Principality of Smolensk
The area in the Middle Ages belonged intermittently to the Principality of Smolensk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and Poland. In the course of the administrative reform carried out in 1708 by Peter the Great, the area was included into Smolensk Governorate and remained there until 1929, with the exception of the brief periods between 1713 and 1726, when it belonged to Riga Governorate, and between 1775 and 1796, when Smolensk Governorate was transformed into Smolensk Viceroyalty. It was split between Smolensky, Dorogobuzhsky, and Dukhovshchinsky Uyezds.