Demarcation of Tomsk and Kuznetsk district lands in 1710s

On the threshold of the 17th 18th centuries Russian possessions in the Upper Ob basin were a part of Kuznetsk and Tomsk districts. Kuznetsk District never reached the Ob River. An effort taken by Russians in 1709 to secure the Ob sources at the confluence of the Bia and the Katun was not successful Bikatun fort was burnt down by the Junghars. Moving up the Ob was due to the unauthorized settlement of inhabitants of Tomsk District. Therefore the next Russian fort in the Upper Ob was constructed in summer 1713 by the order of Tomsk authorities in the estuary of the Chaus River. This fort became the southernmost outpost of Tomsk District, although it did not serve long as a boundary protection, actually only in the 1710s. Around this time, in 1715, on the border of Tomsk and Kuznetsk districts in the Tom basin one more fort Mungat was constructed, too, by the order of Kuznetsk authorities. If Kuznetsk-Tomsk demarcation on the Tom River did not cause administrative disputes, a more western area between the Tom and the Ob became a subject of special investigation. A dispute between Tomsk and Kuznetsk arose because of the lands in the Berd River basin. According to the sources, the construction of Berdsk fort may be dated April-June 1716, refuting the existing data on the fort foundation in the first decade of the 18th century. The construction of Berdsk fort and its supervision of the local Russian settlements resulted in extension of Kuznetsk District area to the Ob in 1716. By that time on the Berd there was no Russian settlement administered by Kuznetsk authorities. Soon by request of local residents Kuznetsk Governor Boris Sinyavin accepted those under his rule. Berdsk fort administered Russian villages on the Berd River, new villages on the right side of the Ob above the mouth of the Berd, as well as ''the Chumysh villages''. There was an ambiguous situation: since the 17th century the Berd valley was the traditional area of hunting for Turkic azkyshtimts subordinate to Kuznetsk, whereas from 1713 Russian first settlers paid taxes to Tomsk authorities. The conflict of interests of Tomsk and Kuznetsk governments escalated to an open conflict. Siberian Governor M. Gagarin was forced to intervene personally in this dispute. As a result, by the Decree of April 1, 1717 all the Berd basin and the upstream of the Inya River were officially attributed to Kuznetsk District. This research highlights border districts demarcation history. On the basis of cartographic and other sources the author reproduced the circuit of the boundary, established by the Governor's Decree of 1717. This boundary line was valid till the middle of the 18th century. The output of reproduction is presented on a sketch map attached to this paper.

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