More than 150 years ago, in 1860, the preparation of the peasant reform was in full swing in the Russian Empire, which primarily envisaged the liberation of serfs. That is why the ransom of peasants into the wild, which flourished only a year earlier, practically stopped - and thus, human trafficking in Russia actually ended.
The rules for buying and selling serfs and their prices have changed many times. In 1782, for example, a one-year-old girl was valued at 50 kopecks, which was more expensive than a pig, but cheaper than an old horse. The most expensive were cooks, hairdressers and other masters of their craft, as well as those who were sold as recruits. So the trade of future soldiers has become a separate and most profitable segment of the human market.
“During the reign of Catherine,” wrote Academician V. Klyuchevsky, “the trade of serf souls with land and without land developed even more than before; the prices for them were established - indicated, or state, and free, or noble. At the beginning of Catherine's reign, when whole villages bought a peasant soul with land, it was usually valued at 30 rubles, with the establishment of a borrowed bank in 1786, the price of a soul rose to 80 rubles, although the bank accepted noble estates as collateral for only 40 rubles. per soul. At the end of Catherine's reign, it was generally difficult to buy an estate for less than 100 rubles. per soul. In retail sales, a healthy employee who was bought into recruits was valued at 120 rubles. at the beginning of the reign and 400 rubles at the end of it.
These rough estimates were made a year later by Klyuchevskoy, most likely on the basis of newspaper ads and memoirs. However, accurate information about the price of peasants in the Catherine's era has also been preserved. In 1782, at the request of the captain of the second rank Pyotr Andreevich Bornovolokov, an inventory was made of the property of his insolvent debtor, Captain Ivan Ivanovich Zinoviev. Officials scrupulously wrote down and appreciated everything - from the dilapidated manor house to utensils, livestock and peasants.
“In the Chukhloma district in the Great Hermitage volost, in half of the Maltsova estate …
In the yard of the cattle: a red gelding, an adult in years, according to the estimate of 2 rubles, a piebald gelding 12 years old, according to estimates. 1 RUB 80 kopecks, 9 years old gelding - 2 rubles. 25 kopecks, red gelding 5 years old - 3 rubles. 50 kopecks, black mare, adult in years - 75 kopecks; a roan mare, in the years an adult - 95 kopecks. Horned: 6 cows, each cow for 2 rubles 10 kopecks, estimated at 12 rubles. 60 k., 7 puffs, each for 25 kopecks, estimated at 1 rub. 75 kopecks; 10 sheep, each of 40 k., Estimated at 4 rubles; 9 pigs, each for 20 kopecks, for 1 rub. 80 k. Birds: 3 geese, estimated at 75 kopecks; 2 Indian chickens, 1 rooster, at a price of 75 kopecks, 2 ducks, 1 drake, each for 7 kopecks; 15 Russian chickens, two roosters, 2 kopecks each. and a half, by 45.5 kopecks.
In that yard there is a grain barn, covered with pancakes on birch bark, estimated at 1 ruble. 50 kopecks; it contains different kinds of bread: rye 5 quarters, according to an estimate of 4 rubles. 80 kopecks, wheat 1 quarter - 2 rubles, oats 6 quarters - 4 rubles. 80 kopecks."
All the serfs of Captain Zinoviev were assessed in more detail:
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“In this courtyard of courtyard people: Leonty Nikitin is 40 years old, according to an estimate of 30 rubles. His wife Marina Stepanova is 25 years old, estimated at 10 rubles. Efim Osipov 23 years old, estimated 40 rubles. His wife Marina Dementieva is 30 years old, estimated at 8 rubles. They have children - the son of Guryan, 4 years old, 5 rubles, the daughter of the girl Vasilisa, 9 years old, according to the estimate of 3 rubles, Matryona is one year old, according to the estimate of 50 rubles. Fedor is 20 years old, according to the estimate of 45 rubles. Kuzma, single, 17 years old, estimated at 36 rubles. Dementyev's children. Fedor's wife Ksenia Fomin is 20 years old, according to an estimate of 11 rubles, they have a daughter, a girl Katerina, two years old, according to an estimate of 1 rubles. 10 k. Yes, Ivan Fomin, single, 20 years old, transported from the Vologda district from the Erofeykov estate, at an estimate of 48 rubles. The girl Praskovya Afanasyeva is 17 years old, estimated at 9 rubles.
In this estate Maltsov peasants: in the courtyard of Iyuda Matveyev is 34 years old, according to an estimate of 24 rubles. 50 kopecks His wife Avdotya Ivanova is 40 years old, estimated at 4 rubles. 25 kopecks They have a son Lavrenty 4 years old, 1 rub. 60 kopecks Daughters: girl Daria 13 years old, estimated 4 rubles, Tatiana 9 years old, 3 rubles. 70 kopecks. Yes, transported from the Belozersk district from the monastery village, in the courtyard, Vasily Stepanov, 25 years old, crooked, according to an estimate of 18 rubles. 40 kopecks. His wife Natalya Matveeva is 40 years old, estimated at 3 rubles. 50 kopecks They have children, sons: Grigory is 9 years old, estimated at 11 rubles. 80 kopecks., Fedor 7 years old, estimated at 7 rubles. 90 kopecks. Yes, the son Grigory, who remained after the deceased peasant Nikita Nikiforov, is 13 years old, according to an estimate of 12 rubles. 25 kopecks."
Such low prices, perhaps, were explained by the fact that the parish was provincial, and the village was run-down. But it is obvious that this order of prices existed throughout the Russian hinterland. In capitals and large cities, where large capitals were turned over, prices for serf souls were much higher. Moreover, the price of a serf depended on the market situation and the consumer qualities of the goods.
So, very expensive, in a few thousand rubles, skilled chefs were valued. For an experienced cuafer, a hairdresser, they asked for at least a thousand. Serfs inclined to trade were a special article. The owners lined them up with a significant rent, and some of these merchant peasants brought in income no less than a large estate. One of these fellows recalled that the serfdom not only did not burden him, but also helped in business. A noble master with great connections served as a good cover from the raids of petty officials. But when the quitrent began to burden him unreasonably, taking away circulating assets and destroying trade, he decided to redeem himself and offered 5 thousand rubles for his freedom. To which he received the answer: "And forget to think."
The history of domestic commerce knew cases when serf traders bought themselves with their families for mind-boggling sums - 25 thousand rubles. and higher. For this money it was possible to buy an estate that was quite significant in terms of the number of souls. So, the serf S. Purlevsky wrote in his memoirs that at the end of the reign of Catherine II, the owner of his native village, Prince Repnin, who was in need of money, suggested that the peasants let everyone loose with land if they collected 25 rubles. for every person living in the village. The peasants thought about it and refused. And then we bitterly regretted it. A quarter of a century later, one of the following owners asked the peasants at once in exchange for the cancellation of taxes for ten years 200 thousand rubles. For sure, the peasants did not have such money, and the master received money in the Noble Ward, laying the foundation of the village. As it turned out, the soul was valued at 250 rubles,and after a complete calculation, it turned out that each peasant in repayment of the debt must pay 350 rubles in addition to taxes for the same ten years. And three decades later, Purlevsky had to pay 2.5 thousand rubles for the ransom for the freedom of his son.
Memoirists recalled that the methods of selling people were divided into home and fairgrounds. In the first case, the buyer himself came to the seller's house or estate and on the spot decided all issues of sale and purchase, which was then registered in the relevant state offices with the payment of a duty of several rubles for each sold. If the sale was carried out in bulk or there were no buyers according to the ad, a special broker was invited to go with the goods to the market or, if he wanted to get more profit, to the fair, often to Nizhny Novgorod.
Only with the accession of Alexander I, some restrictions began to be imposed on human trafficking. Thus, in 1801, the emperor forbade the publication of advertisements for the sale of people in newspapers. But advertisers and advertisers immediately found a way out: they began to write in the ads about the leasing of serfs. And in 1808 sales of people at fairs stopped.
Further restrictions fell on the era of Nicholas I. In 1833, it was forbidden to separate when selling a family. Then the purchase of peasants was forbidden to landless nobles. And in 1847, the peasants received the right to buy their own will if their owner went bankrupt.