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

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

with its administrative centre in Tiflis (present-day

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

). In 1897, it constituted in area and had a population of 1,051,032 inhabitants.Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedia
Tiflis Governorate
Tiflis Governorate bordered

Elizavetpol Governorate The Elizavetpol Governorate, also known after 1918 as the Ganja Governorate, was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Yelisavetpol (present-day Ganja). The area of the governorate st ...

to the southeast,

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, Kars Oblast to the southwest, Batum Oblast to the west,

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 t ...

to the northwest,

Terek Oblast The Terek Oblast was a province (''oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917), Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, roughly corresponding to the central part of Russia's North Caucasian Federal District. Тhe ''оblast'' was created ...

to the north,

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 186 ...

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 South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, the partially recognised state of

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

, most of the

Lori Province Lori (, ) is a provinces of Armenia, province (''Administrative divisions of Armenia, marz'') of Armenia. It is located in the north of the country, bordering Georgia (country), Georgia. Vanadzor is the capital and largest city of the province. ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

, small parts of northwestern

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, and a minuscule southern part of

Ingushetia Ingushetia or Ingushetiya, officially the Republic of Ingushetia, is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. The republic is part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and shares land borders with the country o ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

History

Tiflis Governorate was established in 1846 along with the Kutaisi Governorate, after the dissolution of the Georgia-Imeretia Governorate. It was initially formed from '' uezds'' of

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, Gori,

Telavi Telavi (; ) is the main city and administrative center of the eastern Georgian province of Kakheti. As of the 2017 Census, its population was 19,751. The city is located on the foothills of the Tsiv-Gombori Range at above sea level. History Th ...

, Signakh, Elizavetpol,

Erivan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

, Nakhichevan and

Alexandropol Gyumri (, ) is an urban municipal community and the List of cities and towns in Armenia, 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 centur ...

and the ''

okrugs An okrug is a type of administrative division in some Slavic-speaking states. The word ''okrug'' is a loanword in English, alternatively translated as area, district, county, or region. Etymologically, ''okrug'' literally means ' circuit', der ...

'' 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, while Akhaltsikhe uezd which was created after ceding from

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

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 Sov ...

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

Akhaltsikhe uezd The Akhaltsikhe ''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 Akhaltsikh (present-day Akhaltsikhe). The ...

became the

Akhalkalaki uezd The Akhalkalaki ''uezd'' was a county (''uezd'') of the Tiflis Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty (1801–1917), Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, and then of Democratic Republic of Georgia, with its administrative centre in Akhalk ...

, and the Tionety okrug was elevated to an ''

uezd An uezd (also spelled uyezd or uiezd; rus, уе́зд ( pre-1918: уѣздъ), p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context () was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, the ...

''. Finally, the southern part of Tiflis uezd was detached to become the

Borchaly uezd The Borchaly ''uezd'' was a county (''uezd'') of the Tiflis Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, and later of the independent and Soviet republics of Georgia. Its administrative center was the town of Shulavery (present- ...

. 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, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

and subsequent founding of the

Democratic Republic of Georgia The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა, tr) was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia (country), Georgia, which exist ...

in 1918. The governorate and its counties were soon abolished after its incorporation into the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...

by 1930.

Administrative divisions

The counties (''

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

Demographics

Russian Empire Census

According to the Russian Empire Census, the Tiflis Governorate had a population of 1,051,032 on , including 575,447 men and 475,585 women. The plurality of the population indicated Georgian 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 around the ...

, Tatar,

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, and Ossetian speaking minorities. Linguistic composition of uezds in the Tiflis Governorate in 1897

''Kavkazskiy kalendar''

According to the 1917 publication of ''

Kavkazskiy kalendar ''Kavkazskiy kalendar'' (, ) was an annual almanac published in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi) in the Russian Empire by the office of the Viceroy of the Caucasus from 1846 to 1917. History ''Kavkazskiy kalendar'' contained a large number of ethno ...

'', the Tiflis Governorate had a population of 1,473,308 on , 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

* * * *