Cabinet Lands

Cabinet Lands 

the property of the imperial family that was managed by the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty, an office within the Imperial Court Ministry.

Cabinet lands were concentrated in the Altai (from 1747), Transbaikalia (from 1786), and Poland (Łowicz Principality, three districts with several dozen estates). In Siberia these lands covered 67.8 million hectares. Gold, silver, lead, and copper were mined, and factories produced iron, cast iron, and steel. In 1796 there were nearly 70, 000 male serfs, convict settlers, and hired laborers on these lands. In the second half of the 18th century the mining industry on cabinet lands was highly developed. In the first half of the 19th century these enterprises could not compete with the developing capitalist industry and were closed down or leased. Beginning in 1861 there was intensified exploitation of forests and leasing of lands. Settlement on the estates was permitted after 1865, and by 1907 nearly 1 million peasants had migrated to them. In the period preceding the October Revolution, cabinet lands in the Altai produced yearly revenues of 3-4 million rubles. In 1917 cabinet lands were confiscated by the Soviet government.

REFERENCES

Agapova, T. I. “Vozniknovenie i razvitie kabinetskogo khoziaistva na Altae v XVIII v.” In the collection Sibir’perioda feodalizma, issue 1. Novosibirsk, 1962.
Karpenko, Z. G. Gornaia i metallurgicheskaia promyshlennosf Zapadnoi Sibiri v 1700-1860gg. Novosibirsk, 1963. V. I. Dulov