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DEMOGRAPHY OF THE INDIGENOUS POPULATION OF THE YENISEI REGION IN THE XVII–XIX CENTURIES

S. Skobelev

Abstract

The Yenisei region is almost entirely the territory of Middle Siberia (the Yenisei basin and some neighboring areas of the Ob basin). Most of the indigenous population of the region in the XVII–XIX centuries was part of the Russian state. In this regard, it is important to trace the historical destinies of indigenous people in the conditions of Russian economic and cultural influences. People of different origins lived here. The most numerous were Turkic-speaking groups – Kyrgyzs, Kachints, Shorts, Chulym-Turks (“Melets Tatars”) and others. The Tungus-speaking population, the groups of Kets and the Samoyeds in aggregate were inferior in number to the Turks. By the end of the XIXth century, the Russian peasant population had sufficiently densely mastered all the areas suitable for the Agriculture. Due to the close proximity of the Slavs to the indigenous population, quite intensive processes of ethnic mixing took place. But in reality, fortunately, the indigenous population did not lose in numbers and, giving a significant part to the local Slavs, it still continued to grow numerically (by the end of the XIX century it was more than three times as compared to the beginning of the XVIIth century). This can be seen from the statistics of the current account of local authorities, as well as according to the All-Russian population census of 1897. Such indicators mean that the demographic development of the indigenous population of the region within the Russian Empire was positive characterized, despite the wide processes of assimilation by the Russian people.

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