Viceroyalty of the Caucasus
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The Viceroyalty of the Caucasus is a term used to denote the Imperial Russian administrative and political authority in the Caucasus region exercised through the offices of glavnoupravlyayushchiy (Russian: главноуправляющий) (1801-1844, 1882-1902) and namestnik (наместник) (1844-1882, 1904-1917). These two terms are commonly, but imprecisely, translated into English as viceroy which is frequently used interchangeably with Governor General. More accurately, glavnoupravlyayushchij is referred to as High Commissioner of the Caucasus, and namestnik as Viceroy.
The office was established after the Russian annexation of Georgia in 1801. General Karl Knorring was first to assume this position, being officially titled as the Commander-in-Chief in Georgia and Governor General of Tiflis. The Viceroyalty later expanded to encompass the territories acquired by Russia in a series of wars with the Ottoman Empire, Persia, and the local Caucasian peoples. Headquartered at Tiflis (Tbilisi, Georgia), the viceroys acted as de facto ambassadors to neighboring countries, commanders in chief of the armed forces, and the supreme civil authority, mostly responsible only to the tsar. From February 3, 1845, to January 23, 1882, the viceregal authority was supervised by the Caucasus Committee, which consisted of representatives of the State Council and the ministries of Finances, State Domains, Justice, and Interior, as well as of members of special committees. After the 1917 February Revolution, which dispossessed Tsar Nicholas II of the Russian crown, the Viceroyalty of the Caucasus was abolished by the Russian Provisional Government on March 18, 1917, and all authority, except in the zone of the active army, was entrusted to the civil administrative body called the Special Transcaucasian Committee or Ozakom (short for Osobyi Zakavkazskii Komitet, Особый Закавказский Комитет).
[edit] High Commissioners and Viceroys of the Caucasus[1]
- Karl Knorring 1801-1802
- Pavel Tsitsianov 1802-1806
- Ivan Gudovich 1806-1809
- Alexander Tormasov 1809-1811
- Filippo Paulucci 1811-1812
- Nikolay Rtishchev 1812-1816
- Aleksey Yermolov 1816-1827
- Ivan Paskevich 1827-1831
- Grigori Rozen 1831-1838
- Yevgeni Golovin 1838-1842
- Aleksandr Neidgart 1842-1844
- Mikhail Vorontsov 1844-1854
- Nikolay Muravyov 1854-1856
- Aleksandr Baryatinsky 1856-1862
- Grigol Orbeliani (acting) 1862
- Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolayevich 1862-1882
- Aleksandr Dondukov-Korsakov 1882-1890
- Sergei Sheremetyev 1890-1896
- Grigori Golitsin 1896-1904
- Yakov Malama (acting) 1904
- Illarion Vorontsov-Dashkov 1904-1916
- Grand Duke Nikolay Nikolayevich 1916-1917
