The defeat of the governor A. Voeikov Khan Kuchum

1. Creation of the West-Siberian and East-Siberian Commissariats A little earlier in Tomsk…Mid-February. Deputies of the dispersed Constituent Assembly, recently released from St. Petersburg "Crosses", have just arrived in the city, and among them: Mikhail Lindberg,

Siberian Khanate - a bit of history
Along with the history of Yermak's campaign, the history of the Siberian Khanate was also subjected to strong mythologization. In practice, we can say that we do not know anything about the history of this khanate, and we do not want to know. It is characterized in the famous work "History of Siberia from ancient times to the present day" as "primitive statehood." Once it was primitive, then there is nothing to study. V.N. Shunkov, the editor-in-chief of the second volume of The History of Siberia from Ancient Times, defended with all his might the thesis: "it is hardly doubtful that until the end of the 16th century, the primitive communal system was still dominant among the majority of the peoples of Siberia."

But, as we see, this is not so. A state that managed to exist for 371 years cannot be called primitive. He had such a device that provided him with stability and stability, despite turbulent events. It was good enough developed state. L.R. Kyzlasov wrote: “The discoveries of recent years have shown that almost everywhere in Siberia, with the possible exception of a narrow strip of the tundra zone, in antiquity or from the early Middle Ages there were independent urban centers.” These discoveries, I will add to the statement of Leonid Romanovich, also require a deep study of the history of the Siberian Khanate before the arrival of the Russians.
However, it is very difficult to do work on the study of the history of the Siberian Khanate now, because information about it is scattered in hard-to-reach literature, according to numerous, rare and often untranslated sources into Russian. Archaeologists did practically nothing to study the cities of this khanate, despite the fact that their location is well known, and some cities have remained on the map to this day. For example, 35 kilometers southeast of Tobolsk and now on the banks of the Irtysh is the village of Abalak, known since the time of the Siberian Khanate.
The complexity and inaccessibility of sources greatly complicates the work. G.F. has already encountered this state of affairs. Miller. He did a lot of work, copying documents in the administrative huts of Siberian cities, interviewing the local population, visiting places of historical events and examining ancient finds. He managed to bring the history of the Siberian Khanate only to the time of Genghis Khan. He managed to make a rough sketch of its ancient history, and he relied on extremely contradictory and unreliable information that required additions and clarifications.
But compared to the truly legendary Soviet version of the pre-Russian history of the Siberian Khanate, Miller's work looks like an outstanding achievement of historical thought.
Here is the version presented in the book of the Irkutsk local historian Dmitry Kopylov "Ermak". Pointing out that Siberia was a sparsely populated and undeveloped territory, he reports that at the end of the 15th century there were two principalities on the site of the Siberian Khanate: Ishim, located in the lower reaches of the Ishim with its capital in Kyzyl-Tura, and Tyumen, in the interfluve of the Tura and Tavda, with capital in Chimgi-Tur. Tura is a city. This means that both capitals of the principalities were cities. Kopylov does not indicate the location of these cities. "Kyzyl" is the adjective red. So, the capital of the Ishim principality was the "Red City". And what is “Chim-gi” is not clear, and is not explained in the book of the Irkutsk local historian.
The Ishim principality was ruled by Sargachik. If the state is called a principality, then Sargachik was a prince. The Tyumen principality was ruled by Ibak Khan. If so, then his state should be called a khanate. But in Kopylov's book, Ibak Khan rules the principality. Okay, let's go.
About Ibak Khan it is reported that he annexed the lands along the Tura, Tavda, Tobol, Irtysh and Ishim. This is a huge territory, the conquest of which requires a lot of strength. It must be assumed that he conquered the Ishim principality, located in the lower reaches of the Ishim. Ibak Khan ended his life badly. In 1493 he was killed by a certain Mahmet. Who this Mahmet is remains not entirely clear. Judging by the presentation of Kopylov, this is the son of Sargachik. Judging by his name, he may have been a Muslim. Mahmet killed Ibak Khan and founded a new state - the Siberian Khanate. He made the town of Kashlyk, or Isker, the capital.
In 1558, Kuchum, the middle son of Murtaza and a direct descendant of Ibak, elevated his father to the throne of the Siberian Khanate. What he did with Mahmet, history is silent. Maybe he killed him, or maybe he died himself. I like the second version more. Died old-old Makhmet, Khan of the Siberian Khanate. Kuchum learned that the throne of the Khanate was empty, and, as exemplary son, suggested to his father - dad, go sit on it for a bit.
And in 1564, Kuchum himself became the Khan of the Siberian Khanate. Apparently, Murtazy was old, he did not sit on the throne of the khanate for a long time, but he did not repeat the mistakes of Makhmet, he gave the khanate to his middle son.
From this moment begins the history of the Siberian Khanate, headed by Khan Kuchum on the throne.
And here is how the history of the Siberian Khanate is described by G.F. Miller.
The first ruler of this territory, whose name is preserved in history, was On-Son. His power extended to the Tatars who lived along the Irtysh and Ishim. The capital of that possession was in the city of Kizyl-Tura, which was inhabited in the days of Kuchum.
Judging by the context and further description of the history of this place, the reign of On-Som dates back to ancient times, around the second half of the 12th century. After him, his heir, most likely his son, Irtyshak, ruled. According to Miller, the name of the Irtysh River came from his name. What made him so famous that they named him after him big river, remained unknown.
Irtyshak ruled, apparently, at the beginning of the 13th century. Most likely, he was defeated and subjugated by the noyons of Genghis Khan. When Genghis Khan himself stormed Bukhara, the prince of the Kazakh Horde named Taybuga, the son of Khan Mamyk, appeared to him and asked the omnipotent Khan for possession of the Irtysh, Tobol, Ishim and Tura. Mercy was shown to the prince, and Taibuga became the ruler in these lands.
So he just became the founder of the Siberian Khanate. So, 1217 can be considered the year of foundation of the Siberian Khanate. Taibuga Khan built a city in the lands granted to him, which he named in honor of his benefactor - "Chingidin", that is, "the city of Chingiz." Subsequently, he became known under the Tatar name "Chimgi-Tura". After the conquest of the Siberian Khanate, the Russians built their city, Tyumen, on the site of Chingidin.
From Taibug came a whole family of rulers who ruled intermittently until 1588. Little is known about the events that took place in the Siberian Khanate during this dynasty. It is only known that at the end of the 15th century the power of this dynasty almost ended up in the wrong hands.
G.F. Miller talks about it this way. The great-grandson or great-great-grandson of Taibug, Mar-khan was married to the sister of the Kazan Khan Upak. Apparently, relations between relatives were far from cloudless, because Upak began a war against Mar and defeated his army. Mar Khan was killed, and his family: his wife, sons Obder and Ebalak, were taken prisoner, taken to Kazan and soon died in captivity. The Siberian Khanate for a time fell under the rule of the Kazan Khan.
The sons of Mar left sons, Mahmet, who was the son of Obder, and Angish, who was the son of Ebalak. When their father was defeated, the noble Tatars hid the Khan's grandchildren and then secretly raised them. The conqueror of the khanate did not know that the legitimate heirs to the throne were still alive. When Mahmet grew up, in 1493 he raised an uprising against the Kazan Khan. It was supported by the inhabitants of the former khanate. Khan Upak led an army to suppress the uprising. But near Chingidin, he was defeated by Mahmet's militia. Khan was captured and killed.
Mahmet, as the legitimate heir to the throne in the senior line, declared himself Khan and restored the Siberian Khanate. For himself, he built a new capital on the Irtysh, 16 versts from the place where Tobolsk would later be founded. It was the city of Isker, or Siberia.
In the Remezov chronicle, which Miller acquired in Tobolsk and later laid as the basis for his research, the capital built by Makhmet was called Kash-lyk. But Miller never heard such a name anywhere and therefore specifically interviewed the Tobolsk, Tyumen and Tara Tatars. They all said that the capital of the Siberian Khanate was called Isker, and most often Siberia: “In the Remezov Chronicle, this city is called Kashlyk, but this name, as I heard, is not used by any people,” he writes in “History of Siberia” .
In the future, when describing events, Miller uses only the name "Siberia". This circumstance, however, did not prevent our historians from taking the word of the Remezov Chronicle and naming the capital of the Siberian Khanate Kashlyk. Under this name, the city entered into all patriotic myths.
After the death of Mahmet, Angisha ruled, who left the throne to Mahmet's son, Qasim. Qasim left the throne to his eldest son, Yediger. In addition to him, there were also the sons of Senbakht and Sauskani.
Yediger died unexpectedly in 1563. There was no one to transfer power to, since his brothers had also died by that time, leaving no heirs. About their fate and the reason for such early death no information has been retained. Ediger left behind a pregnant wife. In principle, the Siberian taishi could have waited until the khansha was relieved of her burden, and then finally decide the issue of succession to the throne. But, apparently, they feared a long anarchy in the khanate and immediately sent an embassy to Bukhara, to Murtaza, with a request to release one of their sons to the khan's throne.
Murtazy was not just a Bukhara khan. He was still a descendant of Genghis Khan, who once put the ancestor of the dynasty of Siberian khans on the throne. Apparently, the Siberian taishis reasoned that a new khan should also be given to them by a descendant of Genghis Khan. Murtazy Khan came from the clan of Sheibani Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, and his son Jochi, who became the ruler of Bukhara. By the name of this ancestor, the whole family of Bukhara rulers was called Sheibanids.
By the way, Soviet historians sometimes spoke about the “struggle of the Taibugids and Sheibanids”, but did not explain what kind of clans they were and from whom they came. These are not at all the clans of the "rulers of the Ishim and Tyumen khanates." The Sheibanids are a genus of Genghisides who enjoyed great prestige throughout the East. The Taibugids family simply could not compete with him for anything, mainly because they were weak in front of the Sheibanids (although the Taibugids received power from the hands of Genghis Khan himself).
So, envoys from the Siberian Khanate came to Murtaza Khan, a descendant of Genghis Khan in the twelfth generation, and asked him to give them a ruler from his own family. Murtaza sent his middle son Kuchum to rule in Isker. At this time, according to Abulgazi Khan, who wrote in Arabic, Kuchum was thirty years old. He was Khan until 1003 AH, that is, until 1595. This year he was 62 years old.
Here is such a version. Of course, it is difficult to vouch for her and say that she is absolutely reliable. But still, it inspires much more confidence than the legends of Soviet historians. It inspires confidence because it clearly names the participants in the events, clearly lists the sequence of events, and because it has a link to the history of neighboring peoples and states.
Verkhoturov Dmitry Nikolaevich
Source

Of course, the history of the Siberian Khanate is not limited to its collapse. The steppe spaces of Western Siberia were part of the nomadic states in the early Middle Ages. At the beginning of the II millennium AD. e. Kipchaks settled on these lands, against whom the troops of Khorezmshah Muhammad and the eldest son of Genghis Khan Jochi made long campaigns.

In the XIII century, the southern regions of Western Siberia became part of the Jochi ulus. The collapse of the Golden Horde led to the formation in Western Siberia in the 15th century of the Tyumen, and then the Siberian khanates. Important trade routes from the Volga region, Central Asia and East Turkestan passed through the territory of Western Siberia. In the Middle Ages, goods from Khazaria, Volga Bulgaria, Iran, China, France, Germany, Scandinavia got there.

On the territory of the Siberian yurt there were cities and settled settlements, one of the world religions - Islam and Arabic writing - became widespread. Under the rule of the Siberian khans were not only the Tatars, but also the Ugric and Samoyedic tribes. The Siberian Khanate maintained relations with the Kazan Khanate and the Sheibanid state in Central Asia.

Relations with the Muscovite kingdom were uneven: the Siberian khans either recognized their vassal dependence on the Muscovite tsar, or sent military detachments to collect tribute from the Ugric population and plunder Russian villages in the Kama region. Khan Tokhtamysh found his last refuge in Western Siberia, Edigei and Kuchum made campaigns here. All this does not allow us to agree with the dismissive assessments of the Siberian Khanate as an "ephemeral state".

The period spanning the 15th-16th centuries in the military history of the nomadic peoples of Eurasia remains poorly understood. This is partly due to the irreversible changes in the development of military affairs that occurred then. Mastering firearms in European countries gave the regular armies a significant military-technical superiority over the nomadic cavalry. To some extent, this reduced interest in the history of the military art of nomads in the late Middle Ages. However, the study of the weapons of the Siberian Tatars can become a kind of standard for the analysis of other nomadic cultures of this period.

European science turned to the events of the military history of the Siberian Khanate in the 18th century, shortly after this state ceased to exist. The main written sources, primarily the Siberian chronicles, were collected in the 18th century by a German scientist in the Russian service, the "father of Siberian history", G. F. Miller. At the same time, the study of archaeological sites of the Siberian Tatars began. The attention of scientists was focused on the examination of fortifications. Falk and others The most significant excavations of medieval monuments in the Baraba forest-steppe and the Irtysh region in the 19th - early 20th centuries were carried out by V. Radlov and V. N. Pignatti. recent decades V. I. Molodin, V. I. Sobolev, A. I. Solovyov, B. A. Konikov and other scientists were actively engaged in the study of archaeological sites of the Siberian Tatars).

Written historical sources contain separate information about weapons and fortifications, the tactics of combat by the Tatar troops, and the nature of military operations during the campaign of Yermak's detachment.

Among the archaeological finds and ethnographic materials of the culture of the Siberian Tatars there are details of bows and quivers, arrows, broadswords and sabers, daggers, spears and battle axes, fragments of chain mail and shells.

Judging by the available materials, bows and arrows were the main weapons of remote combat. Miller called bows and arrows, along with spears and sabers, "ordinary weapons of the Tatars." Having studied the bows of the medieval population of Western Siberia, AI Solovyov identified several types characteristic of the Siberian Tatars: bows with frontal middle and shoulder plates and made entirely of wood. It was a fairly effective weapon for shooting at short and medium distances, which was widely used throughout the nomadic world from the beginning of the 2nd millennium AD. e. Compared to bulky and labor-intensive squeakers, Tatar bows were simpler, more convenient and faster-firing weapons.

In addition to the Tatar military detachments, taiga Ugric tribes took part in the clashes, armed with bows and arrows, spears, swords, battle axes and protective shells.

The issues of the number and formation of troops in the Siberian Tatar Khanate have been little studied. Probably, the Siberian Tatars used the Asian decimal system for dividing troops and people. Individual murzas had various detachments at their disposal and could fight both independently and join the battle by joining their forces.

Kuchum Khan - Siberian Khan. Shibanid. His father was one of the last khans of the Golden Horde, Murtaza, the son of Ibak - Khan of Tyumen and the Great Horde. Kuchum was born presumably in 1510-1520 on the northern coast of the Aral Sea, in the ulus of Alty aul. In some legends, it is noted that Kuchum was a native of the Bukhara Khanate. However, Hadi Atlasi believes that Kuchum's homeland was the "Kyrgyz", i.e. Kazakh, steppes. Savva Esipov in the annals "On the capture of the Siberian land" also notes that Kuchum was from the Kazakh Khanate.

Relying on the support of his relative, the Bukhara Khan Abdullah Khan II, Kuchum waged a long (in 1555 the struggle was already underway) and stubborn struggle with the Siberian Khan Yediger using an army consisting of Uzbek, Nogai, Kazakh detachments. He won a decisive victory in 1563.

Kuchum achieved significant success in strengthening his state. In addition to the Tatars and Kipchaks, he subjugated the Khanto-Mansiysk tribes that lived on the Ob and the Urals, the Barabans and part of the Bashkir tribes that lived on the eastern slopes of the Urals. The borders of the Siberian Khanate in the north reached the Ob, in the west they crossed in some places to the European side of the Urals, in the south they passed along the Baraba steppe.

Having finally captured the Siberian Khanate, Kuchum at first continued to pay yasak and sent his ambassador to Moscow with 1000 sables (1571), but when his wars with the former Siberian rulers ended, he approached Perm. His appearance caused an attempt by the Nogai Tatars to secede from Moscow and the Cheremis revolt. Several further campaigns of his troops into the possessions of Ivan the Terrible and the Stroganovs, who sent armed detachments to pacify him, eventually led to his loss of power in the Siberian Khanate.

Having received news of the appearance of Yermak's detachments, Khan Kuchum "sent messengers to gather people," that is, he announced a general mobilization of his troops. He ordered "to gather the Tatars, Ostyaks and Voguls" and sent an army led by Tsarevich Makhmetkul to meet the enemy.

On October 1 (12), 1581, Kuchum withstood the onslaught of Yermak under the Chuvash mountain, but on October 23 (November 4) his camp was defeated by the Cossacks, the main troops consisting of local peoples fled, and three days later Yermak freely entered Isker, the capital of Siberia.

The relatively easy victory of a small (less than a thousand people) Cossack expedition led by Yermak over the whole khanate is explained by the fragility of the unification of various peoples, often professing different religion and lifestyle. In addition, many local princes believed that it was much more profitable for them to submit to the Cossacks, and then to the Moscow Tsar, than to serve the newcomer Khan, who also relied on the strength of Bukhara, Uzbek, Nogai, Kazakh detachments alien to them. And most importantly, Kuchum did not have a large experienced army, his guards and lancers, recruited in the southern steppes and reinforced by local Siberian Tatars, were relatively poorly armed, using outdated tactics and weapons. It was difficult for them to resist experienced Cossacks and foreign mercenaries, who mostly used firearms, high-quality protective armor and owned the most advanced combat techniques.

Undoubtedly, by total strength the troops of the Siberian Khanate and its vassals many times outnumbered Yermak's detachment. In addition, the Tatars fought at home and did not submit "voluntarily", but resisted for a long time and fiercely. Not possessing firearms, they were familiar with its action and did not at all scatter "like savages" from the sound of shots. The sources emphasize that in many battles the Tatar warriors fought bravely. For example, the battle at the mouth of the Tura River with the troops of six Tatar murzas "lasted several days with varying success," although the victory went to Yermak's detachment. The battle with the detachment of Makhmetkul at the Babasan yurts lasted five days.

As rightly noted by R.G. Skrynnikov, in addition to military-technical superiority, the soldiers of the Yermak detachment had extensive combat experience in battles with nomads, Tatars and Nogais. Yermak himself took part in the Livonian War. Atamans Ivan Koltso, Nikita Pan and others successfully fought against the nomads in the Volga region. According to some sources, the merchants Stroganovs, sending Yermak to Siberia, included in his detachment "three hundred people of Germans and Lithuanians" from among prisoners of war with Livonian War. European military specialists were highly valued in the Russian state during this period and subsequent centuries and played a huge role in the development of Siberia.

Assessing the combat effectiveness of the troops of the Siberian Tatar Khanate, it should be noted that it fully corresponded to the level of development of military art in the nomadic world in the late Middle Ages. The military organization provided the Siberian Khanate with almost two hundred years of dominance over the Ugric and Samoyed tribes of Western Siberia, and allowed it to resist other nomadic associations. However, their combat strength and ability to fight was not enough to successfully fight armed firearms with great combat experience and determination in achieving the goal of the enemy.

The Tatars also had some experience of wars with the Russians. Military detachments of the Siberian Tatars and Voguls-Mansi repeatedly made trips through the Urals, to the lands of the Stroganov merchants. However, there were no major battles.

The Tatar commanders were unable to adapt to the military tactics of the Yermak detachment and were defeated in most battles.

Probably, the psychological factor also played a certain role in the military successes of the Yermak detachment. Ermak and his chieftains, in fact, could not return without a victory, since in their homeland an inevitable retribution for the previous robberies awaited them. Only having conquered the Siberian Khanate for the tsar, they could count on the tsar's "favors".

Therefore, Yermak continued to stubbornly move towards the goal, regardless of all the difficulties and human losses, overcoming not only the resistance of the Tatars, but also the disbelief of his subordinates in the success of the enterprise. At the same time, for Kuchum and other Tatar princes, the loss of one or another "town" did not mean a complete collapse. Behind them lay a saving steppe in which they could hide.

After a series of defeats, Kuchum surrendered the capital of the Khanate, Kashlyk, without a fight, which had fatal consequences. The Siberian Khanate collapsed not only under blows from outside, but also under the pressure of internal contradictions. For the Siberian Tatars and Ugrians, Kuchum and his entourage were aliens, conquerors. After the fall of Kashlyk, many subjects left Kuchum. Some Tatar murzas and Ugric princes went over to Yermak's side.

Seid Khan, a descendant of the ruling khan family of the Siberian Tatars Taibugids, and Murza Karacha rose against Kuchum. Even after the death of Yermak and the departure of the remnants of his detachment from Siberia beyond the Urals, Kuchuma and other contenders for the Khan's throne failed to restore the integrity of the Siberian Khanate.

After the destruction of Yermak’s detachment, Khan of the Siberian Khanate Kuchum again managed to largely restore his power and impose tribute on significant territories of Western Siberia. The Russian government switched to the tactics of consistently advancing deep into Siberia with the consolidation of occupied territories through the construction of fortified fortresses and cities. For 15 years, Kuchum led active fighting with Russian detachments, he himself tried to capture Russian prisons, but to no avail.

Decisive blows to the statehood of the Siberian Tatars were inflicted at the end of the 1580-1590s.

In 1586, governors Vasily Sukin and Ivan Myasnoy were sent to Siberia. The following year, the head of Danila Chulkov arrived in Siberia with a detachment of archers. The forces of the khanate were undermined due to internecine struggle. Seidyak (Seid Khan), Kuchum's rival, expelled his sons from Isker, but in 1588 he himself was captured by Danila Chulkov.

In 1588, the clerk D. Chulkov lured Seid Khan and Murza Karacha to the Tobolsk prison for a feast and negotiations, during which their guards were treacherously killed, and the Tatar leaders themselves were taken prisoner and sent to Moscow.

In 1590, Khan Kuchum decided to visit his former possessions again. On June 23, he approached quite close to the city of Tobolsk, killed several Tatars in the villages and fled with the captured booty, before the Tobolsk governor could receive news of his approach. On another occasion, the khan raided the Kaurdak and Salym volosts, which were located at the top of the Irtysh and paid yasak to the Russians; he killed many people there and plundered a large amount of all kinds of goods. This was his revenge on those Tatars who did not recognize him as their sovereign and submitted to the Russians.

On July 8, 1591, the governor, Prince Vladimir Vasilievich Koltsov-Mosalsky, set out on a campaign, and on August 1 he attacked the khan on the Ishim River, near Lake Chilikula, that after a short battle, many who were with the khan were killed, and the survivors fled. Prince Abdul-Khair and the two wives of the khan with many other prisoners were supposed to complete victory follow the Russians, who returned with rich booty to Tobolsk.

In order to cover the city of Tobolsk from the south from the detachment of Khan Kuchum, who wandered in the steppes, to secure and organize the management of the Tatar volosts of the Middle Irtysh region that became part of Russia, a 1,500-strong detachment of Russian Cossacks and service Tatars was formed in Moscow and Tobolsk and sent in 1594 to build a new city on the Middle Irtysh - Tara.

The city of Tara was founded in 1594 by Prince Andrei Yeletsky and a detachment of serving Cossacks. From the tsar’s order to Andrey Yeletsky: “To move the city up the Irtysh to the Tara River, where it would be more profitable for the sovereign in the future, in order to start arable land and Kuchum to oust the king and get salt ...”. But the place at the mouth of the Tara River turned out to be unsuitable for building a fortress and establishing arable land, so a place was chosen for laying the city down the Irtysh, on the banks of the Arkarka River. However, the name of the city was given by the river Tara.

Tara became the first Russian settlement on the territory of the modern Omsk region. Since it was immediately determined that Tara should be the center of a new voivodeship, the settlement was given the status of a city by royal decree. The Assumption Church became the first urban building, and August 15 (according to the old style) (the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) is considered the day of the foundation of Tara.

In 1594, Prince A. Yeletsky led an army of more than a thousand and a half along the Irtysh to the mouth of the Tara, wanting to lull Kuchum's vigilance with peaceful gestures, and then unexpectedly defeat his army and, if possible, capture it. Kuchum, having learned about the intention of the Russians to build a city on the Tara River, sent Tsarevich Alei to the Ayalyn Tatars in order to take them to safer places along the upper Irtysh, where the Khan himself was at that time, in view of the Russian offensive. Aley gathered 150 Tatars and led them to an island called Cherny (40 versts below the Chernolutskaya settlement), where they set up a small town. Voivode Eletsky sent a detachment (276 people led by the written head Boris Domozhirov) who, at the first attack, took the Tatar Black Town, but he failed to prevent the flight of Khan Kuchum and most of the Tatars who were in the town. Both Ayalyn Yesauls Mamyk and Seytkul, Prince Ilguluy and Temsenek, son of Prince Kolkildey, as well as 60 ordinary Ayalyns with their wives and children were taken into captivity.

In 1596, the voivode F. Yeletsky defeated Kuchum's army in the town of Tunus. Khan managed to escape. The tsarist government tried to subdue Kuchum. Letters were sent to him on behalf of his nephew Makhmetkul and his son Abulkhair, who was in Russian captivity.

In 1597, Kuchum proposed to make peace, subject to the return of the lands along the Irtysh and the release of Shaim and two other guests who were sent to Kuchum by ambassadors, and from the property of the ambassadors I ask you to return the wagon with furs. In response, the Moscow authorities sent Kuchum several letters from Mametkul and Abdul-Khair with a proposal to transfer to the royal service and be sent to Moscow. Kuchum did not accept the diploma.

Kuchum, who highly valued freedom, did not at all want to come under the protection of the tsar. AT last years he, broken by failures, was more and more inclined towards peace with the Russians, but, however, he did not take any action, if possible he was playing for time and saving up strength for a decisive blow. Frightened by the rumors about a new raid by Kuchum, the tsarist authorities launched a decisive offensive.

In 1598, by decree of Tsar Boris Godunov, voivode A. Voeikov, with a detachment of 700 archers and Cossacks and 300 serving Tatars, left the Tara fortress "on a campaign for Tsar Kuchum." It is known that in the detachment of Voeikov there was an ally of the deceased Yermak, Ataman Ivan Groza.

On May 9, 1598, voivode A. Voeikov and voivode Prince I. Koltsov-Mosalsky set out on a campaign with a detachment of 700 Russians and 300 Tatars. On August 4, 1598, Voeikov set out from the city of Tara. His army consisted of 300 Cossacks, 30 serving Tatars, 60 Tatar horsemen, they attacked the khan in his camp, in the battle of Irmen on August 20, 1598 killed many Tatars.

The battle of Irmen is the final defeat of the troops of Khan Kuchum by the Russian detachment of the governor A. Voeikov on August 20, 1598.

Being in the area of ​​​​Lake Ubinskoye, the governor received information about the location of the Kuchum camp. At the head of a cavalry detachment of 405 (according to other sources, 397) people, A. Voeikov traveled about 400 kilometers in 5 days, discovered and suddenly attacked the fortified Khan's camp at the confluence of the Irmen River in the Ob (currently the vicinity of the village of Verkh-Irmen Ordynsky district of the Novosibirsk region), in which there were about 500 soldiers of Kuchum.

The battle lasted from sunrise on August 20 until noon, was fierce. The camp was taken by attack, the remnants of Kuchum's detachment were pressed to the banks of the Ob. According to Voeikov's report, Kuchum's brother, son and two grandsons, six princes, fifteen murzas and about 300 Tatar soldiers died in battle. Five were captured younger sons khan, eight wives from his harem, five approximate khans, 150 warriors. However, the Khan himself with a detachment of 50 soldiers managed to break through. After a few days of pursuit, this detachment was overtaken by the Cossacks and killed, but Kuchum managed to escape this time. Despite his plight, he refused to go to the service of the Moscow Tsar. He roamed the Altai and Kuznetsk forests with several people, having lost all power, and soon died in a skirmish with local tribes or with Bukhara people in 1601.

This small-scale battle (less than 1,000 participants on both sides) had enormous consequences. The dominion of Kuchum was completely lost, all the West Siberian nomadic and sedentary tribes departed from him and swore allegiance to the Russian Tsar. The Siberian Khanate ceased to exist in fact, and a few years later, after the death last son Kuchuma - and nominally. The vast territory from the Urals to the Ob became part of the Russian state, which proceeded to further rapid advance to the east.

The Russians returned to Tara on 23 August. Noble captives were sent from Tara to Tobolsk, and from there to Moscow. On the occasion of the brilliant victory won in Siberia, a thanksgiving service was served in Moscow.

During the first decades of the 17th century, the heirs of Kuchum - the princes Ablaikerim and Kirey - continued to resist. They took an active part in the uprising of the Siberian Tatars in the 1620-1630s in order to restore the Siberian Khanate, but they could no longer change the situation. By this time, a significant part of the Tatar nobility had transferred to the Russian service, which ensured the irreversibility of the annexation of the lands inhabited by Siberian Tatars to Russia. Although the threat from the princes, descendants of Kuchum, persisted until the second half of the 17th century.

SIBERIAN KHANATE

Relations between the Siberian Khanate and the Russian state (1555-1598)

1. Preliminary remarks

In educational and popular historical literature, in general courses of national and world history, all information about the Siberian Khanate is usually limited to the reign of Khan Kuchum. All Russian-Siberian contacts begin with his name, and the conquest of Siberia, the liquidation of the "Kuchum kingdom" also take place under him. This leads to an extremely primitive idea of ​​the pre-Russian history of Siberia and creates an idea of ​​the extremely episodic and short-lived existence of the Siberian Tatar Khanate.

This is explained by two factors:

1. Scanty and confusing, obscure information about the initial history of the Siberian Khanate - before Kuchum, and

2. The actual beginning of the military and political contacts of the Muscovite state with the Siberian Khanate only after the liquidation of the Kazan Khanate, i.e. from the second half of the 50s of the 16th century, or precisely from the beginning of the appearance of Kuchum at the head of the Siberian Khanate.

Since this khan was in power for more than 40 years, i.e. until the end of the 16th century, before the liquidation of the Siberian Khanate and its annexation to Russia, it turned out that besides him there were no other khans and a different history for the Siberian Khanate.

In fact, back in the 20s of the XIV century. in Siberia, the first step was taken towards the formation of the early Tatar state association, named Tyumen Khanate and connected by vassalage with the Golden Horde.

True, little information has been preserved about him, and, moreover, they are devoid of reliable chronology, but in order to understand the place and significance of the Siberian Khanate in the Golden Horde Empire and to imagine at what stage historical development this state was liquidated and joined to Russia, the available data is sufficient.

2. Brief information about the Siberian Khanate and its rulers until the middle of the 16th century, i.e. before his connections with the Muscovite state

Initially, during the period of the creation and existence of the Golden Horde, the Siberian Khanate had its own, local (provincial) dynasty of rulers, the ancestor of which was Taybuga. Therefore, all his descendants were called Taibugids, in contrast to all other rulers and contenders for the throne of the Siberian Khanate, who appeared later and belonged to the offspring of the Sheibanids (from Khan Sheiban) or to the offspring of Khan Abul-Khair, rulers of the eastern part of the Horde - the Central Asian lands.

G.F. Miller, one of the first, if not the very first researcher of the history of Siberia, lists the khans from the Taibugi dynasty in the following sequence:

1. Taibuga

4. [Obder and Eblak are brothers, but did not rule]

8. Bek-Bulat and Yediger (brothers, occupied the throne almost simultaneously)

9. Senbakta

10. Sauskan

All of them do not have a definite chronology, information about them has been preserved, mainly oral, and data about them make sense only for comparison with data about the Sheibanids, who also ruled in the Siberian Khanate and had an exact or at least approximate chronology.

The fact is that the Khanate of Siberia (until the 1420s it was called Tyumen) emerges from the historical shadow only at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries, when the struggle between the Taibugids and Sheibanids for possession of the khanate intensifies.

The Sheibanids, whose circle included all of Siberia, but whose main possessions were in Central Asia and adjoined in the upper reaches of the Irtysh, Tobol and Ishim directly to the possessions of the Siberian (Tyumen) Khanate, are trying to penetrate north along the Irtysh and Tobol and secure new pastures .

This struggle is aggravated as a result of the shifts that took place in the Golden Horde after its defeat by Tamerlane at the end of the 14th century.

In 1396, the Khan of the Horde Tokhtamysh fled to Siberia and used the throne of the Taibugids as a “parallel” one to the Horde. Since that time, the following persons have become Siberian khans, and their chronology of reign is established, although approximately, but already according to reliable written sources:

1. Tokhtamysh, 1396-1406

2. Chekre, 1407-1413

3. The throne is seized by the Sheibanids, 1413-1428

4. Abulkhair, 1428-1458?

5. Ibak, 1464-1495

6. Mamuk (brother of Ibak), 1496-1502

6a. Mahmet, 1496-1530

7. Kuluk-Saltan, 1502-1530?

In the 1530s-1550s, the throne again passes to the Taibugids:

8. Bek-Bulat and Ediger, 1530-1550

9. Yediger, 1552-1563

The Siberian Khanate is captured by the Sheibanids:

10. Kuchum, 1563-1598

11. Ali, 1598-1604

3. Territory, borders, population, capitals of the Siberian Khanate

Territory, borders:

By the middle of the 16th century, i.e. by the time the Siberian Khanate entered into direct relations with Russia, its territory extended virtually to the entire Western Siberia from the eastern slopes of the Ural Range, as the western border, to the Nadym and Pima rivers in the east.

Thus, the Siberian Khanate included the vast basins of the Irtysh and Ob (without the Ob Bay in the Far North, which was part of the so-called Obdoria, the territory of the Nenets tribes) with all their southern, western and eastern tributaries.

This vast state bordered in the North-Western Urals with the Perm lands inhabited by Komi, Permians and Voguls (Mansi), in the Western Urals - with the Kazan Khanate, which occupied the Kama basins, in the South-Western Urals - with the Nogai Horde. In the very south, the border of the Siberian Khanate ran along the upper reaches of the Irtysh and along the river. Om, and in the southeast included the entire Baraba steppe.

In the east, the Siberian Khanate did not actually have clear boundaries - here its neighbor was the so-called. "Piebald Horde" with the same unclear, vast territory and "blurred" borders. Under the "Piebald Horde" in Russian political geography of the 16th century. understood the unification of the Selkup and Ket tribes in the basins of the river. Naryma and Tom. The Piebald Horde was in alliance with the Siberian Khanate and at the end of the 16th century. together with the Siberian Tatar state resisted Russian penetration into Siberia. It was annexed to Russia simultaneously with the conquest of the Khanate of Kuchum, in the period from 1596 to 1598, i.e. after the founding of Narym as a Russian outpost.

Population:

The entire Siberian Khanate, despite its gigantic size, was extremely rarely populated. It was believed that in the middle of the XVI century. there were 30.5 thousand people.

By national composition they were predominantly Tatars (especially in the western and southern regions), as well as Mansi, Permyaks - in the West, Khanty (Ostyaks) - in the central and eastern regions, and national relations between the indigenous Finno-Ugric population of the region and the later (from the 13th century) Tatar population were normal, friendly in the Siberian Khanate. This circumstance to a large extent ensured the stability of the khanate even in the face of Russian foreign policy blows.

Capital Cities:

In practice, the Siberian Khanate was deprived of cities. In the regions of the Upper Ob, along the tributaries of the Ob - Sosva and Pelym, in places inhabited by Finno-Ugric tribes, the so-called. towns along the rivers, i.e. small fortified settlements in places where isolated sand mounds rose on the banks of rivers - dory.

Later, Tatar towns along the banks of the river were created according to the same type. Tours. These are Kyzyl-Tura (Ust-Ishim), Kasim-Tura, Yavlu-Tura, Ton-Tur. On the Tura, at the confluence of the river. Tyumen, the capital of the Siberian Khanate was also created during the Taibugid dynasty - Chimga-Tura(in the 13th century).

Another capital on the river. The Irtysh, on its right steep bank, 16 km from the city of Tobolsk, was founded in the 13th century. the city of Isker (later known as Siber, Sibir, Siberia), after which the whole khanate was named. The Sheibanids mainly settled here. This capital at the beginning of the XV century. also called Qashlyk. In the XV century. Siberia (Isker-Kashlyk) became the main capital of the Siberian Khanate, although in 1420 the residence was again transferred to Chimgu-Tura and Tobolsk.

4. Chronology of direct political and military contacts between the Muscovite state and the Siberian Khanate in the 2nd half of the 16th century. (1555-1598)

The Moscow expansion against the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates was not perceived in Siberia as a general Russian aggression against all Tatar states. It was believed that Moscow and Kazan simply had old scores and that this only concerned them. That's why:

in January 1555 ambassadors of the Siberian Khan Ediger came to Moscow to congratulate Ivan IV on the acquisition of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates and ask take the whole Siberian land under his hand.

Ivan the Terrible agreed and laid a tribute: to give 1 (one) sable and 1 squirrel from each person. “And we have people,” said the Siberian ambassadors, “30,700 people.”

An ambassador and tribute collector was sent to Siberia from Moscow Dmitry Kurov, who returned to Moscow at the end of 1556, two years later, together with the Siberian ambassador Boyanda. They brought only 700 tribute sables, i.e. “under-collected” 30 thousand pieces, or 98.7% of the tribute!

The tsar put Ambassador Boyanda into custody, confiscated all his personal property, and sent to Siberia Moscow Tatars with a letter - to collect all the tribute by all means.

In September 1557 the messengers returned, bringing 1000 sables and 104 sables instead of 1000 squirrels, as well as Yediger's written obligation to pay tribute annually with the explanation that, due to his continuous war with the Sheibanids (Uzbeks, Kazakhs), it was impossible to collect all the tribute.

But Moscow was not interested in the internal strife of the Tatars, the tsar even refused to understand Ediger's hint about the need to help him against the Sheibanids.

Ivan IV was only interested in one thing - to receive the largest possible tribute, and he demanded it, threatening punishment.

In 1563 Ediger was killed by a new khan - Sheibanid Kuchum. The latter decided that, due to the distance to Moscow and the impossibility of control, he could afford to stop collecting tribute for Ivan IV. To make it perfectly clear, he killed the Moscow ambassador, who arrived with a reminder of the timely collection of tribute. Moreover, Kuchum began to persecute the Mansi and Khanty (Voguls and Ostyaks), who paid tribute to Moscow in the Perm Territory.

In 1572 he finally broke off relations of vassalage with Moscow.

In 1573 Khan began to disturb those who seized the Perm land in the property Stroganovs. (The army of Tsarevich Mametkul (son of Kuchum) came to the Chusovaya River.) The Stroganovs began to hire Cossacks to protect their possessions.

In July 1579 540 people came to them. Volga Cossacks led by ataman Yermak Timofeevich and his henchmen - Ivan Koltso, Yakov Mikhailov, Nikita Pan, Matvey Meshcheryak. They served two years with the Stroganovs, until September 1581

In July 1581 about 700 people were attacked. Tatars and Ostyaks (from the Khanate of Kuchum) to the Stroganov towns. The attackers were defeated by Yermak's Cossacks. In this regard, the idea arose to pursue them beyond the Urals, to send a military expedition to the Trans-Urals, "to fight the Siberian Saltan."

September 1, 1581 Ermak and his comrades, having 840 people. (300 warriors were given by the Stroganovs), armed with squeakers and cannons, with the necessary supplies of winter shoes, clothes, food, supplied with local guides along the rivers of Siberia and translators (interpreters) from local languages ​​​​(Tatar, Mansi, Khanty, Perm), set off to conquer the Siberian khanates.

THE CAMPAIGN OF YERMAK TIMOFEEVICH TO THE SIBERIAN KHANATE

Chronicle of the campaign and hostilities:

1. For four days, the detachment walked on plows up the river. Chusovaya to the mouth of the river. Silver.

2. Then they sailed along the river for two days. Silver up to the Siberian road, which passed through the portage, dividing the basins of the river. Kama and Ob.

3. From Kokuy, boats were dragged along the portage into the river. Zharovlyu (Zheravlyu) and only

4. In the spring of 1582 sailed Zharovley, Barancha and Tagil in the river. Tura, where the Tatar Tyumen (Siberian) Khanate began with its capital in Chimge-Tura, which was then transferred to the 16th century. in Isker, on the Irtysh.

5. Sailing down the Tura, the Cossacks captured the Tatar towns and twice defeated the Tatar troops, who fled in panic from the numerically smaller Russian army, equipped with firearms, completely unknown to the Tatars of Siberia.

It is no coincidence that, characterizing the reasons for the rapid conquest of Siberia by Ermak, the Russian historian S.M. Solovyov confines himself to a single, but exhaustively explaining the situation, phrase - "The gun defeated the bow and arrow."

6. Moving from Tura to the river. Tavda, Yermak's detachments continued to instill fear in the Tatars and sought to find out the whereabouts of the main military forces of Khan Kuchum. At the mouth of the Tavda, detachments of the Tatars were defeated.

7. Meanwhile, Khan Kuchum, waiting for the approach of the Russian Cossacks, fortified himself in the city of Isker (Siberia) on the steep right bank of the Irtysh, at the mouth of the river. Sibirki, on a slope rising 11.5 m above the river level.

8. Towards Yermak, who had already approached the Tobol, Kuchum sent the army of Prince Mametkul, which Yermak also easily defeated in the Babasan tract, on the banks of the Tobol.

9. The next battle took place already on the Irtysh, where the army under the leadership of Kuchum was again defeated. Here the Cossacks took the town of Atik-Murza.

10. Due to the onset of frost, October 23, 1582, Prince Mametkul and the Ostyak princes allied with him hoped that the Russians would be stopped, especially since a special notch was set up in front of Isker to prevent the movement of the enemy.

11. However, Yermak launched a night attack on enemy positions, used artillery and won a victory in a fierce battle, forcing the Tatars to flee, abandoning the capital's fortifications.

12. October 26, 1582 Yermak's detachments entered the deserted capital of the Khanate, where they wintered. In December 1582, they were subjected to an unexpected attack by the Tatars, however, having suffered losses in people, they held their positions.

13. In the spring of 1583 Yermak again began hostilities against the Tatars and finally defeated Mametkul's troops in his camp on the river. Vagae, and captured Mametkul himself.

14. In the summer of 1583 Yermak undertook the conquest of the Tatar settlements along the Irtysh and the Ob. He also took the capital of the Khanty Nazym.

15. In September 1583 , returning to the city of Isker (Siberia), Yermak let know about his successes, firstly, to the Stroganovs, and secondly, to Moscow, sending Ivan IV as a personal representative of Ataman Ivan a Ring with gifts (mainly with furs - sable, squirrel).

In his message, Yermak reported that he defeated Khan Kuchum, captured his son and commander-in-chief - Prince Mametkul, captured the capital of the Khanate, Siberia, subjugated all its inhabitants in settlements along the main rivers.

16. In November 1583 the tsar, having received news from Yermak in Moscow, immediately sent two tsarist governors - Prince Semyon Bolkhovsky and Ivan Glukhov with 300 people. warriors to reinforce Yermak in order to accept the "Siberian Khanate" from Yermak.

At the beginning of December 1583 the governors left Moscow and went to the Stroganovs, from whom they were supposed to learn the way to Yermak.

17. The tsarist governors arrived at the Stroganovs in Chusovoy towns only in February 1584, i.e. in the midst of winter, and immediately with great difficulty began to move towards the Irtysh, where Yermak was, taking with him another 50 people. warriors at the Stroganovs.

18. At that time, in Moscow, they realized that, in fact, they sent completely unprepared people into the unknown and that they should be detained, let them spend the winter with the Stroganovs, because it is dangerous to move along the Siberian impassability in winter.

January 7, 1584 the tsar sends an order to the Stroganovs to build 15 plows by spring, with a team of 20 people. on each, with a supply of food, building materials, clothes, tools, in order to send all this to Yermak in the spring along with the ambassadors.

19. However, Bolkhovsky and Glukhov had already reached the Irtysh, where they arrived only at the end of summer, without food, weapons, food, without sleds, and thus not only could not help Yermak, but also turned out to be a burden.

When the Tatars saw that Yermak had decided to seriously settle in Siberia, that reinforcements were coming to him, this made them extremely worried and intensified their actions against Yermak.

20. Meanwhile, the forces of Yermak, forced to fight continuously for two years, were depleted. Bearing losses in people, constantly experiencing a lack of food, a lack of shoes and clothing, Yermak's detachments gradually began to lose their combat effectiveness. Kuchum, who migrated to the upper reaches of the rivers - the Irtysh, Tobol and Ishim, inaccessible to Yermak's plows, all the time closely followed all the actions and movements of Yermak and his squads and tried to inflict damage on parts of Yermak's detachments with unexpected attacks.

21. Following the destruction of the detachment of Nikita Pan in Nazim ( summer 1583) Ivan Koltso and Yakov Mikhailov, who returned from Moscow, were killed ( March 1584), and also suffered heavy losses, although he defeated the Kuchumovsky detachment, Ataman Meshcheryak ( summer 1584).

22. On the night of 5 to 6 August 1584 Ermak himself also died, leaving with a small detachment of 50 people. along the Irtysh and fell into a Tatar ambush. All his people were also killed.

23. There were so few Cossacks left that the voivode Glukhov and the only surviving atamans Matvey Meshcheryak decided August 15, 1584 leave the city of Siberia and run along the Irtysh and Ob, and then across the Ural Range to Russia.

24. Thus, two years after the "victorious conquest" Siberia was lost. The Khanate of Kuchum was restored there. By this time, Ivan IV had also died, and the new tsar, Fedor I Ioannovich, did not yet know about the death of Yermak and the flight of his governors from Siberia.

25. Not receiving any news from Siberia, Boris Godunov, who actually managed state affairs under Fedor I, decided to send a new governor and a new military detachment to the Kuchum Khanate.

SECONDARY CONQUEST OF THE SIBERIAN KHANATE

Start of the Second Conquest: summer 1585

End of Secondary Conquest: autumn 1598

1. In the summer of 1585 governor Ivan Mansurov was sent to Siberia with a detachment of archers and Cossacks, whom he met on the river. Toure returning from Siberia ataman Matvey Meshcheryak. According to other sources, Mansurov did not meet Meshcheryak, but, having arrived in Siberia and did not find any of the Russians there, he wintered at the confluence of the Irtysh with the Ob, founding the Big Ob city on the right bank of the Ob (until the 18th century it was called in Khanty Rush- Yours is a Russian city).

2. Following Mansurov, archery heads were sent from Moscow to Siberia - Vasily Sukin, Ivan Myasnoy, Daniil Chulkov with three hundred warriors and a supply of firearms and artillery. These detachments did not go to the capital of Kuchum on the Irtysh, but went up the Tura to the former Tatar capital of Chimgi-Tura and at the mouth of the river. Tyumen founded the Tyumen fortress (1586), and at the mouth of the river. Tobola - Tobolsk fortress (1587).

These fortresses became the bases for all further advancement of the Russians in Siberia. Occupying strategically dominant heights and key points on the rivers, they became a solid military-defense basis for further colonization of the region and for control over the local population.

3. The tactics of hasty military campaigns were changed to the tactics of consistently securing on the rivers by building fortresses on them and leaving permanent garrisons in these fortresses.

4. The steady, consistent movement of the Russians and the consolidation of garrison points are carried out primarily along the rivers Tura, Pyshma, Tobol, Tavda, and then Lozva, Pelym, Sosva, Tara, Keti and, of course, the Ob.

5. In the 90s, the following network of Russian fortresses was created:

1590 - Lozvinsky town on the river. Lozva

1592-1593 - Pelym on the river. Tavda

1593 - Surgut on the Ob

1593 - Berezov on the river. Sosva

1594 - Tara on the river. Tare

1594 - Obdorsk on the Lower Ob

1596 - Ketsky town on the Ob

1596-1597 - Narym town on the river. Ket.

6. All this forced Kuchum, who was actually ousted from the most attractive region of Siberia, to migrate with his hordes to the south, and, continuing to disturb the lands colonized by Russians from time to time, at the same time reduce their activity, being deprived of the main transport and water network and operational space.

7. At the same time, the new plan for the conquest of Siberia developed by Boris Godunov practically ruled out bloody battles and other direct military operations (and losses!), Forcing the enemy to take up passive defensive positions.

8. Kuchum's attempts in the 90s of the 16th century. repeatedly to build up strength and take revenge by attacking concentrations of Russian forces, or to take a large Russian fortress invariably ended in defeat.

In 1591 Kuchum was defeated by the governor Vladimir Masalsky-Koltsov.

In 1595 Kuchum's troops were put to flight by the governor Domozhirov.

In 1597 Kuchum's detachments unsuccessfully tried to capture the fortress of Tara, and

in August 1598 Kuchum's army was utterly defeated by the troops of the governor Andrei Matveyevich Voeikov, almost all of it was killed, the family was captured. The khan himself barely escaped and was later killed in the Nogai steppes.

This last battle of the Russian troops with the detachments of Khan Kuchum, which ended the two-decade conquest of the Siberian Khanate, later colorfully painted in various fiction novels, historical works, reflected in folk songs and even in Surikov’s paintings, in reality did not have any epic, grandiose character, and even Did not have somehow significant military scale.

If the Russian army of 150 thousand people took part in the conquest of Kazan. and in battles, and even more so in repressions after the Russian victory, a total of about a quarter of a million Tatars, Chuvashs, Maris and Russians died, then in the last decisive battle with Kuchum for the Siberian Khanate with

Russian side involved: all 404 people:

397 soldiers, among whom were Lithuanians (prisoners exiled to Siberia), Cossacks and pacified Tatars,

and the team included:

3 boyar sons (Russians)

3 chieftains (Cossack)

1 Tatar head,

those. 7 officers in the rank of commanders of companies, platoons (or cell).

From Kuchum the army was also no more than 500 people. and had no firearms.

Thus, in " great battle» less than one thousand people participated on both sides for the conquest of Siberia!

9. Kuchum as the Siberian Khan was nominally succeeded by his son Ali (1598-1604), who was forced to roam the uninhabited, desert territories of Western Siberia, having no shelter, and with his death the history of the Siberian Tatar state both formally and actually ceased. (Captured in 1604, ended his life in a Russian prison in 1618)

Ermak's campaign did not subjugate the Siberian Khanate to Russia Yermak could not subjugate the Siberian Khanate to Russia with his campaign for a very simple reason. This simple reason consisted in the fact that the Siberian Khanate since 1555 was in vassal dependence on the Moscow sovereign. More