Evgeniy Viktorovich Leontyev,

Minusinsk Regional Museum of Local Lore, Minusinsk, Russia, e-‍mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

 

 

 

On the Demographics and Social Structure of the City of Krasnoyarsk’s Service People Based on the 1719−1722 Census Data

 

 DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2026-1-5

 The article examines how the increase in the number of the city of Krasnoyarsk’s service people in the late 17th and early 18th centuries affected its social structure and the recruitment of the city’s garrison. Calculations revealed that during this period, the families of the city’s service people provided more recruits than there were salaries allocated by the treasury. There was a shortage of vacancies in the garrison, which forced the Cossacks to wait for many years to be enlisted. Most often, this happened when they reached the age of 30−39. Many Cossack sons left their parents and started their own households without ever being enlisted. In the census materials, they were registered as Cossack children. As the number of unmarried sons and brothers of Cossacks grew among the city’s military population, their background and family ties became increasingly important criteria for selecting candidates for service. Conversely, the chances of other social groups were reduced. The examined sources indicate that approximately one-third of the Krasnoyarsk garrison’s staff in 1722 consisted of older men over the age of 50. Most of them had young sons and brothers in their households, waiting to be drafted.

Publishing: 28/02/2026

The article has been received by the editor on 04/04/2025

Original article >


How to cite: Leontyev E.V. On the Demographics and Social Structure of the City of Krasnoyarsk’s Service People Based on the 1719−1722 Census Data // Historical Courier, 2026, No. 1 (45), pp. 61–68. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2026/ISTKURIER-2026-1-05.pdf]

Links: Issue 1 2026

Keywords: Krasnoyarsk; population census; socio-demographic structure; service people; Cossack children; household; salary; garrison