Crossword legend about the conquest of Siberia by Ermak 4. Outline of literary reading

Tsar Ivan heard that beyond the Urals lies a land richer than that which is subject to him. He knew that that land was called Siberia, a lot of goodness lurked in it, but only it was far from his kingdom. Tsar Ivan did not sleep for many nights and days, thinking all the time: how to conquer this kingdom of the Khan, and cut his land to his kingdom. He thought, Ivan thought, but he couldn’t think of anything, he didn’t have the strength that would conquer the Kuchum kingdom. The king fell ill and went to bed. His servants, the boyars, grieved, feared that they would not be left without the tsar-savior, what would they do then. They approached his bed and asked:

Why are you, the king-father, fell ill, what a heavy thought lies on your heart?

The king closed his eyes and thought whether to tell them about his thoughts or not? He knew that the boyars would not help him in the matter, that they would shake their beards and caftans, sigh, and that would be the end of their advice. And so it happened. The boyars went home to themselves. One of his poor peasant servants comes up to the king and asks:

Where did the ailment fall on you, tsar-father?

Far away, the king replied.

Maybe I can help you?

There were boyars - they didn’t help, but God didn’t tell you to. Tell me better, who is in my kingdom brave and daring, who is not afraid of death, whom lightning will not strike and thunder will not deafen?

The servant thought and said:

There is such a person in your kingdom, I heard about him from an early age, his name is Ermak Timofeevich, a daring Don Cossack, faithful service, tsar-father, he will serve you.

Yes, and that's true, I heard about him, but only where he is now, probably, like the wind in the field, he walks, where he will spend the night, where the day will whistle.

Ivan Tsar got up from his bed, called the servants of the faithful to him and sent them to the Don to search for the Cossack Ermak Timofeevich. The servants traveled all over the Don, they questioned all the horsemen and footmen, everyone knows the daring Cossack Yermak, but no one knows where he is now walking. The servants returned a year later and said to the king:

They saw all the birds on the Don, they counted all the women and men, but there is no Cossack Ermak Timofeevich.

The king drove his servants out of the royal chambers and called to him a faithful servant-peasant.

Find me Yermak, serve a faithful service, then you will be my servant over all the servants, and the boyars will bow to your waist.

I don’t need anything from you, tsar-father, but I’ll serve a faithful service for Rus', a saint.

Tsar Ivan gave the peasant different armor, ordered him to lead the horse out of his stable, blessed him with his hand, and sent him on a good journey. As soon as the peasant left Moscow, he took off all his armor, put on peasant clothes and went on foot with a staff along the road, wherever his eyes looked. For a long time the peasant walked along the road against the sun, his beard grew to the knee, but there was not a word about Yermak. The man was not saddened, he walked slowly and walked. He did not notice how he reached the steep mountains. He looked around and saw - a wanderer like him was walking towards him. We met, stopped and started talking. How long did the conversation go on, but only the peasant learned from the wanderer that Yermak was wandering around the Urals.

The man of the river and the mountains of the Urals came along and across. Finally he managed to attack the trail of the ataman. Soon he found Yermak's family and conveyed to him the request of Tsar Ivan. Ermak Timofeevich appeared before the tsar without a bow, wearing a hat. The king looked at the chieftain and said:

I heard different news about you, if you didn’t have to carry your head on your shoulders, but the king is merciful. Redeem yourself, do me a good service. Beyond the Urals, an unexplored land lies, on the land of that wealth are countless, you go through that land, catch Khan Kuchum, and bring his people under the rule of Rus'.

Ermak Timofeevich did not argue with the king, left the royal chambers, asked for food and drink and went to his Cossacks in the Urals. Came. He told about everything to his daring fellows, and they began to gather for a campaign, to a foreign land, where the Russian soul did not go.

In the summer of the same year, Yermak Timofeevich reached Tobol, where he built boats and reached the Irtysh. Here he met with people from the Kuchumov kingdom. Yermak fought for a long time with the Kuchumov people until they tried the Cossack strength and until many of them died. A lot of Cossacks also died, but Yermak nevertheless defeated the Siberian Khan and brought his people under the rule of the Russian Tsar. The most terrible - Kuchum - Ermak Timofeevich wanted to deliver to Moscow, but he deceived the ataman several times, and for this the Cossacks killed him. When the Kuchumov people submitted to Yermak, the Cossacks told him:

Go, our ataman, and say that now the Russians can live in Siberia, and it will be easier for the Kuchumov people with us. Their king was as evil as a wolf, and as greedy as a priest.

Ermak Timofeevich did not go to Moscow, but sent his faithful Cossack there. Tsar Ivan found out that the gates to Siberia were open, and began to send various people into it, some of their own free will, and some by force. So the Russians appeared on Siberian land and live to this day, and there is enough good for everyone in it. That is why we remember Yermak Timofeevich and his daring Cossacks.

The history of the conquest of Siberia by Ermak begins in 1552, when the Russian army conquered the Kazan Khanate. After that, the Khanate of Siberia became the immediate neighbor of Russia in the east. In 1555, its ruler, Khan Ediger (Edigar), received consent to citizenship to Ivan IV the Terrible. The royal treasury began to receive a moderate fur tax - yasak. It was one sable and one squirrel skin per person per year.

It is this yasak and became the very magnet that pulled people to him. Siberia has long been famous for its fur riches, and furs in those days were highly valued not only for their beauty. Therefore, it is not surprising that this region was a favorite place for Russian merchants who made extremely profitable trade with the local population, often deceiving them.

However, the Siberian Khanate did not obey the requirements of Ivan the Terrible for long: soon a coup took place in Siberia, and a descendant of Genghis Khan, Kuchum, became the khan. At first, he continued to consider himself a vassal of the tsar, but then he stopped sending yasak, he himself imposed tribute on the tribes that had previously been subordinate to Ivan the Terrible, and even dared to attack the Ural settlements of Russian merchants.

Ermak's campaign equipment: merchants Stroganovs

Among those stood out the rich Stroganovs, who were allowed by the government to build fortresses and maintain archery troops armed with squeakers in the Urals. Despite the fact that these troops represented a significant force, they could not prevent the constant raids of the detachments of the Siberian princes. Then the Stroganovs decided to hire people who were really skilled in military affairs, who could not only defend the border, but also undertake a campaign in Siberia to capture new territories. Moreover, the second point was almost more important than the first. Cunning merchants, who were looking for profit everywhere, thought of killing two birds with one stone: both to avert danger from their walls, and to get new lands that could bring considerable income.

The Cossacks fit the role of such people ideally. Being excellent warriors, they were ready for everything for the sake of money. The campaign "for the Stone", as the Urals were called in those days, promised huge profits, and it made no sense to refuse. In addition, at that time, one large Cossack detachment was in royal disgrace for a raid on the Nogais, which the tsar strictly forbade.

Ivan the Terrible summoned a detachment from the Volga steppes to send it into the thick of the raging Livonian War.

When the chief ataman of the detachment Yermak Timofeevich found out about the tsar's plan, he immediately responded to the Stroganovs' proposal - largely because of his concern for his Cossacks. Ivan the Terrible was going not just to send them to war, but to put them in the forefront, which meant inevitable death. Disagreeing with the decision of the king, the Cossacks decided to flee to the Volga steppes. But on the Volga, they were within the reach of the royal power, while behind the Stone no one could get them, except for Khan Kuchum.

The beginning of the conquest of Siberia by Yermak

After the defeat of the Karachi detachment, the conquest of Siberia by Ermak entered the final stage. Kuchum began to act cunningly. He sent two horsemen to the fortress, who introduced themselves as Bukhara merchants. They told Yermak that they wanted to trade with Russia, and that Kuchum was preventing this and was holding the merchant caravan captive.

Ataman decided to release the "captives" and went to their rescue on one of the plows. Khan equipped a detachment, which relentlessly followed the progress of the Cossacks along the river. On the night when Yermak was forced to land on the shore for the night, Kuchum's army attacked his detachment. Almost all the Cossacks were killed, and Yermak himself died. It is curious that the ataman completely covered the retreat of his soldiers and died due to the fact that, rushing into the outgoing plow, he missed and drowned - two precious and heavy shells, a royal gift, did not leave Yermak the slightest chance. It happened on August 5, 1585.

But, despite this, the conquest of Siberia by Ermak actually took place. The days of the khanate were numbered: military reinforcements moved to Siberia on the orders of the tsar. Kuchum suffered a final defeat, after which he fled, first to the Baraba steppes, then to the Irtysh, and, finally, to the Nogais, who executed him. A famous fact went down in history: during his wanderings across the steppes, Kuchum once asked Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich to return to him one of the packs of Bukhara merchants, on which they carried a special potion for sick Khan eyes.

After that, Russian cities began to appear on Siberian land, the first of which was Tyumen. The conquest of Siberia by Ermak opened a new page in the history of Russia.

Danil Rudoy - 2003

This methodological development was published with a grant from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation following the results of the FTsPRO competition - 2.3-08-4 "Development, testing, introduction of new elements of the content of education and upbringing systems, new pedagogical technologies in the implementation of educational programs of primary general education."

The purpose of the lesson: to give an idea of ​​the legend as a genre of folklore.

Lesson type: study and primary consolidation of knowledge.

Planned results:

subject: Formation of reading skills: consciously read information, navigate in the text of a work, find answers to a direct question in it, provide evidence with quotations from the text; operate with literary concepts; knowledge of the genres of oral folk art, the definition of the genre of the work by indirect signs; the use of different types of reading (introductory, studying, selective, search).

Personal results: emotionally perceive the legend

Metasubject Results:

Cognitive UUD:

build reasoning, bring under the concept.

Regulatory UUD:

accept and save the learning task, formulate the goal of the lesson under the guidance of the teacher, plan their actions in accordance with the task and the conditions for its implementation, evaluate the results of their activities.

Communicative UUD:

listen and understand the speech of others, formulate their thoughts orally, fully and accurately express their thoughts.

Equipment

1. multimedia projector, physical map of Russia,

2. presentation in MS.ppt format.,

3. handout "Genres of Literature"

During the classes

Lesson stages

Formed UUD

Teacher actions

Student activities

Work form

  1. Organizing time

Welcomes students

Good morning. I greet you and wish you fruitful work and interesting discoveries in the lesson.

Welcome teachers. Organize your workplace.

Individual

  1. Actualization of knowledge, goal setting

Subject Results:

knowledge of the genres of oral folk art, the definition of the genre of the work by indirect signs.

Regulatory UUD: formulate the goal of the lesson under the guidance of a teacher

Communicative UUD:

express their thoughts fully and accurately.

Cognitive UUD:

build reasoning.

Choose the genres of oral folk art: riddle, proverb, story, tongue twister, poem, nursery rhyme, legend.

Try to define each genre.

Suggest whether the "legend" refers to the genres of oral folk art.

Find out the definition of the genre "legend"

(A legend is a work of folklore. A legend tells about some historical event in the form of a fairy tale).

Today we will get acquainted with the work

"The Legend of the Conquest of Siberia by Ermak".

Set a goal for the lesson.

Analyze

Give definitions

They make assumptions.

Define the genre of legend

Formulate the learning goal together with the teacher and determine the tasks:

Determine the genre of the new work;

Learn about Yermak's campaign in Siberia;

Establish the authenticity of the described events.

Work in pairs

Individual work with the dictionaries of "Bookman"

L.A. Efrosinina

  1. Assimilation of new knowledge and ways of action

Subject Results:

consciously expressively read using different types of reading (introductory, studying, selective, search)

Personal results: emotionally perceive the legend

Cognitive UUD: build reasoning.

Communicative UUD: form their thoughts orally

Offers to listen to the "Legend of the conquest of Siberia by Yermak", answer questions on the content:

What worried the king?

Who helped find Yermak?

What request did the king make?

Read the monologue of Ivan the Tsar.

Offers to consider a reproduction of the painting by V.I. Surikov "The Conquest of Siberia by Yermak" - textbook, p. 37. Complete the task:

Find Yermak. How did the artist portray him? How is it depicted in the text?

Read the text of the legend, find answers to questions.

Get acquainted with the concept of a monologue. Find the monologue in the text. Read expressively.

They consider a reproduction, compare a work of fine art and a literary work.

Individual

  1. Applications of knowledge and methods of action

Subject results: refer the work to a legend, describe heroes and events, work with a geographical map

Cognitive UUD: bring under the concept

Communicative UUD: listen and understand the speech of others

Proposes to conduct a study, to form a cluster (see Appendix).

Research

Based on the concept of a legend, we must prove that the work is / is not a legend.

Conduct research, present evidence, form a cluster.

Group work

(observation, practical work, work with the map)

  1. Lesson summary

Subject:

the ability to navigate in the text of a work, to prove one's point of view with quotations from the text, to draw up a plan for reading.

Regulatory UUD:

the ability to plan their actions in accordance with the task and the conditions for its implementation,

evaluate the results of their activities

Proposes to restore the plan of the legend (the names of the parts are mixed up), prove it with quotes from the text

Organizes evaluation statements of students

Restore the correct arrangement of parts of the plan, prove correctness based on the text of the work

Evaluate the results of educational and cognitive activities

Individual

  1. Homework

Regulatory UUD: accept and save the learning task.

Comments on d.z. (optionally)

Retelling according to plan

Compiling a crossword puzzle

Write the assignment in a diary

Individual

Application

Exploring the legend

Research stages

I research stage (1 group of students)

Historical figure: to prove or disprove the existence of a historical figure

Hypothesis: to prove or disprove the existence in the history of Yermak, Ivan the Terrible.

Pupils work with information about these individuals in the children's encyclopedia "I know the world" on pages 242, 248 using the "text compression" method, read out the proof.

Entered into a cluster : Historical figure

The teacher completes the students' story.

Conclusion: Yermak and Ivan the Terrible are historical figures.

Formation of the ability to independently search for the necessary information, analyze, draw conclusions

II research stage (group 2)

Time frame: it is necessary to find a correspondence between the dates of the events described in the legends and the dates presented in the encyclopedia "Who is this?"

Hypothesis: the time frame in the legend coincides/does not coincide with historical events.

The date of the historical event must be found in the text of the legend. Students work with the articles of the encyclopedia "Who is this", find the dates of the life of Ivan the Terrible (1530-1584), his reign and the conquest of Siberia by Yermak (1581)

Entered into the cluster: Time frame

Conclusion: the time frame of the legend coincides with historical events, therefore, they correspond to reality.

Research methods: observation.

III research stage (group 3)

Geographical place: find on the physical map of Russia the geographical names found in the legend

Hypothesis: geographical names in the legends are real / not real (there is on the modern geographical map of Russia).

Students find / do not find on the map of Russia the geographical names that are found in the legend: the Ural Mountains, the Don, Siberia, the Irtysh River.

Entered into the cluster: geographical location

Conclusion: Our hypothesis was confirmed.

Formation of the ability to independently search for the necessary information, analyze, draw conclusions.

Research methods: practical work.

IV research stage (Group 4)

Artistic style of the work: to prove the style of the "fabulous" language of the works

Hypothesis: The legend tells about some event in the form of a fairy tale. Remember and name what is characteristic of the style of "fabulous" language.

Students prove / refute the conditions of the fairy-tale style of the work, marking their results in a cluster: fairy tale style

It suffices to prove two conditions of the fabulous style.

Developing the ability to make inferences based on previously acquired knowledge

Evidence table for the literary style of a work

Recurring definitions.

I thought and thought, the king-father ...

Definitions before the defined word.

He is not afraid of death ... the king fell ill.

Short forms of adjectives and verbs.

Fell down, heard, ... saw ...

Moral values ​​of the people:

To give life for the motherland (I will serve the faithful service for Rus' as a saint)

Conclusion: the work is written in the form of a fairy tale

Development of abilities for the practical application of the studied material

Comprehension of new knowledge, skills, qualities, critical analysis of the information received

I admit ________________

Grade for the lesson: _____________

Outline plan

lessonliterary reading

V4Aclassroom

12.09.2016

date

Teacher's consultation __________________

Lesson topic: The legend of the conquest of Siberia by Yermak.

EMC "Primary school of the XXI century"

Lesson type: discovery of new knowledge.

The purpose of the lesson: create favorable conditions for acquaintance of 4th grade students with the legend "On the conquest of Siberia by Yermak"

Tasks:

Educational:

    To acquaint students with the legend of the conquest of Siberia by Yermak;

    Formation of representations of characters of different works, identification of attitudes towards them of one's own assessment and confirmation of one's own judgments by the text of works.

Developing:

    Development of mental activity of students using active teaching methods;

    Development of cognitive activity.

Educational:

    Enrichment of the moral experience of students;

    Formation of group work skills (understand and accept the learning task, argue your point of view in oral-speech communication);

    Formation of intelligence and general culture.

Personal UUD:

    Value-semantic orientation (the ability to correlate actions and events in the analysis of the legend of the conquest of Siberia by Yermak)

Cognitive UUD:

    Formation of the desire to learn new things about the genre of folklore

Communicative UUD:

1. Formation of the ability to listen to the opinion of the interlocutor / neighbor / comrade.

    Ability to communicate with the teacher;

    Ability to listen to the opinion of the interlocutor and interact with him;

    Ability to emotionally respond to questions.

Equipment: presentation, screen, laptop

During the classes:

I. Organization of the beginning of the lesson:

1. Greeting:

U: Hello guys, my name is Alina Nikolaevna and today I will give you a lesson in literary reading. We will have an informative and interesting lesson, today at the lesson we will get acquainted with a new topic.

2. Readiness check:

Let's check if everything is ready for the lesson and if the desktops are in order.

3. Motivation for learning activities:

A new lesson means new knowledge and new discoveries and, what is important, it is interesting.

II. Knowledge update

1. Margarita collected daisies on the mountain, Patter

Margarita lost her daisies in the yard.

2. Seven brothers: equal for years, Riddle

The names are different. (Days of the week)

3. Do not pull out without difficulty Proverb

And fish from the pond.

4. Why are you, Vasya-Vasilek, frowning, not cheerful? teaser

Yasny lowered his eyes, hung his head!

5. And they lived happily ever after, Fairy tale

And they died on the same day.

6. Sleep my joy sleep lullaby

The lights went out in the house.

7. Wide river, Poteshki

High coast.

III. Discovery of new knowledge.

1. Introduction to the topic:

U: In the fourth grade, you get acquainted with new genres of folklore: epic, legend, heroic song. Today we will supplement our knowledge with another genre of folklore. And we will learn a new topic of the lesson, but first, let's look at what a “legend” is

Legend - (from cf. Lat. legenda "a collection of liturgical passages for daily service" back in the middle of the 19th century) is one of the varieties of non-fabulous prose folklore. Poetic tradition about some historical event. In a figurative sense, it refers to the glorious, admirable events of the past.

Now let's talk about Ermak.

Ermak Timofeevich (1532 - 1585, Siberian Khanate) - Cossack ataman, historical conqueror of Siberia for the Russian state. One of the historical heroes of Russia.

The origin of Yermak is not exactly known, there are several versions. “Unknown by birth, famous in soul,” he, according to one legend, was from the banks of the Chusovaya River. Thanks to the knowledge of local rivers, he walked along the Kama, Chusovoy and even crossed over to Asia, along the Tagil River, until he was taken to serve as a Cossack (Cherepanov Chronicle). According to another version, he was a native of the Kachalinsky village on the Don.

What can you tell me about Siberia?

U: The origin of the word "Siberia" has not been fully established. “Siberia” can literally be translated from Turkic as sweep, sweep, that is, the wind sweeps, snowstorm, etc.

Starting from the 13th century, Siberia began to be called not only the nationality, but also the area where it lived. The name was first mentioned by Iranian authors of the 13th century, on the map it was first designated as “Sebur” in the Catalan atlas in 1375. In the Russian chronicles of the 15th century, the Siberian land was called the area in the lower reaches of the river. Tobol.

Siberia is a vast geographical region in the northeastern part of Eurasia, bounded from the west by the Ural Mountains, from the east by watershed ranges near the Pacific Ocean, from the north by the Arctic Ocean, from the south by the border of the neighboring states of Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China

T: Who is ready to formulate the topic?

D: The legend of the conquest of Siberia by Yermak.

W: Right, well done.

Now set a goal for yourself what you want to learn in this lesson.

2. Studying the topic:

Warm up:

We sat straight, our backs were straight, we put our hands on our knees, in my gesture we take in air, and we draw the letters lingeringly (jerkyly)

Now, with the syllable "zha", we come up with the sentence "zh-zh-zh, we are bringing a snake with us"

"Zhu-zhu-zhu, let's give milk to the hedgehog"

"Shi-shi-shi, how good we all are"

Now Imagine that your grandmother has an anniversary, she turns 50 years old. There is a cake in front of you, and there are 50 candles in it, and you need to blow out all these candles. He takes in air and blows so that all the candles are blown out at once.

2. Now open the textbook on page 26 and start reading along the chain.

3. Words have been highlighted in the text, let's turn to the dictionary and find out what they mean.

Tsar Ivan John IV is

Kuchum is

Now answer my questions guys.

1. Who is the main character? Who was Yermak?

2. Think, maybe someone from the class is similar in character to the main character of this legend?

3. What feat did Yermak accomplish?

4. Did you like the plot of our today's legend? Why?

VI. Fizminutka:

U: We get up from our desks and do a physical minute for our eyes

One to the left, two to the right

Three up, four down.

And now we look around

To see the world better.

W: Have a seat.

VII. Generalization:

Guys, now we take simple pencils in our hands, open the textbook on page 26 and divide the text into parts and title each part.

1. Duma of the king

2. Servant's advice

3. Search for Yermak

4. The conquest of Siberia

VIII. Fixing:

Now we will consolidate the material, having worked in pairs, open the workbook on page 14 (4 *), you have 3 minutes for the crossword

2. Terrible

7. Peasant

IX. Reflection:

1. So, guys, what did we talk about at the lesson today?

2. What is the name of the topic of our lesson?

3. And what was Ivan Tsar worried about?

Outcome:

I really liked the way you worked today at the lesson. You were active and attentive.

And now we will put marks for the lesson (explain for what)

And now you give me a grade for the lesson.

Homework:

We open diaries, write down homework, account page 30 v.5, write a story in notebooks

Used Books:

1. Internet resources: "Yandex, Wikipedia";

2. EMC "Primary school of the XXI century": textbook, workbook: L. A. Efrosinina

3. Application:

1. Outline of a lesson in literary reading;

Who does not know the folk hero who annexed Siberia to Russia? Yermak's name has long been legendary. So legendary that it is already difficult to separate reality from fiction."Around the World" exposes the myths about the ataman of the Cossacks, which fell into his biographies - folklore, annalistic and even scientific

Ermak - the conqueror of Siberia

Indeed, in the early autumn of 1582, a detachment of Cossacks led by Yermak went through the Ural Mountains on a campaign against the Siberian Khanate. On November 5 (N.S.), the Cossacks defeated the army of the Siberian Khan Kuchum, which outnumbered them several times, occupied the capital - Kashlyk, or Isker (17 kilometers from modern Tobolsk), - and began to impose tribute on the surrounding tribes on behalf of the Russian Tsar. The following summer, the pioneers sent an embassy to Moscow with a report to Ivan the Terrible that "his sovereign's people, ataman Ermak Timofeev and his comrades, the kingdom of Siberia took and many living that foreign-speaking people under his sovereign's royal high hand failed."

In fact the campaign of 1582-1585 can be called a conquest of Siberia with a stretch. The Cossacks did not advance further than the Irtysh, and as a result of the campaign, Khan Kuchum still won. On August 16 (N.S.) 1585, Yermak was killed by the soldiers of Kuchum in a night battle, when he was returning with a detachment from a sortie to the southeastern borders of the Khanate. After that, the Cossacks, of whom there were less than a hundred, decided that they would not last longer in Siberia, and went back beyond the Urals. The Siberian Khan regained his lands and the capital, but his power was undermined. Moscow sent detachment after detachment to the region. Half a century after the death of Yermak, the Russian pioneer Ivan Moskvitin reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

Ermak was a native of the Nogai Horde

Stories about the conqueror of Siberia were told not only in Rus'. According to Turkic legend, Yermak came from the Nogai Horde and occupied a high position there, but still not equal to the status of the princess with whom he had an affair. The girl's brother was angry when he learned about their connection, and Yermak had to flee to the Volga, where he joined the Cossacks. In modern times - in 1996 - an exotic and not confirmed by any source theory appeared in the journal Science and Religion that Yermak, who was allegedly called Yer-Mar Temuchin, was, like the Siberian Khan Kuchum, a descendant of Genghis Khan, and went to Siberia to win back the throne that was rightfully due to him.

In fact in Russian written sources nothing is said about the eastern origin of the ataman. The chronicles give several versions about the place of his birth within Moscow Rus'. There are about a dozen variants of Yermak's real name - Herman, Vasily Alenin, Yermolaj, Timofey, Yeremey ...

Yermak's detachment went to conquer Siberia for the tsar

“We will conquer the kingdom of Siberia, we will conquer it, brothers, to the white king” - this is how the Cossacks indicated the goal of the campaign in the historical song.

In fact Yermak's people made the decision to conquer new lands on behalf of the tsar at a general council after the first successes of the expedition. Most likely, the Cossacks were initially hired by the Stroganovs from the Urals to strike at Khan Kuchum, whose warriors were raiding their possessions. And Ivan IV at first was even against such foreign policy "amateur". The governor of Cherdyn, the main royal fortress in the Perm region, Vasily Pelepelitsyn wrote to the sovereign a denunciation of the Stroganovs, who did not send him military assistance in defense against the "Siberian people", but at the same time sent a detachment on a long-distance expedition beyond the Urals. The slander had an effect: in a message to industrialists in November 1582, the sovereign, threatening disgrace, demanded that Yermak and his comrades be returned from the campaign. But when the royal letter was just being sealed, the Cossacks were already far away - they were settling in the conquered capital of the Siberian Khanate.


Yermak robbed the Persian embassy to the Russian Tsar and fled beyond the Urals, fearing execution

In folklore, the chieftain looks like a kind of Robin Hood - a noble robber, whom the sovereign forgives for his valor. Any free Don or Volga Cossack appeared as a robber, but not a noble one, in the annals, where the story was retold of how Yermak and his people mistook the ambassadors of the Persian Shah, who were walking along the Volga, for a merchant caravan, attacked them and took them prisoner. Then, realizing the mistake, they released him, but the tsar still ordered the guilty to be seized and hanged. And then Yermak "with a retinue", as it is said in the Kungur chronicle, "thought of fleeing to Siberia to smash, turning the planes along the Volga and along the Kama up."

In fact that scandalous attack happened after the death of Yermak. However, his associates, Ivan Koltso, Nikita Pan and Savva Boldyrya, a year before the Siberian campaign, participated in the attack on the embassy of the Nogai Horde. Ivan the Terrible, who at that time was drawn into the war on the western frontiers, was interested in peace with the Nogais, and the gallows really “shone” for Yermak’s three comrades, so they were probably glad to have the opportunity to go on a long trip.


With the help of military cunning, Yermak helped the tsar take Kazan in 1552

“You let me, Tsar, take the city of Kazan. And I’ll take Kazan at exactly three o’clock.” The storytellers attributed to the folk hero participation in the most famous victory of Ivan the Terrible. According to historical songs, Yermak advised the tsar to dig under enemy fortifications and undermine the walls of Kazan from there. The ataman himself and his detachment allegedly came to the Tatars under the guise of mercenaries and offered their services. When the Cossacks were allowed into the city, they seized the cannons and opened the gates to the Russian troops.

In fact there is no information about Yermak's participation in the Kazan campaign in any written source.


There were 5,000 people in the army that set out on a campaign against the Siberian Khanate.

Such an impressive figure is given by the Tobolsk chronicler of the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, Semyon Remezov, but this is an exaggeration taken from the Ural legends that the chronicler collected and used in the Siberian History.

In fact the people who followed Yermak were, as the Cossacks themselves later reported in Moscow, only 540 people (this figure, taken from the report submitted to the Posolsky order, is mentioned in the Pogodinsky Chronicler). The Stroganovs, according to data from their archive, reinforced Yermak's detachment with three hundred of their people. However, a specialist in the history of Muscovite Rus', Doctor of Historical Sciences Ruslan Skrynnikov notes that the salt producers, who themselves did not have enough fighters to defend themselves from raids from behind the Urals, could send no more than 50 people with a detachment of pioneers - this figure is given by one of the informed chroniclers.


Yermak spread Christianity in Siberia

In the "Synodicus to the Ermakov Cossacks", whose reading from the 17th century was commemorated at church services of Siberian pioneers, it is said that the ataman and his comrades decided on a difficult and dangerous campaign, including burning with the desire to convert local pagans and Muslims to the Orthodox faith and "ravage their Bogomer and impious temples." In 1621-1622 Cyprian, the first archbishop of Tobolsk, one of the Russian outposts in Siberia, ordered to compile the Synodik .... Priest created the reputation of martyrs for the faith to local folk heroes in order to strengthen the position of the church in the region.

In fact the Cossacks sought submission from the locals to the Russian Tsar, and they were of little interest in religious issues. Taking an oath of allegiance to the Moscow sovereign from tributaries, Yermak's people demanded that they kiss not the cross, but, according to the Cossack custom, the saber. And Yermak, according to the Kungur chronicle, even turned to the local shaman for predictions.


Yermak had a double

When the Russian regiments attacked the city of Mogilev, which belonged to the Polish king, in the summer of 1581, its commandant also mentioned ataman Ermak Timofeevich in a report on this event. Since in some chronicles the beginning of the Siberian campaign dates back to September 7090 from the creation of the world, that is, according to the modern chronology of 1581 (given that the year began on September 1), a number of historians assumed that two historical persons with the same name and patronymic are mentioned in the documents, otherwise it is not clear how Yermak could almost simultaneously be in two places.

In fact, as Ruslan Skrynnikov proved, the expedition to Siberia began a year later, in 1582, and the ataman had enough time to wait for the Russian-Lithuanian truce in the tsarist service and then leave the western borders for the Urals to look for new sources of income.

Ermak was a sorcerer, and devils helped him fight

The 19th-century ethnographer Ioasaf Zheleznov recounted the Ural legend that the ataman commanded several “demons-shishigs”: “Where the rati was lacking, there he put them up.” At the same time, Yermak was considered a “useful” sorcerer, since he used his power over unclean spirits for good purposes.

In fact in folklore, the martial art of talented and successful historical figures was often explained by magic. So, Yermak's contemporary, the Cossack ataman Misha Cherkashenin, according to legend, was charmed by bullets and he himself knew how to speak cannons.


The Tsar granted Yermak the title of Prince of Siberia

This legend appears both in folklore and in the annals of the 17th century, from where it, apparently, got into modern encyclopedias.

In fact documents from the archives of the Posolsky Prikaz do not confirm this. Ivan the Terrible would hardly have bestowed the title of ataman of the free Cossacks who left for Siberia on their own initiative, and even more so would not have entrusted him with power in the region.


As a reward for the conquest of Siberia, Yermak received two expensive chain mail, which caused his death.

According to legend, the king did not limit himself to granting the princely title and sent the heroic ataman a fur coat from his shoulder and precious armor trimmed with gold. Both chain mail were allegedly worn by Yermak during his last battle. When the leader of the Cossacks rushed into the Irtysh, trying to swim to the boat, the armor carried him to the bottom.

In fact, as Skrynnikov writes, “according to documents from the archive of the Posolsky Prikaz, Tsar Ivan the Terrible, in full accordance with discharge practice, granted the Cossacks “many salaries - money and cloth”, and awarded Yermak and atamans with gold (coins). Contrary to later legends, Yermak received neither shells nor a fur coat from the royal shoulder.


Yermak's body was found by enemies, and it turned out to be miraculous

In the Remezov Chronicle, there is a legend about how the remains of the ataman were caught from the Irtysh by a Tatar fisherman, and the soldiers of the Siberian Khan gathered to look at the corpse of the defeated enemy, pierced him with arrows, "and his blood flows more like it is from a living one." Shocked by the fact that the body does not decompose for six weeks, and even has the ability to heal the sick, the “busurmans” allegedly began to revere Yermak as a god, buried him with honors and sacrifices.

In fact no one knows for sure what happened to the body of Yermak and whether the ataman has a grave.

Photo: Fine Art Images / Legion-Media (x4), iStock, RKLAW TON (CC-BY)

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