The territory on which the cities and villages of the Rostov region are located today had various names in ancient times. The Greeks called it Scythia, the Romans called it Scythia, and the Dnieper Rus called it Khazaria. In chronicles dating back to the 14th-15th centuries, it is referred to as the Wild Field. And only during the time of Ivan the Terrible, the historical name that has come down to us appears, denoting the possessions of the Cossacks ─ Don.
Early inhabitants of the Don banks
Concerning such an extensive issue as the history of the Rostov region, it is necessary to start with the settlements of the Stone Age, traces of which were found in many throughout the Don. Scientists estimate the age of the earliest finds to be 2 million years. It was during this period, in their opinion, that the first settlements of ancient people appeared on the banks of the river.
Findings of artifacts dating back to a later time ─ the period of the so-called Acheulean culture, which became widespread approximately 100-150 thousand years ago, indicate that the inhabitants of this region earned their livelihood exclusively by hunting, fishing andgathering.
Paleolithic Hunters
The history of the Rostov region during the Middle Paleolithic (40-50 thousand years BC), although it is characterized by a significant improvement in tools, nevertheless, it also indicates that the main source of livelihood for the inhabitants of that era remained hunting. Excavations show that bison, giant deer, horses, bears and even lions, which were then found on the banks of the Don, became the prey of primitive people.
In those ancient times, the inhabitants of the Don region led a sedentary lifestyle and settled in tribal groups, which greatly simplified the process of hunting. They became nomads much later, only 16-18 thousand years ago, due to changes in climatic conditions, which caused the majority of large animals to leave to the north. The earliest found magical figurines of animals and people belong to this period, indicating the emergence of early primitive forms of religion.
The beginning of a new era
It is interesting to note that at the beginning of our era, two cities were built on the territory of the present Rostov region ─ Tanais and Kremny, which were Greek colonies. In addition, during the same period, significant lands along the banks of the Don belonged to the ancient Bosporan kingdom, whose inhabitants had an idea of Christianity as early as the 1st century AD thanks to communication with the followers of the gospel teachings exiled to their region from Rome. They arrived as state criminals, but this did not prevent them from preaching and missionary work.activities among the local population.
In later periods, the territories adjacent to the Don were inhabited by the Scythians, Cimmerians, Alans, Savromats and a number of other peoples. All of them left traces of their stay, sometimes testifying to a very high level of development of culture and crafts. However, under the onslaught of numerous nomadic peoples moving from East to West at the beginning of our era, the ancient cities fell, and the once flourishing land turned into a desert for several centuries.
From the arrival of the Avar tribes to the Turkish invasion
The history of the Rostov region of the Middle Ages begins in the 4th century, after the empty region for several centuries was settled first by the Avars, and then by the Khazars, who forced them out and built the Sarkel fortress. And further, throughout the Middle Ages, the banks of the Don became the scene of constant battles between nomadic tribes, contesting this fertile land among themselves. The Khazars were forced out by the Russian squads, who also failed to hold the conquered territories, and ceded them to the Pechenegs, and those, in turn, were expelled by the Polovtsy.
This went on until the XIII century, until the Don land was under the rule of the Golden Horde, which, in turn, could not resist the stronger and merciless invader Tamerlane, who defeated its southwestern part. A century later, as a result of the extreme weakening of the Golden Horde, a significant part of the coast of the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov, the Rostov region, as well as the Northern Black Sea region was captured by the Ottoman Empire. They renamed the city of Azak, built by the Tatars, into Azov and turned it intoan impregnable fortress, the struggle for which stretched out for several centuries.
Education of the Don Cossacks
In the 15th century, to prevent the further advance of the Turks deep into the Russian state, on the Wild Field, guard fortresses and border fences were erected. At the same time, the first settlements of free people who fled from the arbitrariness of the authorities appeared there. It is with them that the history of the Don Cossacks begins. An Orthodox tycoon of Polish origin, Dmitry Ivanovich Vishnevitsky, played a big role in it, having built a number of fortresses with his own money, one of which, Cherkassk, became the capital of the Don Cossacks.
A century later, three small towns appeared on the Don, built by the Cossacks and given the status of administrative centers ─ Manych, Mityakin and Discord. Since the power of the Moscow princes did not extend to these lands, the scattered Cossack groups, which at first were spontaneous freemen, soon formed a military-political organization, called the Don Cossacks.
It was built on the principles of true democracy and strict discipline. All positions were elective, and the order of the ataman became law for everyone. The supreme authority was the Circle ─ a combined arms council that met regularly in Cherkassk ─ the capital of the Cossack state.
Conflicts between the Cossacks and the Russian government
Having passed under the scepter of the Moscow tsars, the Cossacks, being a closed military class, enjoyed much greater freedom,than other Russians. They were exempted from paying taxes, freed from all kinds of duties, and, contrary to the decrees of Peter I, they received the right to wear clothes of the same cut.
After the once-free lands began to lose autonomy and become part of the Russian Empire in the 17th-18th centuries, the Don Cossack Host lost most of its privileges and often came into conflict with the government. The most striking episodes of this struggle were the participation of the Cossacks in a number of peasant uprisings and wars that broke out under the leadership of Stepan Razin, Emelyan Pugachev and Kondraty Bulavin.
The emergence of two main centers of the Don Cossacks
No matter how the Cossacks opposed it, but over time they were included in the armed forces of the Russian Empire as irregular troops and took part in all subsequent wars. In 1749, by order of Empress Catherine II, on the right bank of the Don, near the confluence of the Temernik River, a customs outpost was built, and a little later, a fortress named after St. Demetrius of Rostov. It gave rise to the city that was formed from the surrounding suburbs and was named Rostov-on-Don.
At the beginning of the next century, the capital of the Don Cossack army moved to a new city, founded on the initiative of Ataman Matvey Platov, Novocherkassk. The statistics of those years is very indicative, indicating an unusually rapid increase in the population of the region. According to available data, at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, the number of Cossacks did not exceed 225 thousand people.people, while in half a century it more than tripled and reached 775 thousand
Life in the Don region in the 19th century
In the 19th century, Novocherkassk became the main military and administrative center of the Don Cossacks, while the second largest city, Rostov-on-Don, acquired the features of a major commercial and industrial center. By decree of Nicholas I of 1835, the entire territory of the region was divided into 7 districts: 1st Donskoy, 2nd Donskoy, Cherkasy, Miussky, Donetsk, Khopersky and Ust-Medvedetsky. In January 1870, a resolution of the Government Senate was promulgated, on the basis of which a new name for the region came into use ─ Donskoy Cossack Region, which remained until 1918.
From the middle of the 19th century, as a result of a sharp increase in population, which was written above, settlements of a new type began to appear ─ farmsteads, consisting of one, less often several households with a separate economy. By the end of the century, their number reached 1820 units. The main agricultural crop grown by farmers, as well as residents of Cossack villages ─ settlements that included a significant number of households, was wheat, supplied both to the domestic and foreign markets.
Civil War and later years
The history of the Don Cossacks in the 20th century is full of truly dramatic pages. Soon after the October coup, the Bolsheviks seized power on the banks of the Don and proclaimed the creation of the Don Soviet Republic. However, it lasted less than a year, and after its fall intoSeptember 1918 gave way to a new independent state ─ the Great Don Army, formed on the basis of the decision of the Military Circle.
The civil war on the Don had a particularly difficult and bloody character, since this region became one of the centers of the White movement, and it was here, in many respects, that the fate of the future Russia was decided. After the defeat of the White Guards, and the establishment of Soviet power, the Great Don Army ceased to exist, and the region was renamed the Don Region, the center of which was the city of Rostov-on-Don.
During this period, many hardships hit the Cossacks. Most of them became victims of repressions carried out by the bodies of the new government. Those of them who happened to survive the campaigns of dispossession and decossackization were forever torn out of their usual way of life and doomed to a miserable existence.
The battle for the "gates of the Caucasus"
The history of the Rostov region during the Great Patriotic War contains many interesting facts. It is known that when drawing up his notorious plan "Barbarossa", Hitler paid special attention to military operations in the southern regions of the Soviet Union.
A significant role was assigned to the capture of Rostov-on-Don, since it was a kind of gateway to the Caucasus. The head of the Third Reich was so confident in the success of the planned operation that, even before the start of hostilities, he ordered the medal “For the Capture of Rostov” to be minted from bronze. To carry out the order of the Fuhrer, 13 divisions were thrown, among whichthere was also an Italian expeditionary force.
In the period from October 1941 to August 1943, the Rostov region, Rostov-on-Don, as well as the entire surrounding area became the scene of fierce battles. For the courage and dedication shown during the military operations of those years, 11 Soviet military units and formations received the title of "Don". These included infantry, artillery, tank and air force units.
Attempts to revive the Cossacks
In the years following the collapse of the USSR, the process of revival of the Don Cossacks was outlined, in connection with which a number of public organizations appeared, declaring the solution of this problem as the goal of their activities. However, there is no doubt that some of them used Cossack symbols in isolation from the real continuity, the reasons for which historians still have to figure out.
The current structure of the Rostov region and its leaders
At present, according to the law on the administrative-territorial division of the Rostov region, it includes: 12 urban districts and 43 district municipalities. In addition, there are 18 urban-type settlements and 380 rural ones on its territory. The city of Rostov-on-Don itself includes 8 districts: Sovetsky, Pervomaisky, Leninsky, Zheleznodorozhny, Proletarsky, Oktyabrsky, Kirovsky and Voroshilovsky.
After gubernatorial rule was introduced in the Russian Federation in 1991, a prominent politician of the Soviet andpost-Soviet period Chub Vladimir Fedorovich. He held his post until June 2010. At the end of his term, this position was taken by Golubev Vasily Yuryevich, who is the governor of the Rostov region to this day.
