Stenka Razin

Lore & Background

Razin's first notable exploit was to destroy the great naval convoy consisting of the treasury barges and the barges of the Patriarch and the wealthy merchants of Moscow. He then sailed down the Volga with a fleet of 35 vessels, capturing forts and devastating the country. In early 1668, he defeated the voivode Yakov Bezobrazov. In 1667, he gathered Cossacks and left the Don for the Caspian Sea. He threatened to burn Tsaritsyn if the voivode interfered, and told political prisoners, 'I shall not force you to join me, but whoever chooses to come with me will be a free Cossack. I have come to fight only the boyars and the wealthy lords. As for the poor and common folk, I shall treat them as brothers.' He captured Yaitsk in July 1667 by disguising as pilgrims. After losing Yaitsk in 1668, he raided Persia, failing at Derbent but pillaging Farahabad. In July 1669, he annihilated a Persian fleet off the isle of Suina. He accepted a pardon from Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich at Astrakhan in August 1669. In 1670, he openly rebelled, capturing Cherkassk, Tsaritsyn, and Cherny Yar (where the streltsy rose up against their officers and joined him in June 1670). On 24 June 1670, he plundered Astrakhan, massacring all who opposed him, including two Princes Prozorovsky, and converted it into a Cossack republic. After a three-week carnival of blood and debauchery, he quit Astrakhan with two hundred barges full of troops, intending to establish a Cossack republic along the Volga as a step toward advancing against Moscow. Saratov and Samara were captured, but Simbirsk defied all efforts.

Reader's Guide

Stenka Razin's rebellion was a significant expression of social unrest in 17th-century Russia, rooted in the hardships of protracted wars with Poland in 1654–1667 and the Russo-Swedish War of 1656–1658, which increased taxes and conscription. The institutionalization of serfdom with the Law Code of 1649 contributed to unrest among the peasantry. His movement drew together disaffected peasants, Cossacks, and non-Russian groups like Kalmyks, reflecting deep divides between the peasantry and nobility. Razin framed his revolt as against 'traitor-boyars' rather than against the tsar, a common feature of popular uprisings of the period. Historian Paul Avrich characterized it as a 'curious mixture of brigandage and revolt.' The Don Cossacks, a largely lower-class group living independently near the Don River, led the rebellion. Razin's first notable exploit was destroying the great naval convoy of treasury barges and barges of the Patriarch and wealthy merchants. After capturing Astrakhan, he divided the population into thousands, hundreds, and tens with officers appointed by a veche, whose first act was to proclaim Razin their gosudar (sovereign). Though ultimately suppressed, his rebellion highlighted tensions of centralizing autocracy under the early Romanovs and the volatile frontier society of the Don and Volga regions.

Did You Know?

• Razin was first mentioned in historical sources in 1652, when he asked for permission to go on a long-distance pilgrimage to the Solovetsky Monastery on the White Sea.
• In 1665, Razin's elder brother Ivan was executed by order of Yuri Dolgorukov for unauthorized desertion from the war with the Poles.
• Razin captured Yaitsk in July 1667 by disguising himself and some companions as pilgrims to pray at the cathedral, then opening the gates for his troops.
• In July 1669, Razin annihilated a Persian fleet sent against him off the isle of Suina.
• After capturing Astrakhan in June 1670, Razin converted it into a Cossack republic, dividing the population into thousands, hundreds, and tens with officers appointed by a veche, which proclaimed Razin their gosudar (sovereign).