Sects on the Territory of the Province of the Don Cossack Host in 1908–1916, their Number and Localization (Based on the Materials of the Clergy Lists of the Don and Novocherkassk Diocese)

Since the mid-19th century, a number of socio-cultural and political reasons led to the widespread development of sectarianism in the Russian Empire. The Province of the Don Cossack Host was not aside of this process, where the proponents of various sectarian teachings, in addition to the Russian sects that were developed on the Don in the 18th century, were the little Russian population, the population of the German colonies, as well as missionaries who preached various doctrines in the Province of the Don Cossack Host (with the exception of the Taganrog city administration, Rostov-on-Don and the Azov settlement with adjacent territories), rationalist sects of Baptists, Evangelical Christians, Stundists, Molokans, Dukhobors, Tolstoyans, Sabbatarians and Mennonites were widespread. Of the mystical sects, the sects of Khlysty and New Israel were spread here. Representatives of fanatical
sects were not recorded on the Don. The number of sectarians reached 4224 people. The Molokan sect was the most numerous, the Baptist sect was the second largest, and the Khlysty – the third, followed by the Mennonite and Stundist sects. Less than 100 people belonged to the New Israel sect. Small number (10 people) were a part of the sect of Doukhobors, Sabbatarians, Tolstoyans
and Evangelical Christians.
Sectarians who were not persecuted by the military authorities were unevenly distributed in all districts of the Province of the Don Cossack Host. The location of the settlement was of no importance to them. It could be both Cossack villages and farms, and peasant slobodas and settlements. A characteristic feature of the Don sectarianism was cohabitation in small groups, although there were also large communities localized in one borough. The most revealing example of this was the community of Mennonites living in the village of Grekovo-Polninskiy. In some localities, representatives of two different sects lived with the majority of the Orthodox population. Cohabitation was characterized by conflict-free living, which was indicative of the multi-ethnic and multiconfessional Don Region.