14:02 — REGNUM

On the pages of IA REGNUM, a fierce debate continues about the events in the history of Karabakh, both recent and old. Most of the publications on this topic are full of interesting factual material, but its interpretations by representatives of both sides sometimes have very little in common with the search for pure and impartial historical knowledge. There is no need to harbor illusions: we are witnessing a lawsuit for land, and one of the arguments in this struggle is just references to the events of the past, including those long past. The Russian historian should not intervene once again in the vendetta of the two Transcaucasian peoples, so that in his professional field he does not become like the noble Mercutio, who stuck between the fighting Montagues and Capuleti and then exclaimed with bitter anguish: "A plague on both your houses!".

However, situations sometimes arise when a Russian historian cannot remain an indifferent observer of someone else's verbal strife. In our case, this happens when one of the parties to the controversy, wanting to find new arguments in favor of its "unconditional" and "exclusive" rights to Karabakh, tries to do this by denigrating the historical Russian statehood, the valiant Russian army and its military leaders.

July 30, 2011 REGNUM published an article by Professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences Jamil Hasanli "Accession of the Karabakh Khanate to the Russian Empire: Historical Realities and Myths". The facts presented in it are taken from published sources and do not represent scientific novelty. In terms of the selection of material and, especially, in its tone, this article is a classic "anti-colonial" and anti-Armenian sob on the subject of the untimely death of the "purely Muslim", "purely Turkic" Karabakh khanate, absorbed by the insidious imperial Russia at the beginning of the 19th century. On the periphery of the expanse of the former Russian Empire, we observe many such mourners-accusers from young national historiographers, and polemics with them do not seem worthy of us. Armenian colleagues, of course, will find what essentially to answer Hasanly to his arguments about the Turkic and Muslim solidity of Karabakh.

We could not waste time arguing with the doctor of historical sciences, who appeals to the "scientific" authority of the fiction writer V.S. Pikul. However, in Professor Hasanly's article, one passage involuntarily attracted our attention: "In 1806, when Iran launched an offensive against Shusha, the head of the garrison of the fortress, Major Lisanevich, being wary of the unexpected actions of the Karabakh Khan, killed the entire family of Ibrahim Khalil Khan, with the exception of one son - Mehdi Cooley-agi." From this seemingly casually said phrase, an uninitiated reader can conclude that the Russian military leader, simply out of some abstract fears, committed an extrajudicial murder of the legitimate ruler of the Karabakh Khanate, who recognized Russia's power over him. And not just Ibrahim Khan, but his entire family. That is, we can conclude that in this case we are talking about either a grave crime of the commander of the Russian garrison, or, if we go even further, about the cruel treachery of the Russian imperial authorities, which a year earlier accepted the Khan of Karabakh under their protection, and then killed him without any reason .

In general, in Azerbaijani historical journalism one can find a whole layer of hysterics on the subject of this imaginary villainous "war crime" of the Russians against the Karabakh khan's house. For example, Eldar Amirov called Lisanevich "the executioner of the Azerbaijani people" in the article "Prelude to the tragedies of Karabakh: the execution of the ruler Ibrahim Khan and his family" . We should not ignore this and similar hysterical attacks, since they directly affect the honor and good name of the soldiers and commanders of the Russian army.

In fact, the story of the death of Ibrahim Khan, although not yet fully understood, is still well known to researchers. And the available materials allow us, even without additional archival research, to offer the reader our own version of those events. The main sources for us will be the 3rd volume of the "Acts collected by the Caucasian Archaeographic Commission" (Tiflis, 1869; hereinafter AKAK), as well as the 3rd part of the not so widely known "History of the 13th Life Grenadier Erivan Regiment of His Majesty for 250 years (1642-1892)" (St. Petersburg, 1893). The author of the last work, Lieutenant-General Pavel Osipovich Bobrovsky of the General Staff, widely used documents from the archive of the headquarters of the Caucasian Military District in his work. In 1806, it was the soldiers of the 17th Chasseur Regiment, from which the Erivan Grenadier Regiment was later formed, who played a key role in the events that led to the death of the ruler of the Karabakh Khanate. Bobrovsky's work contains a number of valuable facts extracted by the author from archival documents. For example, until now there was no clarity on the date of the death of Ibrahim Khan. Azerbaijani and Russian Wikipedia designate it as the day of July 18, 1806, without reference to the source. However, Bobrovsky's book clearly states that the ruler of Karabakh was killed on the night of May 27, 1806. [Bobrovsky P.O. The history of the 13th Life Grenadier Erivan Regiment of His Majesty for 250 years. (1642-1892). Part 3. SPb., 1893. S. 245. Here further - Bobrovsky].

So, what were the circumstances of the death of the second ruler of the Karabakh Khanate from the house of Jevanshirs, Ibrahim Khalil Khan?

It was 1806 - the third year of the Russian-Persian war of 1804-1813. The numerically weak Russian troops in Transcaucasia acted defensively against the vastly superior Persian forces. In the campaign of 1806, hostilities in Karabakh opened at the end of May, when the Persian troops crossed the Araks and began to move towards the capital of the khanate - the fortress of Shusha. The ruler of the Karabakh Khanate, Ibrahim Khalil Khan (1732-1806), on May 14, 1805, recognized the power of the Russian Empire over himself under the Kurekchay Treaty. However, he retained close ties to Iran; one of his sons, Abul-Feth, entered the land of Karabakh at the head of a 2,000-strong Persian detachment, which was the vanguard of the main forces of Shah-zadeh (heir to the throne) Abbas Mirza.

According to the Kurekchay Treaty, a Russian garrison of up to 500 people was stationed in Shusha, this strategically important fortress. It was a battalion of the 17th Jaeger Regiment under the command of Major Lisanevich. Dmitry Tikhonovich Lisanevich (1780-1825), scion of a poor Voronezh noble family, was the hero of the assault on Ganja in 1804. Then, at the head of the assault battalion, he was the first to climb the fortress wall, for which he was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th class.

In May 1806, a few days before his death, the ruler of Karabakh, Ibrahim Khalil Khan, a lieutenant general of the Russian service, with his entire family and retinue "under the pretext of air" (that is, allegedly due to the onset of hot weather) left the Shusha fortress to a place located 4 versts from it, which in Russian sources is called Mirza-Ali-Bekov Sengir. [Bobrovsky. S. 245]

According to a group of the Shusha nobility, who soon after complained to the authorities about Major Lisanevich, Ibrahim Khan left Shusha because of dissatisfaction with the orders of the Russian commander: according to the treatise and without our knowledge, they entered into some local affairs that did not concern them.The late Ibrahim Khan, being upset by such actions of them, ordered to pitch a tent behind the fortress and stopped there with one wife and three sons, and the rest of the wives and children were in the fortress, but every 2 or 3 days he went to the fortress and from there to his tent" [Report of the Shusha elders and residents, 1806 // AKAK. T. 3. No. 624].

Today's Azerbaijani epigones of those complainers from Shusha also emphasize that Ibrahim Khan settled in his summer residence, an unfortified place where he lived simply in a tent, with his wife and children. However, the historian General P.O. Bobrovsky calls this place a "castle"; and the documents of the Caucasian Archaeographic Commission speak of a "strong position", a "fortress".

According to the Russian side, already by the time of leaving Shusha, Ibrahim Khan was treasonous, and he left his capital, occupied by the rangers of Lisanevich, just in order to freely maintain contact with the Persian troops, in particular, with his son Abul-Fetkh . He ordered the settled inhabitants of the Karabakh khanate to remain in their places, without fear of a Persian invasion, and sent an order to the nomadic Tatars to gather armed in a designated place in the mountains near Shusha, where Abul-Feth was supposed to arrive with 2000 Persian soldiers.

By the way, it is noteworthy that after the death of Ibrahim Khan, his supporters from among the inhabitants of Shusha, in a complaint to the Russian authorities, were forced to admit the fact that their late ruler really had relations with the Persian army. The explanation for this was simple - the khan wanted to avoid the ruin of his possessions and the destruction of the harvest of the new year. For this, they say, he sent his people to Abbas Mirza [Report of the Shusha elders and residents, 1806 // AKAK. T. 3. No. 624].

Lisanevich received information about all this from various sources - from scouts sent abroad, from the Armenian melik Jimshid, from many residents of Karabakh and, most importantly, from the closest relatives of the khan himself. At first, Lisanevich tried to act by diplomatic methods. In his own words, he sent his son Mekhti-Kuli-aga and grandson Jafar-Kuli-bek to Ibrahim Khan to persuade him to stop relations with the enemy and return to the Russian side. Lisanevich reported: “As in these cases, treason turned out to be obvious, then I sent his son Mehti-aga and grandson Jafar-Kuli-bek to persuade him, so that he, destroying all ties with the Persians, would return with his whole family to the fortress, who, after spending most of the day there, at first returning Jafar-Kuli-bek announced to me that although he several times persuaded the khan to lag behind the Persians, but apart from the scolding of the Russians, he did not hear anything from him and, moreover, the khan most convincingly asked him to try invite me to his house and, having caught me there, give it to him and also steal my brother Shukur-Ullah, who is in amanats in Elisavetpol, for which reason I refused him; moreover, I announced that [on] this night or the khan will go to the Persians or the Persians will unite with him, after which Mekhti-aga, who arrived, also announced that no matter how much he tried to persuade the khan, the khan would not agree to anything and had clearly already taken the side of the Persians" [Lt. Col. D.T. Lisanevich - Major General P.D. Nesvetaev. Report. September 4, 1806 // ACAC. T. 3. No. 610].

In favor of the reliability of this information from the son and grandson of Ibrahim Khan is the consideration that Lisanevich would hardly have begun to report to his superiors about this diplomatic mission of Mekhti-Kuli and Jafar-Kuli to their father and grandfather, if he had not been sure that at least one of them (or other witnesses) will confirm the stated facts. This expectation of Lisanevich completely came true. In fact, Mekhti-Kuli-aga, having taken his father's place on the throne of the Karabakh Khanate, began to accuse Lisanevich of criminal abuse of power and the murder of Ibrahim Khan. However, at that very time, a fierce struggle broke out between Mekhti-Kuli-aga and his nephew, Jafar-Kuli-bek, one of the reasons for which was that, as was said in the correspondence of Russian military leaders in the Caucasus, Jafar-Kuli did not want to allow his uncle "to close the betrayal of Ibrahim Khan" [Lt. Col. P.S. Kotlyarevsky - Lieutenant General Baron I.K. Rosen. Report. October 6, 1806 No. 271 // AKAK. T. 3. No. 615].

So, let's repeat once again the indisputable facts: in May 1806, the Karabakh khanate was invaded by enemy troops, the Persian cavalry could appear near Shusha at any moment, and the ruler of the khanate, Ibrahim Khan, a "faithful" vassal of Russia and a lieutenant general of the Russian service, not that because of the heat, or because of dissatisfaction with the orders of Lisanevich, in those days he left his capital - the Shusha fortress - and settled in a tent in an open area not far from the city. "What is this - stupidity or treason?" - one figure from another era of Russian history would ask here. To us, the answer seems clear: Ibrahim Khan can be confidently attributed to treason, but his Azerbaijani apologists - stupidity. And even if the "regifugia" of the Karabakh khan was aimed at occupying expectant neutrality, on the part of the Russian authorities in those conditions it looked like an absolutely disloyal action, and they had every right to take decisive preventive measures. Ibrahim Khan refused all the arguments of Lisanevich; his evil will became undeniable for the commander of the Russian garrison in Shushi. And then he started acting tough. Taking with him 100 rangers of the 17th regiment, Lisanevich left the Shusha fortress on the night of May 27 and approached the location of Ibrahim Khan.

The available versions of what happened next are very different from each other. According to one of them, Russian soldiers in cold blood staged a brutal massacre of innocent people who did not even try to resist. A group of influential residents of Shusha wrote in their collective complaint: "Major Lisanevich and milakhvar [so in the document;" milakhvar "is a Georgian noble title. Perhaps we are talking about Major Dzhoraev, the second senior Russian officer in the Shushi garrison. - V.K. ], accidentally taking an army, at midnight they went to the khan, first they killed him, and then his wife, sister Ali-khanova, one daughter and his son, and up to 30 people hiding there officials and relatives killed all of them; all their possessions in money and things , clothes and tents were robbed and snatched up, thereby leading us and our neighbors to despair" [Report of the Shusha elders and residents, 1806 // AKAK. T. 3. No. 624].

Complained about Lisanevich and the son of the murdered Khan Mekhti-Kuli-aga, who inherited the throne of his father. Lisanevich previously considered him a supporter of the Russian cause, but he had to make sure that the new ruler of Karabakh became his personal blood enemy. Lisanevich explained this by the adherence of Mekhti-Kuli to "Muhammedan" rights [Lt. Col. D.T. Lisanevich - Major General P.D. Nesvetaev. Report. September 4, 1806 // ACAC. T. 3. No. 610].

The Russian military authorities were very attentive to all such complaints of local residents against Russian officers. In a troubled and troubled wartime, such a story required a demonstrative trial. Having not yet collected all the information and heard the version of the accused himself, the commander-in-chief of the troops in Georgia and Dagestan, Count I.V. Gudovich wrote in relation to the Minister of the Army S.K. Vyazmitinova: "According to the reports I received from the commander of the troops in Georgia, General M. Nesvetaev, it is revealed that the 17th Jaeger Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Lisanevich and Major Dzhoraev, who was with him, without motive, with a detachment of rangers attacked Ibrahim Khan Shushinsky, who, having no troops with him, except for servants of 35 men and women and 1 wife with 3 young children, was on this side of the Shushi fortress near gardens, on a mountain without any fortification, and he himself left the tent to meet the detachment, without firing a single shot; but the huntsmen began to shoot and stab with bayonets, where Ibrahim Khan was killed and all the estate that was with him went to the booty of those who attacked "[General Count I.V. Gudovich - S.K. Vyazmitinov. August 21, 1806 No. 19 // AKAK. T. 3. No. 605].

Further, Gudovich reported that this information was based on rumors that had reached him, a letter from Mekhti-Kuli-aga and a collective complaint from a group of residents of Shusha (cited above). It is noteworthy that, as Gudovich wrote, all these data in his eyes were by no means proof of Lisanevich's guilt. However, he nevertheless considered it necessary "to dress up a formal investigation, in order to show, first of all, to the relatives of this Ibrahim Khan and other subjugated peoples, that the power of laws and justice of H.I.V. nowhere give rise to crimes and always deliver fair protection" [ Ibid.].

The very next day after the death of Ibrahim Khan, full-scale hostilities began in Karabakh between the Russians and the approaching Persian troops. Lisanevich was immersed in directing the combat activities of the forces entrusted to him, and he simply did not have time to defend and justify himself before his superiors [Major General P.D. Nesvetaev - Lieutenant General G.I. Glazenapu. Report. July 18, 1806 No. 1739 // AKAK. T. 3. No. 602].

Only three months after the death of the Karabakh Khan, Lisanevich was able to give a written response to the accusations raised against him. In a report addressed to Major General Nesvetaev dated September 4, 1806, he described the events of that bloody May night as follows:

"And so, no longer having any hope of bringing the khan to repentance, I decided [I] to attack him at night and, if possible, capture him alive and, appointing 100 rangers for this with a decent number of officers, went himself with them to work into action; in the fortress he ordered to multiply the guard at the gates and breaches, and the rest of the people to gather for artillery; he ordered the officers and people going to attack, so that they would not shoot at all before the enemy and, as they approached, those who knew the language would shout that they, without shooting, surrender I went to attack by a completely different road and not the one that goes directly from the fortress to them and where they had guards, and not before they opened us, as approaching less than a rifle shot, and then they, having made a cry, let no matter how hard I shouted at them, so did others, persuading them not to shoot and surrender, but they all stubbornly continued to shoot and wounded the huntsman, who died a few days later. For this impudence, I ordered the huntsmen to shoot and rush at them; ege ri did this with courage and in an instant the traitors were knocked down from their strong place, and the khan with several people remained killed by a bullet on the spot, the others were pursued by the rangers through the bushes and ravines; his son, daughter and wife, who died from a wound, could not have been wounded otherwise than by mingling with others in the crowd, in the bushes, they were not recognized from the darkness of the night; the things of the traitors that remained in their tents, like booty taken through a weapon and which was not much, I gave in favor of the soldiers, but their best things were taken away at the beginning of the case by their servants, of which Mehti-aga later found a lot "[Lieutenant Colonel D. T. Lisanevich to Major-General P.D. Nesvetaev Report September 4, 1806 // AKAK T. 3. No. 610].

According to Bobrovsky, the son of the murdered ruler, Khanlar-aga, managed to ride off with a group of armed horsemen [Bobrovsky. S. 245].

As Lisanevich reported later in the same report, right there in the khan's camp he received news from Muganlinsky bek that the two thousandth Persian detachment led by Abul-Fetkh, which Ibrahim Khan was waiting for, was already very close. Lisanevich hurried back to the fortress, where he arrived at dawn. Almost immediately, a Persian army appeared two versts from Shusha. Lisanevich opposed them with 150 rangers and mounted Karabakh police. Having learned from the fugitives about the fate of Ibrahim Khan and his entourage, the Persian vanguard retreated without accepting the battle.

In his report, Lisanevich emphasized that he acted on the basis of the fact of the undoubted betrayal of Ibrahim Khan, and that if he had chosen a different line of conduct, the military consequences could have been catastrophic for the Russian presence in Karabakh. He wrote: “Over this, I put it in my debt to mention that if Ibrahim Khan [on] that night, as if a traitor, did not receive due retribution, then the next day the Shusha fortress should be under siege from the Persians and the traitors of Karabakh; Abbas Mirza, who crossed already Araks, could also come from there in 2 marches; in the Shusha garrison there were no provisions at all, and even among the servants. It was impossible to rely on the loyalty of Ibrahim Khan, the son of Mekhti-aga with his Tatars, whose number is much more excellent in the fortress than Armenians" [Lt. Col. D.T. Lisanevich - Major General P.D. Nesvetaev. Report. September 4, 1806 // ACAC. T. 3. No. 610].

The versions of Lisanevich and his accusers seem almost mutually exclusive. However, comparing them and using other factual data, we can still draw the following conclusions.

The treacherous activity of Ibrahim Khan did not cause any doubts in the commander of the Russian garrison. Therefore, he initially went more for a forceful action, and not for diplomatic persuasion. For this, in particular, he chose a bypass path, where the movement of his detachment could not be noticed by the khan's sentinels. But the last thing Lisanevich could want was the death of Ibrahim Khan. The best option from his point of view would be the forced return of the khan to Shusha, where he could be used as a hostage, without causing, at the same time, huge political difficulties for Russia in the Transcaucasus and career risks for himself. Both that and another would have been inevitable in the event of the death of the khan, which actually happened.

Supporters of the version of the innocent death of Ibrahim Khan argue that if he were a real traitor to Russia, he would not have remained near the Shusha fortress with the Russian garrison. However, there is something to be said for this. Ibrahim Khan was the legitimate ruler of the khanate, a Russian subject and a general, and all previous experience gave him no reason to fear Lisanevich's decisive forceful actions. All the previous days the Russian officer unsuccessfully engaged in the persuasion of Ibrahim Khan. The Persian troops were already on their way (as we remember, they were near Shusha the very next morning, that is, several hours after the death of the khan). "This night, either the khan will go to the Persians, or the Persians will unite with him," - this is how, according to the already quoted report, his son and grandson conveyed the plans of the khan. The ruler of Karabakh almost waited for the Persians, and he could well expect that the hours remaining before their arrival would pass quite safely for him. The sortie of Lisanevich and his hundreds of huntsmen came as a complete surprise to the khan. Almost certainly, the Russian soldiers met with armed resistance. We do not know whether it was ordered by Ibrahim Khan or whether it flared up involuntarily. Also, we do not have reliable data on the number and armament of the Khan's retinue. Apparently, there was no question of the storming of the "fortress" or "castle" by Russian rangers, but one cannot believe the words about three dozen defenseless servants and maids in tents in the middle of a country garden. It seems that the truth is somewhere in the middle, but only the imagination can recreate it in more detail, since the source material we have is definitely not enough for this. As we have already tried to show, Lisanevich was not interested in the death of the khan, but the situation got out of control of the Russian commander. If, as is very likely, rifle fire was opened on his chasseurs, he could and should have ordered extreme measures to avoid the worst - the flight and connection of Ibrahim Khan with his son's Persian vanguard. A bloody fight followed in the darkness of the night, in which nothing could ensure the safety of the family members of the ruler of Karabakh.

The investigation into the murder of Ibrahim Khan continued until July 1807, and as a result, the innocence of Lisanevich was clarified. The commander-in-chief himself, in the most submissive submission, "convinced by the truth", asked the emperor to relieve Lisanevich of all responsibility [Bobrovsky. S. 246]. The former head of the Shushi garrison brilliantly continued his service in the Caucasus. In 1824, on the personal election of Emperor Alexander I, D.T. Lisanevich was appointed commander of the troops on the Caucasian line, with promotion to lieutenant general.

On July 18, 1825, during the pacification of the rebellious Gerzel-aul in Chechnya, Lisanevich, accepting a deputation of mountain elders, was seriously wounded by a highlander fanatic and soon died. The author of the article cited above, E. Amirov, writes that Lisanevich, this "executioner in uniform", was punished by the hand of an Azerbaijani avenger. But we will not comment on this nonsense, since the voice of reason is powerless in the face of such wild stupidity and ignorance.

In this short article, with documents and facts in hand, we tried to prove one simple thesis: in May 1806, Major Lisanevich had every reason to use military force to force Ibrahim Khalil Khan Jevanshir into obedience, whose treasonous attitude towards Russia seems to us beyond doubt.

The events of the formidable 1806 provide well-known examples of what happened to Russian military leaders who allowed themselves to believe the sincerity of the "Azerbaijani" khans. Recall that on February 8, under the walls of Baku, during the ceremony of handing over the keys to the city, the Russian commander-in-chief general of infantry, Prince P.D. Tsitsianov; the ruler of Baku sent his head to the Shah of Persia. And at the beginning of the summer of the same year, the ruler of the Sheki Khanate, Selim Khan, deceived the commander of the Russian garrison, Major Parfyonov, into his camp, cut out part of his convoy, and captured the survivors and threw them into prison.

In Karabakh, Major Lisanevich did not believe Ibrahim Khan and decided to use force against him. On the night of May 27, 1806, a battle broke out near the khan's dwelling, during which Ibrahim Khan himself, a number of his family members and household members were killed in darkness and chaos. During such "special operations" innocent people, including women and children, almost always die. There were such casualties during the storming of the Taj Beck Palace (Amin's Palace) by Soviet special forces in Afghanistan in 1979, and during the liquidation of Osama bin Laden by American "fur seals" in Pakistan in May 2011. It is a pity for innocent people, but war has its own logic, its own laws and rights. In May 1806, Lisanevich and his huntsmen acted in emergency conditions of a serious military danger, which was aggravated by the fact that a number of members of the ruling khan's house in Karabakh were on the side of the superior Persian forces. The firm and resolute steps of the Russian commander and his rangers made it possible to repel the threat and keep Karabakh under the legal authority of the Russian Empire. Honor them for this and praise!

Vasily Kashirin - Candidate of Historical Sciences (Moscow)

He ascended the Kazan throne in 1467, after the death of his childless brother.

Yielding to the requests of the service Tatar prince Kasim-Tregub, uncle Ibrahim, the Grand Duke of Moscow in the same 1467 began a war against the Kazan Khanate, with the aim of placing Prince Kasim, who had support among part of the Kazanians, led by Prince Abdul-Mumin, on the Kazan throne. In the autumn, under the command of the governor, Prince I.V. Obolensky-Striga, he sent an army against Ibrahim, which he defeated in the famous river battle on the Volga. Possibly the only major river battle between Russians and Kazan Tatars. Having never crossed the Volga, the Muscovites went home, and in the winter Khan Ibrahim made a punitive sortie into the enemy's border areas and plundered the environs of Galich Mersky.

In 1468 he sent strong garrisons to Nizhny Novgorod, Murom, Kostroma, Galich, and began military operations on the territory of the Cheremis lands subject to Ibrahim. The fighting was accompanied by extreme cruelty against the civilian population, provoking Kazan to a big war. The Moscow army devastated the entire Cheremis land and took many captives.

In response, Ibrahim sent troops in two directions: Galich and Nizhny Novgorod-Murom. At first, success contributed to Kazanians, the Kichmengsky town was taken and two Kostroma volosts were captured. On the second, the Russians stopped the Tatars, defeating the detachment of Murza Khodja-Berda.

Moscow opened a third front - Khlynov. The Ushkuiniki, descending on the boats along the Vyatka to the Kama, began robberies in the deep rear of the Kazanians. In retaliation, strong detachments were sent to the north, which captured the capital of the Vyatka region - the city of Khlynov, establishing a Tatar administration there.

In the autumn of 1469 he sent an army led by his younger brother to Kazan. He was appointed to the very vanguard - the first commander of the advanced regiment of the "horse army" - part of the army moving towards Kazan not on ships, but by land, along the banks of the Volga, was appointed. Having besieged the city, the Moscow governors blocked the access of water to the fortress. Soon, Khan Ibrahim, besieged in Kazan, asked for mercy and made peace with the prince. The agreement provided for the release of all Russian prisoners who were in the hands of the Tatars, and the establishment of peaceful, friendly relations between Moscow and Kazan.

Deceived by the false news that he was defeated by the Novgorodians, Ibrahim in 1478 broke his oath vows and conquered the Vyatka region. The Grand Duke took revenge on him by the fact that the Ustyuzhans and Vyatchans entered the Kazan possessions along the Kama River and devastated them, and the Moscow governor V.F. Ibrahim began to ask for peace again. Shortly thereafter, in 1479, he died and was buried in the Kazan Kremlin in the Mausoleum of the Kazan Khans.

Ibrahim had children from two wives: from Queen Fatima three sons - Ali, Khudai-Kul and Melik-Tagir, and from Queen Nur-Saltan (widow of the late Khan Khalil) two sons - Muhammed-Emin and Abdul-Latif. In addition, he had several daughters, of whom one princess named Gauharshad (Kovgorshad) gained fame.

After the death of Ibragim, his widow Nur-Saltan married the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray and left Kazan for Bakhchisarai. This event, testifying to the political, cultural and economic ties that existed between Kazan and the Crimea, greatly contributed to the strengthening of these ties and later had important consequences, as they were the source of major political events. Together with his mother, the little prince Abdul-Latif went to the Crimea, to the court of his stepfather.

compilation (vkuznetsov)

Khan kutermek - the election of the khan, took place in a wooden mosque, which could no longer accommodate everyone. And the muezzin on the very dome of the multi-colored octagonal minaret, which speared from the middle of the roof into the sky, continued to convene the people, not forgetting to give praise to the Almighty and glorify the Prophet.

In the mosque itself, carpets are laid between the columns, and in the middle there is a golden felt mat. On it is Ibrahim, the son of Mahmutek, the grandson of Ulug-Mukhammed, the founder of the Kazan Khanate, who brought this custom of choosing a khan from the lands of the Horde.

Four karachis, having made a short prayer, take hold of the corners of the felt mat and raise the obese Ibrahim to the enthusiastic cries of the audience. Then gold coins fall on his head, the crowd rejoices - either she really is so happy, or the Karachi, the Khan's advisers, paid well to tear their throats like that.

- Well, Kasim, did you take a bite? - spun in the head of Ibrahim. - Until the end of the century, now you will dance under the kurai of Moscow, and you will not see the throne of Kazan, like your thick ears ...

On the maidan in front of the khan's palace in three dwellings, that is, in the present, in three floors, may the Almighty prolong the breath of the great khan, vats with steaming lamb and jugs with intoxicating sherbet are brought out - the khan will feed his people!

The wrought-iron doors of zindan prisons open, rattling with bolts and blinding the prisoners with daylight - the khan declares his will!

The poor and the poor will receive rich alms - the khan is kind and generous!

A special khan's firman, read by heralds right there, on the Maidan, cancels additional fees and taxes introduced by Mahmutek - the khan is wise and thinks about his people!

Today and tomorrow are holidays! Sweet sherbet flows like a river; next to the Murza in a rich Cossack is a commoner in the clothes of a hammal; from the same cauldron they take mutton dzhigit-warrior and khan's lancer, the offspring of an ancient Bulgar family. And it seems that it will be so under the new khan from day to day and until the end of the century ...

Ibrahim, in general, was not an evil or stupid person. If not for this Meshchersky prince Kasim, his uncle and stepfather, the hell with two, he would have got involved in a war with the Grand Duke of Moscow. Ivan, not like Vasily, will not run across the Volga when three thousand horsemen appear at the walls of Moscow, as happened twenty-eight years ago under the great Ulug-Mohammed. And Kasim, the dog, has his supporters in Kazan among the beks and murzas, and Ivan is not enough for him that he is not a friend. Kasim will ask the Grand Duke for soldiers for help in order to go to Kazan, Ivan will hesitate, but he will give ...

Eight months have passed since the day when, at the very beginning of 1467, Khan Mahmutek, Ibrahim's father, appeared before the Almighty. He was also, like Ulug-Muhammed, the great warrior, he took the Grand Duke Vasily near Suzdal in full. And more than once he went to Russia, until Ivan Vasilyevich began to reign in Moscow. And how he once broke off his teeth on the regiments of Ivanov - he realized that it was more expensive to fight with this Grand Duke, therefore, the business did not go beyond trade disputes.

Everything was ruined by Khalil, Ibrahim's elder brother, who was raised to the throne after his father's death. He tore to pieces the letter of Ivan Vasilyevich, insulted the Nogai envoy, putting the khanate in front of the possibility of two wars at once. And one began: the Nogais crossed the Samara River and entered the Simbirsk lands. After they were nevertheless defeated, the peace between the Nogai and Kazan was secured by the marriage of Khalil to the daughter of the most influential Nogai bek Temir Nursaltan. The Russians, having learned about the defeat of the Nogais, were careful not to enter the war, and everything subsided for the time being.

But Khalil died. He was quick-tempered and unbridled in character, and once, while trampling another message from the Russians under his feet, he coughed, bulged his eyes and fell dead on the palace carpets. It was then that Kasim, an uncle and stepfather at the same time, appeared, for, following the ancient Turkic law, which says “and your brother’s wives become your wives, and his children become your children”, Khalil and Ibrahim, after the death of Mahmutek, became his children, and their mother is his wife.

Ivan, as Ibrahim supposed, gave Kasim an army, he began to fight the Kazan Khanate, and slowly the war between Kasimov and Kazan grew into a war between Kazan and Moscow.

The first campaign of the Russian regiments against Kazan ended in failure: they fell into an ambush, and Khan Ibrahim, personally leading the Kazan army, did not even let them cross the Volga.

In the same 1468, a new army of Russians went from Galich to Vyatka, but things did not go beyond skirmishes with Kazan beks near Murom and Kostroma. Ibrahim got stronger. With a large army, he entered the borders of Russia, took Vyatka and declared it his ulus. It is noteworthy that its inhabitants did not resist this at all and, it seems, recognized themselves as subjects of the Khan, even with relief: they, in fact, never experienced any special love for the sovereigns of Moscow.

It was a challenge. Vasily Vasilyevich would certainly have come to terms with this circumstance, as he once put up with the formation of the Kasimov Khanate on the Oka. But Vasily's son Ivan was not like that. He accepted the challenge of Ibrahim and decided to strike back.

At first, voivode Ivan Runo almost took Kazan, burning down its settlements and plundering all the property of the residents of the city's suburbs. Then, under the leadership of the brothers of the Grand Duke, Yuri and Andrei, new regiments approached Kazan and besieged it, forcing Ibragim to make peace on the terms of the Grand Duke and release all the captives who had fallen into captivity over the past forty years.

Perhaps Ibrahim was a man of his word: peace and the promises he made, including obeying the "will" of the Grand Duke, were not violated for the next eight years. And, perhaps, this was the result of the ever-increasing influence of the hanbike Norsaltan, who, according to the ancient Turkic custom, became his second wife after the death of Khalil. Probably, it was she who restrained her husband's patriotic impulses to stand up for the state and Allah and settled all sorts of misunderstandings through personal correspondence with Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich, which lasted no less than thirty years. Without any "probably", she became a friend and assistant to her husband in all his affairs, causing hostility from Ibrahim's first wife, Fatima, who was very afraid that, in addition to her husband, Nursaltan would take away the throne from her children ...

Once, however, Nursaltan failed to keep her husband: having quarreled with the Grand Duke, Ibrahim went to the Vyatka lands at the beginning of 1478, set fire to the villages and brought many captives from there. In response to this, the Grand Duke burned down the Zakamsky villages in the spring, and his governor Vasily Obrazets reached the very Kazan walls.

Ibrahim asked for peace, concluded it on approximately the same conditions as nine years ago, then fell ill and died.

A struggle for the throne flared up between supporters of Fatima's eldest son Ilham - the position of khan was to a certain extent elective - and those who wanted to see Nursaltan's eldest son Muhammad-Emin in the rulers.

The supporters of Fatima and Ilham won. Proud Nursaltan, having sent Mohammed-Emin to Moscow to Ivan Vasilyevich, with the youngest, Abdul-Letif, left for the Crimea. Ilham began to rule Kazan...

• Nur-Sultan (??? ??????), children - Mohammed-Amin, Abdul-Latif, Gauharshad.
• Fatima-Shah-Sultan (????? ??? ??????), children - Ilham, Melik-Tagir, Khuday-Kul (after baptism. Peter Ibrahimovic), after the capture of Kazan in 1487, everyone was arrested and exiled to Vologda and Beloozero;

Wars with Moscow state

In 1467, Ivan III began a war against the Kazan Khanate, sending Tsarevich Kasim, Khan Ibrahim's uncle, as a pretender to the Kazan throne in the autumn. This candidacy had support among part of Kazan. Ibrahim defeated in 1467 numerous Moscow troops in the famous river battle on the Volga. Possibly the only major river battle between Russians and Kazan Tatars. Prince Abdul-Mumin (????? ?????) was at the head of the opposition party. The campaign ended in failure, the Russian army did not dare to cross the Volga and engage in battle with the Tatars. In response, Khan Ibrahim made a punitive sortie in the winter to the border areas of the enemy and plundered the environs of Galich Mersky.

In 1468, Ivan III sent strong garrisons to Nizhny Novgorod, Murom, Kostroma, Galich, and began hostilities on the territory of the Khanate, which were accompanied by extreme cruelties against the civilian population, provoking Kazan to a big war.

Ibrahim sent troops in two directions: Galich and Nizhny Novgorod-Murom. At first, success contributed to Kazanians, the Kichmengsky town was taken and two Kostroma volosts were captured. On the second, the Russians stopped the Tatars, defeating the detachment of Murza Khodja-Berda.

Moscow opened a third front - Khlynov. The Ushkuiniki, descending on the boats along the Vyatka to the Kama, began robberies in the deep rear of the Kazanians. In response, strong detachments were sent to the north, which captured the capital of the Vyatka region - the city of Khlynov, establishing a Tatar administration there.

Sources and literature

• Pokhlebkin V. V. Tatars and Russia. 360 years of relations between Russia and the Tatar states in the XIII-XVI centuries, 1238-1598 (From the battle on the river Sit to the conquest of Siberia): Handbook. - M.: Intern. relations, 2005. - 192 p.

The first part of the cycle dealt with the khans Ulug-Mukhammed and Mahmud.

KHALIL

About the successor of Mahmud on the Kazan throne - his son Khalil, almost only one name is known and the fact of his succession to his father. “Momotyak the Tsar has children: Khalil the king, Ibrahim the king,” the Velvet Book notes. The name of the king "Helealek" is mentioned by the 16th-century German diplomat Sigismund Herberstein in "Notes on Muscovy", who calls him the father of Ilgam ("Aleham"). There is the name of Khalil in the chronicle passage "On the genealogy of Genghis Khan." That's all that is reliably known to researchers about Khalil. However, in the works of Prince Mikhail Shcherbatov and Mikhail Berezhkov, the European historian of the middle of the 16th century Alexander Gvagnini is quoted. He claimed that Nur-Sultan, the wife of Khans Khalil and Ibrahim, married them with the knowledge and by order of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III in 1462 and 1467. Shcherbatov and Berezhkov agree with Gvagnini's report without reservation. Such a course of events seems unlikely to us due to the complete lack of information in Russian sources about the connections of the young Ivan III with the Great Horde, where Nur-Sultan was from. It is known only about the aggressive aspirations of the khans of this horde, aimed at Russian lands. It is difficult to imagine any benefit to the Grand Duke from these Nur-Sultan marriage unions.

IBRAGIM (Russian versions of the name - Ibreim, Abraim, Abreim, Obreim, Obryaim, Abraagim, Obryagim, Obregim, Alyakhim)

Ibrahim, the younger brother of Khalil and the son of Mahmud, received the throne after the death of his brother. When this happened is not exactly known. Most likely, no later than the summer of 1467, when the Kazan feudal lords, who were in opposition to Ibrahim, contacted Kasim, the Moscow service prince. In the autumn of 1467, Ibrahim managed to repulse the campaign of the pretender to the Kazan throne, Kasim, supported by Ivan III. By the way, Qasim, Mahmud's brother, was Ibrahim's uncle. Thus began the bloody war of the Khanate with the Russian state in 1467-1469, during which the struggle was fought with great bitterness and with varying success. Ultimately, in September 1469, Ibrahim was forced to make peace with the Moscow governors "with all his will and as needed by his brother the Grand Duke" and pledged to release all Russian prisoners in 40 years. According to some reports, in 1478 Ibrahim personally led a campaign against Vyatka, hoping to keep Ivan III busy with Novgorod affairs. But this operation did not bring any laurels to the Khan. After a Russian retaliatory campaign in June 1478, Ibrahim sued for peace. The contract was signed, as in 1469, "as the Grand Duke pleases." Apparently, shortly after this, Ibrahim died, since his name disappears from the pages of the annals.

ILGAM (Russian versions of the name - Legam, Alegam, Aleham, Oleham)

The new Kazan khan was the son of Ibrahim from his first wife Fatima-Sultan (Batmassy-Sultan according to Gerbershein). Ilgam was first mentioned in the Kazan embassy book for 1482, an excerpt of which is preserved in the category books (the category books are a documentary description of the appointments of the governors by regiments). When listing the Russian governors stationed in Nizhny Novgorod, the category explains that their goal is "to protect the king from Alegam." It was 1482 that became the time of an intensified diplomatic exchange between Moscow and Kazan, as a result of which peace was concluded in the summer. Without knowing the terms of this agreement, it would be useful to recall the mention of Ilgam among the first Kazan khans, whom Ivan III allegedly put on the Kazan throne “from his own hands” (this is stated in the protocols of Russian-Polish negotiations in the first quarter of the 16th century). However, this is contradicted by the absence of such information in Russian chronicles until 1487.

Evidence from the category book of the oldest edition for 1484-1487 brings incredible confusion to the question of the order and details of the change of khans in Kazan in these years. So, according to the bit book of the official edition, in 1485 (6993 from the creation of the world), Ivan III sent to Kazan “Tsar Prince Magmedemin against Alegam” with an army, as a result of which “Alegam fled, and Magmedemin sat in Kazan.” In 1486 (6994), the Grand Duke of Moscow again sent an army to Kazan at the request of Mohammed-Amin, who wanted to extradite his brother (Ilgam) to Ivan III, to which “the princes of Kazan did not give him the will, they wanted to kill Magmedemin himself, and Magmedemin left to the Grand Duke governors ... " After that, the Kazan feudal lords had to "beat with their foreheads" Mohammed-Amin, who immediately returned to the kingdom.

And, finally, the category of the campaign against Kazan in 1487 (6995). This expedition was caused by the fact that Mohammed-Amin was expelled from Kazan by Ilgam, who "came from Nagai according to a word from Kazan." And now let's take the categories for the same years from another edition of the category book. Under the year 1484 (6992), there is a category of the campaign against Kazan, which almost completely coincides with the category of the campaign of 1487, which ended in the same way as this one. “And the governors then took Kozan and seized Tsar Olekham, and Magmed-Amin the king in Kozan was put in the kingdom by order of the Grand Duke.” The next category of 1485 (6993) practically coincides with the above-mentioned one from the category book of the oldest edition. There is only one difference: Ilgam (“Alegam”) moved to Kazan with the Russian army, after which Muhammad-Amen fled from Kazan. That is, the opposite is true. In our opinion, this is a simple mistake. The events of 1486 (6994), according to this edition, also differ little from the first version. Ivan III sends his governors to Kazan "for saving" Mohammed-Amin. Mohammed-Amin wants to extradite his brother to Moscow, the Kazan people prevent him and threaten to kill him. He runs to the Russian governors, followed by a petition from Kazan to Moscow and the return of Mohammed-Amin to Kazan.

The category of the campaign of 1487 (6995) also does not differ significantly from the above. On the whole, in our opinion, it turns out that in 1485 Muhammad-Amin occupies the Kazan throne instead of Ilgam, and in 1487 Ilgam is again on the throne, who this time is finally overthrown by the governors of Ivan III. Khan on the "mandate" of the Grand Duke becomes again Mohammed-Amin. It is disappointing that the Russian chronicles do not say anything about campaigns against Kazan in 1485-1486 (the dating of Sophia II by the chronicle of the capture of Kazan in 1485, Novgorod II by 1486, Pskov II by 1485 is clearly erroneous), which can serve as a confirmation of our conclusion about confusion in bit books. An authoritative expert on the military history of Russia in the 15th century, Yuri Alekseev, came to the same opinion: “The complete coincidence of the lists of governors in the news for 1484 and 1487. testifies that the compiler of the Discharge Book placed the news of the campaign against Kazan twice: under 1484 and 1487. (Yu. G. Alekseev. Campaigns of Russian troops under Ivan Sh - St. Petersburg: 2007, p. 283).

On the other hand, in the Lvov chronicle under 1486, the Sophia II and Ermolin chronicles under 1485 there is a very important entry that provides interesting information about these turbulent years for Kazan. “The prince, the son of the Kazan Tsar, comes to Moscow, and Temirev’s grandson is still small to the Grand Duke.” “And the great prince welcomes him,” the sources add. Temirev's grandson is the son of Nur-Sultan and Ibrahim, the grandson of the Horde bek Timur by his mother, that is, Mohammed-Amin. And immediately after that, in the annals, information follows about the embassy from Kazan to Moscow for this "prince". The Kazan ambassadors explained that in Kazan their prince, “Menshitsyn’s son,” that is, the son of the khan from his younger wife (obviously, this is Ilgam), having learned about Muhammad-Amin’s departure to Moscow, decided to “lose” (punish) the initiators of this venture forcing them to flee the city. And then there is a story about a campaign against Kazan in the summer of 1487.

In our opinion, the arrival of Mohammed-Amin from Kazan to Moscow and the delegation to Ivan III after him should be dated precisely to 1487, since the capture of Kazan, which took place in July 1487, these chronicles refer to the year under which they describe the appearance in Moscow Muhammad Amina. The information of the Lvov and Sofia II chronicles is confirmed by the message of the Ustyug and Arkhangelsk chroniclers under 1486: “The same summer, from Kazan, Tsar Makhmet ran to the Grand Duke from his brother from Tsar Aleham, finished off the Grand Duke with his brow, called him father, and asked him for strength for his brother. And the great prince ordered to give strength.

Captured on July 9, 1487, Ilgam with his wife Karakush, daughter of the Nogai Murza Yamgurchi (V. Trepavlov. History of the Nogai Horde - M: 2002, p. 136), his mother and brothers were sent to prison (see Herberstein's version). Khan and his wife landed in Vologda, mother Fatima and brothers (Melik-Tagir and Khuday-Kul, according to Vladimir Velyaminov-Zernov) were sent in the winter of 1487-1488 to Beloozero. In Russia, Ilgam, his mother and brother Melik-Tagir ended their life. But when this happened, we do not know. We only know that in the summer of 1490 Ilgam was still alive. Immediately after the capture of Ilgam by the Russians, the Tyumen Khan Ivak insistently demanded that Ivan III release Ilgam, declaring that he and Ilgam were "both children of the same father." The same was requested by the Grand Duke and the Nogai Murzas. And in the fall of 1490, Ivan III decided to meet his neighbors halfway: “And we share the tsar (that is, for the sake of Ivak) and myrz share Alegam the tsar, we drench him not in captivity.”

In our next essay, we will talk about the khans Mohammed-Amin and Mamuka.