The article is devoted to the analysis of the concept of culture in the sociology of history worked out by the outstanding Russian scientist and public figure, honorary academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences N. I. Kareev. The article explores some aspects of the formation of sociology of history associated with the use of the concept of culture. Kareev in his works highlighted and paid great attention to the methodology of history, social and humanitarian knowledge in the context of cultural and evolutionary epistemology. He owes in many respects the merit of developing the philosophical foundations of historical sociology and the sociology of culture. The purpose and task of the article is to reveal and study the place and significance of the category of culture in his sociology of the history; to substantiate the uniqueness of N. I. Kareev's cultural and evolutionary epistemology. A historical and conceptual analysis of Kareev's views on sociology is also used. In this regard, we consider his attitude