The conquest of Siberia is one of the most important processes in the formation of Russian statehood. The development of the eastern lands took more than 400 years. Throughout this period, many battles, foreign expansions, conspiracies, and intrigues took place.
The annexation of Siberia is still in the center of attention of historians and causes a lot of controversy, including among members of the public.
Conquest of Siberia by Ermak
The history of the conquest of Siberia begins with the famous This is one of the Cossack atamans. There is no exact information about his birth and ancestors. However, the memory of his exploits has reached us through the centuries. In 1580, the wealthy merchants Stroganov invited the Cossacks to help protect their possessions from constant raids by the Ugrians. The Cossacks settled in a small town and lived relatively peacefully. The bulk of them were a little more than eight hundred. In 1581, a campaign was organized with money from merchants. Despite its historical significance (in fact, the campaign marked the beginning of the era of the conquest of Siberia), this campaign did not attract the attention of Moscow. The Kremlin called the detachment simple “bandits.”
In the fall of 1581, Ermak’s group boarded small ships and began to sail upward, all the way to the mountains. Upon landing, the Cossacks had to clear their way by cutting down trees. The coast turned out to be completely uninhabited. The constant ascent and mountainous terrain created extremely difficult conditions for the transition. The ships (plows) were literally carried by hand, since due to the continuous vegetation it was not possible to install rollers. With the approach of cold weather, the Cossacks set up camp on the pass, where they spent the entire winter. After this the rafting began
Khanate of Siberia
The conquest of Siberia by Ermak met the first resistance from the local Tatars. There, almost across the Ob River, the Siberian Khanate began. This small state was formed in the 15th century, after the defeat of the Golden Horde. It did not have significant power and consisted of several possessions of small princes.
The Tatars, accustomed to a nomadic lifestyle, could not organize cities or even villages well. The main activities were still hunting and raids. The warriors were mostly mounted. Scimitars or sabers were used as weapons. Most often they were locally made and quickly broke down. There were also captured Russian swords and other high quality equipment. The tactics of rapid horse raids were used, during which the horsemen literally trampled the enemy and then retreated. The foot soldiers were mostly archers.
Equipment of the Cossacks
Ermak's Cossacks received modern weapons at that time. These were gunpowder guns and cannons. Most Tatars had never even seen anything like this before, and this was the main advantage of the Russians.
The first battle took place near modern Turinsk. Then the Tatars from ambush began to shower the Cossacks with arrows. Then the local prince Epanchi sent his cavalry to Ermak. The Cossacks opened fire on them with long rifles and cannons, after which the Tatars fled. This local victory made it possible to take Changi-tura without a fight.
The first victory brought many different benefits to the Cossacks. In addition to gold and silver, these lands were very rich in Siberian fur, which was highly valued in Russia. After other service people learned about the spoils, the conquest of Siberia by the Cossacks attracted many new people.
Conquest of Western Siberia
After a series of quick and successful victories, Ermak began to move further east. In the spring, several Tatar princes united to repel the Cossacks, but were quickly defeated and recognized Russian power. In the middle of summer, the first major battle took place in the modern Yarkovsky region. Mametkul's cavalry began an attack on the Cossack positions. They sought to quickly close in and crush the enemy, taking advantage of the horseman's advantage in close combat. Ermak personally stood in the trench where the guns were located and began firing at the Tatars. After just a few volleys, Mametkul fled with the entire army, which opened the way for the Cossacks to Karachi.
Arrangement of occupied lands
The conquest of Siberia was characterized by significant non-combat losses. Difficult weather conditions and difficult climate caused many illnesses in the camp of forwarders. In addition to the Russians, Ermak’s detachment also included Germans and Lithuanians (as people from the Baltic states were called).
They were the most susceptible to disease and had the hardest time acclimatizing. However, in the hot Siberian summer these difficulties did not exist, so the Cossacks advanced without problems, occupying more and more territories. The captured settlements were not plundered or burned. Usually, jewelry was taken from the local prince if he dared to field an army. Otherwise, he simply presented gifts. In addition to the Cossacks, settlers took part in the campaign. They walked behind the soldiers along with the clergy and representatives of the future administration. In the conquered cities, forts were immediately built - wooden fortified forts. They served as both a civil administration and a stronghold in the event of a siege.
Conquered tribes were subject to tribute. The Russian governors in the forts were supposed to oversee its payment. If someone refused to pay tribute, he was visited by the local squad. In times of great uprisings, the Cossacks came to the rescue.
The final defeat of the Siberian Khanate
The conquest of Siberia was made easier by the fact that the local Tatars practically did not interact with each other. Various tribes fought among themselves. Even within the Siberian Khanate, not all princes rushed to the aid of others. The Tatar offered the greatest resistance. To stop the Cossacks, he began to gather an army in advance. In addition to his squad, he invited mercenaries. These were Ostyaks and Voguls. Among them there were nobles. In early November, the Khan led the Tatars to the mouth of the Tobol, intending to stop the Russians here. It is noteworthy that the majority of local residents did not provide Kuchum with any significant assistance.
Decisive Battle
When the battle began, almost all the mercenaries fled from the battlefield. The poorly organized and trained Tatars could not resist the battle-hardened Cossacks for long and also retreated.
After this devastating and decisive victory, the road to Kishlyk opened before Ermak. After the capture of the capital, the detachment stopped in the city. A few days later, representatives of the Khanty began to arrive there with gifts. The chieftain received them cordially and communicated kindly. After this, the Tatars began to voluntarily offer gifts in exchange for protection. Also, everyone who knelt was obliged to pay tribute.
Death at the height of fame
The conquest of Siberia was not initially supported by Moscow. However, rumors about the successes of the Cossacks quickly spread throughout the country. In 1582, Ermak sent a delegation to the Tsar. The embassy was headed by the ataman’s companion Ivan Koltso. Tsar Ivan the Fourth received the Cossacks. They were presented with expensive gifts, including equipment from the royal forge. Ivan also ordered a squad of 500 people to be assembled and sent to Siberia. The very next year, Ermak subjugated almost all the lands on the Irtysh coast.
The famous chieftain continued to conquer uncharted territories and subjugate more and more nationalities. There were uprisings that were quickly suppressed. But near the Vagai River, Ermak’s detachment was attacked. Taking the Cossacks by surprise at night, the Tatars managed to kill almost everyone. The great leader and Cossack ataman Ermak died.
Further conquest of Siberia: briefly
The exact burial place of the ataman is unknown. After the death of Ermak, the conquest of Siberia continued with renewed vigor. Year after year, more and more new territories were subjugated. If the initial campaign was not coordinated with the Kremlin and was chaotic, then subsequent actions became more centralized. The king personally took control of this issue. Well-equipped expeditions were regularly sent out. The city of Tyumen was built, which became the first Russian settlement in these parts. From then on, systematic conquest continued using the Cossacks. Year after year they conquered more and more territories. Russian administration was installed in the captured cities. Educated people were sent from the capital to conduct business.
In the mid-17th century there was a wave of active colonization. Many cities and settlements are founded. Peasants are arriving from other parts of Russia. Settlement is gaining momentum. In 1733, the famous Northern Expedition was organized. In addition to conquest, the task of exploring and discovering new lands was also set. The data obtained was then used by geographers from all over the world. The entry of the Uryakhan region into the Russian Empire can be considered the end of the annexation of Siberia.
The process of incorporating vast territories of Siberia and the Far East into the Russian state took several centuries. The most significant events that determined the future fate of the region occurred in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In our article we will briefly describe how the development of Siberia took place in the 17th century, but we will present all the available facts. This era of geographical discoveries was marked by the founding of Tyumen and Yakutsk, as well as the discovery of the Bering Strait, Kamchatka, and Chukotka, which significantly expanded the borders of the Russian state and consolidated its economic and strategic positions.
Stages of Russian exploration of Siberia
In Soviet and Russian historiography, it is customary to divide the process of development of the northern lands and their inclusion in the state into five stages:
- 11th-15th centuries.
- Late 15th-16th centuries.
- Late 16th - early 17th centuries.
- Mid 17th-18th centuries.
- 19-20th centuries.
Goals of development of Siberia and the Far East
The peculiarity of the annexation of Siberian lands to the Russian state is that development was carried out spontaneously. The pioneers were peasants (they fled from the landowners in order to work quietly on free land in the southern part of Siberia), merchants and industrialists (they were looking for material gain, for example, from the local population they could exchange fur, which was very valuable at that time, for mere trinkets worth a penny). Some went to Siberia in search of fame and made geographical discoveries in order to remain in the memory of the people.
The development of Siberia and the Far East in the 17th century, as in all subsequent centuries, was carried out with the aim of expanding the territory of the state and increasing the population. The vacant lands beyond the Ural Mountains attracted people with their high economic potential: furs and valuable metals. Later, these territories really became the locomotive of the country’s industrial development, and even today Siberia has sufficient potential and is a strategic region of Russia.
Features of the development of Siberian lands
The process of colonization of free lands beyond the Ural ridge included the gradual advance of discoverers to the East up to the Pacific coast and consolidation on the Kamchatka Peninsula. In the folklore of the peoples inhabiting the northern and eastern lands, the word “Cossack” is most often used to designate Russians.
At the beginning of the development of Siberia by the Russians (16-17 centuries), the pioneers advanced mainly along rivers. They walked by land only in watershed areas. Upon arrival in a new area, the pioneers began peace negotiations with the local population, offering to join the king and pay yasak - a tax in kind, usually in furs. Negotiations did not always end successfully. Then the matter was resolved by military means. On the lands of the local population, forts or simply winter huts were set up. Some of the Cossacks remained there to maintain the obedience of the tribes and collect yasak. Following the Cossacks were peasants, clergy, merchants and industrialists. The greatest resistance was provided by the Khanty and other large tribal unions, as well as the Siberian Khanate. In addition, there have been several conflicts with China.
Novgorod campaigns to the “iron gates”
Back in the eleventh century, the Novgorodians reached the Ural Mountains (“iron gates”), but were defeated by the Ugras. Ugra was then called the lands of the Northern Urals and the coast of the Arctic Ocean, where local tribes lived. From the middle of the thirteenth century, Ugra had already been developed by the Novgorodians, but this dependence was not strong. After the fall of Novgorod, the tasks of developing Siberia passed to Moscow.
Free lands beyond the Ural ridge
Traditionally, the first stage (11-15 centuries) is not yet considered the conquest of Siberia. Officially, it began with Ermak’s campaign in 1580, but even then the Russians knew that beyond the Ural ridge there were vast territories that remained practically no man’s land after the collapse of the Horde. Local peoples were few in number and poorly developed, with the only exception being the Siberian Khanate, founded by the Siberian Tatars. But wars were constantly raging in it and civil strife did not stop. This led to its weakening and to the fact that it soon became part of the Russian Kingdom.
History of the development of Siberia in the 16th-17th centuries
The first campaign was undertaken under Ivan III. Before this, Russian rulers were prevented from turning their gaze to the east by internal political problems. Only Ivan IV took the free lands seriously, and only in the last years of his reign. The Siberian Khanate formally became part of the Russian state back in 1555, but later Khan Kuchum declared his people free from tribute to the tsar.
The answer was given by sending Ermak’s detachment there. Hundreds of Cossacks, led by five atamans, captured the capital of the Tatars and founded several settlements. In 1586, the first Russian city, Tyumen, was founded in Siberia, in 1587 the Cossacks founded Tobolsk, in 1593 - Surgut, and in 1594 - Tara.
In short, the development of Siberia in the 16th and 17th centuries is associated with the following names:
- Semyon Kurbsky and Peter Ushaty (campaign in the Nenets and Mansi lands in 1499-1500).
- Cossack Ermak (campaign of 1851-1585, exploration of Tyumen and Tobolsk).
- Vasily Sukin (was not a pioneer, but laid the foundation for the settlement of Russian people in Siberia).
- Cossack Pyanda (in 1623, the Cossack began a hike through wild places, discovered the Lena River, and reached the place where Yakutsk was later founded).
- Vasily Bugor (in 1630 founded the city of Kirensk on the Lena).
- Peter Beketov (founded Yakutsk, which became the base for the further development of Siberia in the 17th century).
- Ivan Moskvitin (in 1632 he became the first European who, together with his detachment, went to the Sea of Okhotsk).
- Ivan Stadukhin (discovered the Kolyma River, explored Chukotka and was the first to enter Kamchatka).
- Semyon Dezhnev (participated in the discovery of Kolyma, in 1648 he completely crossed the Bering Strait and discovered Alaska).
- Vasily Poyarkov (made the first trip to the Amur).
- Erofey Khabarov (assigned the Amur region to the Russian state).
- Vladimir Atlasov (annexed Kamchatka in 1697).
Thus, in short, the development of Siberia in the 17th century was marked by the founding of the main Russian cities and the opening of routes, thanks to which the region later began to play great economic and defense importance.
Siberian campaign of Ermak (1581-1585)
The development of Siberia by the Cossacks in the 16th and 17th centuries began with Ermak’s campaign against the Siberian Khanate. A detachment of 840 people was formed and equipped with everything necessary by the Stroganov merchants. The campaign took place without the knowledge of the king. The backbone of the detachment consisted of atamans of the Volga Cossacks: Ermak Timofeevich, Matvey Meshcheryak, Nikita Pan, Ivan Koltso and Yakov Mikhailov.
In September 1581, the detachment climbed the tributaries of the Kama to the Tagil Pass. The Cossacks cleared their way by hand, at times even dragging the ships on themselves, like barge haulers. At the pass they erected an earthen fortification, where they remained until the ice melted in the spring. The detachment rafted along Tagil to Tura.
The first clash between the Cossacks and the Siberian Tatars took place in the modern Sverdlovsk region. Ermak’s detachment defeated the cavalry of Prince Epanchi, and then occupied the town of Chingi-tura without a fight. In the spring and summer of 1852, the Cossacks, led by Ermak, entered into battle with the Tatar princes several times, and by the fall they occupied the then capital of the Siberian Khanate. A few days later, Tatars from all corners of the Khanate began to bring gifts to the conquerors: fish and other food supplies, furs. Ermak allowed them to return to their villages and promised to protect them from enemies. He imposed taxes on everyone who came to him.
At the end of 1582, Ermak sent his assistant Ivan Koltso to Moscow to inform the Tsar about the defeat of Kuchum, the Siberian Khan. Ivan IV generously rewarded the envoy and sent him back. By decree of the tsar, Prince Semyon Bolkhovskoy equipped another detachment, the Stroganovs allocated another forty volunteers from among their people. The detachment arrived at Ermak only in the winter of 1584.
Completion of the hike and foundation of Tyumen
Ermak at that time successfully conquered the Tatar towns along the Ob and Irtysh, without encountering fierce resistance. But there was a cold winter ahead, which not only Semyon Bolkhovskoy, appointed governor of Siberia, but also most of the detachment could not survive. The temperature dropped to -47 degrees Celsius, and there were not enough supplies.
In the spring of 1585, the Murza of Karacha rebelled, destroying the detachments of Yakov Mikhailov and Ivan Koltso. Ermak was surrounded in the capital of the former Siberian Khanate, but one of the atamans launched a sortie and was able to drive the attackers away from the city. The detachment suffered significant losses. Less than half of those who were equipped by the Stroganovs in 1581 survived. Three of the five Cossack atamans died.
In August 1985, Ermak died at the mouth of the Vagai. The Cossacks who remained in the Tatar capital decided to spend the winter in Siberia. In September, another hundred Cossacks under the command of Ivan Mansurov went to their aid, but the servicemen did not find anyone in Kishlyk. The next expedition (spring 1956) was much better prepared. Under the leadership of governor Vasily Sukin, the first Siberian city of Tyumen was founded.
Founding of Chita, Yakutsk, Nerchinsk
The first significant event in the development of Siberia in the 17th century was the campaign of Pyotr Beketov along the Angara and tributaries of the Lena. In 1627, he was sent as a governor to the Yenisei prison, and the next year - to pacify the Tungus who attacked the detachment of Maxim Perfilyev. In 1631, Pyotr Beketov became the head of a detachment of thirty Cossacks who were to march along the Lena River and gain a foothold on its banks. By the spring of 1631, he had cut down the fort, which was later named Yakutsk. The city became one of the centers of development of Eastern Siberia in the 17th century and later.
Campaign of Ivan Moskvitin (1639-1640)
Ivan Moskvitin took part in Kopylov’s campaign in 1635-1638 to the Aldan River. The leader of the detachment later sent part of the soldiers (39 people) under the command of Moskvitin to the Sea of Okhotsk. In 1638, Ivan Moskvitin went to the shores of the sea, made trips to the Uda and Tauy rivers, and received the first information about the Uda region. As a result of his campaigns, the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk was explored for 1,300 kilometers, and the Udskaya Bay, Amur Estuary, Sakhalin Island, Sakhalin Bay, and the mouth of the Amur were discovered. In addition, Ivan Moskvitin brought good booty to Yakutsk - a lot of fur tribute.
Discovery of Kolyma and Chukotka Expedition
The development of Siberia in the 17th century continued with the campaigns of Semyon Dezhnev. He ended up in the Yakut prison presumably in 1638, proved himself by pacifying several Yakut princes, and together with Mikhail Stadukhin made a trip to Oymyakon to collect yasak.
In 1643, Semyon Dezhnev, as part of Mikhail Stadukhin’s detachment, arrived in Kolyma. The Cossacks founded the Kolyma winter hut, which later became a large fort called Srednekolymsk. The town became a stronghold for the development of Siberia in the second half of the 17th century. Dezhnev served in Kolyma until 1647, but when he set out on his return voyage, strong ice blocked the route, so it was decided to stay in Srednekolymsk and wait for a more favorable time.
A significant event in the development of Siberia in the 17th century occurred in the summer of 1648, when S. Dezhnev entered the Arctic Ocean and passed the Bering Strait eighty years before Vitus Bering. It is noteworthy that even Bering did not manage to pass through the strait completely, limiting himself only to its southern part.
Consolidation of the Amur region by Erofey Khabarov
The development of Eastern Siberia in the 17th century continued by the Russian industrialist Erofei Khabarov. He made his first campaign in 1625. Khabarov was engaged in buying furs, opened salt springs on the Kut River and contributed to the development of agriculture on these lands. In 1649, Erofey Khabarov went up the Lena and Amur to the town of Albazino. Returning to Yakutsk with a report and for help, he assembled a new expedition and continued his work. Khabarov treated harshly not only the population of Manchuria and Dauria, but also his own Cossacks. For this he was transported to Moscow, where the trial began. The rebels who refused to continue the campaign with Erofey Khabarov were acquitted, and he himself was deprived of his salary and rank. After Khabarov submitted a petition to the Russian sovereign. The tsar did not restore the monetary allowance, but gave Khabarov the title of son of a boyar and sent him to govern one of the volosts.
Explorer of Kamchatka - Vladimir Atlasov
For Atlasov, Kamchatka has always been the main goal. Before the expedition to Kamchatka began in 1697, the Russians already knew about the existence of the peninsula, but its territory had not yet been explored. Atlasov was not a discoverer, but he was the first to traverse almost the entire peninsula from west to east. Vladimir Vasilyevich described his journey in detail and drew up a map. He managed to persuade most of the local tribes to go over to the side of the Russian Tsar. Later, Vladimir Atlasov was appointed clerk in Kamchatka.
In the development of Siberia and the Far East by the Russians, free spontaneous settlement and resettlement by “sovereign decrees” were closely intertwined. The local population was either directly conquered or voluntarily became part of the Russian state, hoping to find protection from warlike neighbors.
Russian people became acquainted with the Trans-Urals at the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, but mass settlement from European Russia to the east began at the end of the 16th century, after the campaign against the Siberian Khan Kuchum of the Cossack squad led by Ataman Ermak Timofeevich. In October 1582, the detachment occupied the capital of the Khanate, Siberia (Kashlyk, Isker). Ermak’s campaign (he himself died in one of the skirmishes) dealt a mortal blow to Kuchumov’s “kingdom”: it could no longer successfully resist the tsarist troops, who, having included Ermak’s surviving comrades-in-arms, moved along the paved path. in 1586, Tyumen was founded by the sovereign's servants; in 1587, Tobolsk arose not far from the former capital of Kuchum, which soon also became the main city of Siberia. The more northern areas - in the upper reaches of the Tavda and in the lower reaches of the Ob - were assigned to the Russian state in 1593-1594, after the construction of Pelym, Berezov and Surgut, the more southern ones - along the middle Irtysh - were covered in 1594 by the new city of Tara. Relying on these and other, less significant, fortresses, service people (Cossacks, archers) and industrial people (fur-bearing animal hunters) began to quickly advance the borders of Russia “meeting the sun,” building new strongholds as they advanced, many of them soon turned from military administrative centers to centers of trade and craft.
The weak population of most of the regions of Siberia and the Far East was the main reason for the rapid advance of small detachments of servicemen and industrial people into the depths of Northern Asia and its comparative bloodlessness. The fact that the development of these lands was carried out, as a rule, by seasoned and experienced people also played a role. In the 17th century The main migration flow beyond the Urals came from North Russian (Pomeranian) cities and districts, whose residents had the necessary fishing skills and experience of moving both along the Arctic Ocean and along taiga rivers, were accustomed to severe frosts and midges - the real scourge of Siberia in summer time.
With the founding of Tomsk in 1604 and Kuznetsk in 1618, Russia’s advance to the south of Western Siberia in the 17th century was basically completed. In the north, Mangazeya, a city founded by servicemen near the Arctic Circle in 1601 on the site of one of the winter quarters of industrialists, became a stronghold in the further colonization of the region. From here, a few Russian bands began to move deeper into the East Siberian taiga in search of “unexplored” and sable-rich “zemlits”. The widespread use of southern routes for the same purpose began after the construction of the Yenisei fort in 1619, which became another important base for the development of Siberian and Far Eastern lands. Later, Yenisei servicemen set out from Yakutsk, founded in 1632. After the campaign of a detachment of Tomsk Cossack Ivan Moskvitin in 1639 along the river. Hive to the Pacific Ocean, it turned out that in the east the Russians had come close to the natural limits of Northern Asia, but the lands north and south of the Okhotsk coast were “explored” only after a number of military and fishing expeditions sent from Yakutsk. In 1643-1646. a campaign of Yakut servicemen led by Vasily Poyarkov took place, exploring the river. Amur. He made more successful trips there in 1649-1653. Erofey Khabarov, who actually annexed the Amur region to Russia. In 1648, the Yakut Cossack Semyon Dezhnev and the “trading man” Fedot Alekseev Popov set off on a voyage around the Chukotka Peninsula from the mouth of the Kolyma. About 100 people went with them on seven ships to the goal of the campaign - the mouth of the river. Anadyr - only the crew of the Dezhnevsky ship made it - 24 people. In 1697-1699, the Siberian Cossack Vladimir Atlasov walked almost the entire Kamchatka and actually completed Russia’s access to its natural borders in the east.
By the beginning of the 18th century. the number of migrants throughout the entire space from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean was about 200 thousand people, i.e. equal to the number of indigenous residents. At the same time, the density of the Russian population was highest in Western Siberia and decreased significantly as it moved east. Along with the construction of cities, laying roads, establishing trade, a reliable communication and management system, the most important achievement of Russian settlers at the end of the 17th century. became the spread of arable farming throughout almost the entire strip of Siberia and the Far East suitable for it and the self-sufficiency of the once “wild land” with bread. The first stage of agricultural development of North Asian lands took place under the strongest opposition of the nomadic feudal lords of southern Siberia, Mongolia and the Manchu dynasty of China, who sought to prevent the strengthening of Russian positions in the adjacent and most suitable for arable territories. In 1689, Russia and China signed the Treaty of Nerchinsk, according to which the Russians were forced to leave the Amur. The fight against other opponents was more successful. Relying on a rare chain of forts in Tarsk, Kuznetsk and Krasnoyarsk districts, the Russians managed not only to repel the raids of nomads, but also to advance further to the south. At the beginning of the 18th century. Fortress cities of Biysk, Barnaul, Abakan, and Omsk arose. As a result, Russia acquired lands that later became one of its main granaries, and gained access to the richest mineral resources of Altai. Since the 18th century there they began to smelt copper and mine silver, which Russia so needed (it previously did not have its own deposits). Nerchinsky district became another center of silver mining.
The 19th century was marked by the beginning of the development of gold deposits in Siberia. Their first mines were discovered in Altai, as well as in the Tomsk and Yenisei provinces; since the 40s XIX century gold mining began on the river. Lena. Siberian trade expanded. Back in the 17th century. the fair in Irbit, located in Western Siberia, on the border with the European part of the country, gained all-Russian fame; No less famous was Transbaikal Kyakhta, founded in 1727 and becoming the center of Russian-Chinese trade. After the expeditions of G.I. Nevelsky, who proved in 1848-1855. the island position of Sakhalin and the absence of the Chinese population in the lower reaches of the Amur, Russia received convenient access to the Pacific Ocean. In 1860, an agreement was concluded with China, according to which lands in the Amur and Primorye regions were assigned to Russia. At the same time, the city of Vladivostok was founded, which later turned into the main Pacific port of Russia; Previously, such ports were Okhotsk (founded in 1647), Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (1740) and Nikolaevsk (1850). By the end of the 19th century. There have been qualitative changes in the transport system throughout North Asia. In the 17th century The main one here was river communication, from the 18th century. it was increasingly competed with by land roads laid along the expanding southern borders of Siberia. In the first half of the 19th century. they formed into the grandiose Moscow-Siberian tract, which connected the largest southern Siberian cities (Tyumen, Omsk, Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Nerchinsk) and had branches both to the south and to the north - up to Yakutsk and Okhotsk. Since 1891, beyond the Urals, separate sections of the Great Siberian Railway began to come into operation. It was built parallel to the Moscow-Siberian highway and was completed at the beginning of the 20th century, when a new industrial stage began in the development of North Asia. Industrialization continued until very recently, confirming the prophetic words of M.V. Lomonosov that “Russian power will grow through Siberia and the Northern Ocean.” A clear confirmation of this is Tyumen oil, Yakut diamonds and gold, Kuzbass coal and Norilsk nickel, the transformation of the cities of Siberia and the Far East into industrial and scientific centers of world importance.
There are also dark pages in the history of the development of Siberia and the Far East: not everything that happened in this territory over the past centuries had and has a positive significance. Recently, the territories beyond the Urals have caused great concern due to accumulated environmental problems. The memory of Siberia as a place of hard labor and exile, the main base of the Gulag, is still fresh. The development of North Asia, especially at the initial stage of Russian colonization of the region, brought a lot of troubles to the indigenous inhabitants. Once within the Russian state, the peoples of Siberia and the Far East had to pay a tax in kind - yasak, the amount of which, although inferior to the taxes imposed on Russian settlers, was heavy due to the abuses of the administration. For some clans and tribes, previously unknown drunkenness and infectious diseases brought by settlers, as well as the impoverishment of fishing grounds, inevitable during their agricultural and industrial development, had disastrous consequences for some clans and tribes. But for most peoples of North Asia, the positive consequences of Russian colonization are obvious. The bloody strife stopped, the aborigines adopted more advanced tools and effective management methods from the Russians. The peoples who were once unliterate and lived in the Stone Age 300 years ago now have their own intelligentsia, including scientists and writers. The total number of the indigenous population of the region also grew steadily: in the middle of the 19th century. it has already reached 600 thousand people in the 20-30s. XX century - 800 thousand, and currently amounts to more than a million. The Russian population of North Asia increased even faster over the years and in the middle of the 19th century. numbered 2.7 million people. Now it exceeds 27 million, but this is the result not so much of natural growth as of intensive resettlement of natives of European Russia beyond the Urals. It assumed especially large proportions in the 20th century, for several reasons. This is the Stolypin agrarian reform, dispossession in the late 1920-1930s; widespread recruitment of labor for the construction of factories, mines, roads, and power plants in the east of the country during the first five-year plans; development of virgin lands in the 1950s, development of oil and gas fields, giant new buildings in Siberia and the Far East in the 1960s-1970s. And today, despite all the difficulties, the development of the harsh, but fabulously rich and far from exhausting its potential region, which became Russian soil 300 years ago, continues.
Back in the middle of the 16th century, after the annexation of the Kazan Khanate, Russia’s eastern neighbor, the Siberian Khanate, entered into vassal dependence on the Russian sovereign for support in the fight against the Central Asian rulers. Russian merchants organized expeditions to acquire the main wealth of Siberia - furs - and had the right to build fortresses on the Irtysh and in the lands along the Tobol. In the 70s, the Siberian khans organized attacks on Russian possessions, set up small nomadic feudal lords against Russia, and prevented Russian merchants from entering Siberia. In 1581, the Stroganov merchants managed to organize a campaign by Ermak’s Cossack squad against the troops of Khan Kuchum. The capital was taken and after stubborn battles the Khanate was annexed to Russia - the first fortresses of Tyumen and Tobolsk were built, which became outposts for the penetration of Russian people into Siberia.
In the 17th century, Siberia was gradually developed by groups of Russian explorers. The government and merchants organized expeditions to explore the possibilities of fur trade and ore deposits. In 1648, Semyon Dezhnev’s detachment reached the shores of the Arctic Ocean and opened the strait between Asia and America, and at the turn of the 40-50s. Erofei Khabarov's detachment from Yakutsk reached the Amur and drew up a drawing of the Amur region - thus developing Eastern Siberia and the Far East. The government, interested in developing the rich region, organized peasant resettlement to Siberia from Russian regions on preferential terms, provided support to “walking people” in establishing a farm in Siberia, and built small towns. Some of the fugitive peasants rushed to Siberian industries. By the end of the 17th century, 150 thousand Russian families lived from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean, most of them farmers who plowed “tithe arable land” for the benefit of the state, that is, they became state peasants. The indigenous peoples of Siberia and the Far East adopted some new tools from the Russians and arable farming in the southern regions, but basically continued to pay the tax in kind - yasak, furs. By the end of the 17th century, income from the sale of furs accounted for a quarter of the income of the Russian state.
In the Amur region, the interests of Russia collided with the interests of China, where the Qing dynasty ruled. The main military operations took place over the fortress town of Albazin, which was destroyed by Chinese troops, and the Russians restored and defended for a year. According to the Nerchinsk Peace Treaty of 1689 with China, Russian troops secured part of the occupied lands, but liberated the lands in the upper reaches of the Amur. The Albazin fortress was razed.
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