People's Avenger. Why did Stepan Razin declare war on the state? Stepan Razin is brief and clear - the main and important thing
1670–1671, leader of a major protest movement of peasants, serfs, Cossacks and urban lower classes in the 17th century.
Born approx. 1630 in the village of Zimoveyskaya on the Don (or in Cherkassk) in the family of a wealthy Cossack Timofey Razin, probably the middle son of three (Ivan, Stepan, Frol). The first document about him is his request for leave to travel to the Solovetsky Monastery in 1652.
In 1658 he was among the Cherkasy Cossacks sent to Moscow to the Ambassadorial Prikaz. In 1661, together with Ataman F. Budan, he negotiated with the Kalmyks about concluding peace and joint actions against the Tatars. In 1662 he became an ataman; in 1662–1663 his Cossacks fought against the Turks and Crimeans and took part in the Battle of Molochny Vody on the Crimean Isthmus. He returned to the Don with rich trophies and prisoners.
In 1665, the governor and prince. Yu.A. Dolgorukov hanged Razin’s older brother Ivan for leaving without permission with the Cossacks to the Don during the Russian-Polish War. Stepan decided not only to avenge his brother, but also to punish the boyars and nobles. Gathering a “gang” of 600 people, he set off in the spring of 1667 from the Zimoveysky town near Tsaritsyn up the Don, along the way robbing government plows with goods and the houses of rich Cossacks. The enterprise was called a “campaign for zipuns” and was a violation of the promise given by the Don Cossacks to the Moscow authorities to “stop theft.” “Vataga” quickly grew to 2 thousand people. on 30 plows. Having captured Yaik by cunning, Razin executed 170 people who saw in his army a “horde of thieves” and replenished the “band” with sympathizers from the local population.
Having established a camp between the rivers Tishini and Ilovnya, he reorganized the “army”, giving it the features of a regular one, divided into hundreds and dozens, led by centurions and tens. Anyone who met his “band” and did not want to go with her was ordered to be “burned with fire and beaten to death.” Despite the cruelty, he remained in people's memory as generous, friendly, and generous to the poor and hungry. He was considered a sorcerer, they believed in his strength and happiness, and called him “father.”
In 1667–1669, Razin made a Persian campaign, defeating the fleet of the Iranian Shah and gaining experience in the “Cossack war” (ambushes, raids, outflanking maneuvers). The Cossacks burned villages and hamlets of the Dagestan Tatars, killed residents, and destroyed property. Taking Baku, Derbent. Reshet, Farabat, Astrabat, Razin took prisoners, among them was the daughter of Meneda Khan. He made her a concubine, then dealt with her, proving the ataman’s prowess. This fact was included in the text of the folk song about Stenka Razin, but already at that time legends about the “bewitched by a bullet and a saber” destroyer of other people’s property, about his strength, dexterity and luck, were spreading everywhere.
In August-September 1669, having returned to the Don, he and his “comrades” built a fortress on the island - the town of Kagalnik. On it, Razin’s “gang” and he himself distributed the spoils of war, inviting him to join the Cossack army, enticing him with wealth and prowess. The Moscow government's attempt to punish the obstinate people by stopping the supply of grain to the Don only added to Razin's supporters.
In May 1670, at the “larger circle”, the ataman announced that he intended to “go from the Don to the Volga, and from the Volga to Rus'... in order... to bring out the traitorous boyars and duma people from the Moscow state and the governors and officials in the cities ", give freedom to "black people".
In the summer of 1670 the campaign turned into a powerful peasant war. The rumor about Tsarevich Alexei (actually deceased) and Patriarch Nikon walking with Razin turned the campaign into an event that received the blessing of the church and the authorities. Near Simbirsk in October 1670, Stepan Razin was wounded and went to the Don. There, together with his brother Frol, on April 9, 1671, the “homely Cossacks” led by Kornil Yakovlev were handed over to the authorities. Brought to Moscow, Stepan was interrogated, tortured and quartered on June 6, 1671.
The image of Razin inspired V.I. Surikov to paint the canvas Stepan Razin(1907, Russian Museum). Razin was imprinted in the people's memory in the name of the cliff and tracts on the Volga. His personality is reflected in the novels of S. Zlobin ( Stepan Razin), V. Shukshina ( I came to give you freedom...).
Natalia Pushkareva
APPENDIX. “BEAUTIFUL LITERATURES” BY STEPAN RAZIN
1. Certificate from Stepan Timofeevich from Razin. Stepan Timofeevich writes to you of all the mob. Who wants to serve God and the sovereign, and the great army, and Stepan Timofeevich, and I sent out the Cossacks, and you would like to get out the traitors and get out the worldly crapists.
AND<...>my Cossacks will begin to repair the fishery, and you<...>go to their council, and the enslaved and imprisoned would go to the regiment to my Cossacks.
2. From the Don and Yaitsk atamans of Molottsy, from Stefan Timofeevich and from the entire great army of the Don and Yaitsky, designate for the Tsyvilsky district pink villages and villages of the black Russian people and Tatars and Chuvash and Mordovians. You would stand more, Russian people and Tatars and Chuvyashas, for the house of the Most Holy Theotokos and for all the saints, and for the Great Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich<...>(t), and for the faithful princes, and for the faith of Orthodox Christians. And if not Tsyvilsk to you, to the rabble, the Russian people and Tatars and Chuvasha and Mordovians, the deportees in the Tsyvilskaya district in the village and villages will and will begin to drive into a siege to stand in Tsyvilsk, and you, rabble, should not go to the siege in Tsyvilsk , because he will perpetrate deceit on you, he will cut you all down during the siege. And you should catch those civilian extortionists and bring them to the army in Sinbirsk. And who are the nobles and children of the boyars and the Murzas and the Tatars, who at the same time also wanted to stand for the house of the Most Holy Theotokos and for all the saints and for the great sovereign and for the faithful princes, and for the faith of the Orthodox Christians, and you, the mob, those nobles and the children of the boyars and the Murzas and Tatars cannot be touched by anything and their houses cannot be destroyed. And from the military memory, you, the mob, should copy and give lists of villages to the church clerk and sexton, word for word. And after writing them off, give them to the different volosts and to the villages and villages of Sotsky and village elders and tens, so that they, the district people, would know everything about this high school. Ataman Stepan Timofeevich attached a high seal to this memory. And with this high memory our high Cossack Akhperdya Murza Kiddibyakov was sent, and you, rabble, should listen to him in everything and not argue. And if you listen to him in nothing, you won’t have to blame yourself.
3. The Great Army of Dansky and Eitsky and Zaporozhye from the atamans from Mikhail Kharitonovich, and from Maxim Dmitrevich, and from Mikhail Kitaevich, and from Semyon Nefediev, and from Artemy Chirskov, and from Vasily Shilov, and from Kirila Lavrentiev, and from Timofey Trofimovich in Chelnavskaya ataman hammer and the entire great army.
We sent the Cossacks of Lysogorsk to you, Sidar Ledenev and Gavrilo Boldyrev, for assembly and council of the great army. And now we are in Tanbov November on the 9th day in osprey, we have a military force of 42,000, and we have 20 guns, and we have half a hundred and more pounds of potions.
And what time will your memory come to you, and you would be welcomed by the atamans and hammers, having gathered, to come to us to help with guns and potions, without any rushing around day and night in a hurry. And the Don Ataman wrote to us from Orzamasu that our Cossacks, Prince Yurya Dolgarukovo, beat his entire army, and he had 120 guns and 1500 potions.
May you be welcome to give birth to the Most Holy Theotokos for the house and for the great sovereign, and for the priest for Stepan Timofeevich, and for the entire Orthodox Christian faith. Then you, hammer atamans, ataman Timofey Trofimov hits you with his forehead.
And if you do not come to us in assembly for council, you will be executed from the great army, and your wives and children will be cut down, and your houses will be desecrated, and your bellies and livestock will be taken for the armies.
Stenka Razin is the hero of the song, a violent robber who, in a fit of jealousy, drowned the Persian princess. That's all most people know about him. And all this is not true, a myth. The real Stepan Timofeevich Razin, an outstanding commander, political figure, the “dear father” of all the humiliated and insulted, was executed either on Red Square or on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow on June 16, 1671. He was quartered, his body was cut into pieces and displayed on high poles near the Moscow River. It hung there for at least five years.
"A sedate man with an arrogant face"
Either from hunger, or from oppression and lack of rights, Timofey Razia fled from near Voronezh to the free Don. Being a strong, energetic, courageous man, he soon became one of the “household”, that is, rich Cossacks. He married a Turkish woman he himself captured, who gave birth to three sons: Ivan, Stepan and Frol.
The appearance of the middle of the brothers was described by the Dutchman Jan Streis: “He was a tall and sedate man, strongly built, with an arrogant, straight face. He behaved modestly, with great severity.” Many features of his appearance and character are contradictory: for example, there is evidence from the Swedish ambassador that Stepan Razin knew eight languages. On the other hand, according to legend, when he and Frol were tortured, Stepan joked: “I heard that only learned people are made priests, you and I are both unlearned, but we still waited for such an honor.”
Shuttle diplomat
By the age of 28, Stepan Razin became one of the most prominent Cossacks on the Don. Not only because he was the son of a homely Cossack and the godson of the military ataman himself, Kornila Yakovlev: before the qualities of a commander, diplomatic qualities manifest themselves in Stepan. By 1658, he went to Moscow as part of the Don embassy. He fulfills the assigned task in an exemplary manner; in the Ambassadorial Order he is even noted as an intelligent and energetic person. Soon he reconciles the Kalmyks and Nagai Tatars in Astrakhan.
Later, during his campaigns, Stepan Timofeevich will repeatedly resort to cunning and diplomatic tricks. For example, at the end of a long and ruinous campaign for the country “for zipuns,” Razin will not only not be arrested as a criminal, but will be released with an army and part of the weapons to the Don: this is the result of negotiations between the Cossack ataman and the tsarist governor Lvov. Moreover, Lvov “accepted Stenka as his named son and, according to Russian custom, presented him with an image of the Virgin Mary in a beautiful gold frame.”
Fighter against bureaucracy and tyranny
A brilliant career awaited Stepan Razin if an event had not happened that radically changed his attitude towards life. During the war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in 1665, Stepan’s elder brother Ivan Razin decided to take his detachment home from the front, to the Don. After all, a Cossack is a free man, he can leave whenever he wants. The sovereign's commanders had a different opinion: they caught up with Ivan's detachment, arrested the freedom-loving Cossack and executed him as a deserter. The extrajudicial execution of his brother shocked Stepan. Hatred for the aristocracy and sympathy for the poor, powerless people have finally taken root in him, and two years later he begins to prepare a large campaign “for zipuns,” that is, for booty, in order to feed the Cossack bastard, already within twenty years, since the introduction serfdom, flocking to the free Don.
The fight against the boyars and other oppressors would become Razin’s main slogan in his campaigns. And the main reason is that at the height of the Peasant War there will be up to two hundred thousand people under his banner.
Cunning commander
The leader of the Golytba turned out to be an inventive commander. Posing as merchants, the Razins took the Persian city of Farabat. For five days they traded previously looted goods, scouting out where the houses of the richest townspeople were located. And, having scouted, they robbed the rich.
Another time, by cunning, Razin defeated the Ural Cossacks. This time the Razinites pretended to be pilgrims. Entering the city, a detachment of forty people captured the gate and allowed the entire army to enter. The local chieftain was killed, and the Yaik Cossacks did not offer resistance to the Don Cossacks.
But the main one of Razin’s “smart” victories was in the battle of Pig Lake, in the Caspian Sea near Baku. The Persians sailed on fifty ships to the island where the Cossacks camp was set up. Seeing an enemy whose forces were several times greater than their own, the Razins rushed to the plows and, ineptly controlling them, tried to sail away. The Persian naval commander Mamed Khan mistook the cunning maneuver for an escape and ordered the Persian ships to be linked together in order to catch Razin’s entire army, like in a net. Taking advantage of this, the Cossacks began to fire at the flagship ship with all their guns, blew it up, and when it pulled the neighboring ones to the bottom and panic arose among the Persians, they began to sink other ships one after another. As a result, only three ships remained from the Persian fleet.
Stenka Razin and the Persian princess
In the battle at Pig Lake, the Cossacks captured the son of Mamed Khan, the Persian prince Shabalda. According to legend, his sister was also captured, with whom Razin was passionately in love, who allegedly even gave birth to a son to the Don ataman, and whom Razin sacrificed to Mother Volga. However, there is no documentary evidence of the existence of the Persian princess in reality. In particular, the petition that Shabalda addressed, asking to be released, is known, but the prince did not say a word about his sister.
Lovely letters
In 1670, Stepan Razin began the main work of his life and one of the main events in the life of all of Europe: the Peasant War. Foreign newspapers never tired of writing about it; its progress was followed even in those countries with which Russia did not have close political and trade ties.
This war was no longer a campaign for booty: Razin called for a fight against the existing system, planned to go to Moscow with the goal of overthrowing, not the tsar, but the boyar power. At the same time, he hoped for the support of the Zaporozhye and Right Bank Cossacks, sent embassies to them, but did not achieve results: the Ukrainians were busy with their own political game.
Nevertheless, the war became nationwide. The poor saw in Stepan Razin an intercessor, a fighter for their rights, and called them their own father. The cities surrendered without a fight. This was facilitated by an active propaganda campaign conducted by the Don Ataman. Using the love for the Tsar and piety inherent in the common people, Razin spread a rumor that the Tsar’s heir, Alexei Alekseevich (in fact, deceased) and the disgraced Patriarch Nikon were following with his army. The first two ships sailing along the Volga were covered with red and black cloth: the first was supposedly carrying the prince, and Nikon was on the second.
Razin's "lovely letters" were distributed throughout Rus'. “For the cause, brothers! Now take revenge on the tyrants who have hitherto kept you in captivity worse than the Turks or pagans. I have come to give you all freedom and deliverance, you will be my brothers and children, and it will be as good for you as it is for me.” “, just be courageous and remain faithful,” Razin wrote. His propaganda policy was so successful that the tsar even interrogated Nikon about his connection with the rebels.
On the eve of the Peasant War, Razin seized actual power on the Don, making an enemy for himself in the person of his own godfather, Ataman Yakovlev. After the siege of Simbirsk, where Razin was defeated and seriously wounded, the homely Cossacks, led by Yakovlev, were able to arrest him, and then his younger brother Frol. In June, a detachment of 76 Cossacks brought the Razins to Moscow. On the approach to the capital, they were joined by a convoy of one hundred archers. The brothers were dressed in rags. Stepan was tied to a pillory mounted on a cart, Frol was chained so that he would run next to him. The year turned out to be dry. At the height of the heat, the prisoners were solemnly paraded through the streets of the city. Then they were brutally tortured and quartered.
After Razin's death, legends began to form about him. Either he throws twenty-pound stones from the plow, then he defends Rus' together with Ilya Muromets, or else he voluntarily goes to prison to release the prisoners. “He’ll lie down for a little while, rest, get up... Give me some coal, he’ll say, write a boat on the wall with that coal, put convicts in that boat, splash it with water: the river will overflow from the island all the way to the Volga; Stenka and the fellows will break out songs - and on the Volga !.. Well, remember what their name was!”
Who is Stepan Razin? A brief biography of this historical figure is discussed in the school curriculum. Let's analyze some interesting facts from his life.
Important
Why is the biography of Stepan Razin interesting? A summary of the main stages of this man’s life indicates a connection with the life of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich.
At that time, feudal oppression was intensifying. Despite the king's quiet disposition and his ability to listen to his subordinates, uprisings and riots periodically arose in the country.
Cathedral Code
After its approval, serfdom became the basis of Russian economics, and any revolts were brutally suppressed by the authorities. The search period for fugitive peasants was increased from 5 to 15 years, serfdom became a hereditary condition.
Stepan Razin, whose biography will be discussed below, led a rebellion that was called the peasant war.
Portrait of Stepan Razin
Russian historian V.I. Buganov, who has been collecting information about Stepan Razin for a long time, relied on some surviving documents that were published by the Romanovs, as well as on information preserved far from the Volga. Who is he - Stepan Razin? A short biography for schoolchildren, offered in a history textbook, is limited to only a minimum amount of information. It is difficult for the guys to draw up a true portrait of the leader of the rebellious movement based on these facts.
Family information
In 1630, Stepan Timofeevich Razin was born. His short biography contains information that his father was the noble and wealthy Cossack Timofey Razin. The village of Zimoveyskaya, the possible birthplace of Stepan, was first mentioned by historian A.I. at the end of the 18th century. Rigelman. Domestic historian Popov suggested that Cherkassk is the birthplace of Stepan Razin, because this city was repeatedly mentioned in folk legends of the 17th century.
Characteristic
The biography of Stepan Razin contains information that the ataman of the Cossack army, Kornila Yakovlev, became his godfather. It was thanks to his Cossack origin that from childhood Stepan occupied a special place among the Don elders and had certain privileges.
In 1661, he took an active part in negotiations with the Kalmyks as a translator, having an excellent command of the Tatar and Kalmyk languages.
The biography of Stepan Razin contains the fact that by 1662 he became the commander of the Cossack army, which went on a campaign against the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate. At that point in time, Stepan Razin had already managed to make two pilgrimages to the Solovetsky Monastery, and also become the Don Ambassador in Moscow three times. In 1663, he took part in a military campaign against the Crimean Tatars near Perekop.
The biography of Stepan Razin contains many interesting points. For example, historians note his genuine authority among the Don Cossacks and highlight his enormous energy and rebellious disposition. Many historical descriptions speak of Razin’s arrogant facial expression, his sedateness and stateliness. The Cossacks called him “father” and were ready to kneel before him during a conversation, thus demonstrating respect and honor.
The biography of Stepan Razin does not contain reliable information about whether he had a family. There is information that the ataman’s children lived in the town of Kagalnitsky.
Predatory campaigns
The younger brother Frol and the older brother Ivan also became Cossack leaders. It was after the execution of the elder Ivan, carried out on the orders of the governor Yuri Dolgorukov, that Stepan began to hatch a plan for cruel revenge on the tsar’s administration. Razin makes a decision about a free and prosperous life for his Cossacks, building a military-democratic system.
As a manifestation of disobedience to the tsarist government, Razin, together with the Cossack army, went on a predatory campaign to Persia and the lower Volga (1667-1669). His team robbed a trade caravan, blocking the movement of traders towards the Volga. As a result of the Cossack raid, they managed to free some of the exiles, avoiding a clash with a detachment of soldiers.
Razin at this time settled not far from the Don, in the town of Kagalnitsky. Whites and Cossacks began to come to him from all over the world, forming a powerful rebel army. Attempts by the tsarist government to disperse the unruly Cossacks were unsuccessful, and the personality of Stepan Razin himself became the stuff of legends.
The Razins, who acted under the banner of war, naively thought about protecting Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich from the Moscow boyars. For example, in one of the letters, the ataman wrote that his army was coming from the Don to help the sovereign in order to protect him from traitors.
Expressing hatred of the authorities, the Razins were ready to give their lives for the Russian Tsar.
Conclusion
In 1670, an open uprising of the Cossack army began. Together with his associates, Razin sent “charming” letters, calling to join the ranks of his freedom-loving army.
The ataman never spoke about the overthrow of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, but he declared real war on the clerks, governors, and representatives of the Russian church. The Razins gradually introduced Cossack troops into the cities, destroyed government officials, and established their own order there. Merchants trying to cross the Volga were detained and robbed.
The Volga region was engulfed in mass uprisings. The leaders were not only Razin’s Cossacks, but also fugitive peasants, Chuvash, Mari, and Mordovians. Among the cities captured by the rebels were Samara, Saratov, Tsaritsyn, and Astrakhan.
In the fall of 1670, Razin encountered serious resistance during a campaign against Simbirsk. The chieftain was wounded and was forced to retreat to the Don along with his army.
At the beginning of 1671, serious contradictions began to arise within the army. As a result, the ataman's authority decreased, and a new leader appeared in his place - Yakovlev.
In the spring of the same year, together with his brother Frol, Stepan was captured and handed over to government authorities. Despite his hopeless situation, Razin maintained his dignity. His execution was scheduled for June 2.
Since the tsar was afraid of serious unrest on the part of the Cossack army, the entire Bolotnaya Square, where the public execution took place, was cordoned off by several rows of people who were infinitely loyal to the tsar.
Detachments of government troops were also stationed at all intersections. Razin calmly listened to the entire verdict, then turned towards the church, bowed, and asked for forgiveness from the people who had gathered in the square.
The executioner first cut off his arm at the elbow, and then his leg at the knee, then Razin lost his head. Frol's execution, scheduled for the same time as Stepan's, was postponed. He received his life in exchange for telling the authorities about the places where Stepan Razin hid his treasures.
The authorities failed to find the treasure, so Flor was executed in 1676. In many Russian songs, Razin is presented as an ideal Cossack leader. Legends about Razin's treasures are passed down from generation to generation. For example, there is information that the ataman hid his treasures in a cave near the village of Dobrinka.
The execution of the Cossack ataman did not bring peace and tranquility to the royal family. In the Volga region and on the Volga, peasant and Cossack wars continued after Razin’s death. The rebels managed to hold Astrakhan until the fall of 1671. The Romanovs made great efforts to find and destroy the documents of the rebels.
There is no documentary evidence about when Stepan Razin was born. However, this date can be inferred from secondary sources. For example, the Dutchman Jan Jansen Streis, who traveled around Russia, met the famous rebel several times. In his notes, he recorded that in 1670 Razin was 40 years old, which suggests that he was born around 1630.
Biography details
All that is known for sure is that the famous chieftain was born on the Don. The biography of Stepan Razin began in what is now the Volgograd region, where in the 17th century there were numerous Cossack farms and villages. His life was overgrown with numerous fictions and legends, which was traditional for that time. The biography of Stepan Razin became an object of veneration among the Cossacks. His reputation was enjoyed by him who, during his uprising, often mentioned his predecessor.
In 1652, the biography of Stepan Razin was supplemented with an important event for the latter. He becomes an ataman. Ten years later, Stenka took part in a campaign against the Crimean Khan. In addition to the Cossacks, there were Kalmyks and Cossacks in the army. Then Russia defended itself against a large layer of free soldiers stationed in the south of the country.
Razin had an older brother, Ivan. He was the ataman of the Don Army. His Cossacks were distinguished by their free and violent morals, which is why they constantly had conflicts with the royal envoys. During one such skirmish, Moscow voivode Yuri Dolgorukov ordered Ivan to be executed for disobedience. This turned Stepan against the tsarist government.
The situation in the Cossacks
The 17th century generally received the nickname “rebellious” due to frequent peasant uprisings. Rural residents began to fall into serfdom from the landowners after it was decided in 1649 that peasants fled from slavery to the Don, from where fugitives were not extradited. By the 70s, a huge number of newly converted Cossacks had accumulated in the south of the country. This layer was most uncompromising towards the tsarist administration, which many accused of unfair treatment of the rural population.
The peasants who became Cossacks were called “golutvennye”. They made their living by robbing ships on the Volga. The old-timers turned a blind eye to the situation...
Campaign to Persia
In 1667, Stepan Razin became the leader of such a detachment. A brief biography of the chieftain in the history textbook includes references to the campaign against Persia. Indeed, this was the first serious military experience of the brave chieftain. In the lower reaches of the Volga, his Cossacks robbed merchants and even ships that belonged to Patriarch Joasaph. The detachment was joined en masse by laborers, barge haulers and other people working in the river fleet.
The robberies of merchants did not worry Moscow, which was extremely far away. But when the Cossacks defeated the Streltsy and even captured the usual boundaries of what was permissible, they were violated.
In the new year 1668, after wintering on Yaik, Razin’s army went to the Caspian Sea. Here it first encountered the forces of the Persian Shah. Circassians and other residents of the North Caucasus joined Razin. With such forces in July, the Russians fought the Persians at Pig Island. This was the largest domestic victory at sea in the 17th century. The battle took place near Baku. The Persians were defeated, and the Cossacks got the booty. But since the situation was precarious, the latter retreated to Astrakhan, where they were received by the tsarist commanders.
Popular uprising
The following year, the biography of Stepan Razin was marked by an open uprising against the tsar. He sent letters throughout the south of the country in which he called on everyone who wanted to be free to join him. In addition, then there was a tradition of impostors, which Stepan Razin took advantage of. The ataman’s brief biography continued as follows: he spread a rumor that in his army there was an heir to the throne who, in fact, had recently died. At the same time, the tsar had a conflict with Patriarch Tikhon, whom he sent into exile. Taking advantage of this, Razin also said that the high priest supported him. The peasants did not need proof; they willingly followed his banner.
Popular support helped Razin capture Astrakhan, Saratov, Tsaritsyn and Samara. Moving upstream, the Cossacks found themselves near Simbirsk. Its siege began in 1670. The order was given by the ataman himself. The ataman’s biography says that the life of the brave Cossack hung by a thread. He had come so far that defeat would have left him no way to survive.
Defeat and execution
Meanwhile, an army of 60 thousand soldiers was already moving from Moscow. The Razins were defeated and driven back from Simbirsk. Stepan fled, but he failed to gain the support of the Cossacks, who did not want to be in disgrace. As a result, Razin was captured by his own comrades, who handed him over to the Tsar in April 1671. On June 6, the leader of the popular uprising was quartered.
It happened in Moscow on Bolotnaya Square as an edification to everyone around. Nevertheless, everyone still remembers who Stepan Timofeevich Razin is. A short biography of the ataman became the basis for numerous folk songs that are still popular today.
Stepan Timofeevich Razin is the ataman of the Don Cossacks, who organized the largest popular uprising of the pre-Petrine period, which was called the Peasant War.
The future leader of the rebellious Cossacks was born in the village of Zimoveyskaya in 1630. Some sources point to another place of birth of Stepan - the city of Cherkassk. The father of the future ataman Timofey Razia was from the Voronezh region, but moved from there for unclear reasons to the banks of the Don.
The young man settled down among the free settlers and soon became a homely Cossack. Timofey was distinguished by his courage and bravery in military campaigns. From one campaign, a Cossack brought a captive Turkish woman into his house and married her. The family had three sons - Ivan, Stepan and Frol. The godfather of the middle brother was the ataman of the army, Kornil Yakovlev.
Time of Troubles
In 1649, with the “Conciliar Epistle” signed by the Tsar, serfdom was finally consolidated in Rus'. The document proclaimed the hereditary state of serfdom and allowed the search period for fugitives to be increased to 15 years. After the adoption of the law, uprisings and riots began to break out across the country, many peasants went on the run in search of free lands and settlements.
A time of troubles has arrived. Cossack settlements increasingly became a haven for “golytba”, poor or impoverished peasants who joined the wealthy Cossacks. By unspoken agreement with the “homely” Cossacks, detachments were created from the fugitives that were engaged in robbery and theft. The Turkic, Don, Yaik Cossacks increased at the expense of the “golutvenny” Cossacks, their military power grew.
Early life
In 1665, an event occurred that influenced the future fate of Stepan Razin. The elder brother Ivan, who took part in the Russian-Polish war, decided to voluntarily leave his positions and retire with the army to his homeland. According to custom, the free Cossacks were not obliged to obey the government. But the governor’s troops caught up with the Razins and, declaring them deserters, executed them on the spot. After the death of his brother, Stepan was inflamed with rage towards the Russian nobility and decided to go to war against Moscow in order to free Rus' from the boyars. The unstable position of the peasantry also became the reason for Razin's uprising.
From his youth, Stepan was distinguished by his daring and ingenuity. He never went ahead, but used diplomacy and cunning, so already at a young age he was part of important delegations from the Cossacks to Moscow and Astrakhan. With diplomatic tricks, Stepan could settle any failed case. Thus, the famous campaign “for zipuns,” which ended disastrously for the Razin detachment, could have led to the arrest and punishment of all its participants. But Stepan Timofeevich communicated so convincingly with the royal governor Lvov that he sent the entire army home, equipped with new weapons, and presented Stepan with an icon of the Virgin Mary.
Razin also showed himself as a peacemaker among the southern peoples. In Astrakhan, he mediated the dispute between the Nagaibak Tatars and Kalmyks and prevented bloodshed.
Insurrection
In March 1667, Stepan began to gather an army. With 2000 soldiers, the ataman set out on a campaign along the rivers flowing into the Volga to plunder the ships of merchants and boyars. Robbery was not perceived by the authorities as a rebellion, since theft was an integral part of the existence of the Cossacks. But Razin went beyond the usual robbery. In the village of Cherny Yar, the ataman carried out reprisals against the Streltsy troops, and then released all the exiles in custody. After which he went to Yaik. The rebel troops, by cunning, entered the fortress of the Ural Cossacks and subjugated the settlement.
Map of the uprising of Stepan Razin
In 1669, the army, replenished with runaway peasants, led by Stepan Razin, went to the Caspian Sea, where it launched a series of attacks on the Persians. In a battle with the flotilla of Mamed Khan, the Russian ataman outwitted the eastern commander. Razin's ships imitated an escape from the Persian fleet, after which the Persian gave the order to unite 50 ships and surround the Cossack army. But Razin unexpectedly turned around and subjected the enemy’s main ship to heavy fire, after which it began to sink and pulled the entire fleet with it. So, with small forces, Stepan Razin emerged victorious from the battle at Pig Island. Realizing that after such a defeat the Safivids would gather a larger army against the Razins, the Cossacks set off through Astrakhan to the Don.
Peasants' War
The year 1670 began with the preparation of Stepan Razin’s army for a campaign against Moscow. The chieftain went up the Volga, capturing coastal villages and cities. To attract the local population to his side, Razin used “charming letters” - special letters that he distributed among the city people. The letters said that the oppression of the boyars could be thrown off if you joined the rebel army.
Not only the oppressed strata went over to the side of the Cossacks, but also Old Believers, artisans, Mari, Chuvash, Tatars, Mordvins, as well as Russian soldiers of government troops. After widespread desertion, the tsarist troops were forced to begin recruiting mercenaries from Poland and the Baltic states. But the Cossacks treated such warriors cruelly, subjecting all foreign prisoners of war to execution.
Stepan Razin spread a rumor that the missing Tsarevich Alexei Alekseevich, as well as an exile, was hiding in the Cossack camp. Thus, the ataman attracted more and more dissatisfied with the current government to his side. Over the course of a year, residents of Tsaritsyn, Astrakhan, Saratov, Samara, Alatyr, Saransk, and Kozmodemyansk went over to the side of the Razins. But in the battle near Simbirsk, the Cossack flotilla was defeated by the troops of Prince Yu. N. Baryatinsky, and Stepan Razin himself, after being wounded, was forced to retreat to the Don.
For six months, Stepan took refuge with his entourage in the town of Kagalnitsky, but the local wealthy Cossacks secretly decided to surrender the ataman to the government. The elders feared the wrath of the tsar, who could fall on the entire Russian Cossacks. In April 1671, after a short assault on the fortress, Stepan Razin was captured and taken to Moscow along with his close entourage.
Personal life
There is no information preserved in historical documents about the ataman’s private life, but all that is known is that Razin’s wife and his son Afanasy lived in the Kagalnitsky town. The boy followed in his father's footsteps and became a warrior. During a skirmish with the Azov Tatars, the young man was captured by the enemy, but soon returned to his homeland.
The legend about Stepan Razin mentions a Persian princess. It is assumed that the girl was captured by the Cossacks after the famous battle on the Caspian Sea. She became Razin’s second wife and even managed to give birth to children for the Cossack, but out of jealousy the ataman drowned her in the abyss of the Volga.
Death
At the beginning of the summer of 1671, guarded by the governors, the steward Grigory Kosagov and the clerk Andrei Bogdanov, Stepan and his brother Frol were taken to Moscow for trial. During the investigation, the Razins were subjected to severe torture, and 4 days later they were taken to execution, which took place on Bolotnaya Square. After the verdict was announced, Stepan Razin was quartered, but his brother could not stand what he saw and asked for mercy in exchange for secret information. After 5 years, having not found the stolen treasures promised by Frol, it was decided to execute the ataman’s younger brother.
After the death of the leader of the liberation movement, the war continued for another six months. The Cossacks were led by atamans Vasily Us and Fyodor Sheludyak. The new leaders lacked charisma and wisdom, so the uprising was suppressed. The people's struggle led to disappointing results: serfdom was tightened, the days of transition of peasants from their owners were abolished, and it was allowed to show extreme cruelty towards disobedient serfs.
Memory
The story of the uprising of Stepan Razin remained in the memory of the people for a long time. 15 folk songs are dedicated to the national hero, including “Because of the island on the river”, “There is a cliff on the Volga”, “Oh, it’s not evening”. The biography of Stenka Razin aroused creative interest among many writers and historians, such as A. A. Sokolov, V. A. Gilyarovsky,.
The plot about the exploits of the hero of the Peasant War was used to create the first Russian film in 1908. The film was called “Ponizovaya Volnitsa”. The streets of St. Petersburg, Tver, Saratov, Yekaterinburg, Ulyanovsk and other settlements are named in honor of Razin.
The events of the 17th century formed the basis for operas and symphonic poems by Russian composers N. Ya. Afanasyev, A. K. Glazunov,.
- Anton Siluanov, Minister of Finance
- Protection of consumer rights: insurance contract - legal services of the Legas company Protection of rights under an insurance contract
- Consolidated register of the territorial body of the federal treasury
- Why are whales interesting? What do whales hear? The closest relatives of whales are hippos