Much has been written about the campaign of Ataman Ermak and his Cossack army to 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 indirect evidence, checking the texts of various chronicles, royal decrees and memoirs of contemporaries of the campaign.

Historians have quite detailed information about the fighting of the Cossacks in Siberia. But much less is known about the actual transition of Ermak’s squad from the lower reaches of 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 Ermak", 1895

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

All. No specifics, just general phrases. Given such uncertainty, any lover of historical details may have the following questions:

When exactly did Ermak set off on his campaign?

What plows or boats did the Cossacks sail on? With or without sails?

How many miles a day did they travel up the Chusovaya?

How and how many days did you climb Serebryannaya?

How they carried it across the Ural ridge.

Did the Cossacks winter at the pass or not?

If they spent the winter, then why did they reach Siberia only in October?

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

How long did the “forced march” of the Cossacks take to the capital of Siberia?

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

Start time of Ermak's expedition to the east

The exact date of the start of Ermak’s army 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 start time of the expedition.

The textbook date (according to the Remezov Chronicle) is September 1. According to other sources - mid-summer. This is actually a fundamental question. Let's think sequentially. Let's start with the numerical strength of the Cossack army.

How many people were in Ermak’s squad?

540 Cossacks came from the Yaik to the Sylva (the left tributary of the Chusovaya). Plus, the Stroganovs sent 300 military men to help them. Total about 800 people. Nobody questions this figure. It is very important for further discussions.

On what ships did Ermak’s army go on a campaign?

According to some information, Ermak’s army loaded onto 80 plows. Or about 10 people per ship. What were these “planes”? With a high degree of probability we can assume that these were large oared 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” here 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 only useful when the wind is favorable. On such winding rivers as Chusovaya or Serebryannaya, catching a tailwind is a disastrous proposition. Sails would have been a nuisance in this part of the voyage. Although they could come in handy later - on the Tour, Tobol and Irtysh. Therefore, one should not completely reject the presence of some light sails on Cossack plows. But when moving up the Chusovaya and its tributaries, the main engine was muscle power.

Perhaps this is what the plows on which Ermak’s army marched looked like

Boat design

Chusovaya and other Ural rivers in the middle reaches are rocky and extremely shallow. Therefore, the boat must have a shallow draft. It is given, as already said, only by a punt. In addition, Ermak and his atamans knew that they would have to cross the Ural watershed by portage. Therefore, the boats had to be neither large nor heavy, so that they could be dragged along an unprepared portage. And where necessary - even on your hands.

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

Boat capacity

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

The rowers sat in pairs, with 1 person for each oar. Perhaps there was a helmsman. On small rifts, of which there are plenty on Chusovaya (and especially on Serebryannaya), people went straight into the water and walked along the bottom to pull a boat with equipment.

In September in the Urals, the water in the rivers is already cold. There is no place to dry or warm up while hiking. Rubber boots had not yet been invented. Walking in cold water with bare feet meant getting a whole bunch of illnesses - from colds and arthritis to pneumonia. Ermak could not help but understand this. For this reason alone, the statement about starting the hike at the beginning of autumn, “looking at the winter,” raises great doubts. It was reasonable to have time to cross the shallow Ural rivers in the warm weather.

About movement speed

On a modern kayak downstream on Chusovaya you can do 20-30 kilometers a day if you row for 8 hours straight. The speed of the Chusovaya itself in the middle of summer between rapids is low - 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; the load on each rower only decreases slightly.)

Then the speed of the Cossack plows moving forward relative to the shore 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 approximately 25-30 km per day. But taking into account rolls, run-outs, forced stops, fatigue at the end of the day and other braking moments such as boat repairs, 20 km per day is the most optimistic daily distance. Moreover, by the end of the day, the rowers’ arms should simply fall off from fatigue. But you still need to camp for the night, make a fire, cook food, get a good night’s sleep to regain your strength...

How many days did the journey up Chusovaya take?

The distance from the Verkhnechusovskie towns to the town of Chusovaya along the riverbed is approximately 100 km. From Chusovoy to the mouth of the river. Silver - another 150 versts. Total 250. This distance can be covered in two weeks. (If in reality the path to Mezhevaya Utka was chosen, then another 50 km, or 2-3 days of travel.)

Finally, the main argument is that the wolf is fed by the legs! That’s not why the Cossacks were going on a military campaign, just to hang around in the middle of the taiga for six months!

Cossacks on the river Tagil built themselves a new fleet

There is a version that the Cossacks abandoned their plows while climbing the pass on the river. Serebryanaya, went down on foot to the Tagil River (to the 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, and cut so many boards by hand! It’s hard to imagine free Cossack robbers who traded in robbery and war (actually highway bandits!), carrying logs on a ridge and building an entire fleet! Again, the site of such extensive construction would certainly have left traces. But there is nothing...

It is believed that the Cossacks built the rafts. Yes, rafts are easy to make. But the rafts are slow-moving and extremely clumsy. You can't go through shallows and riffles on a raft. And further along Tura and Tobol on wide water - how to maneuver and move on rafts? In addition, rafts are extremely vulnerable to enemy arrows.

So, Ermak and his comrades, having overcome the most difficult section of the road on 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 Kuchum’s soldiers – October 20. And on October 26, the capital of the Siberian Khanate had already fallen under the onslaught of Ermakov’s army.

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

The entire distance from the mouth of the river. Barancha on Tagil to the mouth of the river. Tura at the confluence with the Tobol is about 1000 km along the riverbed. Downstream you can walk 20-25 km a day without even trying too hard. 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 Ermak’s squad on the campaign:

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

10 days up Serebryannaya

10 days – organizing a portage and hauling boats across the watershed

50 days down Tagil and Tura

10 days along the Tobol before the confluence with the Irtysh

That turns out to be 100 days or just over three months.

The countdown gives the approximate start date of Ermak's squad from the Verkhnechusovsky towns. We subtract 100 days from October 25 and get approximately mid-July. Taking into account the permissible errors, it could have been the beginning of summer, that is, June-mid-July. Not September 1st.

Conclusions:

Ermak's army reached from 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 spend any wintering on the Ural watershed.

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

The campaign of Ermak’s squad was a military raid on enemy territory with the aim of: eliminating the threat of attacks on Russian possessions in the Urals(for the Stroganovs), capture of rich booty(for Cossacks and warriors) , the prospect of expanding the possessions of the Muscovite kingdom

All goals have been achieved. Hike turned out to be successful due to the surprise of the blow inflicted by the Cossacks, their superiority in weapons and methods of warfare, experienced commanders and the personal organizational abilities of Ataman Ermak.

Icebreaker Ermak

Russian travelers and pioneers

Again travelers of the era of great geographical discoveries

History, in a sense, is the sacred book of peoples: the main, necessary; a mirror of their existence and activity; the tablet of revelations and rules; the covenant of the ancestors to their descendants; addition, explanation of the present and example of the future.

Y. M. KARAMZIN

Map of Siberia from the “Drawing Book” (south - above, north - below, west - right, east - left).

The Siberian chronicles contain eight chronicles about Ermak Timofeevich’s campaign in Siberia, and even more, the chronicles tell about what happened after the death of the Cossack ataman Ermak Timofeevich, this is a treasure trove of unique historical essays, a particularly valuable detailed historical source.

Ermak Timofeevich, conqueror of Siberia. Lubok of the 19th century.

List of Siberian Chronicles.

1) RUMYANTSEV CHICKENER
2) CHRONOGRAPHIC STORY
3) Pogodinsky Chronicler
4) THE STROGANOV CHRONICLE
5) BUZUNOVSKY CHRNICALER
6) PUSTOZERSK CHRINICALIST
7) DESCRIPTION OF SIBERIA
8) Kungur Chronicler

Lion and unicorn on the banner of Ermak, which was with him during the conquest of Siberia (1581-1582)

This is how Ermak was depicted in many similar portraits of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Historical information about the modern word Siberia, the rooted modern understanding of the Siberian land, as follows from the chronicles Siberia is, first of all, the city of the ruler Khan Kuchum, who was later killed by the Kalmyks for ruining and robbing his charges at the end of his inglorious life, Kuchum stole a herd of horses For this crime, Kalmyk warriors caught up with him and killed him.

“Tsar Kuchum tried many times to return Siberia and take revenge. One day (he) gathered an army, came to Siberia, reached the Irtysh River, destroyed several Basurman villages and went home. As soon as they found out about this in Tobolsk, the governor sent troops after him, and caught up with him on the border with the Steppe, and attacked, killed his people, and captured two queens and a son and enormous wealth from him. Kuchum himself fled with a small detachment, and having reached his ulus, he took the rest of the army and when he walked through the Kalmyk uluses, "Then he stole horse herds. The Kalmyk warriors caught up with him, and his troops defeated him and recaptured their horses. Then Tsar Kuchum fled to Nogai and was killed by them there."

Siberia (Kashlyk, Sibir, Siber, Iber, Isker) city, capital of the Siberian Khanate. It was located on the right bank of the Irtysh at the confluence of the Sibirka River, 17 km above modern Tobolsk in the Tyumen region, now the archeological monument “Kuchumovo Settlement”.

At that time, there were often raids of the Kuchumov tribes on Perm and the Perm Russian lands, which as a result suffered constant devastation, suffered violence and human grief, this worried Ivan Vasilyevich, after some questions of the Stroganov brothers about the Siberian kingdom, and about the possibility of protection from the raids of the Bashkirs , Ostyaks, Vaguls, Tatars, Nagais, Siberian troops, and other nomads, Ivan Vasilyevich gives the go-ahead with letters of approval with sovereign gold seals for lands from the mouth of the Chusovaya River up both banks up to the source and along tributaries to (their) sources, and in those places, from the Kama up the Chusovaya - 80 versts along the right and left banks to build fortifications for protection and defense against infidel raids, gives complete freedom of action, and protection by all available means, after which the construction of fortifications begins, the supply of the necessary resources, and recruitment is carried out squads.

From this moment on, Ataman Ermak appears on the scene with his comrades, who often robbed, smashed and plundered ships, hard labor, merchant trade caravans with a gang of 5,000 people on the Volga, Oka and Sea rivers, thinking of going to Kyzylbashi along with the Don and Yaik Cossacks, to dominate the sea, but this did not happen, robbing merchants, including the state treasury and other Orthodox people, shedding Christian blood, these exploits became known to the Tsar and Grand Duke of All Rus' Ivan Vasilyevich, the sovereign was furious and angry.

Subsequently, these events determined the fate of Ermak Timofeevich and his comrades to go into the service of the Stroganovs, protect the lands from raids by motley tribes, and subsequently carry out a military campaign in Siberia.

As a result, Ermak and his associates enter the service of the Stroganovs to make amends, perhaps out of fear that Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich was angry; in one case or another, Ermak defends the Russian land and Perm the Great, defeats nomadic detachments and conquers nearby nomadic tribes, after which an expedition to the Siberian Khanate of Kuchum is equipped, and then there are bloody and terrifying battles with Khan Kuchum and the nomads, who many times surpassed the forces of Ermak and his comrades, often the Cossacks, before the battle with the enemy, knelt with a prayer on their lips, and then a desperate battle followed courage (there was nowhere to retreat), so they took the opposing side, it is worth noting that Ermak could not expect help from anyone in the Siberian land, after each battle his comrades died.

I note that eight chronicles about Siberia provide a variety of information, often complementing each other, as a result, a general picture of the chronology of events emerges, what happened in such a distant time, who Ermak was, his origin, what he did, what happened after the death of Ataman Ermak with comrades in the Siberian land, no Wikipedia, no movie will tell about this in full picture.

What do living modern Siberians know about this? I doubt that most of our contemporaries have heard anything about the historical Siberian Chronicles, especially what is described inside.

Postscript: After the conquest of the Siberian lands, expeditions were carried out to the edge and end of the Siberian land, the Russian Kingdom was actively developing Siberia (development was carried out along the rivers - Tobol, Irtysh, Ob, Yenisei, Amur), new fortified cities of Tyumen (1586), Tobolsk (1587) were founded ), Berezov and Surgut (1593), Tara (1594), Mangazeya (1601), Tomsk (1604), Kuznetsk (now Novokuznetsk) (1618), Krasnoyarsk (1628), churches, monasteries, residential and industrial buildings were rebuilt, Cossacks settled , merchants, industrial and service people, Cossacks, merchants, farmers, peasant migrants, and other people.

Drawing of all Siberian cities and lands from the atlas of Semyon Remezov, compiled in 1701.

Ermak's personality

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

Scientists have still not come to a consensus on the question of Ermak’s personality. Most often he is called a native of the estates of the Stroganov industrialists, who then went to the Volga and became a Cossack. Another opinion is that Ermak is of noble origin, of Turkic blood. Vyacheslav Safronov in his article put forward the assumption that Ermak was a representative of the legitimate dynasty of Siberian khans overthrown by Kuchum: “... One of the chronicles gives a description of Ermak’s appearance - “flat face” and “black hair”, and you must agree that a Russian person is characterized by an elongated face and brown hair." It is also believed that famine in his native land forced him, a man of remarkable physical strength, to flee to the Volga. Soon, in battle, he got himself a weapon and from about 1562 he began to master military affairs. Thanks to his talent as an organizer, his justice and courage, he became an ataman. In the Livonian War of 1581 he commanded a Cossack flotilla. It’s hard to believe, but apparently Ermak was the founder of the Marine Corps. He carried his army along the river surface on plows, and, if necessary, threw it ashore - and into battle. The enemy could not resist such an onslaught. “Plow army”—that’s what these fighters were called at that time.

Cossacks, squad organization

The word “Cossack” is of Turkic origin; it was the name given to people who lagged behind the Horde and ran their own household separately. But gradually they began to call dangerous people who traded in robbery that way. And nationality did not play a big role for the Cossacks, the main thing was their way of life. Ivan the Terrible decided to attract the steppe freemen to his side. In 1571, he sent messengers to the atamans, invited them to military service and recognized the Cossacks as a military and political force. Ermak was, of course, a military genius, who was greatly assisted by his experienced friends and like-minded people - Ivan Koltso and Ivan Groza, Ataman Meshcheryak. His atamans and esauls were distinguished by their courage and bravery. Not one of them flinched in battle and until the last days did not betray their Cossack duty. Apparently, Ermak knew how to understand people, because in a life full of danger you can only trust the best. Ermak also did not tolerate licentiousness, which could ruin the best army; he clearly demanded the fulfillment of all Orthodox rituals and holidays, and the observance of fasts.

In his regiments there were three priests and a defrocked monk. The clear organization of the troops could be the envy of the tsarist commanders. He divided the squad into five regiments led by esauls, by the way - elected ones. The regiments were divided into hundreds, then into fifty and tens. The number of troops at that time was 540 soldiers. Even then, the Cossack army had 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 matters, Ermak followed the customs of the free Cossacks. All issues were resolved by a general gathering of Cossacks - a circle. By decision of the circle, the campaign to Siberia began. The circle also elected an ataman. The ataman's power was based on the strength of his authority among the Cossacks. And the fact that Ermak remained an ataman until the end of his life convinces us of his popularity among the Cossacks. The squad was united by the spirit of camaraderie. In the Cossack freemen on the Volga, military operations of the Livonian War and in the Urals, Ermak acquired rich military experience, which, combined with his natural intelligence, 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 with the Stroganovs. Expedition to Siberia

In 1558, the wealthy landowner and industrialist Grigory Stroganov begged Ivan the Terrible for empty lands along the Kama River in order to build a town here for protection from the barbarian hordes, to call 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 back in the 13th century. into three hordes: Gold, White and Blue. The Golden Horde, located in the Volga region, collapsed. Remnants of other hordes fought for supremacy over vast territories. In this struggle, local princes 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. From that time on, Tatar raids on Russian border lands in the Perm region became a constant occurrence. The owners of these lands, the Stroganovs, who had a letter from the tsar to settle the empty territories, turned to the Cossacks, whose troops multiplied on the borders of the Russian kingdom.

The Cossacks came to the Stroganovs consisting of 540 people. The detachment of Ermak and his atamans received an invitation from the Stroganovs to join their service: “... it was revealed to him that he, Ermak, and his comrades, putting aside any imaginary danger and suspicion from the Stroganovs, would reliably follow them, and with his arrival would frighten 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 out guard duty in the towns and went on campaigns against hostile neighboring tribes. It was during these campaigns that the idea of ​​a military expedition to Siberia matured. Going on a campaign, Ermak and the Cossacks were convinced of the great national significance of their cause. And the Stroganovs could not help but wish success for Ermak and defeat for the Tatars, from which their towns and settlements so often suffered. But disagreements began between them regarding the equipment for the campaign itself. "... The initiative of this campaign, according to the Esipovskaya and Remizovskaya chronicles, belonged to Ermak himself, the participation of the Stroganovs was limited to the forced supply of the Cossacks with supplies and weapons. According to the Stroganovskaya chronicle (accepted by Karamzin, Solovyov and others), the Stroganovs themselves called the Cossacks from the Volga to Chusovaya and sent them on a hike..."

Ermak believed that industrialists should bear all the costs of providing weapons, food, clothing and troops, because this campaign also supported their vital interests. When preparing for the campaign, Ermak showed himself to be a good organizer and prudent commander. The plows made under his supervision were light and agile, and best suited the conditions of navigation along 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, joining them with military men from their towns. The total number of troops was 850. After serving a prayer service, the army loaded onto the plows and set off. The flotilla consisted of 30 ships, ahead of the plow caravan was a light patrol vessel without cargo. Taking advantage of the opportune moment when Khan Kuchum was busy at war with the Nogai, Ermak invades his lands. In just three months, the detachment made its way from the Chusovaya River to the Irtysh River. Along the Tagil passes, Ermak left Europe and descended from the “Stone” - the Ural Mountains - to Asia. The journey along Tagil was completed without incident. The plows easily rushed along the river and soon entered Tura. Kuchum's possessions began here. Near Turinsk, the Cossacks fight their first battle against Prince Epancha. The non-warlike Mansi tribe could not withstand the battle and fled. The Cossacks landed on the shore and freely entered the town of Epanchin. As punishment for the attack, Ermak ordered everything valuable to be taken from it and the town itself to be burned. He punished the disobedient to show others how dangerous it was to resist his squad. Sailing along the Tura, the Cossacks did not encounter any resistance for a long time. Coastal villages surrendered without a fight.

But Ermak knew that the main battle awaited 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 plows only landed on the shore at night. It seemed that the ataman himself was awake all day long: he himself set up night watches, managed to give orders everywhere and was on time everywhere. Having received the news about Ermak, Kuchum and his entourage lost peace. By order of the khan, the towns on the Tobol and Irtysh were fortified. Kuchum's army was an ordinary feudal militia, forcibly recruited from "black" people poorly trained in military affairs. The core was the Khan's cavalry. Thus, it had only a numerical superiority over Ermak’s detachment, but was much inferior in discipline, organization and courage. The appearance of Ermak came as a complete surprise to Kuchum, especially since his eldest son Alei was at that time trying to take the Russian fortress of Cherdyn in the Perm region. Meanwhile, at the mouth of the Tobol River, Ermak’s detachment defeated the hordes of Murza Karachi, the main dignitary of Kuchum. This infuriated Kuchum, he gathered an army and sent his nephew Prince Mametkul, who was defeated in battle on the banks of the Tobol, to meet Ermak. After some time, a grandiose battle broke out on the Chuvashov Cape, on the banks of the Irtysh, which was led by Kuchum himself from the opposing side. In this battle, Kuchum’s troops were defeated, Mametkul was wounded, Kuchum fled, and his capital was occupied by Ermak.

This was the final defeat of the Tatars. On October 26, 1582, Ermak entered Siberia, abandoned by the enemy. In the spring of 1583, Ermak sent an embassy of 25 Cossacks led by Ivan Koltso to Ivan the Terrible. 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 for their previous “guilts” and sends a detachment of archers of 300 people, led by Semyon Bolkhovsky, to help. "The royal commanders arrived at Ermak in the fall of 1583, but their detachment could not provide significant assistance to the Cossack squad, which had diminished in battle. The atamans died one after another: during the capture of Nazim, Nikita Pan was killed; 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 great losses forced their khan, Karacha, to retreat. On August 6, 1584, Ermak also died." The winter of 1583-1584 in Siberia was especially difficult for the Russians. Supplies ran out, hunger and disease began. By spring, all the archers died, along with Prince Bolkhovsky and a significant part of the Cossacks.

In the summer of 1584, Murza Karach deceptively lured a detachment of Cossacks led by Ivan Koltso to a feast, and at night, attacking them, he killed every single one of them while they were sleepy. Having learned about this, Ermak sent a new detachment to the Karachi camp led by Matvey Meshcheryak. In the middle of the night, the Cossacks burst into the camp.

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

In this battle, Murza’s two sons were killed, and he himself fled with the remnants of the army. Soon, messengers from Bukhara merchants arrived to Ermak with a request to protect them from the tyranny of Kuchum. Ermak with his small remaining army, less than 100 people, set off on a campaign. On the banks of the Irtysh, where Ermak’s detachment spent the night, they were attacked by Kuchum during a terrible storm and thunderstorm. Ermak, assessing the situation, ordered to get into the plows, but the Tatars had already broken into the camp. Ermak was the last to retreat, covering the Cossacks. He was seriously injured and was unable to swim to his ships. People's legends say that he was swallowed up by the icy waters of the Irtysh. After the death of the legendary ataman, Matvey Meshcheryak assembled a Circle, in 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 deciding the question - why did Ermak go to Siberia? It turns out that it is not so easy to answer. In numerous works about the legendary hero, three points of view can be traced on the reasons that prompted the Cossacks to undertake a campaign, as a result of which vast 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 raids by Siberian military detachments, and the third - the Cossacks, without asking either the king or their masters, went to fight the Siberian land, for example, for the purpose of robbery. But if we consider them each separately, then none of them will explain the purpose of the campaign. Thus, 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 also apparently didn’t really want to let the Cossacks leave them - it was not beneficial for them both from a military point of view and from an economic one. It is known that the Cossacks plundered a fair amount of food and gun supplies. So the Stroganovs, apparently against their will, became participants in the campaign against Siberia. It is difficult to settle on any version of this campaign, because there are many contradictions in the facts given by different biographies and chronicles.

There are Stroganovskaya, Esipovskaya, Remizovskaya (Kungurskaya) and Cherepanovskaya chronicles, in which even the dates for the arrival of the Cossacks in the service of the Stroganovs are indicated differently, just as the attitude towards Ermak himself differs. Later, in the 17th and 18th centuries, numerous “chronicle stories” and “codes” appeared, in which wonderful fiction and fables were intertwined with rehashes from old chronicles and folk legends. Most researchers are inclined to the facts of the Stroganov Chronicle, since they consider it written according to the royal charters 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 colonized, the colonizers, as usual, are given greater rights: due to the special conditions of the newly populated country, rich colonialists must take upon themselves the responsibility to protect with their own means their settlements, build forts, support military men; the government itself, in its letters, indicates to them where they can recruit military men from - from eager Cossacks; they especially need these Cossacks when they intend to transfer their trades beyond the Ural Mountains, into the possessions of the Siberian Sultan, for which they have a royal charter, and so they call a crowd of eager Cossacks from the Volga and send them to Siberia." Karamzin dates its writing to 1600, which is again disputed by some historians.

Annexation of Western Siberia to the Russian state

In 1581-1585, the Muscovite kingdom, led 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 for the first time included Western Siberia. 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 Ermak's campaign

In 1579, a detachment of Cossacks consisting of 700-800 soldiers was formed on the territory of Oryol-gorod (modern Perm region). They were led by Ermak Timofeevich, formerly the atamans of the Volga Cossacks. Orel-town was owned by the Stroganov merchant family. It was they who allocated the money to create the army. The main goal is to protect the population from raids by 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 hike were a struggle with nature. Very often, participants in the campaign had to wield an ax 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.

Progress 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, Ermak decided to take a break and sent an embassy to Ivan the Terrible, thereby taking a break in the annexation of Western Siberia to the Russian kingdom.

When Ivan the Terrible learned of the first skirmishes between the Cossacks and the Siberian Khanate, the Tsar ordered the recall of the “thieves,” meaning the Cossack detachments that “arbitrarily attacked their neighbors.” However, at the end of 1582, Ermak’s envoy, Ivan Koltso, arrived to the king, who informed Grozny about the successes, and also asked for reinforcements for the complete defeat of the Siberian Khanate.

ERMAK'S PATH

After this, the tsar approved Ermak’s campaign and sent weapons, salaries and reinforcements to Siberia.

Historical reference

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

In 1583, Ermak’s troops defeated Khan Kuchum on the Vagai River, and his nephew Mametkul was taken prisoner. The khan himself fled to the territory of the Ishim steppe, from where he periodically continued to launch attacks on Russian lands. In the period from 1583 to 1585, Ermak no longer made large-scale campaigns, but included new lands of Western Siberia into 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, an attack by the army of Khan Kuchum), a small detachment of Ermak 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.

Results of Ermak's campaign

Historians highlight the following key results of Ermak’s campaign in Siberia:

1. Expansion of Russian territory by annexing the lands of the Siberian Khanate.
2. The emergence in Russian 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 emerge. A year after Ermak’s death, in 1586, the first city of Russia in Siberia, Tyumen, was founded. This 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 develop, becoming the largest state in the world.

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5klass.net > The world around us 3rd grade > Conquest of Siberia > Slide 17

Ermak Timofeevich (Timofeev) (born ca. 1532 - death August 6 (16), 1585) - Cossack chieftain in the service of the Perm merchants Stroganov, who conquered the Siberian Kingdom (Khanate) for Russia, a fragment of the Golden Horde.

Origin

There are several versions of the origin of Ermak. According to one version, he came from the Don Cossack village of Kachalinskaya. According to another version, he was from the banks of the Chusovaya River. There is also a version about Ermak’s Pomeranian origin. It is believed that his last name is Timofeev, although as a rule the Cossack ataman is called Ermak Timofeevich, or simply Ermak.

1552 - Ermak commanded a separate Cossack detachment from the Don in the army of Tsar Ivan the Terrible during the conquest of the Kazan Khanate. He distinguished himself in the Livonian War of 1558–1583, being personally known.

Stanichny Ataman

When Ermak Timofeevich returned from Livonia to the village of Kachalinskaya, the Cossacks elected him ataman of the village. Soon after his election, he and several hundred Cossacks went to “freedom” on the Volga, that is, to plunder on its banks. The capital of the Nogai Horde, the steppe town of Nagaichik, was destroyed. This was around 1570.

The Tsar ordered the Kazan governor, head Ivan Murashkin, to clear the Volga of river robbers with several streltsy regiments mounted on river ships. 1577 - Tsar's governor Murashkin cleared the Middle and Lower Volga from robber Cossack freemen. Many large and small Cossack detachments were defeated and scattered. Several atamans taken prisoner were executed.

A royal decree was sent from Moscow to the Don so that the Don Army would stop the “robbery” of its Cossacks, and those responsible for this “theft” should be seized and sent under strong guard to the capital for trial. Messengers sent from the Don, who had with them the decision of the Military Circle, found Ermak’s detachment and other surviving detachments of robber Cossacks in Yaik (Ural). Most of the Donets obeyed the order of the circle and dispersed to their “yurts,” that is, to the villages.

In the service of the Stroganovs

Those Don and Volga Cossacks who “fell into royal disgrace” remained in the detachment of Ataman Ermak. They gathered their “circle” to decide how to continue to live. The decision made was this: to leave the Volga for the Kama and enter the “Cossack service” with the richest salt merchants, the Stroganovs. They needed protection of their vast possessions from attacks by Siberian foreigners.

After wintering on Sylva and building a sufficient number of light plows, the Cossacks (540 people) arrived in the spring of 1759 to the Stroganovs in the town of Orel. The salt merchants “went overboard,” that is, they did everything for a successful campaign against the hostile Siberian kingdom and its ruler Kuchum. Ataman Ermak Timofeevich led not 540 Cossacks, but an army of 840 soldiers. The Stroganovs gave three hundred of their warriors. About a third of the Cossacks owned firearms.

Ermak - conquest of Siberia

Having taken everything they needed, on June 13, 1579, the Cossacks set out as a ship’s army up the Chusovaya River to the Tagil Portage. Further the path lay to the Serebryanka River. The portage from the mouth of the Serebryanka River to the sources of the Tagil (Tagil) River - to the Narovlya River stretched for almost 25 miles of complete roadlessness. The Cossacks dragged light ships “to the other side of the Stone,” that is, the Ural Mountains.

By 1580, the squad of Ataman Ermak Timofeevich reached Tagil. A wintering camp was built in a forest tract. The Cossacks spent the whole winter “fighting the possessions of the Pelym Khan.” 1580, May - on old plows and newly built ships, the Cossacks left Tagil on the Tura River and began to “fight the surrounding uluses.” Ulus Khan Epancha was defeated in the first battle. Ermak occupied the town of Tyumen (Chingi-Tura). A new winter was spent there.

1581, spring - going further along the Tura River, in its very lower reaches they were able to defeat the militia of six local princes in battle. When the Cossack flotilla along the Tura River reached the vast expanses of the much deeper Tobol, there they met the main forces of Khan Kuchum. The “Siberians” occupied the Babasan tract (or Karaulny Yar), where the river narrowed into high, steep banks. According to the chronicle, the river in this place was blocked with an iron chain.

The Khan's troops were commanded by Kuchum's heir, Tsarevich Mametkul. When the Cossack plows approached the narrow river, arrows rained down on them from the bank. Ataman Ermak accepted the battle, landing part of his squad ashore. The other part remained on the plows, firing at the enemy from cannons. Mametkul, at the head of the Tatar cavalry, attacked the Cossacks who had landed on the shore. But they met the Kukumovites with a “fiery battle.”

Ermak's ship's army moved further down the Tobol. Soon there was a 5-day clash with the army of Prince Mametkul. And again the victory of the Cossacks was convincing. According to legend, they were inspired to fight by the vision of Nicholas the Saint. The Khan's army in all its numbers occupied a high cliff on the right bank of the Tobol, which was called Dolgiy Yar. The river flow was blocked by fallen trees. When the Cossack flotilla approached the barrier, it was greeted by clouds of arrows from the shore.

Conquest of Siberia

Ermak Timofeevich took the plows back and for 3 days prepared for the upcoming battle. He resorted to a military trick: some of the warriors with stuffed animals made of brushwood and dressed in Cossack dress remained on the plows, clearly visible from the river. Most of the detachment went ashore to attack the enemy, if possible, from the rear.

The ship's caravan, on which only 200 people remained, moved again along the river, firing at the enemy on the shore from a "fiery battle". And at this time, the main part of the Cossack squad came at night to the rear of the Khan’s army, unexpectedly attacked him and put him to flight. Soon, on August 1, the army of Khan Kharachi was defeated near Lake Tara.

Now Isker was on the way of the Cossacks. Khan Kuchum gathered all available military forces to defend his capital Isker. He skillfully chose the bend of the Irtysh, the so-called Chuvash Cape, as the place for the battle. The approaches to it were covered with abatis. The Khan's army had two cannons brought from Bukhara.

The battle on October 23 began with the Tatar cavalry detachment approaching the Cossack squad’s camp and firing at it with arrows. The Cossacks defeated the enemy and, pursuing him, encountered the main forces of the Khan's army, commanded by Tsarevich Mametkul. On the victorious battlefield, 107 of Ermak’s comrades fell, significantly diminishing his already small Cossack army.

Khan Kuchum fled from Isker on the night of October 26, 1581. On October 26, the Cossacks occupied it, calling the town Siberia. He became the main headquarters of Ataman Ermak. The Ostyak, Vogul and other princes voluntarily arrived in Siberia and there were accepted into the citizenship of the Russian Tsar.

From Siberia (Isker), Ermak informed the Stroganov merchants about his victories. At this point, preparations began for an embassy (“stanitsa”) to Moscow, headed by Ataman Ivan Koltso - “to beat the king with the kingdom of Siberia.” 50 “best” Cossacks were sent with him. That is, we were talking about the annexation of another (after Kazan and Astrakhan) “splinter” of the Golden Horde to the Russian state.

Map of Ermak's hike

Siberian prince

He said his word of gratitude to the conquerors of Siberia: “Ermak and his comrades and all the Cossacks” were forgiven all their previous faults. The ataman was granted a fur coat from the royal shoulder, battle armor, including two shells, and a charter in which the autocrat bestowed upon Ermak the title of Siberian Prince.

1852 - the Cossacks were able to establish the power of the Moscow sovereign “from Pelym to the Tobol River,” that is, in all areas along the course of these two large rivers of Western Siberia (in the modern Tyumen region).

But soon the death of two Cossack detachments gave the fugitive Khan Kuchum new strength. The head of the rebellion was the Khan of Karacha. He and his troops approached the wooden walls of Siberia. From March 12, 1854, the Cossacks were able to withstand a real enemy siege for a whole month. But the chieftain found the right way out of a truly dangerous situation.

On the night of May 9, on the eve of the patron saint of the Cossacks, Nicholas the Pleasant, Ataman Matvey Meshcheryak with a detachment of Cossacks was able to sneak through the enemy guards unnoticed and attacked the camp of the Khan of Karachi. The attack was distinguished by both surprise and audacity. The Khan's camp was destroyed.

Death of Ermak

Then Khan Kuchum resorted to a trick, which was quite successful for him. He sent loyal people to Ermak, who informed the ataman that a merchant caravan from Bukhara was moving up the Vagai River, and Khan Kuchum was delaying them. Ermak Timofeevich with a small detachment of only 50 Cossacks sailed up the Vagai. On the night of August 6, 1585, the detachment stopped to rest at the confluence of the Vagai and Irtysh. Tired of hard work at the oars, the Cossacks did not post sentries. Or, more likely, they simply fell asleep on a bad night.

In the dead of night, the khan's equestrian detachment crossed to the island. Kuchum's warriors crept up to them unnoticed. The attack on the sleepers was unexpected: few managed to grab their weapons and enter into an unequal battle. Of the entire Cossack detachment of 50 people, only two survived that massacre. The first was a Cossack who managed to get to Siberia and tell the sad news about the death of his comrades and the chieftain.
The second was Ermak Timofeevich himself.

Being wounded, dressed in heavy chain mail (or shell?) donated by the tsar, he covered the retreat of the few Cossacks to the plows. Unable to climb onto the plow (apparently, he was the only one left alive), Ermak Timofeevich drowned in the Vagai River. According to another version, Ermak died at the very edge of the shore while fighting off the attackers. But they did not get his body, carried away into the night by a strong river current.

At what point did Ermak's expedition cross the Ural Mountains? Sources provide conflicting information on this matter. The “Description of Siberia” says that Ermak moved from the Kama up the Utka River, waited for the winter journey and crossed the Stone in Verkhoturye on skis and sleds to the headwaters of the Nitsa River. This information was recorded a hundred years after the completion of the expedition and is therefore unreliable. According to the Stroganov chronicler, the expedition walked for four days along Chusovaya to the mouth of Serebryanka, two days along Serebryanka, from where it was “transported” by drag to the Zhuravlik River, along which it descended to Tura and ended up in Siberia. It is easy to notice that the chronicler’s ideas about the Ural section of Ermak’s path were not clear and definite. It was simply impossible to get from the Zhuravlik (a tributary of the Baranchuk) directly to the Tura.

The route of the expedition is most accurately described in the chronicle, the author of which had access to the materials of the Ambassadorial Prikaz. Officials of the order in charge of relations with Siberia questioned Ermak’s envoys in detail and eventually drew up the following list of the road beyond Kamen: “And the arrival of Ermaks with their comrades in the Siberian land from Eik to the Irgiz peaks... and Ermak walked up the Volga... and from the Kama River he turned right to the Chusovaya River, and from the Chusovaya River to the Serebrenaya River, and the Silver River came from the Siberian country to the Chusovaya River on the right side, and up the Serebrenaya River, and from the Serebrenaya River he walked to the river to Boronchyuk by dragging and the courts were dragged on himself, and by the river Boronchyuk down into the Tagil River, and with the Tagil River they floated down to the Tura River.” The Cossacks gave a rare accurate description of their route, and if they did not mention the Baranchuk tributary Zhuravlik, it was only because this Russian name obviously appeared much later. Larger rivers bore ancient names given to them by autochthons.

Ermak’s route was not forgotten by subsequent generations. This was also facilitated by the fact that clear traces of the expedition remained on the Ural passes. Even in the 18th century, Ural old-timers could indicate the places where the expedition was forced to leave heavy ships. One of the Stroganov historiographers wrote at the end of the 18th century: “The Ermakov plows... are still known to many foresters, because where they were left on the banks, considerable bushes grew on them.”

Of course, the ships abandoned on Serebryanka could have belonged not only to Ermak, but in much larger numbers to the royal “ship troops” who followed his path. But in any case, they served as a guide for those who later looked for the route of the first Siberian expedition. Among them were the remarkable Siberian cartographer Semyon Remezov and his sons. In the “Service Drawing Book” they placed a map of the Urals with the note “Ermakov portage” and marked with a dotted line the detachment’s route along the Serebryanka River, its tributary the Chui River and beyond the portage along the Zhuravlik, Baranchuk and Tagil rivers. Remezov's map, which is kept in the manuscript department of the Public Library in Leningrad, complements the chronicle material.

Ermak's envoys, describing the path from Chusovaya to the Irtysh, did not say a word about any long stops or winter quarters for their detachment. Ermak understood that only a swift and sudden attack could lead him to victory, and therefore he hurried with all his might. The Volga Cossacks more than once overcame the many-mile distance between the Volga and Don.