1753–1764 → Abolished 1764 | Established 1753 Capital Artemivsk (Bahmut) | |
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Slavo-Serbia (Ukrainian: Слов’яносе́рбія; Russian: Славяносербия (Slavyanoserbiya); Serbian: Славеносрбија or Slavenosrbija; archaic Serbian name: Славено-Сербія) was a territory of Imperial Russia between 1753 and 1764. It was located by the right bank of the Donets River between the Bakhmut (Бахмут) and Luhan (Лугань) rivers. This area today constitutes the territories of present-day Luhansk Oblast and Donetsk Oblast of Ukraine. The administrative centre of Slavo-Serbia was Bakhmut (Bahmut).
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History
By the decree of the Senate of May 29, 1753, the free lands of this area were offered for settlement to Serbs, Vlachs (Romanians), Bulgarians, Greeks and other Balkan peoples of Orthodox Christian denomination to ensure frontier protection and development of this part of the steppes. Slavo-Serbia was directly governed by Russia's Governing Senate and College of War. The settlers eventually formed the Bakhmut hussar regiment in 1764. Also in 1764, Slavo-Serbia was transformed into the Donets uyezd of Yekaterinoslav Governorate (now in Dnipropetrovs'ka oblast', Ukraine). Commandants of Slavo-Serbia were Colonels Rajko Preradović and Jovan Šević. These Serbian colonels led their soldiers in various Russian military campaigns; in peacetime they kept the borderlands, along with the Cossacks, free from incursions by other states.
Demographics
The province had ethnically diverse population that included Serbs, Vlachs (Romanians), and others. In 1755, the population of Slavo-Serbia numbered 1,513 inhabitants (of both genders). In 1756, in the regiment of Jovan Šević, there were 38% Serbs, 23% Vlachs, and 22% others. In 1763, the population of Slavo-Serbia numbered 3,992 male inhabitants, of whom only 378 were Serbs.