In 1563, after a long and bloody war, in the vast territories lying between the great Siberian river Irtysh and its tributary Tobol, Khan Kuchum established his power - the direct heir to the Genghis Khan family and the successor of his aggressive policy. The Khan's army, which consisted of Kazakhs, Nogais and Uzbeks, terrified the inhabitants of the lands, to whom he turned his greedy eyes.
Beginning of the seizure of Siberian lands
Khan Kuchum, whose biography contains, along with historical facts, episodes generated by legends, in many folded about this, in its own way bright and original personality, has forever remained in the history of Siberia. However, little is known about his early years. The meager records of chronicles report only that he was born in 1510-1520 on the shore of the Aral Sea, in an ulus called Alty-aul. The chronicle "On the capture of the Siberian land", compiled by Savva Esipov at the end of the 16th century, specifies that he was a Karakalpak by nationality.
In order to become the ruler of the vast Siberian region, Khan Kuchum, at the head of detachments made up of local tribes subject to him, began military operations in 1555.actions against Khan Yediger, who ran uncontrollably in the lands adjacent to the Irtysh. In this he relied on the help of his relative, the Bukhara ruler Abdullah Khan II. This foreigner saw his economic and political interests in the seizure of Siberia, just like Khan Kuchum himself. The photos presented in the article give an idea of the originality of the Siberian region, where the upcoming historical drama unfolded.
The overthrow of Khan Yediger
This war, as mentioned above, ended in 1563 with the victory of Khan Kuchum, who took control of vast territories and became the ruler of the tribes of the Barabans, Chats and Ostyaks who lived along the banks of the Irtysh. Since that time, his personal we alth began to grow with incredible speed, as the conquered peoples were obliged to regularly pay yasak - a tribute in the form of the most valuable fur of fur animals.
Since Khan Kuchum was a descendant of Genghis Khan himself, he zealously kept his traditions, and, having occupied the city of Kashlyk, the capital of Khan Ediger, he began by killing the latter along with his brother Bedbulat, thereby avenging the death of his grandfather, who died a few years earlier at their hands. He saved his life only to Yediger's nephew, Seidyak, but only to send him in chains to Bukhara as a gift to Abdullah Khan for his military assistance.
An attempt to Islamize the Siberian peoples
In the territories subject to him, Khan Kuchum, as a faithful Muslim, first of all took care of the souls of his new tributaries, but did it in suchthe traditions of militant Islam known in modern times - with fire and sword. But the taiga residents have historically rooted their beliefs, and the shaman was closer to them than the mullah.
Not entering into theological disputes with them, Kuchum simply cut off the heads of those who showed particular stubbornness. For all the rest, the circumcision prescribed by the law of Mohammed was done either on a voluntary basis or by force. This was the principle that the Siberian Khan Kuchum continued to follow steadily. Photos of the pagan temples of the peoples of Siberia can be seen in this article.
Rebellions among local tribes
Such a forcible planting of Islam caused numerous rebellions among the subjugated, and, it would seem, already resigned to their position of the population. The scale of resistance assumed such a wide scope that Khan Kuchum was forced to turn to his father, Murtaza, for help. However, the reinforcements sent by him were not enough, and only with the help of the cavalry of the same Bukhara relative of Abdullah Khan II, they managed to cope with the recalcitrant.
Following the troops from Bukhara, numerous Islamic preachers arrived in Siberia, converting those who were spared by the steel of scimitars to the new faith. Such vigorous actions had a result, but, nevertheless, even after the death of the khan, the inhabitants of Siberia in their overwhelming majority remained pagans.
Ruler of the Siberian Khanate
In the very first years of his reign, Khan Kuchum made every effort to expand his possessions and strengthen the state he created. In this he was able to achieveundoubted success. Soon, in addition to the Tatars and Kipchaks, the Bashkir and Khanty-Mansiysk tribes were under his control. The previously free peoples made up the powerful Siberian Khanate, stretching in the north to the banks of the Ob, in the west to the Urals, and in the south to the Baraba steppe. And everything would be fine, if not for the tribute that he was obliged to pay to the Russian Tsar.
Khan Kuchum was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, who conquered half the world in former times, and his heart broke when he had to send an ambassador to Moscow every year with a thousand of the most valuable sable skins. And if the treasury of the khan was able to withstand such yasak, then the soul was not. Having finally crushed the pockets of resistance in the lands under his control, Kuchum not only refused to pay the due tribute to Russia, but also had a desire to include part of the territories belonging to it into his khanate.
Khan Kuchum and Yermak Timofeevich
The first object of his aggression he chose Perm. This provoked a revolt of the Nogai Tatars, who tried to take advantage of the current situation to secede from the Russian state. Following that, the Khan made a number of attempts to capture Russian cities, but only incurred the wrath of Ivan the Terrible, who immediately sent Cossacks led by the legendary Yermak Timofeevich to pacify him.
Only in one clash near the Chuvash mountain, which occurred on October 12, 1581, the detachments of Khan Kuchum managed to resist the Cossacks and repel their attack. But a month later they were completely defeated, after which the army, which held the population of Siberia in obedience, fled. AtAt the entrance to the capital of the Khanate - the city of Isker - Yermak did not meet any resistance. There was simply no one to fight him, protecting the alien and hated Khan.
Reasons for the military superiority of the Cossacks
Such a relatively easy victory, according to historians, due to several factors. First of all, it should be noted that Khan Kuchum led the army, which consisted of representatives of various peoples, not connected by any religious or cultural ties, and often hostile to each other.
The betrayal of local princes also played a role, who considered it more profitable for themselves to pay tribute to the Moscow tsar than to a foreign khan, who also relied on the support of the Bukhara troops. In addition, realizing that the prospect of plundering Russian cities with impunity turned out to be out of reach, they immediately went over to the side of the Cossacks.
And finally, we must not forget that the semi-wild khan's horde de alt with well-organized, combat-trained regular Cossack units that had firearms at their disposal, absolutely unknown then in the Siberian wilderness. These circumstances allowed Yermak's detachment, numbering less than a thousand people, to quickly suppress the resistance of the enemy, who greatly outnumbered him.
A new stage in the conquest of the Siberian Khanate
But military happiness, as you know, is changeable, and an easy victory sometimes inspires excessive arrogance. Defeated, having lost all his army and barely escaping KhanKuchum took refuge in the Ishim steppes, stretching in the southern part of the West Siberian Plain. There he managed to gather detachments of foreigners scattered across the steppe and, promising them rich booty, to raise them to fight the Cossacks, whose movement was reported to him by local residents. Soon, taking advantage of the right moment, Kuchum attacked them and managed to win.
The news of the military failure reached Moscow and forced Ivan the Terrible to send reinforcements beyond the Urals, led by two experienced governors - Vasily Sukin and Ivan Myasny. A year later, Danila Chulkov joined them with a detachment of archers. Of course, this decided the outcome of the case and deprived the khan of hope for revenge. From that time on, his military activity was reduced only to predatory raids, which, however, did not always have a successful outcome for him.
The defeat and flight of Khan Kuchum
So, in July 1591, after one of the sorties, the Khan's camp on the Ishim River was surrounded, and soon captured by archers under the command of Prince VV Koltsov-Mosalsky. Kuchum himself fled again, leaving the winners with his two wives and son Abdul-Khair as a trophy. Three years later, a similar situation developed on Cherny Island, located in the upper reaches of the Irtysh. There, in the hope of hiding from the tsarist troops, the Tatars founded a city. After the assault, undertaken by the detachment of Prince Andrei Yeletsky, he was taken, and again Khan Kuchum disappeared, leaving rich booty to the archers.
Recognizing the futility of further struggle, in 1597 Kuchum proposed to make peace. He tookobligations to stop the raids, but for this he demanded the return of prisoners and part of the property seized from him. In the answer he received from Moscow, it was said that peace was possible only if he transferred to the service of the Russian Tsar. But, since this was unacceptable for a descendant of Genghis Khan, Kuchum refused and began to accumulate strength for a new blow.
The last years of the life of Khan Kuchum
From now on, the Moscow authorities, convinced of the impossibility of reaching an agreement with the khan, are taking the most active steps to destroy him. In August 1598, Prince Koltsov-Mosalsky managed to storm the Khan's camp on the Irmen River. It is known that the son, brother and two grandsons of the khan died in the battle, but he himself again managed to escape. The archers captured many noble prisoners, who were sent first to Tobolsk and then to Moscow, where a thanksgiving service was served on the occasion of the victory.
Subsequently, another attempt was made to persuade the khan to the Russian service, but it was also unsuccessful. To this end, in October 1598, the governor, Prince Voeikov, on the orders of Boris Godunov, who had ascended the throne by that time, sent a trusted person to Kuchum, but was again refused. The operation that followed, the purpose of which was to capture the khan, using information received from local residents, was also unsuccessful.
Death hidden from us by history
His death, which followed in 1601, is surrounded by the same uncertainty as his birth. There are conflicting reports aboutUnder what circumstances did Khan Kuchum end his life. His biography ends somewhere in the boundless steppes inhabited by tribes of semi-wild nomads. From some sources, it can be concluded that these were Karakalpaks close to him by blood, but it is not known what provoked them to kill the once omnipotent, and by that time lonely and abandoned khan.
The Siberian Khan Kuchum, whose reign (1563-1568) coincided with the period of the conquest of Siberia and the development of it by Russian explorers, has become an integral part of our history. He entered it along with his sons Ablaikerim and Kirey, who, after the death of their father, tried to keep power over the taiga region in their hands for several decades and, like him, were forced to cede this right to the Russian Tsar.
The family of the ruler of the Siberian Khanate
In conclusion, a few words about the family in whose environment Khan Kuchum lived. Biography, nationality, political aspects and stages of the military path - these are the information that our attention is primarily drawn to when considering a particular historical figure. However, they would be incomplete if the people close to her were not taken into account.
The family of Khan Kuchum fully corresponded to his status. Throughout his life, he had eleven wives (slaves and concubines do not count), most of whom belonged to noble families. They gave birth to nine daughters and seventeen sons, who also played a role in the history of this ancient nomadic people. Legends about Khan Kuchum,the conqueror of Siberia, have come down to our days, outliving their creators for centuries.
