L’occhio vigile del sovrano. La Sezione territoriale del Ministero degli Interni zarista

The Land Section (Zemskii otdel) of the Ministry of Interiors was one of the most important bureaucratic institutions of the Tsarist Empire. Although it was conceived originally as an office for collecting reform proposals in view of the peasant emancipation, it quickly turned into a sort of parallel government often overriding the ministerial hierarchy. It became a highly centralized organ supervising local affairs and a channel for collecting information about the vast, diverse territories of the state, the way in which the Petersburg administration sought to acquire direct, independent knowledge about remote provinces. This essay examines the archival fonds of the Land Section as a container of information that can reveal a style of rule. Examining how this large collection of documents was built – according to which criteria and selecting which subjects of interest – can help formulate a few hypothesis about the functioning of the Tsarist state and the exercise of power in a particular historical stage.