The evolution of land ownership of the North Caucasian nobility in the late 19th - early 20th centuries

The paper considers the evolution of land ownership of the North Caucasian nobility at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries using historical and statistical materials; the state of the noble estates is also analyzed. It is shown that in the North Caucasus capitalist relations developed rapidly after the end of the Caucasian war that caused the formation of noble land ownership. The nobles who held leading positions in the system of state power and military structures determined the strategy of development strategy of the entire region by their decisions and actions, it determined the desire of the autocracy to strengthen the economic position of the nobility. The officers, implementing the government course, received land plots in private ownership for faithful service as a reward. It is noted that the military command purposefully took measures to endow the land of highlanders who were in military service. Based on the analysis of the publications of the Noble Bank, conclusions about the reducing the area of noble land ownership and modernization of farms through bank loans are drawn. It was established that the number of landowners’ estates with arrears in the North Caucasus was insignificant in comparison with other regions.