Swedish Ingria (, ‘land of Ingrians’) was a

dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...

of the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...

from 1583 to 1595 and then again from 1617 to 1721 in what is now the territory of Russia. At the latter date, it was ceded to 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 ...

in the Treaty of Nystad, at the end of the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

between the two empires.

History

Ingria had fallen to Sweden in the 1580s and as a consequence of the Treaty of Plussa (1583), Sweden kept the Ingrian towns of Ivangorod (Ivanslott), Jamburg (Jama/Jamo) and Koporye (Kaprio) together with their hinterland. Russia only kept a narrow passage to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

at the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...

of the

Neva River The Neva ( , ; , ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it is the fourth-l ...

, between Strelka and Sestra Rivers. The region was returned to Russia by the Treaty of Teusina (1595), and again ceded together with the remainder of Ingria and the County of Kexholm to Sweden in the Treaty of Stolbovo (1617) that concluded the

Ingrian War The Ingrian War () was a conflict fought between the Swedish Empire and the Tsardom of Russia which lasted between 1610 and 1617. It can be seen as part of Russia's Time of Troubles, and is mainly remembered for the attempt to put a Swedish duk ...

. The area ran along the basin of the

Neva The Neva ( , ; , ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it is the fourth- ...

River, between the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

, the

Narva River The Narva, formerly also Narwa or Narova, flows north into the Baltic Sea and is the largest Estonian river by discharge. A similar length of land far to the south, together with it and a much longer intermediate lake, Lake Peipus, all togeth ...

, and

Lake Peipus Lake Peipus is the largest trans-boundary lake in Europe, lying on the international border between Estonia and Russia. The lake is the fifth-largest in Europe after Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega (in Russia), Lake Vänern (in Sweden), and Lake ...

to the southwest, and

Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake located entirely in Europe, the second largest lake in Russia after Lake ...

to the northeast. Kexholm and Swedish Karelia were bordered by the Sestra ''(Rajajoki/Systerbäck)'' river to the northwest. Sweden's interest in the territory was strategic: as a

buffer zone A buffer zone, also historically known as a march, is a neutral area that lies between two or more bodies of land; usually, between countries. Depending on the type of buffer zone, it may serve to separate regions or conjoin them. Common types o ...

against Russian attacks on the

Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (; ; ) is the approximately stretch of land situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva. Its northwestern boundary is a line from the Bay of Vyborg to the we ...

and present-day Finland; and Russian trade was to pass through Swedish territory. In addition, Ingria was used as a destination for Swedish deportees. Ingria remained sparsely populated. In 1664 the population was counted as 15,000. Swedish attempts to introduce

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

were met with repugnance by the Orthodox peasantry obliged to attend Lutheran services. Although converts were promised grants and tax reductions, Lutheran gains were chiefly due to voluntary resettlements from Savonia and Karelia. Ingria was enfeoffed to

noble A noble is a member of the nobility. Noble may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Noble Glacier, King George Island * Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land * Noble Peak, Wiencke Island * Noble Rocks, Graham Land Australia * Noble Island, Gr ...

military and state officials, who brought their own Lutheran servants and workmen to the area. The indigenous inhabitants of Ingria have always been Finnic with Finnic culture and language. Nyen became the trading centre of Ingria, and in 1642 was made its administrative centre. In 1656 a Russian attack badly damaged the town, and the administrative centre was moved to

Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia border, E ...

in neighbouring Swedish Estonia. Map of Ingria and Karelia

The local Ingrian nobility was absorbed in the Swedish nobility and became part of a group of Swedish noble families that were later known as the Russian Bayos. During the seventeenth century, most of the ''bayor'' families were closely associated with the province of

Ingria Ingria (; ; ; ) is a historical region including, and adjacent to, what is now the city of Saint Petersburg in northwestern Russia. The region lies along the southeastern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordered by Lake Ladoga on the Karelian ...

, where they were supposed to constitute a part of the ruling class that might be more acceptable to the Orthodox, to a large extent Russian, population than was the Lutheran Swedish and German nobility. Simultaneously, however, the ''bayors'' were expected to raise their sons as good Lutherans in order to retain an 'eligibility' to offices in the state and in the army. This fact led to nearly full integration into the Swedish nobility by the end of the seventeenth century, although at home, and especially among the women, Orthodoxy and syncreticism may still have been fairly widespread. The ''bayor'' families practiced

endogamy Endogamy is the cultural practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting any from outside of the group or belief structure as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relatio ...

to a large extent in the 17th century, which might have allowed Russian traditions to live on ‘at home’ but show increasingly less outwardly. This is to be contrasted with the state of affairs in ''c''.1640 when almost all ''bayors'' would have regarded – and showed – themselves as Orthodox, as the elderly still did in the 1660s. Till the mid-century they frequently interceded for the protection of Orthodox institutions. Especially in the early decades of Swedish

, there were also, at a social level higher than the peasantry but below the ''bayors'' by far: the Russian townspeople of the city of Ivangorod and the townships of

Jama ''JAMA'' (''The Journal of the American Medical Association'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of b ...

, Caporie and Nöteborg, with some particularly well-off individuals (e.g. of the families Babin, Lebed, and Belous); the Orthodox clergy; the Russian so-called 'half' ''bayors'', Swedish: ''half-baijorer''; and a very small group of Tatar warriors (these last two groups soon disappear from sight.) In the early 18th century the area was reconquered by

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 ...

in the

after a century under Swedish possession. The new Russian

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, was founded in 1703 on the site of the Swedish town Nyen (Finnish ''Nevanlinna'', meaning ''Castle of Neva''). This territory, close to the Neva river's estuary at the Gulf of Finland, is now part of

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast (, ; ; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). The oblast has an area of and a population of 2,000,997 (2021 Russian census, 2021 Census); up from 1,716,868 recorded in the 2010 Russian census ...

, Russia.

Administrative divisions

Swedish Ingria was divided into four counties ( län), which were in turn divided into pogosts: * Ivangorods län, 1 pogost, capital: Ivangorod (Ivanslott) * Jama län, 3 pogosts, capital:

* Koporje län, 14 pogosts, capital: Koporje * Nöteborgs län, 8 pogosts, capital: Nöteborg

List of governors-general

Stadtholder * till Hässle (1601–1607) * (1607–1613) * Evert Karlsson Horn af Kanckas (1613–1615) * Anders Eriksson Hästehufvud (1615–1617) Ingrian Governors (Narva, Ivangorod, Jaama, Koporje and Nöteborg) * Carl Carlsson Gyllenhielm (1617–1620) * Henrik Klasson Fleming (1620–1622) *Anders Eriksson Hästehufvud (1622–1626) * (1626–1629) * Heinrich Matthias von Thurn (1629) Ingrian and Livonian Governors-General * Johan Skytte (1629–1634) * Bengt Bengtsson Oxenstierna (1634–1643) Ingrian and county of Kexholm Governors-General * Erik Carlsson Gyllenstierna (1642–1645) * Carl Mörner (1645–1651) * Erik Stenbock (1651–1654) * Gustaf Evertsson Horn (1654–1657) *

Krister Klasson Horn af Åminne Krister is a Swedish variant of the Swedish masculine given name Christer Christer or Krister are varieties of the masculine given name Kristian, derived from the Latin name ''Christianus'', which in turn comes from the Greek language, Greek word '' ...

(1657–1659) * Simon Grundel-Helmfelt (1659–1664) * Jacob Johan Taube ( Kudina mõisast) (1664–1668) *Simon Grundel-Helmfelt (1668–1673) *Jacob Johan Taube (1673–1678) * Gustaf Adam Banér (1678) *Jacob Johan Taube (1678–1681) Ingrian Governors * Martin Schultz von Ascheraden (1681–1682) * Hans von Fersen the older (1682–1683) * (1683–1687) Ingrian Governors-General *Göran von Sperling (1687–1691) * Otto Wilhelm von Fersen (1691–1698) * Otto Vellingk (1698–1703)

References

{{Authority control States and territories disestablished in 1721 States and territories established in 1583

Ingria et:Ingerimaa kubermang

History

Administrative divisions

List of governors-general

See also

References