Vasily Dmitrievich Sipovsky and "Native antiquity"

At the end of XIX - beginning of XX century. Few of the educated Russian people knew the works and the name of Vasily Dmitrievich Sipovsky (1844–1895), an outstanding teacher and popularizer of historical knowledge. They were read by children and parents, teachers and high school students, members of the imperial family and people without ranks and titles - in a word, everyone was interested in history. More than one generation of Russians began to systematically get acquainted with the past of their native country from the popular books of V. D. Sipovsky and only then took up the more academic S. M. Solovyov, N. I. Kostomarov, V. O. Klyuchevsky. Unfortunately, these books, which went through many lifetime and posthumous editions, were consigned to undeserved oblivion in Soviet times. The same fate befell the memory of their author. Only in the 1990s. in Russia they again remembered V. D. Sipovsky, and his main work, “Native Antiquity”, was republished.

Vladimir Dmitrievich was born in Uman (now the Cherkasy region of Ukraine). After graduating from the gymnasium with a gold medal, he entered the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University, where he successfully completed his education in 1868. Promising as a scientist, Vladimir Dmitrievich nevertheless returned to his homeland and worked as a simple teacher of history and Russian literature. In 1874 he moved from Kyiv to St. Petersburg, invited to teach in the capital's women's gymnasium. In the capital, he was actively involved in pedagogical and social activities. Since 1876, Sipovsky published the journal "Women's Education" (since 1892 renamed "Education"), and since 1878 he taught history and literature at the Higher Women's Courses of Professor K. N. Bestuzhev-Ryumin. In addition to many articles in his own journal, Sipovsky often published in other pedagogical publications (Family and School, Russian School, etc.). And soon the idea of ​​a book arose in which Russian history would be presented in a popular way, with the wide use of monuments of ancient Russian literature. During the preparation of the book, there were some unforeseen troubles: in April 1879, Sipovsky's apartment was searched, and he himself was arrested on suspicion of possession of prohibited publications. However, the police did not find anything reprehensible in Sipovsky's papers, and Vasily Dmitrievich was able to return to work. As a result, the three-volume “Native antiquity. Domestic history in stories and pictures. The first volume (issue) was devoted to the events of Russian history from the 9th to the 14th centuries. (until the death of Dmitry Donskoy), the second - from the XIV to the XVI century. (until the death of Ivan the Terrible), the third - from the reign of Fyodor Ivanovich to the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich (that is, until 1682, the beginning of the Petrine era).

Since the publication of the first volume (1879), "Native Antiquity" has gone through nine more editions - so great was the popularity of this book. Moreover, the author made changes and additions to lifetime reprints of "Native Antiquity", including very significant ones. So, in comparison with the original version, the book was supplemented with an introductory story about the sources of knowledge about the past, the stories about the most ancient inhabitants of Eastern Europe, about the ancient Lithuanians and the formation of the Lithuanian principality, about Western Rus' and Ukraine under the rule of Poland were significantly expanded. The author tried to fill the issues of "Native antiquity" with illustrative material in order to make the past of Russia more visual and understandable for readers. This was the peculiarity of Sipovsky's method of teaching history - thanks to an intelligible language and a fascinating narrative, to make the past understandable and interesting, so that the reader would not see boring lists of dryly stated facts, dates and names, but vivid pictures of previous eras, made up of vivid memorable images. In addition, Vasily Dmitrievich strove not to clutter up his books with economic and sociological concepts that were so fashionable in his time, but to focus on what is close and accessible to the understanding of the mass young reader - on the daily life of people, on the relationship between them, on what they were worried or pleased. Readers of Native Antiquity comprehended the history of the people through acquaintance with culture, way of life and customs, and the history of the state through the thoughts and actions of the rulers and the figures around them. For Sipovsky, it was important to convey to his contemporaries the living word of the people of bygone generations. Wherever possible, he retells or quotes fragments of oral and written literary monuments - chronicles, folk tales, epics, legends and songs, epic poems and stories, lives of saints, messages (in some of the latest reprints of Native Antiquity, many of these passages were unfortunately omitted). The special value of "Native antiquity" lies precisely in the saturation of its text with fragments of historical sources, most of which would remain unknown to an inexperienced reader. This is a feature not only of this work, but also of other works of Sipovsky (“History of Ancient Greece in stories and pictures” and “Socrates and his time”).

Sipovsky combined work on popular books for popular reading with teaching and publishing a magazine, and in 1885 Vasily Dmitrievich was appointed director of a school for the deaf and dumb. He worked in this position until his death. The pedagogical talent of V. D. Sipovsky was appreciated by Emperor Alexander III, who invited the author of "Native Antiquity" to teach history to his children - Grand Duchess Xenia and Grand Duke Mikhail.

On the title pages of Native Antiquity, Vasily Dmitrievich modestly appeared as a compiler, thereby emphasizing that he only conscientiously and popularly sets out either the results of the discoveries of other historians (Sipovsky listed their works used in preparing the book in the prefaces to each of the "issues" ), or the content of ancient artistic monuments. And it may seem that Sipovsky the researcher's own views are not reflected in Native Antiquity. But it's not. The author of "Native Antiquity" had personal ideas about historical progress, considered it the main force of enlightenment. And he considered the lack of education to be one of the main reasons for the misfortunes that befell Rus' in the past. Usually avoiding categorical judgments, Sipovsky nevertheless made unambiguous conclusions when assessing the mores of a particular era, based on the degree of enlightenment of people, their ability to think independently and create freely.

Even at the beginning of the XXI century. V. D. Sipovsky's book retains interest for all those interested in history. Of course, the current reader of "Native Antiquity" should always remember that the author addressed his text to the young generation of the late 19th century, and therefore, drawing parallels with "modernity", he had in mind the realities of the century before last. It must be remembered that "Native Antiquity", for all its merits, is not a historical study in the modern sense of the word. For the author, it is more important not to reconstruct historical events and processes in the form in which they took place in reality, but in the form in which they remained in the historical memory of the people, turning into legends and traditions, reflected in songs and sayings, leaving an imprint in written literary monuments. Of course, the author did not blindly trust these sources; often on the pages of "Native antiquity" he sneered at people's fantasy and directly called individual reports of annals and historical legends "fabulous." At the same time, modern historical science has subjected to fair doubts many of the facts that for

VD Sipovsky and contemporary historians were indisputable. However, the conclusions of modern science are also not the ultimate truth. Therefore, correcting and commenting on "Native Antiquity" is a thankless task and not always necessary. After all, Sipovsky's work today should be treated not as a reference book on national history, but as a talented literary and historical work dedicated to the past of our country. Nevertheless, a number of places in the book that are difficult for the modern reader to understand or contain obvious errors (for which the author is not so much to blame as the sources used by him) had to be provided with notes - either at the end of the book or in the text itself [in square brackets].

From the preface to the first edition

The teaching of national history in our men's and women's educational institutions usually begins in the middle classes. Students aged 13-15 are given a textbook, which is the basis of teaching. The teacher should make sure that the students fully understand and assimilate the textbook. History textbooks, even the best ones, present by their very essence a concise and dry presentation of facts that must be assimilated by memory. The teacher's explanations concern the meaning of events, their significance, the causal connection between them, etc., and act mainly on the rational ability. The lessons of history, especially domestic history, usually give too little food to the imagination and feeling of students. Even in those cases where the teacher is a good storyteller and could, with his stories, evoke in students vivid representations of historical events and persons, he is very rarely able to do this: usually a little time is allotted for the lessons of national history, and moreover, half of it is spent on the necessary asking for lessons. A dry presentation of facts, without affecting the imagination and feelings, is poorly kept in memory; frequent and, moreover, boring repetitions of the same thing do little to help the trouble. It is especially sad that in this case students' interest in their native history often perishes.

If we take into account that only an extremely small minority manages to hear professorial lectures on Russian history, that scientific writings are hardly accessible to the ordinary reader, then we will understand why the knowledge of our native history does not flourish among our youth.

Meanwhile, national history and literature are considered the cornerstones of national education. And indeed, only those of the educated people can understand their people - let alone live in one heart with them - who knows well what they have experienced and thought over.

The school, if it even makes any claims to national education, must arouse in its pupils an interest in national history and give them the habit of reading scientific and historical writings.

More caring teachers usually do not limit themselves only to lessons, but gradually introduce their students to reading historical works, advising them sometimes to read well-known chapters or pages from the works of Karamzin, Solovyov, Kostomarov, and others. Russian History" by Gurevich and Pavlovich, which represents a good selection of articles from the scientific literature on Russian history.) But reading historical writings and scientific articles is possible only for older people. Moreover, this reading can be of real benefit only under two conditions: firstly, great tact is needed on the part of the teacher when choosing articles to read and, secondly, it is necessary that students have a strong interest in national history. And in order for this interest to be aroused in them, it is necessary that from the very first steps of study, native history should not only be a heavy burden on memory, but should make an impression on the feelings of the students, give food to their imagination as well. For this, it is necessary, in addition to the textbook, in addition to the teacher's explanations, to help students in independent reading.

There is no completely suitable and complete work for this in our educational literature; we are trying to fill this gap. We set out to retell all the most important events of Russian history, strictly adhering to the sources and their scientific development, to retell them in such a way that readers get a somewhat vivid idea of ​​past events, faces and the ancient order of life. For a correct understanding of historical persons and their deeds, it is important to know how contemporaries or immediate descendants looked at them. In this respect, the glance of a chronicler, the words of an ancient preacher, an old superstitious tradition, an ingenuous legend of a contemporary, etc., receive a high price. Wherever possible, we tried to show how the events and deeds of historical figures were reflected in the minds of contemporaries. Although we used scientific works, we always tried to stay as close as possible to the sources; some monuments (“Instruction” by Vladimir Monomakh, the Word about Igor's Campaign, passages from the Life of St. Theodosius, etc.) are transmitted by us almost verbatim. Personal life, as you know, showed little in the ancient times of our history. For this reason, our historical sources provide little biographical material, but nevertheless, according to them, although in general terms, one can imagine several types generated by the warehouse of ancient life and historical circumstances. With the type of prince - a stern and merciless warrior - the readers of our book will get acquainted with the legends about the first princes: Oleg, Igor and Svyatoslav; with the type of a warrior, softened and enlightened Christian teaching - from the story of Vladimir Monomakh; with the restless daring prince of the specific veche period - from the story of Mstislav Udal. The types of ascetic monks are presented in the stories about St. Theodosius and St. Sergius. In the XIV century. the type of prince-politician, hoarder, dodgy and far-sighted, begins to emerge in the stories about Yuri and Ivan Danilovich.

We pay special attention to the presentation. We tried to bring the language as clean and simple as possible, trying at the same time to avoid dryness.

Introduction

How do we know our past?

More than a thousand years have passed since the beginning of the Russian state. During this time, many great things happened in Rus', both good and bad; the Russian people experienced many misfortunes and grief; he also had bright days of joy; there were also people whose memory is dear to every Russian heart. There is something to talk about, there is something to listen to.

How can we find out about what happened several centuries before us? Where can you find out about ancient times?

The life of peoples usually does not pass without a trace. Oral stories about bygone events, ancient written monuments, buildings, utensils, weapons and other things that have survived from past times - all these are traces of the past life of the people. The more educated people become, the more they value these remnants of antiquity: they understand that it is impossible to reasonably live among the people without knowing its customs, customs, institutions; and it is only possible to recognize and fully understand them by clarifying for yourself how they developed in the centuries-old life of the people. To explain this and depict the past life of the people is the task of history, and all kinds of remnants of antiquity serve as a source from which the historian draws information about the past.

It is innate for both an individual person and a whole nation to remember their past and cherish it. Who has not noticed how old and experienced people, as they say, who have seen the world in their lifetime, love to talk about past days? Sometimes they tell so well, in detail and smoothly, that you can listen to them. The memory of old people is often both rich and torovat - if only there were those who wanted to listen to them, but they would not tell the story if they were willing.

Such a hunt among old people was at all times. Old people tell their children and grandchildren about the past, and these stories sink deep into their memory and heart. A dozen two or three years will pass - the grandfathers have already gone to the grave, their grandchildren and children themselves have become fathers and grandfathers; they also tell their children about the old grandfather's and about what they themselves have seen in their lifetime. This is how stories about the past are passed from generation to generation, which is why they are called legends. Centuries pass, and legends about antiquity, like a reserved heritage, along with grandfather's customs, pass from generation to generation.

Although old people have a strong memory for the past, it still cannot retain everything that they themselves have seen and heard from others: names slip away, events are confused, sometimes the place and time are forgotten, where and when what happened. Moreover, after all, not everything that you know, and you want to tell; what is cut deeper into the memory and closer to the heart, only then it asks for the tongue. Dashing misfortunes, heroic deeds, fierce grief and bright joys - this is what is most evident in folk legends. Unfortunately, when the heart speaks too strongly, the mind is sometimes silent ... Another storyteller speaks about the strength of the wondrous mighty hero, about his miraculous exploits, but involuntarily from the fullness of his soul he will estimate a word or two from himself - where he exaggerates, where he embellishes; you look, with the reality the fiction has already intertwined. Such a story passed through the mouths of several generations, the legend has already turned into a fairy tale, and it is difficult to distinguish true from fiction in it. Otherwise, there will be such idle and skillful people among the people that they will put other legends into songs: they come out more smoothly in the song, and it is more pleasant to listen to them.

Life is not worth it: years go by; new things are done; each generation has its sorrows, its joys, its worries; new stories are born, new songs are formed. They are gradually mixed with each other in the people's memory, the new is intertwined with the old or displaces it. Many ancient legends and old songs were lost, forgotten by the people before scientists began to collect, write down and study them; but still a lot of them are still stored in the people's memory. A long time ago, those who are spoken of in a different song are no longer in the world, even from their graves there has long been no trace, and the living song still speaks of their deeds; hundreds of years pass, and their sorrows and joys all live in these songs...

Folk songs, fairy tales, legends serve the historian as a precious oral source. He will not draw information about events and persons from them, but will learn from here what the people believed in, what they hoped for, what they loved, and what, out of what he experienced and rethought, was especially deeply embedded in his memory. This is what oral folk works are dear to history.

In ancient times, when our ancestors did not even have a written language, literate foreigners came to our area or learned about our land from experienced people and spread news about it, sometimes kept records, described the mores, customs, life of our ancestors. From this source one can draw many curious details about the ancient life of Russians; moreover, from here we learn how foreigners looked at them at one time or another.

When writing began to spread in Rus', we found literate monks who began to keep records of events in their native land. At first, this was done very simply: they put up the years and under them they briefly noted what happened at that time; and there was nothing special, then they did not write anything - the year remained empty. These fragmentary records are called chronicles.

Such initial records have not survived to our time. The oldest chronicle work that has come down to us is The Tale of Bygone Years (its full title is: “Behold the Tale of Bygone Years, where did the Russian land come from, who in Kiev began the first princes and where did the Russian land come from”). This work belongs to the 12th century. The compiler of the chronicle - whether he was a monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Nestor, as they thought before, or Sylvester, hegumen of the Vydubytsky monastery, as is now believed - worked hard on his book.

"Nestor the Chronicler". Sculpture by M. M. Antokolsky. 1890

He lived at the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th centuries, and decided to start a book following the example of the Greek chroniclers from the time of the Flood. He had to collect information from the Greek chronicles, from various legends and legends, especially from the most ancient Russian chronicle notes; I had to bring all this into one whole, and therefore they call his work a chronicle code. A dark legend about the first princes, a pious legend about the first Christian ascetics in Russia, fragmentary notes about a prince’s campaign or an attack by predatory enemies, a fairy-tale story of an experienced person about some wonders of the Russian land - everything is dear to him, everything is diligently entered into his book by an ingenuous compiler : only later events could he describe as an eyewitness. He has renounced the world, he wants to think only about God, about the salvation of his soul, but not to tear him out of his heart of his attachment to his native land, he really wants to know what is happening and has been happening on it, he wants to tell others about what he knows. And now, having prayed to God, he diligently takes up his work: mournfully tells about troubles in Rus', about atrocities, about princely strife, with tenderness of the heart brings stories about the exploits of Christian piety, cites suitable places from Holy Scripture. He looks at his work as a charitable deed: princes, boyars, monks will read the annals - they will find out how much evil was happening on earth, how God punished the wicked for this, they will also recognize good deeds, the exploits of the best Russian people - and it will be easier for good people choose the right path in life and avoid evil. It was not easy to write a whole book when you had to draw letter by letter. But the chronicler works hard - he hopes "to receive mercy from God", he hopes that people will read his book and remember him with a kind word.

The industrious compiler of the Tale of Bygone Years accomplished a great deed: from it we learn most of all about the most ancient events in Rus' until 1110, with which this chronicle ends.

Following her, chronicle legends began to be kept in other cities, in monasteries (Novgorod chronicles, Pskov, Suzdal, etc.). Later chroniclers usually wrote off the Tale of Bygone Years first, and then they themselves continued - they noted more the events of those regions and cities where they themselves lived. Chronicles were kept with us until the 17th century. Many handwritten chronicles have come down to our time; but, unfortunately, the most ancient of those that have come down to us were written not earlier than the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th century. (Lavrentiev and Ipatiev lists); therefore, the Tale of Bygone Years was preserved only in later lists.

H. M. Karamzin. Portrait by E. I. Geitman. 1820s

In addition to the chronicles, many separate legends about memorable events, the lives of saints, notes of contemporaries, messages have survived from ancient writing; ancient treaties, princely charters, decrees, government decrees, charters, and laws have also been preserved. All these are written sources precious for history.

Over time, more and more different manuscripts were accumulated. Whole heaps of them have been hiding in complete obscurity for hundreds of years in monastic and other ancient book depositories. From the 16th century book printing began in Moscow, but for a long time no one thought of printing manuscripts precious to history. To understand their heaps, to separate the important from the unimportant, one needed not only labor and diligence, but also knowledge and skill, and our ancestors lacked them. They did not know how to take care of expensive manuscripts: many were lost, many died not only from fires, but also from the negligence and ignorance of the owners.

Only from the 18th century real science was born in our country. According to the idea of ​​Peter the Great, a scientific institution arose in St. Petersburg, the Academy of Sciences, to which scientists were called, for lack of Russians, from Germany. Between them there were people who knew the value of ancient manuscripts - they began to diligently collect, study, print them. Beginning with M. V. Lomonosov, the first Russian scientist, Russian people are also taken to science. Many began to work diligently on various issues of Russian history; others have tried to present it consistently and coherently since ancient times. At the beginning of our century [the author means the 19th century] Karamzin's famous work appears: "The History of the Russian State" (brought to 1613). Since that time, the love for antiquity has been growing and growing: more and more researchers appear, entire societies of lovers of antiquities are established, and they work together on the sources of Russian history. The dear antiquity is dear to everyone, but it is dearest of all to those who spend their whole lives studying it. Scientists diligently rummage through piles of old manuscripts, study ancient legends, dark legends, fairy tales, songs, customs, beliefs, the language of the people, dig up ancient graves (mounds), look for ancient weapons, utensils, etc .; everywhere they look for the remnants of antiquity, like gold diggers for gold.

And their work is not in vain: more and more information about antiquity is being collected, more and more clearly the past appears before us, as if it comes to life. New learned societies are being established to work on Russian antiquity. We have a whole science of antiquities (archeology) with many departments covering all aspects of ancient life (ancient buildings, icons, ancient writings, utensils, weapons, clothes, coins, etc.). In addition to large state collections and repositories of antiquities, such as, for example, the Armory in Moscow and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the study of antiquity is also promoted by private collections of ancient things from some wealthy lovers of antiquities. Chronicles, state charters, images of ancient buildings, things, clothes are published thanks to the help of the government and private individuals. There are rich collections of oral, folk works (songs, fairy tales, proverbs, etc.), scientific studies of folk customs and beliefs are published. The government opens its collections of ancient documents and papers (archives) to inquisitive scientists. Individuals in possession of notes or letters important to history make them public. There are several historical journals (“Russian Starina”, “Russian Archive”, “Historical Bulletin”, etc.), which have been published for many years and cannot exhaust all our “historical wealth” accumulated in past years.

Many gifted and highly talented scientists, many modest workers worked on Russian antiquity. More than one page would have to be covered with their names if we thought of naming them all. Every Russian who cherishes his native antiquity will say heartfelt thanks to all of them; the historian will also say a big thank you, to whom it would be impossible to even think about the presentation of history, if there were no sources prepared for it. And collecting them and preparing, as they say, materials for history is a very difficult task. The gullible chronicler calmly entered into his work all sorts of news, legends, stories, without thinking for a long time whether they were true or not; and a real scientist can use them only after a strict, reasonable verification (criticism) of the sources. If a scientist discovers some previously unknown ancient legend, he, first of all, if the year when it was written is not marked, he will try to find out by the style of the letters, by the language, what time the manuscript belongs to. If it tells about any event, then the researcher wonders if the writer could and wanted to tell the truth; if a scholarly researcher of antiquity finds an ancient coin, he will also check whether it is as old as it seems, whether it is fake, etc. Only after careful critical research, sometimes very long and painstaking, will the real price of the monument for history be indicated.

S. M. SOLOVIEV Engraving by L. A. Seryakov. 1881

After such a development, after the publication of sources, it is possible to present Russian history more accurately and more fully than before. From the fifties Solovyov began his enormous work (now 29 volumes); then Kostomarov's numerous works appeared - they strengthened the love of historical reading in Russian society. Finally, in our time [meaning the 1880s], several new major works on Russian history have been begun (Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Zabelin and Ilovaisky), which are trying to solve some obscure questions of our history and to shed light on ancient Russian life more fully.

A lot of work will still have to be done on explaining it, both by our historians today and in the future. It is not easy to make sense of the heaps of written, material and oral sources, it is even more difficult to extract from them what constitutes the main task of any science - the truth, the truth that our people highly appreciate, speaks of which in their proverbs: “The truth is brighter than the sun, more expensive gold”, “People do not live without truth, but only toil”.

Educated people can learn this truth about their native antiquity from the works of scientists; to a literate commoner, the books available to him will say something about her; an illiterate person learns about it from the literate, and in the remote corners of our earth - in the same way as our ancestors a thousand years ago - from the stories of old people, from legends and songs. Older songs are heard less and less in our villages: they are gradually being replaced by new, bookish ones. Epics about old heroes are told only here and there in the north by a few skilled old men; in the south of Russia, the people no longer know these epics - they were replaced by songs (thoughts) about Cossack times. Here you can still meet, although rarely, folk singers (kobzars), mostly blind beggars. Even today one can see what great significance they had for the people. They follow their guides (leaders) from village to village. Everywhere the kobzar is a welcome guest. Wherever he comes, a crowd of old and young people will soon gather around him: everyone wants to listen to songs about antiquity. The kobza player plays his kobza (a kind of guitar) and sings his song to the sounds of its strings: he sings about how the Cossacks fell into Tatar or Turkish captivity, about the unbearable torments that they endured in the hands of the infidels. The senile voice of the singer sounds sad, the strings groan plaintively. Listeners are standing around, standing motionless with their heads bowed, as if they hear the groans of their ancestors - they hear, but they cannot help ... The kobzar finished his song. It's sad for everyone. But here he sang again, and sang a different song: he sings about the wide, free steppe, sings about how the Cossack daring developed along it, sings about the dashing exploits of great-grandfathers, about their mighty strength. Live strings hum louder; the voice of the old singer grows stronger, as if youth had returned to him. The lowered heads of the listeners rise, the old Cossacks straighten their bent backs, and the eyes of the young ones sparkle - they sensed that the Cossack great-grandfather blood flows in their veins ...

1 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95

M. Pashinin's publication in the reprinted selection of the magazine "Rodnaya Starina"(p.301).

Ivan Nikiforovich Zavoloko. This re-edition of the collection of the magazine "Native Antiquity" is dedicated to the centenary of the outstanding Old Believer historian, writer, scientist and public figure Ivan Nikiforovich Zavoloko (1897-1984). The magazine was published in Riga in the period from 1927 to 1933, but its content has not lost its value to this day.

Having been educated at the University of Prague, Ivan Nikiforovich communicated with the best representatives of the Russian academic emigration, including attending the famous Kondakov seminar. Returning to his homeland in Latvia, Zavoloko directed all his talents and abilities to the education of the Old Believers and the Russian diaspora. If in the country of the Soviets the past was already called “black” and forgotten, then in the Baltic States there was still the opportunity to preach and study the precepts of their native antiquity, to remind them of the ideals of Holy Rus'.

The publication of 13 issues of "Native antiquity" can be called the publishing and editorial feat of Zavoloko. Published at their own expense or donations collected by the “Circle of Zealots of Antiquity” (which was also headed by Ivan Nikiforovich), the magazines are thematic collections devoted to ancient Russian icon painting, the history of church singing, Archpriest Avvakum and boyar Morozova, the Vygovsky monastery, the Denisov brothers, etc. Saturation with information, conciseness and at the same time accessibility of presentation, rich illustrations and decoration with ancient Russian and Pomeranian ornaments create a remarkable style of publication. Zavoloko managed to avoid being overwhelmed by the controversy of the Old Believer publications of the early 20th century and showed what spiritual wealth Old Orthodoxy preserves and what Russia once turned away from in blind imitation of other people's ideals.

It is not surprising that 1940 became fatal for Ivan Nikiforovich. Shortly after the coming of Soviet power, he was arrested and spent seventeen years in camps and in exile. However, having returned already crippled, without a leg, he tirelessly continued to study ancient Russian antiquity, publish his articles and materials in the Old Believer calendars.

Having lived a long and hard life, I.N. Zavoloko left behind an eternal memory - his works, his publications. His articles were also signed with the initials I.N., Ivan Nikiforov, “Old Believer”, and others. There is still a lot of work ahead to collect and publish all the materials, writings of I.N. Zavoloko.

The proposed collection includes 13 issues of "Native antiquity", for technical reasons (limitation of the volume of the collection by the printing house) some pages were cut, mainly of an advertising and newsreel nature. Unfortunately, by the beginning of the reissue, the publishing house did not have the original of the “second” first issue of the journal (the publication begins with a “zero”, trial issue of the collection). The missing material will be published as an appendix to the collection.

Current page: 1 (total book has 95 pages) [accessible reading excerpt: 53 pages]

Vasily Dmitrievich Sipovsky
Native antiquity

Vasily Dmitrievich Sipovsky and "Native antiquity"

At the end of XIX - beginning of XX century. Few of the educated Russian people knew the works and the name of Vasily Dmitrievich Sipovsky (1844–1895), an outstanding teacher and popularizer of historical knowledge. They were read by children and parents, teachers and high school students, members of the imperial family and people without ranks and titles - in a word, everyone was interested in history. More than one generation of Russians began to systematically get acquainted with the past of their native country from the popular books of V. D. Sipovsky and only then took up the more academic S. M. Solovyov, N. I. Kostomarov, V. O. Klyuchevsky. Unfortunately, these books, which went through many lifetime and posthumous editions, were consigned to undeserved oblivion in Soviet times. The same fate befell the memory of their author. Only in the 1990s. in Russia they again remembered V. D. Sipovsky, and his main work, “Native Antiquity”, was republished.

Vladimir Dmitrievich was born in Uman (now the Cherkasy region of Ukraine). After graduating from the gymnasium with a gold medal, he entered the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University, where he successfully completed his education in 1868. Promising as a scientist, Vladimir Dmitrievich nevertheless returned to his homeland and worked as a simple teacher of history and Russian literature. In 1874 he moved from Kyiv to St. Petersburg, invited to teach in the capital's women's gymnasium. In the capital, he was actively involved in pedagogical and social activities. Since 1876, Sipovsky published the journal "Women's Education" (since 1892 renamed "Education"), and since 1878 he taught history and literature at the Higher Women's Courses of Professor K. N. Bestuzhev-Ryumin. In addition to many articles in his own journal, Sipovsky often published in other pedagogical publications (Family and School, Russian School, etc.). And soon the idea of ​​a book arose in which Russian history would be presented in a popular way, with the wide use of monuments of ancient Russian literature. During the preparation of the book, there were some unforeseen troubles: in April 1879, Sipovsky's apartment was searched, and he himself was arrested on suspicion of possession of prohibited publications. However, the police did not find anything reprehensible in Sipovsky's papers, and Vasily Dmitrievich was able to return to work. As a result, the three-volume “Native antiquity. Domestic history in stories and pictures. The first volume (issue) was devoted to the events of Russian history from the 9th to the 14th centuries. (until the death of Dmitry Donskoy), the second - from the XIV to the XVI century. (until the death of Ivan the Terrible), the third - from the reign of Fyodor Ivanovich to the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich (that is, until 1682, the beginning of the Petrine era).

Since the publication of the first volume (1879), "Native Antiquity" has gone through nine more editions - so great was the popularity of this book. Moreover, the author made changes and additions to lifetime reprints of "Native Antiquity", including very significant ones. So, in comparison with the original version, the book was supplemented with an introductory story about the sources of knowledge about the past, the stories about the most ancient inhabitants of Eastern Europe, about the ancient Lithuanians and the formation of the Lithuanian principality, about Western Rus' and Ukraine under the rule of Poland were significantly expanded. The author tried to fill the issues of "Native antiquity" with illustrative material in order to make the past of Russia more visual and understandable for readers. This was the peculiarity of Sipovsky's method of teaching history - thanks to an intelligible language and a fascinating narrative, to make the past understandable and interesting, so that the reader would not see boring lists of dryly stated facts, dates and names, but vivid pictures of previous eras, made up of vivid memorable images. In addition, Vasily Dmitrievich strove not to clutter up his books with economic and sociological concepts that were so fashionable in his time, but to focus on what is close and accessible to the understanding of the mass young reader - on the daily life of people, on the relationship between them, on what they were worried or pleased. Readers of Native Antiquity comprehended the history of the people through acquaintance with culture, way of life and customs, and the history of the state through the thoughts and actions of the rulers and the figures around them. For Sipovsky, it was important to convey to his contemporaries the living word of the people of bygone generations. Wherever possible, he retells or quotes fragments of oral and written literary monuments - chronicles, folk tales, epics, legends and songs, epic poems and stories, lives of saints, messages (in some of the latest reprints of Native Antiquity, many of these passages were unfortunately omitted). The special value of "Native antiquity" lies precisely in the saturation of its text with fragments of historical sources, most of which would remain unknown to an inexperienced reader. This is a feature not only of this work, but also of other works of Sipovsky (“History of Ancient Greece in stories and pictures” and “Socrates and his time”).

Sipovsky combined work on popular books for popular reading with teaching and publishing a magazine, and in 1885 Vasily Dmitrievich was appointed director of a school for the deaf and dumb. He worked in this position until his death. The pedagogical talent of V. D. Sipovsky was appreciated by Emperor Alexander III, who invited the author of "Native Antiquity" to teach history to his children - Grand Duchess Xenia and Grand Duke Mikhail.

On the title pages of Native Antiquity, Vasily Dmitrievich modestly appeared as a compiler, thereby emphasizing that he only conscientiously and popularly sets out either the results of the discoveries of other historians (Sipovsky listed their works used in preparing the book in the prefaces to each of the "issues" ), or the content of ancient artistic monuments. And it may seem that Sipovsky the researcher's own views are not reflected in Native Antiquity. But it's not. The author of "Native Antiquity" had personal ideas about historical progress, considered it the main force of enlightenment. And he considered the lack of education to be one of the main reasons for the misfortunes that befell Rus' in the past. Usually avoiding categorical judgments, Sipovsky nevertheless made unambiguous conclusions when assessing the mores of a particular era, based on the degree of enlightenment of people, their ability to think independently and create freely.

Even at the beginning of the XXI century. V. D. Sipovsky's book retains interest for all those interested in history. Of course, the current reader of "Native Antiquity" should always remember that the author addressed his text to the young generation of the late 19th century, and therefore, drawing parallels with "modernity", he had in mind the realities of the century before last. It must be remembered that "Native Antiquity", for all its merits, is not a historical study in the modern sense of the word. For the author, it is more important not to reconstruct historical events and processes in the form in which they took place in reality, but in the form in which they remained in the historical memory of the people, turning into legends and traditions, reflected in songs and sayings, leaving an imprint in written literary monuments. Of course, the author did not blindly trust these sources; often on the pages of "Native antiquity" he sneered at people's fantasy and directly called individual reports of annals and historical legends "fabulous." At the same time, modern historical science has subjected to fair doubts many of the facts that for

VD Sipovsky and contemporary historians were indisputable. However, the conclusions of modern science are also not the ultimate truth. Therefore, correcting and commenting on "Native Antiquity" is a thankless task and not always necessary. After all, Sipovsky's work today should be treated not as a reference book on national history, but as a talented literary and historical work dedicated to the past of our country. Nevertheless, a number of places in the book that are difficult for the modern reader to understand or contain obvious errors (for which the author is not so much to blame as the sources used by him) had to be provided with notes - either at the end of the book or in the text itself [in square brackets].

From the preface to the first edition

The teaching of national history in our men's and women's educational institutions usually begins in the middle classes. Students aged 13-15 are given a textbook, which is the basis of teaching. The teacher should make sure that the students fully understand and assimilate the textbook. History textbooks, even the best ones, present by their very essence a concise and dry presentation of facts that must be assimilated by memory. The teacher's explanations concern the meaning of events, their significance, the causal connection between them, etc., and act mainly on the rational ability. The lessons of history, especially domestic history, usually give too little food to the imagination and feeling of students. Even in those cases where the teacher is a good storyteller and could, with his stories, evoke in students vivid representations of historical events and persons, he is very rarely able to do this: usually a little time is allotted for the lessons of national history, and moreover, half of it is spent on the necessary asking for lessons. A dry presentation of facts, without affecting the imagination and feelings, is poorly kept in memory; frequent and, moreover, boring repetitions of the same thing do little to help the trouble. It is especially sad that in this case students' interest in their native history often perishes.

If we take into account that only an extremely small minority manages to hear professorial lectures on Russian history, that scientific writings are hardly accessible to the ordinary reader, then we will understand why the knowledge of our native history does not flourish among our youth.

Meanwhile, national history and literature are considered the cornerstones of national education. And indeed, only those of the educated people can understand their people - let alone live in one heart with them - who knows well what they have experienced and thought over.

The school, if it even makes any claims to national education, must arouse in its pupils an interest in national history and give them the habit of reading scientific and historical writings.

More caring teachers usually do not limit themselves only to lessons, but gradually introduce their students to reading historical works, advising them sometimes to read well-known chapters or pages from the works of Karamzin, Solovyov, Kostomarov, and others. Russian History" by Gurevich and Pavlovich, which represents a good selection of articles from the scientific literature on Russian history.) But reading historical writings and scientific articles is possible only for older people. Moreover, this reading can be of real benefit only under two conditions: firstly, great tact is needed on the part of the teacher when choosing articles to read and, secondly, it is necessary that students have a strong interest in national history. And in order for this interest to be aroused in them, it is necessary that from the very first steps of study, native history should not only be a heavy burden on memory, but should make an impression on the feelings of the students, give food to their imagination as well. For this, it is necessary, in addition to the textbook, in addition to the teacher's explanations, to help students in independent reading.

There is no completely suitable and complete work for this in our educational literature; we are trying to fill this gap. We set out to retell all the most important events of Russian history, strictly adhering to the sources and their scientific development, to retell them in such a way that readers get a somewhat vivid idea of ​​past events, faces and the ancient order of life. For a correct understanding of historical persons and their deeds, it is important to know how contemporaries or immediate descendants looked at them. In this respect, the glance of a chronicler, the words of an ancient preacher, an old superstitious tradition, an ingenuous legend of a contemporary, etc., receive a high price. Wherever possible, we tried to show how the events and deeds of historical figures were reflected in the minds of contemporaries. Although we used scientific works, we always tried to stay as close as possible to the sources; some monuments (“Instruction” by Vladimir Monomakh, the Word about Igor's Campaign, passages from the Life of St. Theodosius, etc.) are transmitted by us almost verbatim. Personal life, as you know, showed little in the ancient times of our history. For this reason, our historical sources provide little biographical material, but nevertheless, according to them, although in general terms, one can imagine several types generated by the warehouse of ancient life and historical circumstances. With the type of prince - a stern and merciless warrior - the readers of our book will get acquainted with the legends about the first princes: Oleg, Igor and Svyatoslav; with the type of a warrior, softened and enlightened Christian teaching - from the story of Vladimir Monomakh; with the restless daring prince of the specific veche period - from the story of Mstislav Udal. The types of ascetic monks are presented in the stories about St. Theodosius and St. Sergius. In the XIV century. the type of prince-politician, hoarder, dodgy and far-sighted, begins to emerge in the stories about Yuri and Ivan Danilovich.

We pay special attention to the presentation. We tried to bring the language as clean and simple as possible, trying at the same time to avoid dryness.

Introduction

How do we know our past?

More than a thousand years have passed since the beginning of the Russian state. During this time, many great things happened in Rus', both good and bad; the Russian people experienced many misfortunes and grief; he also had bright days of joy; there were also people whose memory is dear to every Russian heart. There is something to talk about, there is something to listen to.

How can we find out about what happened several centuries before us? Where can you find out about ancient times?

The life of peoples usually does not pass without a trace. Oral stories about bygone events, ancient written monuments, buildings, utensils, weapons and other things that have survived from past times - all these are traces of the past life of the people. The more educated people become, the more they value these remnants of antiquity: they understand that it is impossible to reasonably live among the people without knowing its customs, customs, institutions; and it is only possible to recognize and fully understand them by clarifying for yourself how they developed in the centuries-old life of the people. To explain this and depict the past life of the people is the task of history, and all kinds of remnants of antiquity serve as a source from which the historian draws information about the past.

It is innate for both an individual person and a whole nation to remember their past and cherish it. Who has not noticed how old and experienced people, as they say, who have seen the world in their lifetime, love to talk about past days? Sometimes they tell so well, in detail and smoothly, that you can listen to them. The memory of old people is often both rich and torovat - if only there were those who wanted to listen to them, but they would not tell the story if they were willing.

Such a hunt among old people was at all times. Old people tell their children and grandchildren about the past, and these stories sink deep into their memory and heart. A dozen two or three years will pass - the grandfathers have already gone to the grave, their grandchildren and children themselves have become fathers and grandfathers; they also tell their children about the old grandfather's and about what they themselves have seen in their lifetime. This is how stories about the past are passed from generation to generation, which is why they are called legends. Centuries pass, and legends about antiquity, like a reserved heritage, along with grandfather's customs, pass from generation to generation.

Although old people have a strong memory for the past, it still cannot retain everything that they themselves have seen and heard from others: names slip away, events are confused, sometimes the place and time are forgotten, where and when what happened. Moreover, after all, not everything that you know, and you want to tell; what is cut deeper into the memory and closer to the heart, only then it asks for the tongue. Dashing misfortunes, heroic deeds, fierce grief and bright joys - this is what is most evident in folk legends. Unfortunately, when the heart speaks too strongly, the mind is sometimes silent ... Another storyteller speaks about the strength of the wondrous mighty hero, about his miraculous exploits, but involuntarily from the fullness of his soul he will estimate a word or two from himself - where he exaggerates, where he embellishes; you look, with the reality the fiction has already intertwined. Such a story passed through the mouths of several generations, the legend has already turned into a fairy tale, and it is difficult to distinguish true from fiction in it. Otherwise, there will be such idle and skillful people among the people that they will put other legends into songs: they come out more smoothly in the song, and it is more pleasant to listen to them.

Life is not worth it: years go by; new things are done; each generation has its sorrows, its joys, its worries; new stories are born, new songs are formed. They are gradually mixed with each other in the people's memory, the new is intertwined with the old or displaces it. Many ancient legends and old songs were lost, forgotten by the people before scientists began to collect, write down and study them; but still a lot of them are still stored in the people's memory. A long time ago, those who are spoken of in a different song are no longer in the world, even from their graves there has long been no trace, and the living song still speaks of their deeds; hundreds of years pass, and their sorrows and joys all live in these songs...

Folk songs, fairy tales, legends serve the historian as a precious oral source. He will not draw information about events and persons from them, but will learn from here what the people believed in, what they hoped for, what they loved, and what, out of what he experienced and rethought, was especially deeply embedded in his memory. This is what oral folk works are dear to history.

In ancient times, when our ancestors did not even have a written language, literate foreigners came to our area or learned about our land from experienced people and spread news about it, sometimes kept records, described the mores, customs, life of our ancestors. From this source one can draw many curious details about the ancient life of Russians; moreover, from here we learn how foreigners looked at them at one time or another.

When writing began to spread in Rus', we found literate monks who began to keep records of events in their native land. At first, this was done very simply: they put up the years and under them they briefly noted what happened at that time; and there was nothing special, then they did not write anything - the year remained empty. These fragmentary records are called chronicles.

Such initial records have not survived to our time. The oldest chronicle work that has come down to us is The Tale of Bygone Years (its full title is: “Behold the Tale of Bygone Years, where did the Russian land come from, who in Kiev began the first princes and where did the Russian land come from”). This work belongs to the 12th century. The compiler of the chronicle - whether he was a monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Nestor, as they thought before, or Sylvester, hegumen of the Vydubytsky monastery, as is now believed - worked hard on his book.

"Nestor the Chronicler". Sculpture by M. M. Antokolsky. 1890

He lived at the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th centuries, and decided to start a book following the example of the Greek chroniclers from the time of the Flood. He had to collect information from the Greek chronicles, from various legends and legends, especially from the most ancient Russian chronicle notes; I had to bring all this into one whole, and therefore they call his work a chronicle code. A dark legend about the first princes, a pious legend about the first Christian ascetics in Russia, fragmentary notes about a prince’s campaign or an attack by predatory enemies, a fairy-tale story of an experienced person about some wonders of the Russian land - everything is dear to him, everything is diligently entered into his book by an ingenuous compiler : only later events could he describe as an eyewitness. He has renounced the world, he wants to think only about God, about the salvation of his soul, but not to tear him out of his heart of his attachment to his native land, he really wants to know what is happening and has been happening on it, he wants to tell others about what he knows. And now, having prayed to God, he diligently takes up his work: mournfully tells about troubles in Rus', about atrocities, about princely strife, with tenderness of the heart brings stories about the exploits of Christian piety, cites suitable places from Holy Scripture. He looks at his work as a charitable deed: princes, boyars, monks will read the annals - they will find out how much evil was happening on earth, how God punished the wicked for this, they will also recognize good deeds, the exploits of the best Russian people - and it will be easier for good people choose the right path in life and avoid evil. It was not easy to write a whole book when you had to draw letter by letter. But the chronicler works hard - he hopes "to receive mercy from God", he hopes that people will read his book and remember him with a kind word.

The industrious compiler of the Tale of Bygone Years accomplished a great deed: from it we learn most of all about the most ancient events in Rus' until 1110, with which this chronicle ends.

Following her, chronicle legends began to be kept in other cities, in monasteries (Novgorod chronicles, Pskov, Suzdal, etc.). Later chroniclers usually wrote off the Tale of Bygone Years first, and then they themselves continued - they noted more the events of those regions and cities where they themselves lived. Chronicles were kept with us until the 17th century. Many handwritten chronicles have come down to our time; but, unfortunately, the most ancient of those that have come down to us were written not earlier than the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th century. (Lavrentiev and Ipatiev lists); therefore, the Tale of Bygone Years was preserved only in later lists.

H. M. Karamzin. Portrait by E. I. Geitman. 1820s

In addition to the chronicles, many separate legends about memorable events, the lives of saints, notes of contemporaries, messages have survived from ancient writing; ancient treaties, princely charters, decrees, government decrees, charters, and laws have also been preserved. All these are written sources precious for history.

Over time, more and more different manuscripts were accumulated. Whole heaps of them have been hiding in complete obscurity for hundreds of years in monastic and other ancient book depositories. From the 16th century book printing began in Moscow, but for a long time no one thought of printing manuscripts precious to history. To understand their heaps, to separate the important from the unimportant, one needed not only labor and diligence, but also knowledge and skill, and our ancestors lacked them. They did not know how to take care of expensive manuscripts: many were lost, many died not only from fires, but also from the negligence and ignorance of the owners.

Only from the 18th century real science was born in our country. According to the idea of ​​Peter the Great, a scientific institution arose in St. Petersburg, the Academy of Sciences, to which scientists were called, for lack of Russians, from Germany. Between them there were people who knew the value of ancient manuscripts - they began to diligently collect, study, print them. Beginning with M. V. Lomonosov, the first Russian scientist, Russian people are also taken to science. Many began to work diligently on various issues of Russian history; others have tried to present it consistently and coherently since ancient times. At the beginning of our century [the author means the 19th century] Karamzin's famous work appears: "The History of the Russian State" (brought to 1613). Since that time, the love for antiquity has been growing and growing: more and more researchers appear, entire societies of lovers of antiquities are established, and they work together on the sources of Russian history. The dear antiquity is dear to everyone, but it is dearest of all to those who spend their whole lives studying it. Scientists diligently rummage through piles of old manuscripts, study ancient legends, dark legends, fairy tales, songs, customs, beliefs, the language of the people, dig up ancient graves (mounds), look for ancient weapons, utensils, etc .; everywhere they look for the remnants of antiquity, like gold diggers for gold.

And their work is not in vain: more and more information about antiquity is being collected, more and more clearly the past appears before us, as if it comes to life. New learned societies are being established to work on Russian antiquity. We have a whole science of antiquities (archeology) with many departments covering all aspects of ancient life (ancient buildings, icons, ancient writings, utensils, weapons, clothes, coins, etc.). In addition to large state collections and repositories of antiquities, such as, for example, the Armory in Moscow and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the study of antiquity is also promoted by private collections of ancient things from some wealthy lovers of antiquities. Chronicles, state charters, images of ancient buildings, things, clothes are published thanks to the help of the government and private individuals. There are rich collections of oral, folk works (songs, fairy tales, proverbs, etc.), scientific studies of folk customs and beliefs are published. The government opens its collections of ancient documents and papers (archives) to inquisitive scientists. Individuals in possession of notes or letters important to history make them public. There are several historical journals (“Russian Starina”, “Russian Archive”, “Historical Bulletin”, etc.), which have been published for many years and cannot exhaust all our “historical wealth” accumulated in past years.

Many gifted and highly talented scientists, many modest workers worked on Russian antiquity. More than one page would have to be covered with their names if we thought of naming them all. Every Russian who cherishes his native antiquity will say heartfelt thanks to all of them; the historian will also say a big thank you, to whom it would be impossible to even think about the presentation of history, if there were no sources prepared for it. And collecting them and preparing, as they say, materials for history is a very difficult task. The gullible chronicler calmly entered into his work all sorts of news, legends, stories, without thinking for a long time whether they were true or not; and a real scientist can use them only after a strict, reasonable verification (criticism) of the sources. If a scientist discovers some previously unknown ancient legend, he, first of all, if the year when it was written is not marked, he will try to find out by the style of the letters, by the language, what time the manuscript belongs to. If it tells about any event, then the researcher wonders if the writer could and wanted to tell the truth; if a scholarly researcher of antiquity finds an ancient coin, he will also check whether it is as old as it seems, whether it is fake, etc. Only after careful critical research, sometimes very long and painstaking, will the real price of the monument for history be indicated.

S. M. SOLOVIEV Engraving by L. A. Seryakov. 1881

After such a development, after the publication of sources, it is possible to present Russian history more accurately and more fully than before. From the fifties Solovyov began his enormous work (now 29 volumes); then Kostomarov's numerous works appeared - they strengthened the love of historical reading in Russian society. Finally, in our time [meaning the 1880s], several new major works on Russian history have been begun (Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Zabelin and Ilovaisky), which are trying to solve some obscure questions of our history and to shed light on ancient Russian life more fully.

A lot of work will still have to be done on explaining it, both by our historians today and in the future. It is not easy to make sense of the heaps of written, material and oral sources, it is even more difficult to extract from them what constitutes the main task of any science - the truth, the truth that our people highly appreciate, speaks of which in their proverbs: “The truth is brighter than the sun, more expensive gold”, “People do not live without truth, but only toil”.

Educated people can learn this truth about their native antiquity from the works of scientists; to a literate commoner, the books available to him will say something about her; an illiterate person learns about it from the literate, and in the remote corners of our earth - in the same way as our ancestors a thousand years ago - from the stories of old people, from legends and songs. Older songs are heard less and less in our villages: they are gradually being replaced by new, bookish ones. Epics about old heroes are told only here and there in the north by a few skilled old men; in the south of Russia, the people no longer know these epics - they were replaced by songs (thoughts) about Cossack times. Here you can still meet, although rarely, folk singers (kobzars), mostly blind beggars. Even today one can see what great significance they had for the people. They follow their guides (leaders) from village to village. Everywhere the kobzar is a welcome guest. Wherever he comes, a crowd of old and young people will soon gather around him: everyone wants to listen to songs about antiquity. The kobza player plays his kobza (a kind of guitar) and sings his song to the sounds of its strings: he sings about how the Cossacks fell into Tatar or Turkish captivity, about the unbearable torments that they endured in the hands of the infidels. The senile voice of the singer sounds sad, the strings groan plaintively. Listeners are standing around, standing motionless with their heads bowed, as if they hear the groans of their ancestors - they hear, but they cannot help ... The kobzar finished his song. It's sad for everyone. But here he sang again, and sang a different song: he sings about the wide, free steppe, sings about how the Cossack daring developed along it, sings about the dashing exploits of great-grandfathers, about their mighty strength. Live strings hum louder; the voice of the old singer grows stronger, as if youth had returned to him. The lowered heads of the listeners rise, the old Cossacks straighten their bent backs, and the eyes of the young ones sparkle - they sensed that the Cossack great-grandfather blood flows in their veins ...

The Kazakhs call beshbarmak "et", that is, "meat". The meat in it is the essence, everything else is attached. Not some meat, but boiled. Boiled not somehow, but affectionately, lovingly. Basically, it's a soup. But you don't need spoons to eat it. It is eaten separately - first meat with juices, and then they are washed down, poured with broth from bowls, shurpa. Beshbarmak tastes better when eaten with your hands. More precisely, with one hand, right. Without the help of a spoon-fork. A slippery juicy is groped with fingers, a piece of meat with fat is wrapped in it, and all this is sent into the mouth in a “boat”. After that, licking your fingers is also a pleasure.

Did the Kazakhs (and nomads in general) accidentally become addicted to horse meat and did they “invent” beshbarmak by chance?
Every nation has a "brand" food. It was instilled, refined, “polished”, improved over the centuries. And time gave each tribe a "patent" for its "invention".
At of all peoples there was "horse time". At least in Eurasia. But the nomads were most closely attached to the horse. Without a horse, a nomad is not a nomad and not a person. And he took everything the horse had. He even made it his food. This is very convenient on the road: food is always with you. Yes, it’s so intertwined: the nomad loves horses most of all, and he eats them.
Strictly speaking, food has two great components - grain and meat. It is from them that the cuisine of earthlings is composed, all its diversity from the Romanian hominy to the Kazakh beshbarmak.
Beshbarmak is a historical monument. Perhaps no less significant than the Kesene tower. It is a pity if time destroys this property of a bygone era. May he always remain with us - beshbarmak, real, true, horse, tasty, such as Dusenbai Nurabayevich Sarsenov.

Part 3. In the mountains and in the steppe

Unfortunate factory in Ufa

Azyash-Ufa plant of Nikita Demidov... The plant is unfortunate, giving nothing but losses. The fate is this: Demidov built for a long time, and Pugachev immediately burned it. And - two hundred years of taiga non-existence and obscurity. Time slowly but surely erased him from the face of the earth. But it didn't erase. Didn't have time.
A few years ago, I went there with Chelyabinsk archaeologists - we traveled five hours off-road on three leading axles. And the first thing we saw was a plant overgrown with mushrooms. In its place is a forest. There are huge pines and firs on the dam. I remember a beautiful fir with a forked top. And in front of the dam and behind it - swamps, wilds, thickets of ferns, curtains of hops ...
What do we now Azyash-Ufa plant Nikita Demidov? Interest - purely historical?
There is no such interest - purely historical. We want to know how our ancestors once lived in order to understand how we ourselves should live now. A "pure" history, if possible, is something like a kind of oddity, a quirk. We learn from the past, because there is no one else to learn from. You can't learn from the future.
"No one needs" Azyash-Ufa plant, it turns out, is instructive. From his story, a completely unambiguous moral is extracted.
Maybe it all started with Emperor Peter at the beginning of the 18th century, when the first state-owned factories quickly became decrepit, not justifying the hopes placed on them, and something had to be done. What was needed was an idea and a person who was able to “raise” it. The idea, as usual, arose from the opposite: if the treasury is not able to invigorate its factories, it is necessary to give them to a private owner. And when there was a demand for a private trader, he was right there - Nikita Demidov.
In 1719, the so-called berg-privileges were adopted. Russia declared Mountain Freedom. The authorities were determined to encourage private initiative in mining this way and that.
And the plants began to grow like mushrooms. Including, and above all, in the Urals, in the Bashkir lands. The peak of this industrialization came in the middle of the 18th century. From 1744 to 1758, in just fourteen years, 40 factories appeared on the territory of Bashkiria.
Amazing! Russia got its iron. And very cheap. And so many that it was enough for export. Europe, even England and Sweden, accepted and recognized the Russian brand. Complete success! The best and do not wish. Everyone is happy.
The most productive year for the mining industry was 1759. And just this year, Nikita Demidov received permission to build the Azyash-Ufimsky plant. It would seem that when else to expand production, if not at the right time, when it goes uphill. But…
For two years, the plant on the Ufa River was built quickly, and then the work got stuck. There were not enough workers. And those peasants that were, driven into the taiga wilderness, grumbled, refused to work. In addition, it suddenly became clear that the land under the plant was disputable. Just think, it would seem - controversial ... When did Demidov stop any disputes? But this time, they stopped. Plus, out of nowhere - a decree prohibiting buying serfs to the factories. And then another one, already personally forbidding Demidov to build the Azyash-Ufimsky plant. And in what terms! .. "Often the spoken nobleman Demidov is not allowed to the building ... ". In such intonations, the authorities had not previously expressed themselves with Demidov. It seems that everyone is tired of the "often spoken" Demidov. In short: everything was allowed, but now there are prohibitions.
In 1770, the project of the Orenburg Governor I. A. Reinsdorp was made public, in which he argued to the government that 40 factories "is sufficient and that this should be stopped." The governor warns: "If we continue to develop the construction of factories in the Orenburg Territory, then complete destruction of forests may come."
By the end of the 18th century, the Demidovs, other breeders and private factories in general were disappointed. And the Demidovs left the Urals. Their time is up.

From the height of years, one can only be surprised that Pugachev was not expected in Russia. That his rebellion seemed to be beyond logic. That supposedly he had no reason. After all, these were, one might say, years of prosperity. And suddenly... No one wanted to know that the better for the factories, the worse for the peasants. That the factories felt so good precisely because the peasants felt so bad. That the profits of the owners were so high, and the iron so cheap precisely because the peasants were doomed to poverty.
Yes, the peasants endured poverty, lack of rights and oppression for several decades. And it might seem that they will endure forever. But, on the other hand, not much intelligence is needed to comprehend the simple truth that the peasants were placed in conditions that cannot be called natural, human. That this is temporary. That one can only temporarily succeed by tying the peasants to the factories with ropes, chains and shackles.
And so it happened. At first the peasants grumbled, then they ran away, refusing to work. And when Pugachev showed up, everyone rushed to him.
In the fire of the Pugachev war, the brand new, brand new Azyash-Ufimsky plant, started up, it would seem, at the time of growth and prosperity, but in fact doomed to death, burned to the ground. And he disappeared, which, it seems, no one regretted and did not even remember.

Batyr Salavat

After Salavat, there was no portrait left, even a verbal one. It is only known that he was short, black-eyed, black-browed, black-haired. V. Shishkov saw Salavat like this: "Bronze, bony, red-cheeked, with eyes burning with enthusiasm, in a colored striped robe, a green turban on his head."
No one knows what Salavat was in appearance. But this did not at all facilitate the task of writers, artists, sculptors, did not give them the freedom to see the batyr in any way. On the contrary, they had one thing left: Salavat should be a generalized image of the Bashkir. So it is, Salavat Yulaev is a symbol of Bashkiria.
In the Southern Urals, it is easy to designate the geographical range of Salavat. This is the northern tip of the spinal fan, which adjoins the intermountain steppe: Maloyaz, Mesyagutovo, Upper Kigi, Lakly, Mursalimkino, Ust-Katav, Katav-Ivanovsk, Sim, Yeral ... Here is the birthplace of Salavat, here are his roots.
The year of the batyr's birth is not precisely established: 1754 or 1752. In the family of his father, foreman Yulai Aznalin, a man, perhaps not very rich, but not poor, Salavat was raised as a warrior. From an early age - horse riding, wrestling, archery, falconry. However, literacy is also: the Koran, Sharia. Salavat heard the voice of Allah early, which called him to liberate his people. The people, in their legends, endowed him with fabulous power. He could overpower a bear, he could drag a huge pine tree uprooting it. His saddle cannot be lifted by five, his bow cannot be pulled by ten.
In one of his songs, Salavat calls: go out to fight the enemy bravely, not sparing your life, rush into battle!
And who is he, among the Bashkirs, the enemy? Russians? So Salavat Yulaev is a Bashkir nationalist? Yes, of course, a nationalist. But not a radical! He distinguished between the national and the class.
Yes, he hated the Russian tsarina, Russian merchants and breeders. (The merchant Tverdyshev took away from his father the land for the Simsky plant). But he fought for the Russian Tsar Peter III. And he executed Bay Abdullah and Bay Kusapai.
Salavat fought for the freedom of his people - against the Russians, together with the Russians. Having laid siege to the Katavsky plant, he addresses its inhabitants with the following words: “You and I, Bashkirs and Russians, cannot live without agreement and ruin each other, for we are all loyal subjects of His Imperial Majesty, our sovereign Peter Fedorovich the Third.” Having taken Krasnoufimsk, Salavat appoints Makar Popov as ataman. During the assault on Kungur, Salavat was at the head of the Bashkir detachments, and I. Kuznetsov was at the head of the Russians. At the same time, the Russians give the Bashkirs 10 guns with gunners. Salavat burned the Simsky plant, but before that "the inhabitants there, having taken everyone to the steppe, let him go." The serf workers of the Ust-Katav plant met Salavat with bread and salt. Many Ust-Katavians joined his detachment. In campaigns next to him I. Pochitalin. With him, he is in hard labor. According to legend, Salavat had a Russian wife, Ekaterina Mikhailovna, and they even had a son.
And it was not the Russians who betrayed Salavat, but the Bashkirs, the Abdusalyamov brothers. They seized him and brought him to Lieutenant Leskovsky.
Salavat Yulaev belongs not only to Bashkiria, but to the whole of Russia. It is easy to prove it: Russian folk songs. One of them begins like this: "Our Salavat was a hero, he boldly went to battle", and the other - like this: "Oh, you are gay, good fellow, young Bashkirin Salavatushka."
Of course, Salavat's detachments could not resist regular troops in direct clashes. First, in the battle at Yeral, and later at the Upper Kigei (already together with Pugachev), Salavat was forced to retreat. Michelson had one problem - to find the rebels, overtake them, start a fight, and in battle he always had the advantage.
After Pugachev left for the Kama, the Volga, and even after his arrest, Salavat continued to partisan in the Ural Mountains until the late autumn of 1774. They chased him, but he was elusive. To offers to repent, he responded with daring raids. When the snow fell, Salavat disbanded his detachment, and he decided to wait out the winter in the Urals or in the "Kyrgyz" steppe. At the end of November, he was captured.
Seven months of investigation. Stages: Ufa, Kazan, Moscow, Orenburg, Ufa again. Interrogations, torture, confrontations. Finally, the sentence is hard labor for life. In addition, whipping: 25 strokes each at the Simsky factory, in the village of Yulaeva, in the village of Lakly and other places where Salavat was popular. After that shoulder work, master Martyn Suslov had to tear out Salavat's nostrils and burn marks on his forehead and cheeks.
Salavat died in September 1800, having served 25 years in hard labor in Rochervin (Estonia).
According to some reports, in January 1774, when Pugachev was besieging Orenburg, Salavat with his "gang", in which, in addition to the Bashkirs, there were nine thousand Russians, besieged Chelyaba, but the governor Verevkin managed to defend the fortress until the arrival of Dekalong.
One hundred years after the riot in Bashkiria, not a single boy was named Salavat. This name was banned.

Reincarnations of the French in Russia

I think that at the very end of 1812, the French should have hanged Napoleon. It was for what.
And for the fact that Bonaparte lost “only” one zero in his campaign against Russia: he invaded us with 500,000 soldiers behind him, and returned back with 50,000 frostbitten and crippled ragamuffins. In battles on Russian soil, he lost 150 thousand soldiers. And more than 300 thousand people threw to death. And nothing. The French not only did not hang Napoleon, did not raise him to the scaffold - they worship him.
Fortunately, not all the French in Russia died. And interestingly, the emperor wanted to overcome the Russian Cossacks with the help of his brave grenadiers, but it turned out that the grenadiers themselves became Cossacks, ultimately Russians.
I prove it. Napoleon had a soldier, Jean Gendre. In Russia, more precisely, in the Urals, he became Ivan. Ivan and a Ural Cossack had a son in 1824, no longer Jean, but immediately Ivan - Ivan Ivanovich Zhandr. He grew up, rose to the rank of centurion, received land, took root in the village of Kizilskaya. Later, another Gendre appeared there - Yakov Ivanovich - already a landowner, the owner of the estate.
In the 1850s, the mayor of Troitsk was Alexander Ivanovich de Macke, the son of a Napoleonic officer and an Ufa noblewoman.
In the village of Arsinskaya, Ilya Kondratievich, a veteran of Napoleon's army, firmly settled down with a huge family.
In 1815, five captured Frenchmen lived in Verkhneuralsk - Antoine Berg, Charles Joseph Bouchen, Jean Pierre Binelon, Antoine Wikler and Edouard Langlois. They accepted Russian citizenship and became Cossacks. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were about 200 French Cossacks in the Orenburg army.
Where are they now, those Frenchmen? And how much French is left in them?

About the Ural Decembrists

The essay is based on extracts from the book by M. D. Rabinovich “Decembrists in Bashkiria and the Orenburg province” and from other sources.

“Ensign of the 9th Artillery Brigade Alexei Vasilievich Vedenyapin II was a member of the United Slavs Society, he knew that the goal of the society was the destruction of the autocracy. A. V. Vedenyapin since August 10. 1826 to 31 Jan. 1827 was in the Verkhneuralsky garrison battalion.

“Lieutenant of the 9th artillery brigade Ilya Mikhailovich Chernoglazov, like his colleague, was a member of the United Slavs Society. He knew about the speech being prepared, but he did not take practical part in the activities of the society, and after the death of Alexander I confessed to his colonel in the revolutionary past. Nicholas I ordered, without bringing Chernoglazov to court, to keep him in the Peter and Paul Fortress for another two years, after which he was sent to the Verkhneuralsk garrison battalion. His behavior was ordered to be reported monthly to the king.

The emergence of the Orenburg secret society was associated with the activities of the famous Russian educator N. I. Novikov.

“After the death of P. E. Velichko, the Orenburg secret society was headed by Pyotr Mikhailovich Kudryashev.
P. M. Kudryashev was born in 1797 in Verkhneuralsk into a poor soldier's family. He studied at the Verkhneuralsk orphan department and in 1815 entered the service as a non-commissioned officer. In 1817 he was appointed a brigade clerk, and in 1820 an auditor of the 4th Orenburg line battalion with six years of service. In 1822, Kudryashev was transferred as an auditor to the staff of the Orenburg Ordinance House while simultaneously performing the duties of an auditor of the Kizilsky garrison battalion.

He knew the Bashkir, Tatar, Kazakh, Kalmyk languages, was interested in ethnography and folklore.
His poems, poems, charades, Russian and Bashkir songs since 1822 were published in the capital's magazines and almanacs "Bulletin of Europe", "A well-intentioned monument of domestic muses", "New Children's Library", "Calendar of Muses", "Domestic Notes", "Slavyanin ".
He wrote the Bashkir story "Aidar and Abdryash", the Kazakh story "Kuchuk-Galiy", the Tatar story "Iskak", the Kalmyk story "Darzhu", the Orenburg story "Ivan and Daria" (about the Pugachev uprising), the story "Prisoner of Kyrgyzstan". All of them have been published in Otechestvennye Zapiski. In addition, he had a Bashkir story in verse "Abdrakhman" and a poem "Pugachev".
Finally, he is the author of the work "On the Prejudices and Superstitions of the Bashkirs", "People's Words Used in the Orenburg Province", and the monograph "History of Bashkiria".
Kudryashev wrote: “I have come to know people who have neither heart nor feelings, such people who have forgotten the rights of mankind and have poisoned my life with the poison of excruciating sorrow.”
Kudryashov wrote:

“But why, know that your singer
He sees only villainy in war,
Hates with heart and soul
Iron, gunpowder and lead!
I'm not captivated by noisy fame,
I don't want to look for her
And the horrors of bloody war
I don't want to glorify."

One of the first he wrote about Pugachev.
The charter of the Society in paragraph 2 says: "Its purpose is to change the monarchical government in Russia." The instructions to the charter state: "The Orenburg secret society was made up to carry out a political coup in this region."

In December 1826, provocateur I. Zavalishin was sent to Orenburg. Failure. May 9, 1827 Kudryashev died of apoplexy.

On the crest of a wave

Now there is a suspension bridge over the Ai on steel ropes, and once, almost three centuries ago, there was a pier. There was nothing left of her. Not a trace. Nothing but a word in which the first letter is capitalized. And that's okay.
But you had to think, think, and then dare, dare, and then decide and - from here, from this unknown outback, to set sail, on log rafts, on unsteady water, who knows where - along Ayu, along Ufa, along Belaya, along Kama - to the Volga, to Nizhny Novgorod, and even to the capital. The iron sailing away from the pier on the Ai River was in full view of all of Europe in those years.
I feel an urgent need to see on the Wharf the wharf that gave it its name. So that it, like in a fairy tale, arises from nothing - in reality, as it was. So that there, according to Wilhelm Gennin, there was a supervisor's house with an office at it, and there - a forge, and there - barns "for forest supplies, provisions, copper, ropes, iron", and there - a barn with a cellar for gunpowder. And so that somewhere, on the water or near the water, there would be a barge-column, "cauled tightly with hemp and tow and brewed with pitch." And so that on the kolomenka, as expected, everything was laid out in its place - axes, spindles, chisels, fetters, staples, wooden buckets, anchors, and also, according to Wilhelm Gennin, “for jamming porridge, one boiler per heater and one tagan ". And so that on the kolomenka, where there will be a cash treasury, "two cabins with locks - one for the steward, and the other for cleaning up all sorts of traveling cow gear and supplies."
I will refer to a reliable witness, to P. Pallas: “Satka factories can annually produce more than 100 thousand pounds of flat iron. In winter, they take it 35 versts to the pier over the Ai River, where a small carpentry village and a rafting ground are founded, and then in the spring, during high water, the well-known flat-bottomed kolomenka ships sail along the Ai River, each with a cargo of 7 thousand pounds, deliver this iron along the Ufa rivers, Belaya, Kama, Volga to the appropriate state piers.
Pier on the river Ai... No, ships didn't come here.
Here, at the shipyard, they were born, each time anew. And left here once and for all.
Caravan on the pier - spring suffering, the harvest of the iron harvest. A whole year of work and - "Raise the anchors!" ... On the day of the departure of the caravan, everyone, both young and old, is at the pier. What is here? Seeing off on a dashing road? National holiday? Peak labor? Its outcome?
This is given only once a year - when the spring will raise the water in the river, and the water will raise the barges with iron. But the spring flood is not enough. It is necessary to release more water from the ponds, catch the wave, sit on it higher in order to sweep over the rapids and shoals. Why not surf?
Ai is bad because it is shallow, but good because it is fast. And disinterested. He does not charge any cash for transportation. One hundred thousand pounds to transport over thousands of miles - and everything is free. The river is the road itself and the burden itself. The road that moves. True, it is not straight, but very curved. And wayward. The river, as usual, will take acceleration, and in front of it is a rock wall. Water is a rock at all, and the barge - how to dodge? No wonder the cliff between Kulmetyevo and Alekseevka was called the Robber. And how many such "robbers" are on the way?

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