Entrepreneurial transhumance in Bessarabia (1812-1853)

At the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, in the context of penetration of capitalist relations and the territorial losses associated with the annexation of Bessarabia and Bukovina, the Carpathian transhumance phenomenon develops new peculiarities. Namely, the analysis of documentary sources indicates the existence in this period of two types of transhumance. The first type, which we can call conventionally “traditional”, had a seasonal character determined by the annual climate change. The second type, which we can call conventionally “entrepreneurial”, targeted the bringing of cattle for fattening and subsequent shepherding directly to markets, for sale. While the traditional transhumance practically ceased in Bessarabia after the lands in the southern regions were distributed for colonization, the entrepreneurial transhumance developed throughout the whole period, being carried especially by Armenians and Jews of Habsburg subjection. In this second type of transhumance, the shepherds were substituted by entrepreneurs, who bought lambs, calves and foals from different owners and then drove them “to pasture and wintering” in Bessarabia, where they rented uninhabited lands and hired workers. Then the mature herds were shepherded outside Bessarabia for sale at various fairs of Galicia and Bukovina, and even Moravia. The Russian customs agencies on the Prut recorded the seasonal migration of livestock in figures and names, routes and duration. The tsarist authorities did not completely prohibit this phenomenon, despite the complaints of local entrepreneurs. On the contrary, aiming to increase the accumulations resulting from customs duties and various taxes on livestock, they stimulated it, allowing free entry into the territory of Bessarabia for foreign subjects dealing with cattle trade.