The article is devoted to the typology of religious sectarianism, which spread in the territory of the Tobolsk governorate in the second half of XIX - early XX century. Material is the complex of management and statistical sources, that are stored by the State archive in Tobolsk. It is demonstrated that the documents show a steady growth the followers of the sects of Skoptsy , Khlysty , Doukhobory , Shtundists, nemolyaki , subbotniki , Baptists, Adventists, Molokans, Mennonites in the governorate during the considered chronological period. The authors point to the lack of a common terminology in the sources, to many self-designations in the followers of sects, note the difficulty of accounting the sectarians for the local Church and the administrative-police apparatus of control. The need to study these aspects at the present stage is emphasized. The definitions of sectarianism are given. Its distinctive features and characteristics are presented. The comparative-critical analysis (in terms of chosen territorial and chronological boundaries) of classifications of sectarianism available in science, contained in the works of Russian pre-revolutionary, Soviet and modern researchers, is made. For further study of the history of sectarianism, the authors took as a basis the idea of dividing the sects in the rationalistic and the mystical. The appeal to the historical periodization of the development of sectarianism allowed to justify the religious nature of the sects operating in the territory of the Tobolsk governorate.