The Participation of Inhabitants of the Nizhny Novgorod Palace’s Villages Lyskovo and Murashkino in the Movement under the Leadership of Stepan Razin: The Experience of the Microhistorian Research

About the authors:

Alexey V. Bauer, Postgraduate Student, Department of Homeland History, University of Tyumen; pyka91@mail.ru

Sergey S. Pashin, Dr. Sci. (Hist.), Professor, Department of Homeland History, University of Tyumen; eLibrary AuthorID, pashin-s@yandex.ru

Abstract:

The authors study the movement (or peasants’ war) under the leadership of Stepan Razin using the methods of microhistory. The authors seek to fill in the historical narrative of facts of the war, rebel losses, etc. They focus on the inhabitants of the Nizhny Novgorod villages Lyskovo, Murashkino and neighbouring settlements. The named villages were large settlements with 620-690 adult male residents. The authors of the article use both traditional sources (otpiski of voevoda, testimonies of captured rebels), and the census (fiscal) books of 1671-1672, which contain important information about the participation of the inhabitants of Lyskovo and Murashkino in the rebellion. These books are well-known to the specialists on socio-economic history of Russia of the 17^th Century, but they are ignored by historians of Razin’s movement. The inhabitants of Lyskovo and Murashkino joined the rebellion at the end of September 1670, before the advent of the Razin’s units. The government troops defeated the rebels 22 October 1670 in the battle near Murashkino. The survived rebels and civilians immediately swore allegiance to the Czar. Every fifth inhabitant of Murashkino was on the side of Stepan Razin. Many inhabitants were in the military service as riflemen (strelsti). They used his military experience in 1670. The rebel share among the residents of Lyskovo and nearby villages was less than 1%. Murashkino’s active participation in the revolt can be attributed to the two causes. Firstly, the presence of the rebel troops in Murashkino. Secondly, the dissatisfaction of the residents of Murashkino that they were supposed to serve far from their homeland in Ufa. In the article the human and material losses of the inhabitants of the rebel villages are analysed. The government troops killed many inhabitants of Murashkino, burned their houses and looted the movables. The residents of Lyskovo suffered more from insurgents.

References:

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