Stenka Razin biography. Razin Stepan Timofeevich

Stepan Timofeevich Razin was born in 1630, as we know from reading the works of Streis, a traveler from the Netherlands. They had several meetings. In 1670, the writer noted in his work that his interlocutor began to approach his fifth decade. We will learn a lot of interesting things about this further from the article.

Speculation regarding his birth

The Don coast became the first home that Stepan Timofeevich Razin had. A biographical certificate does not provide more accurate information. There is a version that is the most reliable and says that he was born in the Zimoveyskaya village. Now this land has been given the name Pugachevskaya.

Some researchers have refuted this version. There is still a lot of speculation surrounding the birthplace of Stepan Timofeevich Razin. His biography may vary from different authors. So, some claim that he was born in Cherkassk, which is now located in the Rostov region. So was Stepan Timofeevich Razin really from the family of Circassian sultans? Folk legends differ from each other.

A number of other settlements, such as Esaulovsky or Kagalnitsky, are also called his place of birth. However, Cherkasy is called its homeland.

Life

Stepan Timofeevich Razin attracted the attention of many people for a long time. Folklore and the beginnings of Russian cinema were formed around his personality. In the West, Stenka became the first Russian on whom a dissertation was defended just a few years after his death.

Razin Stepan Timofeevich died before reaching old age. Around 1630-1671 lived and accomplished his exploits. He and his family became the subject of folk works, in which new details were introduced, making him an almost fairy-tale character.

Before the uprising happened

Timofeevich is quite interesting. The main dates of his life begin in 1652. At that time, he was an ataman and, by virtue of his powers, represented the Don warriors. Razin Stepan Timofeevich is a Cossack who even then had rich experience in military affairs and enjoyed the respect of his brothers in arms. Even in his early years, he already had the makings of a leader.

Stepan Timofeevich Razin fought in the company of his older brother Ivan as part of the Don Army. The year 1661 is significant in that negotiations were conducted with the Kalmyks. The warrior's companion was Fyodor Budan, as well as Cossacks from the Don and Zaporozhye. The establishment of peace and general steps to expel the Tatars and Nogais from Crimea were discussed.

The year 1663 is recorded in the chronicles as the moment when Stepan Timofeevich Razin led the Don and Kalmyks against the warriors from the Crimea who were near Perekop.

In 1665, the chieftain's brother was executed by Dolgorukov. This happened when a conflict broke out, during which the soldiers wanted to go to the Don, despite the tsar's service. Stepan Timofeevich Razin was filled with the desire to take revenge on the prince, as well as on the entire circle of the king. He also wanted to get a free and quiet life for his brothers who followed him. Stepan Timofeevich Razin began to hatch great ideas. was supposed to become a model of military and democratic structure for the entire Russian state.

During the uprising

He picked up his movement. The reason for this can be attributed to the aggravated social situation that reigned in the lands of the Cossacks. The epicenter of these processes was the Don. More and more runaway peasants appeared in its vicinity. This influx can be explained by the year 1647. The people were in complete captivity, tied hand and foot by the nobility.

Why was this person included in the list of “Great People of Russia”? Razin Stepan Timofeevich gave people the opportunity to breathe more freely, to become Cossacks, free warriors. At that time, everyone wanted to stop feeling like a drag force. And this opportunity was given by Stepan Timofeevich Razin. The biography of the Don Cossack does not recall that he had much property or family connections that many other governors had. On the territory of the region he lived on equal terms with others. The term “golutvenny” Cossack was applied to him. He stood apart from the old-timers, felt affection for the common people, did not have significant property, and did not boast of titles.

Who is Stepan Timofeevich Razin? He is both a hero and a robber. He was a savior to his loved ones and a natural disaster to those he attacked. Together with the Golytba, he went to the Volga for the purpose of robbery. At that time he needed fame and material resources. The richer and more famous Cossacks sponsored these campaigns with the condition of subsequent division of the loot. All armies - Yaik, Don and Terek - were involved in these operations.

Razin Stepan Timofeevich from the family of Egyptian sultans became the center around which the poor gathered, thanks to which they could feel like important and necessary people, being an integral part of the Cossack army.

The popular mass grew rapidly and became increasingly visible thanks to fugitive serfs who wanted to join the uprising.

The year 1667 was the moment when Razin led the Cossacks. In the spring, about 700 soldiers gathered for the Volga-Don transport. New rebels were also added, so that there were already two thousand of them. They passed near the Volga and Yaik. The goal was to express disagreement with the policies of Moscow's rule and to blockade the trade route that passed through the river. The royal commanders responded to the call and a clash occurred.

Growing strength of the Cossacks

Stepan Timofeevich Razin devoted the years of his life to many campaigns, and this was one of the most important. It began in May 1667. His army went to the Volga. The fleet of Shorin, a guest of the country, as well as other merchant figures, was located near Tsaritsyn. Patriarch Joseph also stationed several of his ships here, which he later regretted. Stenka and the robbers attacked the ships, plundered them, and carried out bloody reprisals against the clerks and heads of the courts.

By and large, the Cossacks were often engaged in robbery. However, later simple theft grew into an uprising; they opposed the government, defeated the Streltsy and took the Yaitsky town. The winter was spent on the territory of Yaik. When 1668 began, the Caspian Sea became the new battlefield. More and more Don Cossacks, Cherkassy and residents from other districts of Russia arrived. A battle took place against the Shah's forces near Rashta, a city of the Persians.

It was a tough fight that ended in negotiations. During this process, Shah Suleiman was visited by the messenger of the Tsar of Russia and reported that the thieves' detachments were going to sea. The Persians were called upon to defeat the Razins. It was then that the negotiations broke down. The Cossacks were chained. One of them died from being bullied by dogs. The rebels had no choice but to take Farabat and stay there for the winter, fenced off from the enemy troops.

Legendary Events

The year 1669 came, several battles were held on the territory of the “Trukhmensky lands”. There the life of Razin’s friend, a Cossack nicknamed Crooked, was interrupted. When the army reached Skina Island, they were attacked by the Shah's sailors, commanded by Mamed Khan. They fought to the death.

The enemy linked his fleet with a chain and surrounded the Don army, but the strategy did not justify itself. The enemy's flagship ship sank. Then the Razins dealt with the rest of the fleet. They managed to capture the daughter and son of the commander of the Persian naval forces.

Peasants' War

A new decade has arrived. As always, hostilities began in the spring of 1670. A trip to the Volga was made again. Now it was not just robbery, but a real uprising, which was positioned under precisely this status. Everyone who wanted freedom and freedom was called up by Razin to serve.

The ataman’s goals were not to overthrow the tsar, but he wanted to overcome the then system, which made cattle out of peasants. It was planned to eliminate the highest ranks, personified by clerks, governors and clergymen who allegedly betrayed the royal power. A rumor was spread about the presence of Tsarevich Alexei among the Razinites, who in fact had been dead since January.

They also claimed to have power over life. In reality, he simply went into exile. The Razins occupied fortresses and cities, introduced their own system there, dealt with local rulers, and destroyed documents. If they came across a merchant on the Volga, they grabbed him and robbed him.

“Certificate from Stepan Timofeevich, from Razin” - that was the title at that time of the document that was sent to the mob. It was proposed to serve God and the state, as well as support the army and its leader, and hand over all traitors and people who drink the blood of the people. It was necessary to come to the council of the Cossacks.

The peasants rebelled en masse and accompanied the ataman during his Volga campaign. The local areas were recently enslaved and ordinary people did not agree to put up with imprisonment. The battles were fought under the leadership of the Cossack commanders of these places. The fighting began with the Mari, Tatars, Chuvash and Mordovians.

Tsaritsyn was captured, as well as Samara, Astrakhan was taken, Saratov and other fortresses were subjugated. In the fall of 1670, the siege operation near Simbirsk ended in failure. The king sent an army of 60 thousand people to these places in order to suppress the popular upsurge. The Razins were defeated as a result of the battle near Simbirsk.

The governor then was Yuri Baryatinsky. Razin himself was seriously wounded, and trusted people took him to the Don. For some time his refuge was the town of Kagalitsky. It was from there that he set out on a campaign a year earlier. The chieftain still cherished plans to gather a new army. The situation was escalating, and the king’s anger was no longer an illusory threat. Military ataman Yakovlev Kornila and other Cossacks betrayed their leader, surrendering him on April 13, 1671 during the assault on Kagalitsky. Razin was given to Russian troops.

Captivity and death

The month of April 1671 was remembered for the fact that the ataman and Frolk’s brother, who was younger than him, found themselves in the hands of the tsar’s henchmen. They were captured. They were received by Grigory Kosogov, the steward, and Andrey Bogdanov, the clerk.

The rebels were brought to Moscow in the middle of June and were brutally tortured. That same month, Stepan was led to the scaffold and quartered. The whole square witnessed this. The sentence was long. The rebel listened calmly. His farewell gesture was to bow in front of the church. The executioner first cut off his right arm up to the elbow. Then the left leg was cut off at the knee, and finally the head. Before Stepan was beheaded, his brother Frol tried to beg for mercy, but he received only a short reprieve of death. He was executed there and in the same way.

The military operations in the Volga region did not end there. The leaders of the Cossacks were Vasily Us and Fyodor Sheludyaka. Astrakhan was taken from the Razins by government troops only in November 1671. It was a particularly brutal fight that ended the standoff.

Attention from abroad

European politicians closely watched Razin's actions. The most important trade routes were at stake in this battle. They connected Europe with Persia and Russia. At that time, rebel battles took place in parallel in Germany, England and the Netherlands. In these countries, articles and books were published about the adventures of the chieftain. Some had fantastic details along with important data.

Foreigners watched as the Cossack was brought to the capital as a prisoner and executed. It was especially beneficial for the king to show that power was completely in his hands, and no one could shake it. Moreover, some kind of bandit, coming from a poor background.

Although the victory was not yet final, the death of the Cossack leader still looked very impressive. One of the literary works on this topic is “Three Voyages”, which was written by Jan Streis. He witnessed the uprising and visited the territory controlled by Razin. To create this story, we used our own observations and materials that the writer gleaned from information presented by other authors.

Scientific and literary works

In 1674, within the walls of the Wittenberg Institute, historians defended a work that told about the exploits of the chieftain. The work was reprinted many times in the 17th and 18th centuries, Pushkin showed great interest in it.

Subsequently, many legends began to be made about the rebel hero. For example, we can read about him in the work “How Stepan Timofeevich Razin left the prison.”

Folk songs were composed about the ataman in Russia. In some, he was idealized as a hero winning epic battles. Sometimes the image was identified with Ermak Timofeevich, another famous Cossack who conquered Siberia. There are more accurate works that dryly present documentary facts, biography and historical events.

Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin dedicated three of his works to Razin. D.M. also wrote about him. Sadovnikov. In 1908, the first Russian-made feature film appeared. They called him “Ponizovaya Volnitsa”. Gilyarovsky V.A. wrote the poem “Stenka Razin”.

Any revolutionary movement needs a strong leader who can put aside fear and lead large masses. Against the backdrop of general enslavement, people needed a person who could gather and organize them in order to achieve common freedom. Stepan Razin made the Cossacks a real family, a united force that fought for their rights. It is this way, fearless and purposeful, that he comes to us from the pages of history. Even on his deathbed, he did not show a single sign of fear and adhered to his views until his last breath. It was these traits and actions that made him a significant historical figure and hero of folklore.

Razin Stepan Timofeevich - (c. 1630-1671) - leader of the Peasant War of 1670-1671, leader of a large protest movement of peasants, serfs, Cossacks and urban lower classes of the 17th century.

Born approx. 1630 in the village of Zimoveyskaya on the Don (or in Cherkassk) in the family of a wealthy Cossack Timofey Razin, probably the middle son of three (Ivan, Stepan, Frol). The first document about him is his request for leave to travel to the Solovetsky Monastery in 1652.

In 1658 he was among the Cherkasy Cossacks sent to Moscow to the Ambassadorial Prikaz. In 1661, together with Ataman F. Budan, he negotiated with the Kalmyks to conclude peace and joint actions against the Tatars. In 1662 he became an ataman; in 1662-1663 his Cossacks fought against the Turks and Crimeans and took part in the Battle of Molochny Vody on the Crimean Isthmus. He returned to the Don with rich trophies and prisoners.

In 1665, the governor and prince. Yu.A. Dolgorukov hanged Razin’s elder brother Ivan for leaving without permission with the Cossacks to the Don during the Russian-Polish War. Stepan decided not only to avenge his brother, but also to punish the boyars and nobles. Gathering a “gang” of 600 people, he set off in the spring of 1667 from the Zimoveysky town near Tsaritsyn up the Don, along the way robbing government plows with goods and the houses of rich Cossacks. The enterprise was called a “campaign for zipuns” and was a violation of the promise given by the Don Cossacks to the Moscow authorities to “stop theft.” “Vataga” quickly grew to 2 thousand people. on 30 plows. Having captured Yaik by cunning, Razin executed 170 people who saw in his army a “horde of thieves” and replenished the “band” with sympathizers from the local population.

Having established a camp between the rivers Tishini and Ilovnya, he reorganized the “army”, giving it the features of a regular one, divided into hundreds and dozens, led by centurions and tens. Anyone who met his “band” and did not want to go with her was ordered to be “burned with fire and beaten to death.” Despite the cruelty, he remained in people's memory as generous, friendly, and generous to the poor and hungry. He was considered a sorcerer, they believed in his strength and happiness, and called him “father.”

In 1667-1669, Razin made a Persian campaign, defeating the fleet of the Iranian Shah and gaining experience in the “Cossack war” (ambushes, raids, outflanking maneuvers). The Cossacks burned villages and hamlets of the Dagestan Tatars, killed residents, and destroyed property. Taking Baku, Derbent. Reshet, Farabat, Astrabat, Razin took prisoners, among them was the daughter of Meneda Khan. He made her a concubine, then dealt with her, proving the ataman’s prowess. This fact was included in the text of the folk song about Stenka Razin, but already at that time legends about the “bewitched by a bullet and a saber” destroyer of other people’s property, about his strength, dexterity and luck, were spreading everywhere.

In August-September 1669, having returned to the Don, he and his “comrades” built a fortress on the island - the town of Kagalnik. On it, Razin’s “gang” and he himself distributed the spoils of war, inviting him to join the Cossack army, enticing him with wealth and prowess. The Moscow government's attempt to punish the obstinate people by stopping the supply of grain to the Don only added to Razin's supporters.

In May 1670, at the “larger circle”, the ataman announced that he intended to “go from the Don to the Volga, and from the Volga to Rus'... in order... to remove the traitorous boyars and duma people from the Moscow state and the governors and officials in the cities ", give freedom to "black people".

In the summer of 1670 the campaign turned into a powerful peasant war. The rumor about Tsarevich Alexei (actually deceased) and Patriarch Nikon walking with Razin turned the campaign into an event that received the blessing of the church and the authorities. Near Simbirsk in October 1670, Stepan Razin was wounded and went to the Don. There, together with his brother Frol, on April 9, 1671, the “homely Cossacks” led by Kornil Yakovlev were handed over to the authorities. Brought to Moscow, Stepan was interrogated, tortured and quartered on June 6, 1671.

The image of Razin inspired V.I. Surikov to paint the canvas Stepan Razin (1907, Russian Museum). Razin was imprinted in the people's memory in the name of the cliff and tracts on the Volga. His personality is reflected in the novels of S. Zlobin (Stepan Razin), V. Shukshin (I came to give you freedom...).

Don Cossack, leader of the uprising of 1670-1671.

Origin. Hiking for zipuns

Stepan Razin belonged to the homely Cossacks of the Don. He was born in the village of Zimoveyskaya, from which another famous rebel came -. His father, Timofey Razya, was one of the Cossack foreman. Stepan's godfather was the ataman of the Don army, Kornil Yakovlev.

Contemporaries noted Stenka Razin's penchant for adventure, his military training, experience and cunning. In addition, he had the ability to inspire fear and love.

Razin visited Moscow with the Cossack embassy, led individual Cossack campaigns, and twice made pilgrimages from the Don to the Solovetsky Islands.

In the spring of 1667, Stepan decided to go “for the zipuns,” that is, for the booty, gathering a detachment of golutvenny (poor) Cossacks. On the Volga near Tsaritsyn they managed to plunder merchant ships with many valuable goods, while cutting down all those who resisted and replenishing their detachment with exiles and archers. Razin defeated several detachments sent against him and went out into the Caspian Sea, along which he went to the Yaitsky town. Stenka managed to capture him by deception. After that, to the town along the river. Yaik, a detachment of government troops (1,700 people) led by I. Ruzhinsky arrived, but it was defeated by the Razins. Then the Astrakhan governor was removed by Moscow, and four detachments of archers and foot soldiers, collected in the cities of the Volga region, came out against the Cossacks. However, the troops sent were defeated, and all government negotiators who called on Razin to “stop the theft” were killed.

In March, the Razins reached the western coast of the Caspian Sea, where they united with detachments of “free people” atamans S. Krivoy, Boba and others.

Caspian campaign

Having reached the Caspian Sea, Razin and his people raided coastal cities, then going to the Persian shores. Near the city of Rasht, the Cossacks met with the Persian army. Then they resorted to a trick, declaring that they wanted to become slaves to the Shah. While the Persians were deciding what to do, Razin and his detachment, rampaging in Rasht, clashed with local residents, after which the Razins plundered and burned Farabad, Astrabad and many villages on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea. The Cossacks spent the winter on the Miyan-Kale peninsula, then moved to Svinoy Island, where they stayed for two months. A naval battle took place here in July 1669, in which the Iranian fleet was defeated. Then the Persian princess, the daughter of Mamed Khan, was captured by Razin, who was then drowned.

The Cossacks appeared in Astrakhan with huge booty. Razin returned his horsetail, guns, banners and prisoners to the governors. The Cossacks beat the king with their foreheads, asking him to forgive them and let them go to the Don, which eventually happened. In September, Razin left Astrakhan, continuing to rob merchant ships on his way to the Don.

Revolt of 1670-1671

The uprising of Stepan Razin was a complex and huge-scale phenomenon. Some historians call it a civil war, Soviet historiography considered it a peasant war, but not only fugitive peasants took part in it, but also the Cossacks, townspeople and service people, barge haulers. In addition, other nationalities took part in the uprising: Chuvash, Mari, Tatars, Mordovians. Razin sent out “charming letters” among the people, in which he called for the destruction of the mighty of this world, but the cruel and unprincipled Cossack, who thirsted for profit, certainly did not resemble the people’s defender. It is worth noting that the uprising was spontaneous.

In October 1669, Stepan Razin returned to the Don. Here, on Kagalnitsky Island, he built his own town, in which there were 1,500 Cossacks; in May 1670 there were already 5 thousand of them.

To clarify the situation, nobleman G. Evdokimov was sent to the Don. Here Stenka was lying, calling the nobleman not a royal envoy, but a boyar spy, thereby allegedly demonstrating his loyalty to the king and dislike for the “traitors” boyars. As a result, Evdokimov was drowned by decision of the Cossack circle.

In May, Razin finally decided to march to the Volga against the “sovereign traitors.” On May 15, 1670, 7 thousand Razin residents besieged Tsaritsyn, which they managed to take. Soon the army of the rebels was already about 10 thousand people, he had about 80 plows. Hoping to take Razin in a vice, I. Lopatin’s rifle detachment (1 thousand people) approached Tsaritsyn from the north. The army of the governor Prince S. Lvov of 5 thousand people stood at Black Yar. As a result, in early June the archers were defeated, and Lvov’s army went over to Stenka’s side.

On the night of June 21-22, the Razins stormed Astrakhan. Having distracted the people of Voivode Prozorovsky in one place, the rebels managed to break into the city in another. Up to 500 city residents were executed and their property was plundered.

Razin's growing army began to be divided into tens, hundreds and thousands, which had their own commanders. Razin had his own artillery, ship's army, cavalry units, and infantry. It was she who formed the basis of the army, but consisted of people not trained in military affairs, armed with whatever they had to.

Having entrusted Astrakhan to the detachment of Vasily Us and Fyodor Sheludyak, Razin moved up the Volga. Saratov and Samara went over to his side without a fight. Throughout his entire journey, he sent out “lovely letters” with calls to stand up for the Tsar and kill the traitorous boyars and officials, and supposedly Patriarch Nikon and son Alexei sailed on his ships. At the height of the riot, the number of rebels reached 200 thousand people.

In August, Alexey Mikhailovich reviewed the 60,000-strong army that was sent to suppress the rebels. At the same time, the rebels besieged and took Simbirsk, with the exception of its Kremlin. The tsarist army under the command of the experienced military leader Prince Yu. Dolgoruky stood in Arzamas. Part of the army approached Kazan, from where the people of the governor, Prince Yu. Baryatinsky, came to the aid of those besieged in the Simbirsk Kremlin. During a fierce battle that took place on October 3 (13), 1670, Razin was wounded. After that, he and his closest associates sailed along the Volga to the Don, where he hid.

The tsarist army was successful; it won victories, gradually dispersing the rebels. The governors treated the rebels mercilessly, killing many thousands of people.

Execution

Razin failed to hold out on the Don Stenka. In April 1671, his Kagalnitsky town was taken by government troops. Ataman Kornila Yakovlev, fearing the tsar's wrath, and his Cossacks captured the rebel and handed him over to the governors. Razin was brought to Moscow in early June in shackles on a cart with a gallows to which he was chained. In the Zemsky Prikaz, the head of the rebels was subjected to severe torture.

On June 6 (16), 1671, Stepan Razin was executed on Bolotnaya Square by quartering. After cutting off the head, parts of the chieftain's body were strung on spears, and the entrails were thrown to the dogs. Razin was anathematized, so his remains were buried in the Tatar cemetery. His brother Frol was executed along with him.

We all know about this daring rebel, the leader of the rebellious Cossacks, not only from the school history course, but also from the famous song “Because of the Island to the Rod,” the text of which was written by the Samara folklorist and poet Dmitry Sadovnikov in 1872. And this is not the only link that connects our city with the legendary folk hero. It turns out that in 1670-1671, power in Samara for 10 months belonged not to the royal governors, but to elected atamans, associates of Stepan Timofeevich Razin (Fig. 1).

Revenge for brother

He was born around 1630 in the village of Zimoveyskaya on the Don. There is one historical coincidence here: it was here exactly one hundred years later that another legendary chieftain, Emelyan Pugachev, was born. Under the name Pugachevskaya, this village exists to this day, and it belongs to the Volgograd region. As for Stepan Razin, he subsequently attracted enormous attention from both his contemporaries and descendants, becoming a hero of folklore, a protagonist in artistic works and scientific works not only in Russia, but also abroad.

And the first mentions of this personality in historical documents date back to 1661, when the valor of the three Razin brothers - Ivan, Stepan and Frol - was repeatedly noted in the chronicles of the Cossack campaigns against the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire. In 1662, Stepan, the middle of them, was elected supreme ataman. His brothers at this time also became prominent people, although they occupied places below Stepan in the Cossack hierarchy.

During the battle with the Turks in 1662 at Molochnye Vody on the Crimean Isthmus, the Cossacks won a victory and returned to the Don with rich trophies. However, in 1665, a serious conflict occurred when the Tsar's governor, Prince Yuri Dolgorukov, hanged his elder brother Ivan for his unauthorized departure to the Don during the war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This event, combined with intensifying attempts to deprive the Cossacks of their won liberties, could not but have a huge impact on the freedom-loving Stepan Razin.

It was this event that became a turning point in the entire future life of the ataman. In the closest circle, he declared that he would take revenge personally on Dolgorukov and the entire Moscow government as a whole, and was also going to achieve a free and prosperous life for all the Cossacks who were under his command (Fig. 2, 3).

From that time on, Razin's hostility towards the Moscow government turned into an open war against the tsarist regime. Thus, since 1667, the entire Volga route to Persia was blocked due to the actions of the rebellious Cossacks, which at that time most worried not the Russian authorities, but the European trade missions in Moscow, which were losing huge profits (Fig. 4).

In the same year, a Cossack army of many thousands, led by Razin, went on a campaign, first to the Lower Volga and Yaik, and then to the Persian cities on the Caspian coast. In Russian history, this voyage was called the “campaign for zipuns.” It was precisely at this time, most likely, that the infamous episode with the Persian princess, which is described in the song “Because of the Island to the Core,” occurred.

During a campaign along the Persian coast of the Caspian Sea, the Cossacks plundered the town of Astrabad, where they massacred all the men, and took more than 800 young girls and women with them. From among them, Razin and his entourage selected about fifty of the most beautiful concubines, and the remaining unfortunates were all destroyed after a general three-week orgy. However, Razin did not spare even the girls he liked, which was reflected in the famous song (Fig. 5).

In 1668-1669, Razin’s Cossacks were mainly engaged only in robbing royal and foreign ships on the Lower Volga, but from the spring of 1670 their actions had already acquired the character of an open uprising. The chieftain sent out propaganda leaflets throughout the cities, which in those days were called “charming letters” (from the word “to seduce”). In them, the rebels on behalf of Razin called on ordinary townspeople not to pay any more extortionate taxes to the tsar’s treasury, to kill the city governors who were disgusted with them, and then go over to the service of the ataman. At the same time, Razin did not intend (at least in words) to overthrow Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, but declared himself an enemy of all official authorities - governors, clerks, representatives of the church, accusing them of “treason” to the Tsar (Fig. 6).

In all cities and fortresses occupied by the Razinites, representatives of the central government were killed or expelled, and in their place Cossack urban planning was introduced. Of course, the leaders here were not Razin himself and his Cossacks, but local rebels and informal leaders, which happened, in particular, in the Samara region.

Rebellious city of Samara

According to archival documents, Stepan Razin’s troops first appeared in the vicinity of Samara on May 31, 1670. At that time, on the site of our city there still stood a fortress, surrounded by a high palisade with watchtowers at the corners. Inside it was held by a small garrison led by governor Ivan Alfimov, who was subordinate to about 100 cavalry and 200 foot archers, as well as several gunners. Under the walls of the fortress there were townspeople and peasants' courtyards, trading shops and a bazaar (Fig. 7).

Having captured the settlement, the rebels began storming the fortress. Two watchtowers were burned, but the rebels were unable to break through, after which they were forced to retreat down the Volga. The reports to Moscow say this: “And how de thief Stenka came to Samara, and the village people did not let him into the city, and he de thief Stenka, having robbed wine from a tavern in the settlement, ran downstairs, and near Samara de I didn’t hesitate for an hour.”

Razin's new detachments began to approach Samara on August 26. By this time, the above-mentioned “charming letters” had done their job, and the mood in the city had sharply turned towards the rebels. Cossack troops arrived at the walls of Samara within three days, and therefore on August 28, when the Razins began a decisive assault, the inhabitants of the fortress rebelled, opened the gates and greeted the rebels as dear guests - with bread and salt and the ringing of bells (Fig. 8).

The Samara governor Alfimov, several nobles and clerks were captured and “put in the water,” that is, drowned. Both Streltsy centurions, Mikhail Khomutov and Alexey Torshilov, also went over to the side of the rebels along with their troops. Within a day, the fortress began to be controlled by the local townsman Ignat Govorukhin, and the military forces by the elected ataman Ivan Konstantinov, who declared freedom for everyone and freed the population from taxes.

After the successful capture of Samara, the Razins went to Simbirsk, intending to follow it by storming Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod. 50 foot and 40 horse archers from Samara voluntarily went on this voyage. However, thanks to spies, the authorities immediately became aware of the rebels’ march up the Volga. Regimental governor Yuri Baryatinsky, who arrived to defend Simbirsk, reported in his report to the tsar that he managed to get ahead of Razin, who “did not have time to come from Samara. And the leading people who walked in front of him above Samara turned back to Samara, hearing about me... and your great sovereign’s military men coming” (Fig. 9).

As you know, this campaign became fatal for Razin. The Cossacks suffered a complete defeat in the battle with the tsarist troops near Simbirsk on October 4, and the ataman himself was wounded, and with a few associates fled down the Volga to the Don, where he hoped to restore his army. In his report on this matter, the Simbirsk governor reported that the “thief Stenka” with a detachment of Cossacks sailed past Samara on October 22, then stopping below the city to rest and replenish supplies.

In Samara itself, supporters of free life continued to rule. To strengthen the defense of the fortress, a detachment of Yaik Cossacks under the command of Ataman Maxim Besheny soon came here. This is how, in the summer of 1670, many Volga cities, due to the revelry of the freemen of Stepan Razin, actually fell out of the power of Moscow, refused to pay taxes to the central treasury, and no longer sent their goods to the capital. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was extremely dissatisfied with this, and by his decree ordered to gather an army in order to “catch the thief Stenka, and hang the thieving slaves in Samara, Saratov, Tsaritsyn and Astrakhan.”

To establish the number of rebels in the coastal cities and find out what resources they had, during the coming winter, scouts were sent here for reconnaissance. In particular, a message came from our city from spies that “in Samara they recognized us, kept us chained and wanted to execute us, but people loyal to the sovereign helped us escape. And in total in the fortress there are 90 Yaik, 10 Don and about 300 newly arrived (newly arrived - V.E.) Cossacks... And in total in Samara there are 700 people, five cannons, but no gunpowder, and few grain reserves.”

Treasures of the Cossack freemen

In the middle of winter, the head of the rebellious Samara, Ignat Govorukhin, was greatly concerned that for several months there had been no news about the fate of Stepan Razin, whom the city recognized in August as the supreme ataman of the entire Volga freemen. And after some time, the Simbirsk administrative hut received information from the tsar’s spies located in the fortress that ataman Maxim Besheny was sent from Samara down the Volga with a detachment of Cossacks to search for Stepan Razin. Next, other groups of Samarans were sent to Saratov, Tsaritsyn and Penza to contact the leader, but they all returned with nothing. Only with the onset of spring 1671 did information begin to arrive in the city that Razin had been captured by government troops.

It is now known that the capture of the legendary chieftain occurred as a result of betrayal on the part of his inner circle, which considered him guilty of exorbitant aspirations and overestimation of his strength. As a result, on April 14, 1671, in the Don city of Kagalnik, Stepan Razin, together with his brother Frol, was captured by his former comrade-in-arms, Ataman Konstantin Yakovlev, and handed over to the tsarist authorities (Fig. 10).
After interrogations and torture, the leader of the rebels was quartered on June 6 in Moscow at Lobnoye Mesto (Fig. 11).
The government then began brutal reprisals locally and against the rest of the rebels. Over the course of a year, about 100 thousand of them were executed, many were impaled. Throughout the summer of 1671, rafts with gallows floated along the Volga as a warning to the rebels (Fig. 12).

Despite this, Razin’s closest associates refused to believe in the death of their ataman, and continued to fight with the supreme power. After the captivity of the leader of the freemen, a large detachment arrived from Astrakhan in Samara under the command of Ataman Fyodor Sheludyak, who united with the Cossacks of Ivan Konstantinov stationed here and moved to capture Simbirsk. About a hundred Samara residents also went with them. But in this battle near Simbirsk, the rebels were also defeated, and both chieftains with the remnants of their troops fled back to Samara. But they did not know that on June 27, government troops entered the city without a fight, and here they captured Govorukhin and several other people close to him. Ivan Konstantinov, who returned to the city, was ambushed, but Fyodor Sheludyak with several Cossacks on the plow managed to escape the pursuit. Only in 1672 was he captured in Astrakhan and subsequently executed. Subsequently, one of the peaks in the Zhiguli Mountains was named after him (Fig. 13).

As for the fortress of Samara, its population, after the defeat of the uprising, was forced to confess to the sovereign and for several years pay a huge fee to the royal treasury. The Samara voivode at the same time appointed steward Vavil Everlakov, about whom the decree on his appointment said this: “Printing duties were not taken from him, because he was sent to the voivodeship against his will.” That same summer, Konstantinov, Govorukhin and some other leaders of the rebellious Samara were executed, and more than a hundred more townspeople were exiled to Kholmogory for eternal settlement.

After Stenka Razin’s adventures along the Volga, people created numerous legends about him. The most common of them talk about treasures that either the ataman himself or his Cossacks allegedly buried somewhere in the Zhiguli Mountains. To this day, on Samara Luka there are at least five caves bearing the name of Stepan Razin: near the villages of Malaya Ryazan and Shelekhmet, at the foot of the Molodetsky and Usinsky mounds, as well as on Mount Pechora, which stands on the banks of the Usa River. Over hundreds of years, dozens of treasure hunters, including the owners of the Samara Luka, the Orlov-Davydovs, tried to find Razin’s treasures in these places, but luck has not smiled on anyone to this day.

It should also be noted that for several years the popular uprising of Stepan Razin attracted the attention of all of Europe, since the fate of the most important trade routes along the Volga, connecting Western states with Persia, depended on its outcome.

Articles and even books about the Cossack rebellion and its leader even before the end of the rebellion appeared in England, the Netherlands, Germany and other countries, which were often fantastic in their details, especially regarding “Russian savagery.” Then many foreigners witnessed the arrival of the captive Razin in Moscow and his execution, since the government of Alexei Mikhailovich was very interested in this and in every possible way sought to assure Europe of the final victory over the rebels.

Interestingly, Stepan Razin apparently became the first Russian person about whom a dissertation for the title of Master of History was defended in the West. This event took place on June 29, 1674 at the University of Wittenberg (Germany). The author of a scientific work about the Cossack ataman was Johann, whose work was repeatedly republished in different countries in the 17th-18th centuries (Fig. 14).

Valery EROFEEV.

Bibliography

Dubman E.L. 1996. Samara region in the 16th-17th centuries. - In the book. "Samara region (geography and history, economics and culture)." Samara,: 171-183.

Elshin A.G. 1918. Samara chronology. Type. Provincial zemstvo. Samara. :1-52.

Erofeev V.V., Chubachkin E.A. 2007. Samara province - native land. T. I. Samara, Samara Book Publishing House, 416 pp., color. on 16 p.

Erofeev V.V., Chubachkin E.A. 2008. Samara province - native land. T. II. Samara, publishing house "Book", - 304 pp., color. on 16 p.

Erofeev V.V., Galaktionov V.M. 2013. A word about the Volga and Volga residents. Samara. Publishing house As Gard. 396 pp.

Erofeev V.V., Zakharchenko T.Ya., Nevsky M.Ya., Chubachkin E.A. 2008. According to Samara miracles. Sights of the province. Publishing house "Samara House of Printing", 168 p.

"Green Book" of the Volga region. Protected natural areas of the Samara region. Comp. A.S. Zakharov, M.S. Gorelov. Samara, Prince. publishing house 1995:1-352.

Samara land. Essays on the history of the Samara region from ancient times to the victory of the Great October Socialist Revolution. Ed. P.S. Kabytov and L.V. Khramkova. Kuibyshev, Kuib. book publishing house 1990:1-320.

Classics of Samara local history. Anthology. Ed. P.S. Kabytova, E.L. Dubman. Samara, Samara University Publishing House. 2002.:1-278.

Peasant war led by Stepan Razin. In 2 volumes. - M., 1957.

The legends were Zhiguli. 3rd edition, revised. and additional Kuibyshev, Kuib. book publishing house 1979.:1-520.

Matveeva G.I., Medvedev E.I., Nalitova G.I., Khramkov A.V. 1984. Samara region. Kuibyshev, Kuib. book publishing house

Our region. Samara province - Kuibyshev region. Reader for teachers of the history of the USSR and students of senior secondary schools. Kuibyshev, Kuib. book publishing house 1966:1-440.

Nayakshin K.Ya. 1962. Essays on the history of the Kuibyshev region. Kuibyshev, Kuib. book publishing house :1-622.

Natural monuments of the Kuibyshev region. Comp. IN AND. Matveev, M.S. Gorelov. Kuibyshev. Kuib. book publishing house 1986:1-160.

Peretyatkovich G. 1882. The Volga region in the 17th and early 18th centuries. Odessa.

Rychkov P.I. 1896. Orenburg history (1730-1750). Orenburg.

Syrkin V., Khramkov L. 1969. Do you know your land? Kuibyshev, Kuib. book publishing house: 1-166.

Khramkov L.V. 2003. Introduction to Samara local history. Tutorial. Samara, publishing house "NTC".

Khramkov L.V., Khramkova N.P. 1988. Samara region. Tutorial. Kuibyshev, Kuib. book publishing house :1-128.

Chistyakova E.V., Solovyov V.M. Stepan Razin and his associates. M.: Mysl, 1988. 224 p.

Works of art

Voloshin M. Stenkin court. Poem. 1917.

Gilyarovsky V.A. Stenka Razin. Poem.

Yevtushenko E. Execution of Stenka Razin. Chapter from the poem “Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station”. 1964.

Zlobin S. Stepan Razin. Novel. 1951.

Kamensky V. Stepan Razin. Poem.

Loginov S. Well. Novel. 1997.

Mordovtsev D.L. For whose sins? Historical novel. 1891.

Nazhivin I. Stepan Razin (Cossacks). Historical novel. 1928.

Songs about Stenka Razin, stylized as folk songs / A.S. Pushkin.

Sadovnikov D. From behind the island to the core. Poem, lyrics.

Tolstoy A. Court. Poem.

Usov V. Fiery pre-winter: The Tale of Stepan Razin. Tale. 1987.

Khlebnikov V. Razin. Poem. 1920.

Tsvetaeva M.I. Stenka Razin. Poem 1917.

Chapygin A. Razin Stepan. Historical novel. 1924-1927.

Shukshin V. I came to give you freedom. Novel. 1971. Screenplay of the same name.

Apparently, he was the first Russian about whom a dissertation was defended in the West (and only a few years after his death).

Before the uprising

Born in the Cherkasy village of Zimoveyskaya, (Emelyan Pugachev was later born there), after the suppression of the Pugachev uprising, it was renamed the Little Russian village of Potemkinskaya, currently the village of Pugachevskaya, Kotelnikovsky district, Volgograd region.

Razin appears on the pages of history in 1652. By this time he was already an ataman and acted as one of the two authorized representatives of the Don Cossacks; Apparently, his military experience and authority in the Don circle was already great by this time. Razin's older brother Ivan was also a prominent Cossack leader. In -1663, Stepan commanded Cossack troops in campaigns against the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire. In 1665, the tsarist governor, Prince Yu. A. Dolgorukov, during one of the conflicts with the Don Cossacks, who wanted to go to the Don while serving as tsar, ordered the execution of Ivan Razin, Stepan’s older brother. This event influenced Razin’s further activities: the desire to take revenge on Dolgorukov and the tsarist administration was combined with the desire for a free and prosperous life for the Cossacks under his command. Soon, apparently, Razin decided that the Cossack military-democratic system should be extended to the entire Russian state.

Hike for zipuns

Modern estimates

The main reasons for the defeat of Razin's uprising were:

its spontaneity and low organization,
the fragmentation of the actions of the peasants, as a rule, limited to the destruction of the estate of their own master,
the rebels lack clearly understood goals.

Even if the Razins had managed to win and capture Moscow, they would not have been able to create a new, just society. After all, the only example of such a fair society in their minds was the Cossack circle. But the entire country cannot exist by seizing and dividing other people's property. Any state needs a management system, an army, and taxes.

Therefore, the victory of the rebels would inevitably be followed by new social differentiation. The victory of the unorganized peasant and Cossack masses would inevitably lead to great casualties and would cause significant damage to Russian culture and the development of the Russian state.
Thus, after the liberation of Moscow from the seven-boyars and the interventionists, the power of the proteges of the Cossacks - the House of Romanov - was established, but the enforcement of the Cossacks seemed to the peasants a more severe form of exploitation than patrimonial and landownership. The Romanovs returned the Cossacks to the traditional Cossack lands, and after the Seat of Azov (1641-1642), supposedly only to prevent the Cossacks from collecting volunteers for wars with the Ottoman port throughout Russia, the Council Code of 1649 restored what had been abolished during the Time of Troubles and the peasant war led by Ivan Bolotnikov, serfdom, the abolition of which the Razinites fought unsuccessfully.

In historical science there is no unity on the question of whether to consider Razin’s uprising a peasant-Cossack uprising or a peasant war. In Soviet times, the name “peasant war” was used; in the pre-revolutionary period, it was about an uprising. In recent years, the term “uprising” has once again become dominant.

Stepan Razin in art

Literature

songs about Stenka Razin, stylized as folk songs / A. S. Pushkin
“For whose sins?” / Mordovtsev, Daniil Lukich - historical novel (1891).
“Stenka Razin” / M. Tsvetaeva - poem (1917)
“Razin” / V. Khlebnikov - poem, (1920)
“Stenka Razin” / V. A. Gilyarovsky - poem
“Stepan Razin” / V. Kamensky - poem
“Razin Stepan” / A. Chapygin - historical novel (1924-1927)
“Stepan Razin (Cossacks)” / Ivan Nazhivin - historical novel (1928)
“Stepan Razin” / S. Zlobin - novel (1951)
“I came to give you freedom” / V. Shukshin - novel (1971)
“Stenkin’s Court” / Maximilian Voloshin - poem (1917).
“The Execution of Stenka Razin” / Evgeny Yevtushenko - poem (1964).
“The Well” / Svyatoslav Loginov - novel (1997).

Movies

Musical works

“Stenka Razin” - opera by composer N. Ya. Afanasyev
“Stenka Razin” - symphonic poem by composer A. K. Glazunov
"Anathema" - rock opera by composer Vladimir Kalle
“There is a cliff on the Volga” - Folk song
“Because of the island to the core” - folk song to the words of D. M. Sadovnikov
“Oh, it’s not evening” - folk song
“The Execution of Stepan Razin” - symphonic poem for bass, choir and symphony orchestra by D. D. Shostakovich
“The Dream of Stepan Razin” - epic for bass and symphony orchestra by G. I. Ustvolskaya
“Court” - a song by composer Konstantin Kinchev based on verses by Alexei Tolstoy)
“Ataman will be born” - song by Nikolai Emelin.

Places named in memory of S. Razin

Lake Razelm in Dobruja

The name of the largest lake in Romania (actually a group of lakes, lagoons and estuaries) in honor of Stepan Razin and the Razins is explained by oral tradition, reflected at the end of the 19th century in the Great Romanian Geographical Dictionary (Marele Dictionar Geografic Roman). The dictionary reports the temporary residence of Stepan Razin in the Yenisala fortress (several kilometers south of Sariköy), as well as the stay of Vanka Kain on the island of Popino (northeast of Sariköy) and Trishki-Rasstrizhka on the island of Biserikutsa (Tserkovka).

Settlements

The village of Razin is located in the Zemetchinsky district of the Penza region, in the place where the uprising took place.
Working village named after Stepan Razin - a settlement in the Lukoyanovsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region of Russia
The village of Stepan Razin in the Volgograd region (Leninsky district).
the village of Stepano-Razinskaya in the Volgograd region (Bykovsky district).
Stepan Razin, an urban-type settlement in Azerbaijan, subordinate to the Leninsky District Council (now Sabunchu District) of Baku. Located on the Absheron Peninsula. 39.8 thousand inhabitants (as of 1975).

Avenues and streets

Stepan Razin Avenue is located in the city of Tolyatti
Streets are named after Stepan Razin in Rostov-on-Don, Perm, Arzamas, Armavir, Voronezh, Yekaterinburg, Izhevsk, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Samara, Sarapul, Saratov, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk, Orel, Temirtau, Petrozavodsk, Michurinsk, Dmitrov .
Stepan Razin's descent onto the Imperial (old) bridge over the Volga River in Ulyanovsk.
Stepan Razin embankment in Tver.
In Tuapse there is also Stepan Razin Street.

Enterprises

A beer factory in St. Petersburg is named after Stepan Razin.

Notes

In the city of Vologda there is Stepan Razin Street. It is located next to Pugachev Street.

Literature

Peasant war led by Stepan Razin. In 2 volumes. - M., 1957.
Chistyakova E. V., Solovyov V. M. Stepan Razin and his associates / Reviewer: Dr. ist. sciences, prof. V. I. Buganov; Design by artist A. A. Brantman. - M.: Mysl, 1988. - 224, p. - 50,000 copies. - ISBN 5-244-00069-1(region)

Stenka Razin biography. Razin Stepan Timofeevich

Speculation regarding his birth

Life

Before the uprising happened

During the uprising

Growing strength of the Cossacks

Legendary Events

Peasants' War

Captivity and death

Attention from abroad

Scientific and literary works

Before the uprising

Hike for zipuns

Modern estimates

Stepan Razin in art

Literature

Movies

Musical works

Places named in memory of S. Razin

Notes

Literature

Links