A sloboda ( rus, слобода́, p=sləbɐˈda) was a kind of settlement in the history of the Old Russian regions

Povolzhye The Volga Region (russian: Поволжье, ''Povolzhye'', literally: "along the Volga") is a historical region in Russia that encompasses the drainage basin of the Volga River, the longest river in Europe, in central and southern European Russ ...

, Central Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. The name is derived from the early Slavic word for "

freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

" and may be loosely translated as "(tax-)free settlement"."Sloboda"
''

Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary The ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary'' (Russian: Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона, abbr. ЭСБЕ, tr. ; 35 volumes, small; 86 volumes, large) is a comprehensive multi-volume ...

'' (1890–1906) In modern Russia, the term is used to denote a type of a rural locality in

Kursk Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...

, Lipetsk, Nizhny Novgorod,

Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, p=ɐˈrʲɵl, lit. ''eagle''), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Fed ...

, Rostov, Ryazan,

Tula Tula may refer to: Geography Antarctica *Tula Mountains *Tula Point India *Tulā, a solar month in the traditional Indian calendar Iran * Tula, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province Italy * Tula, Sardinia, municipality (''comune'') in the pr ...

, and Voronezh Oblasts.

History

Often a ''sloboda'' was a colonization-type settlement in sparsely populated lands, particularly by

Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

in Cossack Hetmanate, see " Sloboda Ukraine". Initially, the settlers of such ''sloboda'' were freed from various taxes and levies for various reasons, hence the name. Freedom from taxes was an incentive for

colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

."Selitba" (Settlementing)
''

'' (1890–1906) By the first half of the 18th century, this privilege was abolished, and ''slobodas'' became ordinary villages, '' shtetls'', townlets, suburbs. Some ''slobodas'' were suburban settlements, right behind the city wall. Many of them were subsequently incorporated into cities, and the corresponding toponyms indicate their origin, such as Ogorodnaya Sloboda Lane, Moscow ( :ru:Переулок Огородная Слобода). The ''

'' relates that by the end of the 19th century a sloboda was a large village with more than one church, a marketplace, and '' volost'' administration, or a village-type settlement of industrial character, where the peasants have little involvement in agriculture. The term is preserved in names of various settlements and city quarters. Some settlements were named just thus: "Sloboda", "Slobodka" (diminutive form), "Slabodka", "Slobidka" (

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

). Similar settlements existed in Wallachia and Moldavia, called ''slobozie'' or ''slobozia''. The latter term is also the name of the capital city of Ialomița County in modern Romania, located in the historical region of Wallachia.

References

{{Reflist Types of populated places Cossack Hetmanate Geography of Russia Geography of Romania Geographic history of Ukraine

History

See also

References