Kazan campaigns and the capture of Kazan 2 October 1552 year
In the middle of the 1540s, a turning point was observed in the eastern policy of the Russian state. The era of the boyars' rule in Moscow, which shifted the main attention and forces to the struggle for power, is over. This put an end to the doubts of the Moscow government regarding the Kazan Khanate. The Kazan government of Safa-Girey (Kazan Khan in 1524 — 1531, 1536 — 1546, July 1546 — March 1549) actually pushed the Moscow State to take decisive action. Safa-Girey stubbornly clung to an alliance with the Crimean Khanate and constantly violated peace agreements with Moscow. Kazan princes regularly committed predatory raids on Russian border lands, receiving significant income through the sale of people into slavery. On the border between the Moscow kingdom and the Kazan Khanate continued the endless war. The strengthened Moscow could no longer ignore the hostility of the Volga state, the influence of the Crimea (and through it the Ottoman Empire) on it, and put up with the raids of the Tatars. Kazan Khanate was necessary to "force peace." The question was - how to do it? The previous policy with the support of the pro-Russian party in Kazan and the imprisonment of Moscow’s henchmen in fact failed. Usually, as soon as Moscow put “its khan” on the throne of Kazan, he quickly mastered and began to pursue a policy hostile to Russia, focusing on the Crimea or the Nogai Horde. At this time, Metropolitan Macarius, who initiated many of the enterprises of Ivan IV, had a great influence on the policy of the Russian state. Gradually, in his surroundings, the Metropolitan began to conceive the idea of resolving the issue by force, as the only means of stopping Tatar invasions in the eastern regions of the state. At the same time, initially no complete conquest and subordination of Kazan was envisaged. Kazan was supposed to maintain autonomy in internal affairs. Already in the process of fighting 1547-1552. these plans were adjusted.
Kazan campaigns of Ivan IV (1545 — 1552)
There are several Kazan campaigns of sovereign Ivan Vasilyevich, in most of which he took a personal part. This circumstance emphasized the importance attached to these campaigns by the sovereign and his closest entourage. Almost all operations were carried out in the winter, when the Crimean Khanate usually did not conduct campaigns against Russia, and it was possible to transfer the main forces from the southern borders to the Volga. In 1545, the first campaign of the Moscow troops to Kazan took place. The operation had the character of a military demonstration in order to strengthen the Moscow party, which at the end of 1545, managed to oust from Khan Safa-Girey from Kazan. In the spring of 1546 of the year, a Moscow protege, Kasimov prince Shah-Ali, was put on the Kazan throne. However, soon Safa-Girey, with the support of the Nogais, managed to regain power, Shah-Ali fled to Moscow.
In February, 1547 of the year, “to the Kazan places”, sent troops under the command of voivode Alexander Gorbaty and Semyon Mikulinsky. The regiments under their command were sent from Nizhny Novgorod in response to an appeal for help from the Cheremiss (Mari) centurion Atachik (Tugai) "with comrades" who declared their desire to serve the Grand Duke of Moscow. The king himself did not take part in the campaign, as he was busy with wedding affairs - he married Anastasia Romanovna Zakharina-Yuryeva. The Russian army reached the mouth of the Sviyagi and fought many Kazan places, but then returned to Nizhny Novgorod.
The next operation was headed by the king himself. In November, 1547 was moved from Moscow to Vladimir by troops led by Dmitry Belsky, and on December 11 the sovereign himself left the capital. In Vladimir, infantry regiments and artillery ("outfit") were concentrated. The troops had to go from Vladimir to Nizhny Novgorod, and then to Kazan. At Meshchera, a second army was being prepared for the campaign under the command of Governor Fedor Prozorovsky and Shah-Ali. It consisted of horse regiments. Due to the unusually warm winter, the yield of the main forces was delayed. The artillery was brought to Vladimir, with great effort due to the rains and off-road, only December 6. But Nizhny Novgorod, the main forces reached only at the end of January, and only 2 February, the army went down the Volga, to the Kazan border. Two days later, because of the new warming, the army suffered heavy losses - most of the siege artillery fell into the river, many people drowned, and the troops had to stop on the island of Rabotka. The loss of artillery drowned in the Volga at the very beginning of the march did not promise success for the intended enterprise. This circumstance forced the king to return to Nizhny Novgorod, and then to Moscow. However, part of the army, having joined on February 18 on the Tsivila river, by the equestrian shelves of Shah Ali, moved on. In the battle on the Arsk Field, the soldiers of the Front Regiment of Prince Mikulinsky defeated the army of Safa-Girey and the Tatars fled over the city walls. However, Russian commanders did not dare to go on assault without siege artillery, and after standing for a week at the walls of Kazan, they retreated to their limits.
Tatars organized a retaliatory attack. A large detachment under the command of Arak attacked the Galician lands. Kostroma governor Zakhary Yakovlev organized the persecution, overtook and defeated the burdened enemy with full and booty on the Gusev field, on the Ezovka river.
In March, Moscow received news of the death of the implacable enemy of the Russian state, Khan Safa-Girey. According to the official version, the ruler "drunk was killed in the palace." Kazan Embassy could not get a new "king" from the Crimea. As a result, the two-year-old son of the deceased Khan, Utyamysh-Girey (Utemysh-Giray), was proclaimed khan, on whose behalf his mother, Queen Syuyumbike, ruled. This news The Cossacks reported to Moscow, who intercepted Kazan ambassadors to the “Field”. The Russian government decided to take advantage of the dynastic crisis in the Kazan Khanate and conduct a new military operation. In the summer, advanced forces were sent under the command of Boris Ivanovich and Lev Andreevich Saltykov. The main forces in the late fall of 1549 were occupied - guarding the southern border.
Winter Camping 1549-1550 was prepared very thoroughly. The regiments were assembled in Vladimir, Shuya, Murom, Suzdal, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Rostov and Yuryev. On December 20, artillery was sent from Vladimir to Nizhny Novgorod under the command of governor Vasily Yuriev and Fyodor Nagy. The king, having received the blessing of Metropolitan Macarius, set out with shelves in Nizhny Novgorod. 23 January 1550, the Russian army down the Volga headed for Kazan land. Under Kazan, the Russian regiments were February 12, the Tatars did not dare to give battle under the walls of the city. Preparations began for the assault on a well-fortified city. However, weather conditions again had a decisive influence on the disruption of the operation. According to the testimony of the chronicles, the winter was very warm, slush, heavy rains did not allow to conduct a proper siege, organize a strong bombardment of the fortress and provide the rear. As a result, the troops had to withdraw.
Preparing for a new campaign. The political situation in the Kazan Khanate and negotiations with Moscow
The Russian command concluded that the main reason for the unsuccessful campaigns 1547-1550. hiding in the inability to establish a good supply of troops, the lack of a strong rear support base. Russian troops were forced to act on enemy territory, away from their cities. It was decided to build a fortress at the confluence of the Sviyagi River in the Volga River, near Kazan. By turning this fortress into a large base, the Russian army could control the entire right bank of the Volga (the “Mountain side”) and the close approaches to Kazan. The main material for the walls and towers, as well as the living quarters and the two churches of the future Russian stronghold was prepared in the winter, 1550-1551, on the Upper Volga in the Uglitsky district in the spring of the princes Ushatykh. He supervised the execution of the work by clerk Ivan Vyrodkov, who was responsible not only for the manufacture of the fortress, but also for its delivery to the mouth of Sviyagi.
Simultaneously with this complex engineering operation, a whole series of military activities were carried out, which were supposed to cover the fortification works on the Round Mountain. Prince Peter Serebryany received in the spring of 1551 of the year an order to head the regiments and go "to the Kazan Posad". At the same time, the Vyatka army of Bakhtear Zyuzin and the Volga Cossacks were to take the main traffic along the main transport arteries of the Kazan Khanate: the Volga, Kama and Vyatka. To help the governor Zyuzin was expelled from the Meshchera 2,5 thousand detachment of the walking Cossacks led by atamans Severga and Yolka. They had to go through the “Wild Field” to the Volga, make ships, and make their Kazan quarters up the river. The actions of the Cossack squad were successful. Other detachments of service Cossacks operated on the Lower Volga. Izmail complained to the Moscow sovereign Nuradin of the Nogai Horde about their actions, saying that the Cossacks “Undoed the banks of the Volga and took our will and our uluses fighting”.
The prince of Serebryan's campaign went on an 16 campaign on May 1551, and already 18 was at the walls of Kazan. The attack of Russian soldiers was unexpected for the Kazan Tatars. The warriors of the Silver Governor broke into the Posad and, taking advantage of the suddenness of the strike, caused great damage to the enemy. Then Kazan was able to seize the initiative and push the Russian soldiers to their courts. Silver's retreat retreated and camped on the Sviyage River, awaiting the arrival of the army under Shah Ali and the delivery of the main structures of the fortress. The huge river caravan, which was organized to deliver materials of the fortress, departed in April and arrived at the site at the end of May.
In April, an army under the command of Governor Mikhail Voronoi and Grigory Filippov-Naumov was sent from Ryazan to “Pole”. Rat was supposed to interrupt communications between Kazan and the Crimean Khanate. The activity of the Russian troops stunned the Kazan government and distracted attention from the construction of the Sviyazhsk fortress, launched by 24 in May. The stronghold was erected in four weeks, despite the mistake of the designers, who were almost half the length of the walls. Russian warriors corrected this flaw. The fortress was called Ivangorod Sviazhsky.
The construction of a strong fortress in the center of the possessions of the Kazan Khanate demonstrated the strength of Moscow and contributed to the transition to the Russian side of a number of Volga ethnic groups - the Chuvash and the mountain Mari. The complete blockade of waterways by Russian troops complicated the internal political situation in the Kazan Khanate. In Kazan, there was brewing discontent with the government, made up of Crimean princes headed by Ulan Koshchak, chief adviser to Princess Syuyumbike. The Crimeans, seeing that the case was smelling roasted, decided to flee. They collected their property, robbed what was possible and fled the city. However, the Crimean detachment, which numbered about 300 people, failed to escape. On all transportations there were strong Russian outposts. In search of a safe path, the Crimeans significantly deviated from the original path and went to the Vyatka River. Here the Vyatka detachment of Bakhtear Zyuzin and the Cossacks Apostles Pavlova and Severga stood in ambush. During the crossing the Tatar detachment was attacked and destroyed. Koschak and forty prisoners were taken to Moscow, where "the sovereign ordered death to be executed for their cruelty."
The new Kazan government was headed by Oglan Khudai-Kul and Prince Nur-Ali Shirin. They were forced to negotiate with Moscow and agree to accept the khan of Shah-Ali who favored Moscow (“King Shigalei”). In August 1551, the Kazan ambassadors agreed to hand over to Khan Utyamysh-Girey, Moscow, and his mother, Queen Syuyumbike. Utyamysh was baptized in the Miracle Monastery, he received the name Alexander and was left for upbringing at the Moscow court yard (he died at the age of twenty). Some time later, Syuyumbike was married to the Kasimov ruler Shah-Ali. In addition, the Kazan embassy recognized the accession to the Russian state of the “Mountain” (western) side of the Volga and agreed to ban Christian slavery. 14 August 1551 held a kurultai on the field at the mouth of the Kazanka River, where the Tatar nobility and the Muslim clergy approved the agreement concluded with Moscow. 16 August, the new Khan solemnly entered Kazan. Representatives of Moscow came along with him: the boyar Ivan Khabarov and clerk Ivan Vyrodkov. The next day, the Kazan authorities handed them 2700 Russian prisoners.
However, the reign of the new Tatar king was short-lived. The new Khan could protect himself and his few supporters only by introducing a significant Russian garrison into the city. However, despite his precarious position, Shah-Ali agreed to introduce only 300 Kasimov Tatars and 200 archers into Kazan. The government of Shah-Ali was extremely unpopular. The extradition of Russian captives, the refusal of Moscow to fulfill the Khan's request to return to the Kazan authorities the inhabitants of the Mountain side caused even greater irritation of the Tatar nobility. Khan tried to crush the opposition by force, but the repression only aggravated the situation (there was no power behind the Khan to fear him).
In connection with the situation in the Kazan Khanate in Moscow, where they closely followed the development of events, they began to lean toward a radical decision: to remove Shah-Ali from Kazan and replace him with a Russian governor. This idea was promoted by part of the Kazan nobility. The unexpected actions of Khan, who learned about the decision of the Moscow government, changed the situation for the worse. He decided to leave the throne, without waiting for a formal decision, and left Kazan. 6 March 1552, the Kazan Khan, on the pretext of a fishing trip, left the city and went to the Sviyazhsk fortress. He took several dozen princes and murzas as hostages with him. Soon the Russian governors were sent to Kazan for this, but they failed to enter the city. 9 March, under the authority of the princes Islam, Kebek and Murza Alikei Narykov, an uprising began in the city. The power in Kazan was seized by supporters of the continuation of the war with the Russian state headed by Prince Chapkun Otuchev. Many Russians who were in the city were taken by surprise and taken prisoner. The Russian squad that came up was no longer able to change the situation, the Russian commanders entered into negotiations and were then forced to retreat. At the same time, no hostilities were fought, they did not burn down the suburbs, the Russian commanders were still hoping to resolve the matter peacefully.
The new Kazan government invited the Astrakhan prince Yadygar-Muhammad (Ediger) to the throne, who was accompanied by a detachment of Nogai. Kazan Tatars resumed hostilities, trying to return to their mountain side. Moscow decided to start preparing a new campaign and resumed the blockade of the Kazan river routes.
Kazan campaign of June — October 1552. The capture of Kazan
Preparation of the campaign began in early spring. In late March - early April, siege artillery, ammunition and provisions were transferred from Nizhny Novgorod to Sviyazhsk fortress. In April - May 1552, an army of up to 150 thousand people was formed in Moscow and other Russian cities with 150 guns. By May, the regiments were concentrated in Murom — the Yertoulny regiment (the regiment of the mounted reconnaissance), in Kolomna — the Big regiment, the Left arm regiment and the Front regiment, Kashira — the Right arm regiment. Part of the troops assembled in Kashira, Kolomna and other cities advanced to Tula, and repelled the attack of the Crimean troops by Devlet-Girey, who tried to thwart Moscow’s designs. Crimean Tatars only for four days managed to delay the performance of the Russian army.
3 July 1552, the campaign began. The troops marched in two columns. Through Vladimir, Murom to the river Sura, to the mouth of the river Alatyr were sentry Watch regiment, Left hand regiment and Gosudarev regiment led by Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich. Through Ryazan and Meshcheru, the Big Regiment, the Right Hand Regiment and the Front Regiment under Mikhail Vorotynsky moved to Alatyr. At Boroncheeva Gorodishche for the river. Sura columns joined together. On August 13, the army reached Sviyazhsk, and the 16 began to cross the Volga, which lasted three days. 23 August a huge army approached the walls of Kazan.
The enemy managed to prepare well for the new war and fortified the city. The Kazan Kremlin had a double oak wall filled with rubble and clayey silt and 14 stone towers “Strelnits”. The approaches to the fortress covered the river bed. Kazanka - from the north and r. Bulaka - from the west. On the other sides, especially from the Arsk field, convenient for carrying out siege works, there was a moat that reached 6-7 meters in width and to 15 meters in depth. The most vulnerable places were the gates - they were 11, although they were defended by towers. On the city walls of warriors defended parapet and wooden roof. In the city itself was a citadel, which was located in the northwestern part of the city, on a hill. The royal chambers were protected from the rest of the city by deep ravines and a stone wall. The city defended 40-th. the garrison, which included not only all the existing warriors, but also the entire male population of Kazan, including 5-thousand. contingent of mobilized eastern merchants. In addition, the Tatar command prepared an operational base for the conduct of hostilities outside the city walls, in the rear of the besieging enemy army. In 15 versts from p. Kazanka, a fortress was built, the approaches to which reliably covered abutments and marshes. He was supposed to be the mainstay of the 20-th. cavalry army of Tsarevich Yapanchi, Shunak-Murza and Arsk (Udmurt) Prince Evush. This army was supposed to make a surprise attack on the flanks and rear of the Russian army.
However, these measures did not save Kazan. The Russian army had a great superiority in forces and used the latest methods of warfare, not familiar to the Tatars (the construction of underground mine galleries).
The battle for the city began as soon as the Russian troops approached Kazan. Tatar warriors attacked the Yertoule regiment. The moment for the strike was chosen very well. The Russians only crossed the Bulak River and climbed the steep slope of the Arskoye field. Other Russian troops were on the other side of the river and could not immediately take part in the battle. The Tatars who left the fortress from the Nogai and Tsarev gates struck the Russian regiment. Kazan army numbered 10 thousand foot and 5 thousand horse soldiers. The situation was rescued by Cossacks and archers who strengthened the Yertoul regiment. They were on the left flank and opened heavy fire on the enemy, the Kazan cavalry mixed up. At this time, reinforcements approached and increased the firepower of the Ertoulsky regiment. Tatar cavalry finally upset and fled, crushing their infantry orders. The first clash ended in victory for Russian weapons.
Siege. The city was surrounded by long trenches, trenches and tours, in some places a palisade was built. 27 August began artillery shelling of Kazan. Artillery fire was supported by archers, fighting off forays of the enemy and not letting enemies be on the walls. Among the "outfit" were "great" guns that had the names: "Ring", "Nightingale", "Serpent flying", Tiggy "and others.
Initially, the siege was complicated by the actions of the troops of Yapancha, who carried out their attacks on a sign from the fortress - they raised a large banner on one of the towers. The first raid was made on August 28, the next day the attack was repeated and was accompanied by a sortie of the Kazan garrison. The actions of the Yapanchi detachments were too serious a threat not to pay attention to him. A military council was assembled and it was decided to send 45 thousand troops against Yapancha’s troops under the command of governor Alexander Gorbaty and Peter Serebryany. On August 30, Russian commanders, with a mock retreat, lured the Tatar cavalry to Arskoye field and surrounded the enemy. Most of the enemy troops were destroyed, the field was simply littered with enemy corpses. Only part of the enemy army was able to break out of the encirclement and take refuge in its prison. Enemies pursued to the river Kinderi. In captivity they took from 140 to 1 thousands of Yapancha warriors, they were executed in front of the city walls.
On September 6, the host of Brokeback and Silver launched an expedition to Kama, receiving the task of burning and ravaging Kazan lands. The Russian army stormed a prison on High Mountain, most of the defenders were slaughtered. According to the chronicles, in this battle all Russian military leaders got off their horses and took part in the fight. As a result, the main base of the enemy, who attacked the Russian rear, was destroyed. Then Russian troops marched more than 150 versts, destroying local villages and reaching the Kama River, they turned and returned to Kazan with a victory. Kazan Khanate suffered the fate of the Russian lands, when they were ravaged by Tatar troops. The enemy was hit hard, securing the Russian army from a possible strike from the rear. In the ten days of the campaign, the Russian soldiers destroyed the 30 jails, captured 2-5 thousand prisoners and many cattle.
After the defeat of the troops of Yapanchi, no one could prevent siege work. Russian batteries were getting closer to the walls of the city, their fire was becoming more and more destructive. Opposite the Tsarev Gate, a large 13-meter siege tower was prepared, which was above the enemy walls. They installed 10 large and 50 small cannons (pischals), which from the height of this structure could fire at the streets of Kazan, causing great damage to defenders. In addition, 31 of August, who was in the state service of “Nemchin”, Rozmysel and his Russian students, trained in the siege case, began to dig under the walls in order to lay mines. The first charge was laid under a secret Kazan water source in the Daurova tower of the fortress. September 4 into the underground gallery laid 11 barrels of gunpowder. The explosion not only destroyed the secret passage to the water, but also severely damaged the city fortifications. Then the underground explosion destroyed the gates of Nur-Ali (“Muravlevy gates”). The Tatar garrison with difficulty was able to repel the Russian attack that had begun and build a new line of defense.
The effectiveness of the underground war was obvious. The Russian command decided to continue to destroy the enemy fortifications and shelling of the city, refraining from a premature assault, which could lead to great losses. At the end of September new digs were prepared, the explosions in which were to be the signal for a general assault on Kazan. Tours were moved almost to all gates of the fortress, only a ditch remained between the fortress wall and them. In those areas where they were going to conduct assault actions, the moats were covered with earth and forest. Also, many bridges were erected across the moat.
Storm. On the eve of the decisive assault, the Russian command sent Murza Kamai to the city (there was a significant Tatar contingent in the Russian army) with a proposal for surrender. It was decisively rejected: "Do not beat the brow! On the walls and on the towers of Rus, we will put a different wall, but we will all die or sit out. ” Early in the morning of October 2 began preparations for the attack. At around 6 in the morning, the shelves were set up at predetermined locations. The rear areas were protected by large equestrian forces: the Kasimov Tatars were sent to Arskoye Pole, other regiments stood on the Galician and Nogai roads, against the Cheremis (Mari) and Nogai, a small force that operated in the vicinity of Kazan. In 7 hours explosions thundered in two digs, they laid 48 barrels of gunpowder. The sections of the wall between Atalykov gate and Nameless tower, and between Tsarev and Arsky gate were blown up.
The city walls from the side of the Arsk field turned out to be almost completely destroyed, Russian soldiers broke into the breaches. In the first line of attackers went 45 thousand archers, Cossacks and "boyar children." The attackers fairly easily entered the city, but violent clashes took place on the narrow streets of Kazan. Hatred has been accumulating for decades, and the townspeople knew that they would not be spared, so they fought to the last. The strongest centers of resistance were the main mosque of the city on the Tezitsky ravine and the “royal chamber”. At first, all attempts to break into the inner citadel, separated from the city by a ravine, failed. The Russian command had to put into battle fresh reserves, which finally broke the resistance of the enemy. Russian warriors made their way through the mosque, all of its defenders, led by the Supreme Seid Kol-Sharif (Kul-Sharif), fell in battle. The last battle took place on the square in front of the Khan Palace, where 6, thousands of Tatar soldiers, defended the defense. Khan Yadygar-Mohammed was taken prisoner (he was baptized with the name Simeon and received Zvenigorod as his inheritance). All other Tatar warriors fell in battle, they did not take prisoners. Men were saved a little, those who were able to escape from the walls, under fire, crossed Kazanka and made their way into the woods. In addition, a strong chase was sent, which captured and destroyed a significant part of the last defenders of the city.
After the suppression of resistance, Tsar Ivan the Terrible entered the city. He examined Kazan, ordered to put out the fires. He himself “took” a captive Kazan “tsar”, banners, cannons and gunpowder reserves in the city, the rest of the property was given to ordinary warriors. At the Tsar's Gate, according to the Tsar's permission, Mikhail Vorotynsky raised the Orthodox cross. The rest of the city’s population was resettled beyond its walls, on the shores of Lake Kaban.
On October 12, the Tsar will leave Kazan, Prince Humpback was appointed its viceroy, under him commanders Vasily Silver, Alexei Pleshcheyev, Thomas Golovin, Ivan Chebotov and Deacon Ivan Bessonov remained.
Aftermath
- The vast territories of the Middle Volga region and a number of peoples (Tatars, Mari, Chuvash, Udmurt, Bashkirs) were included in the Russian state. Russia received an important economic center - Kazan, control over the trade artery - Volga (its establishment was completed after the fall of Astrakhan).
- In the Middle Volga region, the hostile Ottoman-Crimean factor was finally destroyed. The threat of a permanent invasion and the removal of the population to slavery was removed from the eastern borders.
- The Russians opened the way for further advancement to the south and east: to the lower reaches of the Volga (Astrakhan), beyond the Urals.
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