When was the uprising of Stepan Razin? Peasant revolt of Stepan Razin (briefly)

There are many topics in Russian history that attract neither the attention of scientists nor the interest of readers. No matter how many essays, brochures, books, articles are devoted to them, people will always look forward to publications on these problems. And one of them is the uprising of Stepan Razin. The reasons that predetermined both the beginning of this peasant war and the defeat of Razin are quite obvious. Let's look at them in more detail.

Reasons for the start of the war

The uprising of Stepan Razin was a response to strong oppression from the wealthy population and the Moscow authorities. This revolt was only part of a protracted crisis that tormented Muscovy throughout the 2nd half of the 17th century. The first popular unrest in cities (Moscow, Pskov, Nizhny Novgorod and others) began with the ascension of Alexei Mikhailovich to the throne. In 1649, the Zemsky Sobor approved the Code, according to which the owners of estates and estates were given guarantees of rights to peasants. That is, if the serfs fled from their master, they had to hide until the end of their days. The time frame for their search has become unlimited. The adopted code caused discontent among the people and became the first reason that predetermined the uprising of Stepan Razin. Since the beginning of the reign of the new king, the economic situation of the country has greatly deteriorated. Exhausting wars with Sweden, Poland and the Crimean Tatars required a lot of funds. In addition, the monetary reform carried out at that time failed miserably. Due to the huge number of copper coins that were not properly used, inflation broke out.

Unrest intensified both in the power structure and among the people. The Don Cossacks were also dissatisfied. They had to defend the lands of the Don and the neighboring territories of Muscovy from the raids of the Crimean Tatars. In addition, the Turks closed all routes to the Sea of Azov for the Cossacks. The Don government could not conduct serious campaigns against the enemy, because in case of defeat their lands would go to the Turks and Tatars. Muscovy would not be able to help, since it was absorbed in affairs with Ukraine and Poland. There were other reasons for the rebellious mood of the Cossacks. Fugitive serfs flocked to the Don territories. Naturally, they were forbidden to cultivate the land, and in order to somehow survive, they began to rob ships passing along the Volga. Repressive measures were taken against the thieves' squads, which increased the unrest of the poor. This was another reason that gave rise to the uprising of Stepan Razin. Soon, under the leadership of Vasily Us, a detachment consisting of Zaporozhye and Don Cossacks set off for the lands of Muscovy. Their forces were small, but they were inspired by the support of the peasants and slaves who joined them along the procession. This indicated that in the event of a major rebellion one could count on the help of the people. And after some time the peasant war began.

Causes of defeat

The uprising of Stepan Razin was defeated due to the destructive (“rebellious”) nature of the movement and poor organization. Also, the reasons were the obsolescence and insufficiency of weapons, unclear goals and lack of unity among serfs, Cossacks and townspeople. Razin's uprising did not in any way ease the situation of the peasants, but it did affect the lives of the Don Cossacks. In 1671, they swore allegiance to the Tsar, thereby making the Cossacks the support of the Tsar's throne.

Reasons for the start of the war

Causes of defeat

The Cossack-peasant movement against serfdom, led by the famous Cossack chieftain, was the most powerful and large-scale in the 17th century in the history of Russia. began on the Don and spread to the Caspian and Volga lands, covering large territories and affecting many peoples.

A sharp change in the social situation in the Cossack regions on the Don was the reason that the uprising of Stepan Razin began. Year after year, the situation of the peasants worsened. Fugitive peasants flocked to the Don and Volga lands, trying to get rid of enslavement. But even here their situation remained difficult, since the indigenous Cossacks were reluctant to accept them on their lands. This forced the “golutvenny” Cossacks to unite and engage in robbery and robbery.

The uprising of Stepan Razin began as a predatory raid of the Cossacks on the Volga lands. In 1667, Razin captured the Volga, where many Cossacks joined him. In 1668, the Razins ravaged the Caspian coast, after which they entered into a confrontation with Iran. The Cossacks captured the city of Ferahabad, won a major victory over the Iranian fleet and returned to the Don in 1669. Razin's successes sharply increased his authority among the residents of the Don and Volga region, which allowed him to make up for losses and recruit new troops.

The peasant uprising of Stepan Razin itself began in 1670. In the spring he moved to the Volga. His campaign was accompanied by spontaneous uprisings and riots of those trying to free themselves from enslavement. In May, Tsaritsyn was captured. Astrakhan, Saratov and Samara opened the gates for the Cossacks, where many archers and townspeople came under his command.

In the fall, Stepan Razin's army besieged the fortified city of Simbirsk. At this time, many local peoples joined the uprising: Tatars, Chuvash, Mordovians. However, the siege dragged on, which allowed the royal commanders to gather large troops. The tsarist government hastily mobilized all forces to suppress the uprising and sent a 60,000-strong army to Simbirsk. On October 3, 1670, a decisive battle took place near Simbirsk between the Cossacks and the tsarist forces, in which the rebels were defeated.

The wounded Stepan Razin was taken by the Cossacks loyal to him to the Don, where he was going to recruit a new army, but the homely Cossacks captured him and handed him over to the tsarist military leaders. On June 6, 1671, Stepan Razin was quartered in Moscow. However, with his death the uprisings did not stop; many Cossack atamans continued to fight for another six months. Only in November 1671 did the tsarist troops manage to take the last stronghold of the Razins - Astrakhan.

The uprising led by Stepan Razin in 1670-1671, unlike his previous campaigns, was already of an acutely social nature, and many historians call it a “peasant war”, since the population of the Don and Volga region opposed the tsarist power and serfdom, fighting against the dominance of power and the lack of rights of the peasantry .

Thus, the uprising of Stepan Razin began with Cossack robberies and gradually developed into a full-scale peasant movement, the goal of which was to weaken taxes and duties and improve the lives of the peasantry.

Uprising led by Razin

Stepan Timofeevich Razin

Main stages of the uprising:

The revolt lasted from 1667 to 1671. Peasant War - from 1670 to 1671.

The first stage of the uprising - the campaign for zipuns

At the beginning of March 1667, Stepan Razin began to gather a Cossack army around him in order to go on a campaign to the Volga and Yaik. The Cossacks needed this to survive, since there was extreme poverty and hunger in their areas. By the end of March, the number of Razin’s troops was 1000 people. This man was a competent leader and managed to organize the service in such a way that the tsarist scouts could not get into his camp and find out the plans of the Cossacks. In May 1667, Razin's army moved across the Don to the Volga. Thus began the uprising led by Razin, or rather its preparatory part. We can safely say that at this stage a mass uprising was not planned. His goals were much more mundane - he needed to survive. However, even Razin’s first campaigns were directed against the boyars and large landowners. It was their ships and estates that the Cossacks robbed.

Uprising map

Razin's hike to Yaik

The uprising led by Razin began when it moved to the Volga in May 1667. There, the rebels and their army met rich ships that belonged to the king and large landowners. The rebels robbed the ships and took possession of rich booty. Among other things, they received a huge amount of weapons and ammunition.

On May 28, Razin and his army, which by this time numbered 1.5 thousand people, sailed past Tsaritsyn. The uprising led by Razin could well have continued with the capture of this city, but Stepan decided not to take the city and limited himself to demanding that all the blacksmith's tools be handed over to him. The townspeople hand over everything that is demanded of them. Such haste and swiftness in action was due to the fact that he needed to get to the city of Yaik as soon as possible in order to capture it while the city’s garrison was small. The importance of the city lay in the fact that it had direct access to the sea.
On May 31, not far from Cherny Yar, Razin tried to stop the tsarist troops, whose number was 1,100 people, of which 600 were cavalry, but Stepan avoided the battle by cunning and continued on his way. In the Krasny Yar area they met a new detachment, which they routed on June 2. Many of the archers went over to the Cossacks. After this, the rebels went out to the open sea. The tsarist troops could not hold him.

The campaign to Yaik has reached its final stage. It was decided to take the city by cunning. Razin and 40 other people with him passed themselves off as rich merchants. The gates of the city were opened for them, which was taken advantage of by the rebels who were hiding nearby. The city fell.

Razin's campaign against Yaik led to the fact that on July 19, 1667, the Boyar Duma issued a decree to begin the fight against the rebels. New troops are sent to Yaik in order to pacify the rebels. The tsar also issues a special manifesto, which he sends personally to Stepan. This manifesto stated that the tsar would guarantee him and his entire army a complete amnesty if Razin returned to the Don and released all prisoners. The Cossack meeting rejected this proposal.

Razin's Caspian campaign

From the moment of the fall of Yaik, the rebels began to consider Razin’s Caspian campaign. Throughout the winter of 1667-68, a detachment of rebels stood in Yaik. With the beginning of spring, the rebel Cossacks entered the Caspian Sea. Thus began Razin’s Caspian campaign. In the Astrakhan region, this detachment defeated the tsarist army under the command of Avksentiev. Here other atamans with their detachments joined Razin. The largest of them were: Ataman Boba with an army of 400 people and Ataman Krivoy with an army of 700 people. At this time, Razin’s Caspian campaign was gaining popularity. From there, Razin directs his army along the coast to the South to Derbent and further to Georgia. The army continued its journey to Persia. All this time, the Razins are rampaging in the seas, robbing ships that come their way. The entire year of 1668, as well as the winter and spring of 1669, passed during these activities. At the same time, Razin negotiates with the Persian Shah, persuading him to take the Cossacks into his service. But the Shah, having received a message from the Russian Tsar, refuses to accept Razin and his army. Razin's army stood near the city of Rasht. The Shah sent his army there, which inflicted a significant defeat on the Russians.

The detachment retreats to Mial-Kala, where it meets the winter of 1668. Retreating, Razin gives instructions to burn all cities and villages on the way, thereby taking revenge on the Persian Shah for the start of hostilities. With the beginning of spring 1669, Razin sent his army to the so-called Pig Island. There, in the summer of that year, a major battle took place. Razin was attacked by Mamed Khan, who had 3.7 thousand people at his disposal. But in this battle, the Russian army completely defeated the Persians and went home with rich booty. Razin's Caspian campaign turned out to be very successful. On August 22, the detachment appeared near Astrakhan. The local governor took an oath from Stepan Razin that he would lay down his arms and return to the service of the tsar, and let the detachment go up the Volga.

Anti-serfdom speech and Razin’s new campaign on the Volga

Second stage of the uprising (beginning of the peasant war)

At the beginning of October 1669, Razin and his detachment returned to the Don. They stopped at the town of Kagalnitsky. In their sea campaigns, the Cossacks acquired not only wealth, but also enormous military experience, which they could now use for the uprising.

As a result, dual power arose on the Don. According to the tsar's manifesto, the ataman of the Cossack district was K. Yakovlev. But Razin blocked the entire south of the Don region and acted in his own interests, violating the plans of Yakovlev and the Moscow boyars. At the same time, Stepan’s authority within the country is growing with terrible force. Thousands of people strive to escape to the south and enter his service. Thanks to this, the number of rebel troops is growing at a tremendous pace. If by October 1669 there were 1.5 thousand people in Razin’s detachment, then by November there were already 2.7 thousand, and by May 16700 there were 4.5 thousand.

We can say that it was in the spring of 1670 that the uprising led by Razin entered the second stage. If earlier the main events developed outside Russia, now Razin began an active struggle against the boyars.

On May 9, 1670, the detachment is in Panshin. Here a new Cossack circle took place, at which it was decided to go to the Volga again and punish the boyars for their outrages. Razin tried in every possible way to show that he was not against the tsar, but against the boyars.

The height of the peasant war

On May 15, Razin with a detachment that already numbered 7 thousand people besieged Tsaritsyn. The city rebelled, and the inhabitants themselves opened the gates to the rebels. Having captured the city, the detachment grew to 10 thousand people. Here the Cossacks spent a long time determining their further goals, deciding where to go: north or south. As a result, it was decided to go to Astrakhan. This was necessary because a large group of royal troops was gathering in the south. And leaving such an army in your rear was very dangerous. Razin leaves 1 thousand people in Tsaritsyn and heads to Black Yar. Under the walls of the city, Razin was preparing for battle with the tsarist troops under the command of S.I. Lvov. But the royal troops avoided the battle and went over to the victor in full force. Together with the royal army, the entire garrison of Black Yar went over to the side of the rebels.

Further on the way was Astrakhan: a well-fortified fortress with a garrison of 6 thousand people. On June 19, 1670, Razin approached the walls of Astrakhan, and on the night of June 21-22, the assault began. Razin divided his detachment into 8 groups, each of which acted in its own direction. During the assault, an uprising broke out in the city. As a result of this uprising and the skillful actions of the “Razins,” Astrakhan fell on June 22, 1670. The governor, boyars, large landowners and nobles were taken prisoner. All of them were sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out immediately. In total, about 500 people were executed in Astrakhan. After the capture of Astrakhan, the number of troops increased to 13 thousand people. Leaving 2 thousand people in the city, Razin headed up the Volga.

On August 4, he was already in Tsaritsyn, where a new Cossack gathering took place. It was decided not to go to Moscow for now, but to head to the southern borders in order to give the uprising greater mass appeal. From here the rebel commander sends 1 detachment up the Don. The detachment was led by Frol, Stepan’s brother. Another detachment was sent to Cherkassk. It was headed by Y. Gavrilov. Razin himself, with a detachment of 10 thousand people, heads up the Volga, where Samara and Saratov surrender to him without resistance. In response to this, the king orders the collection of a large army in these areas. Stepan is in a hurry to Simbirsk, as to an important regional center. On September 4, the rebels were at the city walls. On September 6 the battle began. The tsarist troops were forced to retreat to the Kremlin, the siege of which continued for a month.

During this period, the peasant war gained maximum mass popularity. According to contemporaries, only in the second stage, the stage of expansion of the peasant war under the leadership of Razin, about 200 thousand people took part. The government, frightened by the scale of the uprising, is gathering all its forces in order to pacify the rebels. Yu.A. stands at the head of a powerful army. Dolgoruky, a commander who glorified himself during the war with Poland. He sends his army to Arzamas, where he sets up a camp. In addition, large tsarist troops were concentrated in Kazan and Shatsk. As a result, the government managed to achieve a numerical superiority, and from then on a punitive war began.

In early November 1670, Yu.N.’s detachment approached Simbirsk. Boryatinsky. This commander had been defeated a month ago and now sought revenge. A bloody battle ensued. Razin himself was seriously wounded and on the morning of October 4 he was taken from the battlefield and sent down the Volga by boat. The rebel detachment suffered a brutal defeat.

After this, punitive expeditions by government troops continued. They burned entire villages and killed everyone who was in any way connected with the uprising. Historians give simply catastrophic figures. In Arzamas, about 11 thousand people were executed in less than 1 year. The city turned into one big cemetery. In total, according to contemporaries, during the period of the punitive expedition, about 100 thousand people were destroyed (killed, executed or tortured to death).

The end of the uprising led by Razin

(Third stage of Razin's uprising)

After a powerful punitive expedition, the flame of the peasant war began to fade. However, throughout 1671 its echoes echoed throughout the country. Thus, Astrakhan did not surrender to the tsarist troops for almost the entire year. The garrison of the city even decided to head to Simbirsk. But this campaign ended in failure, and Astrakhan itself fell on November 27, 1671. This was the last stronghold of the peasant war. After the fall of Astrakhan, the uprising was over.

Stepan Razin was betrayed by his own Cossacks, who, wanting to soften their feelings, decided to hand over the ataman to the tsarist troops. On April 14, 1671, Cossacks from Razin’s inner circle captured him and arrested their chieftain. It happened in the town of Kagalnitsky. After this, Razin was sent to Moscow, where, after short interrogations, he was executed.

Thus ended the uprising led by Stepan Razin.

Razin Stepan Timofeevich, also known as Stenka Razin (circa 1630–1671). Don Ataman. Leader of the Peasant War (Stepan Razin's Rebellion) 1667–1671.

He was born in the village of Zimoveyskaya in the family of a wealthy - “home-loving” - Cossack Timofey Razi, a participant in the capture of the Turkish fortress of Azov and the “Azov sitting”, the father of three sons - Ivan, Stepan and Frol. Stenka early gained combat experience in border battles that constantly took place in the Trans-Don and Kuban steppes. In his youth, the future Cossack chieftain was distinguished by his ardor, pride and personal courage.

1652 - according to the behest of his late father, he went on a pilgrimage to the Solovetsky Monastery, traveling through the entire Russian kingdom from south to north and back, and visited Moscow. The lack of rights and poverty seen among the peasant and townspeople had a strong influence on the worldview of the young Cossack.

At the military circle in 1658, he was elected to the stanitsa (embassy) from the free Don, led by ataman Naum Vasiliev to Moscow. From that time, the first written evidence of Stepan Timofeevich Razin has been preserved for history.

Stepan early became one of the Cossack leaders thanks to his diplomatic abilities and military talents. 1661 - together with ataman Fyodor Budan, he negotiated with the Kalmyk taishas (princes) about concluding peace and joint actions against the Crimean Tatars in the Trans-Don region. The negotiations were successful, and for two centuries the Kalmyk cavalry was part of the regular military force of the Russian state. And Razin, as part of the Don villages, had the opportunity to again visit the capital Moscow and Astrakhan. There he took part in new negotiations with the Kalmyks, without needing translators.

In 1662 and 1663 At the head of a detachment of Don Cossacks, Razin made successful campaigns within the Crimean Khanate. Together with the Cossacks of Sary Malzhik and the cavalry of the Kalmyk taishas, the Razin Cossacks in the battles of Perekop and in the Molochnye Vody tract defeated the Krymchaks, in whose ranks there were many Turks. They captured rich booty, including horse herds of 2,000 heads.

Causes of the uprising

...The events of 1665 radically changed the fate of the Razin brothers. By royal order, a large detachment of Don Cossacks, led by Ivan Razin on the campaign, became part of the army of the governor, Prince Yu.A. Dolgoruky. There was a war with the Polish-Lithuanian state, but it was fought near Kiev extremely sluggishly.

When the winter cold began, Ataman Ivan Razin tried to take his Cossacks back to the Don without permission. By order of Prince Dolgorukov, he, as the instigator of the “rebellion,” was captured and executed in front of his younger brothers. Therefore, the motive of revenge for his brother Ivan largely determined the anti-boyar sentiments of Stepan Razin, his hostility towards the existing “Moscow government”.

At the end of 1666, by order of the Tsar, they began to look for fugitives in the Northern Don, where a lot of Cossacks had accumulated in particular. The situation there was becoming explosive for boyar Moscow. Stepan Razin, sensing the mood on the Don, decided to act.

Before the uprising

1667, spring - he, with a small detachment of Cossacks and fugitive peasant serfs, moved on river boats from the military village of the city of Cherkassk up the Don. Along the way, the farms of the rich, homely Cossacks were ruined. The Razins settled on the islands between the Don channels - Ilovlya and Tishina. They dug dugouts and erected huts. This is how the town of Panshin appeared near the portage from the Don to the Volga. Stepan Razin was proclaimed ataman.

Soon, Stepan Razin’s detachment stationed there increased to 1,500 free people. Here the plan for a hike along the Volga “for zipuns” finally matured. They found out about this in Moscow: the Cossack freemen were declared “thieves’ Cossacks” in a letter to the Astrakhan governor. According to their leader’s plan, they were to move with plows to the Volga, descend along it into the Caspian Sea and take possession of the remote town of Yaitsky, which they wanted to make their robber base. Razin had already “arranged” his relationship with the Yaik Cossacks.

1668, May - Cossack plows appeared on the Volga north of Tsaritsyn and went down the river, reaching the Caspian Sea. The first merchant caravan they encountered was plundered. Having passed along the seashore, the ship's army entered Yaik, and the Razins fought in battle to take the Yaitsky town, in which there was a Streltsy garrison. A detachment of royal archers who arrived from Astrakhan was defeated under the walls of the town. Then the song sang:

From behind the island to the core,
Into the expanse of the river wave,
Razorbacks swim out
Stenka Razin's boats.

The differences captured the ancient fortress city of Derbent - the “iron gates of the Caucasus.” For some time it became a base for robber raids “for zipuns” for the Cossack ship’s army on the Persian coast.

The Razins spent the winter on the peninsula near Ferakhabad, and then moved to Svinoy Island south of Baku, which they “equipped” as a Cossack town. From here the Cossacks continued their sea raids, almost always returning to the island with rich booty. Among the devastated cities were the rich trading cities of Shamakhi and Rasht.

The Cossacks took rich booty from the settlements of the Gilan Bay and the Trukhmen (Turkmen) coast, in the vicinity of Baku. The Razins stole 7,000 sheep from the possessions of the Baku Khan. Persian military units were invariably defeated in battles. They freed a considerable number of Russian prisoners who were in slavery here.

The Persian Shah from the Abbasid dynasty, concerned about the current situation in his Caspian possessions, sent an army of 4,000 people against Razin. However, the Persians turned out to be not only bad sailors, but also unstable warriors. 1669, July - a real naval battle took place near Svinoy Island between the Cossack flotilla and the Shah's army. Of the 70 Persian ships, only three escaped: the rest were either boarded or sunk. However, the Cossacks also lost about 500 people in that naval battle.

The trip to the Caspian Sea “for zipuns” gave the Cossacks rich booty. The flotilla of Cossack plows burdened with it returned to their homeland. In August - September 1669, Stenka Razin passed through Astrakhan, where there was a stopover, and ended up in Tsaritsyn. He had the opportunity to give the Astrakhan governor, Prince Semyon Lvov, part of the taken loot and large-caliber cannons for the right of free passage to Tsaritsyn. From here the Cossacks crossed to the Don and settled in the town of Kagalnitsky.

Cossack troops began to flock to Kagalnik, and by the end of the year, under the leadership of Ataman Razin, up to 3,000 people gathered here. His younger brother Frol arrived to see him. Relations with the Cossack military sergeant major, who settled in Cherkassk, became strained and hostile.

And Razin’s plans kept expanding. Having decided to go to war with boyar Moscow, he tried to find allies for himself. In winter, he began negotiations with the Ukrainian hetman Petro Doroshenko and the Kosh chieftain of the Cossacks, Ivan Serko. However, they wisely refused to go to war with Moscow.

The uprising of Stepan Razin or the Peasant War

In the spring of 1770, Stenka Razin moved from the town of Kagalnitsky to the Volga. His army was divided into detachments and hundreds. As a matter of fact, this was the beginning of the Peasant War (the uprising of Stepan Razin), which in Russian historiography comes down to 1667–1671. Now the daring robber chieftain turned into the leader of the people's war: he called on the army that had stood under his banner to “go to Rus'.”

Tsaritsyn opened the city gates to the rebels. The local governor Timofey Turgenev was executed. A ship's caravan with a thousand archers, led by Ivan Lopatin, who approached from above along the Volga, smashed the razinits on the water near Money Island, and some of the tsar's servicemen went over to their side.

However, the Astrakhan governor, Prince Semyon Lvov, was already waiting for the Cossacks on the Volga with his archers. The meeting of the parties took place at Black Yar. But the battle did not happen here: the Astrakhan servicemen rebelled and went over to the opposing side.

From Black Yar, the Cossack ataman sent detachments up and down the Volga. They took Kamyshinka (now the city of Kamyshin). Relying on the complete sympathy of the common people, Stepan Razin was able to capture the Volga cities of Saratov and Samara without much difficulty. Now the bulk of his army, which had grown to 20,000 poorly armed and organized rebels, were landowner peasants.

Other initial people from the Cossacks, commanders of independent detachments, appeared around Razin. Among them, Sergei Krivoy, Vasily Us, Fyodor Sheludyak, Eremeev, Shumlivy, Ivan Lyakh and Razin’s younger brother Frol stood out.

The first blow was struck at Astrakhan with its stone Kremlin. The flotilla of the rebels now consisted of 300 different river ships, on which there were more than 50 cannons. The Cossack cavalry moved along the river bank. In total, the ataman led about 7,000 people.

Voivode Prince Ivan Prozorovsky was unable to defend the fortified city of Astrakhan. The Razins, supported by an uprising of the urban poor, took it by storm on June 24. The governor was executed: he was thrown from the tower to the ground. From Astrakhan, the rebels moved up the Volga: in the city, Stepan Razin left Usa and Sheludyak as governors, ordering them to tightly protect the city. He himself took about 12,000 people with him. It is believed that somewhere around 8,000 of them were armed with "fire fighting".

After Samara was taken, the entire Middle Volga found itself in the fire of a popular uprising. Everywhere, Razin gave the serfs “freedom”, and the “bellies” (property) of the governor, nobles and officials (officials) for plunder. The leader of the rebels was greeted in cities and villages with bread and salt. On his behalf, “lovely letters”-appeals were sent in large numbers in all directions.

In Moscow, they realized the seriousness of the current situation: by order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the Boyar Duma began to gather military detachments in the region of Stepan Razin’s uprising: rifle regiments and hundreds, local (noble) cavalry, and foreign servicemen. First of all, the tsarist governors were ordered to protect the then large cities of Simbirsk and Kazan.

Meanwhile, the peasant war was growing. Rebel detachments began to appear in places not so distant from Moscow. Due to their spontaneity and disorganization as a military force, the rebels, who destroyed the landowners' estates and boyar estates, were extremely rarely able to provide serious resistance to the military detachments that were sent out by the authorities. On behalf of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Stenka Razin was declared the “thieves’ chieftain.”

Simbirsk governor Ivan Miloslavsky was able to organize the defense of the city. The Razins were unable to take it: part of the garrison (about 4,000 people) took refuge in the local Kremlin. In the battles that took place near Simbirsk from October 1 to 4, 1670, they were defeated by the tsarist troops, under the command of the experienced governor Prince Yu.A. Dolgorukov.

Stepan Timofeevich Razin himself fought in the front ranks in those battles and was seriously wounded. He was taken from near Simbirsk to the town of Kagalnitsky. Ataman hoped to gather his strength again in his native Don. Meanwhile, the territory covered by the uprising narrowed sharply: the tsarist troops took Penza and “pacified” the Tambov region and Sloboda Ukraine by force of arms. It is believed that up to 100,000 rebels died during the uprising of Stepan Razin.

Suppression of the uprising. Execution

...Having recovered a little from his wounds, Razin decided to take possession of the military capital - Cherkassy. But he did not calculate his strengths and capabilities: by that time, the Cossack elders and the house-loving Cossacks, impressed by the victories of the tsarist commanders, were openly hostile towards him and the rebels and took up arms themselves.

The Razins approached Cherkassk in February 1671, but were unable to take it and retreated to Kagalnik. On February 14, a detachment of Cossack elders led by military ataman Yakovlev captured the Kagalnitsky town. According to other sources, almost the entire Don army, about 5,000 people, set out on the campaign.

In the town of Kagalnitsky, a beating of the rebel golytba took place. Razin himself was captured and, together with his younger brother Frol, was sent under strong guard to Moscow. It should be noted that Ataman Kornilo (Korniliy) Yakovlev was “in Azov affairs” a comrade-in-arms of Stepan’s father and his godfather.

“The Thief Ataman” Stenka Razin was executed in Moscow on Red Square on June 6, 1671. The executioner first cut off his right arm at the elbow, then his left leg at the knee, and then cut off his head. This is how the most legendary Cossack robber in the history of Russia, about whom many popular songs and legends were composed among the people, ended his violent life.

...The name of Stepan Timofeevich Razin has always been remembered in Russian history. Before the revolution, songs were sung and legends were made about him; after the revolution, during the Civil War, the 1st Orenburg Cossack Socialist Regiment, which distinguished itself in battles against the White Army of Admiral Kolchak in the Urals, bore his name. A monument was erected to the Ataman of the rebellious Cossacks in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Streets and squares in different cities of modern Russia are named after him.