The Bashkir uprising of 1705-1711 left a noticeable mark in the history of Russia. This period is not widely covered. Against the backdrop of the Northern War and the reforms of Peter the Great, riots are sometimes presented by historians as minor internal problems.
Instead of a preface
The instigators who raised the Bashkir uprising have sunk into oblivion. The participants in these events are not mentioned in works of art, unlike, for example, Pugachev's peasant uprising. Meanwhile, the history of the peoples that became part of the Russian Empire became its history as well. It is worth noting that the borders of settlement, the language and customs of the Bashkirs in the past differed from modern ones. Before describing the Bashkir uprisings of the early eighteenth century, let's briefly turn to the history of this people.
Geographic reference
Possible ancestors of the Bashkirs are mentioned in their writings by Ptolemy and Herodotus. It is believed that their ethnic territory is the steppes of the Southern Urals. Arab sources of the ninth century directly testify to this. According to Ibn Fadlan, the Bashkirs - Turks living on the southern slopes of the Urals, occupy a vast territory up to the Volga, their neighbors in the southeast are the Pechenegs, onin the west - Bulgars, in the south - Oguzes.
Sharif Idrisi, a geographer of the twelfth century, reported that the Bashkirs settled at the sources of the Kama and the Urals. He was talking about a large settlement called Nemzhan, located in the upper reaches of the Lika River (possibly Yaik or Ural). The Bashkirs were engaged in the smelting of copper, the extraction of fox and beaver fur, and the processing of precious stones. In the city of Gurkhan, in the northern part of the Agidel River, the Bashkirs made jewelry, harness and weapons.
Origin of the people
Written sources testify that the Bashkirs have long inhabited the Southern Urals. For a long time they were the most numerous people of this region. It is not known for certain when the Bashkirs came to the Southern Urals, how their community developed, how the language was formed. The fact is that they were at such a low level of development that they did not leave clear traces. At the same time, these lands were inhabited by numerous Ugric tribes, who owned skillful metalworking and other crafts. Mounds and other archaeological finds testify to their presence.
A more or less clear idea of the Bashkir peoples appeared only in the 16-17th centuries. Initially, these were scattered ethnic groups. Subsequently, these groups developed deep cultural differences. According to one version, the Bashkirs came to the South Urals from the Ural lowland, according to another, they are a group of Finno-Ugric tribes that underwent significant Turkization. The third and most accurate version is that the Bashkirs are the remnants of nomadic tribes,switched to a sedentary lifestyle. A sharp change in lifestyle contributed to the disappearance of some cultural traditions and their replacement by others. In time, the change from nomadic pastoralism to semi-nomadic occurred in the period from the 17th to the 19th century. At the same time, the South Urals were actively developed by the Russians. Thus, the cultural traditions of the Bashkirs were replaced by Russian or Finno-Ugric ones. The Bashkirs developed hunting and agriculture. Part of the traditional culture was lost. The colonization of the people was relatively mild, as many retained a nomadic lifestyle. Only rumors about the forced Christianization of the Bashkirs caused discontent.
Language affiliation
The Bashkir language belongs to the Volga-Kypchak subgroup, which is part of the Kypchak group, the Turkic branch of the Altaic group of languages. There are three dialects: southern, eastern, northwestern. In ancient times, the Bashkirs used the Turkic runic script, during the formation of Islam - the Arabic alphabet. An attempt was made to translate the language into Latin, at the moment there are thirty-three Russian letters in the Bashkir alphabet and nine additional letters denoting specific sounds.
Religion
According to the ancient Arabs, the Bashkirs originally had pagan beliefs. Ancient tribes worshiped twelve gods, warriors identified themselves with wild animals. Obviously, the ancient religion resembled shamanism. The period of description of the peoples of the Cis-Urals by Arab historians coincides with the beginning of the adoption of Islam by the Bashkirs. The upholding by the Bashkirs of the right to profess Islam led to bloody, destructiveuprisings.
Joining Russia
In the 13th-14th centuries, the Bashkirs were part of the Golden Horde. After its fall, the nation was divided territorially. The western and northwestern Bashkirs were under the rule of the Kazan Khanate. The population of the central, southern and southeastern parts of Bashkiria was ruled by the Nogai Horde. The Trans-Ural part belonged to the Siberian Khanate. During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the Bashkirs of all khanates in turn accepted Moscow citizenship.
The terms of acceptance predetermined the Bashkir uprisings. It happened after the capture of Kazan. The entry was voluntary, which was facilitated by the appeal of the Russian tsar to the Bashkirs. Ivan the Terrible made unprecedented concessions to the Bashkirs, giving them a patrimonial right to land, preserving Islam and local self-government.
History of rebellions
An attempt to further violate the manifesto caused massive discontent on the part of the people of Bashkiria. After the accession to the throne of the Romanovs, the Bashkir lands began to be actively distributed to the landowners, thereby violating the patrimonial right of the people to own land. The first riot took place in 1645. Further, the Bashkir uprisings occurred from 1662 to 1664, from 1681 to 1684, from 1704 to 1711 (1725). The longest performance is associated with an attempt to eradicate Islam. All the Bashkir uprisings brought a lot of trouble to the Russian state and complicated the development of new lands. The royal government once again approved the patrimonial right and granted the Bashkirs new privileges for reconciliation.
Bashkir uprising of 1705-1711
According to one version, the uprising gave rise to rumors about the ban on the Muslim religion, according to another - the seizure of patrimonial lands and tax increases. In August 1704 tax collectors Dokhov, Zhikharev and Sergeev arrived in Bashkiria. They announced a new state decree. The introduction of taxes on the mosque, the mullah and the parishioners of the prayer house was announced. Mosques were to be built on the model of an Orthodox church, a cemetery was to be arranged next to the church, records of the death of parishioners and registration of marriages were to be held in the presence of Orthodox priests. All these innovations were perceived as preparation for the ban on the Muslim religion.
During the Northern War, resources were required, and an additional 200,000 horses and 4,000 soldiers were demanded from the Bashkirs. In total, the decree brought by the tax collectors contained 72 new taxes. In particular, a tax was introduced on eye color. The Bashkir nobility resisted and sought to secede to become part of the Ottoman Empire. The first riots took place under the leadership of Aldar and Kuzyuk.
By 1708, Samara, Saratov, Astrakhan, Vyatka, Tobolsk, Kazan were captured by the Bashkirs. The uprising was only limited, but only by 1711 was completely suppressed. State "newcomers" - tax collectors Dokhov, Sergeev and Zhikharev - were convicted and punished for collecting illegal and unforeseen taxes by decree. Thus, the causes of the Bashkir uprising of 1705-1711 were eliminated. Despite the established peace, only in 1725 the Bashkirsagain swore allegiance to the Russian emperor. The results of the Bashkir uprising were disappointing. Many Russians and Bashkirs died, discontent still persisted.
The desire of the people for self-determination did not subside after the concessions of the tsarist government, but a new uprising did not rise soon. Without exception, all riots were suppressed, and the instigators were severely punished.
Stages of rebellion
Let's consider how the Bashkir uprising developed. The table below illustrates the stages and events.
| Stage | Years | Events |
| 1 | 1704-1706 | The beginning of the uprising, the collection of horses for the needs of the army turned into a robbery and caused a response from the local population |
| 2 | 1707-1708 | The stage of the highest scale of the movement, the capture of Russian cities, the promotion of Khan Khazi Akkuskarov, the attempts of the rebels to establish contact with the Ottoman Empire, the rebellious peasants and Cossacks from the Don |
| 3 | 1709-1710 | Struggle in the Trans-Urals. Association of the rebels with the Karakalpaks. The defeat of the rebels with the help of the Kolyma troops |
| 4 | 1711 | The end of the uprising |
| 5 | 1725 | Signing the oath |
Defeat
Causes of defeatBashkir uprisings are numerous. The fragmentation of the ethnic group and its semi-nomadic way of life served both for the benefit of the royal troops and against them. It was extremely difficult to catch and destroy small cavalry detachments of rebels, to protect Russian settlements from them. In turn, the rebels, not having rigid centralization, acted separately. The goals of individual groups range from banal robberies to the creation of an independent state. The Bashkirs were poorly armed, had no fortifications, and did not know how to conduct a siege. Their victories are explained by the help of the local population, overwhelming superiority in numbers and the element of surprise. The reasons for the defeat of the Bashkir uprising also lie in the inability to negotiate, the constant internecine struggle and the political miscalculations of the instigators.
The last Bashkir uprising
The next attempt by the Bashkirs to raise a rebellion was even more bloody. The reasons for the Bashkir uprising are similar to the previous ones. The distribution of patrimonial lands to service people led to a revolt of the indigenous population. During the uprising, the Bashkirs elected their own ruler - the sultan-girey. Thanks to the “faithful” Bashkirs of Russia, the uprising was crushed. The Bashkir uprising of 1735-1740 claimed the lives of every fourth Bashkir.
In 1755-1756, taking advantage of the fruits of victory, the Russian Empire decides to convert the Bashkirs to Christianity. A new wave of rebellion breaks out. The rebels did not have unity, under the onslaught of Russian troops, many of them went to the Kazakh steppes. Elizabeth II attracted the Volga Tatars to her side, and the rebels were again defeated.
In 1835-1840, in connection with rumors about the transition of the Bashkir peasants under the serfdom of the landowners, a peasant uprising broke out. Only about 3,000 people participated in it. The peasants could not give a fitting rebuff to the troops and were defeated. This ends the Bashkir uprisings. Serfdom in Russia is in decline, and patrimonial lands are no longer touched. Industrial production and resource extraction are developing, which favorably affect the economy of the region.
