The main rebel of Russia of the XVII century. Stenka Razin (Ponizovaya freemen)

Stepan Timofeevich Razin - 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 Stepan's birth - the city of Cherkassk. The father of the future ataman Timofey Razya was from the Voronezh region, but moved from there for unclear reasons to the banks of the Don.

The young man took root among the free settlers and soon became a homely Cossack. Timothy was distinguished in military campaigns for courage and boldness. From one campaign, a Cossack brought a captive Turkish woman into the house and married her. Three sons were born in the family - Ivan, Stepan and Frol. The godfather of the middle brother was the ataman of the troops Kornil Yakovlev himself.

Time of Troubles

In 1649, by the “Conciliar Message”, signed by the tsar, serfdom was finally consolidated in Russia. The document proclaimed the hereditary state of serfdom and made it possible to increase the period of searching for fugitives up to 15 years. After the adoption of the law, uprisings and rebellions began to flare up throughout the country, many peasants went on the run in search of free lands and settlements.

It has come Time of Troubles. Cossack settlements more and more often became a haven for "holytba", poor or impoverished peasants who joined the wealthy Cossacks. By tacit agreement with the "domovity" Cossacks, detachments were created from the fugitives, which were engaged in robbery and theft. The Turkic, Don, Yaitsky Cossacks increased at the expense of the "goofy" Cossacks, their military power grew.

Youth

In 1665, an event occurred that affected further fate Stepan Razin. The elder brother Ivan, who took part in the Russian-Polish war, decided to arbitrarily leave the position 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 Razintsy and, declaring them deserters, executed them on the spot. After the death of his brother, Stepan was inflamed with rage against the Russian nobility and decided to go to war against Moscow in order to liberate Russia from the boyars. The unstable position of the peasantry also caused 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 is part of important delegations from the Cossacks to Moscow and Astrakhan. With diplomatic tricks, Stepan could settle any failed case. So the famous campaign "for zipuns", which ended deplorably for the Razin detachment, could lead to the arrest and punishment of all its participants. But Stepan Timofeevich talked so convincingly with the tsar's governor Lvov that he sent the whole army home, equipping it with new weapons, and presented Stepan with the icon of the Virgin.

Razin also showed himself as a peacemaker among the southern peoples. In Astrakhan, he acted as an intermediary in the dispute between the Nagaybak Tatars and the Kalmyks and did not allow bloodshed.

Insurrection

In 1667, in March, Stepan began to gather an army. With 2000 warriors, the ataman went on a campaign along the rivers flowing into the Volga to rob 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 chieftain massacred the streltsy troops, and then released all the exiles in custody. Then he went to Yaik. The rebel troops by cunning entered the fortress to the Ural Cossacks and subjugated the settlement.

In 1669, the army, replenished with fugitive peasants, led by Stepan Razin, went to the Caspian Sea, where he launched a series of attacks on the Persians. In a fight with the flotilla of Mammad Khan, the Russian chieftain outwitted the eastern commander. Razin's strugs 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 suddenly turned around and subjected the enemy's main ship to powerful fire, after which it began to sink and pulled the entire fleet along with it. So, with small forces, Stepan Razin emerged victorious from the battle near Pig Island. Realizing that after such a defeat, the Sefivids would gather a larger army against the Razintsy, the Cossacks set off through Astrakhan to the Don.

Peasants' War

The year 1670 began with the preparation of Stepan Razin's troops for a campaign against Moscow. Ataman 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 army of the rebels.

Not only the oppressed layers, but also the Old Believers, artisans, Mari, Chuvashs, Tatars, Mordvins, as well as Russian soldiers of government troops, went over to the side of the Cossacks. After the wholesale desertion, the tsarist troops were forced to start recruiting mercenaries from Poland and the Baltic states. But the Cossacks acted cruelly with such warriors, 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 camp of the Cossacks. Thus, the ataman attracted to his side more and more dissatisfied with the current government. In a year, the inhabitants of Tsaritsyn, Astrakhan, Saratov, Samara, Alatyr, Saransk, Kozmodemyansk went over to the side of the Razintsy. 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 half a year, Stepan hid with his close associates in the Kagalnitsky town, but the local wealthy Cossacks secretly decided to surrender the ataman to the government. The elders were afraid of the wrath of the king, who could lie on all the Russian Cossacks. In April 1671, after a short assault on the fortress, Stepan Razin was captured and taken to Moscow along with his inner circle.

Personal life

There is no information about the private life of the ataman in historical documents, but it is only known that the wife of Razin and his son Athanasius 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 of 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 the second wife of Razin 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, Stepan and his brother Frol, guarded by the governors, the stolnik Grigory Kosagov and the clerk Andrei Bogdanov, were taken to Moscow for trial. During the investigation, the Razins were subjected to severe torture, and 4 days later they were taken to the execution, which took place on Bolotnaya Square. After the announcement of the verdict, 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, not finding the stolen treasures promised by Frol, it was decided to execute the younger brother of the ataman.

After the death of the leader of the liberation movement, the war continued for another six months. The Cossacks were headed by chieftains Vasily Us and Fyodor Sheludyak. The new leaders lacked charisma and wisdom, so the uprising was crushed. folk wrestling led to disappointing results: serfdom was tightened, the days of the transition of peasants from the owners were canceled, it was allowed to show an extreme degree of cruelty in relation to the disobedient serfs.

Memory

The story of the uprising of Stepan Razin remained in the memory of the people for a long time. 15 dedicated to the national hero folk songs, including "Because of the island on the rod", "There is a cliff on the Volga", "Oh, it's not evening." The biography of Stenka Razin aroused the creative interest of 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 Freemen". In honor of Razin, the streets of St. Petersburg, Tver, Saratov, Yekaterinburg, Ulyanovsk and other settlements are named.

The events of the 17th century formed the basis of operas and symphonic poems by Russian composers N. Ya. Afanasyev, A. K. Glazunov,.

Don ataman, leader of the largest Cossack-peasant uprising. Stepan Timofeevich Razin was born in 1630 in the village of Zimoveyskaya-on-Don. Stepan's father is a noble Cossack Timofey Razin, godfather was the military ataman Kornila Yakovlev. Stepan had two brothers: the eldest, Ivan, and the youngest, Frol. Already in his youth, Stepan occupied a prominent place among the Don foremen. In 1652 and 1661 he made two pilgrimages to the Solovetsky Monastery. As part of the winter villages - the Don embassies - in 1652,1658 and 1661 he visited Moscow. Knowing the Tatar and Kalmyk languages, he repeatedly successfully participated in negotiations with the Kalmyk leaders. In 1663, leading a Cossack detachment, together with the Cossacks and Kalmyks, he made a campaign near Perekop against the Crimean Tatars.

The idea of ​​an uprising against the feudal-serf order in Russia arose from Razin in connection with the attack of the autocracy on the liberties of the Don Cossacks and, in particular, in connection with the cruel massacre in 1665 of Prince Yuri Dolgorukov over Stepan's elder brother Ivan for trying, together with a detachment of Cossacks, to arbitrarily leave theater of war against the Poles. Thanks to his luck and personal qualities, Stepan Razin became widely known on the Don. A verbal portrait of Razin was compiled by the Dutch sailing master Jan Streis, who had seen him more than once: “He was a tall and sedate man of strong build with an arrogant straight face. He behaved modestly, with great severity.

The return of the Cossacks to the Don in August 1669 with rich booty strengthened Razin's fame as a successful chieftain, to him with different sides not only Cossacks began to flock, but also crowds of fugitives from Russia.

Tsaritsyn, Astrakhan, Saratov, Samara were taken, the entire Lower Volga region was in his hands. Starting as a Cossack uprising, the movement led by Razin quickly developed into a huge peasant uprising that engulfed a significant part of the country's territory. A riot flared up throughout the space between the Oka and the Volga. The rebels put the landowners to death, overthrew the governor, created their own authorities in the form of Cossack self-government.

The tsarist government took extraordinary measures to suppress the uprising. The main forces of the rebels could not take Simbirsk, the government troops managed to defeat Razin in October 1670. The ataman himself, wounded in battle, was barely saved and taken to the Kagalnitsky town.

Having recovered from the wounds received near Simbirsk, Stepan Razin was not going to lay down his arms. He expected to gather a new army and continue the fight.

But in 1671, other moods already dominated the Don, the authority and influence of Razin himself fell sharply. The confrontation between Razin and the grassroots Cossacks intensified. As the success of the government troops developed, the wealthy Don Cossacks were inclined to think about the need to capture Razin and transfer them to the royal court.

After an unsuccessful attempt by the leader of the rebels to take Cherkassk, the military ataman Yakovlev struck back. In April 1671, the grassroots Cossacks captured and burned the Kagalnitsky town, and the captured Razin was handed over to the Moscow authorities. After torture, Stepan Razin was publicly executed (quartered) on June 16 (June 6, according to the old style) in 1671 in Moscow near the Execution Ground. Three days later, the remains of Razin "for all to see" were "mounted on tall trees and placed behind the Moscow River on the square (Bolotnaya) until they disappeared." Later, the remains of Stepan Razin were buried at the Tatar cemetery in Zamoskvorechye (now the territory of the Gorky Park of Culture and Leisure). The burial in the Muslim cemetery is explained by the fact that the leader of the Peasant War was excommunicated from the church during his lifetime.

The personality of Razin left a deep mark in the people's memory. A whole cycle of songs is dedicated to him; a number of tracts along the Volga are called by his name.

Material prepared on the basis of open sources

Razin Stepan Timofeevich, also known as Stenka Razin (circa 1630–1671). Don Ataman. Leader of the Peasants' War (Stepan Razin's Uprising) 1667–1671

Born in the village of Zimoveyskaya in the family of a prosperous - "home-loving" - Cossack Timofey Razi, a participant in the capture of the Turkish fortress of Azov and the "Azov seat", the father of three sons - Ivan, Stepan and Frol. Stenka early gained combat experience in frontier battles that constantly took place in the Zadonsk and Kuban steppes. In his youth, the future Cossack chieftain was distinguished by ardor, pride and personal courage.

1652 - according to the behest of his late father, he made a trip on a pilgrimage to the Solovetsky Monastery, having traveled the entire Russian kingdom from south to north and back, visited Moscow. The seen lack of rights and poverty of the peasant and townspeople had a strong influence on the worldview of the young Cossack.

In the military circle in 1658 he was elected to the village (embassy) from the free Don, headed by Ataman Naum Vasiliev to Moscow. From that time, the first written evidence of Stepan Timofeevich Razin has been preserved for history.

Stepan rose early to the ranks of the Cossack leaders thanks to his diplomatic abilities and military talents. 1661 - together with ataman Fyodor Budan, he negotiated with the Kalmyk taishas (princes) on the conclusion of peace and joint actions against Crimean Tatars in Zadonye. The negotiations were crowned with success, and for two centuries the Kalmyk cavalry was part of the regular military force of the Russian state. And Razin, as part of the Don villages, had a chance to visit the capital city of Moscow and Astrakhan again. There he took part in new negotiations with the Kalmyks, without the need for translators.

In 1662 and 1663 at the head of a detachment of Don Cossacks, Razin made successful campaigns within the limits of the Crimean Khanate. Together with the Cossacks of Sary Malzhik and the cavalry of the Kalmyk taishas, ​​the Razin Cossacks in the battles near Perekop and in the Molochny Vody tract defeated the Krymchaks, in whose ranks there were many Turks. They captured rich booty, including horse herds of 2000 heads.

Causes of the uprising

... The events of 1665 abruptly changed the fate of the Razin brothers. By royal order, a large detachment of Don Cossacks, which was led by Ivan Razin on the campaign, became part of the troops of the voivode of Prince Yu.A. Dolgoruky. There was a war with the Polish-Lithuanian state, but it was fought extremely sluggishly near Kyiv.

When the winter cold began, ataman Ivan Razin tried to arbitrarily take his Cossacks back to the Don. By order of Prince Dolgorukov, he, as the instigator of the "rebellion", was seized and executed in front of his younger brothers. Therefore, the motive of revenge for brother Ivan largely determined the anti-boyar sentiments of Stepan Razin, his hostility to the existing "Moscow authorities."

At the end of 1666, by order of the tsar, they began to search for the fugitives in the Northern Don, where a lot of Cossacks had accumulated in particular. The situation there became explosive for boyar Moscow. Stepan Razin, feeling the mood on the Don, decided to act.

Before the uprising

1667, spring - he, with a small detachment of Cossack hoards and runaway peasant serfs, moved on river boats-plows from the military village of the city of Cherkassk up the Don. Along the way, the farms of wealthy, well-to-do Cossacks were ruined. Razintsy settled on the islands between the channels of the Don - Ilovlya and Silence. They dug dugouts and put up huts. This is how the Panshin town appeared at the portage from the Don to the Volga. Stepan Razin was proclaimed chieftain.

Soon, the detachment of Stepan Razin standing there increased to 1,500 free people. Here the plan for a campaign along the Volga “for zipuns” finally matured. They learned about this in Moscow: the Cossack freemen in the letter to the Astrakhan governor were declared "thieves' Cossacks." According to the plan of their leader, they had to move with plows to the Volga, go down it to the Caspian Sea and take possession of the remote Yaitsky town, which they wanted to make their robbery base. Razin has already “arranged” relations with the Yaik Cossacks.

1668, May - Cossack boats appeared on the Volga north of Tsaritsyn and went down the river, leaving the Caspian Sea. The first merchant caravan they met was plundered. Passing along the seashore, the ship's army entered Yaik, and the Razintsy took the Yaitsky town in which the streltsy garrison was stationed. A detachment of tsarist archers, approaching from Astrakhan, was defeated under the walls of the town. Then the song went:

From behind the island to the rod,
To the expanse of the river wave,
The sharp-breasted ones come up
Stenki Razin Chelny.

Differences was taken by the ancient fortress city of Derbent - " iron gate Caucasus". For some time, it became a base for robbery raids "for zipuns" for the Cossack ship's rati on the Persian coast.

The Razintsy overwintered on the peninsula near Ferahabad, and then moved to the Pig Island south of Baku, which was “equipped” by them under the Cossack town. From here, the Cossacks continued their naval raids, almost always returning to the island with rich booty. Among the devastated cities were the rich trading Shemakha and Rasht.

The Cossacks took rich booty in the settlements of the Gilyansky Gulf and the Trukhmen (Turkmen) coast, in the vicinity of Baku. From the possessions of the Baku Khan, the Razintsy took away 7,000 sheep. Persian military detachments in battles were invariably defeated. They freed a considerable number of Russian captives who are here in slavery.

The Persian shah from the Abbasid dynasty, concerned about the current situation in his Caspian possessions, sent an army of 4,000 people against Razin. However, the Persians were not only bad sailors, but also unstable warriors. 1669, July - a real thing happened near the island of Swine naval battle between the Cossack flotilla and the Shah's army. Of the 70 Persian ships, only three fled: the rest were either boarded or sunk. However, the Cossacks sea ​​battle lost about 500 people.

The campaign to the Caspian "for zipuns" gave the Cossacks rich booty. The flotilla of Cossack plows, burdened by it, returned to their homeland. In August - September 1669, Stenka Razin passed Astrakhan, where there was a parking lot, and ended up in Tsaritsyn. He happened to give the Astrakhan governor Prince Semyon Lvov part of the booty taken and large-caliber cannons for the right of free passage to Tsaritsyn. From here, the Cossacks crossed to the Don and settled in the Kagalnitsky town.

Cossacks began to flock to Kagalnik, and by the end of the year, under the leadership of Ataman Razin, up to 3,000 people had gathered here. The younger brother Frol came to him. Relations with the military Cossack foreman, who settled in Cherkassk, became strained, hostile.

And Razin's plans were expanding. Thinking of going to war with boyar Moscow, he tried to find allies in that. In winter, he started negotiations with the Ukrainian hetman Petro Doroshenko and the ataman of the Cossacks Ivan Serko. However, those from the war with Moscow prudently refused.

The uprising of Stepan Razin or the Peasant War

In the spring of 1770, Stenka Razin moved from the Kagalnitsky town to the Volga. His army was divided into detachments and hundreds. Strictly speaking, this was the beginning of the Peasant War (the uprising of Stepan Razin), which in Russian historiography comes down to 1667-1671. Now the daring robber ataman was turning into the leader of a people's war: he called on the army that had risen under his banner to "go to Russia."

Tsaritsyn opened the city gates to the rebels. The local governor Timofey Turgenev was executed. A ship caravan with a thousand archers, headed by Ivan Lopatin, who approached from above along the Volga, was smashed on the water near Money Island, and part of the royal service people went over to their side.

However, on the Volga, the Astrakhan governor, Prince Semyon Lvov, was already waiting for the Cossacks with his archers. The meeting of the parties took place at the Black Yar. But the battle did not happen here: the Astrakhan service people rebelled and went over to the side of the opposite side.

From Cherny Yar, the Cossack chieftain sent detachments up and down the Volga. They took Kamyshinka (now the city of Kamyshin). Relying on the full sympathy of the common people, Stepan Razin was able to capture the Volga cities of Saratov and Samara without much difficulty. Now the main part of his army, which had grown to 20,000 poorly armed and organized rebels, was made up of landlord peasants.

Around Razin appeared other initial people from the Cossacks, commanders of independent detachments. Among them stood out Sergey Krivoy, Vasily Us, Fedor Sheludyak, Yeremeev, Noisy, Ivan Lyakh and Razin's younger brother Frol.

The first blow was struck at Astrakhan with its stone Kremlin. The flotilla of the rebels now consisted of 300 different river boats, on which there were more than 50 guns. The Cossack cavalry moved along the river bank. In total, the ataman led about 7,000 people.

Voivode Prince Ivan Prozorovsky could not defend the fortress city of Astrakhan. The Razintsy, supported by the uprising of the urban poor, took it by storm on June 24. The governor was executed: he was thrown from the tower to the ground. From Astrakhan, the rebels moved up the Volga: in the city, Stepan Razin left Us and Sheludyak as governors, instructing them to take good care of the city. He himself led about 12,000 people with him. It is believed that somewhere around 8,000 of them were armed with "fire battle".

After Samara was taken, the entire Middle Volga was in the fire of a popular uprising. Everywhere, Razin gave the serfs “freedom”, and the “bellies” (property) of the governor, nobles and clerks (officials) - for plunder. The leader of the rebels was met in towns and villages with bread and salt. From his name in all directions large numbers"charming letters"-appeals were sent out.

In Moscow, they realized the seriousness of the situation: by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the Boyar Duma began to gather military detachments into the area of ​​​​the uprising of Stepan Razin: archery regiments and hundreds, local (noble) cavalry, serving foreigners. First of all, the tsarist governors were ordered to protect the then large cities of Simbirsk and Kazan.

Meanwhile, the peasant war was growing. Rebel detachments began to appear in places not so far from Moscow. Due to their spontaneity and disorganization as a military force, the rebels, who smashed the landowners' estates and boyars' estates, could very rarely offer serious resistance to the military detachments that were sent out by the authorities. On behalf of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Stenka, Razin was declared a "thieves chieftain".

Simbirsk governor Ivan Miloslavsky was able to organize the defense of the city. Razintsy could not take it: part of the garrison (about 4,000 people) took refuge in the local Kremlin. In the battles that took place near Simbirsk from October 1 to October 4, 1670, they were defeated by the tsarist troops, under the command of an experienced governor, Prince Yu.A. Dolgorukov.

Stepan Timofeevich Razin himself fought in the forefront in those battles, and was seriously wounded. He was brought from near Simbirsk to the Kagalnitsky town. Ataman hoped to gather his strength again in his native Don. Meanwhile, the territory covered by the uprising narrowed sharply: the tsarist troops took Penza, "pacified" the Tambov region and Sloboda Ukraine by force of arms. Up to 100,000 rebels are believed to have died during Stepan Razin's uprising.

Suppression of the uprising. execution

... Having recovered a little from his wounds, Razin decided to take possession of the military capital - Cherkasy. But he did not calculate his strengths and capabilities: by that time, the Cossack foreman and thrifty Cossacks, under the impression of the victories of the tsar's governors, were disposed towards him and the rebellious homeless with open hostility and took up arms themselves.

Razintsy approached Cherkassk in February 1671, but they could not take it and retreated to Kagalnik. On February 14, a detachment of Cossack foremen, led by the military ataman Yakovlev, captured the Kagalnitsky town. According to other sources, almost the entire Don army, about 5,000 people, set out on a campaign.

In the town of Kagalnitsky there was a beating of a rebellious homeless. Razin himself was captured and, together with his younger brother Frol, was sent under strong guard to Moscow. It should be noted that Ataman Kornilo (Korniliy) Yakovlev was “on Azov affairs” an ally of Father Stepan and his godfather.

"Thieves' ataman" Stenka Razin was executed in Moscow on Red Square on June 6, 1671. The executioner first cut him off right hand to the elbow, then the left leg to the knee, and then cut off the head. Thus ended his violent life the most legendary Cossack robber in the history of Russia, about whom many popular songs and legends were composed among the people.

... The name of Stepan Timofeevich Razin in national history always remembered. Before the revolution, songs were sung about him and legends were composed, after the revolution, in the years civil war, the 1st Orenburg Cossack Socialist Regiment bore his name, which distinguished itself in battles against the White Army of Admiral Kolchak in the Urals. Ataman of the rebellious Cossacks erected a monument in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Streets and squares in various cities of modern Russia are named after him.

The leader of the Cossacks Stepan Timofeevich Razin, also known as Stenka Razin, is one of the cult figures of Russian history, about which a lot has been heard even abroad.

The image of Razin was overgrown with legends during his lifetime, and historians still cannot figure out where is the truth and where is fiction.

In Soviet historiography, Razin appeared as the leader of the peasant war, a fighter for social justice against the oppression of those in power. At that time, the name of Razin was widely used when naming streets and squares, and monuments to the rebel were erected on a par with other heroes of the revolutionary struggle.

At the same time, historians of the Soviet era tried not to focus on the robberies, violence and murders committed by the ataman, since this did not fit into the noble image of the national hero.

Little is known about the young years of Stepan Razin. He was the son of a fugitive Voronezh peasant Timofey Razi, who took refuge on the Don.

Such as Timothy, the newly adopted Cossacks, who did not have their own property, were considered "bare". The only reliable source of income was campaigns on the Volga, where bands of Cossacks robbed merchant caravans. A similar, frankly criminal, trade was also encouraged by the more affluent Cossacks, who supplied the "blank" with everything they needed, and in return received their share of the booty.

The authorities turned a blind eye to such things as a necessary evil, sending troops on punitive expeditions only in those cases when the Cossacks completely lost their measure.

Timothy Razya succeeded in such campaigns - he acquired not only property, but also a wife - a captured Turkish woman. The Eastern woman was no stranger to violence, and she resigned herself to her fate, giving birth to her husband three sons: Ivan, Stepan and Frol. However, perhaps the Turkish mother is also just a legend.

Lacquer miniature "Stepan Razin" on the lid of a Palekh box, the work of the artist D. Turin, 1934. Photo: RIA Novosti

Brother for brother

What is known for sure is that Stepan Timofeevich Razin, who was born around 1630, took part in military campaigns from a young age and by the age of 25 had become an influential figure among the Cossacks, just like his elder brother Ivan.

In 1661 Stepan Razin, together with Fedor Budan and several Don and Zaporozhye Cossacks negotiated with representatives of the Kalmyks about peace and joint actions against the Nogais and Crimean Tatars.

In 1663, at the head of a detachment of Don Cossacks, together with the Cossacks and Kalmyks, he went on a campaign against the Crimean Tatars near Perekop.

Stepan and Ivan Razin were in good standing with the Moscow authorities until the events that took place in 1665 during the war with the Commonwealth.

Painting "Stenka Razin", 1926. Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev (1878-1927). Photo: RIA Novosti

Cossacks are free people, and at the height of the armed conflict, ataman Ivan Razin, who did not find common language with the Moscow governor, decided to take the Cossacks to the Don.

Voivode Yuri Alekseevich Dolgorukov, not distinguished by great abilities as a diplomat, he became angry, ordered to catch up with the departed. When the Cossacks were overtaken by Dolgorukov, he ordered the immediate execution of Ivan Razin.

Stepan was shocked by the death of his brother. As a man accustomed to going on campaigns, he treated death philosophically, but one thing is death in battle, and quite another is extrajudicial reprisal at the behest of a nobleman-tyrant.

The thought of revenge was firmly planted in Razin's head, but he did not immediately move on to putting it into practice.

Forward "for the zipuns"!

Two years later, Stepan Razin became the leader of a large “zipun campaign” organized by him to the lower Volga. Under his leadership, he managed to gather a whole army of 2000 people.

After the death of his brother, the ataman was not going to be ashamed. They robbed everyone in a row, in fact paralyzing the most important trade routes for Moscow. The Cossacks dealt with the initial people and clerks and received the ship's yaryzhny people.

Such behavior was bold, but still not out of the ordinary. But when the Razintsy defeated a detachment of archers, and then captured the Yaitsky town, it already began to look like an outright rebellion. After wintering on Yaik, Razin led his people to the Caspian Sea. Ataman was interested in rich booty, and he went to the possessions of the Persian Shah.

The Shah quickly realized that such "guests" promised ruin, and sent troops to meet them. The battle near the Persian city of Rasht ended in a draw, and the parties began negotiations. The Shah's representative, fearing that the Cossacks were acting at the behest of the Russian Tsar, was ready to let them go to all four sides with booty, so long as they got out of Persian territory as soon as possible.

But in the midst of negotiations, the Russian ambassador unexpectedly appeared with a royal letter, which said that the Cossacks were thieves and troublemakers, and it was proposed that they “be killed without mercy by death.”

Representatives of the Cossacks were immediately put in chains, and one was hunted down by dogs. Ataman Razin, convinced that the Persian authorities were no better than the Russians in terms of extrajudicial reprisals, attacked and captured the city of Farabat. Fortified in its vicinity, the Razintsy spent the winter there.

How ataman Razin arranged the "Persian Tsushima"

In the spring of 1669, Razin's detachment terrified merchants and wealthy people on the Caspian coast of present-day Turkmenistan, and by the summer the Cossack robbers settled on Pig Island, not far from modern Baku.

In June 1669, the Persian army approached the Pig Island on 50-70 ships with a total number of 4 to 7 thousand people, led by the commander Mammad Khan. The Persians intended to put an end to the robbers.

Razin's detachment was inferior both in numbers and in the number and equipment of ships. Nevertheless, out of pride, the Cossacks decided not to run, but to take the fight, moreover, on the water.

Stepan Razin. 1918 Artist Kuzma Sergeevich Petrov-Vodkin. Photo: Public Domain

This idea seemed desperate and hopeless, and Mamed Khan, anticipating a triumph, gave the order to connect his ships with iron chains, taking the Razins in a dead ring so that no one could hide.

Stepan Timofeevich Razin, however, was an experienced commander and used the enemy's mistakes instantly. The Cossacks concentrated all their fire on the flagship of the Persians, which caught fire and sank to the bottom. Connected by chains with neighboring ships, he began to drag them along with him. Panic began among the Persians, and the Razintsy began to smash the enemy ships one by one.

The case ended in complete disaster. Only three Persian ships managed to escape, most of the troops died. Was captured by Razin son of Mammad Khan, Persian prince Shabalda. According to legend, his sister was captured along with him, who became the ataman's concubine, and then thrown into the "running wave".

In fact, everything is not easy with the princess. Although some foreign diplomats who described the adventures of Razin mentioned its existence, there is no reliable evidence. But the prince was and wrote tearful petitions with a request to let him go home. But with all the freedom of morals in the Cossack freemen, it is unlikely that Ataman Razin made his concubine a Persian prince, and not a princess.

Despite the crushing victory, it was clear that the Razintsy would not have enough strength to continue to resist the Persians. They moved to Astrakhan, but government troops were already waiting for them there.

The execution of Stepan Razin. Hood. S. Kirillov. Photo: Public Domain

War with the regime

After negotiations, the local governor, Prince Prozorovsky, received the ataman with honor and let him go to the Don. The authorities were ready to turn a blind eye to Razin's previous sins, if only he would calm down.

Stepan Timofeevich Razin, however, was not going to calm down. On the contrary, he felt the strength, confidence, support of the poor, who considered him a hero, and considered that the time had come for real revenge.

In the spring of 1670, he again went to the Volga, now with a frank goal - to hang the governor and clerks, rob and burn the rich. Razin sent out "charming" (seductive) letters, urging people to join his campaign. The ataman had a political platform - he declared that he was not an enemy Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, but opposes, as they would say now, "the party of crooks and thieves."

It was also reported that the rebels allegedly joined Patriarch Nikon(actually in exile) and Tsarevich Alexei Alekseevich(Dead by then).

In a few months, Razin's campaign turned into a full-scale war. His army took Astrakhan, Tsaritsyn, Saratov, Samara, whole line smaller cities and towns.

In all the cities and fortresses occupied by the Razintsy, a Cossack device was introduced, representatives of the central government were killed, stationery was destroyed.

All this, of course, was accompanied by rampant robberies and extrajudicial killings, which were in no way better than that that Prince Dolgorukov did to Razin's brother.

Features of Cossack solidarity

In Moscow, they felt that the matter smelled of being fried, of a new turmoil. All of Europe was already talking about Stepan Razin, foreign diplomats reported that the Russian tsar did not control his territory. That and look, you could expect a foreign invasion.

By order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, a 60,000-strong army was sent against Razin under the command of governor Yuri Baryatinsky. On October 3, 1670, in the battle near Simbirsk, Stepan Razin's army was defeated, and he himself was wounded. Faithful people helped the chieftain to return to the Don.

And here something happened that has been repeatedly repeated in history and that speaks very well of the so-called "Cossack solidarity." The homely Cossacks, who had until then helped Razin and had their share of the booty, fearing punitive measures from the tsar, on April 13, 1671, captured the last refuge of the ataman and handed him over to the authorities.

Ataman Razin and his brother Frol taken to Moscow, where they were severely tortured. The execution of the rebel was given great state importance - it was supposed to demonstrate that the Russian tsar was able to restore order in his possessions.

Archers avenged Razin

The uprising itself was finally crushed at the end of 1671.

The authorities, of course, would like there to be no reminder of Stenka Razin, but the events with his participation turned out to be painfully large-scale. Ataman went into folk legend, where he was written off atrocities, promiscuity with women, robberies and other criminal acts, leaving only the image of the people's avenger, the enemy of the villains in power, the defender of the poor and oppressed.

In the end, the ruling tsarist regime reconciled itself. It got to the point that the first domestic feature film "Ponizovaya Freemen" was dedicated specifically to Stenka Razin. True, not his hunt for caravans and not the murders of the royal servants, but all the same epochal throw of the princess into the river.

And what about the voivode Yuri Alekseevich Dolgorukov, with whose reckless order the transformation of Stepan Razin into an “enemy of the regime” began?

The prince happily survived the storm arranged by Stenka, but, apparently, it was not destined for him to die a natural death. In May 1682, the elderly nobleman, who turned 80 years old, was killed by archers who rebelled in Moscow along with his son.