functions of the main and local bailiffs’ offices within the framework of the proposed periodization are considered. The features of administrative subordination of local and main bailiff offices and their staff structure are studied. Attention is drawn to the difficulties of organizing the activities of bailiffs’ offices related to their subordination, on the one hand, to the Board (Ministry) of Foreign Affairs, on the other — to the provincial or linear authorities. It is concluded that the proposed periodization allows to present the dynamics of the activity of the bailiffs in the North Caucasus in the last third of the 18th — first half of the 19th centuries as a complex phenomenon aimed at finding optimal forms of governance of the peoples included in the political and legal space of the Russian Empire.

Keywords

• bailiff offices
• private bailiff
• chief bailiff
• north caucasus
• russian empire
• administrative structure
• periodization