The Taurida Oblast is created by a decree of Catherine the Great on February 2, 1784 in place of the Crimean Khanate conquered by the Russian Empire in 1783.

The establishment decree divides the oblast into seven uyezds (approximately corresponding to the English term counties), including Tmutarakan on the Taman peninsula across the Strait of Kerch.

The center of the oblast is first in Karasubazar but is moved to Simferopol later in 1784.