#THE CONQUEST OF SIBERIA SERIES#
In order to subjugate the natives and collect yasak (fur tribute), a series of winter outposts ( zimovie) and forts ( ostrogs) were built at the confluences of major rivers and streams and important portages. Conquest and exploration Growth of Russia Muscovite voevodas in the new-built fortress of Tyumen, from the Remezov Chronicle. Küçüm Khan then went to Bokhara and as an old man became blind, dying in exile with distant relatives sometime around 1605. However, the old khan did not want to suffer from such contempt and preferred staying in his own lands to "comforting himself" in Moscow. This was rejected by the tsar who proposed to Küçüm Khan that he come to Moscow and "comfort himself" in the service of the tsar. He had been in contact with the tsar and had requested that a small region on the banks of the Irtysh River would be granted as his dominion. Part of a series onĭespite his personal escape, the capture of his family ended the political and military activities of Küçüm Khan and he retreated to the territories of the Nogay Horde in southern Siberia. The descendants of the khan's family became known as the Princes Sibirsky and the family is known to have survived until at least the late 19th century. The Russians took the family members of Küçüm Khan to Moscow and there they remained as hostages. In the course of the fight, the Siberian royal family was captured by the Russians. Finally, in August 1598 Küçüm Khan was defeated at the Battle of Urmin near the river Ob. The Tatar tribes that were submissive to Küçüm Khan suffered from several attacks by the Russians between 1584–1595 however, Küçüm Khan would not be caught. In 1586 the Russians returned, and after subduing the Khanty and Mansi people through the use of their artillery they established a fortress at Tyumen close to the ruins of Qashliq. The remains of Yermak's forces under the command of Mescheryak retreated from Qashliq, destroying the city as they left. The details are disputed with Russian sources claiming Yermak was wounded and tried to escape by swimming across the Wagay River which is a tributary of the Irtysh River, but drowned under the weight of his own chainmail. He suddenly attacked Yermak on 6 August 1584 in the dead of night and defeated most of his army. Kuchum Khan retreated into the steppes and over the next few years regrouped his forces. The forces of the Khan retreated, and Yermak entered Qashliq on 26 October. More than a hundred Cossacks were killed, but their gunfire forced a Tatar retreat and allowed the capture of two Tatar cannons.
On 23 October, the Cossacks attempted to storm the Tatar fort at Mount Chyuvash for a fourth time when the Tatars counterattacked. On 1 October, a Cossack attempt to storm the Tatar fort at Mount Chyuvash was held off. A horde of Siberian Tatars, Voguls and Ostyaks massed at Mount Chyuvash to defend against invading Cossacks. Throughout September 1582, the Khan gathered his forces for a defense of Qashliq. On 29 June, the Cossack forces were attacked by the Tatars but again repelled them. After a three-day battle on the banks of the river Irtysh, Yermak was victorious against a combined force of Küçüm Khan and six allied Tatar princes. At this time, they also captured a tax collector of Küçüm.įollowing a series of Tatar raids in retaliation against the Russian advance, Yermak's forces prepared for a campaign to take Qashliq, the Siberian capital. Throughout 1581, this force traversed the territory known as Yugra and subdued Vogul and Ostyak towns. They were accompanied by some Lithuanian and German mercenaries and prisoners of war. The Russian conquest of Siberia began in July 1580 when some 540 Cossacks under Yermak Timofeyevich invaded the territory of the Voguls, subjects to Küçüm, the Khan of Siberia. See also: Conquest of the Khanate of Sibir To counter this, Kuchum Khan attempted to centralize his rule by imposing Islam on his subjects and reforming his tax-collecting apparatus. Although outnumbered, the Russians pressured the various family-based tribes into changing their loyalties and establishing distant forts from which they conducted raids. The Russian conquest of Siberia took place in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Khanate of Sibir became a loose political structure of vassalages that were being undermined by the activities of Russian explorers. The 1549 map of the region, in upper-right hand corner depicted Yugra (IVHRA, Homeland of Ugric people) The 1595 map of Rvssia (yellow borders), east of the Europae pars Laminar armour from hardened leather reinforced by wood and bones worn by Chukchi, Aleut, and Chugach ( Alutiiq) Lamellar armour worn by indigenous peoples of Siberia