Stepan Timofeevich Razin - chieftain of the Don Cossacks, who organized the largest popular uprising of the pre-Petrine period, which was called the Peasant War.
The future leader of the rebellious Cossacks was born in the village of Zimoveyskaya in 1630. Some sources point to another place of Stepan's birth - the city of Cherkassk. The father of the future ataman Timofey Razya was from the Voronezh region, but moved from there for unclear reasons to the banks of the Don.
The young man took root among the free settlers and soon became a homely Cossack. Timothy was distinguished in military campaigns for courage and boldness. From one campaign, a Cossack brought a captive Turkish woman into the house and married her. Three sons were born in the family - Ivan, Stepan and Frol. The godfather of the middle brother was the ataman of the troops Kornil Yakovlev himself.
Time of Troubles
In 1649, by the "Conciliar message", signed by the tsar, in Rus', the serfdom. The document proclaimed the hereditary state of serfdom and made it possible to increase the search for fugitives up to 15 years. After the adoption of the law, uprisings and rebellions began to flare up throughout the country, many peasants went on the run in search of free lands and settlements.
It has come Time of Troubles. Cossack settlements more and more often became a haven for "holytba", poor or impoverished peasants who joined the wealthy Cossacks. By tacit agreement with the "domovity" Cossacks, detachments were created from the fugitives, which were engaged in robbery and theft. The Turkic, Don, Yaitsky Cossacks increased at the expense of the "goofy" Cossacks, their military power grew.
Youth
In 1665, an event occurred that influenced the fate of Stepan Razin. The elder brother Ivan, who took part in the Russian-Polish war, decided to arbitrarily leave the position and retire with the army to his homeland. According to custom, the free Cossacks were not obliged to obey the government. But the governor's troops caught up with the Razintsy and, declaring them deserters, executed them on the spot. After the death of his brother, Stepan was inflamed with rage against the Russian nobility and decided to go to war against Moscow in order to liberate Rus' from the boyars. The unstable position of the peasantry also caused Razin's uprising.
From his youth, Stepan was distinguished by his daring and ingenuity. He never went ahead, but used diplomacy and cunning, so already at a young age he is part of important delegations from the Cossacks to Moscow and Astrakhan. With diplomatic tricks, Stepan could settle any failed case. So the famous campaign "for zipuns", which ended deplorably for the Razin detachment, could lead to the arrest and punishment of all its participants. But Stepan Timofeevich talked so convincingly with the tsar's governor Lvov that he sent the whole army home, equipping it with new weapons, and presented Stepan with the icon of the Virgin.
Razin also showed himself as a peacemaker among southern peoples. In Astrakhan, he acted as an intermediary in the dispute between the Nagaybak Tatars and the Kalmyks and did not allow bloodshed.
Insurrection
In 1667, in March, Stepan began to gather an army. With 2000 warriors, the ataman went on a campaign along the rivers flowing into the Volga to rob the ships of merchants and boyars. Robbery was not perceived by the authorities as a rebellion, since theft was an integral part of the existence of the Cossacks. But Razin went beyond the usual robbery. In the village of Cherny Yar, the chieftain massacred the streltsy troops, and then released all the exiles in custody. Then he went to Yaik. The rebel troops by cunning entered the fortress to Ural Cossacks and subjugated freedom.
Map of the uprising of Stepan Razin In 1669, the army, replenished with fugitive peasants, led by Stepan Razin, went to the Caspian Sea, where he launched a series of attacks on the Persians. In a fight with the flotilla of Mammad Khan, the Russian chieftain outwitted the eastern commander. Razin's strugs imitated an escape from the Persian fleet, after which the Persian gave the order to unite 50 ships and surround the Cossack army. But Razin suddenly turned around and subjected the enemy's main ship to powerful fire, after which it began to sink and pulled the entire fleet along with it. So, with small forces, Stepan Razin emerged victorious from the battle near Pig Island. Realizing that after such a defeat, the Sefivids would gather a larger army against the Razintsy, the Cossacks set off through Astrakhan to the Don.
Peasants' War
The year 1670 began with the preparation of Stepan Razin's troops for a campaign against Moscow. Ataman went up the Volga, capturing coastal villages and cities. To attract the local population to his side, Razin used "lovely letters" - special letters which he distributed among the city people. The letters said that the oppression of the boyars could be thrown off if you joined the army of the rebels.
Not only the oppressed layers, but also the Old Believers, artisans, Mari, Chuvashs, Tatars, Mordvins, as well as Russian soldiers of government troops, went over to the side of the Cossacks. After the wholesale desertion, the tsarist troops were forced to start recruiting mercenaries from Poland and the Baltic states. But the Cossacks acted cruelly with such warriors, subjecting all foreign prisoners of war to execution.
Stepan Razin spread a rumor that the missing Tsarevich Alexei Alekseevich, as well as an exile, was hiding in the camp of the Cossacks. Thus, the ataman attracted to his side more and more dissatisfied with the current government. In a year, the inhabitants of Tsaritsyn, Astrakhan, Saratov, Samara, Alatyr, Saransk, Kozmodemyansk went over to the side of the Razintsy. But in the battle near Simbirsk, the Cossack flotilla was defeated by the troops of Prince Yu. N. Baryatinsky, and Stepan Razin himself, after being wounded, was forced to retreat to the Don.
For half a year, Stepan hid with his close associates in the Kagalnitsky town, but the local wealthy Cossacks secretly decided to surrender the ataman to the government. The elders were afraid of the wrath of the king, who could lie on all the Russian Cossacks. In April 1671, after a short assault on the fortress, Stepan Razin was captured and taken to Moscow along with his inner circle.
Personal life
About the private life of the ataman historical documents no information has been preserved, but it is only known that Razin's wife and his son Athanasius lived in the Kagalnitsky town. The boy followed in his father's footsteps and became a warrior. During a skirmish with the Azov Tatars, the young man was captured by the enemy, but soon returned to his homeland.
The legend of Stepan Razin mentions a Persian princess. It is assumed that the girl was captured by the Cossacks after the famous battle on the Caspian Sea. She became the second wife of Razin and even managed to give birth to children for the Cossack, but out of jealousy the ataman drowned her in the abyss of the Volga.
Death
At the beginning of the summer of 1671, Stepan and his brother Frol, guarded by the governors, the stolnik Grigory Kosagov and the clerk Andrei Bogdanov, were taken to Moscow for trial. During the investigation, the Razins were subjected to severe torture, and 4 days later they were taken to the execution, which took place on Bolotnaya Square. After the announcement of the verdict, Stepan Razin was quartered, but his brother could not stand what he saw and asked for mercy in exchange for secret information. After 5 years, not finding the stolen treasures promised by Frol, it was decided to execute the younger brother of the ataman.
After the death of the leader of the liberation movement, the war continued for another six months. The Cossacks were headed by chieftains Vasily Us and Fyodor Sheludyak. The new leaders lacked charisma and wisdom, so the uprising was crushed. The popular struggle led to disappointing results: serfdom was tightened, the days of the transition of peasants from the owners were canceled, it was allowed to exercise extreme degree cruelty towards disobedient serfs.
Memory
The story of the uprising of Stepan Razin remained in the memory of the people for a long time. 15 folk songs are dedicated to the national hero, including “Because of the island to the core”, “There is a cliff on the Volga”, “Oh, it’s not evening”. The biography of Stenka Razin aroused the creative interest of many writers and historians, such as A. A. Sokolov, V. A. Gilyarovsky,.
The plot about the exploits of the hero of the Peasant War was used to create the first Russian film in 1908. The film was called "Ponizovaya Freemen". In honor of Razin, the streets of St. Petersburg, Tver, Saratov, Yekaterinburg, Ulyanovsk and other settlements are named.
Events XVII century formed the basis of operas and symphonic poems by Russian composers N. Ya. Afanasyev, A. K. Glazunov,.
Razin Stepan Timofeevich (circa 1630-1671), Cossack ataman, leader of the peasant war of 1670-1671.
Don Cossack from a wealthy family. He knew Polish, Tatar and Kalmyk languages, was elected three times by the Don people to embassies to Moscow and once to the Kalmyks. In 1663, as a chief ataman, he defeated the Krymchaks near Perekop.
“He was a tall and sedate man, of strong build, with an arrogant straight face. He behaved modestly, with great severity, ”wrote a contemporary about the 33-year-old Razin.
In 1666, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich demanded that a census be conducted on the Don and that the fugitive serfs be returned. Angry with the Cossacks' answer "there is no extradition from the Don!", the tsar blocked their trade and the supply of food.
In the spring of 1667, a thousand "goofy" - poor, but well-armed Cossacks - went after Razin from the Don to the Volga. Having boarded a rich caravan of ships and recruiting new fighters, the ataman made his way to the Caspian Sea by force and cunning and wintered on the Yaik (Ural) River with a 1,500-strong army.
In the spring of 1668, having carefully prepared the fleet, Razin began a campaign with 3 thousand fighters. Passing from Derbent to the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, the Cossacks got a lot of valuable things from Iranian ships. Well-organized by the spring of 1670, the army rushed to the Volga. Ataman called: "Go to Rus', go to the boyars."
Razin took Tsaritsyn (now Volgograd) and defeated a thousandth army of archers hurrying to the city. Under the city of Cherny Yar, archers with drumming and unfurled banners went over to his side. Near Astrakhan, the tsar's governor gave battle, but the city rebelled and on June 22 let Razin in.
Ataman sent 2 thousand fighters to the Don, and with the rest he went up the Volga. Saratov and Samara opened the gates in front of Razin, in Samara the strong army of Ivan Miloslavsky and Prince Yuri Baryatinsky was locked up by differences in the Kremlin. Besieging him, Razin lost a month and lost the initiative in the war.
The tsar sent the 60,000-strong army of Prince Yu. A. Dolgorukov against the Cossacks, and gathered new armies in Kazan and Shatsk. But every day brought news of the capture of cities and fortresses, of the terrible death of nobles, officials, service people and local nobility. Sviyazhsk, Korsun (now Korsun-Shevchenkovsky), Saransk, Penza and other cities fell before the rebels, were under siege Nizhny Novgorod and Kokshaisk.
In winter, the Razintsy suffered a number of defeats from government troops.
In the spring of 1671, the homely Don Cossacks, having received help from the tsar with troops, weapons and supplies, took the Kagalnitsky town and captured Razin and his brother Frol.
The last stronghold of the rebels - Astrakhan fell.
The leader of the Cossacks Stepan Timofeevich Razin, also known as Stenka Razin, is one of the iconic figures Russian history, about which a lot has been heard even abroad.
The image of Razin was overgrown with legends during his lifetime, and historians still cannot figure out where is the truth and where is fiction.
In Soviet historiography, Razin appeared as the leader of the peasant war, a fighter for social justice against the oppression of those in power. At that time, the name of Razin was widely used when naming streets and squares, and monuments to the rebel were erected on a par with other heroes of the revolutionary struggle.
At the same time, historians of the Soviet era tried not to focus on the robberies, violence and murders perpetrated by the ataman, since in a noble image folk hero it didn't fit in at all.
Little is known about the young years of Stepan Razin. He was the son of a fugitive Voronezh peasant Timofey Razi, who took refuge on the Don.
Such as Timothy, the newly adopted Cossacks, who did not have their own property, were considered "bare". The only reliable source of income was campaigns on the Volga, where bands of Cossacks robbed merchant caravans. A similar, frankly criminal, trade was also encouraged by the more affluent Cossacks, who supplied the “golytba” with everything they needed, and in return received their share of the booty.
The authorities turned a blind eye to such things as a necessary evil, sending troops on punitive expeditions only in those cases when the Cossacks completely lost their measure.
Timothy Razya succeeded in such campaigns - he acquired not only property, but also a wife - a captured Turkish woman. The Eastern woman was no stranger to violence, and she resigned herself to her fate, giving birth to her husband three sons: Ivan, Stepan and Frol. However, perhaps the Turkish mother is also just a legend.
Lacquer miniature "Stepan Razin" on the lid of a Palekh box, the work of the artist D. Turin, 1934. Photo: RIA Novosti
Brother for brother
What is known for sure is that Stepan Timofeevich Razin, who was born around 1630, young years He took part in military campaigns and by the age of 25 had become an influential figure among the Cossacks, just like his elder brother Ivan.
In 1661 Stepan Razin, together with Fedor Budan and several Don and Zaporozhye Cossacks negotiated with representatives of the Kalmyks about peace and joint actions against the Nogais and Crimean Tatars.
In 1663, at the head of a detachment of Don Cossacks, together with the Cossacks and Kalmyks, he went on a campaign against the Crimean Tatars near Perekop.
Stepan and Ivan Razin were in good standing with the Moscow authorities until the events that took place in 1665 during the war with the Commonwealth.
Painting "Stenka Razin", 1926. Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev (1878-1927). Photo: RIA Novosti
Cossacks are free people, and in the midst of armed conflict Ataman Ivan Razin, who did not find a common language with the Moscow governor, decided to take the Cossacks to the Don.
Voivode Yuri Alekseevich Dolgorukov, not distinguished by great abilities as a diplomat, he became angry, ordered to catch up with the departed. When the Cossacks were overtaken by Dolgorukov, he ordered the immediate execution of Ivan Razin.
Stepan was shocked by the death of his brother. As a man accustomed to going on campaigns, he treated death philosophically, but one thing is death in battle, and quite another is extrajudicial reprisal at the behest of a nobleman-tyrant.
The thought of revenge was firmly planted in Razin's head, but he did not immediately move on to putting it into practice.
Forward "for the zipuns"!
Two years later, Stepan Razin became the leader of a large “zipun campaign” organized by him to the lower Volga. Under his leadership, he managed to gather a whole army of 2000 people.
After the death of his brother, the ataman was not going to be ashamed. They robbed everyone in a row, in fact paralyzing the most important trade routes for Moscow. The Cossacks dealt with the initial people and clerks and received the ship's yaryzhny people.
Such behavior was bold, but still not out of the ordinary. But when the Razintsy defeated a detachment of archers, and then captured the Yaitsky town, it already began to look like an outright rebellion. After wintering on Yaik, Razin led his people to the Caspian Sea. Ataman was interested in rich booty, and he went to the possessions of the Persian Shah.
The Shah quickly realized that such "guests" promised ruin, and sent troops to meet them. The battle near the Persian city of Rasht ended in a draw, and the parties began negotiations. The Shah's representative, fearing that the Cossacks were acting at the behest of the Russian Tsar, was ready to let them go to all four sides with booty, so long as they got out of Persian territory as soon as possible.
But in the midst of negotiations, the Russian ambassador unexpectedly appeared with a royal letter, which said that the Cossacks were thieves and troublemakers, and it was proposed that they should be "killed to death without mercy."
Representatives of the Cossacks were immediately put in chains, and one was hunted down by dogs. Ataman Razin, convinced that the Persian authorities were no better than the Russians in terms of extrajudicial reprisals, attacked and captured the city of Farabat. Fortified in its vicinity, the Razintsy spent the winter there.
How ataman Razin arranged the "Persian Tsushima"
In the spring of 1669, Razin's detachment terrified merchants and wealthy people on the Caspian coast of present-day Turkmenistan, and by the summer the Cossack robbers settled on Pig Island, not far from modern Baku.
In June 1669, the Persian army approached the Pig Island on 50-70 ships with a total number of 4 to 7 thousand people, led by the commander Mammad Khan. The Persians intended to put an end to the robbers.
Razin's detachment was inferior both in numbers and in the number and equipment of ships. Nevertheless, out of pride, the Cossacks decided not to run, but to take the fight, moreover, on the water.
Stepan Razin. 1918 Artist Kuzma Sergeevich Petrov-Vodkin. Photo: Public Domain
This idea seemed desperate and hopeless, and Mamed Khan, anticipating a triumph, gave the order to connect his ships with iron chains, taking the Razins in a dead ring so that no one could hide.
Stepan Timofeevich Razin, however, was an experienced commander and used the enemy's mistakes instantly. The Cossacks concentrated all their fire on the flagship of the Persians, which caught fire and sank to the bottom. Connected by chains with neighboring ships, he began to drag them along with him. Panic began among the Persians, and the Razintsy began to smash the enemy ships one by one.
The case ended in complete disaster. Only three Persian ships managed to escape, most of the troops died. Was captured by Razin son of Mammad Khan, Persian prince Shabalda. According to legend, his sister was captured along with him, who became the ataman's concubine, and then thrown into the "running wave".
In fact, everything is not easy with the princess. Although its existence was mentioned by some foreign diplomats who described the adventures of Razin, but reliable evidence No. But the prince was and wrote tearful petitions with a request to let him go home. But with all the freedom of morals in the Cossack freemen, it is unlikely that Ataman Razin made his concubine a Persian prince, and not a princess.
Despite the crushing victory, it was clear that the Razintsy would not have enough strength to continue to resist the Persians. They moved to Astrakhan, but government troops were already waiting for them there.
The execution of Stepan Razin. Hood. S. Kirillov. Photo: Public Domain
War with the regime
After negotiations, the local governor, Prince Prozorovsky, received the ataman with honor and let him go to the Don. The authorities were ready to turn a blind eye to Razin's previous sins, if only he would calm down.
Stepan Timofeevich Razin, however, was not going to calm down. On the contrary, he felt the strength, confidence, support of the poor, who considered him a hero, and considered that the time had come for real revenge.
In the spring of 1670, he again went to the Volga, now with a frank goal - to hang the governor and clerks, rob and burn the rich. Razin sent out "charming" (seductive) letters, urging people to join his campaign. The ataman had a political platform - he declared that he was not an enemy Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, but opposes, as they would say now, "the party of crooks and thieves."
It was also reported that the rebels allegedly joined Patriarch Nikon(actually in exile) and Tsarevich Alexei Alekseevich(Dead by then).
In a few months, Razin's campaign turned into a full-scale war. His army took Astrakhan, Tsaritsyn, Saratov, Samara, a number of smaller cities and towns.
In all the cities and fortresses occupied by the Razintsy, a Cossack device was introduced, representatives of the central government were killed, stationery was destroyed.
All this, of course, was accompanied by wholesale robberies and extrajudicial reprisals, which were no better than the one that Prince Dolgorukov committed against Razin's brother.
Features of Cossack solidarity
In Moscow, they felt that the matter smelled of being fried, of a new turmoil. All of Europe was already talking about Stepan Razin, foreign diplomats reported that the Russian tsar did not control his territory. That and look, you could expect a foreign invasion.
By order of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, a 60,000-strong army was sent against Razin under the command of governor Yuri Baryatinsky. On October 3, 1670, in the battle near Simbirsk, Stepan Razin's army was defeated, and he himself was wounded. Faithful people helped the chieftain to return to the Don.
And here something happened that has been repeatedly repeated in history and that speaks very well of the so-called "Cossack solidarity." The homely Cossacks, who had until then helped Razin and had their share of the booty, fearing punitive measures from the tsar, on April 13, 1671, captured the last refuge of the ataman and handed him over to the authorities.
Ataman Razin and his brother Frol taken to Moscow, where they were severely tortured. The execution of the rebel was given important national importance- she was supposed to demonstrate that the Russian tsar knows how to restore order in his possessions.
Archers avenged Razin
The uprising itself was finally crushed at the end of 1671.
The authorities, of course, would like there to be no reminder of Stenka Razin, but the events with his participation turned out to be painfully large-scale. Ataman went to folk legend, where he was written off atrocities, promiscuity with women, robberies and other criminal acts, leaving only the image of the people's avenger, the enemy of the villains in power, the defender of the poor and oppressed.
In the end, the ruling tsarist regime reconciled itself. It got to the point that the first domestic feature film "Ponizovaya Freemen" was dedicated specifically to Stenka Razin. True, not his hunt for caravans and not the murders of the royal servants, but all the same epochal throw of the princess into the river.
And what about the voivode Yuri Alekseevich Dolgorukov, with whose reckless order the transformation of Stepan Razin into an “enemy of the regime” began?
The prince happily survived the storm arranged by Stenka, but, apparently, it was not destined for him to die a natural death. In May 1682, the elderly nobleman, who turned 80 years old, was killed by archers who rebelled in Moscow along with his son.
There is no documentary evidence of when Stepan Razin was born. However, this date can be derived from minor sources. For example, the Dutchman Jan Jansen Streis, who traveled around Russia, met the famous rebel several times. In his notes, he recorded that in 1670 Razin was 40 years old, which suggests that he was born around 1630.
Biography details
It is only known for certain that the famous ataman was born on the Don. The biography of Stepan Razin began in the current Volgograd region, where in the 17th century there were numerous Cossack farms and villages. His life was overgrown with numerous fictions and legends, which was traditional for that time. The biography of Stepan Razin became the subject of reverence among the Cossacks. His reputation was enjoyed by the fact that during his uprising he often mentioned his predecessor.
In 1652, the biography of Stepan Razin was replenished with an important event for the latter. He becomes chieftain. Ten years later, Stenka participated in a campaign against the Crimean Khan. In addition to the Cossacks, there were Kalmyks and Cossacks in the army. Then Russia defended itself from a large stratum of free soldiers stationed in the south of the country.
Razin had an older brother, Ivan. He was the chieftain of the Don Cossacks. His Cossacks were distinguished by free and violent morals, because of which they constantly had conflicts with the royal envoys. Moscow governor Yuri Dolgorukov during one such skirmish ordered Ivan to be executed for disobedience. This set Stepan against the royal power.
The situation in the Cossacks
The 17th century was generally nicknamed "rebellious" because of the frequent peasant uprisings. The villagers began to fall into serfdom from the landowners, after it was accepted in 1649. The peasants fled from slavery to the Don, from where the fugitives were not extradited. By the 70s, a huge number of newly converted Cossacks had accumulated in the south of the country. This stratum was most uncompromisingly inclined towards the tsarist administration, which many accused of unfair treatment of the rural population.
Peasants who became Cossacks were called "smut". They made a living by robbing ships on the Volga. The old-timers looked at the situation through their fingers ...
Hike to Persia
In 1667, Stepan Razin became the leader of such a detachment. A brief biography of the ataman in the history textbook includes references to a campaign against Persia. Indeed, this was the first serious military experience of the brave ataman. In the lower reaches of the Volga, his Cossacks robbed merchants and even ships that belonged to Patriarch Joasaph. Unskilled laborers, barge haulers and other people who traded on the river fleet joined the detachment en masse.
The robberies of merchants did not worry Moscow, which was extremely far away. But when the Cossacks defeated the archers and even captured the usual boundaries of the permissible, they were violated.
In the new year 1668, after wintering on Yaik, Razin's army set off for the Caspian Sea. Here it first encountered forces. Circassians and other residents joined Razin. North Caucasus. With such forces in July, the Russians fought the Persians at Pig Island. It was the largest domestic victory at sea in the 17th century. The battle unfolded near Baku. The Persians were defeated, and the Cossacks got the booty. But since the situation was precarious, the latter retreated to Astrakhan, where they were received by the tsarist governors.
popular uprising
The following year, the biography of Stepan Razin was marked by an open uprising against the tsar. He sent out letters throughout the south of the country, in which he called on everyone who wanted to get the will to join him. In addition, then there was a tradition of impostors, which Stepan Razin took advantage of. The brief biography of the chieftain continued as follows: he spread a rumor that he had an heir to the throne in his army, who had actually recently died. At the same time, the tsar was in conflict with Patriarch Tikhon, whom he sent into exile. Taking advantage of this, Razin also said that the high priest supported him. The peasants did not need proof, they willingly went under his banner.
Popular support helped Razin capture Astrakhan, Saratov, Tsaritsyn and Samara. Moving upstream, the Cossacks found themselves near Simbirsk. Its siege began in 1670. The order was given by the biography of the chieftain says that the life of the brave Cossack hung in the balance. He went so far that defeat would have left him no way to survive.
Defeat and execution
Meanwhile, an army of 60 thousand soldiers was already moving from Moscow. Razintsy were defeated and driven back from Simbirsk. Stepan fled, but he failed to enlist the support of the Cossacks, who did not want to be in disgrace. As a result, Razin was captured by his own associates, who handed him over to the tsar in April 1671. On June 6, the leader of the popular uprising was quartered.
It happened in Moscow on Bolotnaya Square as a warning to everyone around. Nevertheless, everyone still remembers who Razin Stepan Timofeevich is. A brief biography of the ataman became the basis for numerous folk songs that are still popular today.
The biography of Stepan Timofeevich Razin, a Don Cossack and leader of the Peasant War of 1670-1671, is well known to historians, and our contemporaries are more familiar with this name from folklore.
He was born a hereditary Cossack around 1630 in the village of Zimoveyskaya on the Don. His father was the noble Cossack Timofei Razin, and his godfather was the military ataman Kornila Yakovlev. Already in his youth, he stood out noticeably among the Don foremen.
Like all hereditary Cossacks, he was a true believer and made two pilgrimages to the Solovetsky Monastery. Several times he was part of the winter villages, that is, embassies from the Don Cossacks, and visited Moscow.
knew Kalmyk and Tatar languages and several times took part in negotiations with taishas - Kalmyk leaders. In 1663, he led a detachment of Cossacks, which included the Cossacks and Kalmyks, made trips to Perekop against the Krymchaks.
For his personal qualities, he was well known in the Don. A verbal description of the appearance of Stepan Razin has been preserved in short biography foreign historical chronicles, which was left by the Dutch master Jan Streis. He describes Razin as a tall and sedate man. Strongly built, with an arrogant face and behaved modestly, but with dignity.
In 1665, his older brother was executed by order of the governor Yuri Dolgorukov, when the Cossacks tried to leave the Russian soldiers who fought with the Poles. This execution produced on Stepan Razin great impression.
In 1667, he became a marching ataman of a large detachment of Cossacks, which included many newcomers from Russia, and set off on his famous campaign “for zipuns” along the Volga to the Caspian Sea and to Persia. Returning with rich booty, he stopped in the Kagalnitsky town. Believing in his luck and hearing how he robs destroyers and bloodsuckers, fugitives from all over the Moscow state began to flock to him.
He captured all the cities on the lower Volga - Astrakhan, Tsaritsyn, Saratov, after Samara.
From the Cossack speech, the movement grew into a large-scale peasant uprising, which covered a significant territory of the state.
The rebels received their first defeat near Simbirsk, where the ataman himself was seriously wounded. He was taken to the Kagalnitsky town. By this time, the mood on the Don had changed, desires for settling down and housekeeping began to prevail. After an unsuccessful attempt to take the Cossack capital Cherkassk, the grassroots Cossacks united and defeated the rebels, and their leader Stepan Razin, together with his brother Frol, was given to Moscow. After severe torture, they were executed at the Execution Ground.
