The Kuban Oblast was a province (''

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...

'') 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 ...

. It roughly corresponded to most of the

Kuban Kuban ( Russian and Ukrainian: Кубань; ady, Пшызэ) is a historical and geographical region of Southern Russia surrounding the Kuban River, on the Black Sea between the Don Steppe, the Volga Delta and the Caucasus, and separated ...

and

Circassia Circassia (; also known as Cherkessia in some sources; ady, Адыгэ Хэку, Адыгей, lit=, translit=Adıgə Xəku, Adıgey; ; ota, چرکسستان, Çerkezistan; ) was a country and a historical region in the along the northeast ...

regions. It was created in 1860 out of

Kuban Cossack Kuban Cossacks (russian: кубанские казаки, ''kubanskiye kаzaki''; uk, кубанські козаки, ''kubanski kozaky''), or Kubanians (russian: кубанцы, ; uk, кубанці, ), are Cossacks who live in the Kuban re ...

territories that had once been part of the Crimean Khanate and the land of the

Circassians The Circassians (also referred to as Cherkess or Adyghe; Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: ''Adıgəxər'') are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia ...

. It was dissolved upon the assumption of supreme authority by the Kuban Rada in 1917 and the independence of the Kuban People's Republic in 1918. Its capital was the city of Yekaterinodar (present-day

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southe ...

Administrative divisions

The

Cossack 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 ...

districts ('' otdels'') of the Kuban Oblast in 1917 were as follows:

Structure

The militarized nature of the Kuban meant that, rather than a traditional governorate ('' guberniya'') with counties ('' uezds''), the territory was administered by the

Kuban Cossacks Kuban Cossacks (russian: кубанские казаки, ''kubanskiye kаzaki''; uk, кубанські козаки, ''kubanski kozaky''), or Kubanians (russian: кубанцы, ; uk, кубанці, ), are Cossacks who live in the Kuban r ...

as an ''oblast'' which was split into ''otdels''. Each ''otdel'' had its own ''sotnias'' which in turn would be split into ''stanitsas'' and ''khutors''. The ''

ataman Ataman (variants: ''otaman'', ''wataman'', ''vataman''; Russian: атаман, uk, отаман) was a title of Cossack and haidamak leaders of various kinds. In the Russian Empire, the term was the official title of the supreme military command ...

'' ("commander") for each region was not only responsible for the military preparation of the Cossacks, but for the local administration duties. Local ''stanitsa'' and ''khutor'' ''atamans'' were elected, but approved by the ''atamans'' of the ''otdel''. These, in turn, were appointed by the supreme ataman of the Kuban host, who was in turn appointed directly by the Russian emperor. Prior to 1870, this system of legislature in the oblast remained a robust military one and all legal decisions were carried out by the ''stanitsa ataman'' and two elected judges. Afterwards, however, the system was bureaucratized and the judicial functions were independent of the ''stanitsas''.

Demographics

Russian Empire census (1897)

According to the Russian Empire Census of 1897, the Kuban Oblast had a population of 1,918,881, including 973,023 men and 945,858 women. The plurality of the population indicated

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 ...

to be their mother tongue, with a significant Russian speaking minority.

Caucasian Calendar (1917)

According to the 1917 publication of the ''Caucasian Calendar'', the Kuban Oblast had 3,022,683 residents in 1916, including 1,523,057 men and 1,499,626 women, 1,870,280 of whom were the permanent population, and 1,152,403 were temporary residents.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917) Oblasts of the Russian Empire History of Kuban States and territories established in 1860 States and territories disestablished in 1917 1860 establishments in the Russian Empire 1917 disestablishments in Russia Governorates of the Caucasus {{Ukraine-hist-stub