Siberian Khanate history, culture and accession to Russia

The Siberian Khanate is a state in Western Siberia, which was formed at the end of the 15th century in the process of the collapse of the Golden Horde.

Its center was originally Chimga-Tura (now the city of Tyumen), another capital was the city of Isker (aka Siber, Siberia, Siberia), which was located on the right steep bank of the Irtysh.

According to the second capital, which in the 15th century was also called Kashlyk, the khanate got its name.

History of education

Some researchers believe that during the formation and existence of the Golden Horde, the descendants of the Tatar prince Taibug ruled the lands of the future khanate. It was he who formed the Taibuginsky yurt, on the territory of which the Siberian Khanate was later formed. But not all historians support this version, since there are no documents confirming or refuting this theory.

Others, citing the description of the uluses as evidence, believe that the territory of the khanate was under the control of the Sheibanids.

Rulers

The first ruler of the ulus was Taybuga, then followed by Khoja, Makhmet, Angish, Kasim, the brothers Bek-Bulat and Ediger (occupied the throne almost simultaneously), Senbakta, Sauskan. All of them were descendants of the first prince and were called Taibugids. Almost nothing is known about them, since information has come down to us only in oral form.

khan kuchum photo

Further, more accurate information appears, which is based on reliable written sources, from which it is known that from 1396 to 1406 Khan Tokhtamysh occupied the throne. The greatest contribution to the development of the khanate was made by Khan Ibak, who initially ruled the Nogai Horde, and Kuchum. Under their rule, it becomes a powerful state.

heyday

Ibak is considered the founder of the independent Siberian Khanate with Chimga-Tura as its capital. Its territory stretched from the Baraba steppe to the shores of the Arctic Ocean. What is remembered in history by Khan Ibak?

• He defeated the Great Horde, killing its last ruler, Ahmad;
• He united two thrones - the Siberian Yurt and the Nogai Horde; He actively interfered in the affairs of the Kazan Khanate (in some sources he is called the "Kazan Khan", although he not only never occupied the Kazan throne, but even did not go there).

Ibak was a strong ruler, which could not irritate his Nogai patrons. They even removed him from the throne, but under the pressure of the beklerbeks, the highest dignitaries, they returned the Nogai throne to him. Nevertheless, he had enough enemies, and in 1495 he died at the hands of Muhammad from the Taibugid family. After committing the murder, Muhammad becomes khan and transfers the capital to the city of Isker. From that moment on, the state formally becomes the Siberian Khanate with Siberia as its capital.

After Muhammad, the throne was occupied by two brothers - Yediger and Bek Bulat, who restored friendly relations with the Nogais. During their reign, a historic event took place - Ivan the Terrible conquered the Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates. This made a strong impression on Ediger, he hastened to congratulate the Russian Tsar and offered to pay tribute to Muscovy, which Ivan IV did not fail to take advantage of. Why did Yediger do this?

He was well aware that sooner or later, having united with the Nogais, the Sheibanids would want to return power in Siberia. Counting on the help of Moscow, he thought to defend the throne, but the calculations turned out to be wrong, the Russian tsar was not going to help him. In 1557, the Sheibanids began to act, deciding to restore their power everywhere, where they ruled before.

Very soon they occupied Kyzyl-Tura (the very first capital of the Taibugid state). Without occupying Isker yet, they first proclaimed Khan Murtaza ben Ibak, but since he was old and could not endure the campaign against the capital of the Siberian Khanate, they put their hopes on Kuchum ben Murtaza. He managed to capture Isker only in 1563. Taibugids, brothers Ediger and Bek Bulat, he executed. From that moment, Sheibanid again stood at the head of the khanate and the era of Kuchum began.

culture

By the middle of the 16th century, the khanate entered into relations with Russia. By that time, it occupied a vast territory, almost all of Western Siberia - from the Ural Mountains to the Nadym and Pima rivers. It bordered on the Perm lands, the Kazan Khanate, Nogai and the Pinto Horde. However, it was extremely rarely inhabited, during this period 30.5 thousand people lived in it. The population consisted mainly of Turkic-speaking peoples, more often called "Siberian Tatars", who led a semi-sedentary lifestyle.

The population was engaged in nomadic pastoralism - raising horses and sheep, hunting for fur-bearing animals, fishing and beekeeping. Pottery, agriculture, weaving, metal smelting developed in settled settlements. The state had a feudal system, consisted of numerous small uluses headed by beks and murzas. The lowest stratum of society - "black" ulus people were required to pay tax every year and perform military service in the detachments of the nobility. Among the latter spread Islam, which became the official religion.

Under Kuchum, the state reached economic and political prosperity. 15 cities were formed, which were powerful fortifications.

Wars

The Siberian khans managed to subdue the Finno-Ugric tribes in the Urals and force them to pay yasak. Kuchum conquered some Bashkir tribes and Barabas. The army of the Khanate consisted of Tatar detachments, as well as detachments of conquered peoples. It is difficult to speak about the number of troops, but it is known for certain that during the battle on Lake Abalatsky Mametkul commanded a tumen, that is, an army consisting of 10 thousand soldiers. However, despite their impressive numbers, the detachments were disorganized, which is why Kuchum could not stop the Russian invasion.

Warrior of the Siberian Khanate photo

The armament of the Tatars mainly consisted of bows and arrows, edged weapons - broadswords, sabers, darts. Intelligence was their strong point of military art. They were unmatched in ambushes and surprise attacks.

Accession to Russia

“To impose tribute on the khanate, which is headed by a Chingizid, and Kuchum is a real Chingizid, is much more prestigious than taking tribute from the Taibugids, but if, like Kazan, they manage to take it, it will be a victory,” the Russian tsar thought so. While Kuchum was solving internal problems, he regularly paid tribute to Moscow so as not to cause displeasure. But as soon as he dealt with all internal enemies, he stopped paying tribute and severed diplomatic relations in 1572. No less audacious act was his expedition to the lands owned by the Stroganovs, where the Tatars killed the Permians - the main taxable population.

In 1574, he gave a "letter" to the Stroganovs on the territory where he was allowed to build small towns, but at that time belonged to the Khanate. In 1582, the Cossacks, led by Yermak, the squad was organized with the money of the Stroganovs, took possession of Kashlyk, where he behaved like a ruler, imposing tribute and accepting the loyalty of the conquered local princes. However, despite the successful capture, the Cossacks suffered from hunger.

The country's economy was destroyed, food supplies were depleted pretty soon. The morale of the Cossacks was shattered by the death of the ataman, who was ambushed by Kuchum and drowned in the river. They fled from conquered Siberia, leaving the country to fend for itself. But Khan Kuchum could not take advantage of the happy opportunity that turned up to take the throne again.

At first, Kuchum's son Ali sat on the throne of Isker, but Yediger's nephew Seydyak did not doze off, he expelled Ali and proclaimed himself the new prince. On the other hand, the Russians were not going to abandon the rich lands of Siberia. At the end of 1585, the Russian army advanced to the Ob, set up a town and wintered in it. At the beginning of 1586, a detachment of archers occupied Chimgi-Tura, and the city of Tyumen was founded not far from the fortress. And in the spring of 1587, Tobolsk was founded near Isker.

The conquest of Siberia by Yermak photo

At this time, Seydyak spent time falconry, having received an invitation from the Russians to a feast, he, suspecting nothing, came, where he was captured. However, Kuchum did not give up and engaged in guerrilla warfare. Until 1598, he raided Russian cities, until he died in 1601 at the hands of the Nogais. But even after his death, the war against the Russians did not end. Kuchum's son Ali declared himself Khan again.

The first half of the 17th century was spent in the struggle for the return of the throne of the Siberian Khanate by the numerous sons of Kuchum. One of the last and most serious uprisings took place in 1662-1664, when Tsarevich Davlet Giray raised the Bashkirs in order to capture all Russian cities, make Tobolsk the capital and take the throne. This uprising was hard and harshly suppressed. On this, the history of the Siberian Khanate was completed. Soon Siberia was settled by Russians. A stream of servicemen and merchants rushed to the Siberian lands, peasants and Cossacks fled there from serfdom.

History remembers many countries that disappeared without a trace from the world map. One of them is the Blue Horde, a state created by the descendants of the legendary conqueror Genghis Khan. Little is known about it, although part of modern Russia - Southern Siberia - was part of this country. But the Golden Horde is the name everyone hears.

How did this country come about?

The fact is that Genghis Khan himself divided the huge empire he conquered between his sons. At the same time, its western part went to the eldest son, whose name was Jochi. These lands were very rich and promising in terms of future expansion: it was enough just to organize aggressive campaigns.

The Mongols called the territory located west of the Irtysh River, the ulus of Jochi. In 1227, the eldest son of Genghis Khan died under unclear circumstances, and a few months later the founder of the empire himself died. The lands of Jochi were divided between his heirs.

Orda-Ichin (Orda-Eugene) - the eldest of the brothers - received the eastern part of the possessions of his late father. This territory stretched from the Irtysh to the Urals, and Lake Balkhash was the southern border of its ulus. That is, under the rule of the eldest son Jochi and his descendants were the lands of modern Kazakhstan and Southern Siberia. This state was called the Blue Horde.

The second son of Juchi - Batu Khan (Batu) - inherited the western part of his father's possessions. His lands began from the Urals and the Lower Volga region, the rest of the future empire was conquered by the grandson of Genghis Khan, extending the borders of his ulus up to the Danube. With the support of the Mongol army, Batu managed to conquer rich lands, founding a state, which later became known as the Golden Horde - its rulers had a lot of money, jewelry and influence.
Purely theoretically, Horde-Ichin could also expand the boundaries of his possessions, but he had only one way left - to the north. And in the XIII century there was still no country that could be conquered. And the unfertile cold lands of Siberia did not appeal to the Mongols.

Successful military campaigns, authority won in battles, the wealth of subject peoples and an awe-inspiring army - all this made Batu and his heirs the most influential among the descendants of Genghis Khan. And the rulers of the Blue Horde de facto found themselves in vassal dependence on their Western relatives.

Why Blue?

In the 16th century, the book "Chingiz-name" was written, telling about the legendary conqueror and his descendants. Its author is the Khorezm scientist Utemish-haji ibn Maulan Muhammad Dosti. This work contains a legend about the emergence of the White, Blue and Gray Hordes. It says that after the death of Jochi, Genghis Khan himself determined how to divide the inheritance between his grandchildren.

The Great Khan ordered a white yurt with a golden entrance frame for Batu, a blue one with a silver frame for Orda-Ichin, and a gray one with a steel entrance for Shiban (the fifth son of Jochi). Of course, this is just a legend. And obviously, the author of the above-mentioned book was a supporter of the Shibanid dynasty, whose influence noticeably increased in Central and Central Asia in the 15th-16th centuries. But if we do not take this fact into account, then we can conclude that Batu inherited the western part of the Jochi ulus, because the Mongols traditionally associated white with this direction, and blue always symbolized the east.

The Mongols themselves called the Batu Empire Ak Orda (White Horde), and the name "Golden Horde" was first recorded in the second half of the 16th century, when this state no longer existed.

True, some researchers believe that the Horde-Ichin ulus eventually divided into the White (Western Kazakhstan) and Blue (Eastern Kazakhstan and Southern Siberia) Horde, and the Golden Horde should be called only the ulus of Batu Khan.
There is also an alternative hypothesis among historians that the White Horde allegedly occupied the territories of the Caucasus and the Northern Black Sea region, up to the Danube, and the Blue Horde occupied the eastern half of the Jochi ulus. At the same time, the Golden Horde was the central part of the empire, the capital of which was the city of Saray-Batu.

lifting moment

The Blue Horde could not boast of such wealth, military power and influence as the western part of the Jochi ulus. It was a real provincial wilderness, the small population of which was made up of various Turkic-speaking tribes (mainly Kipchaks), as well as the Mongols and representatives of other peoples who once joined the army of Genghis Khan. All of them were mainly engaged in animal husbandry. Extensive agriculture was widespread on the southern outskirts of the Blue Horde.

The capital of this medieval state was the city of Orda-Bazar, located 150 kilometers northwest of modern Zhezkazgan (Kazakhstan). The Blue Horde minted its own coins - silver and copper.
Not the entire territory of this country belonged to the descendants of Orda-Ichin, although they were considered the first in seniority here, part of the land was occupied by the heirs of the other sons of Jochi - Shiban and Tuka-Timur (Tokai-Timur).

However, the protectorate of the Golden Horde over these lands ended in the middle of the XIV century, when most of the rulers of the western part of the empire were mired in civil strife, which went down in history under the eloquent name "Great Jail".
The first independent khan of the Blue Horde was Mubarek-Khoja, who ruled from 1345 to 1352. Then he was replaced by his brother - Chimtai (Chamtai), who occupied the throne until 1372.

The weakening of the position of the heirs of Batu led to the strengthening of the influence of the descendants of Orda-Ichin. So, Khan Tokhtamysh, after the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, managed to unite the two parts of the empire, defeating the army of Mamai with the help of Russian troops, who was not a descendant of Genghis Khan, but managed to seize power in Sarai thanks to his administrative and managerial talent.

However, Tokhtamysh failed to retain power. He committed a number of short-sighted actions, the main of which was the campaign against Moscow in 1382. As a result of this senseless and cruel military action, Tokhtamysh lost his main strategic ally - Prince Dmitry Donskoy, who hoped for an alliance with the Horde in the fight against the strengthened influence of the Lithuanian principality.

Further political intrigues and bloody civil strife led to the weakening of the Golden Horde, which finally collapsed in the 15th century.

Sunset of the Blue Horde

In addition to the politically short-sighted campaign against Moscow, Tokhtamysh made another strategic mistake, in 1383 he captured Khorezm, ruining relations with the legendary commander Tamerlane (Timur). This Turkic-speaking conqueror of Mongolian origin, who founded the Timurid dynasty, united under his rule many states of Central Asia.

In 1387, together with the troops of Shah Hussein Sufi, the ruler of Khorezm, Tokhtamysh made a predatory raid on Bukhara, which finally angered Tamerlane. The commander, who was called the "Iron Lame", successively led three campaigns on the lands of the Horde, finally defeating them in 1395 in the battle on the Terek River.
If Tokhtamysh had loyal allies, he had a chance to defend his state. But the short-sighted policy of the khan forced many neighboring rulers to turn away from him.

After the conquest by Timur's troops, the Blue Horde lost its influence, breaking up into a number of separate uluses.

Even the official historiography has preserved information about the ancient settlements that existed in Siberia and Altai even before Yermak. But for some reason these data are deprived of the attention of historians, archaeologists and other specialists. Everyone should consider that Siberia is not a historical land ...

An assessment of Siberia as a "non-historical land" was first given by one of the creators of the notorious "Norman theory", a German in the Russian service, Gerard Miller. In the "History of Siberia" and "Description of the Kuznetsk district of the Tobolsk province in Siberia in its current state, in September 1734" he only briefly mentions the cities that existed in this territory before the arrival of the Russian people. For example, he notes that in the Malyshevskaya Sloboda (which for almost two centuries belonged to the Altai mining plants, now in the Novosibirsk region), “ at the mouth of the Nizhnyaya Suzunka River, 8 versts above the settlement, and near the village of Kulikova, 12 versts above the previous place, on the Ob - you can still see traces of old cities that were built here by the former inhabitants of these places, probably the Kyrgyz. They consist of earthen ramparts and deep ditches with holes dug here and there, over which, it seems, there were houses.«.

Elsewhere, the first historian of Siberia specifies that " immediately before the Russian conquest of these places, they ... were owned by the Kyrgyz, a pagan Tatar nation ... Here and there, traces of old cities and fortifications in which these peoples were located are still found ”.

Such an approach, when the existence of ancient cities on the territory of Siberia, as it were, is not denied, but is not of particular interest to researchers, has been preserved to this day. The overwhelming majority of domestic historians still share the assessment given by the "father of the history of Siberia" Gerard Miller as a non-historical land, and in this regard they stubbornly ignore the cities that stood here for hundreds, but what's there! - thousands of years before the appearance of Yermak. Archaeologists, with a few exceptions, hardly excavated the remains of Russian fortresses, cities and settlements, although there is a lot of information about these signs of the highest civilization of the peoples who once lived here.

Accounting for Siberian cities was laid back in pre-Ermakov times. In 1552, Ivan the Terrible ordered to draw up the "Great Drawing" of the Russian land. Soon such a map was created, but during the Time of Troubles it disappeared, and the description of the lands was preserved. In 1627, in the discharge order, the clerks Likhachev and Danilov completed the “Book of the Big Drawing”, in which about a hundred cities are mentioned only in the north-west of Siberia.

Yes, indeed, when the Cossacks came to Siberia at the beginning of the 17th century, they no longer discovered large cities. But small fortresses, called towns, met them in abundance. So, according to the Posolsky order, only in the Ob region at the end of the 17th century, 94 cities were lined with fur yasak.

On the foundation of the past

In 1940-1941 and 1945-1946, employees of the Abakan Museum under the leadership of L. Evtyukhova excavated the ruins of a palace built around 98 BC, existed for about a century and left by people at the turn of the old and new eras. The majestic building is believed to have belonged to the Chinese General Li Liing. He was the governor of the western Xiongnu lands in the Minusinsk basin. The palace, which received the name Tashebinsky in literature, was located in the center of a large city with an area of ​​\u200b\u200btens of hectares. The building itself had 20 rooms, was 45 meters long and 35 meters wide. The building is also characterized by a tiled roof, the total weight of which was about five tons. Surprisingly, two thousand years ago, builders managed to create rafters that could withstand such a weight.

News about Siberian cities in ancient times came from Arab travelers. So, at the turn of the 8th-9th centuries, the Arab Tamim ibn al-Muttavai, traveling from the city of Taraz on the Talas River to the capital city of the Uighurs, Ordu-bylyk on the Orkhon River, reported on the capital of the Kimak king on the Irtysh. 40 days after departure from Taraz, he arrived in a large fortified city of the king, surrounded by cultivated land with villages. There are 12 huge iron gates in the city, many inhabitants, cramped conditions, lively trade in numerous bazaars.

Al-Muttawai saw the ruined city in the southwestern Altai, near Lake Zaisan, but could not establish from inquiries who built it and when, and by whom and when it was destroyed. The richest ore region, discovered by Russian ore miners in the Altai Mountains at the beginning of the 18th century, which is now called Rudny Altai, was in fact discovered many centuries before them. Miners only rediscovered it. Developments hastily left by ancient people served as a sure search sign. Who they are is still not known for certain; experts, along with publicists, call them a miracle.

Legends about the wealth of the Altai Mountains were known even in Ancient Greece. The father of history, Herodotus, wrote about the Arimaspians and "vultures guarding the gold."

According to famous scientists Alexander Humboldt, Pyotr Chikhachev and Sergey Rudenko, Herodotus meant the population of Rudny Altai by arimaspi and vultures (influenza). In addition, Humboldt and Chikhachev believed that it was the Altai and Ural deposits of gold ores that were the main sources of gold supply for European Scythians and ancient Greek colonies.

In the Altai Mountains in the first millennium BC there was a rich and vibrant culture, which was discovered by Sergei Rudenko in 1929-1947 during the excavations of the Pazyryk burial mounds. As he believes, civilization disappeared in a short time, perhaps as a result of an epidemic, enemy invasion or famine. However, when the Russians ended up in the south of Siberia, they discovered that the natives, in this case the Shors, were excellent at metalworking. No wonder the first city founded here in 1618 was built on the site of their town and named Kuznetsk. This is evidenced by the replies submitted to the Siberian order by the Kuznetsk governor Gvintovkin.

Tyumen, Tomsk, Omsk, Semipalatinsk, Barnaul and many other Siberian cities were also built where the settlements of ancient people used to be.

For example, it is reliably known that in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe Oktyabrskaya metro station in modern Novosibirsk there was a large fortress of the local tribe Tsattyrt (in Russian - Chaty). In it, on June 22, 1589, the 16-year war of the Muscovite state with Khan Kuchum ended. Voyevoda Voeikov gave him a fight on the site of the current Novosibirsk hydroelectric power station. Khan Kuchum hid for some time in the fortress from the chase, but then decided to leave, forever parting with his Siberian Khanate. Its ruins survived until the arrival of bridge builders. And in 1912 they were described by Nikolai Litvinov, the compiler of the very first reference book of Novonikolaevsk. By the way, Nikolai Pavlovich in 1924-1926 headed the Rubtsovsky district health department.

However, specialists, as if spellbound by continuing to repeat about the "richest history of Siberia", are reluctant to look into the depths of centuries. It’s as if they are dealing with the legendary city of Kitezh, which has sunk into the lake…

Russian natives

In 1999, an ancient city was discovered, located in the Zdvinsky district of the Novosibirsk region (until 1917 it was the territory of Altai), on the shores of Lake Chicha. The age of the settlement turned out to be sensationally great - VIII-VII centuries BC, that is, in much earlier times than the appearance of the first cities of the Hun era in Siberia has been dated so far. This confirmed the hypothesis that the Siberian civilization is much older than it seemed. Judging by the excavations and found fragments of household utensils, people of almost European appearance lived here. It is possible that Chichaburg was a place where the paths of various peoples crossed, the center of Ancient Siberia.

The first mention of a trading trip along the Ob River by Russian merchants was made in 1139. Then the Novgorodian Andriy went to its mouth and brought from there a large load of furs.

It is interesting for us that he discovered a Russian settlement at the mouth of the Ob, in which there was a bargaining, where, as it turned out, Russian merchants had long been exchanging their goods for excellent Siberian furs. There is scarce information, published, in particular, in the book of Leonid Kyzlasov "Ancient cities of Siberia", that Russian merchants in the XII - early XIII centuries traded with the cities of the Kyrgyz Khaganate. Surprisingly, the well-preserved mummies of a woman and a man, discovered in the mid-1990s on the Altai high plateau Ukok, belonged not to the Mongoloid, but to the Caucasoid race. And the jewels and fine products of the Scythian, or "animal" style, dug by the buggers in the ancient burial mounds of Altai, also testify to the high culture of the ancient peoples living here, their close ties with the world, in particular, with Asia Minor.

Not far from the borders of the Altai Territory and Kazakhstan, archaeologists discovered large settlements of the Bronze Age, which they called not quite aptly - proto-cities or settlements claiming the status of cities. These are unfenced formations occupying unusually large areas - from five to thirty hectares. For example, Kent occupies 30 hectares, Buguly I - eleven, Myrzhik - three hectares. Around the settlement of Kent, within a radius of five kilometers, there were the villages of Bayshura, Akim-bek, Domalaktas, Naiza, Narbas, Kzyltas and others.

Descriptions of both flourishing and ruined ancient Siberian cities before Yermak can be found in such authors as Tahir Marvazi, Salam at-Tarjuman, Ibn Khordadbeh, Chan Chun, Marco Polo, Rashid-ad-Din, Snorri Sturlusson, Abul-Ghazi, Sigismund Herberstein , Milescu Spafari, Nicolai Witsen. The following names of the disappeared Siberian cities have come down to us: Inanch (Inanj), Kary-Sayram, Karakorum (Sarkuni), Alafkhin (Alakchin), Kemijket, Khakan Khirkhir, Darand Khirkhir, Nashran Khirkhir, Ordubalyk, Kamkamchut, Apruchir, Chinhai, Kyan, Ilay , Arsa, Sakhadrug, Ika, Kikas, Kambalyk, Grustina, Serpenov (Serponov), Kanunyon, Kossin, Terom and others.

newspaper "Altaiskaya Pravda", 04.02.2011

A large number of Siberian cities that were not advertised before are contained in the Remezov Chronicle, which was first publicly demonstrated by Nikolai Levashov.

The "Drawing Book of Siberia" and its three sons can be safely called the first Russian geographical atlas. It consists of a preface and 23 large-format maps, covering the entire territory of Siberia and distinguished by the abundance and detail of information. The book contains handwritten drawings of the lands: the City of Tobolsk and suburbs with streets, Tobolsk city, Tara city, Tyumen city, Turin prison, Vekhotursky city, Pelymsky city, and other cities and environs.

There are good people in Siberia and luxurious people in the North. In the Urals - there are problems. The people there are so closed ... their name is chipmunks. - Eduard Kochergin

Everything that the Russian people could do in Siberia, he did with extraordinary energy, and the result of his labors is worthy of astonishment in its immensity. - N. Yadrintsev

Must do justice to Siberia. With all the shortcomings rooted in it from the constant influx of various, often very unclean elements, such as: dishonor, selfishness, secrecy, mutual distrust - it is distinguished by some special breadth of heart and thought, true generosity. - Mikhail Bakunin

It is not the one who lives in Siberia that freezes, but the one who dresses warmly.

O! it was a great happiness for me: Siberia and penal servitude! They say: horror, anger, they talk about the legitimacy of some kind of anger! most terrible nonsense! It was only there that I lived a healthy, happy life, I understood myself there, my dear ... I understood Christ ... I understood the Russian man and felt that I myself am Russian, that I am one of the Russian people. All my best thoughts then came into my head, now they are only returning, and even then it is not so clear. Ah, if only you were sent to hard labor! - Fedor Dostoevsky

Since Siberia exists, and from time to time there is a use known to you, then I would like to move there young bored officers and beauties with upset nerves. "You ask for a passport to Paris, so here's a passport to Tobolsk."
I would like the emperor to prescribe just such a cure for the mania for travel, which is spreading with frightening speed in Russia among imaginative second lieutenants and hypochondriacal ladies.
Astolf de Custine

The Siberian region is extremely curious, and I am very sorry that this time I did not manage to go further, hoping, moreover, that if God will allow me to get there in time. I saw many visitors from there and everyone is very sorry that I cannot visit them. The local population must be divided completely into separate parts. Watchmen, or native Siberians, are a purely Russian people, tied to their Sovereign and to our entire family, moral, living calmly and in prosperity, because their land is amazing, everything is black soil, the people are prominent, proof that here I saw many indefinite and retired from the Guards and especially from the Semyonovsky regiment - the most selective people.

The other part of the population of Siberia is of a completely different kind and detrimental to this region, these are the settlers, or those exiled to the settlement, who do nothing more than roam the high roads, rob and offend the inhabitants and are a real burden for them. They are impossible to watch. We went into several huts and the peasants told us that when they go to work, they put bread and salt and kvass on the windows for the vagabond exiles, otherwise they will set fire to their village or plunder their houses. There is nothing to say, an unenviable situation, which, however, is very difficult to help, one way is to stop these migrations and deal much more strictly with the exiles who have been guilty a second time.

Alexander II

Siberia is a constantly plundered country. If someone gets a decent one, then immediately go to Moscow. And who will stay here? - Mikhail Uspensky

In the very heart of the mountains of the Northern Urals there is a mysterious place - the Man-Pupu-Ner ridge. The mountain of the Small Gods is called by the Mansi reindeer herders wandering here. And this name is not accidental. Seven bizarre stone figures rise on the flat surface of the ridge. One resembles a petrified woman, the other resembles a lion, the third resembles a wise old man with a raised hand.

Seven Frozen Giants

Tourists from different cities of Russia rush to see the famous Pechora "doodles" and hurriedly pass by the lonely high conical peak of Mount Koip. Coyp in Vogul means drum. One of the legends of the Mansi people connects this peak with its famous neighbors. Once upon a time, seven Samoyed giants went through the mountains to Siberia to destroy the Vogul people. When they climbed the Man-Pupu-Ner ridge, their leader-shaman saw in front of him the sacred mountain of the Voguls Yalping-ner. In horror, the shaman threw his drum, which turned into Mount Koyp, and he and his companions froze in fear and became stone blockheads.

But there is another legend that can also be heard from the Mansi, but much less often. Coyp looks like a conical mountain from the side of stone blockheads. But if you look at her from a small nameless ridge located to the west, you will clearly see a woman with sharp features lying on her back. This is a petrified shaman, punished for trying to offend one of the oldest idols, once revered by all the peoples of the north - the Golden Woman. When the golden idol was crossing the stone belt of the Ural Mountains, the shaman, who considered herself his mistress, wanted to detain the Golden Woman. The idol screamed in a terrible voice, and all living things died of fear for many miles around, and the arrogant shaman fell back and turned to stone.

The screams emitted by the Golden Woman are evidenced not only by Mansi legends, but also by the memories of foreigners who visited Russia. Here, for example, is what the Italian Alexander Gvagnini wrote in 1578: “They even say that in the mountains next to this idol they heard a sound and a loud roar like a trumpet”.

What is this golden idol, the appearance of which is accompanied by a terrible scream and roar? Where did he come from and where did he disappear to?

Great Biarmia

In Russia, the oldest written mention of it is the Novgorod Chronicle of 1538. The chronicle speaks of the missionary activity of Stephen of Perm. Stefan walked around the Permian land, destroyed ancient sanctuaries and erected Christian churches in their place. The chronicle says that Stefan sowed the faith of Christ in the Perm land among the peoples who previously worshiped animals, trees, water, fire and the Golden Woman.

But the legends about the Golden Woman hiding somewhere in the North appeared a very long time ago. They are associated with the legendary, vast country, which spread in the 9th-12th centuries in the forests covering the valleys of the Northern Dvina, Vychegda and the upper reaches of the Kama. In Russia, it was called Perm the Great, in the Scandinavian sagas the powerful state of Biarmia or Biarmalandia. The peoples inhabiting it worshiped a huge golden idol - the Golden Woman. Her sanctuary, located somewhere near the mouth of the Northern Dvina, according to the Scandinavian sagas, was guarded by six shamans day and night. Many treasures were accumulated by the servants of the idol, who bore the name of Yumal in the sagas. Great Perm was rich in skins of valuable fur-bearing animals. Merchants from Khazaria lying in the lower reaches of the Volga and Vikings from distant Scandinavia paid for them without stint.

On the old maps of Muscovy near the mouth of the Ob, the inscription "Golden Baba" is often found. Sometimes an inscription accompanies a drawing of a beautiful woman. She was worshiped by the inhabitants of the North. The Siberian golden idol teased the imagination, and foreigners traveling around Russia willingly included stories about him in their books.

Russian chroniclers described the manners of ancient Perm as follows: “They worship idols, they bring sacrifices to them ... they come from afar, bringing gifts ... or sables, or martens, or ermines ... or foxes, or bears, or a lynx, or a squirrel ... gold, or silver, or copper , or iron, or tin". The northern lands are rich in gold. But what about diamonds? After the recent discovery of a deposit of these precious stones near Arkhangelsk, doubts have disappeared.

But time passed and the strengthened neighbors of Perm the Great extended their tenacious hands to this rich, but sparsely populated region.

First, the Novgorod ushkuyniki, then the squads of the Moscow Grand Duke, increasingly began to make their way into the once reserved northern forests. Fleeing from Christianity, the admirers of the Golden Woman hid their idol either in caves on the Ural Range, or in the impenetrable forest-tundra of the Ob River, or in the inaccessible gorges of the Putoran Mountains in Taimyr.

Where did such a strange deity come from in Mansi? It is so uncharacteristic of the customs of this people that it seems to have fallen to them directly from the sky. Most scientists believe that the Golden Woman is the Mansi goddess Sorni-Ekva, whose name is translated into Russian as "golden woman".

Regarding the question of where the golden statue came from on the Perm land, opinions differed. Leonid Teplov, a researcher of the history of Biarmia, suggests that the golden statue could have been carried away from the burning sacked Rome in 410 AD during the attack of the Ugrians and the Goths. Some of them returned to their homeland to the Arctic Ocean, and the antique statue, brought from a distant southern city, became an idol of the northern people.

Other scholars lead the path of the mysterious goddess from China, believing that this is a Buddha statue, which in Chinese Buddhism merges with the image of the goddess Guanyi. There are defenders of the "Christian" origin of the Golden Woman. They suggest that this statue of the Madonna was stolen during a raid on one of the Christian temples.

Hunt for the Golden Woman

They tried to take possession of the Golden Woman for a long time.

In search of treasure, the Vikings ransacked the most remote corners of Eastern Europe. Usually they acted under the guise of merchants. Once the Vikings managed to attack the trail of the Biarmian sanctuary and rob it. It contained a wooden copy of the Golden Baba. The original remained inaccessible to the Scandinavians. In the XI century, Biarmia was conquered by the Rus. The Rus, unlike the Germans, did not destroy other people's sanctuaries. They were satisfied with the usual tribute. The Golden Baba continued to be the main protector of the Biarms. The more Christianity grew stronger, the more intolerant it became towards foreign gods and customs. At the end of the 14th century, Bishop Stefan Khrap, the future St. Stephen of Great Perm, arrived in the Kama region. He was a person of outstanding intelligence and education. At the same time, the bishop was stern and adamant and burned with the desire to eradicate paganism in the lands entrusted to him. The chronicler impassively states: “Vladyka Stefan was furious with the filthy Permian idols, sculpted, sculpted, hollowed out gods. In the end, he crushed, dug, burned with fire, cut with an ax, crushed with a butt, incinerated without a trace and through the forests, and through the graveyards, and at the boundaries, and at the crossroads..

From the life of St. Stephen, we know that the missionary preached among the admirers of the Golden Baba. Of course, he would give a lot for the possession of the main shrine of the pagan Permians. But the idol has disappeared. Only later did it become clear that he had been taken over the Ural Mountains. In the middle of the 15th century, Moscow governors began to conquer the Northern Trans-Urals. They made the most outstanding campaign in 1499-1501. In those days, a large army of 4 thousand people, led by Semyon Kurbsky and Peter Ushaty, crossed the Subpolar Urals in winter. Skiers went to the Northern Sosva basin and fought the entire Yugra land. They captured 42 fortresses and colonized 58 local princes. But the main value of the Ostyaks, the idol of the Golden Baba with temple treasures, could not be found.

The borders of Muscovite Russia moved farther and farther to the east and southeast. The Golden Baba had the same path. The later the message about it, the further from the ancient Biarmia we find it. Later, the trace of the idol was lost. Explorers in the 17th century traveled all over Siberia far and wide, but the mysterious idol is not mentioned in Russian documents of that era. At the very time when foreigners placed the Golden Baba on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, she was known much further south.

At the end of the 16th century, the Volga robbers plundered the sovereign's ship sailing to Astrakhan with "a treasury of money and gunpowder." In the battle, the royal ambassador was killed. The patience of Ivan the Terrible came to an end. The Cossacks, saving their heads, fled to the Ural outskirts of the state. They were willingly accepted by Kama merchants and salt producers, the Stroganovs. Behind the Stone Belt lay the Siberian kingdom of Khan Kuchum. This descendant of Genghis Khan kept ruining the Kama villages, taking the inhabitants into slavery. The arriving Cossacks were given the task of discouraging Kuchum from attacking.

The campaign for the Stone was led by Ermak Timofeevich Alenin. Maxim Stroganov added 300 of his warriors to his Cossack detachment of 540 soldiers. The army of the Siberian Khan many times outnumbered the aliens and even had cannons brought from Kazan. But nothing saved her from destruction. After several victories in the fall of 1582, the Russians settled in the capital city of Siberia. To the north of the city they encountered Ostyak idols. Yermak dispatched Yesaul Bogdan Bryazga to capture the Demyansk and Nazym towns. These towns lay in the lower reaches of the Irtysh and near its confluence with the Ob. The defenders of one of the fortresses put up fierce resistance. For three days the Cossacks stormed its walls and already wanted to turn back. But then they heard a story about the deposition from a local Chuvash, who had once been brought by the soldiers of Kuchum from Russia: “They pray to the Russian God, and that Russian God of cast gold sits in the thicket”.

The news of the Russian golden idol impressed the Cossacks so much that they forgot about the retreat. The Chuvash volunteered to steal the statue and entered the fortress. We were looking forward to his return. But the scout returned empty-handed. Strong security prevented the fulfillment of his plan. When the town was captured, the idol disappeared. Having reached the Ob, Bogdan and his companions approached Belogorye, sacred to the Ostyaks. Here was "the prayer of the great goddess of the ancient." A few years before the conquest of Siberia, Poland already knew that the Golden Baba was a woman with a child in her arms. The Belogorsk idol looked the same: “naga, sitting on a chair with her son.” Later sources call him the Golden Baba.

Terrible was the Belogorsk goddess. Here's what the hikers had to say about her: “And they give her a share of every providence. And if anyone breaks this law, he is tormented and tormented. And whoever brings it not from the heart and regretting it, he, having fallen before her, will die. It has many priests and a great community". Bogdan was not afraid to disturb the sacred rest, he entered Belogorye. Then the mistress of the Ugrians ordered to hide her idol, and covered the huge prayer place so that the aliens could not find it. Soon after returning from the campaign, the Cossacks, along with Bryazga, were ambushed and were exterminated.

A year later, a well-armed detachment of Ivan Mansurov came out to Belogorye. At the mouth of the Irtysh, the soldiers cut down the fortress and wintered. A large Ostyak army surrounded the fortification and went on the attack all day. The next day, the besiegers brought the goddess, placed her under a tree and began a prayer service for victory. The Russians did not wait for the end of the prayer service, after which the Golden Baba was supposed to show her strength. In order not to tempt fate, they hit the assembled with cannons. One of the cores has reached the target. From the annals we learn: “It is a tree, under it stood a Besurmen idol, broken into many parts, and crushing their idol”.

Despite the assurances of the chroniclers about the destruction of the idol, reports of the Golden Baba appeared later. At the beginning of the 18th century, Filofei and Grigory Novitsky unsuccessfully pursued her, exterminating the remnants of paganism among the Trans-Ural Ugric peoples.

In the 20th century, the struggle against paganism continued. It was 1933. The competent authorities received a signal. It turned out that the Khanty, who lived along the Kazym River (the right tributary of the Lower Ob), hide the Golden Baba and worship her. The battle with the "religious dope" was in full swing. The Kazym shaman was seized and thrown into the dungeon. After some time, experts have achieved the necessary information. It was necessary to kill two birds with one stone - to strike at religious remnants and replenish the country's budget with a product made of precious metal. A group of Chekists went to the secret temple. But then the taiga hunters rebelled and shot the uninvited guests. The massacre was fast. A new detachment of atheists destroyed almost all the men of the taiga tribe. The guns were taken away from the rest, which condemned them to starvation. The sanctuary was destroyed. What happened to the Kazym idol of the Golden Baba is still a mystery.

Mistress of Copper Mountain

The supreme goddess of the Ugrians was known under different names: Golden Baba, Sorni-Ekva (literally "golden woman"), Kaltash-Ekva, Yoli and others. The supreme god Numi-Torum was her brother and husband. This progenitor of the human race endowed newborns with souls. The Ugrians believed that souls sometimes take the form of a beetle or a lizard. Their divine mistress herself could also turn into a lizard-like creature.

Bazhov's wonderful tales describe the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. The folklore of the Ural miners knows another name for her, Golden Baba. The mistress of the underground pantries of the Urals often appeared before the eyes of people in the form of a huge lizard with a retinue of multi-colored lizards. The miner's Golden Baba, like the Belogorsk goddess, did not like the greedy and crooked.

The hostess appears before us primarily as the owner of copper ores and malachite. She herself wore a malachite dress and was called Malachitnitsa. But all this means that the idol of the Golden Baba, from which the fabulous Mistress of the Copper Mountain descended, was copper. The green dress appeared because from time to time copper is covered with a green oxide film.

The ancient goddess Belogorye was a copper statue that had turned green with time. It becomes clear why the chronicler kept silent about the material of the idol and did not call him the Golden Baba. In fairy tales we find memories of the golden Russian God. In the Urals they knew the golden Great Poloz, that is, the Great Uzh. Already lived underground and could take the form of both a snake and a man. This being had power over gold.

Among the Ugric antiquities there are many copper items. In the Urals, traces of ancient mining and metallurgical production are often found. They, for example, were dotted with the Gumeshevskoye copper deposit. Gumeshki are located near the sources of the Chusovaya River. The first miners appeared here 35 centuries ago. It was in the Gumeshek region that the main events of the Bazhov tales took place.

Russian miners associated their underground patrons with the era of the "old people", among whom were the same Ugric peoples. Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the identity of the underground rulers of tales and the Ugric gods.

The fact that we are on the right track is evidenced by the testimony of Julius Leta. This 15th-century Italian historian knew about the copper statues of the Ugrians who lived near the Arctic Ocean. Leth believed that the Ugrians were part of the barbarian army of Alaric and captured the sculptures during the sack of Rome. Russian tales have given us a guiding thread that leads to another mistress of the copper mountains. Strange as it may seem, but at the same time we find ourselves in places thousands of kilometers away from the Urals.

The Yakuts living on the Lena have myths - olonkho. They speak of many gods. But Des Emeget (“copper woman”) is endowed with special power. The copper idol was the goddess of the Adyarai tribe. The epic Yakuts either fought with the Adyarais, or conducted peaceful trade with them.

The Adyarai country lay on the shores of the Arctic Ocean on the extreme western limits of the world known to the Yakuts. It was ruled by Des Emeget and the blacksmith Cuettenni. Geographical landmarks and the name of the blacksmith lead us to the Kets. The Kets were famous for blacksmithing skills rare in the North. Blacksmiths in ancient times were both miners and metallurgists. There are very few kites left now. They live in the lower reaches of the Yenisei. Previously, Ket-speaking tribes were known over vast areas.

Of all the groups of Yakuts, only one lives off the coast of the Arctic Ocean. These are the so-called Dolgans, occupying a significant part of the Taimyr Peninsula. In the past, Dolgans and Kets coexisted. It was from the Dolgans that information about the tribe of the copper idol came to the rest of the Yakuts. The Kets speak a language not similar to Ugric. But before the revolution, they were called Ostyaks, like the Ugrians. Consequently, despite the linguistic differences, the culture of both of them had a lot in common.

Judging by the names of the Norilsk rivers and lakes, both Kets and Khanty lived on their banks. The Yakuts called them all Adyarais. The interest of Adyarai blacksmiths in this area is not accidental. The richest copper-nickel deposits are concentrated here, and next to them are the reserves of coal necessary for smelting ore. Moreover, in some places, ores and coal come to the surface.

The cult of the Golden Baba was accompanied by musical instruments. The Ural Mansi Sambindalov conveyed local legends in this way: “It was scary to walk close to the mountain. Baba screamed loudly ". Mansi did not read historical works. Meanwhile, long before him, Alexander Guagnini (1578) wrote: “They even say that in the mountains, next to this golden idol, they heard some kind of sound and a loud roar, like a trumpet”.

Sigismund Herberstein, who twice visited Muscovy at the beginning of the 16th century, knew about these same trumpet sounds. In the Yakut olonkho, the copper idol looks like this:

spinning on your back,
twisting obsessively,
crying out
bouncing
Like a cricket, it began to ring.

Researchers of the olonkho noted that the bell ringing is clearly heard in the songs of the idol. They even identified it with a bell.

Travelers of the early 17th century saw fires in the Norilsk region and smelled sulfur, which usually accompanies the smelting of sulfide ores. At the same time, they heard the bell ringing. Consequently, there really were bells in the realm of the copper idol, and the data of the olonkho are accurate. In the Urals, the Golden Baba was accompanied by horn music, and in the Yenisei - bell chimes and the sound of a rattle.

The Kets in the North were aliens. Their ancestral home lay in southern Siberia. But the Ugrians also moved to the Ob and Eastern Europe from Southern Siberia. Once both peoples were neighbors, which explains their common features. The main center of copper production in Southern Siberia lay in the Minusinsk Basin. From here the Mistress of the Copper Mountain was supposed to start her journey to the North.

Egyptian

Herberstein's story about the Golden Baba has long baffled scientists. Here it is: "The idol of the Golden Baba is a statue representing an old woman who holds her son in her womb, and that another child is already visible there, who, they say, is her grandson."

It turns out that inside the unborn child there is another child. Such an unlikely situation was clarified after the discovery in the Urals of a bronze figurine of the Ugric goddess. An image of a man emerges from the body of the goddess, and another face peeps out of his womb. Before us is a mythological image.

It seems that the secrets of the Golden Baba have been exhausted. It was not difficult for ancient metallurgists to make a copper idol. Figurines of the Golden Baba of local production, of course, existed. But the famous idol itself was made in completely different times, far from Russia.

Several drawings and verbal portraits of the Golden Baba have been preserved. She either stands holding a spear in her hand, or sits in an armchair with a staff or a child in her arms. Sometimes, along with the baby, an older child appears near the chair. The goddess appears sometimes in clothes, sometimes without it.

The Golden Baba is the supreme Ugric deity. But historians suggest that the statue originally depicted some other goddess. Opinions on this matter are very different: the Mother of God, the Slavic Golden Maya, Buddha, Guanyin, etc.

The key to unraveling the mysterious appearance is given by Bazhov's tales. In them, the Golden Snake is a golden man with a beard twisted into such tight rings that “you can’t straighten it.” He has green eyes and a cap with "red gaps" on his head. But this is an image of the green-eyed Osiris.

The beard of the Egyptian god was removed in a narrow, tight bun. The pharaohs who imitated him had the same beard. It is enough to recall the famous faces of Tutankhamun from his golden sarcophagi to understand what the rings on the beard of a golden man looked like. A hat with “red gaps” “pshent” is the white and red crown of united Egypt.

The wife and sister of Osiris was the green-eyed Isis - the goddess of fertility, water, magic, marital fidelity and love. She patronized lovers. In the same way, the Ural goddess is the goddess of the waters, closely associated with the theme of love and marital fidelity.

The image of the green-eyed Mistress of the Copper Mountain goes back to Isis. Today we can say what the copper statue of an Egyptian woman looked like. Recall that the Golden Baba was depicted as the Madonna. The image of the Mother of God with the baby Jesus arose under the influence of the sculptures of Isis with the baby Horus. One of these idols is kept in the Hermitage. Nude Isis sits and breastfeeds her son. On the head of the goddess is a crown of snakes, a solar disk and cow horns.

Egyptian myths help to understand a lot in our tales. Here, for example, is the magic green button. Mining Tanyusha was given it by the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, through the gift the girl communicated with her patroness. The Egyptian gods had a miraculous eye Wadjet ("green eye"). It also provided the owner with protection and patronage. Isis-Hathor was the keeper of the Eye and its incarnation.

Isis was known as the goddess of music. Because of this, her cult in the North was so resonant. At one time, the goddess invented the ratchet-sistrum, with which she was often depicted. The base of the sistrum was usually the figure of a cat with a human head.

Talking earthen cats were in the retinue of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. In the Ural tales, the cat of Isis appears either in the form of the cat Fiery Ears, protecting the brave Dunyasha, or the domestic Murenka, who persuaded the goat Silver Hoof to amuse the girl Darenka with gems.

In one of the tales we meet ants running along the treasured path. On their feet are golden shoes. Lapotochki increased in size as their owners moved. Before us are echoes of the Egyptian myth of the scarab beetle rolling the sun across the sky.

The Egyptians themselves called Isis Iset. Near Gumeshki, the Iset, the “river of Isis”, takes its source. Through this river, the Ural copper entered the forest Trans-Urals. The earthen cat was known in Sysert, whose name comes from the sistra. Once there was a temple in which the musical animal of the goddess was kept.

Osiris, who is also the Golden Man, in the stories of Western Europeans looks like a child standing near the Golden Baba. Consequently, his golden idol was miniature. Bazhov's tales know another miniature golden character - a female one. The Golden Goddess assumes in them the appearance of Fire-Running, a red-haired factory girl, a blue snake, an old woman Sinyushka. This mistress of gold veins lived in the water, protected the girls and miners who were pure in soul.

Before us is Isis again, but now golden. This means that the name Golden Baba was not born in an empty place. At first, this was the name of the golden figurine, and later - the copper statue of Isis and all her other images.

The fact that the Golden Baba is Isis was known by Petria (1620). But no one believed him. The appearance of Egyptian sculptures in Siberia seemed too surprising.

Siberian Slavs

The most burning secret of the Golden Baba turned out to be her Russian-sounding name. Among the Ob Ugrians there was another, and again Slavic - the Old Woman. The Belogorskaya Golden Baba was called by the Ostyaks Slovutes, that is, "Slav". Her Irtysh husband Golden Osiris was directly called the Russian God. In addition, the country of worshipers of Russian gods was called Siberia. This name was associated by medieval authors with the Slavic word "north". But then this correct explanation was considered unbelievable and others came up with it.

The key to the appearance of Slavic names is contained in the news of Muslim writers of the early Middle Ages. Al-Masudi (X century) describes three temples of the Slavs. The transcript of his story shows that one temple with the idol of "Saturn" stood in the Minusinsk Basin. The second, with a golden idol and a statue of a girl, is in the Taimyr region, the third is in the Urals.

About the veneration in the Minusinsk basin of "Saturn and Venus" wrote Abu Dulef, who visited here (X century). Ibn-Mukaffa (VIII century) called the inhabitants of this place Slavs. Under the Saturn of the Eastern authors, the god of the underworld Veles - Osiris is hiding, and under Venus - the goddess of love Morena - Isis.

The Slavs have lived in the Minusinsk Basin since the Cimmerian era. They owned the so-called Tagar archaeological culture. The Tagars were talented miners, metallurgists and blacksmiths. Under the pressure of nomadic hordes, mixed streams of Slavs, Ugric peoples and Kets left the region of the upper reaches of the Yenisei to the east and north. The divided people also divided the shrines. Golden Osiris and Copper Isis ended up in Taimyr, from there they got to the Kama region, then to Western Siberia. Golden Isis was transferred to the Urals. Copper Osiris remained in place.

The Minusinsk Slavs settled in the Irtysh basin and in the southern part of the Urals, which at that time was called the Slavic Mountains. Over time, brutal wars and mixed marriages led to the fact that Slavic speech ceased to sound in these places. Only the Golden Baba kept the secret of the disappeared people.

Traces of the presence of the Slavs on Siberian soil were felt for a very long time. Back in the 14th century, Elomari knew light and blue-eyed Siberians. He wrote: “The figures are their perfection of creation in beauty, whiteness and amazing charm; their eyes are blue."

Ermak's Cossacks, who broke through the Stone Belt, among the short and Mongoloid aborigines, to their surprise, sometimes met real giants, and among the aborigines - indescribable beauties.

Legacy of the Mother of the Gods

Travelers of the 19th century noted that in their time the Ob Ugrians no longer had ancient idols, and later copies were kept in temples. They made them very easy. The idol was buried in a mixture of sand and clay, and molten metal was poured into the resulting mold. One such Silver Baba seems to have been acquired by the Finnish scientist Karjalainen and taken to his homeland. Apparently, another similar idol fell into the hands of the Soviet Chekists and died. Are the chroniclers really right, and the cannonball destroyed Copper Isis in the 16th century? No. The core did no harm to her.

The crushing of the idol is reported only by later sources. From earlier and reliable ones, it is known that the core crushed only one nearby tree. Later, this story was somewhat embellished.

Copper Isis and Golden Osiris after the fall of the kingdom of Kuchum were transferred to an ancient temple near modern Norilsk. Somewhere in the Taimyr mountains of Putorana they are hidden to this day. The trail of Golden Isis is lost near the sources of Chusovaya and Iset. The tales point to the Azov-mountain near the modern city of Polevskoy. Copper Osiris never left the Yenisei. Someday the archaeologist's spade will stumble upon sculptures made in Egypt almost 30 centuries ago.

The Golden Woman sits among her priceless treasury. Over the centuries, expensive sable and overseas fabrics have turned into dust. But the main thing survived - the memory of the Great Slav, who gave life to the family of people and gods. In her renewed appearance of the Mother of God, she affectionately looks at us from the walls of Orthodox churches.

alien footprint

Ufologists did not pass by the amazing Golden Woman, completely unlike the other idols roughly carved from wood by shamans. They knew that the Khanty and Mansi peoples worshiped the amazing idol, and even now they worship. The metal golden woman seemed to have fallen from the sky. Or maybe it really fell?

This version of the origin of the golden idol was put forward several years ago by ufologist Stanislav Ermakov. He believes that the Golden Woman is an alien robot, for some reason, maybe due to a partial malfunction, left on Earth by its owners. For some time, the Golden Woman could move, and it is with this property that the Mansi legends about the “living” golden idol are associated. Then, it seems, the robot began to gradually fail. At first he could still make sounds, and then finally turned into a golden statue.

Several stories from Mansi reindeer herders unknown to S. Ermakov confirm his hypothesis.

In the Northern Urals, there is a domed mountain Manya-Tump covered with dense forest. Until very recently, reindeer herders, driving their herds along the Ural Range in the summer, did not even come close to the mountain. Here is what the Mansi guide Peter told about her to the cameraman M. Zaplatkin, who was filming a film about the stone idols of Man-Pupu-Nera: “For a long time it was impossible to go up the mountain. Whoever walks, be ill for a long time and die. Old people say - there stood navels, Sony Ekva, Golden woman. It was scary to walk close to the mountain. Baba screamed loudly. People speak a scary voice".

A little north of Mount Manya-Tump rises another mountain, which is also associated with legends about the terrible cry of the Golden Woman - Koyp. I already talked about it at the beginning of the article. The surroundings of this mountain are surprisingly suitable for the origin of the legend of the temple of the Golden Woman. At the foot of the mountain lies a perfectly round lake. This is no longer in the Northern Urals. On its shore you can see blocks covered with lichens, in which, with a little imagination, you can guess the remains of the sanctuary.

The Mansi reindeer herders who drive their herds in summer are sure to visit this sanctuary to leave their gifts on a quadrangular granite block, as if carved by human hands.

Between the mountains Manya-Tump and Koip, near which, according to legend, the Mansi heard the cry of the Golden Woman, there is another place, also, perhaps, associated with terrible screams. Only this last event happened in our time. This place is Mount Otorten, the highest point of the Northern Urals. In the winter of 1959, an experienced, well-trained group of skiers from the Ural Polytechnic Institute died here. Rescuers who went in search of tourists found a tent with a rugged back wall and the bodies of 9 hikers lying in deep snow. On the faces of all the dead, an expression of mortal horror froze. According to the commission that investigated this tragedy, one of the reasons that led to such a terrible death could be exposure to infrasound of great intensity.

Stanislav Ermakov made the assumption that the Golden woman-robot, abandoned by aliens, could not only speak, but also move. What and when made the robot motionless? One curious episode contained in the description of the campaign of the Viking Thorir Khund to Biarmia can answer this question: “The Vikings happily sailed at the mouth of the Dvina to the trading city of Biarmia. Everyone who had gold and goods for barter got a good profit. At the end of the bargaining with a full load of expensive fur goods, the Vikings went down the Dvina and, going out to the open sea, began to hold a council.

The temple of the supreme deity of the Biarms, as the Vikings reliably knew, was located in a dense forest, not far from the mouth of the Vin (Dvina) River. It was there that they planned to make their way and, if they were lucky, take possession of the treasures collected there. Thorir Hund, thrusting his ax into the gate, with his help climbed over it. Carly did the same, and they let the comrades inside the fenced area. Approaching the mound, the Vikings collected as much money as they could carry. Put them in your dress.

They got to the very image of Yumala, which towered among the sacred fence. A precious golden chain hung around the neck of the Biarmian god. Karli was seduced by the chain and struck with an ax so hard on the neck of the idol that the head rolled off his shoulders with a terrifying crack.

Perhaps a Viking could not cut off the head of a cast statue. Another thing is if a robot stood in front of him, consisting of a metal frame covered with a thin layer of metal. The watchmen of the sanctuary came to the rescue and drove the Vikings away. Those miraculously managed to break through to the ships, leaving the treasures collected near the Golden Woman.

Where is the idol or broken robot now? As the last refuge of the Golden Woman, three remote, hard-to-reach corners of Russia are traditionally called: the lower reaches of the Ob River, the upper reaches of the Irtysh in the region. Kalbinsky Range and impassable gorges of the Putoran Mountains on the Taimyr Peninsula. But, perhaps, the idol with a terrible, deadly voice is much closer. And it hides somewhere in the triangle between the mountains Koyp, Otorten and Manya-Tump. Such an assumption is more logical if we consider that the Golden Woman "shouted" on Otorten. The hunt for her continues: some are looking for a priceless historical relic, others - gold, others - a storehouse of alien technology.