The article is devoted to the problems of social unrest caused by cholera epidemics in Russia in the 19th century. The subject of the author’s research is regional problems, namely the events that took place in the Saratov province, which still remain poorly studied in historiography. Based on the analysis of documentary materials stored in the State Archives of the Saratov Region, the causes and consequences of the “cholera riots” in the Saratov province are revealed.