Yermak and the conquest of Siberia

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Lev Tolstoy in the 1860s

Yermak and the conquest of Siberia ( Russian Ермак , Yermak ) is a short story by Lev Tolstoy , which - written for children in 1862 - appeared in 1872 in the 2nd book, part 1 of the anthology Asbuka (Азбука, in German alphabet ) in Saint Petersburg .

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The Stroganovs , wealthy Perm merchants, successfully asked Ivan the Terrible for land to reclaim on the Kama . The Stroganovs gave every Russian willing to settle a piece of land with forest, even donated livestock if necessary, but levied no taxes. Twenty years later - the Stroganovs had become even richer in the meantime - they wanted to conquer the almost infinite land of the false Tsar Kuchum behind the Urals . Tsar Ivan the Terrible complied with this request with the answer: “Take the land away from Kuchum! But that you don't lure too many people from Russia over to you! ”The Stroganovs - not lazy - recruited the Russian Cossack - Ataman Yermak from the steppe between Volga and Don . The captain, actually a river pirate, turned east with almost seven hundred mercenaries on thirty-two barges of twenty men each across the Kama and reached the Silver River on the Tschussowaja in the early autumn of 1579 . The Urals were conquered with self-made wagons on a march of two hundred versts . The Cossacks again built barges on the Sharovna River and went down to the Tura . On the way the Russians took Tartar Tausik, a servant of Mr. Kuchum, with them. He had to show them the way to the capital of Sibir of Khan Kuchum. Finally on the Tobol in the Irtysh arrived, was the capital of Sibir, "the greatest city in the world", in front of them. Yermak wanted to attack, but the Cossacks were afraid; didn't want to die. Yermak asked the bold Cossack Ivan Kolzo: "Well, Vanya, what do you think?" Ivan replied: "If we do not perish today, so tomorrow ... we have to climb to the bank and rush against the Tatars ..."

Yermak conquers Siberia.
Painted by Vasily Surikow in 1895

This is what happened on October 26, 1582: The enemy armed with a bow and arrow had no chance against the Cossacks attacking with cannons and muskets and finally fled.

The following summer, Yermak on the Irtysh and Ob conquered so much land that it could not be avoided in two months. The conqueror sent fox , marten and sable furs to the stroganovs . He asked for more people. Many of his Cossacks had died in the fighting against the Siberian Tatars . After two years, no Russian auxiliaries had been sent. Yermak had only a few Cossacks around. Another forty men under Ivan Kolzo were lured into a trap by the Tatar Karacha and killed. Jarmak itself is considered lost. Tolstoy finally tells the following story. Bukhara merchants wanted to exchange goods with the Cossacks, but the Tatars blocked their way. Yermak went with fifty Cossacks towards the merchants and was wounded with a knife by the Tatars during an overnight stay on the Irtysh bank, fled, threw himself into the river and was no longer seen.

literature

Yermak and the conquest of Siberia in Leo Tolstoy: Selected stories for the youth (contains What people live on . The pilgrims . My dogs . The bear hunt . The prisoner in the Caucasus ). OC Recht Verlag, Munich 1922

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Russian Irina Nikolajewna Jemeljanowa: LN Tolstoy and the Caucasus in the penultimate paragraph at rodb-v.ru
  2. ↑ russ. Жаровня, brazier (container)