Imperial Reports of the Orenburg Military Governors of the 1830s in the Administrative Practice of the Russian Empire

Abstract. The article deals with imperial reports of the Orenburg military governors and their role in the construction of the administrative practice of the Russian Empire. Relevance of the topic is determined by the fact that reports of the major superiors of the Orenburg region has become an important channel of communication between the center and the regions, but have not been studied by historians. The chronological boundaries of the study includes the 1830s. During this period, compiling imperial reports became stable administrative practice. The source of the research includes the imperial reports of the Orenburg military governors preserved in the funds of the central archives, office-work materials, many of which are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The author concludes that the imperial reports of the Orenburg military governors reflected all the subjects of their jurisdiction: civil, military border management. Unlike the annual governors’ reports, they were “supra-departmental” character, represented a comprehensive view of the state of the Orenburg region with a clear fixation of its specifics and features. Therefore, the reports of the military governors played an important role in the construction of the regional government model.

Keywords: Russian Empire, Orenburg Territory, military governor, civil governor, imperial governor’s report, civil administration, military border administration.