Yaitsky town is a settlement on the territory of Western Kazakhstan, located on the Ural River. Currently, it is called Uralsk, it is the administrative center of the West Kazakhstan region, it is home to more than three hundred thousand inhabitants. This is a medieval city where the Cossacks originally lived, it was from there that Yemelyan Pugachev began his uprising, which ended in his defeat.
Foundation
The first settlement on the site of the Yaitsky town appeared around the 13th century. On a hill called Svistun, a small settlement of nomads was formed. Its remains were found during archaeological excavations of the ancient settlement Zhaiyk. In the name Yaitsky Gorodok, the stress falls on the first syllable, that is, on the letter Y.
The first mention of it refers to 1584. But the official date of its foundation is 1613. Yaitsky town was founded on a small peninsula located between the Chagan and Yaik rivers.
It is generally accepted thatFor the first time, local Yaik Cossacks entered the service of the Russian Tsar in 1591. At the same time, before Peter I came to power, they were almost completely autonomous.
Cossack uprising
In 1772, this settlement thundered throughout Russia, when the Yaik Cossack uprising took place here. It was a spontaneous uprising of the Cossacks. The immediate reason for it was the arrests and punishments carried out by the commission of inquiry under the leadership of Generals Traubenberg and Davydov.
It is worth noting that the Yaik Cossacks enjoyed relative autonomy for a long time, largely due to the Moscow kingdom. Finally, in the 18th century, it found itself in conflict with the leadership of the Russian Empire. The authorities of St. Petersburg began to consistently limit the independence of the local Cossacks. Tightening the screws, the abolition of democratic rule, free elections of foremen and atamans led to the division of the army into two irreconcilable parts.
Most of the Cossacks advocated a return to the old order, and the smaller part, which began to abuse power due to the abolition of elections, supported the decisions of the government.
Traubenberg Government Commission
In the period from 1769 to 1771, the Cossacks first refused to go to serve in the regular troops of the Russian Empire, and then did not go in pursuit of the rebellious Kalmyks who had left Russia. As a result, an investigative government commission arrived in Yaitsky town to look into what had happened.
With punishmentsdetermined by the commission, the perpetrators did not agree. At the beginning of 1772, this resulted in an open rebellion, which led to the uprising of the Yaik Cossacks. Traubenberg, who led the commission, ordered to open fire on the rebels, who demanded that their demands be considered. As a result, more than a hundred people were killed, including women and children. In response, the Cossacks attacked the sent government detachment. Traubenberg was killed, many of his soldiers and officers were killed.
The uprising in the town of Yaik quickly enough swept the entire town. Power passed to the elected representatives of the Cossacks. However, they could not come to a consensus on their further actions. Some were moderately inclined, offering to seek a compromise with the government. The radical group proposed to insist on the complete independence of the troops.
Freyman operation
Representatives of Catherine II, having made sure that it would not be possible to bring the army to submission through negotiations, they sent on an expedition to suppress the uprising in the Yaitsky town. It was commanded by General Freiman. The decisive battle took place on the river Embulatovka in early June 1772. The Cossacks suffered a crushing defeat. Freiman continued to act decisively, bringing back most of the Cossacks, along with the families who planned to leave. At the same time, some of the instigators of the uprising managed to hide in remote farms in the interfluve between the Volga and Yaik, as well as in the steppe. In the Yaik town itself, a garrison of government troops was stationed. An investigation began, which lasted for about a year.
Draft sentences against majorthe instigators of the uprising turned out to be so tough that the rebellious mood among the Cossacks stirred with renewed vigor. Despite the fact that later Empress Catherine II softened them considerably, the Cossacks did not want to put up with their defeat, starting to look for a reason for a new performance, which presented itself to them very soon.
Don Cossack
Emelyan Pugachev became a troublemaker this time. In Yaik town, dissatisfied with the decisions of the central government, he found many supporters and like-minded people.
Pugachev was born in the village of Zimoveyskaya in 1742. By the time of the beginning of his uprising, which was included in the textbook of national history as the Peasant War, he was 31 years old. He skillfully took advantage of the rumors that Emperor Peter III was actually alive, becoming one of a dozen impostors posing as the grandson of Peter the Great.
It is known that Pugachev was born on the territory of the modern Volgograd region. He was the youngest son in the family of the Don Cossack Ivan Pugachev. Although most of the Yaik and Don Cossacks were Old Believers, the Pugachevs adhered to the Orthodox faith. At the age of 17, he signed up for the service in place of his father, who had retired. A year later, he married a Cossack Sofya Nedyuzheva.
Participation in the Seven Years' War
He was not destined to enjoy the joys of family life for a long time. A week later, Yemelyan was sent to the Seven Years' War. He fought in the division of Count Chernyshev. There was an orderly with Colonel Ilya Denisov. Participated in a number of battles on the territory of Prussia,avoiding injury.
In 1763 Pugachev returned to his homeland. He had two children - Trofim and Agrafena. During this period, he also visited Poland with the team of Yesaul Yakovlev, looking for runaway Old Believers.
Disease
With the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war in 1769, he was seconded to the team of Colonel Kuteinikov in the rank of cornet. Distinguished himself in the capture of Bender. In 1771 he fell ill, so he was sent back. After a month of treatment, Pugachev went to Cherkassk to ask for his resignation.
However, he was refused, instead, the officer who considered the request advised him to be treated in the infirmary. However, the Cossack refused. It is further mentioned that he applied mutton lung to his legs for several days, after which he felt better.
Emelyan went to visit his sister Feodosia. From her husband, he learned that he and his comrades were thinking about escaping, being dissatisfied with the position of the soldiers. Pugachev not only decided to help his son-in-law, but also went on the run with him. Having reached the village of Zimoveyskaya, he announced his intention to his wife and mother, who dissuaded him from escaping. He obeyed, helped his son-in-law and his comrades to cross the Don, after which he returned home, where he was treated for about a month.
The fugitives who were heading to the Terek could not get to their destination on their own. After wandering for several weeks, they returned. Surrendering to the authorities, they said that it was Pugachev who helped organize the escape, he came up with the idea to go to the Terek. The Cossack was taken into custody. Two days later, he fled, deciding to still realize the original plan. So hesettled in the village of Ishcherskaya, declaring that he wanted to be a Cossack in the family army.
However, as a result, he was exposed and detained. However, in this case, he managed to escape.
Meeting with Yaik Cossacks
The appearance of Pugachev in Yaitsky town was received with enthusiasm by many. At that time, he was a runaway Cossack who posed as Emperor Peter III.
Yaik Cossack army, which was dissatisfied with the actions of the authorities, willingly supported Pugachev. In fact, a new performance that marked the beginning of a full-scale peasant war began on September 17, 1773. Very soon, it covered almost the entire Urals, the Orenburg Territory, Bashkiria, the Kama region, the Middle Volga region, and part of Western Siberia.
The Pugachev uprising began in the Yaik town, and soon it spread far beyond its borders. The first period was marked by the military successes of the rebels, they were based on the participation of experienced regular units of the Cossack army in the uprising. The government troops opposing them were small and partially demoralized.
The rebels managed to capture many small towns and fortresses, besiege Ufa and Orenburg.
Counteroffensive
Only realizing the seriousness of the situation, the government decided to withdraw troops from the outskirts of the empire. General-in-chief Alexander Ilyich Bibikov was placed at the head.
From the spring of 1774, the rebels began to suffer defeat everywhere on all fronts. Most of the rebel leaders were killed or captured. However, after the death of Bibikov in April, for a while the initiative was again in the hands of Pugachev. He managed to unite the scattered detachments, continuing to move along the Kama and the Urals, despite serious defeats and tangible losses. Kazan was taken in July.
On the side of the rebels were foreign yasash and serfs. At the same time, militarily, the rebels were significantly weakened, they could no longer provide worthy resistance. The Cossack core was destroyed in battles, the peasants who replenished the army had no weapons and combat experience.
Pugachev's defeat
After the defeat in the three-day battle near Kazan, Pugachev crossed the Volga. In July 1774, after the end of the war with Turkey, new forces were sent to suppress the rebellion, led by general-in-chief Pyotr Ivanovich Panin.
Pugachev was hiding on the Lower Volga, where he was not supported by the Don Cossacks, whom he counted on. Despite the defeat of the main forces, the rebels in Bashkiria and the Volga region did not surrender until the end of 1774.
Pugachev was taken prisoner on September 8 near the Bolshoi Uzen River by his own supporters, who thus hoped to earn a pardon. On September 15, having received what they wanted, they brought their leader back to the Yaitsky town, where it all began. The first interrogations took place there.
The main investigation took place in Simbirsk. To transport the rebel, a cage was specially made on a two-wheeled cart, in which he was chained according toarms and legs.
Execution
Pugachev was executed on January 10, 1775 in Moscow on Bolotnaya Square. The researchers note that until the very end he held himself with dignity. Once at the place of execution, he crossed the Kremlin cathedrals, bowed, and asked for forgiveness from the Orthodox people.
Pugachev was sentenced to quartering. At the same time, at first they cut off his head at the request of Empress Catherine II. On the same day, his colleague Perfilyev was quartered, the rest of the captive leaders of the uprising were hanged.
Consequences for the city
Becoming the cradle of several uprisings at once, the city from which Pugachev spoke caused strong discontent in St. Petersburg. After the defeat of the rebels, the empress ordered it to be renamed. As a result, until 1775 it was called the Yaitsky town. Since then it has been known as Uralsk. The river that flowed there was also renamed - from Yaik to Ural.
It is noteworthy that the Cossack unrest in these places did not stop. Already in Uralsk, the Cossacks raised uprisings in 1804, 1825, 1837 and 1874. They were all brutally suppressed.
Since 1864, Uralsk has become a major trading center. During the Civil War, the Bolsheviks occupied it in 1919. After that, for a long time it was besieged by the Ural army, formed from units of the Ural Cossacks.
During the Great Patriotic War, Uralsk became an air defense point, a frontline zone. Industrial enterprises were evacuated here, working onfront, military formations and military hospitals.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Uralsk ended up on the territory of Kazakhstan.
