RESETTLEMENT IN A RURAL REGION IN THE LATE 18TH AND EARLY 19TH CENTURY AS AN ANTHROPOGENIC IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT

This paper studies in depth an anthropogenic impact on the environment during the formation and development of rural settlements and the exploitation of the surrounding environmental resources. The subject of study is resettlement on a section of the territory of former Tambov uyezd of Tambov Governorate. The land surveying records of the late 18th and early 19th century (General Land Survey plan and Mende Land Survey plan, as well as their Economic notes) were used as sources. The surveying records are supplemented by some narrative sources - particularly, an article by a famous writer and opinion journalist of the mid 19th century, a Tambov landlord, I. R. Gruzinov, which depicts a typical Tambov steppe village. The results of the study revealed key trends in resettlement in Tambov Governorate during the late 18th - early 19th century. On the one hand, there was a sharp increase in the proportion of very large villages; on the other, the number of small new settlements was growing, including through resettlement from villages that had become very large.