Potato riots

In 1834 unrest flared up in Vyatsky and Vladimir provinces, but it reached its height among the state peasants in 1840–44.

Riots appeared simultaneously and they were partly in response to Pavel Kiselyov's reforms of state villages (1837–41).

In the provinces of Ural and the lower Volga Region more than 500,000 peasants rose up destroying sowings of potatoes, and thrashing officials.

Aside from ethnic Russians, participants in the riots included the Mari population, Chuvashes, Udmurts, Tatars, and Komi.

The eschatological rumours associating potato planting with the service to the Antichrist has also contributed to the magnitude of the disturbances.