ABSTRACT
Information provided by contemporary descriptive surveys makes it possible to assess the size and economic importance of the towns of Moscow guberniia in the late eighteenth century. Among the towns of Moscow guberniia, Serpukhov, Vereia, Ruza, Volokolsmsk and Zvenigorod complained to the Legislative Commission about competition from rural markets. Rural industrial production was major source of income for the peasantry of Moscow guberniia. The 1794 and 1795 reports of the Iaroslavl' provincial treasury confirm the supremacy of Rostov, at least among the uezd towns of the province, as a pole of attraction for peasant immigrants. Peasants of the heavily forested Maloga and Poshekhon'e districts dealt in lumber and firewood, which they brought to various points on the Volga for disposal. Peasant involvement in Volga shipping was not limited to service as hired laborers. Some peasants were the owners of river vessels, on which they transported their own cargoes or those of other traders.
