Khovansky, Ivan Andreevich Tararui

He began his service back in the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich , in 1636 it was first mentioned among the sovereign stewards . In May 1650, “according to the Crimean news”, Prince Ivan Andreevich Khovansky was sent to the province of Tula , from where he was transferred to Yablonov at the end of June and recalled to Moscow in the fall. In the next 1651, he was appointed governor of Vyazma , where he stayed for three years. Prince Ivan Andreevich Khovansky participated in the Russian-Polish war (1654-1667) : during the second campaign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, he was the head of Moscow nobles in the Tsar’s regiment , in 1656 he was appointed governor of Mogilev occupied by Moscow troops , and in The following 1657 was transferred by the siege and field governor to Pskov .

During the Russo-Swedish war, in the battle of Gdov, the Prince’s corps defeated the corps of Count Magnus Delagardi . The victory over the famous "Count Magnus" was a triumph of Prince Ivan Andreevich. The Ambassador of the Commonwealth, Stefan Medeksha , who was at that time in Borisov, described the glee of the Russians: “Meanwhile, they let me know ... that several thousand Swedes were defeated near Pskov, fired on the ramparts, and the whole infantry shot, presenting around the city and the castle.” ^[2] With a decisive cast, the prince devastated Syrensky, Narva, Ivangorodsky and Yamsky counties of the Livonian governor general. After inflicting several more defeats on the Swedish forces, the prince returned to Pskov ^[2] . The actions of the prince allowed to return the initiative to the Russian troops, lost after the defeat at Valk .

In the 1660s, the Novgorod regiment of Prince Khovansky turned out to be the main army in Lithuania; this regiment was usually opposed by the entire army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (in the form of separate formations), sometimes reinforced by crown parts ^[3] . The main Russian troops were concentrated at that time in the Smolensk region, as the most important strategic point. The Khovansky army successfully operated in Lithuania, in general controlling the situation. In February 1659, Khovansky won a brilliant victory over a part of the Lithuanian army near Madel . For this victory, on March 27, 1659, on Palm Sunday, Prince Ivan Andreevich was granted the boyar with the honorary title of “Vyatsky governor ” ^[4] .

At the end of 1659 - the beginning of 1660, Khovansky, at the head of the Novgorod regiment, made a march along the southwestern lands of Lithuania, which were deposited from tsarist power, again subordinating them to Russia. The campaign, supported by the East Belarusian gentry, was punitive in relation to the local gentry, the peasants were given free rein ^[5] . Thanks to quick and decisive action, Grodno , Novogrudok , Kamenetz , Brest and several other cities were taken. From Brest, horse-drawn hundreds of Khovansky fought the lands of the Crown, appearing at Lublin and Kholm , as well as 20 miles from Warsaw itself. Under the Malchi, the Lithuanian governor Mikhail Obukhovich was defeated and captured. Burdened with rich booty, Khovansky refused further advance to the west and turned to the east, where there were still three large unsubdued fortresses. However, the siege launched by him Lyakhovich was unsuccessful.

The arrival of large Polish formations at the theater of operations in Lithuania, which were liberated after the Olivian peace with Sweden, greatly complicated the situation of Khovansky. In the battle of Polonka ( June 27, 1660 ), he suffered a serious defeat. In the battle of Druya (February 1661), Khovansky managed to defeat the Polish army of Karol Lisowski and take him prisoner. However, near Kushliky ( November 4, 1661 ), Khovansky was again defeated. Nevertheless, the Novgorod regiment, forced to rely mainly on its forces, continued military operations in Lithuania. This fettered the considerable forces of the Commonwealth, which tried to neutralize Khovansky, and distracted them from the southern theater of operations ^[2] .

In 1664, in order to divert the troops of King John II Casimir from the southern theater of operations, the Khovansky regiment launched a raid on Lithuania. Prince’s troops “burned and carved” Dubrovna, Orsha, Chereya, Tolochin, “burned to Borisov himself” and from February 16 to March 27, 1664 defeated several enemy regiments in three battles ^[6] . June 5 and 6, 1664 as a result of the fighting on the river. Luchos , Khovansky captured the Hetman banner of Mikhail Pats , but after the rebuffed attack, many horsemen of Khovansky did not retreat to camp, but fled from the battlefield right to their homes ^. »In Vitebsk ^[7] . Khovansky, according to Pats, suffered a crushing defeat, having lost the entire convoy, 10 guns and 63 standards ^[8] , but the prince left the “convoy”, he did not have the guns and the cavalry of the Novgorod regiment (in the best of times, numbering no more than 4000 people ) could not have so many banners.

As a result of the defeat at Vitebsk, instead of Prince Jacob Cherkassky, Prince Yuri Dolgorukov was appointed the chief Novgorod governor. Prince Khovansky, who would have been "inappropriate to be with Prince Yury as a friend," was recalled to Moscow . However, by the end of 1664, the new governor's inability to manage the obstinate Novgorod regiment was manifested, in which the nobles could simply refuse to serve. Prince Ivan Andreevich was returned to the Novgorod regiment as a regimental governor ^[9] . The prince regained control of the regiment and resumed active operations in Lithuania, defeating the troops of the Commonwealth in the Battle of Dvina .

Heading the Novgorod regiment, Prince Ivan Andreevich made a significant contribution to the organization of military affairs on the western borders of Russia ^[2] . In 1660, the prince organized hussar companies , which in 1661 were deployed to the regiment.

Khovansky's activity left a deep mark in the minds of Polish and Lithuanian contemporaries. The constant over-praise and exaggeration of victories over Khovansky by all, to any extent involved in them, memoirists shows the importance in their eyes of this person and the regiment of the Novgorod rank - one of the weakest and most unreliable in the Russian army ^[10] . According to the reviews of his compatriots, for example, Ordin-Nashchokin , who were at war with him ^[11] , Prince Khovansky was a very arrogant governor and was repeatedly condemned by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich for his actions. In one of his letters, the king advised him not to exalt his service: “I sought you out and chose you for service, otherwise everyone called you a fool” ^[12] .

In 1678-1680, he led the defense of the southern borders of Russia from the Turks and Crimean Tatars. In 1681-1682 he headed the Search Order , the Streletsky Order (1682), the Court Order (1682).

During the Streletsky revolt of 1682, Tsarevna Sophia was appointed the leader of the archers who advocated for her, but began to play her own game, using, among other things, the Old Believers to pressure the government. This stage of the Streltsy rebellion was called Khovanshchina . After Sophia and her supporters managed to leave Moscow, Khovansky arrived to negotiate with her in the village of Vozdvizhenskoye, where he was executed with his son, Prince Andrei Ivanovich . Another son Peter was exiled to the North, under Peter I was pardoned and governed in Kiev.

Prince Andrei Ivanovich Khovansky is one of the main characters in Viktor Kokosov ’s historical novel Strugi na Neva, dedicated to the Russian-Swedish war of 1656-1658 ^{[13] [14] [15]} .

• Khovansky, Ivan Andreevich (beginning of the XVII century. - 1682) - biography on the site of the encyclopedia " Round the World ".

• Chattering // Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language : in 4 volumes / auth. V.I. Dahl . - 2nd ed. - SPb. : Printing house of M.O. Wolf , 1880-1882.
• Volkov V. “Russian army: heroes, knights and governors”, Moscow, “Algorithm”, 2005 ISBN 5-699-10367-8 , art. 367, 368, 369, 370, 371
• Chulkov N.P. Khovansky, Ivan Andreevich Tararui // Russian Biographical Dictionary : in 25 volumes. - SPb. - M. , 1896-1918.