Elizaveta V. Savchenko Formation of the Southern border of the the Elisavetgradskaya Province of the Novorossia Governorate in 1764–1775

Abstract
This article examines the establishment of the southern border of the Elisavetgrad Province of the Novorossiya Governorate, as well as the delimitation of the territories of the governorate and the lands of the Zaporozhian Sich. The creation of the Novorossiya Governorate in March 1764 marked an important step in the gradual transformation of the southern territories of the Russian Empire. In the second half of the eighteenth century, the Dnieper region (Podneprovye) was a space in which a wide variety of territorial formations coexisted (Little Russian regiments, Serbian settlements, the Zaporozhian Sich, etc.), which did not always have clearly defined borders. For this reason, the issue of defining the boundaries of the Novorossiya Governorate was of considerable importance. In particular, the southern border of the Novorossiya Governorate was effectively intended to become the northern border of the Zaporozhian Sich. The southern boundary of the Right-Bank Elisavetgrad Province (from which the formation of Novorossiya began) was determined according to a map approved by the Empress. Since the map itself has not been preserved in the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire, and no description of the border exists in legislative acts, the question of the precise location of the southern boundary—and, consequently, the full territorial composition of the Elisavetgrad Province of the Novorossiya Governorate—long remained outside the focus of researchers. The analysis of cartographic materials from the second half of the eighteenth century held in the collections of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, the Russian State Military-Historical Archive, the Library of the Academy of Sciences, and the State Historical Museum makes it possible to reconstruct the intended course of this boundary, as well as to identify a number of problems faced by the Novorossiyan administration in attempting to implement the actual delimitation of territories between the Novorossiya Governorate and the Zaporozhian Sich on the ground. These cartographic materials also provide insight into the results of the internal territorial division of the Elisavetgrad Province during the first ten years of its existence.

Keywords:
Historical cartography; Catherine II; the Novorossia Governorate; A.P. Melgunov; the Elisavetgradskaya province; Zaporozhian Sich

For citation:
Elizaveta V. Savchenko. Formation of the Southern border of the Elisavetgradskaya Province of the Novorossia Governorate in 1764–1775 // The Historical Reporter. 2026. Vol. 57. P. 98–119. DOI:

Elizaveta V. Savchenko
Junior researcher at the Center for the History of Russian Feudalism at the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Faculty of History, Moscow State University. Moscow, Russian Federation.
e-mail: liza-savchenko@mail.ru
SPIN-code: 6208-3940
AuthorID: 1303938

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