Socio-economic situation of private peasants in Northern Azerbaijan after the adoption of Agrarian Laws in 1846-1847

Abstract

The agrarian problem in northern Azerbaijan during the second half of the 19th century is a crucial topic for understanding the socio-economic transformation and consolidation of tsarist power in the region. Despite the importance of the agrarian laws of 1846-1847 in formalizing feudal relations and establishing new frameworks of land rights, previous studies have left unexplored the actual conditions of their implementation and subsequent legislative amendments. Based on primary sources from the State Archival Funds of Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, this article analyses the conditions under which these agrarian legislative documents were implemented, as well as the changes made by the government to the Rural Regulations. The findings reveal that the implementation of these laws was fragmentary, limited by bureaucratic delays and the imprecise delimitation of territories, which prevented the full implementation of their provisions. Furthermore, the changes introduced, such as the restriction of the judicial and police powers of landowners, had a limited impact on improving the situation of peasants. These findings underline the persistence of feudal structures and show that, despite modernization efforts, agrarian reforms were truncated by structural problems, laying the groundwork for future legislative interventions, such as the agrarian reform of 1870.