The legendary Ermak Timofeevich. Ermak: the main secrets of the conqueror of Siberia

In the popular consciousness, the legendary conqueror of Siberia - Ermak Timofeevich - became on a par with the epic heroes, becoming not only an outstanding personality who left his mark on the history of Russia, but also a symbol of its glorious heroic past. This Cossack ataman laid the foundation for the development of the endless expanses that stretched beyond the Stone Belt - the Great Ural Range.

The mystery associated with the origin of Ermak

Modern historians have several hypotheses related to the history of its origin. According to one of them, Ermak, whose biography has been the subject of research for many generations of scientists, was a Don Cossack, according to another - a Ural Cossack. However, the most likely seems to be the one based on the surviving handwritten collection of the 18th century, which tells that his family comes from Suzdal, where his grandfather was a townsman.

His father, Timofey, driven by hunger and poverty, moved to the Urals, where he found refuge in the lands of rich salt industrialists - the Stroganov merchants. There he settled down, got married and raised two sons - Rodion and Vasily. From this document it follows that this is exactly what the future conqueror of Siberia was named in holy baptism. The name Ermak, preserved in history, is only a nickname, one of those that was customary to give among the Cossacks.

Years of military service

Ermak Timofeevich set off to conquer the Siberian expanses, already having rich combat experience behind him. It is known that for twenty years he, together with other Cossacks, guarded the southern borders of Russia, and when Tsar Ivan the Terrible began in 1558, he took part in the campaign and even became famous as one of the most fearless commanders. A report from the Polish commandant of the city of Mogilev to the king personally has been preserved, in which he notes his bravery.

In 1577, the actual owners of the Ural lands - the Stroganov merchants - hired a large detachment of Ural Cossacks to protect them from the constant raids of nomads led by Khan Kuchum. Ermak also received an invitation. From that moment on, his biography takes a sharp turn - the little-known Cossack chieftain becomes the head of the fearless conquerors of Siberia, who forever inscribed their names in history.

On a campaign to pacify foreigners

Subsequently, they tried to maintain peaceful relations with the Russian sovereigns and carefully paid the established yasak - tribute in the form of the skins of fur-bearing animals, but this was preceded by a long and difficult period of campaigns and battles. Kuchum’s ambitious plans included ousting the Stroganovs and everyone who lived on their lands from the Western Urals and the Chusovaya and Kama rivers.

A very large army - one thousand six hundred people - was sent to pacify the rebellious foreigners. In those years, in the remote taiga region, the only means of communication were rivers, and the legend about Ermak Timofeevich tells how a hundred Cossack plows sailed along them - large and heavy boats that could accommodate up to twenty people with all supplies.

Ermak's squad and its features

This campaign was carefully prepared, and the Stroganovs spared no expense in purchasing the best weapons at that time. The Cossacks had at their disposal three hundred arquebuses capable of hitting the enemy at a distance of one hundred meters, several dozen shotguns and even Spanish arquebuses. In addition, each plow was equipped with several cannons, thus turning it into a warship. All this provided the Cossacks with a significant advantage over the Khan’s horde, which at that time did not know firearms at all.

But the main factor contributing to the success of the campaign was the clear and thoughtful organization of the army. The entire squad was divided into regiments, at the head of which Ermak placed the most experienced and authoritative atamans. During hostilities, their commands were transmitted using established signals with trumpets, kettledrums and drums. The iron discipline established from the first days of the campaign also played a role.

Ermak: a biography that became a legend

The famous campaign began on September 1, 1581. Historical data and legend about Ermak indicate that his flotilla, having sailed along the Kama, rose to the upper reaches of the Chusovaya River and further along the Serebryanka River reached the Tagil passes. Here, in the Kokuy town they built, the Cossacks spent the winter, and with the onset of spring they continued their journey along the other side of the Ural ridge.

The first serious battle with the Tatars took place not far from the mouth of the taiga river Tura. Their detachment, led by the khan’s nephew Mametkul, set up an ambush and showered the Cossacks with a cloud of arrows from the shore, but was scattered by return fire from arquebuses. Having repulsed the attack, Ermak and his people continued their journey and went out. There there was a new clash with the enemy, this time on land. Despite the fact that both sides suffered significant losses, the Tatars were put to flight.

Capturing fortified enemy cities

These battles were followed by two more - the battle on the Tobol River near the Irtysh and the capture of the Tatar city of Karachin. In both cases, victory was won not only thanks to the courage of the Cossacks, but also as a result of the extraordinary leadership qualities that Ermak possessed. Siberia - a patrimony - gradually came under Russian protectorate. Having been defeated near Karachin, the khan concentrated all his efforts only on defensive actions, abandoning his ambitious plans.

After a short time, having captured another fortified point, Ermak’s squad finally reached the capital of the Siberian Khanate - the city of Isker. The legend about Ermak, preserved from those ancient times, describes how the Cossacks attacked the city three times, and three times the Tatars fought off the Orthodox army. Finally, their cavalry made a sortie from behind the defensive structures and rushed towards the Cossacks.

This was their fatal mistake. Once in the field of view of the shooters, they became an excellent target for them. With each volley of arquebuses, the battlefield was covered with more and more bodies of Tatars. Ultimately, Isker’s defenders fled, leaving their khan to the mercy of fate. The victory was complete. In this city, conquered from enemies, Ermak and his army spent the winter. As a wise politician, he managed to establish relations with the local taiga tribes, which allowed him to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.

The end of Ermak's life

From the former capital of the Siberian Khanate, a group of Cossacks was sent to Moscow with a report on the progress of the expedition, with a request for help and a rich yasak made from the skins of valuable fur-bearing animals. Ivan the Terrible, appreciating Ermak’s merits, sent a significant squad under his command, and personally gave him a steel armor - a sign of his royal favor.

But, despite all the successes, the life of the Cossacks passed in constant danger of new attacks by the Tatars. The legendary conqueror of Siberia, Ermak, became a victim of one of them. His biography ends with an episode when, on a dark August night in 1585, a detachment of Cossacks, having spent the night on the banks of a wild taiga river, did not post sentries.

Fatal negligence allowed the Tatars to suddenly attack them. Fleeing from enemies, Ermak tried to swim across the river, but the heavy shell - a gift from the king - carried him to the bottom. This is how the legendary man who gave Russia the endless expanses of Siberia ended his life.

Origin

The origin of Ermak is not exactly known; there are several versions.

“Unknown by birth, famous by soul”, according to one legend, he was from the banks of the Chusovaya River. Thanks to his knowledge of local rivers, he walked along the Kama, Chusovaya and even crossed into Asia, along the Tagil River, until he was taken to serve as a Cossack (Cherepanov Chronicle), in another way - a native of the Kachalinskaya village on the Don (Bronevsky). Recently, the version about the Pomeranian origin of Ermak (originally “from the Dvina from Borka”) has been heard more and more often; they probably meant the Boretsk volost, with its center in the village of Borok (now in the Vinogradovsky district of the Arkhangelsk region).

A description of his appearance has been preserved, preserved by Semyon Ulyanovich Remezov in his “Remezov Chronicler” of the late 17th century. According to S. U. Remezov, whose father, the Cossack centurion Ulyan Moiseevich Remezov, personally knew the surviving participants in Ermak’s campaign, the famous ataman was

“Velmi is courageous, and humane, and visionary, and pleased with all wisdom, flat-faced, black-haired, of average age [that is, height], and flat, and broad-shouldered.”

Probably, Ermak was first the ataman of one of the numerous bands of Volga Cossacks who protected the population on the Volga from arbitrariness and robbery on the part of the Crimean and Astrakhan Tatars. This is evidenced by the petitions of the “old” Cossacks addressed to the Tsar that have reached us, namely: Ermak’s comrade-in-arms Gavrila Ilyin wrote that he “flew” (carried out military service) with Ermak in the Wild Field for 20 years, another veteran Gavrila Ivanov wrote that he served to the king on the field for twenty years with Ermak in the village"and in the villages of other atamans.

Ermak's Siberian campaign

The initiative of this campaign, according to the Esipovskaya and Remizovskaya chronicles, belonged to Ermak himself; the Stroganovs’ participation was limited to the forced supply of supplies and weapons to the Cossacks. According to the Stroganov Chronicle (accepted by Karamzin, Solovyov and others), the Stroganovs themselves called the Cossacks from the Volga to Chusovaya and sent them on a campaign, adding 300 military men from their possessions to Ermak’s detachment (540 people).

It is important to note that at the disposal of the future enemy of the Cossacks, Khan Kuchum, were forces several times larger than Ermak’s squad, but armed much worse. According to archival documents of the Ambassadorial Order (RGADA), in total, Khan Kuchum had an army of approximately 10 thousand, that is, one “tumen”, and the total number of “yasak people” who obeyed him did not exceed 30 thousand adult men.

Ataman Ermak at the Monument “1000th Anniversary of Russia” in Veliky Novgorod

Death of Ermak

Performance evaluation

Some historians rate Ermak’s personality very highly, “his courage, leadership talent, iron willpower,” but the facts conveyed by the chronicles do not give any indication of his personal qualities and the degree of his personal influence. Be that as it may, Ermak is “one of the most remarkable figures in Russian history,” writes historian Ruslan Skrynnikov.

Memory

The memory of Ermak lives among the Russian people in legends, songs (for example, “Song of Ermak” is included in the repertoire of the Omsk choir) and place names. The most common settlements and institutions named after him can be found in Western Siberia. Cities and villages, sports complexes and sports teams, streets and squares, rivers and marinas, steamships and icebreakers, hotels, etc. are named in honor of Ermak. For some of them, see Ermak. Many Siberian commercial firms have the name “Ermak” in their name.

Notes

Literature

Sources

• Letter from Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich to the Yugra land to Prince Pevgey and all the princes of Sorykid about the collection of tribute and its delivery to Moscow // Tobolsk chronograph. Collection. Vol. 4. - Ekaterinburg, 2004. P. 6. - ISBN 5-85383-275-1
• Letter from Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich to Chusovaya Maxim and Nikita Stroganov about sending Volga Cossacks Ermak Timofeevich and his comrades to Cherdyn // Tobolsk Chronograph. Collection. Vol. 4. - Ekaterinburg, 2004. P.7-8. - ISBN 5-85383-275-1
• Letter from Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich to Semyon, Maxim and Nikita Stroganov on the preparation for spring of 15 plows for people and supplies sent to Siberia // Tobolsk Chronograph. Collection. Vol. 4. - Ekaterinburg, 2004. pp. 8-9. - ISBN 5-85383-275-1
• “Additions to historical acts”, vol. I, no. 117;
• Remizov (Kungur) Chronicle, ed. archaeological commission;
• Wed. Siberian Chronicles, ed. Spassky (St. Petersburg, 1821);
• Rychkov A.V. Rezhevsky treasures. - Ural University, 2004. - 40 p. - 1500 copies. - ISBN 5-7996-0213-7

Research

• Ataman Ermak Timofeevich, conqueror of the Siberian kingdom. - M., 1905. 116 p.
• Blazhes V.V. On the name of the conqueror of Siberia in historical literature and folklore // Our region. Materials of the 5th Sverdlovsk Regional Local History Conference. - Sverdlovsk, 1971. - P. 247-251. (historiography of the problem)
• Buzukashvili M. I. Ermak. - M., 1989. - 144 p.
• Gritsenko N. Erected in 1839 // Siberian Capital, 2000, No. 1. - P. 44-49. (monument to Ermak in Tobolsk)
• Dergacheva-Skop E. Brief stories about Ermak’s campaign in Siberia // Siberia in the past, present and future. Vol. III. History and culture of the peoples of Siberia: Abstracts of reports and communications of the All-Union Scientific Conference (October 13-15, 1981). - Novosibirsk, 1981. - P. 16-18.
• Zherebtsov I. L. Komi - associates of Ermak Timofeevich and Semyon Dezhnev // NeVton: Almanac. - 2001. - No. 1. - P. 5-60.
• Zakshauskienė E. Badge from Ermak’s chain mail // Monuments of the Fatherland. All Russia: Almanac. No. 56. Book. 1. The first capital of Siberia. - M., 2002. P. 87-88.
• Katanov N. F. The legend of the Tobolsk Tatars about Kuchum and Ermak // Tobolsk chronograph. Collection. Vol. 4. - Ekaterinburg, 2004. - P. 145-167. - ISBN 5-85383-275-1 (first published: same // Yearbook of the Tobolsk Provincial Museum. 1895-1896. - Issue V. - P. 1-12)
• Katargina M. N. The plot of the death of Ermak: chronicle materials. Historical songs. Legends. Russian novel of the 20-50s of the XX century // Yearbook of the Tyumen Regional Museum of Local Lore: 1994. - Tyumen, 1997. - pp. 232-239. - ISBN 5-87591-004-6
• Kozlova N.K. About “Chudi”, Tatars, Ermak and Siberian burial mounds // Kaplya [Omsk]. - 1995. - P. 119-133.
• Kolesnikov A. D. Ermak. - Omsk, 1983. - 140 p.
• Kopylov V. E. Countrymen in the names of minerals // Kopylov V. E. Shout of memory (History of the Tyumen region through the eyes of an engineer). Book one. - Tyumen, 2000. - P. 58-60. (including about the mineral ermakite)
• Kopylov D. I. Ermak. - Irkutsk, 1989. - 139 p.
• Kreknina L. I. Ermak's theme in the works of P. P. Ershov // Yearbook of the Tyumen Regional Museum of Local Lore: 1994. - Tyumen, 1997. - pp. 240-245. - ISBN 5-87591-004-6
• Kuznetsov E.V. Bibliography of Ermak: Experience of indicating little-known works in Russian and partly in foreign languages ​​about the conqueror of Siberia // Calendar of the Tobolsk province for 1892. - Tobolsk, 1891. - P. 140-169.
• Kuznetsov E.V. Information about Ermak’s banners // Tobolsk Provincial Gazette. - 1892. - No. 43.
• Kuznetsov E.V. Finding a conqueror’s gun in Siberia // Kuznetsov E.V. Siberian chronicler. - Tyumen, 1999. - P. 302-306. - ISBN 5-93020-024-6
• Kuznetsov E.V. Initial literature about Ermak // Tobolsk Provincial Gazette. - 1890. - No. 33, 35.
• Kuznetsov E.V. About the essay by A.V. Oksenov “Ermak in the epics of the Russian people”: Bibliography of news // Tobolsk Provincial Gazette. - 1892. - No. 35.
• Kuznetsov E.V. Legends and guesses about the Christian name Ermak // Kuznetsov E.V. Siberian chronicler. - Tyumen, 1999. - P.9-48. - ISBN 5-93020-024-6 (see also: the same // Lukich. - 1998. - Part 2. - P. 92-127)
• Miller,"Siberian History";
• Nebolsin P.I. Conquest of Siberia // Tobolsk chronograph. Collection. Vol. 3. - Ekaterinburg, 1998. - P. 16-69. ISBN 5-85383-127-5
• Oksenov A.V. Ermak in the epics of the Russian people // Historical Bulletin, 1892. - T. 49. - No. 8. - P. 424-442.
• Panishev E. A. The death of Ermak in Tatar and Russian legends // Yearbook-2002 of the Tobolsk Museum-Reserve. - Tobolsk, 2003. - P. 228-230.
• Parkhimovich S. The riddle of the chieftain's name // Lukich. - 1998. - No. 2. - P. 128-130. (about the Christian name Ermak)
• Skrynnikov R. G. Ermak. - M., 2008. - 255 s (ZhZL series) - ISBN 978-5-235-03095-4
• Skrynnikov R. G. Siberian expedition of Ermak. - Novosibirsk, 1986. - 290 p.
• Solodkin Ya. Did Ermak Timofeevich have a double? // Yugra. - 2002. - No. 9. - P. 72-73.
• Solodkin Ya. G. To the study of chronicle sources about Ermak’s Siberian expedition // Abstracts of reports and messages of the scientific-practical conference “Slovtsov Readings-95”. - Tyumen, 1996. pp. 113-116.
• Solodkin Ya. G. On the debate about the origin of Ermak // Western Siberia: history and modernity: Notes on local history. Vol. II. - Ekaterinburg, 1999. - P. 128-131.
• Solodkin Ya. G. Were the “Ermakov Cossacks” remembered outside of Tobolsk? (How Semyon Remezov misled many historians) // Siberian Historical Journal. 2006/2007. - pp. 86-88. - ISBN 5-88081-586-2
• Solodkin Ya. G. Stories of the “Ermakov Cossacks” and the beginning of the Siberian chronicle // Russians. Materials of the VIIth Siberian Symposium “Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of Western Siberia” (December 9-11, 2004, Tobolsk). - Tobolsk, 2004. P. 54-58.
• Solodkin Ya. G. Editors of the synodik “Ermakov Cossacks” (on the history of early Siberian chronicles) // Slovtsov Readings-2006: Materials of the XVIII All-Russian Scientific Local History Conference. - Tyumen, 2006. - pp. 180-182. - ISBN 5-88081-558-7
• Solodkin Ya. G. Chronology of Ermakov’s capture of Siberia in Russian chronicles of the first half of the 17th century. //Tyumen Land: Yearbook of the Tyumen Regional Museum of Local Lore: 2005. Vol. 19. - Tyumen, 2006. - P. 9-15. - ISBN 5-88081-556-0
• Solodkin Ya. G.“...AND THESE WRITINGS FOR HIS CORRECTION” (SYNODIX OF “ERMAK’S COSSACKS” AND ESIPOV’S CHRONICLE) // Ancient Rus'. Questions of medieval studies. 2005. No. 2 (20). pp. 48-53.
• Sofronov V. Yu. Ermak’s campaign and the struggle for the Khan’s throne in Siberia // Scientific-practical conference “Slovtsov Readings” (Abstracts of reports). Sat. 1. - Tyumen, 1993. - pp. 56-59.
• Sofronova M. N. About the imaginary and the real in the portraits of the Siberian ataman Ermak // Traditions and modernity: Collection of articles. - Tyumen, 1998. - pp. 56-63. - ISBN 5-87591-006-2 (see also: same // Tobolsk Chronograph. Collection. Issue 3. - Ekaterinburg, 1998. - P. 169-184. - ISBN 5-85383-127-5)
• Sutormin A. G. Ermak Timofeevich (Alenin Vasily Timofeevich). Irkutsk: East Siberian Book Publishing House, 1981.
• Fialkov D. N. About the place of death and burial of Ermak // Siberia of the period of feudalism: Vol. 2. Economy, management and culture of Siberia XVI-XIX centuries. - Novosibirsk, 1965. - P. 278-282.
• Shkerin V. A. Ermak’s Sylven campaign: a mistake or a search for a way to Siberia? //Ethnocultural history of the Urals, XVI-XX centuries: Materials of the international scientific conference, Ekaterinburg, November 29 - December 2, 1999 - Ekaterinburg, 1999. - pp. 104-107.
• Shcheglov I. V. In defense of October 26, 1581 // Siberia. 1881. (to the discussion about the date of Ermak’s campaign in Siberia).

Links

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional ones). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

The years of Ermak Timofeevich’s life are not known for certain today. According to different versions, he was born either in 1531, or in 1534, or even in 1542. But the date of death is precisely known - August 6, 1585.

He was a Cossack chieftain, he is called a National Hero. It was he who discovered a huge part of our country - Siberia.

According to one version, Cossack Ermak Timofeevich was born in the Middle Urals region. He looked like this: large, broad-shouldered, with a black beard, of average height, with a flat face. We do not know what surname Ermak bore. But one historian is sure that the full name sounded like Vasily Timofeevich Alenin.

Ermak was a participant in the Livonian War, commanding the Cossacks. In 1581 he fought in Lithuania. Ermak also participated in the liberation of besieged Pskov. In 1582 he was in the army that stopped the Swedes.

Historical reference

The Siberian Khanate was part of the possessions of Genghis Khan. In 1563, Kuchum began to rule there, but this did not happen in an honest way. Having killed Ediger, a tributary of Moscow, he “pretended to be one of his own.” The government recognized him as a khan and also obliged him to pay tribute. But, having settled well in Siberia, Kuchum decided to make the Khanate independent and independent: he did not pay tribute and attacked other territories. And Moscow now faced the task of returning the Siberian Khanate under its control.

It should be noted that the eastern lands were colonized by the famous Stroganov family, industrialists and merchants. Their activities were controlled by Moscow. The Stroganovs were unusually rich. They had their own detachments and fortresses beyond the Kama, which they themselves supplied with weapons. The earth had to be protected somehow. And now Ermak comes to their aid.

Ermak Timofeevich: the conquest of Siberia and the discovery of new lands

How it all began

One of the Siberian Chronicles tells that the Stroganovs sent a letter to the Cossacks. The merchants asked for help against the attacking peoples. A Cossack squad led by Ermak came to Siberia and successfully defended the lands from the Vogulichs, Votyaks, Pelymtsy and others.

Still, it remains unknown exactly how the “deal” took place between the Stroganovs and the Cossack army.

• The merchants simply sent or even ordered Cossack troops to conquer Siberia.
• Ermak and his army himself decided to go on a campaign and forced the Stroganovs to provide the necessary weapons, food and other things.
• Both of them made this decision on conditions beneficial to everyone.

Before the start of the campaign, the Stroganovs allocated weapons (guns and gunpowder), provisions, as well as people - about three hundred people. The Cossacks themselves numbered 540. The strictest discipline reigned in the detachment of eight hundred people.

The campaign began in September 1581. The detachment swam along the rivers, long and hard. The boats got stuck, the water was already starting to freeze. We had to spend the winter near the portage. While some were getting food, others were preparing for spring. The flood came, the boats quickly set off. And so the detachment ended up in the Siberian Khanate.

Getting closer to the goal

In the area of ​​present-day Tyumen, which then belonged to Kuchumov’s relative, Epanch, the first battle took place. Ermak's army defeated the Epanchi Tatars. The Cossacks stubbornly moved forward. The Tatars could only flee and report the attacks to Kuchum. It should be noted that the Tatars did not have gunpowder weapons; they used bows. Therefore, the guns of Ermak’s detachment completely discouraged them, which they reported to the khan. But, on the other hand, the Tatars had a superiority in troops by twenty times or even more.
Kuchum, although depressed, as a true leader, quickly gathered all the Tatars under the leadership of Magmetkul and ordered them to go against the Cossacks. And at this time he strengthened the borders of the city of Siberia - the capital of the Khanate.

Magmetkul and the Cossacks fought bloodily and cruelly. The weapons of the former were significantly inferior, so Magmetkul had to flee. Meanwhile, the Cossacks moved further and took a couple of cities. Ermak stops to decide how to proceed.
The decision had to be made: go back or move forward. Ataman Ermak Timofeevich feared that there were too many enemies. It was already October 1582. The rivers will soon begin to freeze again, so it is risky to swim back.

And so, early in the morning of October 23, Ermak’s army, with the hope of God’s help, went on the offensive. The fight was incredibly difficult. Ermak’s army was unable to break through the Tatar defenses. But the Russians managed to break through, and the Tatars began to flee the battlefield. Kuchum, seeing all this, also fled, leaving Siberia.

And on October 26, Ermak and his Cossack detachment entered the capital, rich in precious metals and furs. Ermak's banner now fluttered in Siberia.

But it was too early to rejoice. Kuchum, hiding in the steppes, continued to attack the Cossacks. Magmetkul also posed a danger. First, he killed part of the Cossacks in November 1582. But Ermak made a very far-sighted act in the spring of 1853, sending part of the army to attack the Tatars and capture Magmetkul. Although the Cossack army coped with this task, it began to decrease in number and strength. Russian princes with an army of three hundred people were sent to help the detachment. After all, Kuchum did not calm down, and it was necessary to defend the conquered city

Death of Ermak Timofeevich

Here is how it was. Ermak and his detachment walked along the Irtysh. They spent the night at the mouth of the Vagai River. Unexpectedly, in the dead of night, Kuchum attacks the Cossacks and kills them. Only a part managed to escape. Survivors say that the ataman tried to swim to the plows (these are such ships), but drowned in the river. This happened, most likely, due to the heaviness of the armor (Ermak was wearing two chain mail shirts at that time). Of course, it is possible that he was also wounded.

Conquest of Siberia.

Secrets of Siberia. The mysterious grave of Ermak.

slavculture.ru

Brief message about Ermak Timofeevich

The exact years of Ermak Timofeevich’s life are unknown today. They say that he was born approximately in 1531 -1534. But the date of his death is precisely known - it is August 6, 1585. He was the ataman of the Cossacks. He loved his people and fought for them. he is called a National Hero. Ermak discovered vast territories of the earth that were unexplored - these are the Siberian lands. He was broad-shouldered, large, courageous, with a black beard, and of average height. Ermak took part in the Livonian War, he commanded the Cossacks, fought in Lithuania, participated in the liberation of besieged Pskov, and in 1582 he stopped the Swedish army. helped the famous rich Stroganovs to defend their lands. Ermak went to the Siberian Khanate to conquer lands. The battle was bloody. The fight was incredibly difficult. Ermak fought a hard fight, he was not afraid of enemies. Ermak’s army was unable to break through the Tatar defenses. But the Russians managed to break through, and the Tatars began to flee the battlefield. Kuchum, seeing all this, also fled, leaving Siberia. Soon Ermak enters the capital, rich in precious metals and furs. and of course, Ermak’s banner now fluttered in Siberia. But the enemy simply retreated, but did not surrender. Kuchum was hiding in the steppes. He continued to attack the Cossacks. He destroyed them in groups. But Ermak was a far-sighted leader. And he did a very far-sighted act in the spring of 1853. Ermak sent part of the army to attack the Tatars and capture Magmetkul. The Cossacks were determined, but their numbers were dwindling and many were already wounded and killed. Russian princes were sent to help the Cossack detachment; there were 300 of them. But Kuchum still couldn’t calm down. He thirsted for revenge and his desire grew. The Cossacks needed to defend the conquered city. At night, Kuchum attacked the Cossacks and killed them. And only a part was saved. Ermak tried to swim wounded, but he was wearing chain mail and could not survive.

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Biography of Ermak Timofeevich - biography of Ermak T.

Date of birth: 1531
Place of birth: unknown
Date of death: August 6, 1585
Place of death: Khanate of Siberia

Ermak Timofeevich

The first to conquer Siberia

Around 1531 - birth

1582 - campaign in Siberia

August 6, 1585 - died

Interesting facts of Ermak Timofeevich:

Ermak was a true folk hero - songs and fairy tales were written about him, many cities, streets, squares, rivers, and ships were named after him.
Ermak’s banner depicted a lion and a unicorn - it was kept in Omsk until 1918
Based on Singer sewing machines, in the 20th century the production of domestic machines with the name Ermak was launched in Omsk
A memorial sign was installed at the mouth of the Shish River as the southernmost point of the Ermaa expedition
In 1996, the film Ermak was released

the-biografii.ru

Ermak Timofeevich short biography - Works, Abstracts, Reports

Date of birth: 1531.
Place of birth: unknown.
Date of death: August 6, 1585.
Place of death: Khanate of Siberia.

Ermak Timofeevich- conqueror of Siberia, traveler.

The exact date of Ermak’s birth and his origin are still not known. According to one version, he was from the Kama, according to another, from the Don.

Ermak is an abbreviation for the name Ermolai. But some writers and researchers claim that Ermak’s name was Vasily. His last name is also unknown - the versions are called Alenin, Timofeev and Tokmak.

Ermak began his service as an ataman as part of one of the squads that robbed merchants along the Volga.

Then he began to command a hundred Cossacks in the Livonian War. In 1581 he reached Lithuania and Mogilev, and then lifted the siege from Pskov.

In 1582 he took part in the battle of Lyalitsy with a squad of more than 550 people. Then this squad went at the invitation of the Ural merchants the Stroganovs to protect them from Kuchum, the Siberian Khan.

On September 1, 1581, Ermak and his squad moved beyond the Urals. Against their 500-man squad, Khan Kuchum had an army of 10 thousand. Kuchum was very cruel towards the indigenous peoples of Siberia, so they asked for protection from the Cossacks, and were also part of the Khan’s army, which ensured his unreliability.

Ermak's squad sailed up the Chusovaya River to the Siberian portage, where the Kama and Ob separated. There they wintered and along the way scouted the southern route. There they were attacked by the Tatars, and only in 1582 they headed to Tura. Along the way, they were attacked by the Tatars 2 times, but Ermak successfully resisted them.

On August 1, they defeated one of Kuchum’s troops, then, when approaching the Irtysh, his main army, and the khan had to flee to Ishim.

On October 26, 1582, Ermak entered the city of Siberia, and 4 days later the indigenous peoples began to bring him gifts. Ermak received everyone and promised to protect them from the khan. In return, the peoples were obliged to pay tribute and be considered subjects of the Russian Tsar.

In December 1582, another Tatar detachment tried to defeat Ermak’s army, but they fought back.

In 1583, Ermak continued to conquer Tatar cities throughout the Irtysh.

Then he sent a messenger to Ivan the Terrible, who sent the squad rich rewards and armor.

In 1584, Ermak’s luck turned away - one by one his atamans died, and only by miracle did he manage not to surrender.

On August 6, 1585, Ermak also failed to survive. His army marched along the Irtysh, and during an overnight stay they were treacherously attacked. According to legend, Ermak was wearing double chain mail, given to him by the king, and escaped by swimming down the river, but drowned.

Kuchum again took possession of Siberia, but a year later the Cossacks returned there with a new detachment.

According to legend, Ermak's body was caught by the Tatars, who violated him and then buried him. Ermak was buried in the village of Baishevo, and recently a version appeared about a grave in Bashkortostan.

In 1915, near the city of Kashlyk, the same chain mail donated by Ivan the Terrible was found.

Achievements of Ermak Timofeevich:

The first to conquer Siberia

Dates from the biography of Ermak Timofeevich:

Around 1531 - birth
1581 - the first mention of an ataman and a participant in hostilities
1582 - campaign in Siberia
October 26, 1582 - repulse Kuchum’s troops and conquest of Siberia
August 6, 1585 - died

referat5top.ru

Ermak briefly about the conqueror of Siberia

Ermak, briefly about the conqueror of Siberia

Ermak Timofeevich short biography for children

Ermak, to put it briefly, is a Cossack ataman, his biography is not known for certain, his activities can be judged from fragmentary descriptions in a few chronicles. Before his famous campaign against the Siberian Khan Kuchum, Ermak, at the head of a Cossack detachment, participated in the Livonian War, fought against the Polish king Stefan Batory and against the Lithuanians, and carried out bandit raids on merchant ships passing along the Volga River.

In 1579, Ermak’s detachment, according to the Strogonov Chronicle, together with other Cossack squads arrived at the Chusovaya River at the invitation of the Strogonov merchants. The fact is that the lands of the Strogonovs were located on the border with the Siberian Khanate, and were regularly subject to raids by nomads. For the Cossacks, this invitation was more than interesting, since by this time their troops were outlaws and were wanted by Moscow governors for robberies of trade and government ships. Over the course of two years in the service of Ermak, Strogonov’s Cossacks successfully repelled the attacks of Siberian nomads on the borders, and in September 1581 they equipped a military detachment on a campaign against the Siberian Khan.

It was this campaign that glorified Ermak, in short, as a skillful commander, thanks to a clear military organization and strict subordination, his army of 540 people acted quickly, efficiently and coordinatedly. The hierarchy of military leaders was clearly built. The Cossacks were divided into dozens, led by foremen, then came Pentecostals, centurions, esauls and atamans. According to some chronicle data (Remizovskaya and Esipovskaya chronicles), this campaign was initiated by Ermak himself, according to other data, the proposal came from the Stroganov brothers, and in addition to the Cossacks, 300 warriors took part in the campaign (Strogonovskaya chronicle). In any case, the campaign was completely financed by the Strogonov merchants.

In three months, Ermak’s detachment quickly walked along the Chusovaya and Serebryannaya rivers and reached the Ob River basin area. Here, according to the Remizovskaya chronicle, the Cossacks spent the winter. And in the spring they continued their campaign beyond the Urals. Ermak won several military victories, and Kuchum sent his nephew Mametkul to meet the Cossacks. In a battle near the Tobol rivers, Mametkul’s military detachment suffered a crushing defeat. But the main battle between Ermak and the Siberian Khan took place later, on October 26, 1582. Both the Siberian Khan Kuchum and his nephew took part in this battle on the banks of the Irtysh River.

The Tatars were put to flight, leaving the capital of the Khanate - the city of Siberia. After this, in the summer of 1583, the Cossacks tried to subjugate small settlements near the city of Siberia, but met fierce resistance. The last major victory in this direction was the city of Nazim. From the moment of the capture of Siberia, Ermak sends an official ambassador to Ivan the Terrible.

The Tsar approved of Ermak's actions and sent 300 military soldiers, led by governors Ivan Glukhov and Semyon Bolkhovsky, to help the Cossacks. But reinforcements arrived too late. By the autumn of 1584, when the tsar’s squad approached Siberia, the Cossack detachment was practically defeated as a result of constant enemy attacks. Ermak died on August 6, 1584. His detachment was ambushed on the Irtysh River, the Tatars attacked the sleeping Cossacks and killed them unarmed. Ermak threw himself into the river, but could not swim to his plow and drowned.
Ermak's campaign did not consolidate Moscow's power over the Siberian Khanate, but largely determined the further course of history and the expansion of the Slavs to the east.

More short biographies of great commanders:
— Monomakh Vladimir Vsevolodovich
— Nevsky Alexander Yaroslavich
— Donskoy Dmitry Ivanovich

antiquehistory.ru

Ermak Timofeevich - biography

There is no reliable information about the time and place of birth of Ermak Timofeevich. According to popular belief, the name "Ermak" comes from an abbreviation of the name "Ermolai".

In the 2nd half of the 16th century, Ermak headed the Cossack village for 20 years, “flying” between the Volga and Don. In the early 1580s, he allegedly participated with his village in the Livonian War and raided the Nogais.

The Ural merchants and salt industrialists the Stroganovs invited Ermak and his Cossacks to protect their possessions from attacks by the Siberian Tatars. In the fall of 1581, at the head of a squad, he arrived in Cherdyn (near the mouth of the Kolva River) and Sol-Kamskaya (on the Kama River).

With a detachment of 540 Cossacks (chronicles also mention other figures), Ermak in September 1582 ascended the Chusovaya River and its tributary Mezhevaya Utka, crossed to the Aktai River (a tributary of the Baranchi River, Tobol system). Along the rivers Barancha, Tagil, Tura and Tobol, he descended to the Irtysh, overcoming the resistance of local tribes and Tatar “military people” along the way. On October 26, 1582, after the battle near the Chuvashev Cape, Ermak’s Cossacks captured the capital of Kuchumov’s “kingdom” - the city of Siberia (sources also call it Isker and Kashlyk), located at the confluence of the Tobol River with the Irtysh (17 km from modern Tobolsk). Khan Kuchum and his people fled to the steppes. Ermak's squad remained to spend the winter in Siberia, where local Khanty, Mansi and Tatar princes and Murzas soon began to come with an expression of submission. On December 5, 1582, in a battle near Lake Abalak, the Ermakovites defeated the detachment of Mametkul, Kuchum’s nephew.

Ermak used the summer of 1583 to conquer Tatar towns and uluses along the Irtysh and Ob rivers, meeting stubborn resistance everywhere, and took the Ostyak city of Nazim. In the fall of 1583, the ataman sent messengers to the Stroganovs and an ambassador to Ivan IV the Terrible, ataman Ivan Ring. The Tsar richly rewarded the Cossacks and sent 300 archers to reinforce them.

In the summer of 1584 or 1585, Ermak with a small detachment set out on a campaign up the Irtysh. On the night of August 5-6, during a battle on an island on the Vagae River, the ataman was ambushed by the Siberian Khan and died. Being wounded, he tried to swim across the river, but the heavy chain mail - a gift from Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible - pulled him to the bottom.

Among the geographical achievements of Ermak Timofeevich and his associates, it should be noted that they became familiar with the Irtysh River approximately 1200 km from the mouth of the Shish River to its confluence with the Ob, with its flow to the Sob River (about 800 km). They continued the discovery of the West Siberian Plain and discovered the Belogorsk continent - a hilly area along the right bank of the lower Ob. The main political merit of Ermak Timofeevich is the annexation of Western Siberia to the Russian state.

www.bankgorodov.ru

A short story about Ermak

Ermak is an epoch-making personality; together with his comrades, he was the first of the Russian explorers to set foot on Siberian soil to develop the fabulous land. Already in the first skirmishes with the Siberian army, Ermak’s Cossacks showed their superiority and gained a foothold in the Siberian region. Ermak invited Tsar Ivan the Terrible to take the vast land of Siberia under his hand. Therefore, it is important to have a true understanding of the glorious chieftain in order to comprehend his significance for Russian history.
Now it is no longer possible to restore the early pages of the biography of the Cossack chieftain. A few fragmentary descriptions, preserved in rare chronicles and petitions, give an idea of ​​the stern warrior. By the time of the Siberian campaign, he had already spent a quarter of a century in the “Wild Field”, commanded a detachment of Cossacks in Livonia, fought with the Poles of Batory and the Lithuanians. Then he robbed the Volga and, at some point, was invited by the Stroganov merchants to protect their lands from raids by the Siberian Tatars.
By the fall of 1581, the plan for the detachment’s campaign against the Khan of Siberia had matured. Ermak and the Stroganovs created and equipped a military detachment of Cossacks and warriors numbering 540 people with a strict military hierarchy. The dashing army marched along the Ural ridge in a forced march, rafted down the Chusovaya and Serebryannaya rivers and spent the winter near the Ob River basin.
In the spring, Ermak’s squad went deep into Siberia, smashing the Tatar detachments sent towards them. Near Tobol, Ermak encountered a large army of Mametkul, the nephew of Khan Kuchum, and defeated him, and a little later, on the Irtysh River, he put to flight the main forces of the Tatars, led by the khan himself. Kuchum abandoned his capital and Ermak, inspired by the victory, sent his envoys to Ivan the Terrible. The Tsar graciously accepted gifts from Siberia, approved the actions of the Cossacks and sent reinforcements.
Help was late; in August 1584, Ermak’s group was ambushed and killed by the Tatars. The ataman tried to swim to his plow in armor, but the heavy armor pulled the ataman to the bottom of the river. This time, Moscow’s power over Siberia could not be established, but Ermak’s work continued and a few years later new Russian troops began the real development of the Siberian expanses.

Ermak is an act that in its scale can only be compared with the conquest of America by Hernan Cortez. However, if you can find a lot of biographical information about the famous Spanish conquistador, then only a few facts are known for certain about the life of the Russian chieftain, and even then they are quite contradictory.

Where was Ermak born?

As you know, the conquest of Siberia took place in the 16th century. Unfortunately, in those days, such an event as the birth of a child in a peasant family usually did not find any documentary reflection. Therefore, it is not surprising that today it is impossible to give an exact answer to the question: “Where did Ermak’s family live at the time of his birth?” Some information on this issue is in the Cherepanov Chronicle, which tells how the grandfather of the future ataman helped the Murom “dashing people”, for which he was imprisoned, and his family settled in the estates of the Stroganovs. However, many researchers are not inclined to trust this manuscript, especially since its authors include a certain competent coachman from Tobolsk, Ilya Cherepanov. Another document - “The Legend of the Siberian Land” - points to Suzdal as the place where Ermak’s family lived long before his birth. Further in the chronicle it is narrated that his grandfather, together with his sons, one of whom was named Timofey, moved to Yuryevtse-Povolsky, where he had five grandchildren, including Vasily. As stated in the “Tale,” it was this boy who was later to become the conqueror of Siberia.

Pomeranian version of the origin of the chieftain

Some researchers believe that the question of where Ermak’s family lived should be answered: “In the village of Borok, Arkhangelsk region.” According to the same version, the chieftain’s real name was Ermolai, or Ermil, and he ended up on the Volga, trying to escape the famine that had gripped the Russian North. There the young man became a “chury” (servant-squire) to an elderly Cossack, and from 1563 he began to go on campaigns.

Life of Ermak before the Siberian campaigns

The only reliable information regarding the biography of the ataman before his appearance on the lands of the Stroganovs is the memoirs of his fellow Cossacks. In particular, two veterans claimed to have spent their youth serving in the Volga villages under the conqueror of Siberia. Thus, to the question of where Ermak lived around 1565, we can answer that he was in the Volga region and was already an ataman. This means that at that time he was no less than 20 years old. More information has been preserved about Ermak’s military exploits. Thus, from a letter from the Lithuanian commandant of the city of Mogilev to King Stefan Batory, you can find out that he participated as a Cossack centurion and distinguished himself during the siege of the Mogilev fortress. Later, his detachment helped Khvorostinin stop the advance of the Swedes. As for whether Ermak’s wife and children existed, there is no mention of them in any source.

Ermak and the Stroganovs

In 1582, the famous merchants Stroganov invited a Cossack squad consisting of 540 Cossacks to serve. Their leader was Ataman Ermak, who was already famous as a fearless warrior and an excellent commander. The Stroganovs' goal was to ensure the protection of their lands from frequent attacks by troops of the Siberian Khan Kuchum. The army arrived in the Chusovsky towns in the summer of 1582 and remained there until September, after which it went to fight for the Stone Belt, as it was called in those days. There are records that the Stroganovs “opened their barns for the military men” and supplied them with everything necessary for the campaign.

Conquest of Siberia

Ermak's army used plows as a means of transportation. In total, the Cossacks had 80 ships, on which 840 people of different nationalities went on a campaign. Having risen through the water to the Tagil Pass, Ermak’s squad was forced to drag the plows along the ground to the Zheravlya River and then get to Tobol, on the banks of which a battle took place with the army of the Siberian Khan Kuchum. Having won the battle, the Cossacks captured the city of Kashlyk. Then representatives of local peoples began to come to bow to Ermak, whom the ataman “met kindly” and forced to swear allegiance. In 1582, he sent one of his comrades with the good news about the conquest of Siberia. The king was delighted with the news received and sent Ermak rich gifts and 300 military men to help. The detachment arrived in Siberia in the fall of 1583. However, by this time fortune had turned away from the ataman, many of his commanders were killed in battles with the Tatars.

Where Ermak drowned: what the Cossacks said

At the time of his death, the famous ataman was already a fairly well-known person, therefore, several years after the last battle of the Cossacks with the army of Kuchum, on the orders of the Tobolsk Archbishop Kipriyan, an investigation was carried out and the surviving comrades of Ermak were interrogated. In addition, the Tatars who fought as part of the Khan’s army also gave testimony.

If we combine all the facts presented by eyewitnesses, the following picture emerges: the last battle took place on the Vagai bow, where the Cossacks spent the night. They set up “canopy” tents on the banks of the Irtysh, not far from their plows, on which each warrior had his own specific place and his own pilot. That night a storm broke out, and therefore Kuchum’s detachment managed to take them by surprise. Despite this, most of the Cossacks managed to get on their ships and sail away. Further, contradictions begin in written sources. In particular, in an earlier document, recorded from the words of the surviving veterans of Ermak’s army, it is indicated that they reproach themselves because they abandoned the ataman and a small handful of comrades, and they themselves left the scene of the battle on the plows. Completely different information is contained in the synodial record, which the deacons compiled later, and there you can read that all the Cossacks died along with Ermak, and only one of them escaped and spoke about the defeat of the detachment.

The death of Ermak according to the Tatars

The most interesting thing is that information about the death of the ataman in the waves of the Irtysh near the Vagai bow is found only in records made from the words of the Tatars. In particular, many former soldiers claimed that Ermak nevertheless defeated the attackers and, trying to get to the sailing Cossack ships, went to the bottom. However, there are no records indicating whether the chieftain was wearing armor at that moment.

Legends about the conqueror of Siberia

Both the life and death of the great ataman over the past centuries have become overgrown with many myths. For example, one of the legends mentions Ermak’s failed wife. As stated in the Cossack legend, one day the Tatar Murza of the Sargach volost, wanting to secure Ermak’s friendship, brought his beautiful daughter to his camp and offered to take her as his wife. However, the chieftain rejected this proposal and sent the girl home. In addition, everyone knows the story about the chain mail, allegedly given to Ermak by Ivan the Terrible and causing the death of the hero. As some historians claim, even if the ataman ended up at the bottom of the Irtysh because of heavy armor, it could not possibly have been a gift from the tsar.

History is a book that will never be completely written. Moreover, it has many blank pages that meticulous researchers can fill in. Perhaps they will someday be able to find out where Ermak’s family lived, or they will be able to tell us some other interesting facts regarding the personality of this national hero of Russia, who conquered the vast expanses of Siberia for his homeland.

The main problem is with Ataman Ermak himself. It cannot be classified as one of the first. nor to the second category of nicknames. Some researchers tried to decipher his name as a modified Ermolai, Ermila and even Hermogen. But, firstly, the Christian name was never changed. They could use its various forms: Ermilka, Eroshka, Eropka, but not Ermak. Secondly, his name is known - Vasily, and his patronymic is Timofeevich. Although, strictly speaking, in those days a person’s name in conjunction with the father’s name should have been pronounced as Vasily Timofeev’s son. Timofeevich (with “ich”) could only be called a person of a princely family, a boyar. His nickname is also known - Povolsky, that is, a man from the Volga. But not only that, his last name is also known! In the “Siberian Chronicle”, published in St. Petersburg in 1907, the surname of Vasily’s grandfather is given - Alenin: his name was Afanasy Grigoriev’s son.

If you put all this together, it turns out: Vasily Timofeev, son of Alenin Ermak Povolsky. Impressive!

Let’s try to look into Vladimir Dahl’s dictionary to look for an explanation of the word “ermak”. “Ermak” is a small millstone for peasant hand mills.

The word "ermak" is undoubtedly of Turkic origin. Let's rummage through the Tatar-Russian dictionary: erma - breakthrough; ermak - a ditch washed away by water; ermaklau - to plow; ertu - tear, tear. It seems that the millstone for the hand mill took its name from the last word.

So, the word “ermak” is based on a fairly specific meaning - breakthrough, breakthrough. And this is already a fairly accurate description. There is even a saying: “It’s a breakthrough, not a person.” Or: “It’s like a mess.”

But why Vasily Alenin was nicknamed Ermak and not Prorva is difficult, most likely impossible, to answer. But, in fact, who proved that Ermak Alenin was Russian by origin? Since he fought on the side of the Moscow Tsar, that means he is also Russian?

In our case, the most interesting thing is that the name Vasily was replaced by the nickname Ermak, and the surname Alenin was rarely used at all. So he remained in people's memory as Ermak Timofeevich - Cossack ataman. And the Russian people have always strived for brevity and expression of the essence: they will say it as soon as they put a stamp on it.

In the popular understanding, Ermak is a symbol of a breakthrough, a small stream that moves centuries-old boulders, making its way. The hidden meaning of the name has grown into a national symbol.

And it is very symbolic that the glorious chieftain died not from an arrow or a spear (a folk hero cannot fall at the hands of an enemy), but in the fight against the elements - he drowned in the stormy Irtysh. By the way, the name of the mighty Siberian river has the same root as our hero’s nickname - “ertu”: to tear, pick, break through. “Irtysh” is translated as “digger”, tearing up the earth. No less symbolic is the fact that Ermak Timofeevich died on “ermak” - on an island formed by a small stream, which is called “ermak” by the local population.