In order to gain demographic information on the newly-acquired Armenian territory, the Tsarist authorities dispatched Ivan Chopin to the oblast in 1829 to conduct a census of the population.[10] Muslims, including Tatars (today Azerbaijanis), Kurds, and Persians, formed the majority of the population, while Christian Armenians formed a very significant minority. [2] The number of Armenians increased significantly after the Russian government allowed and encouraged Armenians living in Persian and Turkish territory to migrate into Russian Transcaucasia. Armenian captives who had lived in Persia since 1804 or even as far back as 1795 were permitted to return.[11] By 1832, about 45,000 Armenians had resettled in the oblast.[12]