A brief cartographic study of the peoples and states that have inhabited the Kharkiv region throughout human history, providing a visual illustration of the changes in the administrative and territorial boundaries of the Kharkiv region over the past 375 years.
34,500 years ago—the first humans (Cro-Magnons)
6,000 years ago—the heart of Indo-European culture
8th–7th centuries B.C. The Cimmerians
7th–4th centuries B.C. The Scythians
3rd century B.C. – 4th century A.D. The Sarmatians
450 A.D. The Empire of Attila
650–969: The Khazar Khaganate
8th–10th centuries: The Pechenegs
11th–13th centuries: The Polovtsians
Early 13th century. Kievan Rus’
14th–16th centuries. The Wild Field. Nominally under the authority of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and later, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The northern part of the Kharkiv region later came under the authority of the Tsardom of Moscow.
1649–1657: The Hetmanate
1650s–1780: The Sloboda Regiments and the Zaporizhian Lower Army
1765–1780: Sloboda-Ukrainian Governorate
1780–1796: The Kharkiv Governorate
1796–1835: Sloboda-Ukrainian Governorate
1835–1917: Kharkiv Governorate
1918 — as part of the Ukrainian People’s Republic
1919: Kharkiv Oblast as part of the Armed Forces of Southern Russia
1925–1932: Kharkiv District
1932–1939 Kharkiv Oblast
1939, Kharkiv Oblast
For a more detailed account, watch the video from the first lecture of “The Allure of Kharkiv”:
