Who are the Ushkuiniki and why did they want to consign them to oblivion? Ushkuiniki - Russian dashing people who burned down both the capital of Sweden and the capital of the Golden Horde (20 photos) See what “Ushkuiniki” is in other dictionaries

Really, who is an “ushkuinik”? Unfortunately, there are practically no historical fiction books about these brave and desperate people, and domestic cinema has not made adventure films about them.

In order to fill this niche at least a little, we are posting two articles on the website about eared ears and their history.

Ushkuiniki made the Golden Horde tremble.

650 years ago – 1366. The young Moscow prince Dmitry Donskoy receives the envoy of the Golden Horde in his mansion. The ambassador is angry, he shouts at the prince, waving his whip threateningly. The Russian prince is surprised, because tribute to the khan is paid regularly and on time. But everything falls into place after the angry envoy uttered the word “ushkuiniki.” What frightened and angered the Golden Horde so much?

It turns out that for two centuries now, Russian fellows who call themselves “ushkuiniki” have been making not only the Golden Horde, but also the Moscow principality tremble with fear. It is interesting that much earlier than the battle on the Kulikovo Field, the Ushkuiniki completely defeated the Khan’s troops and showed everyone that the Golden Horde can and should be defeated! They dealt crushing blows to the largest cities of the Horde and with each victory destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the warriors of the Golden Horde.

They called these warriors pirates, robbers, and Russian Vikings. If we analyze the situation that has developed over the centuries in Russia, then the appearance of such a spontaneous free army on the territory of Rus' was expected. And a name was found for it - “freedom”. Povolniki, as a rule, were free people who were engaged in trade and robbery.

Ushkuy

But the Russian Vikings received the name ushkuynik from the names of the types of ships on which they carried out raids. These ushkui vessels were the fastest among the existing oar-sailing vessels at that time. They accommodated about 30 people. Due to their low weight, they were easily dragged over rapids or overland between the beds of nearby rivers.

The Ushkuiniki behaved like Varangians. A small, armed, well-trained group would sit on the ears and attack nearby cities. Novgorod was considered the most “ushkuin” city, since it supported such “fun” for young people, considering them very useful for expanding the influence of the republic.

Historians believe that since the 11th century the Ushkuiniki had already carried out their raids on the Bulgars, Ugra, as well as the Scandinavian countries and Lithuania. But the “Russian Varangians” still preferred to control the most important trade routes along the Volga and Kama. They were especially interested in furs. At that time, the center of fur import was Ustyug, then, through the Vyatka lands, it was transported to the Volga or Kama. To keep this junction under their control, the Ushkuiniki founded their city, Khlynov-Vyatka, at the intersection of these fur supply routes. Through it, the bulk of the expensive furs went further to the countries of Scandinavia and England.

Having access to cash flows, the ushkuiniki were very well equipped and armed. These free fighters wore chain mail made of large rings, and those who could pay more for their ammunition wore plate armor. They were armed with swords and spears, but still preferred sabers. The Povolniki shot well from crossbows and stationary bows.

The Ushkuiniki were well versed not only in trade, but also in the politics of that era. They became mercenaries and participated in numerous wars. The Russian Vikings calculated the weakening of the Horde, understood the relationships between the Russian princes, and helped solve the problems of Novgorod. The best Novgorod governors wore ushkuiniki, and the merchants of Novgorod helped the ushkuiniki with weapons and equipment free of charge. For this, the freemen generously shared the loot with them.

The first long-distance campaigns of the Ushkuiniks began at the end of the 13th century. So in 1320 there was a clash between the Lord of Veliky Novgorod and the Swedes. A squad of Novgorod freemen, led by Luka Varfolomeich, rode the Northern Dvina to the White Sea and entered the Arctic Ocean. And she finally made it to the Swedish coast. First, the Ushkuiniki ravaged the Finnmarnen region, and then attacked the neighboring region - Halogaland. Residents were shocked by this unexpected attack. As a result, the Swedes were forced to conclude a compromise peace of Orekhovets with Novgorod. The Swedes also tried to attack Novgorod, but suffered a crushing defeat. At this point, the “crusades” of the Swedish knights to Rus' stopped. And the Ushkuiniki turned their gaze to the Golden Horde. Yes, yes, don't be surprised. It was the Golden Horde, which kept all the Russian princes in fear, to which a huge tribute was regularly paid, and which the Orthodox Church declared “God’s punishment” sent to Rus' for its sins.

The Golden Horde grew richer every day. Nomads became city dwellers. Thousands of slaves built cities for them on the banks of the great rivers - the Kama and Volga. The khans grew rich not so much through military robberies as through trade and mediation. The busiest trade route passed along the Volga: ships flying the flags of China, the Middle East, and India transported goods, and the khans received duties from them. The Golden Horde understood that the route along the Volga was a source of enormous wealth and protected order and law, cruelly punishing attacks on merchants.

The capital of the Ushkuyniks Khlynov on the map of the 14th century

In 1360 there was such a case. The Ushkuytsy captured the Tatar city of Zhukotin, which was the center of Volga Bulgaria. Having seized untold wealth, the freemen went to Kostroma to drink away the stolen goods. Residents of Kostroma, having seen enough of the “idle” ushkuiniks, complained to the Horde. Khan Khidyr demanded that the Russian princes deal with the ushkuiniki. The princes of Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir and Rostov did not dare to disobey the shout from the Horde and caught some of the ushkuiniks. To report to the khan, they sent prisoners to the Horde. As subsequent events showed, the Ushkuiniki took revenge on Kostroma for their betrayal. But the Ushkuiniki never forgot that their main enemy was the Golden Horde.

Often the soldiers of the Golden Horde watched with fear the appearance of Russian free soldiers in the immediate vicinity of their borders. Over the course of fifteen years (1360-1375), the Ushkuiniki made eight large forays into the middle Volga - and this does not count many small raids. In 1374, passing down the river, the Ushkuiniki captured the capital of the Golden Horde - the city of Saray itself.

The chronicles tell about one of the campaigns of the Russian Vikings led by the governor Prokop. For helping the Moscow prince in suppressing Tver, Prokop and his army were given a kind of carte blanche. First, he took revenge on Kostroma for the fact that its inhabitants gave the Ushkuiniks to the Horde: his warriors easily dealt with the five thousand Kostroma army, robbed the city, and took the inhabitants into slavery. They did the same with the Volga cities, where many busurmans lived. According to the already established “tradition”, they made an unexpected visit to Sarai, and the Tatars paid off the visiting ushkuiniks with a huge tribute. But, despite this, the khan's capital was still plundered by the Novgorodians. The lack of serious resistance turned the heads of the ear-catchers. They moved towards the Caspian Sea. Astrakhan Khan Salgei immediately paid tribute, without even entering into battle with the free soldiers. In honor of the arriving Russians, the khan threw a feast. A detachment of armed Tatars attacked the well-intoxicated Ushkuiniki - only a few young men managed to escape death. But even this case indicated that the Golden Horde were afraid of an open clash with the Ushkuiniki, and therefore resorted to deception.

After this, the ushkuini movement somehow began to fade. Most of the volunteers became mercenaries. Moscow Prince Ivan III finally closed the issue with the Novgorod freemen: most of the population from the capital, the Ushkuiniki, was transported to Moscow lands. The rest went to the Perm and Vyatka forests, to the Volga and Don.

Knowing about the existence of ushkuiniks, one gets the impression of a parallel history of Rus'. While the Russian princes went to pay their respects to the Horde and paid rich tribute to the Tatars, the Ushkuiniki did not give in to the Tatars, defeating them in an open and fair fight. The Golden Horde, indeed, were afraid of the detachments of Novgorod freemen, knowing that they could not cope with the ushkuiniki, they demanded that the Russian princes restrain their warlike compatriots.

It seems that information about the ushkuiniki was deliberately excluded from Russian history, and only information remained about how the Russian princes “gathered lands” under their own hands.

Surprisingly, but true: ears are remembered in... Kazan. After the 60,000-strong army of Moscow Prince Ivan Kalita dealt with the Ushkuiniki, many went to the Don and became the basis of the free Cossacks. And by the way, the countless treasures of ushkuiniks have not yet been found, which means there is hope of discovering them!

Russian Vikings. Who were the Khlynovsky Ushkuiniki and how did they found Vyatka?

On the occasion of the 835th anniversary of the beginning of Russian exploration of the Vyatka land, a monument to the Khlynovsky Ushkuiniki, who founded the capital of this region, was erected in Kirov. “Russian Planet” decided to tell who the Ushkuiniki were, what role they played in history, and why the Moscow princes ordered to erase any mention of them from the chronicles.

The nightmare of dog knights

The first ushkuiniki appeared in the 9th–11th centuries in the Novgorod Republic. This is what they began to call professional warriors who united in armed squads.

Some researchers call the Ushkuinikov the first Russian special forces that served the Novgorod Republic, protecting it from external threats. Others were the Russian version of the Vikings, who adopted their style of behavior as a result of close contacts; in fact, they were pirates, guided solely by their own interests and working for profit. Still others see the Ushkuiniki as discoverers and conquerors of new lands, predecessors of Ermak and his Cossack troops. The fourth were professional mercenaries, who were financed by Novgorod merchants in order to collect tribute in the territories under their control and protect trade caravans, historian Anatoly Lysenko tells a RP correspondent. - In my opinion, the most reasonable point of view is that the ushkuiniki were a passionate part of the inhabitants of Novgorod the Great, which, depending on the circumstances, could act in a variety of roles.

The ushkuiniki got their nickname from the ships they sailed on - ushkuyev. These were light, maneuverable and high-speed vessels that could be controlled either with oars or with sails. Their name, according to one version, comes from the Pomeranian word “oshkuy” - polar bear. On the high nose of the ears there was a head carved from wood of this particular animal. One boat could fit up to 30 people. On these ships the Ushkuiniks made their rapid campaigns, many of which changed the course of history.

If we list the most impressive deeds of the Ushkuiniks of the early period of their existence, then it was they who forced the Kingdom of Sweden to sign the Orekhov Peace Treaty with the Novgorod Republic in 1323. And a century and a half earlier, in 1187, having united with the Karelians, they plundered the ancient capital of Sweden, Sigtun, so thoroughly that the city was never able to fully recover from the destruction. So they took revenge on the Swedes, who were the first to attack Novgorod. Please note: some researchers believe that the Ushkuin squads were very small. “But would they be able to take cities in this case?” - Anatoly Lysenko continues the story. - For several centuries, all the Scandinavian neighbors of Veliky Novgorod had nightmares about the Ushkuiniki, whose lands they raided with enviable consistency. By the way, there is an opinion that one of their leaders was mayor Vasily Buslaev, the main character of the Novgorod epic epic.

In 1348, the Swedish king Magnus decided to violate the Orekhov Peace and again attacked the Novgorod Republic. He even managed to take the Oreshek fortress. And then, in response, the Ushkuiniki invaded the Swedish province of Halogaland and captured the well-fortified fortress of Bjarkøy. This struck the Swedish king so much that he immediately stopped the war, and in his will he wrote: “I order my children, my brothers, and the entire Swedish land: do not attack Rus' if they kissed the cross; We have no luck with this..."

By the middle of the 16th century, largely thanks to the efforts of the Ushkuiniks, serious military operations in the north of Rus' virtually ceased. The Livonian Order no longer made attempts to organize new crusades, as did Sweden, Lithuania and Norway. And then the Novgorod warriors left idle found a new enemy - the Golden Horde.

In 1360, the Ushkuiniki along the Volga reached the Horde city of Zhukotin in their boats, which was located near modern Chistopol, and killed almost all its inhabitants, says Anatoly Lysenko. - This campaign of theirs delighted Saint Dionysius of Suzdal, but, as one would expect, it also caused the hot indignation of the Golden Horde. Khizr Khan, who ruled at that time, demanded that Grand Duke Dmitry of Suzdal seize and hand over the ushkuiniks to him. And when they “drank zipuns” in Kostroma on the way home, the Russian princes seized the victors, tied them up and sent them to the Horde, where they were sold into slavery. Of course, this outcome did not suit their comrades who remained free. They organized several new campaigns, forcing the Horde khans to regret their decision. And 14 years later, the Ushkuiniki captured the capital of the Golden Horde itself, the city of Saray. And in the same year they founded the city of Khlynov, which later became Vyatka, and then Kirov.

Pirate State

Ushkuynik. Painting by N.K. Roerich

Historian Nikolai Kostomarov wrote: “There is nothing in Russian history darker than the fate of Vyatka and its land. The chronicler of the Vyatka Land dates the beginning of this colony to 1174 and somewhat contradicts himself: in one place he says that the Novgorod residents set off on their own without permission and separated from Veliky Novgorod, and in another - that they set off with the consent of Veliky Novgorod. More likely the first, because this colony did not recognize the authority of Novgorod, was hostile to Novgorod several times, never interacted with it and felt against itself - according to the same local chronicle - the malice of its metropolis.

If we do not forget that Khlynov was founded by the Ushkuiniki, then there is no mystery in this. Novgorod, which had used their services for many centuries, of course, could not like the fact that they decided to separate and live independently,” historian Viktor Khokhrin tells a RP correspondent. - Moreover, the free Khlynov grew up very quickly. The Ushkuiniki arranged everything in it to their liking: many researchers call the state they created the Vyatka Veche Republic. In fact, the order in Khlynov was the same as in Veliky Novgorod. It had its own veche, but there were no mayors and princes. To maintain independence, the small state periodically united with one or the other princes, but did not submit to them, which categorically did not suit either Veliky Novgorod or Moscow. Having received their own state at their disposal, the Ushkuiniki did not abandon their previous habits, did not settle down and continued to go on campaigns. So, in 1471, they made another raid on the capital of the Golden Horde - the city of Sarai - led by governor Kostya Yuryev. This is even stated in the Typographical Chronicle. After the plunder of the capital, the economic power of the Sarai Horde was completely undermined, and the Moscow princes finally stopped paying tribute to the khans.

Ancestors of the Don Cossacks

The Moscow princes put an end to the existence of the Vyatka Veche Republic. In 1489, Grand Duke Ivan III, who had previously dealt with Veliky Novgorod, sent a 64,000-strong army led by boyars Daniil Shcheny and Grigory Morozov to capture Vyatka. They laid siege to the city. The Vyatichi tried to bribe the governor, but all they managed to achieve with generous gifts was to delay the capitulation. True, this also turned out to be not useless - some of the residents managed to escape during this time. But the rest faced no less severe punishment than the previous residents of Novgorod. Some were executed, the rest were resettled in other cities of the Moscow principality. Even the name of the city of Khlynov disappeared from all documents for several decades.

Some of the Ushkuiniks who survived the defeat went to live on the Don and Volga. Soon the Volga Cossacks formed there, whose customs were strikingly reminiscent of the customs of the Ushkuiniks, and the desire for a free life and river campaigns was no less than theirs. And linguists see similarities in the dialect of the Novgorodians, Vyatichi and Don Cossacks. By the way, the word “Cossack” itself was first mentioned in chronicles precisely in the fatal year for Khlynov in 1489.

Historian Vadim Teplitsyn gives another compelling argument - the leaders of the ushkuiniks were called vatamans, says Anatoly Lysenko. - This word reminded him of the English word waterman, which can be translated as “oarsman”, “a person who lives near the water.” It is difficult to say how justified the parallel with the English word is, but the similarity with the Cossack “ataman” is difficult to refute.

There are very few mentions of the ushkuiniki preserved in the chronicles - the victors, the Moscow princes, ordered that all mention of them be erased from their chronicles. Therefore, much more information about these warriors can be found in the epics “On the Kulikovo Field” and “Standing on the Ugra River”.

DISOBEDIENT AND UNBORDERED

The strength and prowess of me, a fine fellow, overcame me,
Not a stranger, our own heroic prowess!
And even the heart cannot accommodate such prowess,

PROLOGUE
In 1238-1240, the Tatar hordes of Batu passed through Russian soil like a terrible tornado. The vast majority of Russian cities were burned to the ground. Some cities were gradually restored, many remained in ruins, and we know their names only from chronicles. And about many cities, archaeologists briefly mention: “A nameless settlement, destroyed during the Tatar invasion.” Where the Tatars passed, the construction of stone buildings stopped for 150 years. Many crafts disappeared forever in Rus' - the same mosaics. Craftsmen were completely knocked out or taken away by the Tatars. The Russian princes recognized the power of the Horde khans, paid tribute and, at the first request, went to the Horde for reprisals.
In contrast to Rus', the Golden Horde flourished. The Arab traveler Ibn Batuta, who visited the Horde in 1334, wrote that the city of Saray is one of the most beautiful cities, and it took almost a whole day to travel around it. Trade was a significant source of income for the khans - merchants paid a duty to the Tatars from 3 to 5% of the value of the goods. The trade route along the Volga was a hen laying zloty eggs, which is why attacks on merchants were punishable by death. But this is theoretical...
1366 from the Nativity of Christ. Moscow. Wooden grand ducal tower. The prince is pale. What happened? Moscow pays tribute regularly. She didn’t offend her neighbors in any way. Maybe the Tver prince wrote to the Horde? No, Dmitry understood without an interpreter, having heard only one terrible word - “ushkuiniki”. The ushkuyniki swept through the Horde like an all-destroying tornado. Again the Khan's army was beaten. The ambassador threatens, stamps his feet, there is anger in his words, but fear in his eyes! And this is a half-order, half-plea: “Quiet the ushkuinikov.” What kind of formidable force is this - ushkuiniki?

PART 1
OPERATION BEAR

Novgorod freemen,
going on conquests
along the rivers on boats (ushkuyah).
Small Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron

At the end of the 13th century, a new type of ship was created in Rus' - the ushkuy. This name, according to a number of linguists, comes from the ancient Vepsian word for “boat”, but more likely from the name of the polar bear - ushkuya. By the way, this name for a bear existed among the Pomors until the 19th century. An indirect argument in favor of the second version is that the Normans sailed the seas on “sea wolves”. Often the ears were decorated with the heads of bears. So, in the Novgorod epic, in the description of the ship of Solovy Budimirovich, it is said: “On that falcon-ship there were two white bears from overseas.”
Usually the ushkui was built from pine. Fortunately, in the Novgorod forests it is found in abundance. Its keel was hewn out of one trunk and was a beam, on top of which a wide board was laid, which served as the basis for the outer skin belts. It was fastened to the keel with wooden rods, the ends of which were wedged. The beams forming the bow and stern ends of the ship were made straight and installed vertically or with a slight inclination outward, with the bow being higher than the stern. They were connected to the keel with brackets (squares for rigidly connecting elements of the ship's hull, adjacent to each other at an angle), cut from a tree trunk with a thick branch extending at an angle. The stems were fastened to the outer plating and the first frames with horizontal brackets, with the upper one simultaneously serving as a support for the deck flooring, and the lower one being located at the waterline level or slightly above. The girders (frames) consisted of “pieces” (parts) - thick branches of natural decay, hewn along the surface adjacent to the skin, with a slightly removed edge on the side. In the middle part of the vessel, the girths consisted of three parts, and in the extremities - of two. Sea abalones (unlike river ones) had a flat deck only at the bow and stern. The middle part of the vessel (about a third of the length) remained open. Their carrying capacity was 4 - 4.5 tons. Six or eight benches for rowers rested on the inner lining. Thanks to its shallow draft (about 0.5 m) and large length-to-width ratio (5:1), the ship had a relatively high swimming speed. Both sea and river abalones carried a single removable mast, located in the central part of the hull, with one oblique or straight sail. Mounted rudders were not installed on the lugs; they were replaced by stern steering oars. The oars were covered with thick leather at the points of contact with the casing.
These ships were used for military and commercial purposes. But they went down in history as warships of the Novgorod freemen - ushkuiniks.

PART 2
“FROM THE COMBAT PAST OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY”

Novgorod detachments formed by boyars
to seize lands in the North
and trade and robbery expeditions on the Volga and Kama
for the purpose of enrichment and to fight
with political and trade opponents.
Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Their appearance dates back to the 11th century. In 1088, the Kama Bulgarians, the chronicle says, took Murom. Tatishchev, based on the lists he had, makes a conclusion, which Soloviev also accepts, that the Bulgarians took revenge on the Russians for the robberies along the Oka and Volga, which harmed Bulgarian trade. It is possible to point out earlier facts indicating the existence of Ushkuiniki at the beginning of the 11th century. For example, the campaign of Novgorod troops in Ugra, until 1032. In other Russian localities, ushkuinism never reached such proportions as in Novgorod, where the very name ushkuiniki appeared. The freedom of life, the absence of restraining elements of power, the constant struggle of parties - all this gave rise to a special class in Novgorod, which was not assigned to any community (as required by the Novgorod regulations for civil full rights) and was an instrument of unrest in the hands of strong, rich people. The authorities sought to free themselves from such violent elements and showed them the task - to expand the borders of Novgorod; landowners and industrialists used them as defenders of their interests from various foreigners.
As, for example, in 1320. When the Novgorod Republic found itself in a critical situation. The Lithuanians attacked from the southwest; from the west, German knights led crowds of Chukhon robbers. The Karelian Isthmus, the ancient patrimony of Lord Novgorod the Great, and in addition the northern possessions of the republic were attacked by the Norwegians. In 1320 and 1323, the Ushkuiniki launched retaliatory attacks on Norway. In 1320, the Novgorodian Luka ravaged the area located from the southern shore of the Varangsr Fjord to the area of ​​the city of Tromso. And in 1323, the Ushkuiniki were already destroying the Halogaland region southwest of Tromso. The Norwegian government, unable to resist the Ushkuiniki, turned to the papal throne in 1325 for help in organizing a Crusade against the Russians and Karelians. It must be assumed that the Ushkuinik campaigns had the desired effect on the Swedes. In 1323, Sweden concluded a compromise Peace of Orshovsk with Lord Novgorod the Great.
Can one imagine that the good fellows of the Ushkuiniki would have taken their booty in the form of tribute to the Horde, crawled to the Khan’s throne with denunciations against each other, as the princes did?
The blood of true Rus flowed in the veins of the Novgorodians, to whom the Byzantine emperor paid tribute under Igor and Oleg, and under Svyatoslav the entire Volga and Caspian submitted. And the Ushkuiniki decided from now on not to trifle with the poor Norwegians, but to force them to pay tribute... to the Golden Horde! The logic is simple - since the Horde is so big - from the Dnieper to the Yenisei, and it’s also called Zolotoy, it means they must have money.
The Ushkuiniki undertook their first major campaign in 1360. They fought along the Volga to the Kama mouth, and then stormed the large Tatar city of Zhukotin (Dzhuketau near the modern city of Chistopol). Having seized untold wealth, the Ushkuiniki returned and began to “drink their zipuns on drink” in the city of Kostroma. But the Khan of the Golden Horde, Khidyr, sent envoys to the Russian princes with a demand to hand over the ushkuiniks. The frightened princes (Suzdal, Nizhny Novgorod and Rostov) secretly approached Kostroma and, with the help of some of its inhabitants, captured the unsuspecting Ushkuiniks. The princes hastened to hand over the ushkuiniks to the khan for reprisal. The princes' fear of the Tatars eclipsed not only their conscience, but also their reason. After all, ear guards don’t allow such things. They took and burned Nizhny Novgorod.
But these, so to speak, punitive measures, did not distract the ushkuiniks from their main task - the fight against the Horde. In 1363, the Ushkuiniki, led by governors Alexander Abakunovich and Stepan Lepa, went to the Ob River. Here their army split up - one part went to fight down the Ob all the way to the Arctic Ocean (Icy Sea), and the other went for a walk along the upper reaches of the Ob at the junction of the borders of the Golden Horde, the Chagatai Ulus and China. Having returned with their prey, the ushkuiniki did not calm down. In 1366, he and the same governor Alexander Abakunovich were already walking along the middle reaches of the Volga. Again the Khan's complaint flies to the Moscow prince. Dmitry sends a formidable letter to Novgorod. And the Novgorod boyars are cunning, they note, as is done in Rus', with the reply: “Young people went to the Volga without our word, but they didn’t rob your guests (merchants), they only beat the infidel.” Beating an infidel in those days was an everyday, righteous thing, but the boyars lied about their innocence. Indeed, the bulk of the ushkuyniks were Novgorod golytba and newcomers from below (Smolensk, Moscow, Tver), but in most cases they were led by experienced Novgorod governors Osip Varfolomeevich, Vasily Fedorovich, the same Abakunovich and others. Wealthy Novgorod merchants supplied the ushkuiniki with weapons and money, and not for free - upon returning, the ushkuiniki generously shared the spoils. The Ushkuiniks cannot be imagined as a crowd of peasants in zipuns with axes and spears. These were professional fighters who skillfully acted both on foot and on horseback. They had armor, most often chain mail or bairans (butts) - chain mail made of flat rings cut from a steel sheet; There were also composite shells, in which steel plates and chain mail were woven. By the way, the Ushkuiniks were opposed not by the warriors of Chiniskhan (they did not have armor), but by selected Khan troops in heavy defensive weapons. The offensive weapons of the ushkuyniks were spears, swords, sabers, and sabers were preferred. Throwing weapons included bows and crossbows.
From 1360 to 1375, the Ushkuiniki made 8 large campaigns against the middle Volga, not counting small raids. In 1374, the Ushkuiniki took the city of Bolgar (near Kazan) for the third time, then went down and took the capital of the Great Khan of the Golden Horde, Sarai!
In 1375, Novgorodians on seventy ears under the command of governors Prokop and Smolyanin appeared near Kostroma. Moscow governor Alexander Pleshcheev with five thousand troops came out to meet them. Prokop had only one and a half thousand ushkuiniks, but he divided them into two parts: with one he entered into battle with the Moscow army, and the other he sent secretly into the forest to ambush. The attack of this ambush on Pleshcheev’s rear decided the matter. The Muscovites fled, and the Ushkuiniki once again took Kostroma. After resting for a couple of weeks in Kostroma, the Ushkuiniki moved down the Volga. Already by tradition, they paid visits to the city of Bolgar and Saray. Moreover, the rulers of Bolgar, taught by bitter experience, paid off with a large tribute, but the khan’s capital Sarai was once again taken by storm and plundered.
Panic gripped the Tatars at the mere news of the approach of the Russian ushkuiniks. The fabulous prey turned the heads of the ears. They moved even further - to the Caspian Sea. When the Ushkuiniki approached the mouth of the Volga, they were met by Khan Salgei, who ruled Khaztorokan (Astrakhan), and immediately paid the tribute demanded by Prokop. Moreover, in honor of the Ushkuiniks, the khan organized a grand feast. The tipsy ushkuiniki completely lost their vigilance, and in the midst of the feast a crowd of armed Tatars rushed at them. This is how Prokop, Smolyanin and their squad died, only a few daredevils returned to Rus'.
The most interesting thing is that the death of the Ukshkuyniks is shrouded in such an aura of secrets and legends that it almost surpasses their entire combat life. And all because the prudent ushkuiniki did not take the tribute they received with them to the feast, but hid it somewhere until their return. Which never came... More than one hundred expeditions went in search of these treasures, but since they were most likely hidden on one of the islands in the river delta, no one will be able to find them.

EPILOGUE

One of the most important colonies
founded in 1174 by a squad of ushkuyniks,
there was an independent Khlynovo community
in Vyatka land.
Solovyov S.M. “Readings and stories on the history of Russia”

As in the case of Prince Svyatoslav, the idea to write about ushkuiniki did not appear in my head by chance. I just came across the most interesting book by Alfred Khasanovich Khalikov, “Mongols, Tatars, Golden Horde and Bulgaria.” How much the author does not like the “robber campaigns of the Novgorod ushkuiniks, for example in 1360, 1366, 1369, 1370, 1371,” and in “1391-1392 - the massive campaign of the Novgorodians and Ustyuzhans to Vyatka, Kama and the Volga, their capture of Zhukotin and Kazan". You can’t help but wonder that the Tatars remember the ushkuiniks, but we not only don’t remember them, but apparently we haven’t even retained a drop of their blood in ourselves...

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1) “Ushkuiniki – Russian Knights” Alexander SHIROCORAD “Russian Conscience-Ecumenical Message” No. 1, 2005
2) Small Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron
3) Great Soviet Encyclopedia
4) Tolstoy Alexey “Favorites”
5) Alfred Khasanovich Khalikov “Mongols, Tatars, Golden Horde and Bulgaria” Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan Kazan 1994
6) Solovyov S.M. “Readings and stories on the history of Russia” 1989

The question posed in the title is very interesting. It is directly related to two “damned”, or more precisely mysterious, questions of Russian history. Who are the Varangians? And what was the Tatar-Mongol yoke in reality? Moreover, did it exist at all? If by it we mean something very bad and terrible, which set back the development of Russia centuries ago.
Ushkuiniki, i.e. gangs of rivermen and sailors on river-sea vessels attacking the banks of rivers and seas for the purpose of profit (and sometimes not only) are a phenomenon most often from Novgorod (although not always). They got their name from the name of their ships, “ushkuev”. They burst into history and folklore during the period of the rise of the role of Moscow in Rus', respectively, at the beginning of the decline of Veliky Novgorod and the weakening of the influence of the Golden Horde in Rus'.
Our chronicle mysteriously writes that the Novgorodians were Slavs, but became Varangians. But the Slavs are a tribe, and the Varangians? A version appears in historical science that the Varangians in Novgorod could eventually become ushkuiniki.
Let us remember that the Varangians usually mean either the Normans, or the Slavs of the western Baltic, or even the Karelians (and not only). But the chronicle directly writes that the Varangians are Novgorodians. And the Ushkuiniki are Novgorodians, there is some kind of connection.
Well, where to start? From the name of their ships “ushkuev”. There are three decryption options.
About M. Fasmera - ushkui - boat in ancient Finnish (close to Karelian).
But more likely the name is derived from the Pomeranian “oshkuy” - polar bear.
However, there is, perhaps, the most logical version. Ushkui were built at the shipyard of the Oskuy River, a tributary of the Volkhov.
Now remember, Moscow is a port of five seas. The same port was Veliky Novgorod, from which ushkuiniki sailed to the Baltic, White, Black, Azov and Caspian seas. This means that they swam not only in the Far North and there was a problem with a polar bear.
And now for an amazing fact. The Novgorod chronicles, except for the last fourth, report practically nothing about ushkuyniki. Apparently, for them they were an everyday occurrence. Or for some other reason. And we know about them from the chronicles of Moscow and Rostov origin.
Veliky Novgorod is the largest trading center, a city of boyars-landowners, but most of the population are artisans.
It is clear that ushkuiniks, as such, were born, first of all, by trade. And it is based on the breadwinners. The same, for example, famous furs and metals. These are the main export items from Rus'. What is their main task? The task is simple and, as always, twofold. Attack on trade caravans, protection of trade caravans. Exploration and production of goods in demand in markets.
It cannot be ruled out that they appeared already in the 10th-12th centuries, but were known under other names, for example, under the name of the same Varangians.
But the first, clearly recorded name of the Ushkuiniks sounded in the 14th century, when they began to devastate the shores of Volga Bulgaria (now Tatarstan), one of the most important and richest tributaries of the Golden Horde. This was due to the rivalry between Moscow and the Bulgar, two tributaries of the Horde, for a place “under the sun.” The fight was waged by robbers, and not by professional military detachments. The Horde would not have allowed such things. And they were called ushkuiniki and Cossacks. Northerners are Ushkuiniki, Southerners are Cossacks. And it seems that the Cossacks represented the Bulgars in these skirmishes, and the Ushkuiniki represented Moscow in alliance with Novgorod. Maybe I'm wrong.
Although there are quite convincing hypotheses that the most famous ushkuynik, or not yet ushkuynik, Vaska Buslaev could have acted back in the 13th century under Alexander Nevsky.
But let's go to the 14th century.
At the end of the 13th – beginning of the 14th century, not yet Ushkuiniki, but Novgorod fellows took part in the struggle of Novgorod with the Swedes for Karelia.
At the same time, they reached (swimmed) to Norway and collected rich booty there. The matter ended with Sweden concluding the Orekhovets Peace Treaty with Veliky Novgorod (1323). In 1325 the same agreement was signed with Norway.
But still, true ushkuiniki are free people, free spirits. Novgorod is good, but they are thinking about organizing their own center, independent of anyone.
Meanwhile, starting in 1359 The Great Jammy begins in the Horde. She opened the Volga for ushkuinikov. And rumors about them spread throughout the world. The guys began to rob the Tatars along the banks of the Kama and Volga. The Russian princes partially intercepted their ships with goods, which were returned to the khans, but not always. But the process has begun. The Novgorod veche did not give the go-ahead for the ushkuiniks to go on campaigns. But she looked at them “through her fingers.” In 1363 they reached the borders of the Golden Horde.
Ushkuiniki were robbed mainly by infidels. But Moscow, Rostov, and Ryazan people also fell under the hot hand.
The expansion of Moscow's territory to the east led to the fact that the ushkuiniki in the northeast of the Novgorod lands increasingly came under Moscow pressure. And they actively participate in the struggle between Moscow and Novgorod, sometimes being on opposite sides of the barricades.
But in the fight between Moscow and Tver, the ushkuiniki were on the side of the Muscovites. Kostroma and Yaroslavl remain in civil strife without princes. And the Ushkuiniki captured these cities that belonged to the Grand Duchy of Tver.
But that was only the beginning. The Ushkuiniki, feeling their strength, began to increasingly disturb the Golden Horde. They attack and receive ransom from Bulgar. But they don’t calm down and swim straight down the Volga to Sarai.
The year is 1374. There are still 6 years before the Battle of Kulikovo.
And in 1375 The khan's capital, Sarai Berke, was taken by assault by the Ushkuyniki and plundered. The trouble is that the guys celebrated this event well. And so much so that the Astrakhan detachment of Tatars cut them down while drunk.
In 1380 (year of the Battle of Kulikovo) the Ushkuiniki erased the once majestic Great Bulgar from the world map. Now it is being actively restored by the former President of Tatarstan Meytimir Shaimiev.
During the same period, almost a massive resettlement of Novgorodians began to the Tatar (Arsk) lands and rivers. And this is also the Tatar-Mongol yoke, if you haven’t forgotten.
But these are attacks on Muslims. At the end of the 14th century, the Ushkuiniki ravaged the entire north of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, burning Ustyug and Belozersk. So it goes to not only the Tatars, but also Muscovites. And for some reason they are still under the yoke, or no longer? Or maybe it was calmer under the yoke. Well, yes, this is a separate topic.
A particularly curious situation arose at the beginning of the 15th century. At the time when the hordes of Edigei fell on Moscow. Moscow Grand Duke Vasily and his family take refuge in Kostroma. And Edigei “fights” the suburbs of Moscow, and Rostov, Nizhny Novgorod, Sarai. And it looks very much like the Ushkuin soldiers of Anfal Nikitich and his son Nestor are coming to the aid of Moscow, recapturing these cities. As a result, Anfal and his son die. And the noble Moscow prince practically destroys the Novgorod freemen, the Novgorod Republic. True, Novgorod was finally conquered by Ivan III, Vasily’s grandson, and Ivan IV, his great-great-grandson.
Well, the ushkuiniki finally settled in Khlynov, with the light hand of Catherine II in Vyatka, and after the murder of S.M. Kirov in Kirov.
It is clear that during the period of internecine war between the son of Vasily I, Vasily II the Dark, and his uncle, the son of Dmitry Donskoy, Yuri, the Vyatichi, who are also descendants of the Ushkuiniks, took the side of the latter.
But, in the end, they switched to the service of the Moscow prince. And even before the great stand on the Ugra, marked by the end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, for which the royal city of Sarai-Berke was captured once again.
Well, Ivan III acts quite logically. The yoke is over. Now, with the help of the Tatars, it is necessary to destroy the Vyatka Ushkuy freemen. The Tatars hated the Ushkuiniks as only they can hate, which was done with complete success. Well, answer the questions posed at the beginning of the publication yourself.

The Novgorod daredevils, who did not tolerate the constraint of their tyranny, sought freedom, space, and exploits outside the Novgorod Land and, thus, formed in the 14th century bandits, who spread fear in the east of what is now Russia, under the name ushkuinikov - from the word ushkuy, meaning a boat of a special construction. The wars with the Swedes accustomed the Novgorodians to water raids.

So in 1320, Luke went in ushkiy to Murman, that is, to Norway, but was defeated. In 1339, such fellows ruined Korela, which recognized the power of the Swedes, and in 1349, when Magnus launched his crusade against Novgorod, the Novgorod and Dvina daredevils made naval raids on the coast of Norway. In 1340, a gang of Novgorod lodeyniks burned Ustyuzhna and fought in the Belozersk region; however, they were attacked and robbed of their loot.

In the sixties and seventies of the XIV century, Novgorodians began to distinguish themselves on the Volga, because at that time trade developed along the Volga and its tributaries and there was someone to rob. In 1360, the Novgorod ushkuiniki attacked Tatar city of Zhukotin, ruined it, collected all sorts of goods there and settled in Russian Volga cities, especially in Kostroma. The Tatar princes complained to the khan, and Khan Khidyr sent ambassadors to the Russian princes demanding that they hand over the Novgorod robbers to him.

Ushkuiniki made sea raids on the coast of Norway

On this occasion, the princes of Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod and Rostov gathered in Kostroma. It was impossible to indulge such daring, especially since the Tatars generally began to act with Christians in the same way as the Novgorodians with the Tatars: in retribution for Zhukotin, in Bolgari, another Tatar Volga city, robbed all the Christians what happened there at that time. The princes caught the ushkuiniks, who were at that time in Kostroma, and handed them over to the Tatars.

In 1365-1366, three Novgorod boyars: Esip Varfolomeevich, Vasily Fedorovich, and Alexander Aba-kumovich gathered a crowd of daredevils and set off along the Volga. There were two hundred ushkui. They went without permission, without the Novgorod word. Near Nizhny Novgorod they attacked Besermen merchants, robbed them and killed many. At the same time, as you can see, it was not just the Besermen who got it, but also the Russian merchants.

Grand Duke Dimitri complained that the Novgorod ushkuiniki robbed his Moscow guests near Novgorod. The Novgorod veche gave the following answer: “It was the young people who went to the Volga, without our word; they didn’t rob your merchants, but the Besermen robbed them. Don’t be angry with us for this.” If the Novgorod veche did not give permission for such campaigns, then, obviously, it turned a blind eye to them and, according to the general concepts of that time, rob and beat besermen seemed permissible.

Such a concept should have arisen, very naturally, after what the Russian Lands suffered from Tatar willfulness. And indeed, for their unauthorized robberies, the Novgorod ushkuiniki were not only left without followership, but one of them, the then leaders, was entrusted with state affairs; he was sent to protect Torzhok from Tver. In 1369-1370 the Ushkuiniki took Kostroma and Yaroslavl.

The Novgorod veche turned a blind eye to the robbery of the Novgorod ushkuiniks

These raids were probably in connection with Novgorod's enmity towards the Tver prince, who then installed his governor in Kostroma in the same way as in the Novgorod suburb of Bezhetsky-Verkh. In 1374 ninety Ushkui attacked Vyatka, robbed her, then captured the Bulgarians, and took a payback of 300 rubles. Then they divided into two parties: one - from 50 ushkuyev - went to Niz to Sarai, and the other - from 40 ushkuyev - went up the Volga, reached Obukhov, robbed Zasurye and Markvash, crossed the Volga, destroyed their ships, and marched on horseback along the banks of Vetluga, robbed villages and went to Vyatka.

But the most ferocious raid of the Novgorod ushkuiniks on the Volga region took place in 1375, when the Novgorodians, together with the Moscow Grand Duke, fought near Tver. Two thousand daredevils set off; they sailed in seventy ears; their commanders were: one named Procopius, the other nicknamed Smolnyanin, probably so named because was an alien from Smolensk Land. This gang consisted not only of Novgorodians, but even more of the Volochans. They sailed along the Kostroma River to the Volga, to the city of Kostroma. The Kostroma residents, knowing what could be expected from such guests, came out against them with weapons; there were five thousand Kostroma residents; Pleshcheev was their commander.

The Novgorodians went ashore and as soon as they realized that the Kostroma residents were not welcoming them kindly, they split into two. One half went straight to the Kostroma residents, and the other went to their rear, through the juniper bushes. They attacked the Kostroma residents at once, both from the front and from behind. Voivode Pleshcheev the first left the army and ran to Kostroma: everyone followed him and scattered. The Novgorodians killed some in pursuit, tied up others; the third managed to hide in the forest. Then the Ushkuiniki entered defenseless Kostroma, stood there for a week and robbed it to the end: they took everything they could get their hands on; they did not even leave behind what they could not take with them; They only took what was more expensive, and burned everything else: such was their desire to exterminate.

In conclusion, they collected as many prisoners as they wanted, especially female ones, and sailed down the Volga. They landed in Nizhny Novgorod, plundered what they liked, and set the city on fire. From here they sailed to the Bulgarians and there sold the women and girls of Kostroma and Nizhny Novgorod to the Besermen, and then swam even lower. They will meet Besermen guests on the ships along the way - they will rob and kill people; If they meet Christian merchants, they will only rob them and let them in alive. So they reached Astrakhan.

It was then that retribution befell them for both the Kostroma residents and the Nizhny Novgorod residents. Some Tatar prince Salchiy lured them with flattery; And the Tatars killed them all without mercy, taking away all their property acquired in Russian cities. During this campaign, Dimitri with the princes and the militias of many Russian cities approached Novgorod. These gangs, just like the gangs of Luka Bartholomew in 1340, were probably filled with runaway slaves who either themselves were sold into slavery in order to take money from the master and then run away from him, or, having been born into slavery, they found their only way out of it in such wanderings.

Novgorod ushkuiniki attacked Kostroma twice

The pretext for the campaigns of such bands, however, was rob and ruin Besermen and Tatars: this seemed excusable under the circumstances and concepts of that time; and they were angry with the Russians because the Russians greeted them unfriendly. They attacked Kostroma twice. It may very well be that they had a special anger towards this city because here they intercepted and handed over to the Tatars their brethren, who had ravaged Zhukotin.
Demetrius’s action with Novgorod did not completely eradicate ushkuinism, although Novgorod government persecuted ushkuiniki: so in 1390, according to the peace concluded between Novgorod and Pskov, the latter obliged to extradite those who went on the journey to the Volga; - probably persecuted in the Novgorod Land, the fellows thought to find refuge in the Pskov Land.

After the Kostroma case, news of Ushkuin raids is still found in the chronicles several times. In 1379, the Vyatchans went to Arsk Land and defeated a gang of ushkuiniks; Their commander Ryazan, taken prisoner, was killed. In 1392, a gang composed of Novgorodians and Ustyugans attacked Zhukotin and Kazan along the Vyatka River and robbed guests on the Volga. In 1409, Anfal undertook a campaign against the Bolgars: one hundred Nasads went along the Kama, one hundred and fifty along the Volga. This division of the gang ruined it: the Tatars attacked the detachment that was sailing along the Kama and defeated it; Anfal himself was captured and taken to prison. The Volga raids were not in time to help the Kama ones.