Tobolsk in the XIXth century

The beginning of the XIXth century was characterized by a gradual loss of a former status of the capital of Siberia by Tobolsk. The process was started in 1782, when Siberia was divided into two governor-rained regions: Tobolsk and Irkutsk. In 1838 after a number of territorial reforms the administrative center of the Western Siberia was moved to Omsk. This resulted in an outflow of labour resources to the south of the province. Tobolsk still preserved its importance as an administrative and spiritual center, but it inevitably would fail to keep the pace with rapidly growing towns in the Ural and Siberia. At that time the Tobolsk province was divided into 10 districts; Beryezovo, Ishym, Kurgan, Surgut, Tarsk, Tobolsk, Tukalinsk, Tyumen, and Yalutorovsk. In the southern towns industry and trade were actively developed with resulting merchants’ impact upon economic and public life. The railway road Ekaterinburhg – Tyumen, built in 1885 some hundred kilometers away from Tobolsk, increased the gap and facilitated a lot to the growth of Tyumen importance both in trade and economics. Since then the former capital of Siberia, Tobolsk, had never developed into a trade or industrial center. The town was maintained by its time-proven fame. Despite the fact that Tobolsk had been ranked among ordinary provincial towns, some significant events would still occur there. In 1870 the Tobolsk museum, one of the oldest in Siberia, started its functioning. The Tobolsk drama theatre lived through its upper rise. Some unique crafts got developed, among them the famous Tobolsk bone-carving. The fairy tale writer Piotr Ershov, the composer Alexander Alayabjev, the artist and researcher Mikchail Znamenski lived in Tobolsk in various periods.