Kazan and the Kazan Province during the reign of Catherine II (based on reports from governors and senatorial audits)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22378/2410-0765.2026-16-2.28-44Keywords:
Kazan Governorate, Catherine II, governors’ reports, senatorial audits, A.N. Kvashnin-Samarin, A.I. Svechin, P.S. MeshcherskyAbstract
The paper examines the reports of Kazan Governor A.N. Kvashnin-Samarin on the Kazan Province in 1765–1769, Kazan Governor (1774–1780), and subsequently Kazan and Simbirsk (1780–1781), Kazan and Penza (1781–1783), Kazan and Vyatka (1783–1792) Governor-General Prince P.S. Meshchersky in 1779–1783, and other trusted persons of the supreme authority. A major audit of Kazan Province and the Kazan Admiralty was carried out by the Senate Commission headed by Lieutenant Colonel A.I. Svechin (1763–1765). During her journey along the Volga in 1767, Catherine II personally reviewed the affairs and inspected local institutions. The provincial reform of 1775 marked an important stage in the development of Russian public administration. Another audit of Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Penza provinces was conducted by senators A.R. Vorontsov and A.V. Naryshkin in 1787. The article concludes that the governors' reports served as an essential tool which allowed the central government receive comprehensive information on the state of affairs in the provinces and the activities of provincial institutions. Audits of provincial institutions through senatorial audits, which had proven effective under Catherine II, became regular in the 19th century.
For citation: Faizrakhmanov I.Z. Kazan and the Kazan Province during the reign of Catherine II (based on reports from governors and senatorial audits). From History and Culture of Peoples of the Middle Volga Region. 2026, vol.16, no.2, pp.28–44.
https://doi.org/10.22378/2410-0765.2026-16-2.28-44 (In Russian)
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