Dynamics of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in 1871–1910.

Seleznev Andrey Valerievich ORCID: 0000-0002-8213-1746 PhD in History Senior Lecturer; Department of History and Political Science; Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education 'Krasnoyarsk State Agrarian University' Senior Lecturer; Department of History of Russia, World and Regional Civilizations; Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education 'Siberian Federal University' 6 Surikova str., block 34, Krasnoyarsk Territory, 660049, Russia seleznev.andrey.val@gmail.com Other publications by this author

Introduction.

Relevance of the research topic. The study of changes in demographic indicators of various social groups of the population is recognized by the modern scientific community as an urgent problem, the resolution of which makes it possible to identify the relationship between political, social and demographic factors of the development of various human communities. Such indicators as population dynamics, changes in the gender and age structure of various social groups, their share in the total population living within certain state-administrative and (or) geographical boundaries have a significant impact on the course of socio-historical processes. At the same time, these indicators are also a reflection of the results of targeted socio-political engineering of social processes.

The estate reform of the Cossack population of Irkutsk and Yenisei provinces, carried out in 1871, was aimed at changing the right position and reducing the number of this social community in Eastern Siberia. The social transformation of various groups inevitably generates the formation of new value attitudes that have a significant impact on the behavioral patterns of the bearers of these worldview patterns, including their demographic behavior. Of course, the social consequences of this historical process should and can be investigated through the prism of demographic indicators.

The degree and level of scientific development of the topic. The methodological basis for studying problematic issues of the mutual influence of social and demographic factors on the development of society during its social transformation was laid back in 1945 by the American demographer Frank Notstein ^[20]. The theory of demographic transition was reinterpreted in fundamental scientific research by Russian historical demographers A. G. Vishnevsky ^[5] and B. N. Mironov ^[12].

The socio-demographic problems of the development of the rural population of the Yenisei province at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries were analyzed from the perspective of the theory of demographic transition in the study of V. I. Fedorova ^[19]. Despite the fact that in her scientific article, the Yenisei Cossacks are recognized as the rural population, which was the bearer of a stereotypical model of demographic behavior of rural residents during this period, nevertheless, the main object of her scientific research was the peasantry, which made up the vast majority of the rural population of the province.

As a result of a socio-demographic analysis of the behavior of the rural population of the Yenisei province, V. I. Fedorova concludes that the Yenisei peasantry in the period from the abolition of serfdom to 1917 demonstrated a "demographic explosion" when population growth was ensured by exceeding the high birth rate over the high mortality rate. The two historical stages of demographic behavior of the rural population of the Yenisei province that she identified reflected only the degree of intensity of population growth associated, among other things, with the resettlement policy of the imperial government.

The monograph by G. F. Bykoni, devoted to the Cossacks of Eastern Siberia, touched upon certain class and demographic aspects of the life of the Yenisei Cossacks in the XVIII – early XIX century ^[4]. At the same time, the specifics of the historical sources used by the researcher (the staff of serving people and information about the replacement of full-time vacancies) allowed him to consider the dynamics of the exclusively male population of Eastern Siberia, which was in public service during the period under study.

Scientific research by G. I. Romanov ^[14], A. E. Bogutsky ^{[1; 2]}, M. G. Tarasov ^{[15; 16]} on the history of the Yenisei Cossacks touched upon the issues of historical demography only in the context of considering the issues of the official and socio-economic situation of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in the late XIX – early XX centuries. The problems of the mutual influence of social and demographic factors on the behavior of the Yenisei Cossacks did not become the main issues of their research.

Meanwhile, socio-demographic studies of other territorial groups of the Russian Cossacks have become the subject of research by E. V. Burda ^[3], A. I. Kortunov ^{[8; 9; 10; 11]}, N. N. Garunova and F. G. Gadzhieva ^[6], M. G. Tarasov ^{[17; 18]}.

An analysis of scientific publications on the socio-demographic aspect of the life of the Yenisei Cossacks in 1878-1906 showed a lack of research on this topic, including those based on the theory of demographic transition.

The relevance of the research topic and the need to consider the socio-demographic indicators of the state of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province at the turn of the 19th–20th century, when its social transformation took place after the next estate reform in 1871, require further scientific consideration of the relationship between social and demographic factors in the development of this social community.

Object and subject, chronological boundaries of research.

The object of our research is the Cossacks of the Yenisei province in 1878-1906.

The subject of the study is the change in the dynamics of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in 1871-1910 under the influence of the imperial socio-right policy towards the Yenisei Cossacks.

The chronological boundaries of the study are determined by two factors: organizational and legal and the availability of an array of data suitable for scientific analysis.

In 1871, the Regulation on the transformation of the Irkutsk and Yenisei Mounted Cossack regiments of May 19, 1871 (hereinafter referred to as the Regulation of 05/19/1871) abolished the Cossack regiment in the Yenisei province, most of the Cossacks were transferred to the estate status of peasant owners. In the same year, in accordance with the Regulations on the Cossacks of the Irkutsk and Yenisei provinces of July 2, 1871 (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations of 07/02/1871), the Krasnoyarsk Cossack Hundred was formed, which included only indigenous Cossacks, who were such until 1851. This chronological point became the lower boundary of a new historical period in the life of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province.

Further organizational and legal changes in the legal position of the Cossacks of the Yenisei province occurred only in 1904 and 1910, when the rules for the wartime deployment of the Krasnoyarsk Cossack Hundred to the Krasnoyarsk Cossack Division were established (Military Department Order No. 147 dated April 04, 1904 (hereinafter referred to as the Order dated 04.04.1904), the Regulations of the Military Council "On changing the procedure for serving military service by Cossacks of the Irkutsk and Yenisei provinces" (hereinafter referred to as the Regulation of 06/21/1910).

At the same time, statistical data available for research on the dynamics of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province at the turn of the 19th – early 20th century for various statistical groupings are contained in Reports on the Cossack population of the Yenisei province only for the period from 1878-1906.

Although the official statistics contained in the Surveys of the Yenisei Province and the Commemorative Books of the Yenisei Province go beyond these chronological boundaries, they are collected only according to one grouping of data (by estates as a whole). This significantly narrows the possibilities of analyzing the socio-demographic behavior of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province.

Based on these circumstances, we have outlined the chronological boundaries of our research.

The purpose and main objectives of the study.

The purpose of our study is to identify the dynamics of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in the period from 1871 to 1910 under the conditions of legal restrictions on the number of this estate of the Russian Empire within the province.

To achieve this goal, we solved the following tasks:

- to determine the quantitative and qualitative indicators characterizing the demographic behavior of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in 1871-1910.;

- to analyze the dynamics of socio-demographic indicators of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in the period under study;

- compare the socio-demographic indicators of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province with the corresponding indicators of the rural (peasant) estate in the territory of the Yenisei province.

Methods and materials.

The theoretical and methodological basis of this research is the principles of historical materialism and a systematic approach to the study of historical phenomena, the paradigm of the classical theory of demographic transition (the first demographic transition).

The conceptual basis of the theory of demographic transition is the identification of two historical phases and four successive periods of demographic behavior of the population.

The demographic explosion phase is characterized by the first and second stages of human population behavior.

At the first stage, the fertility and mortality rates are as high as possible relative to the subsequent stages, but the fertility rate is significantly higher than the mortality rate of the population, which ensures rapid population growth, and the percentage of the younger generation is more than half of the total population. At the second stage, there is a decrease in fertility and mortality rates, the mortality rate is minimal compared to the previous and subsequent stages, but the rate of decline in the fertility rate is higher than the rate of decline in the mortality rate, which leads to an aging population with a decrease in population growth.

The second phase of completing the demographic transition from high fertility and mortality rates to low fertility and mortality rates is characterized by the third and fourth stages of demographic behavior of the population.

At the third stage, the death rate increases and the birth rate decreases, however, the rate of decline is lower compared to the previous period. Reaching the upper limit of the third stage will be considered when the fertility and mortality rates are as close as possible to the indicator of the coefficient of simple reproduction of the population (2.1), while the fertility rate will be slightly higher than the coefficient of simple reproduction, and the mortality rate will be lower, i.e. demographic stabilization will occur – the absence of population growth.

At the fourth stage, the mortality rate will continue to grow, equal or exceed the birth rate. At this stage, the process of demographic stabilization ends, and the population decreases as it ages ^[13].

The author used both general scientific research methods and special historical research methods.

The general scientific method of analysis was used to select and study the bibliography and historical sources on the research topic. The factual material has been thoroughly analyzed, taking into account the chronology of events, their content and the need to obtain reliable information from available sources.

During our research, the following special historical research methods were used: periodization, historical-genetic, historical-systemic and historical-comparative. The periodization method was used to determine the chronological boundaries of the study. The historical and genetic method helped to identify patterns of changes in demographic indicators of the dynamics of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province. The historical and systematic method was applied to establish links between the legal, social and demographic factors of the development of the Yenisei Cossacks in the period under study. Using the historical and comparative method, common features and differences in the demographic behavior of the Yenisei Cossacks and related social groups - peasants and military living in the territory of the Yenisei province – were identified.

The study used the following sources containing statistical information, including on the state and movement of the population in the Yenisei province:

1. Report of the Yenisei Governor for 1878 // State Archive of the Irkutsk region (hereinafter – GAIO) Fund 24. Inventory of OTS. Case 739. Sheets 1-61. (hereinafter referred to as the En. Gubernia Report for 1878). URL: https://fromthepage.sfu-kras.ru/lib/otchyoty-gubernatorov-eniseyskoy-gubernii/report-1878/display/1042 (date of request: 04/14/2025).

2. Overview of the Yenisei province in 1882. The appendix to the comprehensive report. – Krasnoyarsk : Lip type. The Management Board, 1883. – ^[4], 37, ^[27] S. : Table (hereinafter – the Review for 1882).

3. Overview of the Yenisei province in 1896. The appendix to the comprehensive report. – Krasnoyarsk : Lip type. The Management Board, 1897. – ^[4], 40, ^[35] S. : Table (hereinafter – the review for 1896).

4. The commemorative book of the Yenisei province for 1863 / [comp. and ed. by order of the head of the Yenisei province, Major General Zamyatnin; ed. office work. En. lips. stat. com., ranks. special. commissioned by E. Mokrzhitsky]. St. Petersburg : In the printing house of Josaphat Ogrizko, 1863. ^[2], IV, 350 p., ^[1] L. ill. (hereinafter – A commemorative booklet for 1863).

5. Commemorative book of the Yenisei province for 1865 and 1866: The second commemorative book of the Yenisei Province for 1865 and 1866 / [comp. and ed. by order of the head of the Yenisei province, Major General Zamyatnin]. – St. Petersburg : In the printing house of K. Wulff, 1865. – XII, 344 p. (next is a commemorative booklet for 1865 and 1866).

6. Commemorative book of the Yenisei province for 1907 / comp. Edited by I. D. Secretary of the Yenisei. the province. stat. com. action. member of the committee N. V. Dobrokhotov. – Krasnoyarsk : Yenis. Gubern. tip., 1907. – ^[4], XII, 106, 80, 77, ^[1], 51, ^[11] C. (hereinafter referred to as the Memorial Book for 1907).

7. Report on the state of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in 1878. // State Archive of the Krasnoyarsk Territory (hereinafter – GAKK). Fund 31. Inventory 1. Case 7. Sheets 1-56. (hereinafter – the Report for 1878).

8. Report on the state of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in 1879. // GAKK. Fund 31. Inventory 1. Case 15. Sheets 1-84. (hereinafter referred to as the Report for 1879).

9. Report on the state of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in 1882. // GAKK. Fund 31. Inventory 1. Case 46. Sheets 1-109. (hereinafter – the Report for 1882).

10. Report on the state of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in 1885. // GAKK. Fund 31. Inventory 1. Case 79. Sheets 1-108. (hereinafter – the Report for 1885).

11. Report on the state of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in 1889. // GAKK. Fund 31. Inventory 1. Case 126. Sheets 1-80. (hereinafter – the Report for 1889).

12. Report on the state of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in 1893. // GAKK. Fund 31. Inventory 1. Case 160. Sheets 1-96. (hereinafter – the Report for 1893).

13. Report on the state of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in 1897. // GAKK. Fund 31. Inventory 1. Case 195. Sheets 1-116. (hereinafter referred to as the Report for 1897).

14. Report on the state of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in 1900. // GAKK. Fund 31. Inventory 1. Case 263. Sheets 1-83. (hereinafter – the Report for 1900).

15. Report on the state of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in 1904. // GAKK. Fund 31. Inventory 1. Case 230. Sheets 1-71. (hereinafter – the Report for 1904).

16. Report on the state of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in 1905. // GAKK. Fund 31. Inventory 1. Case 246. Sheets 1-66. (hereinafter – the Report for 1905).

17. The First General Population Census of the Russian Empire, 1897 : publication of the Central Statistical Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs / ed. [and with a preface] by N. A. Troinitsky. – [St. Petersburg.] : Type. book by V.P. Meshchersky. – Vol. LXXXIII : Yenisei province. 1904. – ^[4], X, 185 p. (hereinafter referred to as the Population Census, 1897).

During the analysis of these historical sources, it was established:

discrepancy of statistical data for the same time periods in published and unpublished statistical data for separate years;

a specific grouping of data on the Cossack population of the province (in published reports, the female population was grouped with male minors and retired military personnel, the male Cossack population was grouped in reports only by groups that reached the age threshold for different stages of service, etc.).

Due to the identified features of historical sources, either homogeneous data from one source or data from different sources were used for scientific analysis in establishing the internal consistency of heterogeneous information.

Results and discussions.

Dynamics of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province.

An analysis of the dynamics of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province (Table 1) showed that the 1871 reform of its estate status significantly reduced the number of this military estate. The decline of the Cossack population of the province under the influence of the administrative-right factor amounted to 8,011 people by 1878, or 63.2% compared to 1863. The Cossacks and their family members, who did not belong to the indigenous Cossacks, i.e. were not in the Cossack class (irregular troops) by 1851, were transferred to the peasant-owning class in accordance with the Regulations of 05/19/1871, which contributed to the growth of this category of population.

By 1905, the indigenous Cossack population, due to natural population growth, could only reduce the rate of decline of the Cossack population to 44.51% compared to 1863.

Table 1. Dynamics of the population of the Yenisei province as a whole, the Cossack and rural population of the province in 1863-1905.

Calculated according to: Report of the People's Republic of China for 1878; Review [by year] for 1882, 1896; Commemorative book [by year] for 1863, 1865 and 1866, 1907; Reports [by year] for 1878, 1882, 1897, 1905.

At the same time, it should be noted that in the period from 1878 to 1905, there was a decrease in the growth rate of the Cossack population.

Thus, in the five years from 1878 to 1882, the increase in the Cossack population of the Yenisei province amounted to 575 people, or 12.35% by the beginning of the period. From 1882 to 1896, i.e. in fifteen years, the increase in the Cossack population amounted to only 765 people, or 14.62% by 1882. This indicates that the average annual growth rate of the Cossack population fell from 2.4% (in 1878-1882) to 0.98% (in 1882-1896).

At the same time, in 1896-1905, the number of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province increased by 1,036 people in ten years, which led to a population increase of 17.28% by the beginning of the period, and the average annual growth rate of the Cossack population of the province during this period was 1.73%.

The average annual growth rate of the Cossack population for twenty-eight years (1878-1905) was 1.81%.

Over the twenty–four-year period (1882-1905), the average annual population growth rate in the Yenisei province as a whole was 2.6%, and the peasantry was 5.22%, while the Cossack population was only 1.4%.

The low growth rates of the Cossack population led to the fact that its share in the total number of inhabitants of the Yenisei province was constantly decreasing. If in 1863 the share of the Cossack population in the total number of inhabitants of the Yenisei province was 3.9%, then in 1882 it was 1.8%, and in 1905 it was 0.96%.

In connection with these facts, the question arises about the typical demographic behavior characteristic of the rural population in relation to the Cossack population of the Yenisei province after the reform of 1871. Despite the fact that most Cossacks and their family members lived in rural areas in villages and villages together with peasants, however, they did not show such a high population growth as the peasants.

At the same time, it should be taken into account that an important factor in the growth of the rural population of the Yenisei province was the migration of the population from the European part of Russia (exiles and migrants) ^{[19, pp. 480-481]}, which ensured high growth rates of the rural population, primarily those classified as peasants.

For the Cossacks of the Yenisei province, external migration was not a factor in the growth of their numbers due to the following reasons.

Firstly, imperial legislation at the end of the 19th century no longer provided for the possibility of expanding the number of the Cossack population by transferring representatives of other classes to this estate.

Secondly, in the Cossack environment itself, there was no motivation and the need to move from one regional-territorial group of Cossacks to another.

There is no information about the migration of the Cossack population from other regions of the Russian Empire in the reports on the state of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province. At the same time, according to the results of the 1897 census, 1,153 residents of the Yenisei province (806 men and 347 women), of whom 924 lived in the districts of the province, were natives of the Donskoy Army Region (Population Census, 1897, pp. 24-25). However, we cannot attribute them to the migration flow of the Cossack population, since there is no information about their class status at the time of resettlement or residence in the territory of the Yenisei province.

The indicators of the dynamics of the Cossack population in the Yenisei province in terms of administrative-territorial groups are very interesting (Table 2).

Table 2. Dynamics of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province by territorial groups in 1878-1904

*The data entered in the Report for the city of Kansk and its county was canceled by the compiler of the report, as mistakenly entered and related to the city of Achinsk and its district.

**The data for the Krasnoyarsk and Kansk districts are combined in the Report.

Compiled and calculated by: Reports [by year] for 1878, 1879, 1882, 1885, 1889, 1893, 1897, 1900, 1904 years .

In the period from 1878 to 1904, the decline of the Cossack population was recorded only in the Yenisei territorial group. The decrease in the number of the Cossack population over twenty-seven years by 2 people indicates the maximum approximation of the level of reproduction of the Cossack population to the coefficient of simple reproduction of the population, which is typical for the third stage of the demographic transition.

The largest increase in the Cossack population was recorded in 1878-1904 in the Achinsk territorial group – 223.3%. Such population growth rates have changed the share of the Cossack population living in Achinsk and its district (uyezd) in the total Cossack population of the Yenisei province. So, if in 1878 the share of Achinsk Cossacks in the total number of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province was 2.21%, then in 1904 it was 5.2%.

A significant growth rate of the Cossack population in the Yenisei province was recorded in the Kansk (105.0%) and Krasnoyarsk (86.31%) territorial groups.

In the city of Kansk and its district, the Cossack population increased by only 63 people in 1878-1904. However, with a small number of Cossacks living on the territory of the Kansk territorial group in 1878, such a small increase showed a high population growth rate, as a result of which the share of Kansk Cossacks in the total Cossack population of the Yenisei province increased from 1.29% in 1978 to 1.92% in 1904.

In the period from 1878 to 1904, the number of Cossacks of the Krasnoyarsk territorial group increased by 624 people. This led to a change in the share of Krasnoyarsk Cossacks in the total Cossack population of the Yenisei province from 15.5% in 1878 to 21% in 1904.

At the same time, in the Minusinsk territorial group, where the majority of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province lived, the population growth in 1878-1904 was only 842 people, or 23.31%.

Such growth rates of the Cossack population in Minusinsk and its district will lead to the fact that the share of Minusinsk Cossacks in the total Cossack population of the Yenisei province will decrease from 77.44% in 1878 to 69.44% in 1904.

An analysis of the growth of the Cossack population by territorial groups shows that there is no correlation between the growth rate of the Cossack population and the share of the available Cossack population in the territory of the respective administrative-territorial entities in the total number of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province and the population as a whole in the territory of a particular administrative-territorial entity. We can only talk about the dependence of the dynamics of the size of the share of the territorial groups of the Yenisei Cossacks on the recorded increase in the Cossack population.

This trend is directly opposite to the results of a study of the demographic behavior of the peasantry during this period, as researcher V. I. Fedorova points out ^{[19, p. 481]} that where the share of peasants in the population structure is higher, the population growth rate of the district is higher.

This circumstance may cast doubt on the claim that the demographic behavior of the Yenisei Cossacks was identical to the demographic behavior of the Yenisei peasantry due to their cohabitation in rural areas. However, the lack of influence of the number of Cossacks on population growth in the Yenisei province as a whole, as well as in cities and districts on its territory, is due to the small proportion of the Cossack population in the total population of the province and its administrative-territorial divisions.

The natural movement of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province.

An analysis of historical sources has shown that after 1896, detailed information about the natural movement of the Cossack population disappeared from Reports on the state of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province, as well as from published statistics. The available statistics after 1896 reflect only general changes in the Cossack population. This circumstance makes it possible to analyze the birth rate, mortality, and natural population growth rates only during the last quarter of the 19th century (Table 3).

In addition, the lack of grouping of the female Cossack population by age cohorts does not allow calculating the total fertility rate for the female Cossack population of fertile age, which leads to a decrease in this indicator, since the calculation takes into account the number of the entire female Cossack population.

Table 3. – Natural increase of the Cossack population in the Yenisei province in the last quarter of the 19th century.

Compiled and calculated by: Reports [by year] for 1878, 1885, 1897.

During the period under study, the number of births to Cossack families in the Yenisei province increased from 192 in 1878 to 345 in 1896. This trend can be traced, of course, also in the growth of total (calculated as the ratio of births to the total population per 1,000 people) and total (calculated as the ratio of births to the number of women per 1,000 people) fertility rates.

The total birth rate of the Cossack population of the province was 41.23 in 1878, 41.35 in 1885, and 57.53 in 1896. At the same time, there is a significant decrease in the total death rate from 29.63 in 1878 to 6.00 in 1896. This leads to a significant increase in the natural population growth rate from 11.60 in 1878 to 23.45 in 1885 and to 51.53 in 1896.

According to V. A. Zverev and V. I. Fedorova, in 1887-1889 the fertility rate among the rural population of the Yenisei province was 55.1 with a mortality rate of 39.1, in 1890-1892 – 52.1 and 36.6, respectively, and in 1893-1895 – 53.9 and 38.9. This led to a decrease in the value of the coefficient of natural growth of the rural population from 16.0 in 1887-1889 to 15.5 in 1890-1892 and to 15.0 in 1893-1895 ^{[7, p. 233; 19, p. 482]}.

Thus, the Cossack population, unlike the rest of the rural population of the Yenisei province in 1878-1896, showed a significant increase in natural population growth due to an increase in the birth rate while reducing the death rate. And this circumstance once again shows the differences in the demographic behavior of the Cossacks and the rural population in the Yenisei province.

If we consider the dynamics of the natural movement of the population by administrative-territorial groups, we will see a more contradictory picture.

Thus, in the north of the Yenisei province, in the Yenisei District and the Turukhansk Region (Table 4), a difficult demographic situation has developed.

Table 4. – Natural movement of the Cossack population in the north of the Yenisei province in the last quarter of the 19th century.

Compiled and calculated by: Reports [by year] for 1878, 1885.

In the Yenisei district, with a decrease in the population (from 159 people in 1878 to 136 people in 1885), there is still an almost two-fold increase in the birth rate (from 2 people to 5 people, respectively). At the same time, there is also an increase in mortality from 0 people in 1878 to 3 people in 1885. Interestingly, the fertility and mortality rates of the female group are significantly higher than those of the male group of the Cossack population.

At the same time, the fertility rate is growing faster among both male and female population groups than the mortality rate. This means that the decline in the Cossack population in the city of Yeniseisk and its district is most likely due to the processes of internal migration within the province, rather than a decrease in the natural population growth rate.

Unfortunately, there is not enough information to build a trend in the Turukhansk region, but we can state that in 1885 there was a zero birth rate, while 21 people died. With a total population of 119 people at the end of the year, the natural population growth rate shows a negative value of -176.47. The highest mortality rate is also observed in the female population group -359.49 (19 people) versus -30.30 (2 people) in the male population.

In the central part of the Yenisei province (Table 5), there is a simultaneous decrease in the birth rate and mortality, while the mortality rate decreased significantly faster than the birth rate, which led to an increase in the natural population growth rate from 8.3 in 1878 to 16.2 in 1885.

Table 5. – Natural movement of the Cossack population in the central part of the Yenisei province in the last quarter of the 19th century.

Compiled and calculated by: Reports [by year] for 1878, 1885.

In Krasnoyarsk and its district, in the period 1878-1885, an acceleration in the growth rate of the female Cossack population was recorded (the natural population growth rate increased from 10.96 to 30.25) against the background of a decrease in the growth rate of the male Cossack population (the natural population growth rate decreased from 5.59 to 5.45).

In the Kansk and Achinsk territorial groups, in the period from 1878 to 1885, there was a transition from a negative to a positive value of natural population growth.

Table 6. – Natural movement of the Cossack population in the eastern and western parts of the Yenisei province in the last quarter of the 19th century.

Compiled and calculated by: Reports [by year] for 1878, 1885.

So, if in 1878 no births were recorded in the Kansk and Achinsk districts, then 2 male Cossacks died in the Kansk district, and 1 male Cossack in the Achinsk district. In 1885, in the Kansk district, in the absence of births, there were no deaths among the Cossack population; in the Achinsk district, both one birth and one death among the female Cossack population were recorded. Therefore, with regard to the Cossack population of the western and eastern parts of the Yenisei province, we can talk about the stabilization of the natural population growth characteristic of the fourth stage of the demographic transition.

The increase in the Cossack population in the western and eastern parts of the Yenisei province was due to its internal migration.

The demographic indicators of the Cossack population living in the southern part of the Yenisei province are the closest to those of the province as a whole (Table 7). This is due to the fact that the share of the Cossack population of Minusinsk and its district was more than two thirds of the total number of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province.

Table 7. – Natural movement of the Cossack population in the southern part of the Yenisei province in the last quarter of the 19th century.

Compiled and calculated by: Reports [by year] for 1878, 1885.

The peculiarities of this territory include the fact that if among the female Cossack population in the period from 1878 to 1885 there was a general tendency for the province to increase the birth rate and decrease the death rate, then the male Cossack population is characterized by a decrease in both the birth rate and mortality rate.

Thus, among the female Cossack population of the Minusinsk district, the birth rate increased from 54.02 in 1878 to 86.29 in 1885, but the death rate decreased from 35.83 in 1878 to 18.00 in 1885. This led to an increase in the natural population growth rate among the female Cossack population from 18.19 in 1878 to 68.29 in 1885.

The male Cossack population of the Minusinsk district has the opposite tendency. In 1878, the birth rate for boys was 42.27, and in 1885 it dropped to 20.35. At the same time, the mortality rate, showing a decrease from 33.37 in 1878 to 20.35 in 1885, against the background of a decrease in the birth rate, ensured zero natural growth of the male Cossack population of the Minusinsk district in 1885.

The sex and age structure of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province.

The dynamics of the natural growth of the Cossack population was significantly influenced by the gender and age structure of this community. An analysis of the distribution of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province by gender (Table 8) shows that the number of Cossacks in 1878 (102.04 women per 100 men), in 1897 (100.51 women per 100 men), in 1904 (114.73 women per 100 men) exceeded the number of Cossacks. This is largely due to the higher birth rate of girls than boys in Cossack families, as well as the longer life expectancy of Cossacks.

Table 8. The ratio of men and women in the Cossack population of the Yenisei province

Compiled and calculated by: Reports [by year] for 1878, 1885, 1897, 1904.

At the same time, if we compare the proportion of men and women among the Cossack population of the Yenisei province by administrative-territorial districts, the demographic situation in each of them will be radically different.

In 1878, there were 123.94 women per 100 men in the city of Yeniseysk and its district (county), and 106.06 women in 1885. In 1897, the number of women dropped to 98.51 for every 100 men. However, in 1904, the proportion of women again became greater than the proportion of men in the total number of the Cossack population and amounted to 109.33 women per 100 men. Thus, in the Yenisei district, until 1897, there was a trend towards a decrease in the proportion of women in the total number of the Cossack population of this administrative-territorial area. After 1897, the trend changed, and the proportion of women in the total Cossack population became greater than the proportion of men.

In Krasnoyarsk and its district (uyezd), there is a trend towards a wave-like change in the proportion of women in the total number of the Cossack population. So, if in 1878 there were 365 women for 358 men (101.96 women for every 100 men), then in 1885 there were only 562 women for 734 men (76.57 women for every 100 men). In 1897, the share of women in the total number of the Cossack population increased again, 763 women accounted for 704 men (108.38 women for every 100 men), but by 1904, 673 women accounted for 674 men (99.85 women for every 100 men).

In the city of Kansk and its district (uyezd), the proportion of women has always been lower than the proportion of men in the total Cossack population of the Yenisei province. The number of women for every 100 men decreased from 76.47 in 1878 to 42.86 in 1885. Then there was a slight increase in the share of the female population in the total Cossack population from 92.54 in 1897 to 95.24 in 1904.

In the Achinsk district (Achinsk and its district) in the period 1878-1904, there was a trend towards a decrease in the proportion of the female population in the total number of Cossack population from 134.09 women for every 100 men in 1878 to 99.85 women for every 100 men in 1904.

In Minusinsk and its district (uyezd), there is a trend towards a gradual increase in the proportion of women in the total Cossack population of the Yenisei province. In 1878, there were 1,814 women per 1,798 men in the Minusinsk district (100.89 women per 100 men). In 1885, 1,769 men accounted for 1,889 women (106.78 women for every 100 men), compared with 1878, the proportion of women in the total Cossack population increased due to a decrease in the number of men and an increase in the number of women. In 1897, the proportion of women declined, reaching only 99.21 women for every 100 men. However, in 1904, there were already 2,454 women for every 2,000 men (122.7 women for every 100 men). Due to the fact that the majority of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province lived in the Minusinsk district, the demographic indicators of this administrative-territorial area formed a trend for the entire Yenisei province.

Once again, it can be stated that the demographic indicators of the dynamics of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province were opposite to the trends characteristic of the population of the Yenisei province in general and the rural population of the province in particular. Since the Yenisei province, as well as the whole of Siberia, was characterized by a steady predominance of men in the total population. In 1863, there were 90.2 women per 100 men in the province, and in 1897 – 90.7 ^{[19, p. 483]}.

In many ways, this specificity was due to the fact that in this period of time the Cossack population was no longer exposed to migration factors. In the 19th century, the Cossack estate in the Yenisei province was a closed, established, autochthonous group of the population.

While the rest of the population of the Yenisei province continued to be significantly influenced by the migration flows of migrants and exiles, which significantly increased the proportion of the male population in the total population of the province.

Certain problems arise in determining the specifics of the age structure of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in the period 1871-1910.

Official statistics, as we noted above, did not identify age cohorts for the female part of the Cossack population in general, classifying the entire female population, regardless of their age, into two social categories – Cossack wives and Cossack children of female generals, staff and chief officers, as well as lower ranks.

Age cohorts were also not directly identified in relation to the male population, but indirectly the following separate return cohorts can be identified, which were established by regulatory legal acts regulating Cossack service (table 9):

male minors under the age of 19 who have not reached the age of majority;

young males who have reached the age of 19 and are ready to undergo preparatory service;

Cossack employees from 20 to 42 years old;

retired Cossacks who have reached the age of 42 and retired. Cossacks of other ages who were retired due to injury or illness fell into the same category.;

as well as other categories of the male Cossack population (Cossacks of religious and commercial ranks) who did not have an age reference in official statistics.

Table 9. Distribution of the male Cossack population of the Yenisei province by age

Compiled and calculated according to: Reports [by year] for 1878, 1885, 1897, 1904.

The available data show a trend towards an increase in the number of male Cossack population from 2,305 in 1878 to 2,987 in 1904. At the same time, this increase was mainly due to two categories of the male Cossack population: minors under the age of 19 who had not reached the age of majority, and Cossacks who had reached the age limit of military service and retired.

Thus, the proportion of minors under the age of 19 who have not reached the age of a minor is increasing from 33.84% (780 people) from the total male Cossack population of the Yenisei province in 1878 to 44.59% (1,332 people) in 1904. This, of course, is the result of an increase in the birth rate and survival rate of children in the Cossack society.

A slight increase in the number of retired Cossacks from 26.90% (620 people) The increase in the total number of male Cossack population of the province in 1878 to 29.66% (886 people) in 1904 may indicate an increase in the life expectancy of men in the Cossack estate. However, due to the fact that this group included people who had not only reached the age limit for service (42 years), but also for other reasons (receiving injuries and mutilations that did not allow them to continue their service, granting vacations for more than a year to improve their health), there are certain difficulties in unambiguously interpreting the reasons for the increase in the proportion of the number of this group of the male Cossack population of the Yenisei province.

It should also be noted that the proportion of Cossacks serving in the military decreased from 34.88% (804 people) of the total male Cossack population of the Yenisei province in 1878 to 23.03% (688 people) in 1904. In our opinion, this trend is related not only to the process of "rejuvenation" of the Cossack population due to the growing number of children as a result of rising birth rates and the increase in the Cossack population, but also to the early transition of some men in the age cohort from 20 to 42 years old to the retired category.

Conclusion.

Summing up the results of the study of socio-demographic changes that took place among the Cossack population of the Yenisei province in 1871-1910, it should be noted the following.

The estate reform of 1871 significantly reduced the number of the Cossack population of the Yenisei province, which further significantly influenced the demographic indicators of its development.

The natural increase in the Cossack population in 1878-1904, although it significantly increased the number of the Cossack population (from 4,657 to 7,033 people, an increase of 50.02%), however, did not allow the number of the Cossack population of the province to reach the pre-Reform period (12,675 people in 1863). By 1905, the indigenous Cossack population due to natural population growth could only reduce the coefficient The Cossack population decreased to 44.51% compared to 1863.

The share of the Cossack population in the total population of the Yenisei province decreased from 1.15% in 1878 to 0.98% in 1905.

The Cossack population of the Yenisei province, as well as the rest of the rural population of the province, demonstrated demographic behavior characteristic of the first stage of the demographic transition – the demographic explosion phase. However, the reasons and nature of the growth of the Cossack population were different from those of the rural population of the Yenisei province.

If the number of rural population (peasantry) In the Yenisei province, during the study period, it grew due to an increase in the natural population growth rate resulting from an increase in the high birth rate outstripping the growth of the high death rate, while the increase in the natural population growth rate of the Cossack population of the province was due to an increase in the high birth rate while reducing the death rate.

During the period under study, the Cossack population of the Yenisei province was characterized by the predominance of the female population over the male population, while the population of the Yenisei province as a whole and the rural population (peasantry) in particular maintained the historically prevailing trend since the beginning of the development of Siberia male population over female.

During the period under study, the Cossacks of the Yenisei province represented a closed, autochthonous group of the population, whose number was not affected by the migration factor, while the increase in the rest of the population of the province was associated not only with natural population growth, but also with the migration of the population from the European part of Russia (migrants and exiles).

Conflict of interest: The author declares that there are no potential conflicts of interest regarding the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.