The Tiflis Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

with its administrative center in Tiflis (present-day

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

). In 1897, it constituted 44,607 sq. kilometres in area and had a population of 1,051,032 inhabitants.Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedia
Tiflis Governorate
The Tiflis Governorate bordered the Elizavetpol Governorate to the southeast, the

Erivan Governorate The Erivan Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its centеr in Erivan (present-day Yerevan). Its area was 27,830 sq. kilometеrs, roughly corresponding to what is now most of central ...

to the south, the

Kars Oblast The Kars Oblast was a province ('' oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire between 1878 and 1917. Its capital was the city of Kars, presently in Turkey. The ''oblast'' bordered the Ottoman Empire to the west, the Batum Obla ...

to the southwest, the

Batum Oblast Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of th ...

to the west, the

Kutaisi Governorate The Kutaisi or Kutais Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of western Georgia throughout most of its existence, and most of the Artvin Province (except th ...

to the northwest, the

Terek Oblast The Terek Oblast was a province ('' oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, roughly corresponding to the central part of Russia's North Caucasian Federal District. Тhe ''оblast'' was created out of the former territories of ...

to the north, the

Dagestan Oblast The Dagestan Oblast was a province ('' oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of present-day southeastern Dagestan within the Russian Federation. The Dagestan Oblast was created in 1860 out o ...

to the northeast, and after 1905, the Zakatal Okrug to the east. The governorate covered areas of central and southeastern

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, the

partially recognised Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral declarative political act of a state that acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state (may be also a recognized state). Recognition can be accorde ...

state of

South Ossetia South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated populat ...

, most of the Lori Province of

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

, small parts of northwestern

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

, and a minuscule southern part of Ingushetia within

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

History

Tiflis Governorate was established in 1846 along with the Kutaisi Governorate, after the dissolution of the

Georgia-Imeretia Governorate The Georgia-Imeretia Governorate (russian: Грузино-Имеретинская губерния) was a short-lived governorate (''guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, administered from Tiflis (Tbilisi). Roughly cor ...

. It was initially formed from ''

uezds An uezd (also spelled uyezd; rus, уе́зд, p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context ( uk, повіт), or Kreis in Baltic-German context, was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Russian Empire, and the e ...

'' of

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

, Gori,

Telavi Telavi ( ka, თელავი ) is the main city and administrative center of Georgia's eastern province of Kakheti. Its population consists of some 19,629 inhabitants (as of the year 2014). The city is located on the foothills of the Tsiv-Gombo ...

, Signakh,

Elizavetpol Ganja (; az, Gəncə ) is Azerbaijan's third largest city, with a population of around 335,600.Azərbaycan Respublikası. — 2. Azərbaycan Respublikasının iqtisadi və inzibati rayonları. — 2.4. Azərbaycan Respublikasının iqtisadi və ...

Erivan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

, Nakhichevan and

Alexandropol Gyumri ( hy, Գյումրի, ) is an urban municipal community and the second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th century, when the city w ...

and the ''

okrugs An ''okrug, ; russian: о́круг, ókrug; sr, округ, okrug, ; uk, о́круг, о́kruh; be, акруга, akruha; pl, okręg; ab, оқрҿс; mhr, йырвел, '' is a type of administrative division in some Slavic states. The ...

'' of Zakatal, Ossetian and Tushino-Pshavo-Khevsurian. In 1849, ''uezds'' of Erivan, Nakhichevan and Alexandropol were attached to

. In 1859, the Ossetian Okrug became part of Gori district and Tushino-Pshavo-Khevsurian Okrug was renamed to Tionety Okrug. In 1867, the northern part of Tiflis uezd was separated into the

Dusheti uezd The Dusheti uezd was a county (''uezd'') of the Tiflis Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, and then of Democratic Republic of Georgia, with its administrative center in Dushet (present-day Dusheti).Brockhaus and Efron En ...

, while Akhaltsikhe uezd which was created after ceding from

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in 1829, was detached from Kutaisi Governorate and part of Tiflis one. In 1868 Elizavetpol uezd (in the same decree, the

Kazakh uezd The Kazakh uezd was a county (''uezd'') of the Elizavetpol Governorate of the Russian Empire and later of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic with its center in Kazakh (present-day Qazax) from 1868 until its formal abolition in 1929 by the Soviet a ...

was formed from it) became a part of the Elizavetpol Governorate. In 1874, the southern part of Akhaltsikhe uezd became the

Akhalkalaki uezd The Akhalkalaki uezd was a county (''uezd'') of the Tiflis Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, and then of Democratic Republic of Georgia, with its administrative center in Akhalkalak (present-day Akhalkalaki).Brockhau ...

, and the Tionety okrug was elevated to an ''

uezd An uezd (also spelled uyezd; rus, уе́зд, p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context ( uk, повіт), or Kreis in Baltic-German context, was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Russian Empire, and the ea ...

''. Finally, the southern part of Tiflis uezd was detached to become the Borchaly uezd. The Tiflis Governorate lasted within these boundaries for some 50 years until the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

and subsequent founding of the

Democratic Republic of Georgia The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა ') was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia, which existed from May 1918 to ...

in 1918.Coats of Arms of the Cities of the Georgia-Imeretia Governorate of the Russian Empire
The governorate and its counties were soon abolished after its incorporation into the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and reorganised into the ''raions'' (counties) of the

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

by 1930.

Administrative divisions

The counties (''

s'') of the Tiflis Governorate in 1917 were as follows:

Demographics

Russian Empire census (1897)

According to the

Russian Empire Census The first general census of the population of the Russian Empire in 1897 ( pre-reform Russian: ) was the first and only nation-wide census performed in the Russian Empire (the Grand Duchy of Finland was excluded). It recorded demographic data as ...

of 1897, the Tiflis Governorate had a population of 1,051,032, including 575,447 men and 475,585 women. The plurality of the population indicated

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

to be their mother tongue, with significant

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

, Tatar (later known as Azerbaijani),

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, and Ossetian speaking minorities.

Caucasian Calendar (1917)

According to the 1917 publication of the ''Caucasian Calendar'', the Tiflis Governorate had 1,473,308 residents in 1916, including 780,010 men and 693,298 women, 1,255,176 of whom were the permanent population, and 218,132 were temporary residents:

Governors

The administration tasks in the governorate were executed by a governor. Sometimes, a military governor was appointed as well. The governors of Tiflis Governorate were *1847–1849 Sergei Nikolayevich Yermolov, governor; *1849–1855 Ivan Malkhazovich Andronnikov (Andronikashvili), military governor; *1855–1857 Nikolay Yevgenyevich Lukash, military governor; *1858–1860 Alexander Khristianovich Kapger, military governor; *1860–1876 Konstantin Ivanovich Orlovsky, governor; *1876–1878 Maximilian von der Osten-Sacken, governor; *1878–1883 Konstantin Dmitriyevich Gagarin, governor; *1883–1887 Alexander Ignatyevich Grosman, governor; *1887–1889 Karl Leo Sissermann, governor; *1889–1897 Georgy Dmitriyevich Shervashidze (Giorgi Shervashidze), governor; *1897–1899 Fyodor Alexandrovich Bykov, governor; *1899–1905 Ivan Nikolayevich Svechin, governor; *1905–1907 Paul Bernhard Demetrius Rausch von Traubenberg, governor; *1907–1911 Mikhail Alexandrovich Lyubich-Yarmolovich-Lozina-Lozinsky, governor; *1911–1914 Andrei Gavrilovich Chernyavsky, governor; *1914–1916 Ivan Mikhaylovich Strakhovsky, governor; *1916–1917 Alexander Nikolayevich Mandrika, acting governor.

Notes

References

Bibliography

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