Bashkir uprising (1755-1756)

The Batyrsha rebellion was caused by the intensification of feudal oppression, land oppression and violent Christianization carried out by the tsarist administration. ^[1] With difficulty suppressing the Bashkir uprising (1735-1740) , the government hastened to take advantage of the fruits of victory. The theft of Bashkir lands and forests resumed. The Bashkirs banned the extraction of salt, obliging them to buy it in state-owned stores at a high price. By decree of the Senate of March 16, 1754, yasak was replaced by the purchase of salt from the treasury, which led to a tax increase of 5-6 times. The abolition of Yasak was perceived by the Bashkirs as the liquidation of their patrimonial rights to the land. ^[2] A strict rule was also introduced: the Bashkirs did not have the right to keep firearms, and if it was discovered by anyone, then the horses were taken from the owner in favor of the scammer; forges were closed in all villages, not a single Bashkir had the right to leave his village without special permission.

The uprising unfolded in the territories of Osinsky , Nogai and Siberian Darug .

A certain role in the preparation of the uprising was played by the appeal (“Tahriznam”) of Mullah Abdullah Galeev, nicknamed Batyrsha , who called on the Bashkirs and other Muslims of the empire to “holy war”. However, in fact, Batyrsha did not lead the uprising, and the whole movement did not take place under his slogans. ^[one]

The uprising began on May 15, 1755 in the Burzyansky volost of the Nogai road ( Southern Bashkortostan ) by the assassination of the head of the mining party Bragin (“thief and villain”), the ruin of the Sapsalsky postal mill and the termination of service of Iset highway. The rebels were led by Jilian Itkul and Khudaiberda Mullah. There was no unity between the rebels. Under the pressure of government troops, the most active participants in the Bashkir uprising left for the Kazakh steppes. In August, traffic in the area resumed and captured a number of neighboring volosts. Some factories and post pits were defeated, several local foremen were killed. By the end of August, a significant part of the rebels had gone to the Kazakh steppes and the movement was quiet. The third outbreak of the uprising took place in the area of ​​the Osinsky road ( Northern Bashkortostan ) on August 27-28, 1755. The rebels, led by Mustai and Akbash, killed their foreman and began to prepare for more active actions. However, they were opposed by local feudal lords, and the movement stopped. A major role was played by the policy of the tsarist government aimed at splitting the rebels (forgiveness of all voluntarily surrendered participants in the uprising, setting Mishars and Kazakhs against the Bashkirs, etc.).

Having received disturbing news from the Nogai road, Neplyuev sends an urgent report to the Senate about the uprising that has begun. In a short period of time, the uprising swept over many volosts: Usergan, Tangaur , Chakmin- Kipchak and others. In many places, independent detachments are organized. Some units are led by foremen, who are well aware that, on the basis of the instructions, there will be no pardon for them. One of these detachments, led by the elders Saltykov and Tiyumbet, destroyed the Shuvalov A.I. smelter, a detachment under the command of captain Shkopsky was sent to defend the plant, but the rebels surrounded him in a mountain gorge, closed the exit, and the detachment was completely destroyed. The rebels attacked fortresses, factories, destroyed Russian villages. In the event of a defeat, the Bashkirs supposed to go to the Kazakh steppe, which was agreed back in 1754 with Ablai Khan of the Middle Zhuz .

Mulla Churagul Minlibaev formed a detachment of rebels from the Gayninsky Bashkirs of the villages Tyundyuk , Barda , Ashap , Sarashi , Sultanay , Aklushi and others. At the same time, the Bashkirs revolted in the village of Kyzylarovo (Krasnoyarsk) Akbash Andryushev and Mustai Tereberdin ^[3] . On August 27, 1755, Churagul Minlibaev with his detachment arrived in the village of Kyzylarovo. Having gathered all their strength, the rebels planned to go to Batyrsha in the village of Karysh of the Siberian Daruga . But after the transition of Tuktamysh Izhbulatov to the side of the government, the movement on the Osinsky road was fragmented, and the ideologist of the Batyrsha rebellion did not dare to openly revolt, which ultimately led to the disruption of the Bashkir movement of the Osinsky and Siberian roads ^[4] .

Neplyuev took urgent measures to suppress the uprisings. At his disposal was an army of 24 thousand people. All fortresses were declared martial law, and three regiments were thrown by any means into the depths of Bashkiria to suppress the uprising: Moscow, Revelsky and Troitsky, plus 1000 Yaik Cossacks under the command of Timashev, 1000 Kalmyks and 1000 Don Cossacks. Considering the situation is dangerous, Neplyuev asks for military reinforcements, and three more regiments are sent to him: Vladimirsky from Penza, Astrakhan from Shatsk and Azovsky from Alatyrsk.

Fearing that the surrounding population, the Kazan Tatars and Siberian peoples, would not join the rebels, the Military Collegium urgently sends 5 more regiments to the Orenburg Territory: Vyatsky and Siberian from the Yaroslavl Province, Kursky from Moscow, Yaroslavsky from Kolomna and Rostov from Kozlov. The regiments were ordered to go without respite.

All Bashkortostan was cordoned off by troops, all exits to the Bashkirs were closed, the rebels did not have anywhere to wait for mercy or help. A new reinforcement was expected from the Don — 2,000 Don Cossacks.

To help Neplyuyev, special officials are appointed - Ivan Saltykov and Fedor Ushakov. The first of them was entrusted with the general leadership of all the troops concentrated in the Orenburg province. Neplyuev’s order to suppress the uprising by any means was understood by the commanders of the detachments operating in Bashkiria in the literal sense: many settlements of the Bashkirs were ravaged and burned, thousands of rebels were killed.

A reward of 1000 rubles and valuable gifts were announced for the capture of Batyrsha. On September 26, 1755, Elizaveta Petrovna addressed a manifesto to the Tatars of the Middle Volga. For participating in the campaign against the rebels, the Tatars were promised to allow the property they had captured in battles and the prisoners to be kept. For their full fidelity to the tsarist government, violent Christianization was somewhat weakened, in particular, Luka Konashevich was removed from there, and it was allowed to build mosques. As a result, many Kazan Tatars participated in the suppression of the Bashkir uprising ^[5] . According to P.I. Keppen , their number was about 5000 people ^[6] .

Tsarist troops were also sent to Bashkortostan, consisting of about 25 thousand soldiers, dragoons, and Cossacks ^[7] .

Surrounded by troops on all sides, the Bashkirs in the amount of 50 thousand people, together with their families and property, rushed for Yaik , to the Kazakh steppe .

In August 1756, the leaders of the Lesser Horde decided to extradite the Bashkirs who were in their possession to the tsarist government. No more than 12-15 thousand people returned home.

On the territory of the Nogai Road, fighting with the rebels continued until the spring of 1756.

Despite the brutal suppression, after the uprising, the pressure from the tsarist authorities on the Bashkirs was somewhat weakened, the government agreed to confirm the patrimonial right of the Bashkirs to land, abandoned plans to turn them into serfs and forced Christianization. ^[2]

• The Bashkir uprising of 1755-1756 - in the Bashkir Encyclopedia [1]
• Chuloshnikov A.P. The uprising of 1755 in Bashkiria. M.-L., 1940;
• Ustyugov N.V. Bashkir Uprising 1662-64 // East. app. M., 1947, t. 24;
• Akmanov I.G. Bashkir uprisings of the 17th - early 18th centuries - Ufa: Kitap, 1998.
• Akmanov I.G. Bashkiria as part of the Russian state in the XVII - the first half of the XVIII century. - Sverdlovsk: Publishing House Ural. University, 1991.
• History of Bashkortostan. P1. From ancient times to 1917 - Ufa: Kitap, 1996.-240s.
• Batyrsha Uprising - in the Tatar Encyclopedia [2]

• Bashkir uprisings of the 17-18 centuries - an article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia .
• Akmanov I.G. Uprising 1755-56 // Bashkir Encyclopedia / main ed. M.A. Ilgamov. - Ufa: GAUN “ Bashkir Encyclopedia ”, 2015—2019. - ISBN 978-5-88185-306-8 .
• Bashkir revolts
• Bashkir uprising of 1755-1756 Khudaigulov Timerbulat Sultanovich (inaccessible link)
• Batyrshakh Aliyev's Plain of Hope on YouTube
• Rise of the Bashkirs led by Batyrsha