A. S. Pushkin called Stepan Razin "the only poetic person in Russian history." One can agree or not that this "face" is the only one, but its "poetry" is beyond doubt. The famous chieftain became the hero of numerous legends (and even epics) and folk songs, the most famous of which is "Razin sees a dream" ("Cossack parable"), recorded in the 1880s "from a 75-year-old Cossack man."
National memory of Stepan Razin
The attitude of the people towards this chieftain was ambivalent. On the one hand, people remembered his “robbery” nature. And therefore, in some legends, he is tormented because of his sins, being unable to die.
They also attributed to him fighting against God: “He, in our opinion, is like the devil was”; "He is a sorcerer who commands the devils."
It was believed that the koshma thrown into the water by the ataman turned into a ship, and Razin could escape from any prison by drawing a boat with coal on the floor or wall.
And on the Lower Volga, they said that Razin once swore a snake (sometimes mosquitoes), and they stopped stinging.
And here is how the people explained Razin's failure at Simbirsk:
“Stenka didn't take Sinbirsk because he went against God. The procession was going along the walls, and he was standing there laughing: "Look with what, - he says, - they want to frighten!"
He took and shot at the holy cross. As he fired, he poured all over his blood, and he was spellbound, but not because of that. I got scared and ran."
Many believed that “it was impossible to take him by any army, for the fact that he was a warlock”, “he knew such a word that the cannonballs and bullets bounced off him”, and “under each nail he had a jump-grass (horse-grass), from which locks and locks fall off themselves and treasures are given."
Even after his death, Razin allegedly guarded his treasures:
"At night he goes around all the places where he put his treasures in the fortifications and caves, in the mountains and mounds."
But in some stories, on the contrary, he tries to show his treasure to people, because he can “rest” only when someone finds the main one in Shatrashany:
“… Then I would die; then all the treasures I put in would come out, and there are twenty of them, the main ones."
On the other hand, Razin appears to be the people's defender against the tyranny of the landowners, boyars and tsarist officials. A. Dumas, who during a trip to Russia got acquainted with the stories about Razin, in his notes called him "a real legendary hero, like Robin Hood."
Even after the execution of the famous chieftain, the people did not want to believe in his death. Moreover, he himself said before the execution:
“You think you killed Razin, but you didn't catch the real one; and there are many more Razins who will avenge my death."
And then many believed that the legendary chieftain would come to Russia again - to punish the greedy boyars and unrighteous tsarist officials for the insults they inflicted on the people.
To N. I. Kostomarov, an old man who remembered Pugachev said:
“Stenka is alive and will come again as an instrument of God's wrath … Stenka is worldly torment! This is God's punishment! He will come, he will certainly come. He must come. He will come before the day of judgment."
Such prophecies that were common among the people were also recorded:
"His (Razin's) hour will come, he will swing his brush - and in a moment not a trace will be left of the offenders, dashing bloodsuckers."
"The time will come when he will come to life and again walk on the Russian land."
And such stories about the "second coming of Stenka Razin" circulated among the people even in the late 19th - early 20th centuries.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, two poems were written about revenge and the "last judgment" of Stepan Razin, both in the first person.
The first of them belongs to the pen of A. N. Tolstoy ("The Court"):
Every dark midnight snakes crawl
They fall to my eyelids and suck me until the day …
And I dare not ask for mother land either -
Drive away the snakes and accept me.
Only then, as from olden times, from Moscow Throne
My Yasak will burst before the steppe Yaik -
I will rise, elder, free or involuntary, And I will go on the waters - a hardened Cossack.
All forests and rivers will smoke with blood;
Fornication will be created on the accursed marketplaces …
Then the snakes will raise their eyelids …
And they recognize Razin. And judgment will come.
Alexei Tolstoy, who wrote these poems in 1911, did not expect anything good from the "trial of Stenka Razin". In his lines one can hear longing and fear of an inevitable and inevitable social explosion: it was already clear to all adequate people that the split and enmity in Russian society had reached their limits, that it would "burst" very soon, and that it would not seem to anyone.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, rumors began to spread among the people that Stepan Razin was walking along the shores of the Caspian Sea and asking people he met: did they continue to anathematize him, did they start lighting tallow candles in churches instead of wax ones, did they already appear on the Volga and on the Don "airplanes and self-floating". In 1917, M. Voloshin also wrote a poem about the "trial of Stepan Razin", in which he retold this legend:
By the great sea of Khvalynsky, Imprisoned in the coastal shihan
Endured by the serpent of the mountain, I look forward to hearing from half-worn countries.
Everything shines as before - without an eye
Orthodox churches lepota?
Do they curse Stenka in them Razin
On Sunday at the beginning of Lent?
Do you light candles, yes greasy
Are they instead of wax candles?
The governors are sulky
Do they observe everything in their provinces?
Magnificent, but many-walled …
And at least take the saints out of it.
Something, I feel, my time is coming
Walk in Holy Russia.
And how did I endure the bloody flour, Yes, he did not betray Cossack Rus, So for that to reprisal on the right
The judge himself turns to Moscow.
I will argue, I will untie - I will not have mercy, -
Who are the claps, who are the priests, who are the gentlemen …
So you will know: as before the grave, So before Stenka, all people are equal.
("Stenkin Court", 1917.)
You probably noticed that some snakes are mentioned in the poems of A. K. Tolstoy and M. Voloshin: this is an allusion to another legend, according to which the “great serpent” (sometimes two snakes) sucks Razin's heart (or his eyes) … These posthumous torments of the ataman who suffered for the people raise him to an epic height, placing him on a par with Prometheus.
And after the revolution in the Urals, "tales" were written that Razin presented his saber … to Chapaev! After the Great Patriotic War, they began to say that Chapaev was cutting the Germans with this saber at Stalingrad.
We now know quite well about "Razinshchina" - the Peasant War of 1667-1671. But often "behind the scenes" remains the Persian campaign of this chieftain, about which the overwhelming majority of our compatriots know only thanks to the urban romance "From across the island to the rod" (verses by D. Sadovnikov, the author of the music is unknown). Based on this song, V. Goncharov wrote an "epic", which was filmed in 1908. This film, which went down in history as the first feature film shot in Russia, is known under three names: "The Libertine Freeman", "Stenka Razin", "Stenka Razin and the Princess".
However, in this song the action takes place after the return of the Cossack mob from Persia, and many do not think about how the Persian princess got to Russia and ended up on Stenka Razin's boat.
We will talk in detail about the "Persian princess" in the next article. In the meantime, let's try to remember the history of this campaign by Stepan Razin.
Stepan Timofeevich Razin
The birthplace of our hero is traditionally considered the village of Zimoveyskaya (now it is called Pugachevskaya - Kotelnikovsky district of the Volgograd region). However, this version is still dubious, since in historical documents "Winter town" was first mentioned in 1672 (and Razin, we recall, was executed in 1671). In addition, the village of Zimoveyskaya is the birthplace of Emelyan Pugachev. It is extremely doubtful that two leaders of the Peasant War were born in one place at once, most likely, folk tradition at some point "confused" them, transferring some facts of the biography of Pugachev, who lived later, to Razin. Perhaps the folk storytellers were embarrassed by the fact that in the army of Yemelyan Pugachev there was a certain Stepan Andreevich Razin, who could later be mistaken by ignorant people for the famous ataman who lived 100 years ago.
And in the oldest historical songs, the homeland of Stepan Razin is most often called Cherkassk (now the village of Starocherkasskaya in the Aksai district of the Rostov region), less often - Discord, or the towns of Kagalnitsky and Esaulovsky.
Among the Cossacks, Stepan Razin bore the nickname "Tuma" - "half-breed": it is believed that his mother was a Kalmyk woman. We add that, according to some sources, a captured Turkish woman became his wife, and the elective chieftain of the Don Army Korniliy Yakovlev, who was called "Circassian" in the Don, became his godfather. So it seems that there was not even a scent of some kind of "purity of Cossack blood" in those days.
The Dutchman Jan Jansen Struis, who met our hero in Astrakhan, claims that in 1670 he was 40 years old. Thus, he could have been born around 1630.
For the first time on the pages of historical documents, the name of Stepan Razin appears in 1652: at that time he was already a marching chieftain (and his older brother Ivan was also an orderly chieftain of the Don Army). Until 1661, Stepan managed to visit Moscow three times (including as part of the military embassy) and twice make a pilgrimage to the Solovetsky monastery (the first time - on a vow, for the father who did not have time to do this). And in 1661, Razin participated in negotiations with the Kalmyks about peace and an alliance against the Nogai and Crimean Tatars (together with Fyodor Budan and some ambassadors from the Cossacks). In 1663, he led a detachment of Don Cossacks who went to Perekop together with the Cossacks and Kalmyks. In the battle at Molochny Vody, in alliance with the Kalmyks and the Cossacks, he defeated one of the Tatar detachments, taking 350 prisoners.
But in 1665, the tsar's voivode Yu. Dolgorukov executed his brother, Ivan, who, during a campaign against the Poles, wanted to leave without permission with his people to the Don. Probably, after this execution, Stepan Razin's loyalty to the tsarist power was greatly shaken.
Meanwhile, in 1666, a large number of "golutvenny" Cossacks - newcomers who did not have property and land - gathered on the Don. They worked with old-time Cossacks, were engaged in fishing and very willingly went on the notorious "hikes for zipuns", which were secretly financed by Cossack foremen for a share in the booty. In addition to material interest, the Cossack elders had another "interest": to chase the strangers away from the Don. They will come from the next campaign with the prey - well, they will pay a percentage, if they don't come - a small loss, and without them it is calmer.
In the spring of 1667, the "golutvennye" were going on another such campaign, Stepan Razin became their chieftain. Among his subordinates there were quite a few "vatazhniks" of Vasily Us, who not long before pretty much robbed the landowners' estates near Voronezh, Tula, Serpukhov, Kashira, Venev, Skopin and other surrounding cities. The true route was carefully hidden: rumors spread about a campaign to Azov. Finally, Razin's detachment set out on a journey: up to two thousand people came to the place of the Volga-Don transfer near the cities of Kachalin and Panshin.
Razin at this time, apparently, was a very authoritative "field commander", the likelihood of success of his expedition and gaining profits was assessed as high, and therefore, in addition to the Cossack elders, the "merchants" of Voronezh took part in the equipment of his detachment.
The high authority of Stepan Razin among the Cossacks is also confirmed by the Dutchman Ludwig Fabritius, who served in the Russian army, who speaks about the chieftain in his "Notes":
“This cruel Cossack was so revered by his subordinates that as soon as he ordered something, everything was instantly executed. If someone did not immediately carry out his order … then this monster fell into such a rage that it seemed he was possessed. He tore off the cap from his head, threw it on the ground and trampled underfoot, snatched a saber from his belt, threw it at the feet of those around him and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"I will no longer be your ataman, look for someone else", after which everyone fell at his feet and all in one voice asked him to take the saber again."
Razin ordered to throw overboard not only the Persian princesses, but also those who got drunk during the campaign or stole from their comrades. It was a fairly common execution among the Cossacks, which had its own name - "put in water". The guilty were not just thrown into the "oncoming wave", but "they tied a shirt over their heads, poured sand into it and threw it into the water that way" (Fabricius).
True, upon returning home, the Cossacks, as they say, “blew the roof off”, and they arranged spree no worse than filibusters on the island of Tortuga and privates in Port Royal. Yes, and Razin himself, according to the testimony of the same Fabricius, at this time did not lag far behind his subordinates.
Dutch sailing master Jan Struis writes:
"Stenka, when he is drunk, is a great tyrant and in a short time he took the life of three or four people in this form."
But Struis also speaks of the high discipline in Razin's Cossack army during the campaigns, reporting, for example, that he ordered one of his Cossacks to be drowned for having a relationship with another man's wife, and his mistress - hung on a pole by the legs.
He also reports that Razin:
"In some things he adhered to a strict order, especially persecuted fornication."
And Fabricius writes:
"I myself saw how one Cossack was hanged by the legs only for the fact that he, walking, poked a young woman in the stomach."
And then:
"Curses, rude curses, swear words, while Russians have such unheard-of and unused words for others that they cannot be conveyed without horror - all this, as well as fornication and theft, Stenka tried to eradicate."
So to behave with not afraid of either God or the devil, "walking people" could only be their favorite leader and recognized leader.
And here is how Razin addressed the archers who went over to his side:
“I won't force it, but whoever wants to be with me will be a free Cossack! I came to beat only boyars and rich gentlemen, and I am ready, like a brother, to share everything with the poor and simple! " (J. Streis, "Three Journeys").
And here's the result:
"All the common people bowed to him, the archers attacked the officers, chopped off their heads, or handed them over to Razin by the fleet" (Streis).
At the same time, according to the testimony of the same Streis, the chieftain with his comrades "behaved modestly," so that he "could not be distinguished from the rest," but in relation to the "Persian king" "he behaved in relation to himself with such arrogance, as if he himself was a king."
Start of the hike
So, on May 15 (25), 1667, a Cossack gang on four Black Sea plows and many boats went to the Volga above Tsaritsyn (along the Ilovla and Kamyshinka rivers), where they intercepted the merchant Shorin's trade caravan and robbed the ships of Patriarch Joasaph. At the same time, they were joined by some archers from the caravan guard, as well as some convicts escorted to the Terek and Astrakhan.
The Cossacks did not touch Tsaritsyn himself, demanding only the blacksmith's tools, which the local governor meekly gave him. They explained his obedience, again, by the sorcery of the ataman: allegedly, the governor ordered to shoot at his plows from cannons, but none of them fired.
Soon Razin's actions went beyond ordinary robberies: skirting around the strong fortress of Astrakhan, the Cossacks went to the Volga channel Buzan and here they defeated the Chernoyarsk voivode S. Beklemishev, whom the dashing chieftain ordered to whip and let go. In early June, they entered the Caspian Sea and went to the Yaik River (Ural), where they captured the Yaitsky stone town (until 1991 it bore the name Guryev, now Atyrau is located on the territory of Kazakhstan).
They say that Razin took this fortress by trick: asking her commandant for permission to pray in the local church. He was allowed to take only 40 people with him, but this turned out to be quite enough: in a short battle, about 170 archers were killed, the rest were asked to join the bandit gang, or go on all four sides. Those who decided to leave were caught up and chopped up, 300 people joined the Cossacks.
In the Yaitsky town, Razin spent the winter, repelling the attack of a three-thousandth rifle squad, and replenished his squad with “hunters.
Persian campaign
In the spring of the next year, having ordered to put on the plows light cannons from the fortress towers of the Yaitsky town, Razin set off on his famous Persian campaign. Looking ahead, let's say that the small garrison he left in this city was soon driven out of it by government troops, so on the way back Razin had to go through Astrakhan. But now Razin led his troops past this city - to the Terek, where he was joined with his detachment by another "noble robber" - Sergei Krivoy. In addition, the rifle detachment of centurion F. Tarlykov completely went over to the side of Razin. Now, when the number of Razin's detachment reached three thousand people, it was possible to take a walk in the Caspian Sea.
Some unnamed Astrakhan, who was then in Shemakha for trade affairs, told the authorities upon returning home:
“The thieves' Cossacks of Stenka Razin were in the shah's region, in Nizova, and in Baku, and in Gilan. Yasyr (prisoners) and belly (prey) were caught a lot. And de Cossacks live on the Kura River and travel apart by sea for prey, and they say that, de, them, Cossacks, there are many planes."
Derbent was captured from the raid, and then Baku, but here the Razins got too carried away with the "collection of zipuns", as a result, the soldiers of the local garrison who had retreated, having received reinforcements, attacked the Cossacks scattered around the city and put them to flight. In street battles, Razin lost up to 400 people killed and captured.
After that, Razin sent ambassadors to Shah Suleiman I (from the Safavid dynasty) with a proposal to take the Cossack army into service and allocate land for him to settle.
It is not known how serious his proposals were on his part. Perhaps the chieftain only wanted to lull the vigilance of the Persian authorities and gain time. In any case, this attempt at negotiations was unsuccessful: Razin's ambassadors were executed, and the Scottish Colonel Palmer, who came to the Shah from Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, began to help the Persians in building new ships.
Razin resumed hostilities. A part of his detachment entered the city of Farrakhabad (Farabat) under the guise of merchants who began to sell the plundered property at bargain prices - and they "traded" for five whole days: one can imagine the amount of booty already received in Persia. It must be assumed that the inhabitants of the city were well aware of the origin of the goods that the Cossacks were selling them, but when looking at the price tag, unnecessary questions disappeared by themselves. All the townspeople and even the soldiers of the garrison rushed to the market, where they literally fought for a place in the line, while the Cossacks at that time broke into Farrakhabad and captured it.
Then Rasht and Astrabad (now Gorgan, the main city of the Iranian province of Golestan) were captured and plundered.
After that, Razin decided to spend the winter on the Mian-Kale Peninsula (50 km east of Farakhabad). The place turned out to be swampy, many Cossacks fell ill, while the Persians constantly bothered the newcomers with their attacks.
Some researchers believe that Razin saw his famous, foreshadowing death, a dream about which the "Cossack Parable" is told, just then - during a difficult winter on Mian-Kala.
In the spring of 1669, Razin led his planes to the southeast, attacking the territories that are now part of Uzbekistan. Here, in "Trukhmenskaya Zemlya" Sergey Krivoy died.
It was impossible to sail from here along the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea to the north due to lack of food, and, most importantly, water. And therefore the chieftain again led his squadron to Baku, where it stood at the so-called Pig Island. According to the most widespread version, it was Sengi-Mugan ("Stone of the Magicians" - Persian) - one of the islands of the Baku archipelago. However, some believe that this is the island of Sari. Having settled here, the Cossacks again began to devastate the coast.
Naval battle at Pig Island
In June 1669, the Persian fleet under the command of Mamed Khan (sometimes called Magmed Khanbek or Maenada Khan) approached this island. The Persians had 50 large ships (the Europeans called such ships beads, the Russians - "sandals"), on which there were 3,700 soldiers.
At that time, Razin's squadron had 15 sea plows and 8 small boats, armed with twenty large and twenty small cannons.
Realizing his superiority, Mamed Khan was already anticipating a victory and a cruel reprisal against the Cossacks. The Persians lined up their ships, connected by chains, in a line, through which it was almost impossible for light Cossack plows to break through. But Razin ordered to focus fire on the admiral's ship, and luck was again on the side of the swashbuckling chieftain: one of the cannonballs fell directly into the powder magazine of the Persian flagship - and he sank to the bottom, dragging the neighboring ships connected with him with a chain. The crews of other Persian ships in panic untied and chopped the chains. And the Cossacks on plows approached Persian ships and shot them with cannons and muskets, or pushed sailors and soldiers into the water with poles with cannonballs tied to them.
Only three ships escaped from the entire Persian fleet, on one of which the enemy admiral Mamed Khan also escaped. The loss of the Persians amounted to 3500 people, the Cossacks killed about 200. 33 guns were captured, as well as the son of Mamed Khan Shabold (Shabyn-Debei). Some talk about the khan's daughter, but let's not get ahead of ourselves - a separate article will be devoted to the "Persian princess".
This naval battle, of course, should be considered one of the most outstanding victories of the corsair squadrons, Francis Drake and Henry Morgan would respectfully shake Stepan Razin's hand.
The triumphant return of the chieftain
After this battle, the Cossacks marched north by sea for ten days, and luck, as before, smiled at them: on their way, the dashing pirates of Razin met and captured the ship of the Persian ambassador, who was carrying numerous gifts to the Russian Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, including thoroughbred stallions.
The way to the Volga for the Razin people was reliably closed by the Astrakhan fortress. Ludwig Fabricius reports:
“Comrade of the governor, Prince Semyon Ivanovich Lvov (Unter-woywod) with 3000 soldiers and archers was sent to meet Stenka. It was then that it was possible to shoot all the thieves, but in Astrakhan they brought to light the tsar's letter, written three years ago, in which Stenka was promised tsar's mercy and forgiveness if he calmed down with his thieves' crowd and returned to the Don. He had ridiculed and mocked such mercy more than once, but now he was in a desperate situation and therefore willingly accepted this mercy."
For this in Astrakhan, he had to give most of the booty to the governor I. S. Prozorovsky:
Stenka Razin walked
To Astrakhan-city
Became a voivode
Demand gifts.
Brought up by Stenka Razin
Crumbly stones, Brocade gold.
Became a voivode
Require a fur coat …
Give it back, Stenka Razin, Give the fur coat off your shoulder!
Give it back, so thank you;
If you don't give it up, I'll hang it up …
Good, voivode.
Get yourself a fur coat.
Take yourself a fur coat
There would be no noise."
(A. Pushkin, "Songs about Stenka Razin").
The stallions sent to the king by the shah were also given back. As well as noble captives, sea plows and heavy cannons.
In general, the state official pinched the robber chieftain very strongly and sensitively, it is not surprising that then Stepan Razin will hang such "corrupt officials" and "bloodsuckers" very willingly and with great pleasure. But, in the meantime, Stepan Razin bought off the governor, giving him everything he asked. His entrance to Astrakhan resembled a triumphal procession: the Cossacks were dressed in the most expensive caftans, and the chieftain himself threw handfuls of gold coins into the crowd. Then the Razinites arranged a big sale of booty: Fabricius claims that they were selling it for 6 weeks, "during which the rulers of the city repeatedly invited Stenka to visit them."
In September, Razin with his men on 9 plows, armed with 20 light cannons, sailed from Astrakhan.
When the authorities who came to their senses sent one of the rifle regiments after him, he in full force went over to the side of the successful chieftain.
The ambassador who came to him (for the return of the fugitive archers) to Colonel Videros Razin said:
“Tell your commander that he is a fool and a coward, that I am not afraid not only of him, but also of the one who is higher! I will settle accounts with him and teach them how to talk to me."
Less than a year later, on June 25, 1670, by order of Razin, Prozorovsky was thrown from one of the towers of the Astrakhan Kremlin.
For the winter, Razin settled in the upper reaches of the Don - about two days' journey from Cherkassk.
Tradition says that at this time Razin and his esauls Ivan Chernoyarets, Lazar Timofeev and Larion Khrenov buried their treasures near the Kagalnitsky town (now it is the territory of the Azov district of the Rostov region), which he allegedly founded in 1670. However, many believe that this village was founded only in the 18th century. And the legend about the treasures of the Kagalsky town was originally associated with the koshev ataman of the Cossacks, Peter Kalnyshevsky, who was soon forgotten, replacing his name with a much more famous one - Stepan Razin.
Next year, Stepan Razin will come to the Volga again - not as a robber ataman, but as the leader of the Peasant War, which he will begin under the slogan of extermination of "traitorous boyars, because of whom it is hard for the common people to live."
But that's a different story, which we may come back to later. And in the next article we will talk about the mysterious "Persian princess" who became a prisoner of Razin.
