Russian conquest of Siberia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Russian conquest of Siberia took place in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Siberian Khanate had become a loose political structure of vassal

Vassal

A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...

ages which were becoming undermined by the activities of Russian explorers who, though numerically outnumbered, pressured the various family-based tribes into changing their loyalties and establishing distant forts from which they conducted raids. To counter this Küçüm

Kuchum

Kuchum khan Kuchum khan (Tatar: Küçüm, Күчүм, Russian: Кучум; in Sybyr Küçüm is pronounced approximately as /kytsym/ - Күцүм, English name comes from standard Tatar pronunciation)Kuchum khan (Tatar: Küçüm, Күчүм, Russian: Кучум; in Sybyr Küçüm is pronounced approximately as /kytsym/ - Күцүм,...

Khan attempted to centralize his rule by imposing Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

on his subjects and reforming his tax collecting apparatus.

Conquest of the Khanate of Sibir

The Khanate of Sibir was a Muslim state located just east of the middle Ural Mountains. Its conquest by Ermak in 1582 was the first event in the Russian conquest of Siberia.-Russia:...

The conquest of Siberia began in July 1580 when some 540 Cossack

Cossack

Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...

s under Yermak Timofeyevich

Yermak Timofeyevich

Yermak Timofeyevich , Cossack leader, Russian folk hero and explorer of Siberia. His exploration of Siberia marked the beginning of the expansion of Russia towards this region and its colonization...

invaded the territory of the Voguls, subjects to Küçüm, the Khan of Siberia. They were accompanied by 300 Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

n and German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

slave laborers, whom the Stroganovs had purchased from the Tsar

Tsar

Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...

. Throughout 1581 this force traversed the territory known as Yugra

Yugra

Yugra was the name of the lands between the Pechora River and Northern Urals in the Russian annals of the 12th–17th centuries, as well as the name of the Khanty and partly Mansi tribes inhabiting these territories, later known as VogulsThe Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug of Russia is also...

and subdued Vogul and Ostyak

Ostyak

Ostyak on its own or in combination, can refer, especially in older literature, to several Siberian peoples and languages:* Ostyak:** Khanty people** Khanty language* Yenisei Ostyak:** Ket people** Ket language* Ostyak-Samoyed:...

towns. At this time they also captured a tax collector of Küçüm.
Following a series of Tatar raids in retaliation against the Russian advance Yermak's forces prepared for a campaign to take Qashliq

Qashliq

Qashliq, Isker or Sibir was a medieval Siberian Tatar fortress, in the 16th century the capital of the Khanate of Sibir, located on the right bank of the Irtysh River at its confluence with the Sibirka rivulet, some 17 km from the modern city of Tobolsk.The fortress is first mentioned in...

, the Siberian capital. The force embarked in May 1582. After a three day battle on the banks of the river Irtysh, Yermak was victorious against a combined force of Küçüm Khan and six allied Tatar princes. On June 29 the Cossack

Cossack

forces were attacked by the Tatars but again repelled them.

Throughout September 1582 the Khan gathered his forces for a defence of Qashliq

Qashliq

. A horde of Siberian Tatars

Siberian Tatars

Siberian Tatars refers to the indigenous Siberian population of the forests and steppes of South Siberia stretching from somewhat east of the Ural Mountains to the Yenisey river...

, Voguls and Ostyak

Ostyak

s massed at Mount Chyuvash to defend against invading Cossacks. On October 1 a Cossack attempt to storm the Tatar fort at Mount Chyuvash was held off. On October 23 the Cossacks attempted to storm the Tatar fort at Mount Chyuvash for a fourth time when the Tatars counterattacked. Over a hundred Cossacks were killed but their gunfire forced a Tatar retreat and allowed the capture of two Tatar cannons. The forces of the Khan retreated

Battle of Chuvash Cape

The Battle of Chuvash Cape led to the victory of a Russian expedition under Yermak Timofeyevich and the fall of Siberia Khanate and the end of Khan Kuchum's power. The battle took place near Qashliq .-Context:...

and Yermak entered Qashliq

Qashliq

on the 26 October 1582.

In 1583 on the orders of Ivan IV has made a great tour of Moscow "ship battle" in Western Siberia. Pitched Voguls (Mansi) in Pelym, the army is on Tavda, followed by Toure and the Irtysh to the mouth of it in the Ob River. As a result of this campaign is set vassalage Vogul princes of Muscovy, Ivan IV and receives the title of Grand Prince Ugra, Prince Kondinsky and Obdorsk

Küçüm Khan retreated into the steppes and over the next few years regrouped his forces. He suddenly attacked Yermak on August 6, 1584 in the dead of night and killed most of his army. The details are disputed with Russian sources claiming Yermak was wounded and tried to escape by swimming across the Wagay river which is a tributary of the Irtysh tributary), but drowned under the weight of his own chainmail. Tatar sources claim this story was invented to save his honour, and in fact he was slaughtered with the rest of his soldiers and suffered an anonymous death. The remains of Yermak's forces under the command of Mescheryak retreated from Qashliq, destroying the city as they left. In 1586 the Russians returned and after subduing the Khanty

Khanty people

Khanty / Hanti are an indigenous people calling themselves Khanti, Khande, Kantek , living in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, a region historically known as "Yugra" in Russia, together with the Mansi. In the autonomous okrug, the Khanty and Mansi languages are given co-official status with Russian...

and Mansi people through the use of their artillery they established a fortress at Tyumen

Tyumen

Tyumen is the largest city and the administrative center of Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located on the Tura River east of Moscow. Population: Tyumen is the oldest Russian settlement in Siberia. Founded in 16th century to support Russia's eastward expansion, the city has remained one of the most...

close to the ruins of Qashliq

Qashliq

. The Tatar tribes that were submissive to Küçüm Khan suffered from several attacks by the Russians between 1584-1595; however, Küçüm Khan would not be caught. Finally, in August 1598 Küçüm Khan was defeated at the Battle of Urmin near the river Ob

Ob River

The Ob River , also Obi, is a major river in western Siberia, Russia and is the world's seventh longest river. It is the westernmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean .The Gulf of Ob is the world's longest estuary.-Names:The Ob is known to the Khanty people as the...

. In the course of the fight the Siberian royal family were captured by the Russians. However, Küçüm Khan escaped yet again. The Russians took the family members of Küçüm Khan to Moscow and there they remained as hostages. The descendants of the khan's family became known as the Princes Sibirsky and the family is known to have survived until at least the late 19th Century.

Despite his personal escape, the capture of his family ended the political and military activities of Küçüm Khan and it is understood that he retreated to the territories of the Nogay Horde in southern Siberia. It has been known that he had been in contact with the Tsar

Tsar

and had requested that a small region on the banks of the Irtysh River would be granted as his dominion. This was rejected by the Tsar who proposed to Küçüm Khan that he to come to Moscow and "comfort himself" in the service of the Tsar. However, the old khan did not want to suffer from such contempt and preferred staying in his own lands to "comforting himself" in Moscow. It is thought that Küçüm Khan then went to Bokhara and as an old man became blind, dying in exile with distant relatives sometime around 1605.

Conquest and Exploration

In order to subjugate the natives and collect yasak

Yasak

Yasak or yasaq, sometimes iasak, is a Turkic word for "tribute" that was used in Imperial Russia to designate fur tribute exacted from the indigenous peoples of Siberia.- Origin :...

(fur tribute), a series of winter outposts (zimovie) and forts (ostrog

Ostrog (fortress)

Ostrog was a Russian term for a small fort, typically wooden and often non-permanently manned. Ostrogs were encircled by 4-6 metres high palisade walls made from sharpened trunks. The name derives from the Russian word строгать , "to shave the wood". Ostrogs were smaller and exclusively military...

s) were built at the confluences of major rivers and streams and important portages. The first among these were Tyumen

Tyumen

and Tobolsk

Tobolsk

Tobolsk is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh Rivers. It is a historic capital of Siberia. Population: -History:...

— the former built in 1586 by Vasilii Sukin and Ivan Miasnoi, and the latter the following year by Danilo Chulkov. Tobolsk would become the nerve center of the conquest. To the north Beryozovo

Beryozovo

Beryozovo is an urban locality and the administrative center of Beryozovsky District of Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Russia, located on the Ob River. Population:...

(1593) and Mangazeya

Mangazeya

Mangazeya was a Northwest Siberian trans-Ural trade colony and later city in the 16-17th centuries. Founded in 1600, it was situated on the Taz River, between the lower courses of the Ob and Yenisei Rivers flowing into the Arctic Ocean....

(1600-01) were built to bring the Nenets

Nenets people

The Nenets are an indigenous people in Russia. According to the latest census in 2002, there are 41,302 Nenets in the Russian Federation, most of them living in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Nenets Autonomous Okrug...

under tribute, while to the east Surgut

Surgut

Surgut is a city in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Russia, located on the Ob River near its junction with the Irtysh River, the largest in the autonomous okrug and the second largest in Tyumen Oblast. Population:...

(1594) and Tara

Tara, Russia

Tara is a town in Omsk Oblast, Russia, located about north of Omsk, at the confluence of the Tara and Irtysh Rivers at a point where the forested country merges into the steppe. It serves as the administrative center of Tarsky District, although it is not administratively a part of it...

(1594) were established to protect Tobolsk and subdue the ruler of the Narym Ostiaks

Khanty people

. Of these, Mangazeya was the most prominent, becoming a base for further exploration eastward.

Advancing up the Ob and its tributaries, the ostrogs of Ketsk

Ket River

right|thumb|300px|The Ket was a part of the [[Siberian River Routes]] - double clickKet River , also known in its upper reaches as the Big Ket River is a river in the Krasnoyarsk Krai and Tomsk Oblast in Russia, a right tributary of the Ob River. The length of the Ket River is 1,621 km. The area...

(1602) and Tomsk

Tomsk

Tomsk is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Tom River. One of the oldest towns in Siberia, Tomsk celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2004...

(1604) were built. Ketsk sluzhilye liudi ("servicemen") reached the Yenisei

Yenisei River

Yenisei , also written as Yenisey, is the largest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean. It is the central of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean...

in 1605, descending it to the Sym

Sym River

The Sym River is a western tributary of the Yenisei River. It was first reached by Ketsk serving men in 1605, while a detachment from Mangazeya ascended the Yenisei to its confluence with the Sym in 1610.-External links:*Great Soviet Encyclopedia....

; two years later Mangazeyan promyshlenniks

Promyshlenniki

The Promyshlenniki were a group of Russian and native Siberian contract workers drawn largely from the State serf and townsman class engaged primarily in the fur trade in Siberia and Alaska in the 1790s...

and traders descended the Turukhan

Turukhan River

Turukhan River is a river in northern Krasnoyarsk Krai in Russia. It is a left tributary of the Yenisei River. The length of the river is 639 km. The area of its basin is 35,800 km². The Turukhan River freezes up in October and stays under the ice until late May - first half of June. Its main...

to its confluence with the Yenisei, where they established the zimovie Turukhansk

Turukhansk

Turukhansk is a village in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is located 1474 km north of Krasnoyarsk, at the confluence of the Yenisei and Lower Tunguska rivers. The Turukhan River joins the Yenisei about 20 km northwest. Population: 4,849 ; 8,900 ; 200...

. By 1610 men from Turukhansk had reached the mouth of the Yenisei and ascended it as far as the Sym, where they met rival tribute collectors from Ketsk. To ensure subjugation of the natives, the ostrogs of Yeniseysk

Yeniseysk

Yeniseysk is a town in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Yenisei River. Population: 20,000 .Yeniseysk was founded in 1619 as a stockaded town—the first town on the Yenisei River. It played an important role in Russian colonization of East Siberia in the 17th–18th centuries...

(1619) and Krasnoyarsk

Krasnoyarsk

Krasnoyarsk is a city and the administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Yenisei River. It is the third largest city in Siberia, with the population of 973,891. Krasnoyarsk is an important junction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and one of Russia's largest producers of...

(1628) were established.

Following the khan's death and the dissolution of any organised Siberian resistance, the Russians advanced first towards Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...

and then the Sea of Okhotsk

Sea of Okhotsk

The Sea of Okhotsk is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaidō to the far south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and...

and the Amur River. However, when they first reached the Chinese border they encountered people that were equipped with artillery pieces and here they halted.

The Russians

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

reached the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

in 1639. After the conquest of the Siberian Khanate the whole of northern Asia - an area much larger than the old khanate - became known as Siberia and by 1640 the eastern borders of Russia had expanded more than several million square kilometres. In a sense, the khanate lived on in the subsidiary title "Tsar

Tsar

of Siberia" which became part of the full imperial style of the Russian Autocrats.

Conquest of the Khanate of Sibir

Conquest and Exploration

See also