 It was located on the border between Lithuanian and Russian lands, and intermittently changed affiliation between Lithuania (later Poland) and the Grand Duchy of Moscow, until in 1654 it finally went to Moscow.In the course of the administrative reform carried out in 1708 by Peter the Great, the area was included into Belsky Uyezd of Smolensk Governorate and remained there until 1929, with the exception of the brief periods between 1713 and 1726, when it belonged to Riga Governorate, and between 1775 and 1796, when Smolensk Governorate was transformed into Smolensk Viceroyalty.On 12 July 1929, governorates and uyezds were abolished, and Belsky District with the administrative center in the town of Bely was established.