The trends in the formation of the elite of the merchant class of Tobolsk province (the last quarter of the XVIII - first quarter of the XIX centuries)

Merchants as the main subject of the business world of the Russian state in the last quarter of the 18th - first part of the 19th centuries. was distinguished by ambiguity: on the one hand, its social status corresponded to national legislation, on the other hand, it was distinguished by regional characteristics. The subject of the research is the social gradation and the identification of the leading group of the merchant class of the Tobolsk province in the last quarter of the 18th - first part of the 19th centuries: determining the principles of its separation and existence. The purpose of the article is to highlight the features of the group of hereditary merchants as the leading sub-class of the Tobolsk province (last quarter of the 18th - first quarter of the 19th centuries) Methods. In preparing this work, we developed a research algorithm, which consisted in determining the total number of the merchant class of the Tobolsk province (610 separate surnames), which were divided using the historical-comparative method and the modeling method into separate social subgroups. Results: the research illustrates the heterogeneity of the guild merchants of the cities of the Tobolsk province in the last quarter of the 18th - first part of the 19th centuries. as a participant in the business world of Western Siberia. Conclusions: There is traced the dependence of the social status of the merchant not so much on the size of the capital, but on the length of stay in the hereditary merchant. The Siberian merchant was distinguished in many ways by his isolation and practicality during his stay in the guild organization. At the same time, representatives of the leading sub-class preferred transit trade on the border with China or at all-Russian fairs. In this case, the merchant must be known both in his hometown and abroad for his commercial and social activities. Considering that the capital belonged to a merchant family, therefore, its members were distributed among various fields of activity. Thus, the trading class of the Tobolsk province had many common features, but due to internal gradation it was distinguished by fluidity, a clear division of responsibilities, and capital differentiation. Hereditary merchants represented a separate social subgroup, in which «the title of merchant ... was preferred to everything in the world».