The Siberian highway is a land route stretching from the European territory of Russia to the borders of China through Siberia. It has many names. Among them:
- Moscow-Siberian tract.
- The big tract.
- Moscow-Irkutinsky tract.
- The main Siberian postal tract.
The end of this path is indicated by branches to Kyakhta and Nerchinsk. The length of the Siberian tract, according to some estimates, was equal to 11 thousand kilometers. This is a quarter of the distance of the
circumference of the Earth along its equator.
The need to create
Over a fairly long period, communication between the European part of Russia and Siberia was carried out only on separate river routes. This was due to the lack of roads.
In 1689, the Nerchinsk Treaty was signed between Russia and China, thanks to which official relations became possible for the first time between the countries. In addition, the agreement paved the way for diverse trade relations, which created the need for a transport corridor between states.
Start of construction
12 (22). 11. 1689 a royal decree was issued, which commanded to equip the path connecting Moscow with Siberia. However, the construction of the tract was delayed. For another forty years, no action was taken. The decree remained on paper.
Even under Peter the Great, it was possible to get from Moscow to China only with the help of many land routes, waterways and draggers. Only in 1725 a delegation was sent to China, headed by Count Savva Raguzinsky Vladislavovich. As a result of negotiations held by her in 1727, the signing of the Burinsky Treaty took place. This agreement established the borders of states near the future settlement of Kakhta. The Kakhtinsky Treaty was also signed, which defined trade and political relations between the countries. And finally, in 1730, Russia undertook the construction of a new road, which was called the Siberian Highway. The work was completed by the middle of the 19th century.
Geography
The Siberian highway is the longest road of that time, which connected two different parts of the world together. But at the same time, the land route from Moscow to China became the shortest route connecting the central part of the Russian state with its eastern outskirts.
Built Siberian tract where is located on the map of Russia? Its thread originates from Moscow itself, then goes to Murom, passes through Kozmodemyansk and Kazan, Osu and
Perm, Kungur and
Yekaterinburg, Tyumen and Tobolsk, Tara and Kainsk, Kolyvan and Yeniseysk, Irkutsk and Verneudinsk, as well as Nerchinsk. Its final point is the city of Kyakhta. Thus, the Siberian tract stretches through Siberia to the borders of China.
At the beginning of the 20th century, this land route changed somewhat. If you take a map of that time, then on it the Siberian tract is located somewhat south of Tyumen. It runs through Yalutorovsk and Ishim, Omsk and Tomsk, Achinsk, as well as Krasnoyarsk. Further, it stretches to Irkutsk and coincides with the previous route.
However, by the end of the 19th century. The Siberian highway - one of the longest roads in the world - has become unable to satisfy the ever-increasing transport needs of the Russian state. That is why the government decided to build the Trans-Siberian Railway.
Construction of settlements
The newly created Siberian tract required a certain arrangement. For this, settlements were built along its entire length. Moreover, the villages and villages located on the highway had a large length and were located on both sides of the road. The outskirts of adjacent settlements were located at a distance of one or two kilometers from the center.
In order to make the streets more compact, houses were placed on the road with the narrowest side. The central part of such a settlement, located near the church, as a rule, expanded due to the streets that ran parallel to the land route.
Territory development
The Siberian tract has become the main reason for the settlement of previously sparsely populated areas. The government built the road by forced colonization. The Siberian tract is the area where coachmen were relocated from European regions of Russia. In addition, exiled peasants were brought here, whom the landowners handed over to recruiting. These territories were also settled by free immigrants. They came from different regions of Siberia and Russia.
With the development of the land route, the influx of immigrants to these places also grew. Gradually, these territories became the most settled in Siberia. People who moved here had government benefits. For two years they were exempted from all duties that existed in those days, except for the head one.
When the Siberian Highway was finally built, the government imposed additional obligations on peasants from on-site villages and villages for maintaining crossings and bridges, transporting military personnel, etc. Such duties were 40 times higher than the expenses of the same peasants living in Russian provinces.
Mail message
In addition to establishing ties with China, the Siberian tract was necessary for Russia for another purpose. Without this land route, it was impossible to organize a state postal service. The construction of the road soon met all the expectations of the government. So, if in 1724 mail from Moscow to Tobolsk was transported only once during the month, then already in 1734 - weekly, and after two dozen years - every three to four days.
For the purpose of uninterrupted delivery organization throughout the Siberian tract, many postal stations were built. Delivery of items was carried out by coachmen or peasants.
Shackle way
The Siberian tract is a land route where, in addition to many postal stations, stages were located every 25-40 versts. The first of them were built in the 1920s. According to administrative reform, the arresting parties followed their own path, broken into 61 stages. The movement of prisoners along the Siberian tract was regulated by a special document. It was a "Charter on the stages." It outlined the basic rules for the arrangement of prisons, the procedure for moving exiled parties, etc.
The Siberian tract is where prisoners after two days of traveling along the route could rest in a transit prison. Served for these purposes and staged huts, which were located at almost all post stations. A distance of 25-30 versts in two days was overcome by prison convoys, which sometimes included carts carrying home property. Sometimes on the way the prisoner could get sick or die. Then his corpse was laid on a cart and continued to be carried along until the next stage. It was from here that the saying was born: "Deliver the living or the dead."
For the period from 1783 to 1883. approximately 1.5 million prisoners passed the Siberian Highway route. Among them were political rebels. For example, in the 90s of the 18th century. A.N. Radishchev, who was the founder of domestic samizdat.
Trade route
The tract built from Moscow to China revived not only international, but also domestic economic relations. Major fairs - Makaryevskaya and Irbitskaya - operated throughout this land route. Also, thanks to the tract, constant exchanges of goods between different regions were carried out. For example, rich buys appeared in the Kazan province, which opened their factories near the road.
Thanks to the Siberian tract, economic ties between Russia and China have expanded. Along this road, leather and furs, silver and oil, pine nuts and rare fish, goose meat and much more were brought abroad. Holland, England and France also used the Siberian tract. On this route, they transported their goods to China. It is worth mentioning that the carts ran along the Siberian tract in a continuous chain throughout the year.
The advent of the transport corridor contributed to the creation of three large arms factories in the country. On their list are Perm Cannon, Izhevsk Arms and Kazan Gunpowder. They transported their products along the highway to the center of the Russian state.
The eastern part of the land route, located in Siberia, is called the "Great Tea Route." It was followed by caravans that delivered tea from China. In Russia at the end of the 18th century even a new company, Perlov with Sons, appeared. She traded tea, delivering it to all regions of the empire.
Road condition
Traveling along the Siberian highway was extremely difficult. The fact is that the condition of the entire road was in extremely poor condition. The description of the Siberian tract is found in the memoirs of some travelers. According to their stories, this path sometimes looked like arable land, cut by longitudinal furrows. This significantly slowed down the movement, and therefore a distance of thirty miles could be overcome in only 7-8 hours.
East of Tomsk, the tract ran through hilly terrain, but was also in extremely poor condition. It also caused complaints from travelers, whose number was constantly growing. Nevertheless, despite this state of affairs, the road for thousands of kilometers was a means for reliable and cheap communication. At first, it was only milestones, crossings passing through mountains and rivers, ghats and copses. Then Catherine II ordered to plant birch along the tract. The trees were located at a distance of 2 m 84 cm (four arshins), protecting the road from snow drifts and not allowing travelers to go astray in bad weather.
Tract today
The Moscow-Siberian land route was of great national importance for almost a century and a half. However, after the opening of the steamboat river movement in 1840, as well as the laying of the railway in these parts of the railway in 1890, its use began to be carried out on a smaller scale. Russia's economic growth has increased the country's transport needs. This led to the decision to begin construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. After its completion in 1903, the slow caravan trade shifted to a new track.
Today, the road in communication from Kazan to the city of Malmyzh, and then to Perm and Yekaterinburg, is almost entirely blocked on the former southern branch of the Siberian route. At the same time, the former Siberian Highway is almost completely reconstructed and today it is the highway of the highest category. Outside the modern highway, for example, there was a section from Zura to the village of Debesy, the degree of preservation of which is different. Only one section of it is actively used for local needs. This is the route from Surnogut to Deboss.
There are other sections of the Siberian highway on the Kazan-Perm road that are outside the borders of the new highway. Their condition is different. Some of the previously laid tracks are maintained in good condition and used in transportation of local importance, while others are completely out of circulation and are currently overgrown.
Museum
In 1991, a unique complex was opened in the village of Debosy. This is a museum of the history of the Siberian tract. Its main goal is to preserve the memory of the main road between Moscow and China, which in the 18-19 centuries. It was the main post, trade and shackle route of Russia.
The museum is located in a building built in 1911 by the merchant of the second guild Murtaza bai Mulukov. In former times, it was the barracks of the lower ranks, located not far from the prison-stage, where prisoners were kept between shipments. The museum building is under state protection.
The staff of the complex consists of fifteen employees and four scientists. They protect and increase the museum’s funds, which today have more than three thousand rare books, ethnographic items and other exhibits.
Expositions of this unique complex are open in three rooms. Their subjects:
- "Sovereign Road."
- "The village on the Siberian highway."
- "Forest meetings."
On the second floor of the building there are such exhibits as “History of the school of the village of Karaduvan” and “History of the Siberian tract”. Their exhibits talk about the development of postal services from 1790 to the present day. At the same time, visitors can get acquainted with the clothes of the coachmen, as well as the bells, harnesses, etc. used in transportation. Pre-revolutionary documents, including letters and maps of the postal-geographical district, depicting Kazan County, are of great interest to the guests of the complex. Among the exhibits you can see a telephone set manufactured at the beginning of the 20th century, a Morse apparatus, branded clothing of postal employees from the 40s of the 20th century, as well as the first Soviet television.
The section telling about the history of the village of Karaduvan is equipped with local history materials, including the handwritten Koran, personal belongings of the former owners of the merchant’s house, etc.
The employees conduct excursions not only in the museum, but also in the village of Debesy, as well as in its environs. The main activity of this unique historical complex is not at all commercial, but research and cultural.