Stepan Timofeevich Razin was born in the year 1630, as we know, reading the works of Streis, a traveler from the Netherlands. They had several meetings. In 1670, the writer noted in his work that the fifth dozen began to go to his interlocutor. We learn a lot of interesting things about this historical figure from the article.
Speculation regarding his birth
The Don coast was the first house that Stepan Timofeevich Razin owned. Curriculum Vitae does not provide more accurate data. There is a version that is the most reliable and says that he was born in the village of Zimoveyskaya. Now this land is given the name Pugachevskaya.
Some researchers have denied this version. Many speculations are still around the birthplace of Stepan Timofeevich Razin. His biography may vary from different authors. So, some argue that he was born in Cherkassk, which is now located in the Rostov region. So was Razin Stepan Timofeevich really from the family of Circassian sultans? Folk traditions differ from each other.
His birthplace is also called a number of other settlements, such as Esaulovsky or Kagalnitsky. However, historical songs call his homeland exactly Cherkassk.
A life
Stepan Timofeevich Razin for a long time attracted the attention of many people. Around his personality formed folklore and the beginnings of Russian cinema. In the West, Stenka became the first Russian to defend his dissertation just a few years after his death.
Razin Stepan Timofeevich died before he reached old age. Around 1630-1671 lived and accomplished his exploits. He and his family became the subject of folk compositions, in which new details were embodied, which made him an almost fabulous character.
Before the uprising took place
Quite interesting is the biography of Razin Stepan Timofeevich. The main dates of his life begin in 1652. At that time he was an ataman and, by virtue of his authority, represented Don warriors. Razin Stepan Timofeevich - a Cossack, who already had rich experience in military affairs and was respected by his brothers in arms. Even in his early years, he already had leadership inclinations.
Stepan Timofeevich Razin fought in the company of his older brother Ivan as part of the Don army. The year 1661 is significant because negotiations were held with the Kalmyks then. The warrior’s companion was Fedor Budan, as well as Cossacks from the Don and Zaporozhye. The establishment of peace and general steps to expel Tatars and Nogais from Crimea were discussed.
The year 1663 is recorded in the annals as the moment when Razin Stepan Timofeevich led the Don and Zaporozhye Cossacks, Kalmyks to warriors from the Crimea, who were under Perekop.
In 1665, the brother of the chieftain was executed by Dolgorukov. This happened when a conflict broke out, during which the soldiers wanted to go to the Don, despite the royal service. Stepan Timofeevich Razin was filled with a desire to take revenge on the prince, as well as the entire encirclement of the king. He also wanted to get a free and quiet life for his brothers who followed him. Razin Stepan Timofeevich began to nurture great ideas. The Zaporizhzhya Sich was to become an example of a military and democratic system for the entire Russian state.
During the rebellion
He raised his movement. The reason for this can be called the aggravated situation in social terms, which reigned on the lands of the Cossacks. The epicenter of these processes was Don. More and more runaway peasants appeared in its environs. Such an influx can be explained by the Council Code of 1647. The people were in complete captivity, was tied hand and foot by a nobility.
Why is this person included in the list of "Great People of Russia"? Razin Stepan Timofeevich gave people the opportunity to breathe more freely, to become Cossacks, free warriors. At that time, everyone wanted to stop feeling draft power. And such an opportunity was given by Stepan Timofeevich Razin. The biography of the Don Cossack does not recall his great property or clan ties, which many other governors had. In the territory of the region he lived on an equal footing with others. The term "crap" Cossack was applied to him. He stood separately from the old-timers, felt affection for the common people, did not have significant property, did not boast of titles.
Who is Stepan Timofeevich Razin? This is both a hero and a robber. He was a savior for his loved ones and a natural disaster for those whom he attacked. He went to the Volga with the purpose of robbery. At that time, he needed fame and material resources. The richer and eminent Cossacks sponsored these campaigns with the condition of the subsequent division of the loot. All the troops - the Yaitsk, Don and Tersk - were involved in these operations.
Razin Stepan Timofeevich from the kind of Egyptian sultans became the center around which the poor gathered, thanks to which they could feel themselves important and necessary people, being an integral part of the Cossack army.
The mass of people was growing rapidly and becoming more visible thanks to the fugitive serfs who wanted to join the uprising.
The 1667th year was the moment when Razin led the Cossacks. In the spring, about 700 soldiers gathered for the Volga-Don Perevolok. New rebels were added, so that there were already two thousand people. They passed near the Volga and Yaik. The goal was to express disagreement with the policies of Moscow’s rule and the blockade of the trade route through the river. The royal governors answered the call and a clash occurred.
The growth of the power of the Cossacks
Stepan Timofeevich Razin devoted the years of his life to many campaigns, and this was one of the most important. It began in May 1667. His army went to the Volga. Near Tsaritsyn was the fleet of Shorin, a guest of the country, as well as other merchants. Patriarch Josaphos also placed several of his ships here, which he later regretted. Stenka and the robbers attacked the ships, plundered them, inflicted massacre on the clerks and the heads of the courts.
By and large, the Cossacks often engaged in robberies. However, later, simple theft grew into an uprising, they opposed the government, defeated the archers, and took Yaitsky town. Winter was spent on the territory of Yaik. When the year 1668 began, the Caspian Sea became a new battlefield. Don Cossacks, Cherkasy residents and residents from other counties of Russia stayed more and more. There was a battle against the Shah forces near Rasht, the city of the Persians.
It was a difficult battle, which ended in negotiations. During this process, Shah Suleiman was visited by the messenger of the Tsar of Russia and said that thieves' squads were going to sea. The Persians were called to defeat the Razintsy. Then the negotiations were interrupted. Cossacks were chained. One of them died from dog baiting. The rebels had no choice but to take Farabat and stay there for the winter, fencing off from the enemy’s troops.
Legendary events
The year 1669 came, several fights were held on the territory of the “Trukhmensky lands”. There, the life of a friend of Razin, a Cossack nicknamed Krivoy, was interrupted. When the army fell on Skina Island, they were attacked by the Shah sailors commanded by Mamed Khan. They fought not for life, but for death.
The enemy chained his fleet and surrounded the Don army, but the strategy did not justify itself. The rival flagship sank. Then the razintsy dealt with the rest of the fleet. They managed to capture the daughter and son of the commander of the Persian naval forces.
As a result, the Persian princess Razin dealt with, drowning the girl in the Volga, about which the song was subsequently composed. The Cossacks won, but a number of difficulties remained. The Sefivid troops were advancing, for this reason Astrakhan became the next refuge of the Razinians. Conversations with local leaders. As a result, Razin was respectfully received by the Prozorovsky prince there, the first governor who let the Cossacks pass to the Don. For this it was necessary to pay for the supply of guns, to share the extracted utensils and the prisoners of the enemy. However, the soldiers managed to get through without meeting these conditions.
Peasant war
A new decade has come. As always, hostilities began in the spring of 1670. Again made a trip to the Volga. Now there was not just a robbery, but a real uprising, which was positioned precisely under that status. Everyone who wanted the will and freedom was called up by Razin for service.
For the purpose of the chieftain there was no overthrow of the king, but he wanted to overcome the then system, which made cattle from peasants. It was planned to eliminate the highest ranks, which personified the clerks, governors and churchmen, who allegedly changed the tsarist government. A rumor was circulated about the presence of Tsarevich Alexei among the Razin people, whom she had actually been dead since January.
They also claimed to have power over the life of Patriarch Nikon. In fact, he simply went to the link. Razintsy occupied fortresses and cities, introduced their device there, dealt with local authorities, destroyed documents. If a merchant came across them on the Volga, they grabbed him and robbed him.
“A letter from Stepan Timofeevich, from Razin,” was the title of the document that was sent to the mob at that time. It was proposed to serve God and the state, as well as support the army and its leader, to extradite all traitors and people who drink blood from the people. It was necessary to come to the advice of the Cossacks.
Peasants massively revolted and accompanied the chieftain during his Volga campaign. The local areas were enslaved recently and ordinary people did not agree to put up with imprisonment. The battles were conducted under the leadership of the Cossack governor of these places. Fighting began Mari, Tatars, Chuvashs and Mordovians.
Tsaritsyn and Samara were captured, took Astrakhan, subjugated Saratov and other fortresses. In the fall of 1670, the siege operation near Simbirsk ended in failure. The king sent to these places an army of 60 thousand people in order to suppress the popular outburst. Razintsy were defeated as a result of the battle at Simbirsk.
The governor then was Yuri Baryatinsky. Razin himself was seriously wounded; trusted people took him to Don. For some time Kagalitsky town was his refuge. It was from there that he advanced with a campaign a year earlier. Ataman was still cherishing plans for a new army. The situation escalated, and the king’s anger was no longer an illusory threat. Troop chieftain Yakovlev Kornil and other Cossacks betrayed their leader, surrendering him on April 13, 1671 during the assault on Kagalitsky. Razin was given to the Russian troops.
Captivity and death
April, the month of 1671, was remembered by the fact that the chieftain and brother of Frolk, who was younger than him, found themselves in the hands of the royal proteges. They were captured. They were received by Kosogov Grigory - the stolnik and Andrey Bogdanov - the clerk.
The rebels were brought to Moscow in the midst of June, they were brutally tortured. In the same month, Stepan was brought to the scaffold and quartered. The whole square was a witness to that. The sentence was long. The rebel listened calmly. His farewell gesture was a bow to the church. The executioner first chopped off his right hand to the elbow. Then the left leg was cut off knee-deep, and finally the head. Before Stepan was beheaded, his brother Frol tried to beg his pardon, but he got only a slight delay in his death. He was executed there in the same way.
On this military operations in the Volga region did not end. The leaders of the Cossacks were Vasily Us and Fedor Sheludyak. Astrakhan was taken from the Razinti by government troops only in November 1671. It was a particularly fierce battle that put an end to the confrontation.
Attention from Abroad
European politicians closely watched the actions of Razin. The most important trade routes were at stake in this battle. They connected Europe with Persia and Russia. At that time, rebel battles took place in parallel in Germany, England and the Netherlands. In these countries, articles and books about the ataman's adventures were published. Some had fantastic details along with important data.
Foreigners watched as a Cossack was brought to the capital as a prisoner and executed. It was especially beneficial for the king to show that power was completely in his hands, and no one could shake it. Moreover, some gangster, a native of the poor.
Although the victory was not yet final, nevertheless, the death of the leader of the Cossacks looked very impressive. One of the literary works on this subject is “Three Travels”, written by Jan Streis. He witnessed the uprising, visited the territory controlled by Razin. To create this story, we used our own observations and materials that the writer gleaned from information presented by other authors.
Scientific and literary works
In 1674, within the walls of the Wittenberg Institute, historians defended a work that described the ataman’s exploits. The work was reprinted many times in the 17-18 centuries, Pushkin showed great interest in it.
Subsequently, many legends began to be composed about the rebel hero. For example, we can read about him in the work "How Stepan Timofeevich Razin left the prison."
Folk songs were composed about the ataman in Russia. In some, he was idealized as a hero defeating epic battles. Sometimes the image was identified with Ermak Timofeevich, another famous Cossack who conquered Siberia. There are more accurate works that dryly set out documentary facts, a biography and historical events.
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin dedicated three of his works to Razin. D.M. also wrote about him. Gardeners. In 1908, the first feature film of Russian production appeared. He was called the Ponisova Volnitsa. Gilyarovsky V.A. wrote the poem "Stenka Razin."
Any revolutionary movement needs a strong leader who can cast off fear and lead large masses. Against the background of general enslavement, people needed a man who could collect and organize them in order to achieve common freedom. Stepan Razin made the Cossacks a real family, a single force that fought for their rights. It is in this way, fearless and purposeful, that he comes to us from the pages of history. Even on his deathbed, he showed no sign of fear, and held his gaze until the last breath. It was these features and actions that made him a significant historical figure and a hero of folklore.