ESTABLISHMENT AND ACTIVITY OF REGIONAL COMMISSION ATTACHED TO ASSEMBLY OF DEPUTIES OF NOBILITY IN BESSARABIA FOR PREPARATION OF TAX CENSUS OF POPULATION IN 1824

Valentin TOMULEŢ Universitatea de Stat din Moldova

Аннотация

In the given article, based on unpublished archive sources, the author examines the establishment and activity within the Assembly of Deputies of Nobility in Bessarabia of the Regional Commission for drawing up of a new tax census of population. The author demonstrates that Tsarism expressed a particular interest to study the demographic situation in the region for imposition of tax and in order to insure Russian army with food, forage, quartering of soldiers, in an eventual war with the Ottoman Empire, but also to supply the needs of the Russian occupation army in the region. After performing, shortly after annexation, the population census in 1817, in order for the population to submit the oath of allegiance to Russian Emperor and for determining of the number of taxpayers in the newly annexed territory, Tsarism needed a new census, which could reflect more accurately the number of families of taxpayers in Bessarabia. This interest was dictated by the fact that shortly after annexation to the Russian Empire in the province occurred important changes in the social and demographic structure. In addition about some social and tax privileged categories of population such as boiernaşii, mazilii, ruptaşii, ruptaşii of treasury and ruptaşii of pantry, almost no one knew anything. For this purpose on February 21, 1824 attached to Assembly of Deputies of Nobility in Bessarabia there is instituted the Regional Commission for the preparation of the tax census of population. Keywords: social policy, tax census, social structure, landlord, country squire, to banish, tax payers, pettybourgeois, peasants.