 Among them was Fyodor Dostoyevsky, who spent four years (1850–1854) at the Omsk prison.The early nineteenth century also saw the growth of industry in the city and in the rest of the Irtysh basin.The Siberian Cossack Army was headquartered in Omsk after 1808 and contributed to the development of the city, by the beginning of the 20th century the Cossacks were a dominant component in the society of both the city of Omsk and the surrounding lands, having reached a population of 174 thousand and holding title to five million hectares of agricultural land.