BASHKIR UPRISINGS OF THE 17– 18th CENTURIES

BASHKIR UPRISINGS OF THE 17–18th CENTURIES are the armed struggle of the Bashkirs against Russian colonial policy; a part of the national movement of the Turkic and Finno­Ugric peoples of the Ural­Volga territory.

The 1662–64 Uprising. The reason for the Uprising was the seizure by Kalmyks of the Bashkir lands in the south­-west of Bashkortostan. Leaders: Aznagul Uruskulov, Bekzyan Toktamyshev, Gaur Akbula­tov, Sary Mergen, Uraslanbek Bakkin and others. The Bashkirs advocated the observance of the terms of Bashkortostan’s accession to Russia. The Uprising began in the Trans­Urals in the summer of 1662. The battle between the rebels and a go­ vernment brigade took place near the Irtyash Lake in the autumn. Negotiations between the Bashkirs of Nogay Doroga and Government representatives took place in 1663–64. Agreements between the rebels and the Ufa and Tobolsk Voivodes were concluded in 1664–65. The government satisfied the rebels’ main demands, including official confirmation of the Patrimonial Law of the Bashkirs; promises to stop the yasak (a type of tax) and collectors’ corrupt  practices;  Ufa Voivode A.M.Volkonsky was replaced by F.I.Somov, who was instructed to accede to the Bashkirs’ petitions on land and other issues.

The 1681–84 Uprising. The reason for the uprising was the decree, proclaiming forcible Christianization of Muslims in the Middle Volga and Ural territories. Unbaptized landowners were deprived of land and ordinary commune members became serfs. The Uprising was led by Seit Yagafarov. Preparations for the Uprising were made on the Nogay and Sibirskaya Dorogas territory since the summer of 1681. In 1682, the rebels attacked the Zakamskaya (the Kama River) Military Border, including fortresses, jails, villages and the city of Samara. They also sieged Kungur and Ufa, and captured some settlements in the Ufimsky uyezd. In June, some rebels appealed to the government with a chelobitnaya (petition) from the 4 Dorogas while others, led by Seit, entered into an alliance with Ayuka, the Kalmyk Khan, and continued the struggle. In October, the government officially condemned the Bashkir lands­seizing policy. The Ufa Voivode Knyaz A.M.Korkodinov was replaced by Knyaz D.A.Baryatinsky. The rebels were defeated in the Zakamskaya (the Kama River) Military Border battles. The rebels retreated after the battle near Selo Bogorodskoye of the Ufimsky Uyezd in the summer of 1684. The Government was satisfied the requirements for compliance with the conditions on Bashkortostan’s accession to Russia.

The 1704–11 Uprisings. Leaders: Aldar Isyangildin, Kusyum Tyulekeyev and others. There were four independent uprisings in 1704–06, 1707–08, 1709–10 and 1711. The rebels fought for compliance with the conditions for Bashkortostan’s accession to Russia. In 1704, near Ufa, profiteers A.Zhikharyev and M.Dokhov were attacked and beaten by the disgruntled Bashkirs after the decree on the withdrawal of the Bashkir fisheries and the adjacent land, and the simultaneous introduction of new taxes, etc. Four infantry regiments and two cavalry regiments were sent from Kazan to Bashkortostan in 1705. The rebels acted near the Solevarenny Gorodok (Salt Town) and the Zakamskaya (the Kama River) Military Border fortresses in spring. By the four Doroga Bashkirs Yiyin (People’s Assembly)’ decision and the delegation of 8 people was sent to Moscow in 1706. The ambassadors were arrested and imprisoned  in Kazan. This precipitated the start of the 1707–08 Uprising. The Bashkir ambassadors headed by Murat went to the Crimea in July to negotiate with the Turkish Sultan and the Crimean  Khan.  They,  however, were not backed. In December, near Solevarenny Gorodok (Salt Town), the rebels led by Aldar Isyangildin and Kusyum Tyulyekeyev defeated the Government regiment. In 1708, the Voivode, P.I. Khovansky, on behalf of the Tsar, acceded to all the demands of the rebels. The Uprising ceased. However, the authorities violated the agreement, which led to the next uprising, namely, the 1709–10 Uprising. The rebels concluded an alliance with the Karakalpak Khan, a relative of whom was elected a Bashkir Khan in 1709. The  rebels  ended  their  rebellion  in  the autumn of 1710. The Uprising resumed, however, with the Karakalpaks’ support on the Kazan and Nogay Doroga territory in the summer of 1711. The rebels’ main demands were accepted during the negotiations: the Patrimonial Law of the Bashkirs for their lands was acknowledged, the activities of the profiteers were condemned, and the violence of the Kazan and Ufa authorities was condemned.

The 1735–40 Uprisings. There were three Uprisings in the following years: 1735—36,  1737—38  and  1739—40.  The reason for the 1735–36 Uprising was the move of the Orenburg Commission troops from Ufa to the mouth of the Or River (a tributary of the Yaik River) in June for the construction of a fortified city. The uprising was led by Kilmyak Nurushev, Akay Kusyumov and Yusup Arykov. In July 1735, the Nogay Doroga Bashkirs attacked the Expedition forces and the fortresses of the Zakamskaya (the Kama River) Military Border, and others. In October of that year, the rebels attacked the troops of I.K.Kirilov, Head of the Orenburg Expedition, near the Ashkadar River. Subsequently, they attacked a food carriage heading for Orenburg near the Verkhoyayitskaya Fortress, in December. In January 1736, the rebels captured the Verkhoyayitskaya Fortress. The A.I.Tevkelev expeditionary force destroyed and burned more than 50 Sibirskaya Doroga settlements and killed 2 thousand Bashkirs. Approximately 1 thousand people were shot, stabbed and burned in Derevnya Seyantus (the modern territory of the Askinsky raion of the RB). The Bashkirs responded with large scale battle against the Government forces, the “loyal” Bashkirs, Mishars, and freemen brigades. The Government forces were defeated and suffered significant losses in the battles near the Krasnoyarsk fortress and near the Ik River (a tributary of the Kama River) in June, 1736. However, the Uprising was crushed in the autumn of 1736. According to incomplete data, the rebels lost more than 15 thousand people. The leaders of the Uprising were arrested by 1737.

The reason behind the 1737—38 Uprising was the brutal suppression of the previous uprising and the violence in collecting horses, as a form of penalty, from the Bashkir rebels. Leaders: Bepenya Toropberdin, Kusyap Sultangulov, Tulkuchura Aldagulov, etc. The Bashkirs of the Sibirskaya Doroga rebelled in April, 1737. The Bashkirs of other Dorogas joined them in May and June. Major-­General L.Ya.Soymonov sacked and burned over 30 villages, killing approx. 900 people during the summer and autumn. Bepenya Toropberdin, Mandar Karabayev, Tulkuchura Aldagulov and other prominent Uprising leaders arrived attributing guilt to Soymonov, in Tabynsk, in 1738.

The reason for the 1739–40 Uprising was the Bashkir Volosts population census, which began in January, 1739. Allanziangul Kutluguzin, Mindigul Yulayev (ref. Ka­rasakal) and Mandar Karabayev were among the leaders. The Bashkirs of the Nogay and Sibirskaya Dorogas decided to boycott the census in March. The Bashkirs declared Karasakal a Khan under the name of Sultan­-Giryey in 1740. The rebels were defeated in battles near the Bolshoy (Big) Kizil and the Yaik (Ural) Rivers in May. A new and bloody battle took place on the Tobol River in June. The rebels were defeated. The punitive forces burned 725 Auls, took away over 11 thousand heads of livestock, carried out public executions in the rebellious Volosts, including a territory near Orenburg and the Sakmarsky Gorodok in June and September. The losses of the rebels in the 1739–40 Uprising exceeded 16 thousand. In total, over 40 thousand (about 60 thousand due to other sources) Bashkirs were killed, executed, or exiled to penal servitude, during the 1735–40 Uprising.

The 1755–56 Uprising. The reason for the Uprising was the Senate’s decree obliging the Bashkirs to purchase salt from the State instead of the yasak (a tyre of tax), levied previously. To Bashkirs, salt cost 5 to 6 times more than the Yasak (tribute paid off in furs). The Uprising was initiated by the Nogay  Doroga Burzyan Volost population in the spring of 1754. The Uprising was supported by the south­ eastern volosts’ residents of the same Doroga. The leaders appealed to Batyrsha with a proposal to engage in the fight preparation. Batyrsha, in his turn, appealed to the Region’s Muslim population with an appeal to protect the non­Russian peoples’ interests and called for an armed uprising. A spontaneous revolt of the Burzyansk Volost residents began in May. The Orenburg Governor I.I.Neplyuyev and the Empress  Yelizaveta  (Elizabeth)  Petrovna appealed to the population with a demand to stop the Uprising and to accept wrongdoing. The Uprising continued until the spring of 1756. Thousands of rebels died in battles with government forces, while many villages were sacked and burned. Some participants in the Uprising were expedited to serve in the Army and Fleet, while others were exiled to penal servitude in the Rogervik Fortress. As a result of the Uprising,  the  Government  restored  the Bashkirs right to appeal to the Emperor; reduced the number of postal stations, that the Bashkirs were in charge of; abolished the duty levied on the Bashkirs and Mishars for transporting the state­owned wood to Orenburg; banned the unauthorized seizure of Bashkir lands and cancelled the policy of forced Christianization in the Volga Region.