The development of noble land tenure in Stavropol province and Terek region based on publications of the noble bank

The study described the development of noble land tenure in Stavropol province and Terek region based on the analysis of ‘Estates Accepted as Collateral’ published by the Noble Bank. In the post-reform period, the area of noble estates steadily decreased due to the increased demand for officer lands resulting from peasant colonization, labor shortages, and a landlord’s challenge of adapting to the rapidly developing capitalist economy. Nobles of Stavropol province and Terek region pledged fewer estates to the Noble Bank in comparison with the noblemen of Don and other regions of Russia. The author identified that the mortgage of estates did not mean economic failure of the noble households. The nobles took out loans to upgrade and modernize their estates. The author concluded that in Stavropol province, the share of land ownership in the land fund was considerably lower than in other regions of the country. In Terek region, noble land tenure developed more steadily: the nobles not only sold their estates but also expanded their production, bought land and successfully rebuilt their farms in a capitalist way.