The Historical Legacy on the Pages of Census Books

This review is devoted to a significant event in the historiography of the Mordovian region: the 2024 publication of the set of census books from the Alatyr district, dating from the late 17th to the early 18th century, prepared by historians V. D. Kochetkov, S. V. Vidiaykin and O. I. Mariskin. The volume comprises the “Census of Prince Vasily Putyatin of the Year 196 (1688)”, the “Census Book of the Year 7204 (1696) by Stolonik and Voyevoda Semyon Fyodorovich Griboyedov, of Mordovian Villages in Alatyr District”, and the “Census and Tax Assessment Books by Stolonik Prince A. A. Bolkhovsky of Russian Peasants in Villages and Hamlets of Alatyr District, Settled on Abandoned Mordovian Lands” (1710). The publication of these primary sources opens new avenues for an in-depth examination of the region’s socio-economic processes within the context of Petrine reforms. This edition has been made possible through funding from the Talina Social Projects Support Foundation (founded by V. S. Biryukov) as part of the patriotic socio-cultural project “In the Name of the Future!”.