Ermak Timofeevich (according to some sources Ermak Timofeevich Alenin) (1530/1540-1585) - Cossack ataman, leader of the Moscow army, who successfully started a war with the Siberian Khan Kuchum on the orders of Tsar Ivan IV, as a result of which the Siberian Khanate ceased to exist, and the Siberian lands entered into the Russian state. In different sources it is named differently: Ermak, Ermolai, German, Ermil, Vasily, Timofey, Yeremey.

According to some data, he was born in the Vologda land, according to others - in Dvina. According to one of the legends, in his youth Alenin was an artel cook on a plow, for which he received the nickname Ermak (i.e. "road artel tagan" or "artel boiler"). According to another interpretation, since the lexeme "ermak" is of Turkic origin and means "breakthrough", insofar as the nickname characterizes him as a person of a special nature ("breakthrough, not a person").

Father-hope, the world is a great sovereign!
Do not favor me with cities, suburbs
And large estates -
Perhaps you are our father quiet Don
From the top to the bottom, with all the rivers, streams.
With all the meadows green
And with those dark forests! (from folklore)

Ermak Timofeevich

The origin of Yermak is controversial. According to N.M. Karamzin, "Yermak was an unknown family, but a great soul." Some historians believe that he was a Don Cossack, others - a Ural Cossack, others see him as a native of the princes of the Siberian land. In one of the handwritten collections of the 18th century. a legend about the origin of Yermak, allegedly written by himself, has been preserved (“Ermak wrote about himself, where his birth came from ...”). According to him, his grandfather was a Suzdal townsman, his father, Timofey, moved "from poverty and poverty" to the patrimony of the Ural merchants and salt industrialists Stroganovs, who received in 1558 the first letter of commendation for "Kama abundant places", and by the beginning of the 1570s - to the lands beyond the Urals along the rivers Tura, Tobol with permission to build fortresses on the Ob and Irtysh. On the arm of Chusova, Timofey settled, got married, raised the sons of Rodion and Vasily. The latter was, according to the Remizov Chronicle, "very courageous and reasonable, and transparent, flat-faced, black-haired and curly-haired, flat and broad-shouldered." He “went with the Stroganovs on plows to work along the Kama and Volga rivers, and from that work he took courage, and having cleaned up a small squad for himself, he went from work to robbery, and from them he was called ataman, nicknamed Yermak.”

In the 1550s-1570s, he headed the Cossack village, "fielded" between the Volga and the Don. According to some reports, in 1571, together with the retinue, he repelled the raid of the Crimean Khan Davlet-Girey near Moscow, participated in the Livonian War (1558-1583) in the battles near Orsha and near Mogilev, raided the Nogais.

In 1577, the Stroganov merchants invited him to return to Siberia to hire him to protect their possessions from the raids of the Siberian Khan Kuchum. Previously, the Siberian Khanate maintained good-neighborly relations with the Russian state, expressing its peacefulness by sending an annual fur tribute to Moscow. Kuchum stopped paying tribute, starting to oust the Stroganovs from the Western Urals, from the Chusovaya and Kama rivers.

According to one version, having received the permission of the tsar to recruit Cossacks to protect the possessions (the funds made it possible to arm about 1000 people), the Stroganovs ordered Yermak to create a strong combat detachment, since Kuchum's army, according to rumors, reached 10 thousand people. Ermak gathered an army of 540 people. According to another version, no one hired Yermak and he went on a campaign without permission, destroying the Stroganov estate with his retinue and capturing bread, flour, weapons, and things. The backbone of Yermak’s detachment was made up of Cossacks led by Ivan Koltso, Matthew Meshcheryak, Bogdan Bryazga and Nikita Pan, who had previously robbed Nogai and Russian merchants and came to Yermak to replenish his “Siberian squad” in the hope of profiting from the expected campaign.

In June 1579 (according to other sources - in September 1581) Yermak went on a military campaign. Having crossed the Ural Range, he invaded the possessions of the Siberian Khan, using the waterways - the Chusovaya, Serebryanka, Zharovl rivers. On the passes, the Cossacks carried the rooks on their hands. Along Tagil we reached Tura, where for the first time we fought with the Tatar princes and defeated them. According to legend, Yermak planted stuffed animals in Cossack clothes on the plows, and he himself went ashore with the main forces and attacked the enemy from the rear. Yermak's success is explained both by the presence of firearms (squeakers) among the Cossacks, and by the right tactics, when the enemy was forced to engage in battle where he could not use cavalry.

Yermak's next battle was in the town of Yurty Babasan, where Yermak defeated Mamet-kul, Kuchum's nephew. The decisive battle was the battle at the mouth of the Tobol on October 23-25, 1582, where Yermak captured a small fortified town and turned it into a stronghold for conquering the capital of the Siberian Khanate - Kashlyk. Kuchum with Mamet-kul, having captured some valuables, fled to the Ishim steppes. On October 26, the Cossacks entered Kashlyk. Taking it turned out to be the most important frontier in the development of Siberia: the Khanty, Mansi and some Tatar uluses wished to accept Russian citizenship. The territory of the Lower Ob became part of the Russian state and, along with other developed territories, began to pay tribute to Moscow (yasak). In 1583 the lands up to the mouth of the Irtysh were subdued. The Siberian Khanate collapsed. Ivan the Terrible rewarded all participants in the campaign, forgave the criminals who joined Yermak, promised help in 300 archers, and gave Yermak himself the title of "Prince of Siberia".

In 1585, Kuchum managed to gather new forces to fight Yermak. In order to lure the Cossacks out of the fortification, Kuchum began to spread false rumors that the Tatars had detained a Bukharian trade caravan heading towards the Cossacks. Yermak, with a detachment of 150 people, having hardly wintered in Siberia (food quickly ran out, famine began in the detachment), went up the Irtysh and reached the mouth of the Shish River. Here, on August 6, 1585, Kuchum suddenly attacked Yermak's detachment at the mouth of the Volai River (a tributary of the Irtysh). Being wounded, Yermak tried to swim across Vagai, but heavy chain mail - a gift from Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible - pulled him to the bottom ("he was dressed in royal armor, but his plow sailed away from the shore and he did not reach, drowned"). According to the chronicles, the body of Yermak was discovered by the Tatars and the "feast of revenge" lasted six weeks (arrows were shot into the dead body). Ermak was buried, according to legend, at the "Baishevsky cemetery under a curly pine."

The personality of Yermak has long been overgrown with legends. Sometimes it is not clear whether this figure is historical or mythological. We do not know for sure where he comes from, who is by origin and why did he go to conquer Siberia?

Ataman of unknown blood

“Unknown by birth, famous in soul” Yermak still holds many mysteries for researchers, although there are more than enough versions of his origin. Only in the Arkhangelsk region at least three villages call themselves the birthplace of Yermak. According to one of the hypotheses, the conqueror of Siberia is a native of the Don village of Kachalinskaya, another finds his home in Perm, the third - in Birka, located on the Northern Dvina. The latter is confirmed by the lines of the Solvychegodsk chronicler: “On the Volga, the Cossacks, Yermak Ataman, born in the Dvina and Borka, broke the sovereign’s treasury, weapons and gunpowder, and with that went up to Chusovaya.”

There is an opinion that Yermak comes from the estates of the industrialists Stroganovs, who later went to “field” (lead a free life) on the Volga and Don and joined the Cossacks. However, lately, versions about the noble Turkic origin of Yermak have been heard more and more often. If we turn to Dahl's dictionary, we will see that the word "ermak" has Turkic roots and means "a small millstone for manual peasant mills."

Some researchers suggest that Ermak is a colloquial version of the Russian name Ermolai or Yermila. But most are sure that this is not a name, but a nickname given to the hero Cossacks, and it comes from the word "armak" - a large cauldron used in Cossack life.

The word Ermak, used as a nickname, is often found in chronicle sources and documents. So, in the Siberian Chronicle you can read that when laying the Krasnoyarsk prison in 1628, Tobolsk chieftains Ivan Fedorov son Astrakhanev and Yermak Ostafyev participated. It is possible that many Cossack atamans can be called Yermaks.

Whether Yermak had a surname is not known for certain. However, there are such variants of his full name as Ermak Timofeev, or Ermolai Timofeevich. Irkutsk historian Andrey Sutormin claimed that in one of the annals he met the real full name conqueror of Siberia: Vasily Timofeevich Alenin. This version found a place in Pavel Bazhov's fairy tale "Ermakov's Swans".

Robber from the Volga

In 1581, the Polish king Stefan Batory laid siege to Pskov, in response, Russian troops headed for Shklov and Mogilev, preparing a counterattack. The commandant of Mogilev, Stravinsky, reported to the king about the approach of the Russian regiments and even listed the names of the governors, among whom was "Ermak Timofeevich - Cossack ataman."

According to other sources, it is known that in the autumn of the same year, Yermak was among the participants in lifting the siege of Pskov, in February 1582 he was noted in the battle of Lyalitsy, in which the army of Dmitry Khvorostin stopped the advance of the Swedes. Historians have also established that in 1572 Yermak was in the detachment of Ataman Mikhail Cherkashenin, who participated in the famous Battle of Molodi.

Thanks to the cartographer Semyon Remezov, we have an idea of ​​Yermak's appearance. According to Remezov, his father was familiar with some of the surviving participants in Yermak’s campaign, who described the ataman to him: “Velmy is courageous, and humane, and transparent, and is pleased with all wisdom, flat-faced, black-bearded, middle growth, and flat, and broad-shouldered” .

In the works of many researchers, Yermak is called the chieftain of one of the squads of the Volga Cossacks, who hunted on the caravan routes by robbery and robbery. The petitions of the "old" Cossacks addressed to the tsar can serve as proof of this. For example, Yermak's comrade-in-arms Gavrila Ilyin wrote that for twenty years he "fielded" with Yermak in the Wild Field.

The Russian ethnographer Iosaf Zheleznov, referring to the Ural legends, claims that the ataman Ermak Timofeevich was considered by the Cossacks as a “useful sorcerer” and “had a small fraction of shishigs (devils) in his obedience. Where there were not enough rati, there he put them out.

However, Zheleznov here rather uses a folklore cliche, according to which the exploits of heroic personalities were often explained by magic. For example, a contemporary of Yermak, the Cossack ataman Misha Cherkashenin, according to legend, was charmed by bullets and he himself knew how to speak cannons.

AWOL to Siberia

Ermak Timofeevich most likely went on his famous Siberian campaign after January 1582, when peace was concluded between the Moscow state and the Commonwealth, historian Ruslan Skrynnikov believes. It is more difficult to answer the question of what interests motivated the Cossack ataman, who headed for the unexplored and dangerous regions of the Trans-Urals.

Three versions appear in numerous works about Yermak: the order of Ivan the Terrible, the initiative of the Stroganovs, or the willfulness of the Cossacks themselves. The first version should obviously disappear, since the Russian tsar, having learned about Yermak's campaign, sent an order to the Stroganovs to immediately return the Cossacks to defend the frontier settlements, which have recently become more frequently attacked by Khan Kuchum's detachments.

The Stroganov chronicle, on which historians Nikolai Karamzin and Sergei Solovyov rely, suggests that the idea to organize an expedition beyond the Urals belongs directly to the Stroganovs. It was the merchants who called the Volga Cossacks to Chusovaya and equipped them on a campaign, adding 300 more soldiers to Yermak's detachment, which consisted of 540 people.

According to the Esipovskaya and Remizovskaya annals, the initiative of the campaign came from Yermak himself, and the Stroganovs became only unwitting accomplices in this undertaking. The chronicler narrates that the Cossacks pretty much plundered the food and rifle stocks of the Stroganovs, and when the owners tried to resist the arbitrariness they had committed, they were threatened with "depriving their stomachs."

Revenge

However, Yermak's unauthorized campaign in Siberia is being questioned by some researchers. If the Cossacks were driven by the idea of ​​abundant profit, then, following the logic, they should have taken the well-worn road through the Urals to Yugra - the northern lands of the Ob region, which had been Moscow's fiefdoms for quite a long time. There were a lot of furs here, and local khans were more accommodating. Looking for new ways to Siberia means going to certain death.

The writer Vyacheslav Sofronov, the author of a book about Yermak, notes that the authorities send help to the Cossacks in Siberia in the person of Prince Semyon Bolkhovsky, together with two military leaders - Khan Kireev and Ivan Glukhov. “All three are odd to the rootless Cossack ataman!” Sofronov writes. At the same time, according to the writer, Bolkhovsky becomes subordinate to Yermak.

Sofronov draws the following conclusion: Yermak is a man of noble origin, he could well be a descendant of the princes of the Siberian land, who were then exterminated by Khan Kuchum, who appeared from Bukhara. For Safronov, Yermak's behavior becomes clear, not as a conqueror, but as the master of Siberia. It is with the desire to take revenge on Kuchum that he explains the meaning of this campaign.

Stories about the conqueror of Siberia are told not only by Russian chronicles, but also by Turkic legends. According to one of them, Yermak came from the Nogai Horde and occupied a high position there, but still not equal to the status of the princess with whom he was in love. The girl's relatives, having learned about their love affair, forced Yermak to flee to the Volga.

Another version, published in the journal Science and Religion in 1996 (though not confirmed by anything), reports that Ermak was actually called Yer-Mar Temuchin, like the Siberian Khan Kuchum, he belonged to the Chingizid family. The trip to Siberia was nothing more than an attempt to win back the throne.

Ermak Timofeevich is a famous Russian conqueror and explorer. There are many legends about the origin of the warrior, and more than one historian fought over the solution to the biography of the conqueror of Siberia. Some claim that Yermak was a Don Cossack, others consider him a Uralian. Thanks to Yermak, Russia owns the lands that were previously considered the Siberian Khanate.

Childhood and youth

Researchers identify several common versions about where Yermak was born and raised. In those days, it was not customary to leave records of the birth of children, so nothing outstanding is known about the years of the conqueror's youth.

According to legend, his grandfather was a resident of Suzdal and a townsman. Father Timothy fled from poverty to the land owned by the Stroganov merchants. The ataman's parent settled near the Chusovaya River, got married and raised two sons. According to some reports, the children's names were Rodion and Vasily. Scientists suggest that the latter became Yermak.

He sailed on a flat-bottomed ship along the Kama and Volga under the command of the Stroganovs. Then he decided to engage in robbery, after which he became the chieftain and received the name Yermak. In Dahl's dictionary, this word is deciphered as a millstone, and the associative series becomes logical. The mighty warrior could well be called Yermak. The famous commander also had a nickname invented by his comrades-in-arms - Povolsky.

Interesting fact: a peculiar pseudonym of a man meant "a man from the Volga". The Siberian Chronicle of 1907 revealed the surname that Ermak bore - Alenin. Thus, the real name of the explorer sounds like Vasily Timofeevich Alenin.

In the memoirs of some Cossacks who claimed to be Yermak's associates, it is said that he, along with the authors of the comments, served in the Volga villages. Around 1565, the man already had a respected status, reputation and lived in the Volga region. The leader turned out to be a participant in the Livonian War in the status of a Cossack centurion. Yermak demonstrated courage and prowess when attacking the Mogilev fortress, and then confronted the Swedes and liberated Pskov.

Military service and conquest

For 20 years, Yermak served, guarding the southern borders of Russia. In 1581, the Stroganovs invited him back to Siberia, as they were collecting reliable protection from the Siberian Khan Kuchum, who was devastating the territories. Before the appearance of the enemy, the Siberian Khanate was in warm relations with Moscow and transferred tribute in the form of furs. With the advent of the new khan, payments ceased, and the Stroganovs began to be forced out of the Western Urals. The merchants began to prepare a campaign against the opponent.

About 500 people gathered, ready to stand up for the lands. Their number gradually increased to 1600. The warriors who joined Yermak's squad gathered large boats, plows, on which, along with supplies and weapons, they moved to the enemy camp. Ermak prepared the army, taking with him squeakers, guns and arquebuses. After the use of guns, hand-to-hand combat and battle with sabers, axes, daggers and bows began.

Despite the foresight of the chieftain, it was not easy to resist Kuchum's 10,000-strong army. The people who lived in the Siberian Khanate hated the arbitrarily appointed head and asked the Cossacks for release, but for fear of punishment joined the ranks of the soldiers. This made Kuchum's fighters unreliable. Yermak's squad crossed the Ural Range, climbed the Chusovaya to the fork of the Kama and the Ob and went on reconnaissance.

Reflecting the attacks of the Tatars at Tagil and at the mouth of the Tobol, the governor gradually moved towards the Irtysh. Having defeated the main army of the khan, the warrior drove the opponent to Ishim. In the autumn of 1582, Yermak entered the city that bore the name of Siberia. A few days later, a string of Khanty and Mansi reached out to him, bringing gifts.

In return for tax and Russian citizenship, petitioners received a promise of protection. In December of the same year, Yermak managed to repel a new blow from the Tatar army. He stubbornly walked towards his goal, conquering new lands. rewarded a detachment of a brave defender for steadfastness, presenting a material reward and armor as a gift. The Tatars did not give up and killed chieftains one by one, but fate was favorable to Yermak. The governor was separated from captivity by chance.

In 1585, Kuchum again gathered his strength and prepared to attack Yermak's small army. Khan spread rumors that help from the Bukharans would not reach Yermak. The leader of a small detachment of 150 people barely survived the winter in Siberia, left without provisions. The attack undertaken by Kuchum near the Volai River was sudden. Fighting for the liberation of the Siberian lands, Yermak died by drowning. But his work was continued by followers who drove the enemy out of these territories.

Personal life

Ermak Timofeevich completely devoted his life to military affairs. Historical sources are silent about his personal life and do not provide specific information about the governor's hobbies.

It is easy to guess what the simple pleasures that were available to the Cossack could be. But there are no facts about the presence of a wife and children, close people who could leave valuable information about the biography of this historical figure.

Death

Trying to save a detachment with provisions from Kuchum's attack, Yermak took 50 Cossacks and went to the aid of the Bukharians. The ataman met his death in a battle with the khan in the place where the Vagai and Irtysh rivers merge. The sentinels were absent from their place due to severe fatigue after the battle and were inattentive, so no one noticed the approach of the enemy. A bloody massacre took place, from which Yermak and his colleague managed to get out.

Having been wounded in a fight, Yermak tried to save his life by swimming across the river. In battle, the warrior wore chain mail, a gift from the king. This armor and pulled him to the bottom. The cause of death was the inability to get out of the water with a heavy burden. According to legend, the Tatars found the body of the governor and mocked him.

Another version describes the lack of search for the deceased. Yermak found his last resting place at the Baishevsky cemetery. There is a version about the grave in Bashkortostan. Kuchum again became the ruler of Siberia, but the Cossacks did not think to retreat and returned a year later with renewed vigor.

In 1915, the chain mail donated to Yermak by the tsar was found near the town of Kashlyk.

Memory

The biography of Yermak Timofeevich was associated with military activities, his contribution to the development of Russia is difficult to overestimate. Thanks to the campaigns of the voivode, he discovered Western Siberia. The northern part of this area was previously known as Yugra, but due to remoteness and difficult climatic conditions, it was almost impossible to explore it. The path to these lands lay through the Middle Urals.

Yermak managed to find portages to move the ships along the crossings and overcome the mountain ranges. The geography of the Russian state has expanded significantly thanks to the campaigns of the leader of the detachment. He explored the Irtysh and the Ob. Having passed the West Siberian Plain, Yermak and his associates discovered the Belogorsk mainland.

Despite the fact that the warrior himself failed to defeat Kuchum, Yermak did everything possible to liberate the Siberian Khanate. With his help, Surgut, Tobolsk and Tyumen were founded, as well as the first polar city in Russia called Mangazeya. The name of Yermak Timofeevich is given to the river, settlements, and also the icebreaker of the Northern Fleet.

His opposition to Khan Kuchum is described in books of different years, which include reliable and verified facts, as well as numerous legends that fanned the life of the commander. Several pictures were taken in memory of the Siberian explorer. In 1996, the premiere of the mini-series "Ermak" was held, in which Viktor Stepanov played the main role. It is curious that the shooting of the film started back in 1986, in the era of the USSR, and lasted 10 years.

Origin

The origin of Yermak is not exactly known, there are several versions.

"Born unknown, famous in soul", he, according to one legend, was from the banks of the Chusovaya River. Thanks to the knowledge of local rivers, he walked along the Kama, Chusovaya and even crossed over to Asia, along the Tagil River, until they were taken away to serve as a Cossack (Cherepanovskaya chronicle), in another way - a native of the Kachalinsky village on the Don (Bronevsky). Recently, a version about the Pomeranian origin of Yermak (born “from the Dvina from Borka”) has been heard more and more often, probably Boretskaya volost, with a center in the village of Borok (now in the Vinogradovsky district of the Arkhangelsk region).

A description of his appearance has been preserved, preserved by Semyon Ulyanovich Remezov in his "Remezov chronicler" of the late 17th century. According to S. U. Remezov, whose father, the Cossack centurion Ulyan Moiseevich Remezov, personally knew the surviving participants in Yermak’s campaign, the famous ataman was

“Velmy is courageous, and humane, and transparent, and is pleased with all wisdom, flat-faced, black-bearded, middle age [that is, growth], and flat, and broad-shouldered.”

Probably, Ermak was at first the ataman of one of the numerous gangs of the Volga Cossacks, who protected the population on the Volga from arbitrariness and robbery by the Crimean and Astrakhan Tatars. This is evidenced by the petitions of the “old” Cossacks addressed to the tsar that have come down to us, namely: Yermak’s comrade-in-arms Gavrila Ilyin wrote that he had “flyed” for 20 years (carried military service) with Yermak in the Wild Field, another veteran Gavrila Ivanov wrote that he served the tsar " on the field for twenty years at Ermak in the village" and in the villages of other chieftains.

Siberian campaign of Yermak

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. According to the Stroganov Chronicle (accepted by Karamzin, Solovyov and others), the Stroganovs themselves called the Cossacks from the Volga to Chusovaya and sent them on a campaign, adding 300 military men from their possessions to Yermak's detachment (540 people).

It is important to note that at the disposal of the future enemy of the Cossacks, Khan Kuchum, there were forces that were several times superior to Yermak's squad, but armed much worse. According to the archival documents of the Ambassadorial Order (RGADA), in total, Khan Kuchum had about 10,000 army, that is, one "tumen", and the total number of "yasak people" who obeyed him did not exceed 30 thousand adult men.

Ataman Yermak at the Monument "1000th Anniversary of Russia" in Veliky Novgorod

Death of Yermak

Performance evaluation

Some historians place Yermak's personality very highly, "his courage, leadership talent, iron willpower", but the facts transmitted by the annals do not indicate his personal qualities and the degree of his personal influence. Be that as it may, Yermak is "one of the most remarkable figures in Russian history," writes historian Ruslan Skrynnikov.

Memory

The memory of Yermak lives among the Russian people in legends, songs (for example, "Song of Yermak" is included in the repertoire of the Omsk Choir) and toponyms. Most often, settlements and institutions named after him can be found in Western Siberia. Cities and villages, sports complexes and sports teams, streets and squares, rivers and marinas, steamships and icebreakers, hotels, etc. are named after Yermak. For some of them, see Yermak. Many Siberian commercial firms have the name "Ermak" in their own names.

Notes

Literature

Sources

• A letter from Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich to Prince Pevgei and all the princes of Sorykid to Yugra land on the collection of tribute and its delivery to Moscow // Tobolsk Chronograph. Collection. Issue. 4. - Yekaterinburg, 2004. S. 6. - ISBN 5-85383-275-1
• Letter from Tsar Ivan Vasilievich to Chusovaya Maxim and Nikita Stroganov about sending Volga Cossacks Yermak Timofeevich and his comrades to Cherdyn // Tobolsk Chronograph. Collection. Issue. 4. - Yekaterinburg, 2004. S.7-8. - ISBN 5-85383-275-1
• A letter from Tsar Ivan Vasilievich to Semyon, Maxim and Nikita Stroganov on the preparation for spring of 15 plows for people and supplies sent to Siberia // Tobolsk Chronograph. Collection. Issue. 4. - Yekaterinburg, 2004. S. 8-9. - ISBN 5-85383-275-1
• "Additions to historical acts", vol. I, No. 117;
• Remizov (Kungur) chronicle, ed. archaeological commission;
• Wed Siberian Chronicles, ed. Spassky (St. Petersburg, 1821);
• Rychkov A.V. Rezh treasures. - Ural University, 2004. - 40 p. - 1500 copies. - ISBN 5-7996-0213-7

Research

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• Kuznetsov E.V. About the essay by A. V. Oksyonov “Ermak in the epics of the Russian people”: Bibliography of news // Tobolsk provincial journals. - 1892. - No. 35.
• Kuznetsov E.V. Legends and conjectures about the Christian name of Ermak // Kuznetsov E.V. Siberian chronicler. - Tyumen, 1999. - S.9-48. - ISBN 5-93020-024-6 (see also: the same // Lukich. - 1998. - Ch. 2. - S. 92-127)
• Miller"Siberian history";
• Nebolsin P.I. Conquest of Siberia // Tobolsk Chronograph. Collection. Issue. 3. - Yekaterinburg, 1998. - S. 16-69. ISBN 5-85383-127-5
• Oksenov A.V. Ermak in the epics of the Russian people // Historical Bulletin, 1892. - T. 49. - No. 8. - S. 424-442.
• Panishev E. A. The death of Yermak in Tatar and Russian legends // Yearbook-2002 of the Tobolsk Museum-Reserve. - Tobolsk, 2003. - S. 228-230.
• Parkhimovich S. The riddle of the name of the ataman // Lukich. - 1998. - No. 2. - S. 128-130. (about the Christian name Yermak)
• Skrynnikov R. G. Yermak. - M., 2008. - 255 s (ZhZL series) - ISBN 978-5-235-03095-4
• Skrynnikov R. G. Siberian expedition of Yermak. - Novosibirsk, 1986. - 290 p.
• Solodkin Ya. Did Ermak Timofeevich have a double? // Yugra. - 2002. - No. 9. - S. 72-73.
• Solodkin Ya. G. To the study of chronicle sources about the Siberian expedition of Yermak // Abstracts of reports and messages of the scientific-practical conference "Slovtsovsky Readings-95". - Tyumen, 1996. S. 113-116.
• Solodkin Ya. G. To disputes about the origin of Yermak // Western Siberia: history and modernity: notes of local history. Issue. II. - Yekaterinburg, 1999. - S. 128-131.
• Solodkin Ya. G. Were the "Ermakov Cossacks" commemorated outside of Tobolsk? (How Semyon Remezov misled many historians) // Siberian Historical Journal. 2006/2007. - S. 86-88. - ISBN 5-88081-586-2
• Solodkin Ya. G. Stories of the "Ermakov Cossacks" and the beginning of the Siberian chronicle // Russian. Proceedings of the VIIth Siberian Symposium "Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of Western Siberia" (December 9-11, 2004, Tobolsk). - Tobolsk, 2004. S. 54-58.
• Solodkin Ya. G. Editions of the Synod "Ermakov's Cossacks" (to the history of the early Siberian chronicle writing) // Slovtsovsky Readings-2006: Proceedings of the XVIII All-Russian Scientific Conference of Local Lore. - Tyumen, 2006. - S. 180-182. - ISBN 5-88081-558-7
• Solodkin Ya. G. Chronology of "Ermakov's Capture" of Siberia in the Russian Chronicle of the First Half of the 17th Century. // Tyumen Land: Yearbook of the Tyumen Regional Museum of Local Lore: 2005. Issue. 19. - Tyumen, 2006. - S. 9-15. - ISBN 5-88081-556-0
• Solodkin Ya. G."... AND ALL THE WRITINGS FOR ITS CORRECTION" (SYNODICT TO "YERMAKOV COSSACKS" AND THE YESIPOVSKAYA CHRONICLE) // Ancient Rus'. Medieval Questions. 2005. No. 2 (20). pp. 48-53.
• Sofronov V. Yu. Yermak's Campaign and the Struggle for the Khan's Throne in Siberia // Scientific and Practical Conference "Slovtsovsky Readings" (Abstracts). Sat. 1. - Tyumen, 1993. - S. 56-59.
• Sofronova M. N. About imaginary and real in the portraits of the Siberian ataman Yermak // Traditions and modernity: Collection of articles. - Tyumen, 1998. - S. 56-63. - ISBN 5-87591-006-2 (See also: the same // Tobolsk Chronograph. Collection. Issue 3. - Yekaterinburg, 1998. - S. 169-184. - ISBN 5-85383-127-5)
• Sutormin A. G. Ermak Timofeevich (Alenin Vasily Timofeevich). Irkutsk: East Siberian book publishing house, 1981.
• Fialkov D.N. About the place of death and burial of Yermak // Siberia of the period of feudalism: Issue. 2. Economy, management and culture of Siberia in the XVI-XIX centuries. - Novosibirsk, 1965. - S. 278-282.
• Shkerin V. A. Yermak's Sylvensky campaign: a mistake or a search for a way to Siberia? //Ethnocultural history of the Urals, XVI-XX centuries: Materials of the international scientific conference, Yekaterinburg, November 29 - December 2, 1999 - Yekaterinburg, 1999. - P. 104-107.
• Shcheglov I.V. In defense of October 26, 1581 // Siberia. 1881. (to the discussion about the date of Yermak's campaign in Siberia).

The Khanate or the Kingdom of Siberia, the conquest of which Yermak Timofeevich became famous in Russian history, was a fragment of the vast empire of Genghis Khan. It stood out from the Central Asian Tatar possessions, apparently not earlier than the 15th century - in the same era when the special kingdoms of Kazan and Astrakhan, Khiva and Bukhara were formed. The Siberian horde, apparently, was closely related to the Nogai. It was formerly called Tyumenskaya and Shibanskaya. The latter name indicates that that branch of the Genghisids, which descended from Sheibani, one of the sons of Jochi and brother of Batu, dominated here, and which ruled in Central Asia. One branch of the Sheibanids founded special realm in the steppes of the Ishim and Irtysh and extended its limits to the Ural Range and the Ob. A century before Yermak, under Ivan III, the Sheiban Khan Ivak, like the Crimean Mengli Giray, was at enmity with the Golden Horde Khan Akhmat and even was his killer. But Ivak himself was killed by a rival in his own land. The fact is that a part of the Tatars under the leadership of the noble bek Taybuga had already separated from the Shiban horde. True, the successors of Taybuga were not called khans, but only beks; the right to the highest title belonged only to the offspring of Chinggis, i.e., the Sheibanids. Taibuga's successors withdrew with their horde further north, to the Irtysh, where the town of Siberia became its center, below the confluence of the Tobol into the Irtysh, and where it subjugated the neighboring Ostyaks, Voguls and Bashkirs. Iwak was killed by one of Taibuga's successors. There was a fierce enmity between these two clans, and each of them was looking for allies in the kingdom of Bukhara, the Kirghiz and Nogai hordes and in the Muscovite state.

The oath of the Siberian Khanate to Moscow in the 1550-1560s

These internal strife explain the willingness with which the prince of the Siberian Tatars Yediger, a descendant of Taybuga, recognized himself as a tributary of Ivan the Terrible. Even a quarter of a century before the campaign of Yermak Timofeevich, in 1555, the ambassadors of Yediger came to Moscow and beat with their foreheads so that he would take the Siberian land under his protection and take tribute from it. Ediger sought support from Moscow in the fight against the Sheibanids. Ivan Vasilyevich took the Siberian prince under his hand, imposed on him a tribute of a thousand sables a year and sent Dimitri Nepeitsin to him to swear in the inhabitants of the Siberian land and enumerate the black people; their number extended to 30,700. But in subsequent years, the tribute was not delivered in full; Yediger justified himself by the fact that he was fought by the Shiban prince, who took many people into captivity. This Shiban prince was the future opponent of the Cossacks Yermak Kuchum, grandson of Khan Ivak. Having received help from the Kirghiz-Kaisaks or Nogays, Kuchum defeated Ediger, killed him and took possession of the Siberian kingdom (about 1563). Initially, he also recognized himself as a tributary of the Moscow sovereign. The Moscow government recognized him with the title of Khan, as a direct descendant of the Sheibanids. But when Kuchum firmly established himself in the Siberian land and spread the Mohammedan religion among his Tatars, he not only stopped paying tribute, but also began to attack our northeastern Ukraine, forcing the Ostyaks neighboring it, instead of Moscow, to pay tribute to him. In all likelihood, these changes for the worse in the east did not occur without the influence of failures in the Livonian War. The Siberian Khanate came out from under the supreme Moscow power - this later made it necessary for Yermak Timofeevich's campaign to Siberia.

Stroganovs

The origin of Ataman Ermak Timofeevich is unknown. According to one legend, he was from the banks of the Kama, according to another - a native of the Kachalinsky village on the Don. His name, according to some, is a change of the name Yermolai, other historians and chroniclers derive it from German and Yeremey. One chronicle, considering the name Yermak as a nickname, gives him the Christian name Vasily. Ermak was at first the chieftain of one of the numerous Cossack gangs who robbed on the Volga and robbed not only Russian merchants and Persian ambassadors, but also the royal courts. Yermak's gang turned to the conquest of Siberia after entering the service of the famous Stroganov family.

The ancestors of Yermak's employers, the Stroganovs, probably belonged to Novgorod families who colonized the Dvina land, and during the era of the struggle between Novgorod and Moscow, they went over to the side of the latter. They had large holdings in the Solvychegsky and Ustyugsky regions and amassed great wealth, being engaged in salt mining, as well as trading with foreigners, Permians and Ugra, from whom expensive furs were exchanged. The main nest of this family was in Solvychegodsk. The wealth of the Stroganovs is evidenced by the news that they helped Grand Duke Vasily the Dark to redeem himself from Tatar captivity; for which they received various awards and preferential letters. Under Ivan III, Luka Stroganov is known; and under Basil III, the grandchildren of this Luke. Continuing to engage in salt mining and trade, the Stroganovs are the largest figures in the field of settling the northeastern lands. In the reign of Ivan IV, they spread their colonization activities far to the southeast, to the Kama region. At that time, the head of the family is Anikiy, the grandson of Luke; but he was probably already old, and his three sons act as figures: Yakov, Grigory and Semyon. They no longer act as simple peaceful colonizers of the Zakamian countries, but have their own military detachments, build fortresses, arm them with their own cannons, repel the raids of hostile foreigners. As one of these detachments, a gang of Yermak Timofeevich was hired a little later. The Stroganovs represented the family of feudal owners in our eastern outskirts. The Moscow government willingly provided enterprising people with all the benefits and rights to defend the northeastern limits.

Preparation of Yermak's campaign

The colonization activities of the Stroganovs, whose supreme expression and Yermak's campaign soon began, constantly expanding. In 1558, Grigory Stroganov beats Ivan Vasilyevich with his forehead about the following: in Great Perm, on both sides of the Kama River from Lysva to Chusovaya, there are empty places, black forests, not inhabited and unsubscribed to anyone. The petitioner asks the Stroganovs to allow this space, promising to set up a city there, supply it with guns, squeakers, in order to protect the sovereign's homeland from the Nogai people and from other hordes; asks for permission to cut down forests in these wild places, plow arable land, set up yards, and call on unwritten and non-taxable people. By a letter dated April 4 of the same year, the tsar granted the Stroganovs lands on both sides of the Kama for 146 miles from the mouth of the Lysva to the Chusovaya, with the requested benefits and rights, allowed them to establish settlements; freed them for 20 years from paying taxes and from zemstvo duties, as well as from the court of Perm governors; so the right to judge the Slobozhans belonged to the same Grigory Stroganov. This charter was signed by devious Fyodor Umnoy and Aleksey Adashev. Thus, the energetic efforts of the Stroganovs were not without connection with the activities of the Chosen Rada and Adashev, the best adviser of the first half of the reign of Ivan the Terrible.

Ermak Timofeevich's campaign was well prepared by this energetic Russian exploration of the Urals. Grigory Stroganov built the town of Kankor on right side Kama. Six years later, he asked permission to build another town, 20 miles below the first on the Kama, named Kergedan (later it was called Orel). These towns were surrounded by strong walls, armed with firearms and had a garrison made up of various free people: there were Russians, Lithuanians, Germans and Tatars. When the oprichnina was established, the Stroganovs asked the tsar to have their cities included in the oprichnina, and this request was fulfilled.

In 1568, Grigory's elder brother Yakov Stroganov beats the tsar with his brow about giving him the entire course of the Chusovaya River and a twenty-verst distance along the Kama below the mouth of the Chusovaya on the same grounds. The king agreed to his request; only the grace period was now set to ten years (hence, it ended at the same time as the previous award). Yakov Stroganov set up fences along the Chusovaya and started settlements that revived this deserted region. He also had to defend the region from the raids of neighboring foreigners - the reason why the Stroganovs then called Yermak's Cossacks to their place. In 1572, a riot broke out in the land of Cheremis; a crowd of Cheremis, Ostyaks and Bashkirs invaded the Kama region, plundered ships and beat several dozen merchants. But the military men of the Stroganovs pacified the rebels. Cheremis raised the Siberian Khan Kuchum against Moscow; he also forbade the Ostyaks, Voguls and Yugras to pay tribute to her. The following year, 1573, Kuchum's nephew Magmetkul came with an army to Chusovaya and beat many Ostyaks, Moscow tribute-payers. However, he did not dare to attack the Stroganov towns and went back behind the Stone Belt (Urals). Informing the tsar, the Stroganovs asked for permission to spread their settlements beyond the Belt, build towns along the Tobol River and its tributaries, and set up settlements there with the same benefits, promising in return not only to defend the Moscow tribute-payers of the Ostyaks and Voguls from Kuchum, but to fight and subjugate the Siberian Tatars. By a letter dated May 30, 1574, Ivan Vasilievich fulfilled this request of the Stroganovs, this time with a twenty-year grace period.

Arrival of Yermak's Cossacks to the Stroganovs (1579)

But for about ten years, the intention of the Stroganovs to spread Russian colonization beyond the Urals was not carried out until Yermak's Cossack squads entered the scene of action.

According to one Siberian chronicle, in April 1579 the Stroganovs sent a letter to the Cossack chieftains who were robbing the Volga and Kama, and invited them to their towns in Chusovye to help against the Siberian Tatars. The place of the brothers Yakov and Grigory Anikiyev was already taken by their sons: Maxim Yakovlevich and Nikita Grigorievich. They turned with the aforementioned letter to the Volga Cossacks. Five chieftains responded to their call: Ermak Timofeevich, Ivan Koltso, Yakov Mikhailov, Nikita Pan and Matvey Meshcheryak, who arrived with their hundreds in the summer of that year. The main leader of this Cossack squad was Yermak, whose name then became next to the names of his older contemporaries, the conquerors of America, Cortes and Pizarro.

We do not have exact information about the origin and previous life of this remarkable person. There is only a dark legend that Yermak's grandfather was a townsman from Suzdal, who was engaged in carting; that Yermak himself, in baptism Vasily (or Germa), was born somewhere in the Kama region, was distinguished by bodily strength, courage and the gift of words; in his youth he worked in plows that walked along the Kama and the Volga, and then became the ataman of the robbers. There are no direct indications that Yermak belonged to the Don Cossacks proper; rather, it was a native of northeastern Rus', with enterprise, experience and prowess resurrecting the type of the ancient Novgorod freeman.

The Cossack chieftains spent two years in the Chusovy gorodki, helping the Stroganovs defend themselves against foreigners. When Murza Bekbelii attacked the Stroganov villages with a crowd of Vogulis, Yermak's Cossacks defeated him and took him prisoner. The Cossacks themselves attacked the Vogulichi, Votyaks and Pelymians and thus prepared themselves for a big campaign against Kuchum.

It is difficult to say who exactly belonged to the main initiative in this enterprise. Some chronicles say that the Stroganovs sent Cossacks to conquer the Siberian kingdom. Others - that the Cossacks, with Yermak at the head, independently undertook this campaign; moreover, the Stroganovs were forced by threats to supply them with the necessary supplies. Perhaps the initiative was mutual, but on the part of Yermak's Cossacks it was more voluntary, and on the part of the Stroganovs it was more forced by circumstances. The Cossack squad could hardly carry out a boring guard service in the Chusovye towns for a long time and be content with meager booty in the neighboring foreign regions. In all likelihood, it soon became a burden for the Stroganov region itself. Exaggerated news about the expanse of the river beyond the Stone Belt, about the wealth of Kuchum and his Tatars, and, finally, the thirst for exploits that could wash away past sins from oneself - all this aroused the desire to go to a little-known country. Ermak Timofeevich was probably the main engine of the entire enterprise. The Stroganovs, on the other hand, got rid of the restless crowd of Cossacks and fulfilled the long-standing idea of ​​their own and the Moscow government: to postpone the fight against the Siberian Tatars for the Ural Range and punish the khan who had fallen away from Moscow.

The beginning of Yermak's campaign (1581)

The Stroganovs supplied the Cossacks with provisions, as well as guns and gunpowder, gave them another 300 people from their own military people, among whom, in addition to Russians, were hired Lithuanians, Germans and Tatars. There were 540 Cossacks. Consequently, the entire detachment was more than 800 people. Yermak and the Cossacks realized that the success of the campaign would have been impossible without strict discipline; therefore, for the violation of it, the atamans established punishments: disobedient and fugitives were supposed to be drowned in the river. The impending dangers made the Cossacks devout; they say that Yermak was accompanied by three priests and one monk, who performed the divine service daily. Preparations took a lot of time, so Yermak's campaign began quite late, already in September 1581. The warriors sailed up the Chusovaya, after several days of sailing they entered its tributary, the Serebryanka, and reached the portage that separates the Kama River system from the Ob system. I had to use a lot of labor to get over this portage and go down to the river Zheravlya; quite a few boats got stuck on the portage. It was already cold time, the rivers began to become covered with ice, and the Cossacks of Yermak had to winter near the portage. They set up a prison, from where one part of them undertook searches in the neighboring Vogul lands for supplies and prey, and the other made everything necessary for the spring campaign. When the flood came, Yermak's squad descended along the Zheravlei river into the Barancha rivers, and then to Tagil and Tura, a tributary of the Tobol, entering the Siberian Khanate. On the Tura stood the Ostyak-Tatar yurt of Chingidi (Tyumen), which was owned by a relative or tributary of Kuchum, Yepancha. Here the first battle took place, which ended in a complete defeat and the flight of the Yepanchin Tatars. The Tura Cossacks of Yermak entered the Tobol and at the mouth of the Tavda had a successful deal with the Tatars. Tatar fugitives brought Kuchum news of the coming of Russian soldiers; moreover, they justified their defeat by the action of guns unfamiliar to them, which they considered special bows: “when the Russians shoot from their bows, then fire plows from them; arrows are not visible, and the wounds are fatal, and it is impossible to protect yourself from them with any military harness. These news saddened Kuchum, especially since various signs had already predicted the arrival of the Russians and the fall of his kingdom.

Khan, however, did not waste time, gathered Tatars from everywhere, subject to the Ostyaks and Voguls, and sent them under the command of his close relative, the brave prince Magmetkul, to meet the Cossacks. And he himself arranged fortifications and notches near the mouth of the Tobol, under the Chuvashev mountain, in order to block Yermak's access to his capital, a town in Siberia, located on the Irtysh, somewhat below the confluence of the Tobol into it. A series of bloody battles followed. Magmetkul first met the Cossacks of Ermak Timofeevich near the Babasany tract, but neither the Tatar cavalry, nor the arrows could resist the Cossacks and their squeakers. Magmetkul fled to the notch under the Chuvashev mountain. The Cossacks sailed further along the Tobol and by the road took possession of the ulus of the Karachi (chief adviser) Kuchum, where they found warehouses of all sorts of goods. Having reached the mouth of the Tobol, Yermak at first evaded the aforementioned notch, turned up the Irtysh, took the town of Murza Atik on its bank and settled down here to rest, considering his further plan.

Map of the Siberian Khanate and Yermak's campaign

The capture of the city of Siberia by Yermak

A large crowd of enemies who fortified near Chuvashev made Yermak think about it. The Cossack circle gathered to decide whether to go forward or turn back. Some advised to retreat. But the more courageous reminded Yermak Timofeevich of the vow given before the campaign to stand to fall down to a single person rather than run back in shame. Deep autumn was already approaching (1582), soon the rivers were to be covered with ice, and the return voyage became extremely dangerous. On October 23, in the morning, Yermak's Cossacks left the town. At cliques: "Lord, help your servants!" they hit the notch, and a stubborn battle began.

The enemies met the attackers with a cloud of arrows and wounded many. Despite desperate attacks, Yermak's detachment could not overcome the fortifications and began to languish. The Tatars, considering themselves already winners, broke the notch themselves in three places and made a sortie. But then, in a desperate hand-to-hand combat, the Tatars were defeated and rushed back; Russians broke into the notch. The Ostyak princelings were the first to leave the battlefield and went home with their crowds. The wounded Magmetkul escaped in a boat. Kuchum watched the battle from the top of the mountain and ordered the Muslim mullahs to read prayers. Seeing the flight of the entire army, he himself hurried to his capital Siberia; but did not remain in it, for there was no longer anyone to defend it; and fled south to the Ishim steppes. Having learned about the flight of Kuchum, on October 26, 1582, Yermak entered the empty city of Siberia with the Cossacks; here they found valuable booty, a lot of gold, silver, and especially furs. A few days later, the inhabitants began to return: the Ostyak prince came first with his people and brought gifts and food to Yermak Timofeevich and his squad; then, little by little, the Tatars also returned.

The conquest of Siberia by Yermak. Painting by V. Surikov, 1895

So, after incredible labors, the detachment of Yermak Timofeevich hoisted Russian banners in the capital of the Siberian kingdom. Although firearms gave him a strong advantage, we must not forget that there was a huge numerical superiority on the side of the enemies: according to the chronicles, Yermak had 20 and even 30 times more enemies against him. Only the extraordinary strength of mind and body helped the Cossacks to overcome so many enemies. Long trips along unfamiliar rivers show to what extent the Cossacks of Ermak Timofeevich were hardened in hardships, accustomed to fighting with northern nature.

Yermak and Kuchum

However, the war was far from over with the conquest of the Kuchum capital. Kuchum himself did not consider his kingdom lost, which half consisted of nomadic and wandering foreigners; vast neighboring steppes gave him a safe haven; from here he made sudden attacks on the Cossacks, and the fight against him dragged on for a long time. The enterprising prince Magmetkul was especially dangerous. Already in November or December of the same 1582, he lay in wait for a small detachment of Cossacks engaged in fishing, and killed almost everyone. It was the first significant loss. In the spring of 1583, Yermak learned from a Tatar that Magmetkul camped on the Vagai River (a tributary of the Irtysh between Tobol and Ishim), about a hundred miles from the city of Siberia. A detachment of Cossacks sent against him suddenly attacked his camp at night, killed many Tatars, and captured the prince himself. The loss of the brave prince temporarily secured the Cossacks of Ermak from Kuchum. But their number has already greatly diminished; supplies were depleted, while there was still much work and battle to be done. There was an urgent need for Russian help.

The conquest of Siberia by Yermak. Painting by V. Surikov, 1895. Fragment

Immediately after the capture of the city of Siberia, Ermak Timofeevich and the Cossacks sent news of their successes to the Stroganovs; and then they sent ataman Ivan Koltso to Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich himself with expensive Siberian sables and a request to send them royal warriors to help.

Yermak's Cossacks in Moscow near Ivan the Terrible

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the fact that in the Perm Territory, after the departure of the Yermak gang, there were few military people left, some Pelym (Vogul) prince came with crowds of Ostyaks, Voguls and Votyaks, reached Cherdyn, the main city of this region, then turned to Kamskoe Usolye, Kankor, Kergedan and Chusovskie towns, burning the surrounding villages and capturing the peasants. Without Yermak, the Stroganovs barely defended their towns from the enemies. Cherdyn governor Vasily Pelepelitsyn, perhaps dissatisfied with the privileges of the Stroganovs and their lack of jurisdiction, in a report to Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich, blamed the devastation Perm Territory on the Stroganovs: without a royal decree, they called the thieves' Cossacks Ermak Timofeevich and other chieftains to their jails, sent them to the Vogulichi and Kuchum and pulled them up. When the Pelymsky prince came, they did not help the sovereign cities with their military people; and Yermak, instead of defending the Permian land, went to fight to the east. The Stroganovs were sent from Moscow a merciless royal letter, marked on November 16, 1582. It was ordered that the Stroganovs no longer keep the Cossacks at home, but the Volga atamans, Yermak Timofeevich and his comrades, should be sent to Perm (i.e. Cherdyn) and Kamskoye Usolye, where they should not stand together, but separated; they were allowed to leave no more than a hundred people. If this is not exactly carried out, and again some kind of misfortune is caused over the Permian places from the Voguls and the Siberian Saltan, then a “great disgrace” will be imposed on the Stroganovs. In Moscow, obviously, they did not know anything about the Siberian campaign and demanded that Yermak be sent to Cherdyn with the Cossacks, who were already located on the banks of the Irtysh. The Stroganovs were "in great sorrow." They relied on the permission given to them before to set up towns beyond the Stone Belt and fight the Siberian Saltan, and therefore they released the Cossacks there, without communicating with either Moscow or the Perm governor. But soon the news arrived from Yermak and his comrades about their extraordinary luck. With her, the Stroganovs personally hastened to Moscow. And then the Cossack embassy arrived there, headed by Ataman Koltso (once sentenced to death for robberies). Of course, opals were out of the question. The sovereign received the ataman and the Cossacks affectionately, rewarded them with money and cloth, and again released them to Siberia. They say that he sent a fur coat from his shoulder, a silver goblet and two shells to Ermak Timofeevich. To reinforce them, he then sent Prince Semyon Volkhovsky and Ivan Glukhov with several hundred military men. The captive prince Magmetkul, brought to Moscow, was granted estates and took his place among the serving Tatar princes. The Stroganovs received new trade benefits and two more land awards, Big and Small Salt.

Arrival to Ermak detachments of Volkhovsky and Glukhov (1584)

Kuchum, having lost Magmetkul, was distracted by the renewed struggle with the Taibuga family. Ermak's Cossacks, meanwhile, completed the taxation of tribute to the Ostyak and Vogul volosts that were part of the Siberian Khanate. From the city of Siberia, they went along the Irtysh and the Ob, on the banks of the latter they took the Ostyak city of Kazym; but then on the attack they lost one of their chieftains, Nikita Pan. The number of Yermak's detachment was greatly reduced; hardly half of it remains. Yermak was looking forward to help from Russia. Only in the autumn of 1584, Volkhovskaya and Glukhov sailed on plows: but they brought no more than 300 people - the help was too insufficient to secure such a vast space for Russia. It was impossible to rely on the loyalty of the newly conquered local princes, and the implacable Kuchum was still acting at the head of his horde. Yermak gladly met the Moscow military people, but had to share with them meager food supplies; in winter, from a lack of food, mortality opened up in the city of Siberia. Prince Volkhovskoy also died. Only in the spring, thanks to a plentiful catch of fish, game, as well as bread and livestock delivered from the surrounding foreigners, did Yermak's people recover from hunger. Prince Volkhovskoy, apparently, was appointed Siberian governor, to whom the Cossack atamans had to surrender the city and submit, and his death saved the Russians from the inevitable rivalry and disagreement of the chiefs; for it is unlikely that the atamans would willingly give up their leading role in the newly conquered land. With the death of Volkhovsky, Yermak again became the head of the united Cossack-Moscow detachment.

The death of Yermak

Until now, luck has accompanied almost all the enterprises of Ermak Timofeevich. But happiness finally began to change. Continued good luck weakens constant precaution and breeds carelessness, the cause of disastrous surprises.

One of the local tributary princes, a karach, i.e., a former khan's adviser, conceived treason and sent envoys to Yermak with a request to defend him from the Nogais. The ambassadors swore that they did not think of any evil against the Russians. Atamans believed their oath. Ivan Koltso and forty Cossacks with him went to the town of Karachi, were affectionately received, and then treacherously all were killed. To avenge them, Yermak sent a detachment with ataman Yakov Mikhailov; but this detachment was exterminated. After that, the surrounding foreigners bowed to the admonitions of the Karachi and raised an uprising against the Russians. With a large crowd, the Karacha laid siege to the very city of Siberia. It is very possible that he was in secret relations with Kuchum. Yermak's squad, weakened by losses, was forced to withstand the siege. The last dragged on, and the Russians were already experiencing a severe shortage of food supplies: the Karacha hoped to starve them out.

But despair gives determination. One June night, the Cossacks were divided into two parts: one remained with Yermak in the city, and the other, with Ataman Matvey Meshcheryak, quietly went out into the field and crept to the Karachi camp, which stood a few miles from the city separately from the other Tatars. Many enemies were beaten, the Karacha himself barely escaped. At dawn, when in the main camp of the besiegers they learned about the sortie of Yermak's Cossacks, crowds of enemies rushed to the aid of the karache and surrounded the small squad of Cossacks. But Yermak fenced off the Karachi convoy and met the enemies with rifle fire. The savages could not stand it and dispersed. The city was freed from the siege, the surrounding tribes again recognized themselves as our tributaries. After that, Yermak undertook a successful trip up the Irtysh, perhaps to search for Kuchum. But the indefatigable Kuchum was elusive in his Ishim steppes and built new intrigues.

The conquest of Siberia by Yermak. Painting by V. Surikov, 1895. Fragment

As soon as Yermak Timofeevich returned to the city of Siberia, the news came that a caravan of Bukhara merchants was going to the city with goods, but stopped somewhere, because Kuchum did not give him the way! The resumption of trade with Central Asia was highly desirable for the Cossacks of Yermak, who could exchange woolen and silk fabrics, carpets, weapons, and spices for furs collected from foreigners. Yermak in early August 1585, personally with a small detachment, sailed towards the merchants up the Irtysh. The Cossack planes reached the mouth of the Vagai, however, having met no one, they swam back. One dark, stormy evening, Yermak landed on the shore and then found his death. Its details are semi-legendary, but not without some plausibility.

Yermak's Cossacks landed on the island on the Irtysh, and therefore, considering themselves safe, fell into a dream without posting guards. Meanwhile, Kuchum was nearby. (The news of the unprecedented Bukhara caravan was almost launched by him in order to lure Yermak into an ambush.) His scouts reported to the khan about the Cossacks' lodging for the night. Kuchum had one Tatar condemned to death. Khan sent him to look for a horse ford on the island, promising pardon if he was lucky. The Tatar crossed the river and returned with news of the complete carelessness of Yermak's people. Kuchum did not believe at first and ordered to bring proof. The Tatar went another time and brought three Cossack squeakers and three caskets of gunpowder. Then Kuchum sent a crowd of Tatars to the island. With the sound of rain and the howling of the wind, the Tatars crept up to the camp and began to beat the sleepy Cossacks. The awakened Yermak rushed into the river to the plow, but ended up in a deep place; having iron armor on him, he could not swim out and drowned. During this sudden attack, the entire Cossack detachment was exterminated along with their leader. So this Russian Cortes and Pizarro perished, the brave, “veleum” ataman Ermak Timofeevich, as the Siberian chronicles call him, who turned from robbers into a hero, whose glory will never be erased from the people's memory.

Two important circumstances helped the Russian squad of Yermak in the conquest of the Siberian Khanate: on the one hand, firearms and military hardening; with another - internal state the khanate itself, weakened by internecine strife and discontent of local pagans against Islam forcibly introduced by Kuchum. Siberian shamans with their idols were reluctant to give way to Mohammedan mullahs. But the third important reason for success is the personality of Yermak Timofeevich himself, his irresistible courage, knowledge of military affairs and iron strength of character. The latter is clearly evidenced by the discipline that Yermak managed to establish in his squad of Cossacks, with their violent morals.

Retreat of the remnants of Yermak's squads from Siberia

The death of Yermak confirmed that he was the main engine of the entire enterprise. When the news of her reached the city of Siberia, the remaining Cossacks immediately decided that without Yermak, with their small numbers, they would not be able to hold out among the unreliable natives against the Siberian Tatars. Cossacks and Moscow warriors, including no more than one and a half hundred people, immediately left the city of Siberia with the head of the archery Ivan Glukhov and Matvey Meshcheryak, the only remaining of the five atamans; by the far northern route along the Irtysh and Ob, they set off back for the Stone (Ural Range). As soon as the Russians cleared Siberia, Kuchum sent his son Alei to occupy his capital city. But he didn't stay here long. We have seen above that the prince of Taibugin of the Ediger family, who owned Siberia, and his brother Bekbulat died in the fight against Kuchum. The little son of Bekbulat, Seydyak, took refuge in Bukhara, grew up there and was an avenger for his father and uncle. With the help of the Bukharans and Kirghiz, Seydyak defeated Kuchum, expelled Aley from Siberia and took possession of this capital city himself.

The arrival of the Mansurov detachment and the consolidation of the Russian conquest of Siberia

The Tatar kingdom in Siberia was restored, and the conquest of Ermak Timofeevich seemed lost. But the Russians have already experienced the weakness, the heterogeneity of this kingdom and its natural riches; they were not slow to return.

The government of Fyodor Ivanovich sent one detachment after another to Siberia. Still not knowing about the death of Yermak, the Moscow government in the summer of 1585 sent the governor Ivan Mansurov to help him with a hundred archers and - most importantly - with a cannon. On this campaign, the remnants of Yermak's detachments and Ataman Meshcheryak, who had gone back beyond the Urals, joined him. Finding the city of Siberia already occupied by the Tatars, Mansurov sailed past, went down the Irtysh to the confluence with the Ob and built a town here for the winter.

This time, the matter of conquest went easier with the help of experience and along the paths paved by Yermak. The surrounding Ostyaks tried to take the Russian town, but were repulsed. Then they brought their main idol and began to make sacrifices to him, asking for help against the Christians. The Russians pointed their cannon at him, and the tree, along with the idol, was smashed into chips. The Ostyaks scattered in fear. The Ostyak prince Lugui, who owned six towns along the Ob, was the first of the local rulers to go to Moscow to beat with his forehead, so that the sovereign would accept him among his tributaries. They treated him kindly and imposed on him a tribute of seven forty sables.

Founding of Tobolsk

The victories of Ermak Timofeevich were not in vain. Following Mansurov, governors Sukin and Myasnaya arrived in the Siberian land and on the Tura River, on the site of the old town of Chingia, they built the Tyumen fortress and erected a Christian church in it. In the following 1587, after the arrival of new reinforcements, the head of Danila Chulkov went further from Tyumen, went down the Tobol to its mouth and founded Tobolsk here on the banks of the Irtysh; this city became the center of Russian possessions in Siberia, due to its advantageous position in the junction of the Siberian rivers. Continuing the work of Yermak Timofeyevich, the Moscow government also used its usual system here: to spread and strengthen its dominion by gradually building fortresses. Siberia, contrary to fears, was not lost to the Russians. The heroism of a handful of Yermak's Cossacks opened the way for Russia's great eastward expansion all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

Articles and books about Yermak

Solovyov S. M. History of Russia since ancient times. T. 6. Chapter 7 - "The Stroganovs and Yermak"

Kostomarov N. I. Russian history in the biographies of its main figures. 21 - Ermak Timofeevich

Kuznetsov E. V. Initial piitika about Yermak. Tobolsk Provincial Gazette, 1890

Kuznetsov E.V. Yermak's bibliography: The experience of indicating little-known works in Russian and partly in foreign languages ​​about the conqueror of Siberia. Tobolsk, 1891

Kuznetsov E. V. About the essay by A. V. Oksyonov “Ermak in the epics of the Russian people”. Tobolsk Provincial Gazette, 1892

Kuznetsov E. V. To information about the banners of Yermak. Tobolsk Provincial Gazette, 1892

Oksenov A.V. Ermak in the epics of the Russian people. Historical Bulletin, 1892

Article "Ermak" in the Brockhaus-Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (Author - N. Pavlov-Silvansky)

Ataman Ermak Timofeevich conqueror of the Siberian kingdom. M., 1905

Fialkov D.N. On the place of death and burial of Yermak. Novosibirsk, 1965

Sutormin A. G. Ermak Timofeevich (Alenin Vasily Timofeevich). Irkutsk, 1981

Dergacheva-Skop E. Brief stories about Yermak's campaign in Siberia - Siberia in the past, present and future. Issue. III. Novosibirsk, 1981

Kolesnikov A.D. Ermak. Omsk, 1983

Skrynnikov R. G. Ermak's Siberian expedition. Novosibirsk, 1986

Buzukashvili M.I. Ermak. M., 1989

Kopylov D.I. Ermak. Irkutsk, 1989

Sofronov V. Yu. Yermak's Campaign and the Struggle for the Khan's Throne in Siberia. Tyumen, 1993

Kozlova N. K. About the “chud”, Tatars, Ermak and Siberian barrows. Omsk, 1995

Solodkin Ya. G. To the study of chronicle sources about the Siberian expedition of Yermak. Tyumen, 1996

Kreknina L. I. The theme of Yermak in the work of P. P. Ershov. Tyumen, 1997

Katargina M.N. The plot of the death of Yermak: chronicle materials. Tyumen, 1997

Sofronova M. N. On the Imaginary and the Real in the Portraits of the Siberian Ataman Yermak. Tyumen, 1998

Shkerin V.A. Yermak's Sylven campaign: a mistake or a search for a way to Siberia? Yekaterinburg, 1999

Solodkin Ya. G. To the disputes about the origin of Yermak. Yekaterinburg, 1999

Solodkin Ya. G. Did Ermak Timofeevich have a double? Yugra, 2002

Zakshauskene E. Badge from Yermak's chain mail. M., 2002

Katanov N. F. The legend of the Tobolsk Tatars about Kuchum and Yermak - Tobolsk Chronograph. Collection. Issue. 4. Yekaterinburg, 2004

Panishev E. A. The death of Yermak in Tatar and Russian legends. Tobolsk, 2003

Skrynnikov R. G. Ermak. M., 2008