The
Dagestan Oblast was a province (
oblast) of the
Caucasus Viceroyalty of the
Russian Empire. It roughly corresponded to most of present-day southeastern
Dagestan within the
Russian Federation. The Dagestan
oblast was created in 1860 out of the territories of the former
Caucasian Imamate, bordering the
Terek Oblast to the north, the
Tiflis Governorate and
Zakatal Okrug to the west, the
Elizavetpol Governorate to the south, and
Baku Governorate to the east. The administrative center of the
oblast was Temir-Khan-Shura (present-day
Buynaksk).
Administrative divisions
The districts (okrugs) of the Dagestan oblast in 1917 were as follows:
| Name
|
Administrative centre
|
Population
|
Area
|
| 1897
|
1916
|
| Avarskiy okrug (Аварский округ)
|
Khunzakh
|
37,639
|
35,749
|
1,148.27 square versts (1,306.80 km; 504.56 sq mi)
|
| Andiyskiy okrug (Андийский округ)
|
Botlikh
|
49,628
|
57,875
|
3,152.17 square versts (3,587.37 km; 1,385.09 sq mi)
|
| Gunibskiy okrug (Гунибский округ)
|
Gunib
|
55,899
|
76,175
|
3,422.33 square versts (3,894.82 km; 1,503.80 sq mi)
|
| Darginskiy okrug (Даргинский округ)
|
Levashi
|
80,943
|
85,131
|
1,525.25 square versts (1,735.83 km; 670.21 sq mi)
|
| Kazikumukhskiy okrug (Казикумухский округ)
|
Kumukh
|
45,363
|
51,250
|
1,270.80 square versts (1,446.25 km; 558.40 sq mi)
|
| Kaytago-Tabasaranskiy okrug (Кайтаго-Табасаранский округ)
|
Madzhalis
|
91,021
|
82,154
|
2,896.54 square versts (3,296.44 km; 1,272.76 sq mi)
|
| Kyurinskiy okrug (Кюринский округ)
|
Kasumkent
|
77,680
|
117,218
|
3,066.85 square versts (3,490.27 km; 1,347.60 sq mi)
|
| Samurskiy okrug (Самурский округ)
|
Akhty
|
35,633
|
71,556
|
3,258.87 square versts (3,708.80 km; 1,431.97 sq mi)
|
| Temir-Khan-Shurinskiy okrug (Темир-Хан-Шуринский округ)
|
Temir-Khan-Shura (Buynaksk)
|
97,348
|
136,234
|
5,464.01 square versts (6,218.38 km; 2,400.93 sq mi)
|
Demographics
Russian Empire Census
According to the Russian Empire Census, the Dagestan oblast had a population of 571,154 on 28 January [O.S. 15 January] 1897, including 283,279 men and 287,875 women. The plurality of the population indicated Avar-Andean to be their mother tongue, with significant Dargin, Kyurin, Kazi-Kumukh, Kumyk, and Tatar speaking minorities.
Linguistic composition of the Dagestan oblast in 1897
| Language
|
Native speakers
|
%
|
| Avar-Andean
|
158,550
|
27.76
|
| Dargin
|
121,375
|
21.25
|
| Kyurin
|
94,596
|
16.56
|
| Kazi-Kumukh
|
76,381
|
13.37
|
| Kumyk
|
51,209
|
8.97
|
| Tatar
|
32,143
|
5.63
|
| Russian
|
13,111
|
2.30
|
| Jewish
|
7,361
|
1.29
|
| Tat
|
2,998
|
0.52
|
| Ukrainian
|
2,895
|
0.51
|
| Nogai
|
1,909
|
0.33
|
| Persian
|
1,720
|
0.30
|
| Armenian
|
1,636
|
0.29
|
| Polish
|
1,630
|
0.29
|
| Arabic
|
912
|
0.16
|
| Chechen
|
757
|
0.13
|
| Lithuanian
|
520
|
0.09
|
| Georgian
|
375
|
0.07
|
| German
|
261
|
0.05
|
| Belarusian
|
38
|
0.01
|
| Other
|
777
|
0.14
|
| TOTAL
|
571,154
|
100.00
|
Religious composition of the Dagestan oblast in 1897
| Faith
|
Male
|
Female
|
Both
|
| Number
|
%
|
| Muslim
|
263,475
|
276,815
|
540,290
|
94.60
|
| Eastern Orthodox
|
10,996
|
5,341
|
16,337
|
2.86
|
| Judaism
|
5,367
|
4,689
|
10,056
|
1.76
|
| Roman Catholic
|
2,079
|
137
|
2,216
|
0.39
|
| Armenian Apostolic
|
955
|
668
|
1,623
|
0.28
|
| Old Believer
|
184
|
114
|
298
|
0.05
|
| Lutheran
|
185
|
100
|
285
|
0.05
|
| Armenian Catholic
|
24
|
5
|
29
|
0.01
|
| Baptist
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
0.00
|
| Anglican
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
0.00
|
| Buddhist
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
0.00
|
| Reformed
|
3
|
0
|
3
|
0.00
|
| Other non-Christian denomination
|
7
|
2
|
9
|
0.00
|
| TOTAL
|
283,279
|
287,875
|
571,154
|
100.00
|
Kavkazskiy kalendar
According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Dagestan oblast had a population of 713,342 on 14 January [O.S. 1 January] 1916, including 369,737 men and 343,605 women, 659,976 of whom were the permanent population, and 53,366 were temporary residents:
| Nationality
|
Urban
|
Rural
|
TOTAL
|
| Number
|
%
|
Number
|
%
|
Number
|
%
|
| North Caucasians
|
12,247
|
17.50
|
533,367
|
82.90
|
545,614
|
76.49
|
| Sunni Muslims
|
1,137
|
1.62
|
90,840
|
14.12
|
91,977
|
12.89
|
| Russians
|
27,045
|
38.65
|
9,078
|
1.41
|
36,123
|
5.06
|
| Jews
|
11,913
|
17.03
|
5,397
|
0.84
|
17,310
|
2.43
|
| Shia Muslims
|
11,263
|
16.10
|
4,352
|
0.68
|
15,615
|
2.19
|
| Armenians
|
4,668
|
6.67
|
84
|
0.01
|
4,752
|
0.67
|
| Other Europeans
|
736
|
1.05
|
251
|
0.04
|
987
|
0.14
|
| Asiatic Christians
|
785
|
1.12
|
0
|
0.00
|
785
|
0.11
|
| Georgians
|
179
|
0.26
|
0
|
0.00
|
179
|
0.03
|
| TOTAL
|
69,973
|
100.00
|
643,369
|
100.00
|
713,342
|
100.00
|