The conquest of Siberia by Ermak is an act that in its scale can only be compared with the conquest of America by Hernan Cortes. However, if a lot of biographical information can be found about the famous Spanish conquistador, then only a few facts are known about the life of the Russian chieftain, and even that is quite contradictory.
Where was Ermak born
As you know, the conquest of Siberia occurred in the 16th century. Unfortunately, in those days, such an event as the appearance 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 Yermak's family live at the time of his birth?" Some information on this issue is in the Cherepanovskaya Chronicle, which tells how the grandfather of the future chieftain helped 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 list a certain competent coachman from Tobolsk Ilya Cherepanov. Another document - “The Legend of the Siberian Land” - points to Suzdal as the place where the Yermak family lived long before its birth. Further in the annals, it is narrated that his grandfather, along with his sons, one of whom was called Timofei, moved to Yuryevets-Povolsky, where he had five grandchildren, including Vasily. As stated in the “Tale”, it was this boy who later was to become the conqueror of Siberia.
Pomeranian version of the origin of the chieftain
Some researchers believe that the question of where the Yermak family lived should be answered: "In the village of Borok, Arkhangelsk region." According to this version, the ataman's real name was Yermolai, or Yermil, and he went to the Volga, trying to escape from the famine that swept the Russian North. There, the young man entered the “Chura” (servant-squire) to an elderly Cossack, and from 1563 he began to go on campaigns.
Ermak's life before the Siberian campaigns
The only reliable information on the biography of the chieftain before his appearance on the lands of the Stroganovs is the memoirs of fellow Cossacks. In particular, two veterans claimed that they spent their youth serving in the Volga villages under the command of the conqueror of Siberia. Thus, the question of where Yermak lived around 1565, we can answer that he was in the Volga region and was already an ataman. And this means that then he was no less than 20 years old. More information has been preserved about Yermak's feats of arms. So, from a letter from the Lithuanian commandant of the city of Mogilev to King Stefan Batory, you can find out that he participated in the Livonian War as a Cossack centurion and distinguished himself during the siege of the Mogilev fortress. Later, his detachment helped Khvorostinin stop the progress of the Swedes. As to whether the wife and children of Yermak existed, there is no mention of them in any source.
Ermak and the Stroganovs
In 1582, the famous Stroganov merchants invited a Cossack squad consisting of 540 Cossacks. Their leader was the ataman Ermak, about whom fame was already then known as a fearless warrior and an excellent commander. The aim of the Stroganovs was to protect their lands from frequent attacks by units 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 the Ural Mountains were called in those days . There are records that the Stroganovs “opened their barns for military people” and provided them with everything necessary for a campaign.
The 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 by water to the Tagil pass, the Yermak squad was forced to drag the plows on the ground with a drag to the Zheravlya river and then to get to Tobol, on the banks of which the battle with the wax of the Siberian Khan Kuchum took place. Having won the battle, the Cossacks captured the city of Kashlyk. Then, representatives of local peoples began to come to bow to Yermak, whom the chieftain “met with kindness” and forced them to swear allegiance to the Russian tsar. In 1582, he sent one of his comrades-in-arms to Ivan the Terrible with good news about the conquest of Siberia. The king was delighted with the news and sent Ermak rich gifts and 300 people of military people to help. The detachment arrived in Siberia in the fall of 1583. However, by this time, fortune had turned its back on the chieftain, many of his commanders had been killed in battles with the Tatars.
Where did Ermak drown: what did the Cossacks tell
At the time of his death, the famous chieftain was already a fairly well-known person, therefore, several years after the last battle of the Cossacks with the Kuchum army, an order was conducted on the order of the Tobolsk archbishop Kipriyan and the surviving associates of Yermak were questioned. In addition, the Tatars who fought as part of the Khan's army gave evidence.
If we combine all the facts stated by eyewitnesses, the following picture emerges: the last battle took place on Vagayskaya Luka, where the Cossacks spent the night. They set up “canopy” tents on the banks of the Irtysh River, not far from their plows, on which each soldier had his own specific place and his helmsman. That night a storm broke out, and so the Kuchum squad managed to catch them by surprise. Despite this, most of the Cossacks managed to be on their ships and set sail. Further, in written sources, contradictions begin. In particular, in an earlier document, written from the words of the surviving veterans of Ermak’s troops, it is indicated that they are reproaching themselves because they abandoned the chieftain and a small handful of comrades, and they themselves left the place of battle on the plows. Quite different information is contained in the synodial record, which the deacons composed later, and there you can read that all Cossacks died with Yermak, and only one of them escaped and told about the defeat of the detachment.
The death of Ermak from the words of the Tatars
The most interesting thing is that information about the death of the chieftain in the waves of the Irtysh near Vagayskaya Luke is found only in records made from the words of the Tatars. In particular, many former soldiers of Khan Kuchum claimed that Ermak still defeated the attackers and, trying to get to the sailing Cossack ships, went to the bottom. However, there are no records indicating whether there were any armor on the chieftain at that time.
Legends of the conqueror of Siberia
Both life and the death of the great chieftain over the past centuries have acquired many myths. For example, one of the legends refers to the failed wife of Yermak. According to Cossack legend, once the Tatar Murza of the Sargach volost, wishing to enlist Yermak’s friendship, brought his beautiful daughter to his camp and offered to marry her. However, the chieftain rejected this offer and sent the girl home. In addition, everyone knows the story of chain mail, allegedly donated to Yermak by Ivan the Terrible and which caused the hero’s death. According to some historians, even if the chieftain was at the bottom of the Irtysh due to heavy armor, they could not be a gift from the king.
History is a book that will never be written to the end. Moreover, it has many white pages that meticulous researchers can fill out. Perhaps they will someday be able to find out where the Ermak family lived, or they will be able to tell us some other interesting facts regarding the personality of this national hero of Russia, who has won boundless expanses of Siberia for his Motherland.