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Abstract. Based on the documents of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Russian Empire, kept at the Russian State Historical Archive in Saint Petersburg and introduced in scientific circulation for the first time, this article analyzes the sects which were widespread in the Don Cossack Host Region in the first third of the 20th century, as well as their localization and numerical composition. The topicality and novelty of the problem is based on the fact that, in the abovementioned period, sectarianism became widespread both in the Empire and in the Don Cossack Host Region, while the documental legacy of the Ministry of Home Affairs has never been a subject of research in relation to the Don region. The research allowed us to find out that, according to the calculations of the Central Committee of Statistics of the Ministry of Home Affairs, in 1912, the number of sectarians in the Don Cossack Host Region amounted to 0,13% of the total population of the region. Our analysis of the archival sources proved the fact that the materials collected by the Ministry of Home Affairs were not of any systematic character, but they allowed us to reveal some information on the spreading of the sects of Doukhobors, Molokans of the Don Persuasion, New Israel, Spiritual Christians, and Slaves of Christ across the Don Cossack Host Region in the early 20th century. Those sects began their formation outside the Don region, but their doctrine was adopted by a part of the Cossack population. The number of the members of each sect was quite small, considering the measures taken by the government of the Host against sectarianism before the beginning of the 20th century.
Keywords: Don Cossack Host Region, Ministry of Home Affairs of the Russian Empire, sectarianism, Doukhobors, Molokans of the Don Persuasion, New Israel sect, Spiritual Christians, Slaves of Christ.