Armenian Oblast

The Armenian Oblast or Armenian Province (, ) was an oblast (province) of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire that existed from 1828 to 1840.  It corresponded to most of present-day central Armenia, the Iğdır Province of Turkey, and the Nakhichevan exclave of Azerbaijan.  Its administrative center was Erivan (Yerevan).

History

The Armenian Oblast was created out of the territories of the former Erivan and Nakhichevan khanates, which were ceded to Russia by Persia under the Treaty of Turkmenchay after the Russo-Persian War of 1826-1828. Ivan Paskevich, the Ukrainian-born military leader and hero of the war, was made "Count of Erivan" in the year of the oblast's creation.

In 1829, Baltic German explorer Friedrich Parrot of the University of Dorpat (Tartu) traveled to the oblast as part of his expedition to climb Mount Ararat.  Accompanied by Armenian writer Khachatur Abovian and four others, Parrot made the first ascent of Ararat in recorded history from the Armenian monastery of St. Hakob in Akhuri (modern Yenidoğan).

The oblast was dissolved in 1840 and its territory incorporated into a larger new province, the Georgia-Imeretia Governorate. This new division did not last long.  In 1844, the Caucasus Viceroyalty was re-established, in which the former Armenian Oblast formed a subdivision of the Tiflis Governorate.  In 1849, the Erivan Governorate was established, separate from the Tiflis Governorate. It included the territory of the former Erivan and Nakhichievan khanates.

Demographics
In order to gain demographic information on the newly-acquired Armenian territory, the Tsarist authorities dispatched Ivan Chopin to the oblast in 1829 to conduct a census of the population.  Muslims, including Tatars (today Azerbaijanis), Kurds, and Persians, formed the majority of the population, while Christian Armenians formed a very significant minority as a result of earlier deportations.  The number of Armenians increased significantly after the Russian government allowed and encouraged Armenians living in Persian and Turkish territory to migrate into Russian Transcaucasia.  Armenian captives who had lived in Persia since 1804 or even as far back as 1795 were permitted to return.  By 1832, about 45,000 Armenians had resettled in the oblast.

Literature
A Journey to Arzrum, Alexander Pushkin, 1835–36
Wounds of Armenia, Khachatur Abovian, 1841

See also
Russian Armenia
Erivan Governorate
History of the administrative division of Russia

References

Category:Oblasts of the Russian Empire
Category:Geographic history of Armenia
Category:States and territories established in 1828
Category:States and territories disestablished in 1840
Category:1840 disestablishments
Category:History of Iğdır Province
Category:1828 establishments in the Russian Empire