Bashkir-Meshcheryak army

The origins of the army date back to the 15th - 16th centuries, when the Muscovite state annexed the Meshchera with the Tatars-Mishars that inhabited it, which began to form a special local army. In Meshchera two seemingly different concepts were identified: “Tatars” and “Cossacks”. The simple Tatars of the Russians were called Cossacks, and they themselves also called Cossacks ^{[2] [3]} . Ivan IV relocated some of these Cossacks to Sura to protect eastern Ukraine, the remaining were deported to the Don region . The well-known governor of Kurmysh district, newly baptized Tatar Kazakov, is the ancestor of the princes Sheisupovs ^[4] . Under the onslaught of Christianization, many Mishars went east.

Later, when the Bashkirs became part of the Russian state , they retained the right to have armed formations. It is reliably known about the participation of the Bashkir horse regiments in battles on the side of Russia since the Livonian War ^[5] .

By decree of April 10 ( 21 ), 1798 , the Bashkir and Mishar population of the region was transferred to the military-service class and was obliged to carry out border service on the eastern borders of Russia ^[6] . Administratively, cantons were created, thereby finally introducing the Canton management system in Bashkortostan . The Trans-Ural Bashkirs were included in the 2nd ( Yekaterinburg and Shadrinsky districts ), 3rd ( Trinity Uyezd ) and 4th ( Chelyabinsk Uyezd ) cantons. The 2nd canton was in Perm , the 3rd and 4th - in the Orenburg provinces.

In 1802-1803 the Bashkirs of the Shadrinsky district were separated into an independent 3rd canton. In this regard, the serial numbers of the cantons also changed. The former 3rd canton (Trinity Uyezd) became the 4th, and the former 4th (Chelyabinsk Uyezd) became the 5th. It was territorially divided into 16 cantons, including 11 Bashkir and 5 Meshcheryak. The number and numbering of cantons during its existence has changed several times (by the 50s of the XIX century there were already 28 Bashkir cantons). At the age of 20 to 50 years were called up for service, from 4-5 yards one person was alternately exposed.

The army participated in the Patriotic War of 1812 and foreign campaigns of 1813-1814. (28 Bashkir regiments), the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829. (2 regiments), Khiva campaign of 1839-1840. , Kokand campaigns of 1852 and 1853, the Crimean War of 1853-1856. (2 regiments) ^[7] . For courage in protecting the Baltic coast from the Anglo-French landings, the troops of the 1st and 3rd Bashkir regiments were thanked, and many soldiers were awarded medals "In memory of the war of 1853-1856."

Major changes in the canton management system were undertaken in the 30s of the XIX century. Until 1834, the Army had neither a military chieftain , nor a special office, and the canton authorities were subordinate to the governor general of the Orenburg Territory. In August 1834, the first commander of the Bashkir-Meshcheryak army was determined - Colonel S.T. Tsiolkovsky. From the Bashkir and Mishar population of the region, the Bashkir-Meshcheryak army was formed, which included 17 cantons. The latter were united in trusteeship. Bashkirs and Mishars of the 2nd (Yekaterinburg and Krasnoufim Uyezds) and the 3rd (Shadrinsky Uyezd) cantons were in the first, 4th (Trinity Uyezd) and 5th (Chelyabinsk Uyezd) - in the second guardianship with centers respectively in Krasnoufimsk and Chelyabinsk .

The law “On the accession of teppers and beavers to the Bashkir-Meshcheryak army” of February 22, 1855, teptyar regiments , consisting of teppers and beavers , were included in the canton system of the Bashkir-Meshcheryak army. Later the name was changed to the Bashkir army by the Law “On naming henceforth the Bashkir-Meshcheryak forces of the Bashkir army. October 31, 1855. "

In 1860, the army covered the territory:

The Bashkir army is located in all counties of the Orenburg province in the counties: Krasnoufimsky, Yekaterinburg, Shadrinsky and Osinsky Perm provinces; Yelabuga and Sarapul Vyatka provinces; Bugulminsky, Buzuluksky and Buguruslansky Samara province.

- Bulletin of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. XXIX h. 1860. St.

The army was abolished according to the highest approved opinion of the State Council "On the transfer of control of the Bashkirs from the military to the civilian department" of July 2, 1865. According to the "Regulation on the Bashkirs" of May 14, 1863, the Bashkirs, Mishars, Teppyar and Beavers were transferred to the civilian department.

The reign of the Bashkir-Meshcheryak army was composed of army headquarters officers , the canton (at the points of permanent deployment) and marching (linear and expeditionary) leaders — from the Bashkirs, Mishars, and Teppers. And officials of the Bashkir-Meshcheryak troops were staffed with representatives of the Bashkir and Mishar feudal lords. They were appointed by the canton chiefs and approved by the Governor General.

The ranks of the troops were divided into real, classy and mediocre ranks. Army ( lieutenant , ensign , lieutenant , captain , major , lieutenant colonel , colonel, major general ), Cossack ( enlistment , coronet , centurion , esaul , army foreman ), active and class ranks (from 14 to 12 classes) were assigned by the king and the military Minister for Military or Special Merit. The mediocre ranks included: mediocre-corral, mediocre-centurion, mediocre-esaul, who were appropriated by the governor general. The Bashkir-Meshcheryak army was subordinate to the Governor General of the Orenburg Territory ^[8] .

At the head of the army was a commander who, according to the Highest Commandments of November 16, 1850 and August 2, 1853, had the rights of a division head; according to the state, the assistant relied on him with the same rights as the chief of staff of the Orenburg Cossack army. The commander’s office of the commander of the Bashkir-Meshcheryak army was subordinate to the commander, which at first consisted of two clerks, two of their assistants, a clerk, two clerks, a translator, and five ministers. In 1840, due to the increase in the number of unresealed cases, the staff of the office was increased. In the years 1855-1863. the office was on a temporary state: the ruler of the office, four clerks and four of their assistants, four senior clerks, four junior clerks, clerical employees, as well as the archivist and his assistant, treasurer and his assistant, executor, translator. The clerks, solicitors, canton chiefs of the Bashkir cantons, who had their own staff of assistants, translators, and clerks, were subordinate to the chancellery in the clerical record. At various times, officials and officers were seconded to the office to carry out special assignments. The office was maintained at the expense of military capital.

In the case of the participation of the Bashkir army in the campaigns of the Russian army, it was equipped with five-hundred regiments, in which the military imam (regimental mullah ) was provided for according to the staff list. The command structure of the Bashkir Cossack regiment included 30 people: the regiment commander, foreman, 5 Yesaul, 5 centurions, 5 coronets, quartermaster , mullahs, 1–2 clerks and 10 Pentecostals ^[9] .

For the training of specialists in the Orenburg Neplyuyev cadet corps , 30 places were provided for the children of army officers .

Before the Patriotic War of 1812, the Orenburg border fortified line ran from the Tobol River to the Caspian Sea and was divided into five distances: from Zverinogolovskaya fortress to Verkhneuralsk , from Verkhneuralsk to Orsk fortress, from Orsk fortress to Orenburg , from Orenburg to Uralsk , from Uralsk to Guriev town . The connection between the fortresses was supported by small intermediate fortifications - redoubts , in front of the border fortified line at a distance of 2 - 7 miles from each other there were fortifications for guard detachments - outposts . Each fortress had several outposts . Between the outposts a continuous line of barrages stretched from birch or talus rods. This border service of the Bashkirs lasted almost three hundred years, until 1840-1850, when, with the accession of Kazakhstan to Russia, the empire's borders moved far south-east of Bashkortostan . In 1798-1849, the Bashkirs annually put on the Orenburg border line 5.5 thousand people ^[8] .

The Bashkir army carried the protection of the Orenburg line at its own expense. The supply of weapons, clothes, horses and edible supplies of soldiers was carried out in the order of “help”, which turned out to be all the Bashkirs. Public assistance was also provided to farms sent to the service ^[8] .

There were no statutory uniforms in the Bashkir regiments until 1829. Warriors wore national combat suits, some riders wore chain mail . Weapons were peaks , sabers of the Asian type, wicked guns with bipods. At the waist, the warrior wore a quiver with arrows and an archer with a bow. The army was armed with pistols, sabers, bows, arrows and 2-meter peaks.

The uniforms of the Bashkir troops included hats, blue cloth uniforms or jackets, light blue sashes , blue harem pants with scarlet stripes and black boots, and since 1844, caps with blue tulle and a red band with a cockade , chekmen , belts and black boots.

Since 1846, wearing a uniform became mandatory only if employees were sent to the western and southern borders of the empire.

In the army of the Cossack troops as a result of the reforms of 1855, Cossack generals , headquarters and chief officers of the Bashkir army wore the following uniform: white caftan with blue beshmet remains, but a silver galloon was sewn on the beshmet collar and along the edge of the half caftan sleeves: the generals have a wide one, the staff of officers have a narrow one, and the ob-officers have a galloon badge which was what it was. Instead of an epaulette, red cloth epaulets with galloons, in ranks. Epaulettes and checkman canceled.

In 1798-1803 there were 11 Bashkir cantons and 5 Meshcheryak cantons. Bashkir cantons were geographically located in the following areas: 1st in Perm and Osinsky counties; 2nd — in the Yekaterinburg and Shadrinsk districts of the Perm province; 3rd - in Troitsk district, 4th - in Chelyabinsk, 5th - in Birsky, 6th - in Verkhneuralskiy, 7th - in Ufa, 8th - in Sterlitamak, 9th - in Orenburg, 10th - in the Bugulminsky and 11th - in the Menzelinsky district of the Orenburg province.

In 1803, another Bashkir canton was formed by separating the Bashkirs of the Shadrinsky district into an independent administrative unit and there were 12 of them (the 1st in Osinsky and Perm districts, the 2nd in Yekaterinburg and Krasnoufimsky and the 3rd in Shadrinsky districts Perm province).

In 1832, the 4th canton, located in Trinity County, was subdivided into 2: 4th Zagorny and 4th Western. In the Chelyabinsk district was the 5th; in Verkhneuralskiy - 6th; in Ufa - the 7th; in Sterlitamak - 8th; in Orenburg - 9th; in Birsky - the 10th; in Menzelinsky, Yelabuga, Sarapulsky - 11th; in the Bugulminsky and Belebeyevsky counties - the 12th.

In 1847, the 4th Western Canton in Trinity County was renamed the 5th Canton.

The 5th canton that existed before this, respectively, received the serial number 6, and the 6th becomes the 7th, the 7th becomes the 8th, etc. Thus, in 1832-1847. in the Bashkir-Meshcheryak army there were two cantons under the same number; from 1847 to 1855 the Bashkirs had 13, and the Mishars had 4 (in 1847, the 5th Mishar canton, located in the Bugulma district, was eliminated by transferring its inhabitants to neighboring Bashkir cantons). In the period from 1855 to 1863, with the addition of tepters and lobsters to the Bashkir army, the number of cantons reached 28.

In 1863-1865 all 28 cantons were reduced to 11 cantons according to the county principle. Therefore, the cantons had both numbers and the district name: the 1st canton was called Orenburg, the 2nd - Verkhneuralsky, the 3rd - Troitsky, the 4th - Chelyabinsk, the 5th - Krasnoufimsky, the 6th - Birsky, the 7th - Menzelinsky, 8th - Buguruslansky, 9th - Belebeyevsky, 10th - Ufa and 11th - Sterlitamak ^[10] .

In 1856, the Bashkir army was divided into 28 cantons ^[11] .

In 1863-1865 all 28 cantons were again reduced to 11 cantons according to the county principle ^[12] .

In 1850, the population of the Bashkir-Meshcheryak army amounted to 546 thousand Bashkirs and Mishars, while the Bashkirs accounted for 83% of their total number.

In 1855, the Bashkir-Meshcheryak troops included 266 thousand warriors and warriors. In 1858, the population of the army was 834 thousand people.

The population in the Bashkir-Meshcheryak army on the ninth revision ^[11] :

• Colonel, since 1838 Major General S.T. Tsiolkovsky (4.12.1834-28.11.1840);
• lieutenant colonel, since 1843 Colonel N.V. Balkashin (11.28.1840-2.4.1845);
• Colonel, since 1846 Major General G.V. Zhukovsky (1846-1848);
• Colonel N. P. Beklemishev (04.1849-20.12.1850);
• Major General A.I. Sereda (04.1851-30.10.1851);
• (Acting) Colonel Count I. A. Tolstoy (10.30.1851-04.1852);
• Major General N. V. Balkashin (12/25/1851 - 05.1853)
• (Acting) lieutenant colonel A.A. Tolmachev (05.1853-02.1854);
• Major General, from May 1856, Lieutenant General N.V. Balkashin (02.1854-05.1858)
• (Acting) Colonel H.H. Reitern (05.1858-08.1859);
• (Acting) Colonel A.M.Sinbirin (08/12/1859 - 02/01/1860 );
• Major General N.K. Teterevnikov (02/01/1860 - 04.1862);
• (Acting) Colonel A.P. Boguslavsky (05.1862-1864).

• Asfandiyarov A.Z. Introduction of the canton control system in Bashkiria // From the history of Bashkiria. Ufa, 1968.
• Asfandiyarov A.Z. Canton management in Bashkiria. Ufa, Kitap. 2005.
• Bashkir army // Military Encyclopedia : [in 18 vol.] / Ed. V.F. Novitsky [et al.]. - SPb. ; [ M. ]: Type. t-va I. D. Sytin , 1911-1915.
• Bashkortostan: a brief encyclopedia. - Ufa: Scientific Publishing House "Bashkir Encyclopedia", 1996.— 672 p. - S. 150.
• Velyaminov-Zernov V.V. Research on the Kasimov kings and princes. - 2nd ed. - SPb. : In type. Imp. Academy of Sciences - Part One. (With four tables) , 1863. - XIII, 558 p.
• Documents and materials on the history of the Bashkir people (1836-1842): Formal lists about the service of officials of the Bashkir-Meshcheryak army for 1836-1842: In 2 books. / Comp .: A. Ya. Ilyasova, Z. G. Gatiyatullin. - Ufa: IJAL UC RAS, 2012 .-- 924 p.: Ill. - ISBN 978-5-91608-096-4 . - ISBN 978-5-91608-098-8 (book 1).
• Kalinin S. E. “Teppyar Cossack regiments”, Moscow, 2008
• Tatar Encyclopedic Dictionary. - Kazan, 1999.
• Zhidkov S. History of the Bashkir-Meshcheryak army. IA "Bashinform"
• Evgraf Saveliev "Tribal and social composition of the Cossacks." "XX. Bashkir-Meshcheryak Danube and Azov Cossack Troops ”- Don regional statements No. 175 / 08/13/1913 p. 2-4.
• Kalinin E. S. "Bashkir-Meshcheryak army in 1812-1814 . "

• Rakhimov R.N., Taymasov R.S. Bashkir army // Bashkir encyclopedia / ed. M.A. Ilgamov. - Ufa: GAUN “ Bashkir Encyclopedia ”, 2015—2019. - ISBN 978-5-88185-306-8 .
• Horse Bashkir
• Gusterin P.V. Bashkir army of the Russian Empire
• Cantons of the Bashkir-Meshcheryak troops (with a reduced map)
•   History of the Bashkir army
•   Northern Cupids