Much has been written about the campaign of Ataman Ermak and his Cossack army in Siberia. Both artistic works and historical research. Ermak, alas, did not have his own , who kept a diary and described in detail the entire circumnavigation of F. Magellan. Therefore, scientists and researchers have to be content with only circumstantial evidence, verify the texts of various chronicles, royal decrees and memoirs of contemporaries of the campaign.

Historians have quite detailed information about the military operations of the Cossacks in Siberia. But much less is known about the very transition of the Yermak squad from the lower reaches of the Chusovaya to the banks of the Tobol. But this is a distance of one and a half thousand kilometers!

Vasily Surikov. "Conquest of Siberia by Yermak", 1895

All the information on this subject boils down to something like this: the Cossacks on plows sailed from the Verkhnechusovskie towns up the Chusovaya either in the fall or in the middle of summer 1579 ?, 1581? 1582? years, climbed along its right tributary of the river. Silver to the Ural watershed. Somewhere here they stopped for the winter. In the spring they went down to the Tagil River, along the Tagil - to Tura, along the Tura - to Tobol, where in October battles began with the troops of the Siberian ruler Kuchum ...

Everything. No specifics, just generalities. With such uncertainty, any lover of historical details may have the following questions:

When exactly did Yermak set off on his campaign?

On what plows or boats did the Cossacks go? With or without sails?

How many versts per day did they cover up the Chusovaya?

How and for how many days did you climb Silver?

How they carried it across the Ural Range.

Did the Cossacks winter on the pass or did they not winter?

If they wintered, then why did they get to Siberia only by October?

How many days did you go down the rivers Tagil, Tura and Tobol?

How much time did the "march" of the Cossacks take to reach the capital of Siberia?

Let's try to find answers to these questions. We do not have diaries, authentic testimonies and direct evidence. Therefore, our only tool will be logic.

Start time of Yermak's expedition to the east

The exact date of the start of Yermak's troops is not known for certain. It is defined as 1579, 1581 and 1582. Most likely, it was 1582. But we are interested not so much in the year as in the time of the start of the expedition.

The textbook date (according to the Remezov Chronicle) is September 1. According to other sources - the middle of summer. In fact, this is a fundamental question. Let's reason sequentially. Let's start with the strength of the Cossack army.

How many people were in Yermak's squad?

Cossacks from the Yaik to the Sylva (the left tributary of the Chusovaya) came 540 people. Plus, 300 military men were sent to help them by the Stroganovs. A total of about 800 people. This figure is not in doubt. It is very important for further discussions.

On what ships did Yermak's army set out on a campaign?

According to some reports, Yermak's army plunged into 80 plows. Or about 10 people per ship. What were these "strings"? With a high degree of probability, it can be assumed that these were large rowing flat-bottomed boats suitable for passage along the shallow Ural rivers.

In general, a rowing flat-bottomed boat in the Urals is the most common vessel. There was no sailing "culture" as such, simply because there was nowhere to sail. A sail requires a mast, and a mast requires rigging, canvas, etc. With a slanting sail on a narrow river, you can’t “maneuver” much. A straight sail is useful only with a fair wind. On such winding rivers as the Chusovaya or Silver, catching a tailwind is a disastrous business. Sails in this part of the campaign would be just a hindrance. Although they could come in handy later - on the Tour, Tobol and Irtysh. Therefore, it is not worth completely rejecting the presence of some kind of light sails on Cossack plows. But when moving up the Chusovaya and its tributaries, the main engine was muscular strength.

Perhaps this is how the plows on which the army of Yermak went

Boat construction

Chusovaya and other Ural rivers in the middle reaches are rocky and extremely shallow. Therefore, the boat must have a shallow draft. It gives, as already mentioned, only a punt. In addition, Yermak and his chieftains knew that they would have to overcome the Ural watershed by dragging. Therefore, the boats had to be not large and not heavy so that they could be dragged along an unprepared portage. And where necessary - even on the hands.

By the way, look carefully up at the painting by V. Surikov. In the foreground, a Cossack plow is clearly distinguishable - the artist presented it as an ordinary boat.

Boat capacity

10 people plus the same amount of cargo. Cargo - supplies, equipment and weapons (squeaked, small mortars and a large supply of gunpowder and buckshot).

Rowers sat in pairs, 1 person for each oar. Perhaps he was the helmsman. On small rifts, which are abundant on Chusovaya (and especially on Serebryaya), people went straight into the water and walked along the bottom to drag the boat with equipment.

In September, in the Urals, the water in the rivers is already cold. There is nowhere to dry and warm during the hike. Rubber boots have not yet been invented. Walking in cold water with bare feet meant getting a whole bunch of diseases - from colds and arthritis to pneumonia. Yermak could not understand this. For this reason alone, the statement about the beginning of the campaign in early autumn, “looking at the winter”, is highly doubtful. It was reasonable to have time to pass the shallow Ural rivers in warmth.

About movement speed

On a modern kayak downstream on Chusovaya, you can do 20-30 kilometers a day if you row 8 hours in a row. The speed of the current of the Chusovaya itself in the middle of summer between rifts is small - from 2 to 5 km / h. The speed of a loaded rowing boat in still water during long measured rowing is a maximum of 7-8 km / h. (Moreover, an increase in the number of rowers does not add speed in the same proportion, only a slight decrease in the load on each rower.)

Then the speed of advancement of the Cossack plows forward relative to the coast will be ~ 3-5 km/h. Including in those places where boats were dragged on ropes from the shore, like barge haulers. If we assume that they worked with oars and legs for 8-9 hours a day, then the flotilla could move forward by about 25-30 km per day. But with rollovers, drifts, forced stops, fatigue at the end of the day, and other slowdowns like boat repairs, 20km a day is the most optimistic daily distance. Moreover, by the end of the day, the hands of the rowers should have simply fallen off from fatigue. But you still need to stay for the night, make a fire, cook food, sleep well in order to restore strength ...

How many days did it take to go up the Chusovaya?

The distance from the Verkhnechusovskie towns to the town of Chusovoi along the channel is about 100 km. From Chusovoy to the mouth of the river. Silver - another 150 miles. Total 250. This distance can be overcome in two weeks. (If in reality the path to the Landmark Duck was chosen, then plus 50 km, or 2-3 days of travel.)

Finally, the main argument - the legs feed the wolf! Not for that, the Cossacks were going on a military campaign, just to hang around in the middle of the taiga for half a year!

Cossacks on the river Tagil built a new fleet

There is a version that the Cossacks abandoned their plows when climbing the pass on the river. Silver, went down on foot to the Tagil River (to Ermakov settlement or another place) and built new plows here. But in order to build plows, you need boards. In large quantities. This means that the Cossacks had to prudently stock up on saws, nails, impregnation, build a sawmill, carry logs to this very sawmill, manually cut so many boards! I can hardly imagine free Cossack robbers who traded in robberies and war (in fact, bandits from the main road!), Carrying logs on the ridge and building a whole fleet! Again, there must have been traces left in the place of such a massive construction. But there is nothing...

It is believed that the Cossacks built rafts. Yes, rafts are easy to make. But the rafts are slow and extremely clumsy. On the raft you can’t go through shallows and rifts. And then along the Tura and Tobol on wide water - how to maneuver and move on rafts? In addition, rafts are extremely vulnerable to enemy arrows.

So, Yermak and his comrades, having overcome the most difficult section of the road by land, descended to Barancha, then to Tagil, from which they rushed at full speed along the Tura to Tobol. This scenario is also evidenced by the dates of the first clashes between the Cossacks and the soldiers of Kuchum - October 20. And on October 26, the capital of the Siberian Khanate had already fallen under the onslaught of Yermakov's rati.

How long did it take to go down Tagil, Ture to Tobol?

The entire distance from the mouth of the river. Barancha on Tagil to the mouth of the river. The Tura at the confluence with the Tobol is about 1000 km along the channel. Downstream, you can walk 20-25 km a day without even straining yourself. This means that the entire path from the Ural watershed to Tobol could be covered in 40-50 days, or about a month and a half.

Now we summarize the total time of Yermak's squad in the campaign:

20 days up the Chusovaya to the mouth of the river. Silver

10 days up Silver

10 days - organization of portage and dragging of boats on the watershed

50 days down Tagil and Tura

10 days along the Tobol to the confluence with the Irtysh

It turns out 100 days or three and a half months.

The countdown gives an approximate date for the start of Yermak's squad from the Verkhnechusovskie towns. We subtract 100 days from October 25 and get approximately the middle of July. Given the allowable errors, this could have been the beginning of summer, that is, June-mid-July. Not September 1st.

Conclusions:

Yermak's army reached the banks of the Kama to Tobol in about 100 days.

The Cossacks moved along the rivers on light oar-sailing plows.

Ermak did not do any wintering on the Ural watershed.

The beginning of Ermak's campaign is the middle or the beginning of summer, but not autumn!

The campaign of Yermak's squad was a military raid on enemy territory with the aim of: elimination of the threat of attacks on Russian possessions in the Urals(for the Stroganovs), capturing rich booty(for Cossacks and warriors) , the prospect of expanding the possessions of the Moscow kingdom

All goals have been achieved. hike turned out to be successful due to the suddenness of the strike inflicted by the Cossacks, their superiority in weapons and methods of warfare, experienced commanders and personal organizational skills of Ataman Yermak.

Icebreaker Ermak

Russian travelers and pioneers

Again Travelers of the Age of Discovery

Yermak's campaign in Siberia

Perhaps the most confusing from the point of view of sources was the question of the beginning of the Siberian expedition. So, the early texts of Siberian origin - Synodik to Ermakov Cossacks, the first edition of which was created on the initiative of the Tobolsk Archbishop Cyprian around 1622, and the Main Edition of the Esipovskaya Chronicle, which appeared from the pen of the Tobolsk Archbishop's deacon Savva Esipov in 1636, date back to the beginning campaign by the autumn of 7089 (1580), and the capture of the capital of Kuchumov's "kingdom" of Siberia - by October 26 of the same year. This dating became decisive not only for the annalistic monuments of the Esipov tradition, but also for some works of Moscow origin, including for the chronological story "On the Victory of the Siberian Tsar Kuchum on Besermensky ..." (written in the late 1620s) , the New Chronicler (compiled around 1630) and the Code of 1652

The author of the Stroganov Chronicle adheres to a different chronology in this matter, the main edition of which appeared, apparently, in the 1630s. in Solvychegodsk: Yermak and his comrades appeared in the Urals at the invitation of the Stroganovs in the summer of 7087 (1579), lived "in their towns for two summers and two months", September 1, 7090 (1581) went on a campaign, and on October 26 of the same took possession of the "city of Siberia".

In the "History of Siberia" by the Tobolsk son of the boyar Semyon Ulyanovich Remezov, written at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, it is stated that after the "theft" in 7086-7087 (1578-1579). "at the mouth of the Volga River" Yermak's Cossack gang went to the Kama, where they took "many supplies from the Stroganovs" and moved beyond the Urals. Having reached the "Tagil River ... in the summer of 7088", the Cossacks stopped "in the tract of the Abugai River" for the winter. Thus, if we follow the Remezov chronology, it turns out that the campaign was supposed to begin at the end of summer - the beginning of autumn 7087-7088 (1579). August "taking the city of Tyumen ... and that winter." This, apparently, happened in 7088 (1580). In May 7089 (1581) they moved on with battles and only on October 26, 7090 "went into the city of Siberia." It is easy to see that, as in the Stroganov Chronicle, the initial stage of Ermak's Siberian expedition covers the period from the summer of 1579 to the autumn of 1581, but it is filled with completely different events.

The Short Siberian Kungur Chronicle included in Remezov's "History", which, according to many researchers, is based on the true memories of the participants in the events recorded in the Urals, also stretches the initial stage of the expedition for several years. After the robberies "on the Oka and Volga and at sea" in 7085-7086 (1577-1578), it is said here, Yermak "with the Don and Yeitsk" Cossacks at the end of August 7086 (1578) fled, fleeing from the royal pursuers, up the Volga and the Kama. Having passed further into the mouth of Chusovaya, on September 26 he turned to Sylva and wintered here. At the end of the spring of 7087 (1579), the Cossacks returned to Chusovaya, took the “reserve” and weapons from Maxim Stroganov, and on June 12 continued their journey up the Chusovaya. Having reached the Tagil portage, they "wintered on the Buya settlement", and on June 13 they went further. From this place in the Kungur chronicle, an obvious chronological failure begins, because wintering on the Tagil portage takes place here, as in the Remezov chronicle, all in the same 7087-7088 (1579), although, logically, we should be talking about 7088 -7089 (1580) It is further said that by August 1, 7087 (1579), the Yermakovites arrived at the mouth of the Tobol and defeated the Tatars "on Lake Karachin", after which they "wanted to return back to Russia" and went to Tavda, fought here until late autumn with the Voguls, and only by November 8 "arrived at Karachino", where they wintered. The next episode of the Kungur chronicle already refers to the events of the campaign against Belogorye, which is dated in it in the spring of 7090 (1582), from which it can be logically concluded that the "capture of Siberia" should have occurred a few months earlier, i.e., in the autumn of 7090 (1581) This dating coincides with the indications of both the Stroganov and Remezov chronicles. And this, in turn, allows us to suggest that information about wintering on the Tagil portage was included in the Kungur Chronicle by S.U. Remezov, who at the same time forgot to correct the dates.

In this review, not all are given, but only the chronicle versions about the beginning of Yermak's campaign in Siberia that are most often used by historians. Meanwhile, already at the beginning of the last century, from the moment the first (and, as it turned out, the earliest) list of the Main Edition of the Stroganov Chronicle was discovered, scientists became aware of the full text of the famous "disgraced" letter of Ivan the Terrible sent by Stroganov on November 16, 7091 (1582) to Stroganov. , from which, according to the words of the Cherdyn voivode Vasily Pelepelitsyn, it directly followed that the Stroganovs "sent ... from Ostroshki their Volsk atamans and Cossacks Yermak with comrades to fight Votyaks and Vogulichs and Tatars and Pelym and Siberian places 91 (1582. - A.Sh .) in the year of September on the 1st day (italics mine. - A.Sh.), and on the same day, the Pelymsky prince gathered with Siberian people and with Vogulichi came to war on our Perm places and approached the city to Cherdyn and to the prison ... "Judging by the fact that this letter was addressed not only to Maxim Yakovlevich and Nikita Grigorievich Stroganov, who owned land in the Kama region, but also to their uncle Semyon Anikievich, she was sent to Solvychegodsk. It was here, in the family archives of salt producers, that the author of the Stroganov Chronicle found this document and included it in his work. The original of the Solvychegodsk charter itself has not been preserved, but its authenticity is easily verified, because another charter that has come down to us in the original and is similar in content to it, but addressed only to M. Ya. and N. G. Stroganov and therefore delivered, obviously, to their Perm estates, was discovered in the Stroganov archive by G.F. Miller and later published.

The question arises: why, having this document, the author of the Stroganov Chronicle moved the date of the start of Yermak's campaign to Siberia a year earlier? There can be only one explanation here: in the Solvychegodsk archive, he found several more royal letters (some of them survived and were later published), which contained information that on September 1 ("about Semenya days") 7090 (1581) the Pelymsky prince attacked the Stroganovs' possessions in Perm and ruined them. Having familiarized himself with these documents, the chronicler simply combined in his story two different raids, 1581 and 1582, considering them to be the same, and the answer to the question why during the attack of the Pelymians was the Kama region, where, according to his information, Yermak’s squad was , turned out to be without protection, he found in the royal "disgraced" letter. Not paying attention to the difference in the dates, which he nevertheless mechanically reproduced, the chronicler came to the conclusion that by the time the Pelym prince came in 1581, the Yermakovites were no longer “in the towns”, because on the eve of “the same year Semyon and Maxim and Mikita to the Siberian land on the Siberian Saltan.

Since the time of N. M. Karamzin, the version set forth in the Stroganov Chronicle has become almost generally accepted. True, at the same time the question remained unresolved: how to avoid a contradiction in the dates relating to the Pelym raid? It was proposed, in particular, to amend the dating and the text of the "disgraced" charter of Ivan the Terrible, i.e. read everywhere not 7091, but 7090. It was also suggested that this charter was a belated reaction to the reply to Moscow of the Cherdyn governor V. I. Pelepelitsyn, who, for some reason, reported on the events of the autumn of 1581 only in 1582. Later, the Pelym raids with the light hand of A. A. Vvedensky began to be represented as follows: in the summer of 1580, the Trans-Urals attacked the Stroganov possessions with their Voguls Murza Begbeliy Agtagov (he is also described in the Stroganov Chronicle, but his attack is dated here on July 22, 1581), and on September 1, 1581, that is, immediately after Yermak went to Siberia, he came to Great Perm Pelym prince Kihek with the army.

Relatively recently, R. G. Skrynnikov, relying on the royal letters of the Stroganovs and on the data of the Pogodin chronicler (more on this work will be discussed below), came to the conclusion that we should be talking about two different attacks on the Permian lands - 1581 and 1582. The first of them was headed by the Pelym prince Ablegirim, and the second by Aley, the eldest son of Kuchum. Yermak arrived at the Stroganovs shortly before the second raid. Among some historians, the version of R. G. Skrynnikov found support, while others reacted critically to it.

In connection with the foregoing, one more source deserves attention, which turned out to be practically out of sight of scientists in the context of these disputes. We are talking about the so-called. Vychegodsko-Vymskaya (Misailo-Evtikhievskaya) Chronicle.

The history of her text is very complicated. At the end of the 1580s. With the blessing of Archbishop Anthony of Vologda and Great Perm (who held the chair in 1582-1586), the black priest Misail, the builder of the Ust-Vymskaya Arkhangelsk desert, began work on this work. After his death, chronicle records continued to be kept at the beginning of the 17th century. the Ustvym Annunciation priest Evtikhy, who did this until 1619, until "Vladyka Macarius of Vologda [and] Great Perm ordered the small priests and clergy people to write for nothing." In the future, the chronicle was kept first in Ust-Vym, and then in Okvada. In 1813, by order of the Vologda bishop Yevgeny, she was sent to Vologda, where she disappeared without a trace. However, before that, a certain Vologda seminarian A. Shergin took a copy from the chronicle, which for many years was first in the Vvedenskaya Church in Okvada, then in private hands, and since 1915 - in the Ust-Vymskaya Annunciation Church. In 1927, this copy was discovered in Ust-Vymy by a novice writer and local historian P. G. Doronin and made a list from it. Subsequently, the Shergin copy was also lost somewhere, and P. G. Doronin, 30 years later, prepared the text of the chronicle according to his list for publication.

It should immediately be said that the Vychegda-Vymskaya chronicle contains a number of unique pieces of information. Some of them are verifiable, while others are questionable. A typical example is the message that is available here that in 1451 "the great prince Vasily Vasilyevich sent to the Perm land a governor from the family of Veri princes (italics mine. - A.Sh.) Yermolai and after him Yermolai and his son Vasily to rule the Perm land Vychegotskaya; and the eldest son of Tovo Yermolai, Mikhail Yermolich, he released to Great Perm to Cherdynia. Some researchers took this text uncritically, as a result of which in the literature, including in the educational one, the assertion appeared that in this case we are really talking about representatives of the specific Vereian princes. But, as A. A. Zimin rightly noted, “the Vereisk prince Mikhail Andreevich did not have any relatives of Yermolai and the Yermolichs.” This news is contradicted by the Vychegodsk-Vym Chronicle itself, where, under 1462, it is said that “Vladyka Jonah additionally (additionally. - A.Sh.) baptize Great Perm, put up churches and priests for them, and rule Mikhailov’s crosses (italics mine. - A .Sh.)". Moreover, in the Typographic Chronicle, which contains a similar episode, it is indicated that Jonah baptized "their prince," i.e., Mikhail of Great Perm himself. And in the Ustyug chronicles of the first quarter of the 16th century, in the story that Ivan III in 1504 (in the Vychegodsko-Vymsky chronicle - Vasily III in 1505) "brought Prince Matvey Mikhailovich's patrimony from Great Perm, and in his place sent Prince Andrey Vasilyevich Kovra", the latter is directly said: "So be the first from the Russian princes." Considering the complex history of the text of the Vychegodsko-Vym chronicle, it can be assumed that either its protographer contained another word (for example, "Erensky"), which the black priest Misail read as "Veresky", or later one of the scribes made a similar mistake in relation to its text. annals. In any case, the traditional version is more correct that the Vym and Great Perm princes came from the local tribal nobility and had no family relations with the house of Ivan Kalita.

One of the main sources of unique information of the analyzed monument can be established with a greater or lesser degree of probability. So, B. N. Florya, who devoted a special study to the early (until the beginning of the 16th century) news of the Vychegda-Vym chronicle (he calls it the Komi-Vym chronicle), came to the conclusion that, in addition to the sources pointed out by the first of its compilers, Misail (grand and royal charters kept in the "caskets" of the Ust-Vymskaya Arkhangelsk desert; letters that he "tried" in Vologda "by order" from the archbishop; "lives" of the Perm bishops Stephen, Gerasim, Pitirim and Jonah), to compose the work an early copy of the Ustyug chronicle was used, possibly the Nikon chronicle and the Perm sovereign chronicle that did not reach us, which was also reflected in the Vologda-Perm chronicle. At the same time, according to the observations of B. N. Flory, the data of the Perm sovereign chronicle in the process of working on the Vychegda-Vym chronicle, "probably were subjected to distortions and were greatly reduced, and local names were updated."

In this regard, it can be assumed that the Perm sovereign chronicle, which, according to M.N. Tikhomirov, was kept in Ust-Vym under Bishop Philotheus (he held the chair in 1472-1501), was continued in the subsequent time. And although in 1564 the residence of the Perm lord was transferred to Vologda, the chronicle tradition in Ust-Vymy, apparently, did not interrupt until 1586, that is, until the time when this baton was taken over by the black priest Misail, who began compiling his own chronicle. While working on it, he used as one of the sources not only the Perm imperial chronicle, covering the events of the 12th - early 16th centuries, but also its continuation. It was from here, obviously, that three articles came into the Vychegodsko-Vym chronicle, which should be specially mentioned.

The first of them says that in 1558 "Great Prince Grigory and Maxim granted the children of Anikiev Stroganov (hereinafter my italics. - A.Sh.) a fiefdom to the latrine lands of Great Perm for a hundred miles on both sides of the Kama River and ordered build hills for them, put varnitsa, cook salt, save settlements for the sovereign. Meanwhile, in the letter of commendation of Ivan the Terrible of April 4, 1558, it is not about 100, but about 88 versts, and it was given only to Grigory Anikievich. Where the mysterious Maxim Anikievich came from in the annals is unknown, because Grigory had only two brothers, Yakov and Semyon, and his nephew, Maxim Yakovlevich, was only two years old in 1558.

"Summer 7081 (1573. - A.Sh.)," the second article says, "when an army came to Perm, the Great Mametkul, the son of the Siberian king, plundered and burned cities and towns (italics mine. - A.Sh.)." The same event is described in another charter of Ivan the Terrible, given to Yakov and Grigory Stroganov on May 30, 1547, where, according to salt producers, a slightly different picture is drawn: "and in the 81st (1573. - A.Sh.) Ilyina days from Tobol, brother Mametkul came to the Siberian Saltan, gathered with the army, visited the roads, where the army should go to Perm, and many of our given Ostyaks were beaten, and their wives and children were led in full, and our envoy Tretyak Chebukov and serving Tatars, some went to the Cossack horde, but he beat the Siberian one, and to their de (Stroganovs. - A.Sh.) prison, where our salary, their trades are behind them, the Siberian did not reach for 5 miles. Consequently, the Russian population of Perm the Great was not affected by Mametkul's raid.

Finally, the third article, which is directly related to our topic, looks like this in the Vychegodsk-Vym Chronicle as follows: Vogulichs and Yugorians to Perm the Great to the towns on Sylvensky and Chusovskie, plundered the estates of the Stroganovs. , and Cherdynia attacked, but did not take. That same summer, Maxim and Grigory Stroganovs shelled Cossack vatamans and with them hunting people to fight the Siberian land and the Cossacks who marched for one year fought the entire Siberian one, brought them for the great prince.

Establishing the reliability of this information, let us first turn to the details. Firstly, the Pelym prince is named here by the name of Kikek. A similar spelling of this name (in the form "Kikhek") was reflected in the late Solikamsk chronicle tradition. At the same time, it turned out to be included in the corresponding story, borrowed in an abbreviated form from the Stroganov Chronicle, where the name of the Pelym prince was absent from the very beginning. From the Solikamsk sources, this story migrated to the annalistic compilation of V.N. Berkh and to the "Perm Chronicle" by V.N. Shishonko. As a result, the name of Kihek has firmly entered the historiography, although from the documents of the end of the 16th century. It has long been known that in fact the Pelym prince was called Ablegirim. Sometimes Ablegirim is mistakenly confused with Ablegair (Abu-l-Khair), the son of Kuchum, who was captured by Russians in 1591. remains unknown."

Now, it seems, this source has been established, because for two centuries the Vychegda-Vym chronicle was probably read, as a result of which the name of the Pelym prince first fell into the oral and then into the written tradition. But how did "Kiqek" appear in the chronicle itself? If the Vologda seminarian A. Shergin and local history writer P. G. Doronin, who were related to the history of her text, were initially removed from suspicion, then the only "creator" of this name could only be the black priest Misail himself, who did this in the process of processing and abbreviations of the facts set forth in the continuation of the Perm sovereign chronicle. Here, apparently, there was a classic case of "lieutenant Kizhe": under the pen of Misail, an incorrectly interpreted relative pronoun with the meaning "which" of the type "like", "same", etc., was read, judging by phrase constructions, in protograph.

Another obvious mistake in the article of the Vychegda-Vym chronicle about the events of 1581 is the mention of the name of Grigory Stroganov, who, together with Maxim, allegedly "equipped" the Cossack expedition to Siberia. It is known that Grigory Anikievich Stroganov died on November 5, 1577. In addition to Maxim Yakovlevich and, according to the Stroganov Chronicle, Semyon Anikievich, Nikita, the son and heir of Grigory Anikievich, was involved in the Yermakov campaign. If, at the same time, we recall the article of 1558, we can conclude that only two representatives of the Stroganov family were known by name to the black priest Misail - Grigory and Maxim, whom he inserted into his chronicle in the right place and out of place.

At the same time, unlike the Stroganov Chronicle, the Vychegodsko-Vymskaya chronicle, not knowing about the performance of Begbeliya Agtagov, quite definitely names not one, but two raids in the Kama region, although it refers them, as well as the campaign beyond the Urals of the "Cossack vatamans", to to the same 7089 (1581). It is curious that one of the raids is led, according to the chronicle, by the “Siberian king”, and the other by the “Pelym prince”. Also noteworthy is the indication that the Cossacks conquered Siberia "for a single year".

It is easy to see that the author of this article (and he, obviously, is the same Misail, who "creatively" processed some information contained in the continuation of the Perm sovereign chronicle) for unknown reasons rearranged the leaders of the campaigns, as a result of which the "Siberian king "there were no Tatars in the army, but the" Pelynsky prince "came" from the Totars, Bashkirs, Yugortsy "and only last of all from the" Vogulichi ". If we make a reverse permutation and separate during the raids ("Pelymsky" is attributed to 1581, and "Siberian" - to 1582), timed to coincide with the last campaign of Yermak, then we will get a version close to the one that is built on the basis of royal letters 1581-1582 addressed to the Stroganovs.

Regardless of these documents, another narrative source adheres to a similar chronology and sequence of events - the so-called. Pogodinsky chronicler, who has come down to us in a single list of the end of the 17th century. Since the first edition of his text in 1907, this monument of Siberian chronicle writing, containing unique information about Yermak's campaign, has been considered by researchers as a later revision of the Esipov Chronicle. R.G. also agreed with this opinion. Skrynnikov, who suggested that the text of the chronicler was compiled at the end of the 17th century. a Moscow scribe who had access to the archive of the Posolsky Prikaz, from where he borrowed a number of facts about the Siberian expedition. However, the textological study of the monument, conducted by E.K. Romodanovskaya, allowed her to conclude that the Pogodinsky chronicler goes back to an early protographer that preceded the Esipovskaya chronicle. They were the so-called. Cossack "Writing", handed over around 1622 to the first Tobolsk archbishop Cyprian by the surviving Yermakovites. The author of this protograph, according to E. K. Romodanovskaya, was Cherkas Alexandrov, a participant in the Siberian campaign (Ivan Alexandrov, son of Korsak, nicknamed Cherkas).

Additional research in this direction, carried out by the author of these lines, generally confirmed, and in some ways clarified the hypothesis of E. K. Romodanovskaya. As it was possible to establish, the text of the Pogodinsky chronicler, through the medium of his protographer, who appeared after 1636, goes back to the Chronicle Tale, created around 1601 by the head of the Tobolsk Yurt Tatars, Cherkas Aleksandrov, an eyewitness and participant in Yermak's campaign in Siberia. Not only Siberian and Uralian works (Synodikon to the Ermakov Cossacks, Esipovskaya and Stroganov Chronicles) turned out to be genetically connected with the same "Tale", but also the monuments of the all-Russian chronicle of the 17th century, including the chronographic story "On the Victory of the Siberian Tsar Kuchum on Besermensky.. .", New Chronicler and Code of 1652

Thus, with the exception of later editorial overlays, which are easily distinguished, the text of the Pogodin chronicler is by far the most reliable source on the topic under study. Based on it, it is possible to reconstruct the chronology and sequence of events contained in Cherkas Alexandrov's Chronicle Tale. This reconstruction, supplemented by data from other sources, allows us to build the next version of Yermak's Siberian campaign.

On the 20th of July, 1581, a Vogul rebellion began in the Stroganov possessions, led by Begbelius Agtagov. Its participants, "coming near the Chusovskie towns and near the Sylvensky prison, began to ruin their surroundings, but were soon defeated. This performance was only one of the links in the chain of events that unfolded on the eastern outskirts of the Muscovite state, in which, obviously, the Siberian Khan was involved Kuchum: in the Middle Volga region, "meadow" and "mountain" cheremis were agitated, with which the Nogai prince Urus maintained contact, and at the end of the summer of the same 1581, having passed through the "Stone" by the old Siberian road along Lozva and Vishera, a vassal invaded the Urals Siberian "king" Pelym prince Ablegirim.His path, marked by pogroms, is accurately recorded by the petition of S.A. and M.Ya. Sh.) in the year about Semenya days (September 1. - A.Sh.) the Pelymsky prince came with an army, and with him seven hundred people, their de settlements on Koiva, and on Obva, and on Yaiva, and on Chusovaya, and on Sylva the villages were all burned out, and people and kr they beat the eaters, they captured the zhon and the children, and they drove away the horses and the animals. Judging by the royal letter sent on November 6, 1581 to N. G. Stroganov, in September "Prince Pelymsky with Vogulichi" was still standing "near the Chusovsky prison."

In the same year 7089 (1581), according to the Pogodinsky chronicler, God "sent" the Cossacks "to defeat Tsar Kuchum" (Pog. S. 130). The events that preceded this are well known. In mid-July 1581, the tsar's ambassador V. I. Pelepelitsyn, who was in the Nogai Horde with Prince Urus, set off for Moscow, accompanied by a Nogai embassy with a guard of 300 horsemen and a trade caravan of Bukhara merchants - "Ordo-Bazarites" to Moscow. In early August, while crossing the Volga near Sosnovy Ostrov (near the Samara River), they were all ambushed and defeated. "Cossacks Ivan Koltso, Bogdan Borbosha, Mikita Pan, Sava Boldyrya and his comrades" took part in the attack. The same pogrom is mentioned from the words of the Cherdyn governor V.I. Siberian places". - A.Sh.) before that they quarreled with us with the Nagai horde, they beat the Nagai ambassadors on the Volga on the ferries, and robbed and beat the Ordobazars, and inflicted many robberies and losses on our people. "

It is noteworthy that the list of "thieves" atamans who attacked the Nogai-Russian embassy does not contain the name of Yermak. R. G. Skrynnikov found the following explanation for this: from the summer of 1581 to the spring of 1582, he fought with his village on the fronts of the Livonian War, after which he joined up on Yaik with the Volga Cossacks, who had previously smashed the embassy. From here, having accepted the offer of M. Ya. Stroganov to serve in his estates, Yermak's squad went to the Urals.

If, in fact, the version is true that "Ermak Timofeevich, Cossack ataman", mentioned in the letter of the Polish commandant P. Stravinsky among those who were part of the Russian rati near Mogilev at the end of June 1581, and the conqueror of Siberia Ermak Timofeev nicknamed Tokmak (see: Pog. S. 130) is one and the same person, then, given the chronology of the Pogodinsky chronicler, the events on the eve of the Siberian expedition can be presented in a slightly different way.

In the summer of 1580, Yermak and his comrades "driven a thousand horses from the Volga" that belonged to the Nogai murza Urmagmet, while killing his "karachey Batugai-baatyr". In the spring of 1581, preparing for a campaign against the western theater of operations, Yermak's Cossacks stole another 60 horses from the same Murza. On June 25, 1581, the Russian corps under the command of the governor, Prince. M. P. Katyrev-Rostovsky, which included the Yermakov detachment, crossed the Dnieper to the region of Mogilev and Orsha. By August 1581, hostilities here had basically ended, and the regiments were "ordered to be in Rzhev."

Meanwhile, at the beginning of May of the same 1581, the Moscow authorities became aware of an attack on Russian possessions not only by the Crimean and Azov, but also by the Nogai Tatars. In response to these treacherous actions on the part of Prince Urus, "Urmagmetya-Murza and other Murzas", the government of Ivan the Terrible actually granted the Volga Cossacks freedom of action against the Nogais. As a result, the Cossack freemen, which included I. Koltso and his comrades, in late June - early July 1581, Saraichik, the capital of the Nogai Horde, located in the lower reaches of the Yaik, was burned and plundered. At the same time, military units were sent against the Tatars, who were plundering Russian lands. Obviously, one of them was the equestrian village of Yermak, transferred from the western borders to the Volga region. In mid-August 1581, pursuing a Nogai detachment of 600 people who were leaving with booty from Temnikov and Alatyr, the Yermakovites reached the Volga crossing near Sosnovy Ostrov, where there was still a gang of "free", Cossacks, who had defeated the Nogai-Russian embassy the day before. . Squeezed on both sides, the Nogais were defeated. Probably, some of them managed to break out of the encirclement and went to Yaik. A united detachment of Cossacks on horseback rushed after them in pursuit.

Having reached Yaik, the Cossacks began to decide the question: what to do next? It was clear that the Moscow government would not forgive them for having robbed the embassy on the Volga. After long disputes, part of the detachment, led by chieftain Bogdan Borbosha, remained in the Yaik region, and the remaining 540 people, including chieftains Ivan Koltso, Nikita Pan, Matvey Meshcheryak, Yakov Mikhailov and Savva Boldyrya, decided to leave for the Urals with Yermak. It was the end of August, ending 7089 (1581), and the Cossacks remembered it well.

According to the Pogodinsky chronicler, the Yermakovites moved from Yaik to the upper reaches of the Irgiz, and from there they went to the Volga (see Pog. S. 130). Apparently, they made this way on horseback. Already on the Volga, the Cossacks moved into boats hidden on one of the secret wharfs (perhaps in the area of ​​the same Pine Island), and moved up the river, "and from the Volga to the Kama River and the Kama River up the same" (Ibid.). Reaching the mouth of the river Chusovoy, turned to Sylva (according to the Kungur chronicle, this happened, as mentioned above, on September 26), where, obviously, they encountered the rearguard of Ablegirim and defeated him. Echoes of these events were later reflected in the stories about the battles of the Yermakovites with the Voguls at the very beginning of their campaign in Siberia, which are read in the chronographic story "On the Victory of the Besermen Siberian Tsar Kuchum ...", in the Stroganov Chronicle, in the Likhachev edition of the Episovskaya Chronicle, in Buzunovsky chronicler, etc. The Cossacks met the onset of winter in a fortified camp on Sylva.

The only written source reporting the wintering of the Yermakovites in these places is the Kungur Chronicle, which says: "... and they buried up the Sylva and in the frost reached the tract, the Yermakov settlement is now dead; and going from the inhabitants they robbed bread and supplies and here they wintered, and for Kamenya they fought and became rich, and fed themselves with bread from Maxim Stroganov.

The plausibility of this story is confirmed by the following facts. In September 1581, when the soldiers of the Pelymsky prince were still standing "near the Chusovsky jail", S. A. and M. Ya. And a month or a month and a half later, they turned to him already for permission to recruit "eager people" into their patrimonial army. At the same time, from the context of their petition, even in the presentation of the royal letter, it becomes clear that they had in mind some real military contingent that they were going to use in the war against the Voguls: "Semyon dei da Maxim of the eager Cossacks and their people (italics mine. - A .Sh.) they do not dare to come to the Vogul uluses without our decree by war." This suggests that the Stroganovs needed only a formal sanction from above, which would allow them to semi-legally employ the wanted "thieves" who, by chance, ended up on Sylva. Knowing the tough temper of the king, the salt merchants were well aware of the riskiness of this enterprise and therefore slyly kept silent about who they decided to involve in the defense of their possessions. As a result, the Stroganovs achieved their goal: by a letter dated December 20, 1581, addressed to the Perm and Solikamsk elders and kissers, all Zemstvo "eager people" were allowed to go "to hire them." “And those vogulichs on their (Stroganovs. - A.Sh.) prisons come with war and repair enthusiasm,” it was said in the same letter, “they would have come on those vogulichs, and after them they were fished ... annoy them with war, and forward them (to Vogulich people - A.Sh.) it was disgraceful [it was] to steal." In allowing military actions against the Voguls, the Moscow government put forward only one condition - not to provoke a big war in the Urals as a result of such actions.

Meanwhile, in December 1581, a new governor, V.I. Pelepelitsyn, arrived in Cherdyn, who replaced Prince. I. M. Yeletsky. Soon news began to reach him about what was being done in the Stroganov estates, but for the time being the governor preferred to remain silent about this, not wanting to quarrel with powerful neighbors even because of the insults and insults inflicted on him by the Cossacks at the Volga crossing. However, when in the late summer - early autumn of 1582 the Perm Territory turned out to be engulfed in the flames of a great war, V.I. Pelepelitsyn, trying to shield himself, remembered everything. “And that (the raid of the Siberian-Pelym army. - A.Sh.) became your treason,” Stroganov said from the words of his formal reply in the “disgraced” letter, “you took the Vogulich and Votyak and Pelym people away from our salary, and they were bullied and war they came to them (hereinafter, my italics. - A.Sh.), and with that enthusiasm they quarreled with the Siberian saltan, and the Volga chieftains (who, as follows from the context of the letter, carried out these actions. - A.Sh.), having called to themselves, the thieves were hired into their prisons without our decree.

But all this will come later. In the meantime, the Yermakovites made winter raids on the "Vogul uluses" from their Sylven camp, not really caring about their consequences. At the same time, the Stroganovs, who received permission from the tsar in late January - early February 1582 to recruit “eager people” into their patrimonial army, were still postponing the final conclusion of an agreement with Yermak and his squad on service. They decided to take this step only in the spring.

“In the summer of 7087 (1579. - A.Sh.), the Stroganov Chronicle says, April on the 6th day (hereinafter my italics. - A.Sh.), I hear God Semyon and Maxim and Nikita Stroganovs from reliable people about the riot and courage of the Volga Cossacks and chieftains Yermak Timofeev with comrades, how on the Volga on the transport Nagais are beaten and the Ardobazars are robbed and beaten ", and sent to them" their people with writing and gifts from many ", inviting the Cossacks" to the Chusovskie towns and in prisons to help them." Apparently, the chronicler constructed this news from various sources. Thus, the indication of the arrival of the Yermakovites "from the great rivers of the Volga", read in the title of this article, obviously goes back to the chronicle protographer, and information about the Cossack "exploits" is clearly borrowed from the "disgraced" royal charter of 1582. Where did the first part of the date come from (7087), unknown. But its second part (April 6) most likely has some kind of documentary basis. Also noteworthy is the date of the arrival of "Ermak Timofeev with his comrades in the Chusovskie towns", placed in the following article: "June on the 28th day, in memory of the holy miracle worker and unmercenary Cyrus and John."

According to the Kungur Chronicle, the departure of Yermak’s squad from the camp on the Sylva occurred around the same time: “And on the 9th day of May, they promised a chapel on the ancient settlement in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. on the hill fort with wives and children, forever settling down. And before June 12 or 13, the Cossacks were already taking supplies and weapons from Maskim Stroganov in the Nizhnechusovsky town. Obviously, in the summer of 1582, Yermak also visited Orel-gorodok (Kergedan), the capital of N. G. Stroganov's Kama possessions. Evidence of this is copied in the XIX century. an inscription on the trunk of a squeaker later lost: "In the city of Kergedan on the Kame River, I, Maxim Yakovlev, the son of Stroganov, give to Ataman Yermak in the summer of 7090 (1582. - A.Sh.)".

During the winter raids on the camps of the Voguls, the Yermakovites collected a lot of information about the lands behind the "Stone". The Stroganovs and their people also told them a lot. As a result, at the end of the summer, a campaign against the Pelym principality was planned, which promised rich booty. July 1582 was spent in preparations, and in August, on the very eve of the Cossack expedition, "Kuchyumov's son Alei came to war against Chusovaya." The attack was carried out through the so-called. Tyumen portage near Sylva with access to the Stroganov towns. Together with Alei, the prince of Pelym Ablegirim, who longed for revenge, also participated in the raid. Since the Yermakovites "Chyusovaya did not let the Siberian fight" (Pog. C 130), the Tatar-Pelym army moved on, ruining the Russian settlements along the Kama along the way, burned the Kama Salt, and on September 1, 1582 besieged Cherdyn. After an unsuccessful attempt to take the capital of Perm, the Great "repentance", according to the Stroganov Chronicle, "went near the Kai town, and that great dirty trick was done." The fact that the enemy "burned the Vymsky districts of Kaigorod and Volosenets" is reported, as already mentioned above, by the Vychegodsko-Vymsky chronicle. At this time, Yermak's squad, which repelled the attack of Alei's army on the Nizhnechusovsky prison and thereby fulfilled its obligations to M. Ya. Stroganov, changed its plans for a campaign against Pelym. “And from those places,” recalled Cherkas Alexandrov, “they, Yermak and his comrades, taught how to think and climb, how would they get to the Siberian land to Tsar Kuchum” (Pog. S. 130). Not later than mid-August of the same 1582, they set off up the Chusovaya, making their own way beyond the Urals. As in the case of the defeat of Saraichik, the Volga Cossacks decided to retaliate with blow for blow. And therefore, Siberia, the capital of "Tsar Kuchum", has now become their main goal.

From Chusovaya, the Yermakovites turned to the mouth of the river. Serebryanka that "came from the Siberian countries to the Chusovaya river on the right side." Climbing up it, they dragged a 25-verst port through the pass "the courts dragged on themselves" to the river. Baranchi and already on it floated, not stopping, "down into the river in Tagil", which flowed into the Tura (Ibid.).

Thus began the swift and daring campaign of the Cossack detachment of Ermak Timofeevich to Siberia. The events that preceded it (the pogrom of the Nogai-Russian embassy on the Volga, the departure of Yermak’s squad from Yaik through the Irgiz, Volga and Kama in the Urals, wintering on the Sylva, the invitation of the Yermakovites by the Stroganovs to serve to defend their possessions from the Vogul raids, the preparation of the Pelym expedition and, finally, the rebuff given to the army of Aley and Ablegirim on Chusovaya) testify that the main initiators of this campaign were not the Stroganovs, and even more so not the state, but the Cossacks themselves, accustomed to acting according to circumstances. They had neither the time nor the opportunity to move slowly, "with skill", to spend the winter on the Tagil portage or on the Tura. From the very beginning, it was a typical robbery raid (“with a return they thought of fleeing to Siberia to break”), which, unexpectedly for the Cossacks themselves, led to the collapse of the formidable Siberian “kingdom” and, due to various circumstances, subsequently dragged on for three whole years.

Adygea, Crimea. Mountains, waterfalls, herbs of alpine meadows, healing mountain air, absolute silence, snowfields in the middle of summer, the murmur of mountain streams and rivers, stunning landscapes, songs around the fires, the spirit of romance and adventure, the wind of freedom are waiting for you! And at the end of the route, the gentle waves of the Black Sea.

Through the mountains to the sea with a light backpack. Route 30 passes through the famous Fisht - this is one of the most grandiose and significant natural monuments in Russia, the highest mountains closest to Moscow. Tourists travel lightly through all the landscape and climatic zones of the country from the foothills to the subtropics, spending the night in shelters.

Home Encyclopedia History of wars More

To the 435th anniversary of the beginning (1581) of the Siberian campaign of Yermak

Ermak Timofeevich - is, perhaps, one of the mysterious personalities in history. His biographical data is not known for certain, as are the circumstances of the campaign he led in Siberia. They serve as material for many mutually exclusive hypotheses, however, there are generally recognized facts of Yermak's biography, and such moments of the Siberian campaign, about which most researchers do not have fundamental differences. The history of the Siberian campaign of Yermak was studied by prominent pre-revolutionary scientists N.M. Karamzin, S.M. Solovyov, N.I. Kostomarov, S.F. Platonov. The main source on the history of the conquest of Siberia by Yermak is the Siberian chronicles (Stroganovskaya, Esipovskaya, Pogodinskaya, Kungurskaya and some others), carefully studied in the works of G.F. Miller, P.I. Nebolsina, A.V. Oksenova, P.M. Golovacheva S.V. Bakhrushina, A.A. Vvedensky and other prominent scientists.

The question of the origin of Yermak is controversial. Some researchers deduce Yermak from the Perm estates of the Stroganovs, salt industrialists, others - from the Totemsky district. G.E. Katanaev suggested that in the early 80s. In the 16th century, three Yermaks acted simultaneously. However, these versions look unreliable. At the same time, Ermak's patronymic is precisely known - Timofeevich, "Ermak" can be a nickname, abbreviation, or distortion of such Christian names as Ermolai, Ermil, Yeremey, etc., or maybe an independent pagan name.

There is very little evidence of Yermak's life before the Siberian campaign. Yermak was also credited with participation in the Livonian War, robbery and robbery of royal and merchant ships passing along the Volga, but there was no reliable evidence of this either.

The beginning of Yermak's campaign in Siberia is also the subject of much controversy among historians, which is conducted mainly around two dates - September 1, 1581 and 1582. Supporters of the beginning of the campaign in 1581 were S.V. Bakhrushin, A.I. Andreev, A.A. Vvedensky, in 1582 - N.I. Kostomarov, N.V. Shlyakov, G.E. Katanaev. The most reasonable date is considered to be September 1, 1581.

A completely different point of view was expressed by V.I. Sergeev, according to whom, Ermak went on a campaign already in September 1578. First, he went down the river on plows. Kame, climbed along its tributary. Sylva, then returned and wintered near the mouth of the river. Chusovoy. Swimming on the river Sylva and wintering on the river. Chusovaya were a kind of training, which made it possible for the ataman to rally and test the squad, accustom it to actions in new, difficult conditions for the Cossacks.

Russian people tried to conquer Siberia long before Yermak. So in 1483 and 1499. Ivan III sent military expeditions there, but the harsh land remained unexplored. The territory of Siberia in the 16th century was vast, but at the same time sparsely populated. The main occupations of the population were cattle breeding, hunting, and fishing. In some places, along the banks of the rivers, the first centers of agriculture appeared. The state centered in Isker (Kashlyk - called differently in different sources) united several indigenous peoples of Siberia: Samoyeds, Ostyaks, Voguls, and all of them were under the rule of the "fragments" of the Golden Horde. Khan Kuchum, from the Sheibanid clan, descended from Genghis Khan himself, seized the Siberian throne in 1563 and set a course to oust the Russians from the Urals.

In the 60-70s. In the 16th century, merchants, industrialists and landowners Stroganovs received possessions in the Urals from Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible, they were also granted the right to hire military people in order to prevent Kuchum raids. The Stroganovs invited a detachment of free Cossacks led by Ermak Timofeevich. In the late 70s - early 80s. In the 16th century, the Cossacks went up the Volga to the Kama, where they were met by the Stroganovs in Keredin (Orel-Gorodok). The number of Yermak's squad, which arrived at the Stroganovs, was 540 people.

Yermak's campaign. Artist K. Lebedev. 1907

Before setting out on a campaign, the Stroganovs provided Yermak and his warriors with everything they needed, from gunpowder to flour. Stroganov stores were the basis of the material base of the Yermak squad. The Stroganovs' people were also dressed up for the campaign to the Cossack ataman. The squad was divided into five regiments, led by elected captains. The regiment was divided into hundreds, those, in turn, into fifty and tens. The squad had regimental clerks, trumpeters, surnachs, timpani and drummers. There were also three priests and a fugitive monk who performed liturgical rites.

The strictest discipline reigned in Yermak's army. By his order, they made sure that no one “brought on himself the wrath of God by fornication or other sinful deeds”, whoever violated this rule was put “in iron” for three days. In Yermak's squad, following the example of the Don Cossacks, severe punishments were imposed for disobedience to superiors and escape.

Having gone on a campaign, the Cossacks along the river. Chusovaya and Serebryanka overcame the path to the Ural Range, further from the river. Serebryanki to the river. Tagil went on foot through the mountains. Yermak's crossing of the Ural Range was not easy. Each plow could lift up to 20 people with a load. Plows of greater carrying capacity on small mountain rivers could not be used.

Yermak's offensive on the river. The tour forced Kuchum to gather his forces as much as possible. Chronicles do not give an exact answer to the question of the number of troops, they only report on the "great host of the enemy." A.A. Vvedensky wrote that the total number of subjects of the Siberian Khan was approximately 30,700 people. Having mobilized all the men capable of carrying weapons, Kuchum could put up more than 10-15 thousand soldiers. Thus, he had a multiple numerical superiority.

Simultaneously with the collection of troops, Kuchum ordered to strengthen the capital of the Siberian Khanate Isker. The main forces of the Kuchumov cavalry under the command of his nephew Prince Mametkul were advanced towards Yermak, whose flotilla by August 1582, and according to some researchers, no later than the summer of 1581, reached the confluence of the river. Tours in the river. Tobol. An attempt to detain the Cossacks near the mouth of the river. Tours failed. Cossack boats entered the river. Tobol and began to descend along its course. Several times Yermak had to land on the shore and attack the Kuchum people. Then there was a major bloody battle near the Babasanovsky Yurts.

Yermak's advance along the Siberian rivers. Drawing and text for "Siberian History" by S. Remezov. 1689

Fights on the river Tobol showed the advantages of Ermak's tactics over the tactics of the enemy. The basis of this tactic was a fire strike and combat on foot. Volleys of Cossack squeakers inflicted significant damage on the enemy. However, the importance of firearms should not be exaggerated. From the squeaker of the end of the 16th century, one shot could be fired in 2-3 minutes. Kuchumlyans basically did not have firearms in service, but they were familiar with them. However, fighting on foot was Kuchum's weak point. Engaging in a fight with the crowd, in the absence of any battle formations, the Kuchumovites suffered defeat after defeat, despite a significant superiority in manpower. Thus, Yermak's successes were achieved by a combination of squeaker fire and hand-to-hand combat using edged weapons.

After Yermak left the river. Tobol and began to rise up the river. Tavda, which, according to some researchers, was done in order to break away from the enemy, respite, and search for allies before the decisive battle for Isker. Climbing up the river Tavda approximately 150-200 miles, Yermak made a stop and returned to the river. Tobol. On the way to Isker were taken gg. Karachin and Atik. Having entrenched himself in the city of Karachin, Yermak found himself on the direct approaches to the capital of the Siberian Khanate.

Before the assault on the capital, Yermak, according to chronicle sources, gathered a circle where the probable outcome of the upcoming battle was discussed. Supporters of the retreat pointed to the many Kuchumians and the small number of Russians, but Yermak's opinion was that it was necessary to take Isker. In his decision he was firm and supported by many of his associates. In October 1982, Yermak launched an assault on the fortifications of the Siberian capital. The first assault failed, around October 23, Yermak struck again, but the Kuchumites repelled the assault and made a sortie, which turned out to be disastrous for them. The battle under the walls of Isker once again showed the advantages of the Russians in hand-to-hand combat. The Khan's army was defeated, Kuchum fled the capital. On October 26, 1582, Yermak entered the city with his retinue. The capture of Isker was the pinnacle of Yermak's success. The indigenous Siberian peoples expressed their readiness for an alliance with the Russians.

The conquest of Siberia by Yermak. Artist V. Surikov. 1895

After the capture of the capital of the Siberian Khanate, Yermak's main opponent remained Prince Mametkul, who, having a good cavalry, made raids on small Cossack detachments, which constantly disturbed Yermak's squad. In November-December 1582, the prince exterminated a detachment of Cossacks who went out to fish. Ermak struck back, Mametkul fled, but three months later reappeared in the vicinity of Isker. In February 1583, Yermak was informed that the prince's camp was set up on the river. Vagay is 100 miles from the capital. The chieftain immediately sent Cossacks there, who attacked the army and captured the prince.

In the spring of 1583, the Cossacks made several campaigns along the Irtysh and its tributaries. The farthest was the hike to the mouth of the river. Cossacks on plows reached the city of Nazim - a fortified town on the river. Ob, and they took him. The battle near the city of Nazim was one of the bloodiest.

Losses in the battles forced Yermak to send messengers for reinforcements. As proof of the fruitfulness of his actions during the Siberian campaign, Yermak sent Ivan IV a captive prince and furs.

The winter and summer of 1584 passed without major battles. Kuchum did not show activity, as it was restless inside the horde. Yermak took care of his army and waited for reinforcements. Reinforcements came in the fall of 1584. They were 500 warriors sent from Moscow under the command of the governor S. Bolkhovsky, not supplied with either ammunition or food. Yermak was put in a difficult position, because. with difficulty prepared the necessary supplies for his people. Famine began in Isker. People were dying, and S. Bolkhovsky himself died. The situation was somewhat improved by the local residents, who supplied the Cossacks with food from their stocks.

Chronicles do not give the exact number of losses of Yermak's troops, however, according to some sources, by the time of the death of the ataman, 150 people remained in his squad. Ermak's position was also complicated by the fact that in the spring of 1585 Isker was surrounded by enemy cavalry. However, the blockade was lifted thanks to Yermak's decisive blow to the enemy's headquarters. The elimination of Isker's encirclement was the last military feat of the Cossack ataman. Ermak Timofeevich died in the waters of the river. Irtysh during a campaign against Kuchum's troops that appeared nearby on August 6, 1585

Summing up, it should be noted that the tactics of the Yermak squad were based on the rich military experience of the Cossacks, accumulated over many decades. Hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, solid defense, the maneuverability of the squad, the use of the terrain are the most characteristic features of Russian military art of the 16th-17th centuries. To this, of course, should be added the ability of Ataman Yermak to maintain strict discipline within the squad. These skills and tactical skills to the greatest extent contributed to the conquest of the rich Siberian expanses by Russian soldiers. After the death of Yermak, governors in Siberia, as a rule, continued to adhere to his tactics.

Monument to Ermak Timofeevich in Novocherkassk. Sculptor V. Beklemishev. Opened 6 May 1904

The annexation of Siberia was of great political and economic importance. Up until the 80s. In the 16th century, the “Siberian theme” was practically not touched upon in diplomatic documents. However, as Ivan IV received news of the results of Yermak's campaign, it took a firm place in diplomatic documentation. Already by 1584, the documents contain a detailed description of relations with the Siberian Khanate, which includes a summary of the main events - military operations of the ataman Yermak's squad against Kuchum's army.

In the mid 80s. In the 16th century, the colonization flows of the Russian peasantry gradually moved to explore the vast expanses of Siberia, and the Tyumen and Tobolsk prisons built in 1586 and 1587 were not only important strongholds for the fight against the Kuchumians, but also the basis of the first settlements of Russian plowmen. The governors sent by the Russian tsars to the Siberian region, harsh in all respects, could not cope with the remnants of the horde and achieve the conquest of this fertile and politically important region for Russia. However, thanks to the military art of the Cossack ataman Yermak Timofeevich, already in the 90s. XVI century Western Siberia was included in Russia.

Maria Konevskaya,
Junior Research Fellow, Research
Institute of Military History of the Military Academy
General Staff of the RF Armed Forces

The development of Siberia is one of the most significant pages in the history of our country. The vast territories that currently make up most of modern Russia were, in fact, a “blank spot” on the geographical map at the beginning of the 16th century. And the feat of Ataman Yermak, who conquered Siberia for Russia, became one of the most significant events in the formation of the state.

Ermak Timofeevich Alenin is one of the most poorly studied personalities of this magnitude in Russian history. It is still not known for certain where and when the famous ataman was born. According to one version, Yermak was from the banks of the Don, according to another - from the vicinity of the Chusovaya River, according to the third - the Arkhangelsk region was his place of birth. The date of birth also remains unknown - in the historical chronicles the period from 1530 to 1542 is indicated.

It is almost impossible to recreate the biography of Yermak Timofeevich before the start of his Siberian campaign. It is not even known for certain whether the name Yermak is his own or whether it is still the nickname of the Cossack chieftain. However, since 1581-82, that is, immediately from the beginning of the Siberian campaign, the chronology of events has been restored in sufficient detail.

Siberian campaign

The Siberian Khanate, as part of the disintegrated Golden Horde, for a long time coexisted in peace with the Russian state. The Tatars paid an annual tribute to the Moscow princes, however, with the coming to power of Khan Kuchum, payments ceased, and Tatar detachments began to attack Russian settlements in the Western Urals.

It is not known for certain who initiated the Siberian campaign. According to one version, Ivan the Terrible instructed the merchants Stroganovs to finance the performance of the Cossack detachment into unexplored Siberian territories in order to stop the Tatar raids. According to another version of events, the Stroganovs themselves decided to hire Cossacks to guard property. However, there is another scenario for the development of events: Yermak and his comrades plundered the Stroganov warehouses and invaded the territory of the Khanate in order to profit.

In 1581, having risen on plows up the Chusovaya River, the Cossacks dragged the boats into the Zheravlya River of the Ob basin and settled there for the winter. Here the first skirmishes with the detachments of the Tatars took place. As soon as the ice melted, that is, in the spring of 1582, a detachment of Cossacks reached the Tura River, where they again defeated the troops sent to meet them. Finally, Yermak reached the Irtysh River, where a detachment of Cossacks captured the main city of the Khanate - Siberia (now Kashlyk). Left in the city, Yermak begins to receive delegations from the indigenous peoples - Khanty, Tatars, with promises of peace. The ataman took the oath of all those who arrived, declaring them subjects of Ivan IV the Terrible, and obliged them to pay yasak - tribute - in favor of the Russian state.

The conquest of Siberia continued in the summer of 1583. Having passed along the course of the Irtysh and the Ob, Yermak captured the settlements - uluses - of the peoples of Siberia, forcing the inhabitants of the towns to take the oath to the Russian Tsar. Until 1585, Yermak fought with the Cossacks against the detachments of Khan Kuchum, unleashing numerous skirmishes along the banks of the Siberian rivers.

After the capture of Siberia, Ermak sent an ambassador to Ivan the Terrible with a report on the successful annexation of the lands. In gratitude for the good news, the tsar presented not only the ambassador, but also all the Cossacks who participated in the campaign, and Yermak himself donated two chain mail of excellent workmanship, one of which, according to the court chronicler, belonged to the previously famous governor Shuisky.

The death of Yermak

The date of August 6, 1585 is marked in the annals as the day of the death of Yermak Timofeevich. A small group of Cossacks - about 50 people - led by Yermak stopped for the night on the Irtysh, near the mouth of the Vagay River. Several detachments of the Siberian Khan Kuchum attacked the Cossacks, killing almost all of Yermak's associates, and the ataman himself, according to the chronicler, drowned in the Irtysh, trying to swim to the plows. According to the chronicler, Ermak drowned because of a royal gift - two chain mail, which, with their weight, pulled him to the bottom.

The official version of the death of the Cossack ataman has a continuation, however, these facts do not have any historical confirmation, and therefore are considered a legend. Folk tales say that a day later, a Tatar fisherman caught Yermak's body from the river and reported his find to Kuchum. All the Tatar nobility came to personally verify the death of the ataman. Yermak's death was the cause of a great celebration that lasted for several days. The Tatars had fun shooting at the body of a Cossack for a week, then, taking the donated chain mail that caused his death, Yermak was buried. At the moment, historians and archaeologists consider several areas as the alleged burial places of the ataman, but there is still no official confirmation of the authenticity of the burial.

Ermak Timofeevich is not just a historical figure, he is one of the key figures in Russian folk art. Many legends and tales have been created about the deeds of the ataman, and in each of them Yermak is described as a man of exceptional courage and courage. At the same time, very little is reliably known about the personality and activities of the conqueror of Siberia, and such an obvious contradiction makes researchers again and again turn their attention to the national hero of Russia.

Yermak's personality

The most legendary hero of the Cossack atamans of the 16th century is undoubtedly Yermak Timofeevich, who conquered Siberia and laid the foundation for the Siberian Cossack army. When Ermak was born, it is not known for certain. Historians refer to the 30-40s of the 16th century. Questions arise about the origin of his name. Some researchers tried to decipher it as Ermolai, Ermishka. The surname is also not exactly established. Some sources say that his surname was Alenin, and at baptism he was given the name Vasily. But no one has proven this for sure. "The origin of Yermak is not known exactly: according to one legend, he was from the banks of the Kama (Cherepanov Chronicle), according to another, a native of the Kachalinskaya village (Bronevsky). His name, according to Professor Nikitsky, is a change in the name Yermolai, other historians and chroniclers produce him from Herman and Yeremey. One chronicle, considering the name Yermak as a nickname, gives him the Christian name Vasily. "

On the question of Yermak's personality, scientists have not yet come to a consensus. Most often, he is called a native of the estates of the industrialists Stroganovs, who then went to the Volga and became a Cossack. Another opinion is that Yermak is of noble origin, of Turkic blood. Vyacheslav Safronov in his article suggested that Yermak was a representative of the legitimate dynasty of Siberian khans overthrown by Kuchum: "... In one of the annals, a description of Yermak's appearance is given -" flat face "and" black hair ", but you must admit that a Russian person is characterized by an elongated face and blond hair. It is also believed that hunger in his native land forced him, a man of remarkable physical strength, to flee to the Volga. Soon, in battle, he obtained weapons for himself and, from about 1562, began to master military affairs. Thanks to the talent of the organizer, his justice and courage, he became the chieftain. In the Livonian War of 1581 he commanded a Cossack flotilla. It's hard to believe, but, apparently, Yermak was the ancestor of the Marine Corps. He drove his army along the river surface on plows, and, if necessary, threw him ashore - and into battle. The enemy could not resist such an onslaught. "Plane army" - that was the name of these fighters at that time.

Cossacks, organization of the squad

The word "Cossack" is of Turkic origin, the so-called people who lagged behind the Horde, leading their economy separately. But gradually they began to call so dangerous people who hunted robbery. And nationality did not play a big role for the Cossacks, the main thing was the way of life. Ivan the Terrible decided to attract the steppe freemen to his side. In 1571, he sent messengers to the chieftains, invited them to military service and recognized the Cossacks as a military and political force. Yermak was, of course, a military genius, who was greatly facilitated by his experienced friends and like-minded people - Ivan Koltso and Ivan Groza, Ataman Meshcheryak. His chieftains and captains were distinguished by courage and bravery. Not one of them faltered in battle and did not betray the Cossack duty until the last days. Apparently, Yermak knew how to understand people, because in a life full of danger, only the best can be trusted. Ermak also did not tolerate licentiousness, which could ruin the best army, he clearly demanded the fulfillment of all Orthodox rites and holidays, the observance of fasts.

In his regiments there were three priests and a defrocked monk. The tsarist governors could envy the clear organization of the troops. He divided the squad into five regiments led by the captains, by the way - elected. The regiments were divided into hundreds, then into fifty and tens. The number of troops then equaled 540 fighters. Even then, in the Cossack army there were clerks and trumpeters, as well as drummers who gave signals at the right moments of the battle. The strictest discipline was established in the squad: desertion and treason were punishable by death. In all cases, Yermak followed the customs of the free Cossacks. All questions were decided by the general meeting of the Cossacks - a circle. By decision of the circle, a campaign to Siberia began. The circle also elected the ataman. The power of the ataman relied on the strength of his authority in the Cossack environment. And the fact that Yermak remained chieftain until the end of his life convinces us of his popularity among the Cossacks. The team was united by the spirit of camaraderie. In the Cossack freemen on the Volga, the military operations of the Livonian War and in the Urals, Yermak acquired rich military experience, which, combined with his natural mind, made him the best military leader of his time. By the way, prominent commanders of later times also used some of his experience. For example, the formation of troops in battle was used by Suvorov.

Service at the Stroganovs. Expedition to Siberia

In 1558, the wealthy landowner and industrialist Grigory Stroganov asked Ivan the Terrible for empty lands along the Kama River in order to set up a town here to protect against barbarian hordes, to call on people, to start arable farming, which was all done. Having established themselves on this side of the Ural Mountains, the Stroganovs turned their attention to the lands beyond the Urals, to Siberia. "Ulus Dzhuchiev" collapsed in the XIII century. into three hordes: Golden, White and Blue. The Golden Horde, located in the Volga region, collapsed. The remnants of other hordes fought for supremacy over vast territories. In this struggle, local princelings hoped for the support of the Russian Tsar. But the king, bogged down in the Livonian War, could not pay enough attention to Eastern affairs. In 1563, Khan Kuchum came to power in Siberia, who at first agreed to pay tribute to Moscow, but then killed the Moscow ambassador. Since that time, Tatar raids on the Russian border lands in the Perm region have become a constant phenomenon. The owners of these lands, the Stroganovs, who had a letter from the tsar for the settlement of empty territories, turned to the Cossacks, whose detachments multiplied on the borders of the Russian kingdom.

The Cossacks came to the Stroganovs in the composition of 540 people. The detachment of Yermak and his chieftains received an invitation from the Stroganovs to join them: "... they opened it for him, Yermak, with his comrades, putting aside any imaginary danger and suspicion from the Stroganovs, to reliably follow them, and by that with his arrival he frightened their neighbors enemies..." Here the Cossacks lived for two years and helped the Stroganovs defend their towns from attacks by neighboring foreigners. The Cossacks carried guard duty in the towns, went on campaigns against hostile neighboring tribes. During these campaigns, the idea of ​​a military expedition to Siberia matured. Going on a campaign, Yermak and the Cossacks were convinced of the great state significance of their work. Yes, and the Stroganovs could not but wish success to Yermak and defeat to the Tatars, from which their towns and settlements so often suffered. But disagreements began between them about the equipment of the campaign itself. "... The initiative of this campaign, according to the annals of Esipovskaya and Remizovskaya, belonged to Yermak himself, the participation of the Stroganovs was limited to the forced supply of supplies and weapons to the Cossacks. them on a campaign ... ".

Ermak believed that all the costs of providing weapons, food, clothing and armies should be borne by the industrialists, because this campaign also supported their vital interests. When gathering for a campaign, Yermak showed himself to be a good organizer and prudent commander. The plows made under his supervision were light and mobile, and in the best way corresponded to the conditions of navigation on small mountain rivers. In mid-August 1581, preparations for the campaign ended. On September 1, 1581, the Stroganovs released the Cossacks against the Siberian sultan, adding military men from their towns to them. In total, the troops became 850 people. After serving a prayer service, the army plunged into the plows and set off. The flotilla consisted of 30 vessels, ahead of the plow caravan was a light, unloaded, patrol vessel. Taking advantage of the convenient moment when Khan Kuchum was busy with the war with the legs, Yermak invades his lands. In just three months, the detachment made its way from the Chusovaya River to the Irtysh River. Through the Tagil passes, Yermak left Europe and descended from the "Stone" - the Ural Mountains - to Asia. The way along Tagil was completed without incident. The planes easily rushed down the river and soon entered Tura. Kuchum's possessions began here. Near Turinsk, the Cossacks endure the first battle against prince Yepanchi. The non-belligerent Mansi tribe could not stand the battle and fled. The Cossacks landed on the shore and freely entered Yepanchin town. As punishment for the attack, Yermak ordered everything of value to be taken from it, and the town itself to be burned. He punished the disobedient in order to show others how dangerous it is to resist his squad. Sailing along the Tura, the Cossacks did not meet any resistance for a long time. The coastal villages surrendered without a fight.

But Yermak knew that the main battle was waiting for him on the banks of the Irtysh, where Kuchum's headquarters was located and the main forces of the Tatars had gathered, so he was in a hurry. The boats only landed on the shore at night. It seemed that the chieftain himself was awake for whole days: he himself set up night patrols, had time to dispose of everything and managed to do it everywhere. Having received the news about Yermak, Kuchum and his entourage lost their peace. By order of the Khan, towns on the Tobol and Irtysh were fortified. The army of Kuchum represented the usual feudal militia, recruited by force from "black" people, poorly trained in military affairs. The core was the Khan's cavalry. Thus, it had only a numerical superiority over Yermak's detachment, but was much inferior in discipline, organization and courage. The appearance of Yermak came as a complete surprise to Kuchum, especially since his eldest son Aley at that time was trying to take the Russian fortress of Cherdyn in the Perm Territory by force. Meanwhile, at the mouth of the Tobol River, Yermak's detachment defeated the hordes of Murza Karachi, Kuchum's chief dignitary. This infuriated Kuchum, he gathers an army and sends his nephew Prince Mametkul to meet Yermak, who was defeated in battle on the banks of the Tobol. After some time, a grandiose battle broke out on the Chuvash Cape, on the banks of the Irtysh, which Kuchum himself led from the opposite side. In this battle, Kuchum's troops were defeated, Mametkul was wounded, Kuchum fled, and Yermak occupied his capital.

This was the final defeat of the Tatars. On October 26, 1582, Yermak entered Siberia, abandoned by the enemy. In the spring of 1583, Yermak sent an embassy of 25 Cossacks to Ivan the Terrible, headed by Ivan Koltso. The detachment brought tribute to the tsar - furs - and a message about the annexation of Siberia to Russia. Ermak's report was accepted by the tsar, he forgives him and all the Cossacks their former "guilts" and sends a detachment of archers in the amount of 300 people, led by Semyon Bolkhovsky, to help. "The royal governors arrived at Yermak in the autumn of 1583, but their detachment could not deliver significant assistance to the Cossack squad, which had diminished in battles. Atamans died one after another: Nikita Pan was killed during the capture of Nazim; in the spring of 1584, the Tatars treacherously killed Ivan Koltso and Yakov Mikhailov. Ataman Meshcheryak was besieged in his camp by the Tatars and only with heavy losses forced their khan, Karacha, to retreat. On August 6, 1584, Yermak also died. The winter of 1583-1584 in Siberia was especially hard for the Russians. Supplies ran out, famine and disease set in. By spring, all the archers died along with Prince Bolkhovsky and a significant part of the Cossacks.

In the summer of 1584, Murza Karacha fraudulently lured a detachment of Cossacks led by Ivan Koltso to a feast, and at night, having attacked them, he slaughtered them all sleepily. Upon learning of this, Yermak sent a new detachment to the camp of Karachi, led by Matvey Meshcheryak. In the middle of the night, the Cossacks broke into the camp.

In what year did Yermak make his first trip to Siberia?

In this battle, two sons of Murza were killed, and he himself fled with the remnants of the army. Soon, messengers from Bukhara merchants arrived at Yermak with a request to protect them from the arbitrariness of Kuchum. Yermak, with his small remaining army, less than 100 men, set out on a campaign. On the banks of the Irtysh, where Yermak's detachment spent the night, Kuchum attacked them during a terrible storm and thunderstorm. Yermak, assessing the situation, ordered to get into the plows, but the Tatars had already burst into the camp. Yermak was the last to withdraw, covering the Cossacks. He was seriously injured and was unable to swim to his ships. The legends of the people say that it was swallowed up by the icy waters of the Irtysh. After the death of the legendary ataman, Matvey Meshcheryak assembled the Circle, on which the Cossacks decide to go to the Volga for help. After two years of possession, the Cossacks ceded Siberia to Kuchum, only to return there a year later with a new detachment of tsarist troops. Already in 1586, a detachment of Cossacks from the Volga came to Siberia and founded the first Russian city there - Tyumen. There now stands a monument in honor of the conqueror of Siberia.

Goals and results of the annexation of Siberia

Historians are still solving the question - why did Yermak go to Siberia? It turns out that it is not so easy to answer. In numerous works about the legendary hero, there are three points of view on the reasons that prompted the Cossacks to make a campaign, as a result of which huge Siberia became a province of the Russian state: first, the tsar blessed the Cossacks to conquer this land without risking anything; the second - the campaign was organized by the industrialists Stroganovs in order to protect their towns from the raids of the Siberian military detachments, and the third - the Cossacks, without asking either the king or their masters, went to fight the Siberian land, for example, with the aim of robbery. But if we consider them each separately, then none of them will explain the purpose of the campaign. So, according to one of the chronicles, Ivan the Terrible, having learned about the campaign, ordered the Stroganovs to immediately return the Cossacks to defend the towns. The Stroganovs, apparently, didn’t really want to let the Cossacks go either - it was not beneficial for them both from a military point of view and from an economic point of view. It is known that the Cossacks pretty much plundered food and gun stocks. So the Stroganovs, apparently against their will, became participants in the campaign against Siberia. It is difficult to dwell on any of the versions of this campaign, because there are many contradictions in the facts given by various biographies and annals.

There are Stroganov, Esipov, Remizov (Kungur) and Cherepanov chronicles, in which even the timing of the arrival of the Cossacks in the service of the Stroganovs is different, as is the attitude towards Yermak himself. Later, in the 17th and 18th centuries, numerous "chronicle tales" and "codes" appeared, in which wonderful fiction and fables were intertwined with rehashings from old chronicles and with folk traditions. Most researchers are inclined to the facts of the Stroganov Chronicle, since they consider it written according to the royal letters of that time. According to the historian, "... Stroganovskaya explains the phenomenon to us in a completely satisfactory way, pointing to the gradual course, the connection of events: a country neighboring Siberia is being colonized, colonizers are usually given great rights: due to the special conditions of a newly populated country, rich colonialists must take upon themselves the obligation to protect with their own means their settlements, build prisons, support military people; the government itself in its letters indicates to them where they can recruit military people - from eager Cossacks; they especially need these Cossacks when they intend to transfer their trades beyond the Ural Mountains, to the possession of the Siberian Sultan, for which they have a royal charter, and now they call on a crowd of eager Cossacks from the Volga and send them to Siberia. Karamzin attributes its writing to 1600, which is again disputed by some historians.

Accession of Western Siberia to the Russian state

In 1581-1585, the Moscow kingdom, headed by Ivan the Terrible, significantly expanded the borders of the state to the East, as a result of the victory over the Mongol-Tatar khanates. It was during this period that Russia first included Western Siberia in its composition. This happened thanks to the successful campaign of the Cossacks, led by ataman Ermak Timofeevich against Khan Kuchum. This article offers a brief overview of such a historical event as the annexation of Western Siberia to Russia.

Preparation of Yermak's campaign

In 1579, a detachment of Cossacks consisting of 700-800 soldiers was formed on the territory of Orel-town (modern Perm Territory). They were headed by Yermak Timofeevich, who had previously been the chieftain of the Volga Cossacks. Orel-town was owned by the merchant family of the Stroganovs. It was they who allocated money for the creation of the army. The main goal is to protect the population from the raids of nomads from the territory of the Siberian Khanate. However, in 1581 it was decided to organize a retaliatory campaign in order to weaken the aggressive neighbor. The first few months of the campaign - it was a struggle with nature. Very often, the participants of the campaign had to wield an ax in order to cut a passage through impenetrable forests. As a result, the Cossacks suspended the campaign for the winter of 1581-1582, creating a fortified camp Kokuy-gorodok.

The course of the war with the Siberian Khanate

The first battles between the Khanate and the Cossacks took place in the spring of 1582: in March, a battle took place on the territory of the modern Sverdlovsk region. Near the city of Turinsk, the Cossacks completely defeated the local troops of Khan Kuchum, and in May they already occupied the large city of Chingi-tura. At the end of September, the battle for the capital of the Siberian Khanate, Kashlyk, began. A month later, the Cossacks won again. However, after a grueling campaign, Yermak decided to take a break and sent an embassy to Ivan the Terrible, thereby taking a break in joining Western Siberia to the Russian kingdom.

When Ivan the Terrible learned about the first skirmishes between the Cossacks and the Siberian Khanate, the tsar ordered the "thieves" to be recalled, referring to the Cossack detachments that "arbitrarily attacked the neighbors." However, at the end of 1582, Yermak’s envoy, Ivan Koltso, arrived at the tsar, who informed Grozny about the successes, and also asked for reinforcements for the complete defeat of the Siberian Khanate.

YERMAK'S PATH

After that, the tsar approved Yermak's campaign and sent weapons, salaries and reinforcements to Siberia.

History reference

Map of Yermak's campaign in Siberia in 1582-1585

In 1583, Yermak's troops defeated Khan Kuchum on the Vagai River, and his nephew Mametkul was completely captured. The khan himself fled to the territory of the Ishim steppe, from where he periodically continued to attack the lands of Russia. In the period from 1583 to 1585, Yermak no longer made large-scale campaigns, but included the new lands of Western Siberia in Russia: the ataman promised protection and patronage to the conquered peoples, and they had to pay a special tax - yasak.

In 1585, during one of the skirmishes with local tribes (according to another version, the attack of the troops of Khan Kuchum), a small detachment of Yermak was defeated, and the ataman himself died. But the main goal and task in the life of this man was solved - Western Siberia joined Russia.

The results of Yermak's campaign

Historians identify the following key results of Yermak's campaign in Siberia:

1. Expansion of the territory of Russia by annexing the lands of the Siberian Khanate.
2. The emergence in Russia's foreign policy of a new direction for aggressive campaigns, a vector that will bring great success to the country.
3. colonization of Siberia. As a result of these processes, a large number of cities are emerging. A year after Yermak's death, in 1586, the first Russian city in Siberia, Tyumen, was founded. It happened at the place of the Khan's headquarters, the city of Kashlyk, the former capital of the Siberian Khanate.

The annexation of Western Siberia, which happened thanks to the campaigns led by Ermak Timofeevich, is of great importance in the history of Russia. It was as a result of these campaigns that Russia first began to spread its influence in Siberia, and, thereby, to develop, becoming the largest state in the world.

The world around 3 class

"Continents and Oceans" - Continents. Oceans. Parts of the world. Europe. Southern Hemisphere. Textbook work. Crossword. Everything was clear to me in class. Continuous water shell of the Earth. Arctic Ocean. Fizminutka. South ocean. Game "10 seconds". The lesson starts. Eurasia. We will get acquainted with the continents and oceans. Parallels. Respect your friend. The lesson is travel.

Ecosystem Life - Most birds will die. There is nothing superfluous in the ecosystem. Pleasant outdoor recreation. Rivers, lakes and other bodies of water will become dirty puddles. Circulation of matter. Biosphere. The benefits of the mosquito in the biosphere. Research topic. Mosquitoes spend most of their lives in the water as larvae and pupae. Ecosystem. Ecosystem life. Forest ecosystem. Land. Mosquitoes accumulate a lot of important minerals in their bodies.

"The first railways of Russia" - The first railways. The first railroad tracks. Construction of the highway Petersburg - Moscow. The longest railway The first Russian steam locomotive. A train. My progress. Creators of the first Russian steam engine. Railways of England. The first railway in Russia. The first train ticket. Development of technology in Russia. Crossword.

""Nervous system" Grade 3" - Memory. Types of memory. Snails carry shells. Varieties of memory. Harmful nicotine poisoning. The nervous system and its role in the body. What is related to the nervous system. What a person cannot do without for a long time. In dolphins, the hemispheres work alternately. Protect the brain and spine from injury. Left-handers and right-handers among animals. hemispheres. How to take care of the nervous system. The nervous system controls the coordinated work of all organs.

"Inhabitants of the swamp" - The process of formation of the swamp. Cycle of substances in the lake. Trees. Birds. Moss. Make food chains. Amphibians and reptiles. Solve the crossword puzzle. Insects. Predator birds. The swamp and its inhabitants. lake ecosystem. Sandpiper. Kama swamp. Berry plants. Wet plants. Swamp. White partridge. Aquatic plants. Animals. For the curious. The meaning of swamps.

"Oak Forest" - Oak. Creative abilities of students. Sun. Weakness and strength of oak. Make up a word. Food web in the oak forest. Food chains. Creative project. Power supply schemes.

Yermak's first campaign

Strength and weakness. Who is oak friends with.

In total, there are 266 presentations in the topic "The World Around the 3rd Grade"

5class.net > The world around 3 class > Conquest of Siberia > Slide 17