Ermolai Timofeevich (1537-1585) was a great Russian discoverer of Siberia. In history, he is known as Yermak. Yermak's campaign helped the Russian people conquer the vast expanses and riches of Siberia. It was brave and goal-oriented person who knew how to lead. He was helped not only to leave a huge mark in the history of a great country, to win the respect of his opponents.

Yermak's campaign lasted from 1582 to 1585, and he died during the battle with Khan Kuchum. The people composed many heroic songs about him. Scientists have not been able to find out the real name of the hero. People called him Yermolai or Yermak Timofeev, since at that time many Russians were given names by their father, or by nickname. He also had another name - this is Ermolai Timofeevich Tokmak. He possessed great physical strength, truly heroic.

In those days, there was famine and devastation in the country, so the future hero was forced to move to the Volga and there he got a job as a laborer for an elderly Cossack.

It was in peacetime, and during military campaigns Yermak was a squire. He trained in military affairs and even acquired his own weapons. Soon, thanks to his physical and mental abilities, Yermak becomes an ataman.

At that time, about 250 thousand people lived in Siberia and it was of considerable interest to the Russian state. This area was famous for its wealth and pristine beauty.

But there was also a huge problem connected with Siberia. in those years, he severed all relations with Russia and periodically raided the Urals, which greatly interfered with its development. The eastern border, on the orders of Ivan the Terrible, was to be strengthened, where the ataman was sent for this. Thus began the conquest of Siberia by Yermak.

The chieftain's army consisted of 600 soldiers who had excellent training. The goal of the campaign was conquest, and Yermak applied maximum efforts to achieve the task.

Under those conditions, only a surprise offensive could ensure success. The main battle took place on October 26, where Yermak defeated the Tatar troops of Kuchum's relative and entered the city of Kashlyk - the capital Khan Mametkul managed to escape, fearing reprisals, but Yermak's campaign did not end there.

Ataman conquered the principality of Nazym and reached with his army to the Kolpukol volost, where a battle took place with Prince Samar, who was destroyed. A little later, Yermak concluded a truce with the prince from the Lower Ob. This prince began to rule this territory on behalf of Yermak.

Later, Mametkul himself was taken prisoner and taken to Siberia.

The conquest of Siberia continued. The Cossacks fought with the Tatars, one by one the people of Yermak died, who in this situation was forced to send 25 of his Cossack soldiers to Moscow to ask for help.

History knows the fact when all the warriors of the campaign to Siberia were awarded by the king. The tsar also pardoned all the criminals who acted against the state, and promised to send 300 archers to help Yermak's army.

The death of the king confused all the plans of the ataman, the royal promises were not fulfilled for a long time. The development of Siberia by Yermak was under threat, acquired an unpredictable character.

Help arrived too late. Detachments of Cossacks by this time were destroyed, and the main part of Yermak's army, together with soldiers from Moscow who came to the rescue, was blocked in Kashlyk on March 12, 1585. Food was not delivered. There are very few people left. Yermak's troops had to get their own provisions. Having picked up the right moment, Kuchum interrupted Yermak's people, then killed the ataman as well. Yermak's campaign ended with such a tragic end.

Many songs and legends have been written about his exploits. His heroism has been repeatedly described in various literary works. Artists painted his image, creating great canvases. Many prominent places of that time were named after Yermak.

The results were invaluable for the Russian state. Peasants began to live in its vast expanses, new cities were built, and more money collections - taxes - appeared in the Russian treasury. Yermak's campaign contributed to the development of new rich lands located beyond the Ural mountains.

The advance of the Russians began Siberian Khanate, another fragment of the Golden Horde. Here, in Western Siberia Siberian Tatars, Khanty (the Russians called them Ostyaks), Mansi (Voguls), Nenets (Samoyeds, Yuraks), Selkups and other small nationalities lived along the Irtysh, Tobol, Ob and their tributaries. In total in what was then Siberia, up to Pacific Ocean, lived no more than 200-220 thousand inhabitants. These were pastoralists (southern regions), hunters and fishermen (taiga and tundra belts). Small and backward, they often became the object of attacks and robberies by neighbors, exploitation of Siberian khans and princelings. Civil strife and mutual attacks were frequent.

Siberian peoples and their rulers from the middle of the 16th century ., after, increasingly come into contact with Moscow, raise the question of citizenship. Such a request was made in 1555 by the Siberian Khan Edigar, who suffered a lot from the raids of the Bukhara rulers. Ivan IV agreed, and the Siberian “yurt” began to pay tribute (yasak) to his treasury in furs. But after 1572 (the attack of the Crimeans on Russia), the new Khan Kuchum broke off relations with Russia.

As before, Russian industrial and trading people went "through stone" by (along the Pechora and its tributaries, through the Stone (Ural) to the tributaries of the Ob and beyond) or “Okiyan sea” to the east for fur-bearing animals and other riches. The Stroganovs, Solvychegodsky industrialists, equipped detachments of "eager people", Cossacks. One of them was headed by Yermak. According to one version, he is a free Cossack, "walking man" from the Volga, according to another - a native of the Urals, named Vasily Timofeevich Alenin.

Conquest of the Siberian Khanate

Yermak's detachment in 1582 came from the Chusovaya River, having crossed the Ural Range, to the Tura, “tu be and siberian country”. Then he moved, "with a fight and without a fight," along the Tobol and the Irtysh. At the end of October, brave pioneer warriors approached Kashlyk, the capital of Khan Kuchum, not far from modern Tobolsk. The city has begun "slashing evil". The army of Kuchum (from the Tatars, Khanty and Mansi) was defeated and fled. Khan migrated to the south, to the steppe. Local residents began to pay tribute to Moscow.

The following year, the tsar sent 500 people to help Yermak, led by Prince S. Volkhovsky. But they came only at the end of 1584. Skirmishes between local residents and newcomers took place throughout the khanate. Ermak's greatly depleted detachment was ambushed, he himself drowned in the waters of the Irtysh (August 1585). The remnants of the detachments of Yermak and Volkhovsky went home. But soon new detachments appeared - the governor I. Mansurov, V. Sukina and others. They set up fortified prisons, strengthen the garrisons. They founded Tyumen (1586), Tobolsk (1587), which became the capital of Russian Siberia for a long time, and other cities. By the end of the century, Kuchum, who attacked Russian detachments and prisons from the depths of the steppes, suffers a final defeat. Siberian Khanate ceases to exist.

The eastern borders of the state were greatly expanded. From Western Siberia to European Russia furs, fish and other goods flowed.

His biographical data is not known for certain, as are the circumstances of the campaign he led in Siberia. They serve as material for many mutually exclusive hypotheses, however, there are generally recognized facts of Yermak's biography, and such moments of the Siberian campaign, about which most researchers do not have fundamental differences. The history of the Siberian campaign of Yermak was studied by prominent pre-revolutionary scientists N.M. Karamzin, S.M. Solovyov, N.I. Kostomarov, S.F. Platonov. The main source on the history of the conquest of Siberia by Yermak are the Siberian Chronicles (Stroganovskaya, Esipovskaya, Pogodinskaya, Kungurskaya and some others), carefully studied in the works of G.F. Miller, P.I. Nebolsina, A.V. Oksenova, P.M. Golovacheva S.V. Bakhrushina, A.A. Vvedensky and other prominent scientists.

The question of the origin of Yermak is controversial. Some researchers deduce Yermak from the Permian patrimonies of the Stroganov salt industrialists, others from the Totemsky district. G.E. Katanaev suggested that in the early 80s. In the 16th century, three Yermaks acted simultaneously. However, these versions look unreliable. At the same time, Ermak's patronymic is precisely known - Timofeevich, "Ermak" can be a nickname, an abbreviation, or a distortion of such Christian names as Yermolai, Yermil, Yeremey, etc., and maybe an independent pagan name.

There is very little evidence of Yermak's life before the Siberian campaign. Yermak was also credited with participation in the Livonian War, robbery and robbery of royal and merchant ships passing along the Volga, but there was no reliable evidence of this either.

The beginning of Yermak's campaign in Siberia is also the subject of numerous disputes among historians, which is mainly around two dates - September 1, 1581 and 1582. Supporters of the beginning of the campaign in 1581 were S.V. Bakhrushin, A.I. Andreev, A.A. Vvedensky, in 1582 - N.I. Kostomarov, N.V. Shlyakov, G.E. Katanaev. The most reasonable date is considered to be September 1, 1581.

Scheme of the Siberian campaign of Yermak. 1581 - 1585

A completely different point of view was expressed by V.I. Sergeev, according to whom, Yermak went on a campaign already in September 1578. First, he went down the river on plows. Kame, climbed along its tributary. Sylva, then returned and wintered near the mouth of the river. Chusovoy. Swimming on the river Sylva and wintering on the river. Chusovaya were a kind of training, which made it possible for the ataman to rally and test the squad, accustom it to actions in new, difficult conditions for the Cossacks.

Russian people tried to conquer Siberia long before Yermak. So in 1483 and 1499. Ivan III sent military expeditions there, but the harsh land remained unexplored. The territory of Siberia in the 16th century was vast, but at the same time sparsely populated. The main occupations of the population were cattle breeding, hunting, and fishing. In some places, along the banks of the rivers, the first centers of agriculture appeared. The state with its center in Isker (Kashlyk - called differently in different sources) united several indigenous peoples of Siberia: Samoyeds, Ostyaks, Voguls, and all of them were ruled by the "fragments" of the Golden Horde. Khan Kuchum, from the Sheibanid clan, descended from Genghis Khan himself, seized the Siberian throne in 1563 and set a course to oust the Russians from the Urals.

In the 60-70s. In the 16th century, merchants, industrialists and landowners Stroganovs received possessions in the Urals from Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible, they were also granted the right to hire military people in order to prevent Kuchum raids. The Stroganovs invited a detachment of free Cossacks led by Ermak Timofeevich. In the late 70s - early 80s. In the 16th century, the Cossacks went up the Volga to the Kama, where they were met by the Stroganovs in Keredin (Orel-Gorodok). The number of Yermak's squad, which arrived at the Stroganovs, was 540 people.

Yermak's campaign. Artist K. Lebedev. 1907

Before setting out on a campaign, the Stroganovs provided Yermak and his warriors with everything they needed, from gunpowder to flour. Stroganov stores were the basis of the material base of the Yermak squad. The Stroganovs' people were also dressed up for the campaign to the Cossack ataman. The squad was divided into five regiments, led by elected captains. The regiment was divided into hundreds, those, in turn, into fifty and tens. The squad had regimental clerks, trumpeters, surnachs, timpani and drummers. There were also three priests and a fugitive monk who performed liturgical rites.

The strictest discipline reigned in Yermak's army. By his order, they made sure that no one “brought on himself the wrath of God by fornication or other sinful deeds”, whoever violated this rule was put “in iron” for three days. In Yermak's squad, following the example of the Don Cossacks, severe punishments were imposed for disobedience to superiors and escape.

Having gone on a campaign, the Cossacks along the river. Chusovaya and Serebryanka overcame the path to the Ural Range, further from the river. Serebryanki to the river. Tagil went on foot through the mountains. Yermak's crossing of the Ural Range was not easy. Each plow could lift up to 20 people with a load. Plows of greater carrying capacity on small mountain rivers could not be used.

Yermak's offensive on the river. The tour forced Kuchum to gather his forces as much as possible. Chronicles do not give an exact answer to the question of the number of troops, they only report on the "great host of the enemy." A.A. Vvedensky wrote that the total number of subjects of the Siberian Khan was approximately 30,700 people. Having mobilized all the men capable of wearing, Kuchum could put up more than 10-15 thousand soldiers. Thus, he had a multiple numerical superiority.

Simultaneously with the collection of troops, Kuchum ordered to strengthen the capital of the Siberian Khanate Isker. The main forces of the Kuchumov cavalry under the command of his nephew Prince Mametkul were advanced towards Yermak, whose flotilla by August 1582, and according to some researchers, no later than the summer of 1581, reached the confluence of the river. Tours in the river. Tobol. An attempt to detain the Cossacks near the mouth of the river. Tours failed. Cossack boats entered the river. Tobol and began to descend along its course. Several times Yermak had to land on the shore and attack the Kuchum people. Then there was a major bloody battle near the Babasanovsky Yurts.

Yermak's advance along the Siberian rivers. Drawing and text for "Siberian History" by S. Remezov. 1689

Fights on the river Tobol showed the advantages of Ermak's tactics over the tactics of the enemy. The basis of this tactic was a fire strike and combat in on foot. Volleys of Cossack squeakers inflicted significant damage on the enemy. However, the importance of firearms should not be exaggerated. From the squeaker of the end of the 16th century, one shot could be fired in 2-3 minutes. Kuchumlyans basically did not have firearms in service, but they were familiar with them. However, fighting on foot was Kuchum's weak point. Engaging in a fight with the crowd, in the absence of any battle formations, the Kuchumovites suffered defeat after defeat, despite a significant superiority in manpower. Thus, Yermak's successes were achieved by a combination of squeaker fire and hand-to-hand combat using edged weapons.

After Yermak left the river. Tobol and began to rise up the river. Tavda, which, according to some researchers, was done in order to break away from the enemy, respite, and search for allies before the decisive battle for Isker. Climbing up the river Tavda approximately 150-200 miles, Yermak made a stop and returned to the river. Tobol. On the way to Isker were taken gg. Karachin and Atik. Having entrenched himself in the city of Karachin, Yermak found himself on the direct approaches to the capital of the Siberian Khanate.

Before the assault on the capital, Yermak, according to chronicle sources, gathered a circle where the probable outcome of the upcoming battle was discussed. Supporters of the retreat pointed to the many Kuchumians and the small number of Russians, but Yermak's opinion was that it was necessary to take Isker. In his decision he was firm and supported by many of his associates. In October 1582, Yermak launched an assault on the fortifications of the Siberian capital. The first assault failed, around October 23, Yermak struck again, but the Kuchumites repelled the assault and made a sortie, which turned out to be disastrous for them. The battle under the walls of Isker once again showed the advantages of the Russians in hand-to-hand combat. The Khan's army was defeated, Kuchum fled the capital. On October 26, 1582, Yermak entered the city with his retinue. The capture of Isker was the pinnacle of Yermak's success. The indigenous Siberian peoples expressed their readiness for an alliance with the Russians.

The conquest of Siberia by Yermak. Artist V. Surikov. 1895

After the capture of the capital of the Siberian Khanate, Yermak's main opponent remained Prince Mametkul, who, having a good cavalry, made raids on small Cossack detachments, which constantly disturbed Yermak's squad. In November-December 1582, the prince exterminated a detachment of Cossacks who went out to fish. Ermak struck back, Mametkul fled, but three months later reappeared in the vicinity of Isker. In February 1583, Yermak was informed that the prince's camp was set up on the river. Vagay is 100 miles from the capital. The chieftain immediately sent Cossacks there, who attacked the army and captured the prince.

In the spring of 1583, the Cossacks made several campaigns along the Irtysh and its tributaries. The farthest was the hike to the mouth of the river. Cossacks on plows reached the city of Nazim - a fortified town on the river. Ob, and they took him. The battle near the city of Nazim was one of the bloodiest.

Losses in the battles forced Yermak to send messengers for reinforcements. As proof of the fruitfulness of his actions during the Siberian campaign, Yermak sent Ivan IV a captive prince and furs.

The winter and summer of 1584 passed without major battles. Kuchum did not show activity, as it was restless inside the horde. Yermak took care of his army and waited for reinforcements. Reinforcements came in the fall of 1584. They were 500 warriors sent from Moscow under the command of the governor S. Bolkhovsky, not supplied with either ammunition or food. Yermak was placed in plight, because with difficulty prepared the necessary supplies for his people. Famine began in Isker. People were dying, and S. Bolkhovsky himself died. The situation was somewhat improved by the local residents, who supplied the Cossacks with food from their stocks.

Chronicles do not give the exact number of losses of Yermak's troops, however, according to some sources, by the time of the death of the ataman, 150 people remained in his squad. Ermak's position was also complicated by the fact that in the spring of 1585 Isker was surrounded by enemy cavalry. However, the blockade was lifted thanks to Yermak's decisive blow to the enemy's headquarters. The elimination of Isker's encirclement was the last military feat Cossack ataman. Ermak Timofeevich died in the waters of the river. Irtysh during a campaign against Kuchum's troops that appeared nearby on August 6, 1585

Summing up, it should be noted that the tactics of the Yermak squad were based on the rich military experience of the Cossacks, accumulated over many decades. Hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, solid defense, maneuverability of the squad, use of the terrain - the most character traits Russian military art of the 16th - 17th centuries. To this, of course, should be added the ability of Ataman Yermak to maintain strict discipline within the squad. These skills and tactical skills to the greatest extent contributed to the conquest of the rich Siberian expanses by Russian soldiers. After the death of Yermak, governors in Siberia, as a rule, continued to adhere to his tactics.

Monument to Ermak Timofeevich in Novocherkassk. Sculptor V. Beklemishev. Opened 6 May 1904

The annexation of Siberia was of great political and economic importance. Up until the 80s. 16th century" Siberian theme” was practically not mentioned in diplomatic documents. However, as Ivan IV received news of the results of Yermak's campaign, it took a firm place in diplomatic documentation. Already by 1584, the documents contain a detailed description of relations with the Siberian Khanate, which includes a summary of the main events - military operations of the ataman Yermak's squad against Kuchum's army.

In the mid 80s. In the 16th century, the colonization flows of the Russian peasantry gradually moved to explore the vast expanses of Siberia, and the Tyumen and Tobolsk prisons erected in 1586 and 1587 were not only important strongholds for the fight against the Kuchumlyans, but also the basis of the first settlements of Russian plowmen. The governors sent by the Russian tsars to the Siberian region, harsh in all respects, could not cope with the remnants of the horde and achieve the conquest of this fertile and politically important region for Russia. However, thanks to the military art of the Cossack ataman Yermak Timofeevich, already in the 90s. XVI century Western Siberia was included in Russia.

The image of the freedom-loving chieftain, who ventured with a handful of brave men to cross the Stone Belt - the Ural Mountains - and delve into a truly unknown hostile country, does not fade in people's memory, lives in legends and songs. Separate documents have also been preserved, there are chronicle evidence (largely contradictory), there is an extensive literature.

According to the chronicler, Yermak was "greatly courageous and reasonable, and humane, and pleased with all wisdom." Apparently, Ermak is not his name (there is no such name in the Orthodox calendar), but a nickname: but Daly, “ermak” is an artel boiler or millstone of a hand mill. It is generally accepted that he comes from the Don. It is authentically known that in 1579 a group of Cossacks under his leadership, pressed from the Volga by the tsarist troops, went to the Urals and was accepted there by the merchants and industrialists Stroganovs to protect their possessions from the raids of the "Siberian saltan" Khan Kuchum ("Priyasha them with honor and deed to them, many gifts and brashna, and drinking abundantly enjoy them).

According to the Stroganov Chronicle, the chieftain with his 510 Cossacks served the new masters "two summers and two months", defended eastern border Prikamye, and meanwhile began to explore the way to the east - to Siberia.

Having gracious permission from Ivan the Terrible to build towns beyond the Urals, "the Stroganovs, who had been sending their clerks to the east - right down to the lower Oba - for many years, gathered their strength and decided to strike at the very heart of the khanate, equipping Yermak's detachment for this (in passing they got rid of and from the most restless Cossack freemen, who, apparently, pretty annoyed them).

According to the chronicle, according to the debt list, the Cossacks were issued for each “pure gunpowder for 3 pounds and the same amount of lead, another 3 pounds of rye flour, two pounds of cereals and oatmeal, and salt, and half a carcass of salted pork, and a steelyard (about 1 kg) butter for two. The Stroganovs reinforced a detachment of 300 of their people, among whom were "leaders leading that Siberian path" (guides) and "interpreters of the Busurman language" (translators). The expedition received "cannons" and squeaked - the main weapon in the battles with the Khan's army, which did not have firearms. The “little people” of the Stroganovs helped the Cossacks to build “good plows”. From the latest (1584) charter, it can be seen that these plows were raised "by twenty people with supplies." Thus, it can be assumed that Yermak's fleet consisted of at least 20 such ships.

On September 1, 1581, under the thunder of cannons, accompanied by the entire population of the Chusovsky towns, the detachment set off. Going on a hike in the fall, and not earlier, is explained by the fact that it was possible to collect the necessary supply of flour only after harvesting. In addition, the autumn flood raised water in small rivers and facilitated the passage of shallow areas.

Most detailed description The campaign is given in the Pogodinsky chronicle, which says that, having passed Chusovaya and Serebryanka, the detachment wintered at the mouth of Kukuy and in the spring of 1582 made a drag along the tributary of the Barancha Zhuravlik and went to the Irtysh along the Barancha, Tagil, Tura and Tobol. Kuchum was defeated and its capital, Isker, was occupied. Yermak began to take the oath of the local population, ruled in the name of the king and expanded his possessions. In early August 1584, while returning from one of the campaigns, Yermak's small detachment was taken by surprise. The ataman died in the stormy waters of the Irtysh. However, the work of the pioneers and their sacrifices were in vain.

The way to Siberia was opened, enterprising industrialists and settlers followed military detachments there, life began to boil, towns arose. The development of a vast region began, about which Lomonosov would later say, "that Siberia will increase Russia's power."

In 1981-1982 the 400th anniversary of Yermak's campaign is celebrated. There is a lot of interest in past events. And in this regard, it should be noted that in the surviving materials and in scientific literature there are many serious differences about the campaign. In particular, according to almost all sources, it turns out that the way to the Khan's capital was passed by Yermak in two seasons with wintering on the watershed, and according to the latest works of Dr. ist. Sciences R. G. Skryntsikov, it turns out that Yermak went on a campaign a year later (1.IX. 1582) and managed to fight a 1,500-klometer path in less than two months.

Is this possible with the movement of such a bulky detachment? After all, Yermak had a chance to go against the current for at least 300 km along small and fast rivers, rolling down from the watershed to the west. Walk along them, guiding heavily loaded canoes with a tow line! How can one not remember the legends of old, which say that they had to put up dams - drive in stakes and pull sails sewn together across the river in order to raise the water even in a small area. And the wolf himself? After all, this is at least a 20-kilometer path over rough terrain, not for nothing called the Ural Range.

Again and again we re-read the sources, we turn to folklore. The song about Yermak says:

“Where should Yermak look for ways?
He should look for ways on the Silver River.
We went along Serebryanka, reached Zharovl,
They left boats here
On that Baranchinskaya lane.

It turns out that on the portage Yermak had to abandon "good plows" and load supplies on hastily made rafts and smaller boats, and then, descending to Tagil, build new plows. Here is what is said about this in the epics: “They dragged one (boat-column) and sat down, they left it there, and at that time they saw the Barancha River and were delighted.” And further:

“They made pine boats and boats,
They sailed along the Barancha River and soon sailed into the Tagil River,

That Bear-stone. at Magnitsky.
And on the other side they had a raft,
They made large columns so that they could completely clean up.

In principle, the places mentioned are described in our local history literature, but apparently no one thought of crossing the Stone Belt, exactly following the path of Yermak. Without visiting the watershed and not seeing what kind of Serebryanka, but Zharovlya and Barancha, without examining the place of the portage, it was impossible to definitely accept this or that point of view.

And why not visit? This is how the idea of ​​the expedition was born, which was organized and carried out in July - August 1981 jointly by the Geographical Society of the USSR, the Leningrad Club of Tourists and the Leningrad Palace of Pioneers.

So, going on a long journey, the expedition members set themselves main goal- to cordon off the possibility of passing the whole way in two months (of course, from the point of view of modern water tourists), to determine the place of the portage. In addition, there was a task from the Hydrological Institute - to clarify in certain sections of the rivers their width, flow velocity, and the height of the rise of water during floods.

The study of the route showed that the entire path of Yermak from the Chusovskie towns to the Tobolsk region was 1580 km. Our group simply did not have the necessary time for the passage of water all this way. It was decided to seal from the watershed, and then pass Serebryanka to Chusovaya. not upstream, like Yermak, but downstream. After that, return by train to the watershed, reconnoiter the portage and, starting from the village of Nizhne-Baranchinsky, go east.

On July 5 we boarded the train. We are the crews of seven kayaks. The youth part of the expedition consisted of 11 schoolchildren - members of the children's club "Planet" at Geographic Society USSR. They were mostly tenth-graders: the youngest, cameraman Sasha Kurashkevich, was 15 years old. And the oldest member of the expedition (the author of these lines) is much older - 72.

It is easy and gratifying at heart - all the chores are behind!

We crossed the Ural Range. The places are such that you can’t drag the guys away from the windows of the car!

We left at the Goroblagodatskaya station and ended up in the city of Kushva. One would like to call this city of miners and metallurgists ancient, but it is younger than our Leningrad - it was founded in 1735 in connection with the discovery by the Mansi hunter Stepan Chumin of the largest deposit of magnetic iron ore - Mount Blagodat (352 m).

On the same day, we climbed the mountains by car - we reached the village of Kedrovka (27 km). On the way, to the general delight, we made a stop at the chapel marking the border between Europe and Asia.

Here is the beginning of the active part of our route, now we will descend from the ridge to the west along Serebryanka. The length of the river is 136 km. It began about 50 km north of Kedrovka, and flows into Chusovaya on the right, 311 km from its mouth. It flows among the picturesque hills covered with mixed forest. In some places, rocks rise to the shore. Before the village of Serebryanka, there are dumps from dredging works - this is what distinguishes the current landscape from that seen by Yermak. Today, the dredge is working somewhere above us - the water in the river is muddy. In the upper reaches, the width is only 10-15 m, the current is fast, there are many rifts.

We drank, leaving one person in each kayak to reduce the draft, but soon we had to get out and li. As written in the expedition log, "almost the entire Serebryanka - about 70 km - was walked: the kayaks were pulled along by a rope."

I describe the first stage of our journey in more or less detail, since many will certainly want to visit these enticing places, where everything breathes history. So, in the first three days we passed 38 small rifts, of which only two were overcome on the move, and through all the rest we had to kayak. In addition, we had to make one drift through the dam (25 m), and at the second dam we had to drag through a huge blockage. After going through 7 more rifts, we went into a large flood, where a temporary dam blocked the further path. It was made four days before we arrived, to make a sump for suspended particles that clog the water during dredging. The riverbed below the dam is dry. Convinced that it would take a very long time to wait for water here, we decided to look for a truck in the forest area, dismantle the kayaks and get to the village. Serebryansky. This is a large village, picturesquely located among the mountains, the only locality after Kedrovka; there is a shop and a post office.

From here to the mouth remains 51 km. We pass the most beautiful section of Serebryanka. The river flows in high wooded banks. In places, cliffs covered with forests and sheer cliffs come close to the water, inferior in beauty to the famous “stones” of Chusovaya. The shores are clean, the forest is wonderful. Yes, it's worth visiting! Although our guys are experienced tourists, they are delighted with Serebryanka.

There is still little water in it and many - too many - riffles. For the most part, the first numbers of crews go along the shore, making their way among the bushes and tall grass, and where it is impossible to pass, the rocks go to the water, get into kayaks. In this section, we "registered" 68 riffles (5 of them passed on the move) and a number of small reaches, in which we had to maneuver among the stones. At the mouth on the right bank stands the abandoned village of Ust-Serebryanka.

In conclusion, about the atom of the first stage of the path, it should be said that Serebryanka should only be kayaked into high water!

Having left for Chusovaya, the crews for the first time really took their places in kayaks. Chusovaya is one of the most beautiful and most major rivers western slope Ural ridge. Its length is 735 km. This is the left tributary of the Kama. The current is fast, the depths on the reaches are enough, but you have to go carefully, as there are rocky shoals.

Ural legends call one of the coastal cliffs Camp Ermak. Here, allegedly, he spent the night and almost wintered in a cave. We stopped specifically to inspect and film this place and were disappointed. The entrance to the cave is somewhere in the middle of the height of a 40-meter cliff, you can get there only by descending on a rope from above. I don’t know how it all looked under Yermak, but now it’s not easy to climb a rock: only experienced climber Jemma Melnikova managed to get to the very top of us! According to those who have visited the cave, it is very small: two people can hardly squeeze in. No, it doesn't look like a wintering place for the head of a large detachment!

We easily do an average of 40 km a day. Before Oslyanka we meet many tourist groups and singles descending from the camp site in Kaurovka. Below - there are few tourists; motorboats are mostly found local residents. After the wild beauty of Serebryanka, the guys liked Chusovaya much less. It is crowded here, and there are too many traces of human activity (to be fair, it is worth mentioning that many picturesque places of Chusovaya are located much higher than Serebryanka). The banks are low, the forests have disappeared, the current carries the kayaks not so fast.

We decided to finish our acquaintance with this river in the city of Chusovoy, a large industrial center of the Urals. Its history is connected with the laying in 1878 of the mining railway, through which ore came from Mount Blagodat, and the construction of a large ironworks.

We go by bus (80 km) to the village. Chusovoy towns - I really want to see and shine those places where Yermak's campaign began. This is one of the oldest Russian settlements in the Urals. It was founded by the Stroganovs as a fortress, famous for its salt industry - the remains of ancient salt works have been preserved. We are told that most of the inhabitants here have two surnames: Oto or Ermakov, or Kuchumov.

Returning to Kuvsha, we devote two more to reconnaissance of a possible portage route. We examine the tributaries of Serebryanka and Barancha mentioned in the legends - Kukuy and Zharovlya (aka Zhuravlik). Today, these are almost dry streams, but it is quite clear that they were not full-flowing rivers even 400 years ago! There are hills and forest all around, but in principle the most convenient place for portage can be seen quite definitely: we will put it on the map.

At the end of the second day, we transfer the kayaks to the left bank of the Barancha by car - we collect them just below the village. Nizhne-Baranchinsky, next to the rest house.

Barancha (length 66 km) flows into Tagil on the left, 288 km from its mouth. The river is narrow, the current is weak, and rocky shoals are often encountered. The shores are hilly, covered with mixed forests, alternating with pretty glades. Lots of forest debris. We covered all of Barancha in four days, and it was not an easy swim! I had to overcome 16 small rifts and 26 full-fledged forest blockages, of which two turned out to be impassable (carriage 120 and 30 m). In addition, there was also a run-off of the dam of the pumping station (words 40 m). We stopped on the outskirts of the village. Estyunikha.

The next day we went by bus to Nizhny Tagil, examined one of the oldest museums in the country, the Museum of Local Lore. The beginning of the industry of this area was laid in 1699 by the decree of Peter I on the construction of the Nevyansk state-owned plant. Returning to the camp, they made a 100-meter portage of the bridge along the right bank (Barancha was taken into the pipe in this place), then they went down the river for 6.5 km with the pilotage of ships through 4 small rifts and ended up in the left, shallowed branch of Tagil (with very dirty water), and a little later into the mainstream.

Tagil - the right tributary of the Tura - originates on the eastern slope of the ridge at an altitude of 520 m. The length of the river is 414 km. Slope 0.001. Its width is 60-80 m, depth is from 1.5 m to 0.2 m at the riffles. To the village Upper Tagil has a typically mountainous character. In the middle course, the banks are hilly; closer to the mouth they go down, the forest moves aside. Near the villages there are fields and meadows. We assumed that Tagil would be a full-flowing, easy-to-navigate river, but our hopes were not justified. There was not enough water, we immediately met a short (25 m) threshold, passed along the main stream, and 4 small riffles with tacking between stones.

We stopped on the right bank at the foot of the Bear-stone. After all, according to legend, it was here that Yermak stood and made new planes to replace those abandoned on the portage. On the left bank, where there was a raft, we met archaeological expedition Nizhny Tagil schoolchildren, led by Amalia Iosifovna Razsadovich. She said that she had been working here, at the excavations, for about thirty years, and the study of the settlement by scientists began in the first post-war years. Since then, more than 1,000 400-year-old objects have been found. We all anxiously looked at the round lead zeros, spearheads, examined the iron-smelting furnace of Yermakov's craftsmen. At the request of A. I. Razsadovich, our guys carried out measurements and made a plan for another Yermakov settlement down the river.

Four days went to the Tagil Cordon, where they had to carry out a bridge under construction. There were 14 riffles (25-50 m each) on this section, of which we were able to overcome 9 on the move. After vil. Balakino water has become cleaner, black stripes along the banks have disappeared. Separate stretches are heavily overgrown. The shores are beautiful, the forest on them is mixed, there are a lot of raspberries. Water is best taken from numerous springs.

Another 4 days went to Mikhnevo - a large urban-type settlement. We passed another 25 riffles, 15 of them are quite difficult: the most difficult Novozhilovsky is 2 km long. the rest are short, with a length of 15 to 200 m. Villages, mostly abandoned (Morshinino, Brekhovo, Kamelskaya), have become increasingly common. The banks are gradually lowering. I remember a very beautiful turn of Tagil near the village. Tolmachevo. To the left, large white rocks protrude from the water.

There are no rifts below, the river becomes wider, shallows come across. The coast is low. went the fields. It takes another two days to reach the mouth of Tagil. There is a new obstacle in front of the village of Kishkinka: a floating bridge, which had to be sunk. Then, near the abandoned village of Cheremisino, the riverbed was blocked by the destruction of the dam of the old mill. After a preliminary examination, they ventured to pass it through the breach along the vowel stream. As you approach the mouth of the coast. overgrown with willow and alder bushes, go down. The large village of Volotovo is located 0.7 km from the mouth on the right bank.

It is curious that at the confluence of the Tagil, it looks more solid than the Tura, although it is its tributary. The Tura is a right tributary of the Tobol. Its length is 1030 km. The river is narrow. sinuous. The right bank is mostly elevated, left!! - named with water meadows. The current is weak. The channel is sandy, sometimes muddy.

It is immediately clear that we have fallen into an old industrial area - the forest has long been cut down, only in places there are small groves. Water for cooking is unsuitable, and there are few springs (water has to be stocked up in the villages). The shores are boring, monotonous. There are no obstacles. We make a decision; end the water part of the route in Zhukovo.

Two hours on the highway - and we are in Turnisk. These are one of the oldest cities in the Urals (25 thousand inhabitants): it was founded in 1600, but the history of these places is closely connected with the topic of interest to us. Ermak's detachment, following the Tura on plows, was continually attacked by the Tatar prince Yepanchi, whose capital was located exactly at the place where Turinsk later arose. It is known that as a warning, Yermak ordered "Epanchin Gorodok" to be burned to the ground...

In the XVIII-XIX centuries. Turinsk served as a place of political exile. We visited an old park, planted by the Decembrists, according to legend, a local history museum, and a match factory.

Another 4.5 hours by bus - and our expedition ends up in Tyumen, founded in 1586 on the site of the ancient Tatar settlement of Chimgi-Tura (Tsarevo settlement). There are many interesting historical and architectural monuments here - the Trinity Cathedral, the Znamenskaya and Spasskaya churches, the building Museum of Local Lore, Picture gallery. But modern Tyumen is also a large, rapidly developing industrial center. It has about 400 thousand inhabitants. We are proudly shown the new House of Culture of Oil Workers. We were introduced to today's Tyumen by excursions to the exhibition "Oil Development of the Region" and to the Oil Filling Station.

Then we follow the train, so we don’t see the place where the Tura flows into the Tobol - Railway passes north. We read a lot about the fierce battles of Yermak and the Tatar detachments that took place at the mouth of the Tura. Actually, it was one battle that lasted several days with varying success. According to the legends, having won, the Cossacks captured so much booty that it was impossible to take it away, and a treasure is still buried somewhere here.

Then the train passes approximately where, already on the Tobol, about 30 km below the confluence of the left tributary of the Tavda, in July 1582 there was a five-day battle with the army of Kuchum. In the end, the Tatars were utterly defeated, however, this battle was not the last ...

We are hospitably greeted by Tobolsk, founded in 1587, a year later than Tyumen. On the very edge of the high bank, there are stone walls and towers of the Kremlin, built in early XVIII in. captured Swedes. A steep entrance, the so-called Nikolsky platoon, leads through a wide hollow to the white massifs of ancient walls, high watchtowers, stone buildings of "office places". On the other side of the hollow, on the Chukman cape, there is a city garden, surrounded by high cliffs, planted with old larches and cedars. At its very beginning, there is a monument to Yermak - a tall obelisk, visible from afar against the backdrop of greenery.

In the local Museum of History and Local Lore, the richest of the collection of the best of all examined during this trip, a whole room is dedicated to Yermak's campaign. Interestingly, more than a dozen portraits of Yermak are exhibited, but the images are not at all similar to one another. However, it is not surprising; All these portraits were painted in the 18th century!

We also learned a lot about modern Tobolsk, got acquainted, in particular, with the construction of a huge oil and gas plant. In a word, you can talk a lot about the old and new Tobolsk, but this would lead us away from the main topic.

We visited Cape Chuvashev, where on October 24-25, 1582, in a decisive battle, Yermak defeated the hordes of Kuchum. This victory made it possible in a couple of days to occupy the main city of the Siberian Khanate, Isker or Kashlyk, abandoned by Kuchum and all the inhabitants - Isker or Kashlyk, called by the Russians "the city of Siberia". And now, 400 years later, we are standing on the high right bank of the Irtysh. Somewhere there was this noisy eastern city, which gave the name to the whole great Siberia. Here, just a few days after the victory, Yermak met the first envoys of the local Khanty and Tatars with "kindness and greetings", here with " the best people"He took a" shert ", that is, an oath and an obligation to pay "yasak" in a timely manner, from here he sent a messenger with a report on the victory to the great sovereign Ivan Vasilyevich. We read that in the middle of the XVIII century. one could distinguish the triple ramparts and ditches protecting the city. Now, of course, there are no traces of fortifications at all. And only the deep valley of Sibirka, which covered the city from the north, remained in place.

Now we just have to go to the crossing and take the bus to the mouth of the Vagay. Somewhere here, on a dark rainy night, from August 5 to August 6, 1684, the Cossacks returning from the campaign were taken by surprise by Kuchum's soldiers: they broke into Yermak's camp and began to cut down the sleeping ones. Ermak, according to the chroniclers, woke up, managed to pave the way to the shore with his sword, but, trying to swim to the plow, he drowned, because he was wearing an expensive heavy armor (a gift from the king) ...

Our 45-day journey along the path of Yermak has ended. We visited the Chusovskie towns, from where he began the legendary campaign, visited the nameless island at the mouth of the Vagai, where he died. The guys were able not only to truly delve into the history of the Motherland, but also to see with their own eyes the current scope of construction, to get acquainted with the glorious deeds of Soviet people striving for the future. This, of course, is the main thing.

As for the answer to the controversial question about the possibility of Yermak overcoming the 1580-kilometer route through the Urals to the Irtysh in just 53 days. then, as it seems to the participants of the Leningrad expedition, this is hardly realistic. This is how we formulated our conclusion, reporting on December 18 the results of the work done at a meeting in the Geographical Society of the USSR.

History is, in a certain sense, the sacred book of nations: the main, necessary; a mirror of their being and activities; the tablet of revelations and rules; the covenant of the ancestors to their offspring; addition, explanation of the present and an example of the future.

Ya. M. Karamzin

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

The Siberian Chronicles contain eight chronicles about the campaign of Yermak Timofeevich in Siberia, and even more, the chronicles tell about what happened after the death of the ataman of the Cossacks Yermak Timofeevich, this is a storehouse of unique historical essays, a particularly valuable detailed historical source.

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

List of Siberian chronicles.

1) RUMYANTSEV CHRONICLE
2) CHRONOGRAPHIC STORY
3) POGODINSKY CHRONICLE
4) STROGANOV CHRONICLE
5) BUZUNOVSKIY CHRONICLE
6) PUSTOZERSKIY CHRONICLE
7) DESCRIPTION OF SIBERIA
8) Kungur chronicler

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

This is how Yermak was depicted in many portraits of the same type of the 17th-18th centuries.

History reference about modern word Siberia, rooted in the modern understanding of the Siberian land, as follows from the chronicles, Siberia is primarily the city of the ruler Khan Kuchum, who was later killed by the Kalmyks for ruining and robbing his wards at the end of his inglorious life, Kuchum stole a herd of horses for this atrocity, Kalmyk The soldiers overtook him and killed him.

“Tsar Kuchum tried many times to return Siberia and take revenge. Once (he) gathered an army, came to Siberia, reached the Irtysh River, ruined several Basurman villages and went home. they caught up with him on the border with the Steppe, and attacked, killed his people, and seized from him two queens and a son and huge wealth... Kuchum himself fled with a small detachment, and having reached his ulus, he took the rest of the army, and when he went through the Kalmyk uluses, then he stole the horse herds. The Kalmyk warriors caught up with him, and the troops defeated him, and won back their horses. Then Tsar Kuchum fled to Nogai and was killed by them."

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

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

From that moment on, ataman Ermak appears on the scene with his associates, who often robbed, smashed and robbed on the Volga, Oka and sea rivers, ships, penal servitudes, merchant trade caravans with a gang of 5,000 people, thinking to go to Kyzylbashi along with the Don and Yaik Cossacks, to dominate the sea, but this did not happen, robbing merchants, including the state treasury and other Orthodox people, shedding Christian blood, these exploits become known to the Tsar and Grand Duke of All Russia Ivan Vasilyevich, the sovereign is furious and angry.

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

As a result, Yermak and his associates enter the service of the Stroganovs to make amends, perhaps out of fear that he was angry Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich, in one case or another, Yermak defends the Russian land and Perm the Great, breaks up nomadic detachments and conquers nearby nomadic tribes, after which an expedition to the Siberian Khanate of Kuchum is equipped, and then there are bloody and terrifying battles with Khan Kuchum and nomads, who many times outnumbered the forces of Yermak with his comrades-in-arms, often the Cossacks before the battle with the enemy, knelt down with a prayer on their lips, and then desperate courage followed in the battle (there was nowhere to retreat), so they took the opposing side, it is worth noting that help in the Siberian land Yermak had no one to wait for, after each fight, comrades-in-arms died.

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

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

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

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