page_title: Bashkirs
section_title: Bashkir rebellions of the 17th–18th centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Bashkirs / History / Bashkir rebellions of the 17th–18th centuries
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Давлеканово. Кумысники
context_page_description: The Bashkirs are a Turkic ethnic group, indigenous to Bashkortostan and the historical region of Badzhgard. This area extends both sides of the Ural Mountains where Eastern Europe meets North Asia. Smaller communities of Bashkirs also live in the Republic of Tatarstan, Perm Krai, Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, Tyumen, Sverdlovsk, Kurgan Oblasts and other regions of Russia. Bashkirs also reside in Kazakhstan and other countries.
  Most Bashkirs speak the Bashkir language, closely related to the Tatar and Kazakh languages which belong to the Kipchak branch of the Turkic languages. Cultural affinities are shared with the broader Turkic peoples. Religiously, the Bashkirs are mainly Sunni Muslims of the Hanafi madhhab faith.
  The Bashkir people are subject to systematic Russification and discrimination. They lack the opportunity to study in their native language at school as well as at university. The Bashkir language is included in the list of endangered languages.
context_section_description: The Bashkirs participated in the 1662–64, 1681–84 and 1704–11 Rebellions. In 1676, the Bashkirs rebelled under a leader named Seyid Sadir or 'Seit Sadurov', and the Russian army had great difficulties in ending the rebellion. The Bashkirs rose again in 1707, under Aldar and Kûsyom, due to perceived ill-treatment by Imperial Russian officials.
  At the founding of Orenburg in 1735, the fourth insurrection occurred in 1735 and lasted six years. Russians had discussed from the times of Peter the Great a desire to expand Russian sovereignty south-east toward Persia and India. Ivan Kirillov formed a plan to build the fort to be called Orenburg at Orsk at the confluence of the Or River and the Ural River, south-east of the Urals where the Bashkir, Kalmyk and Kazakh lands met. Work on Fort Orenburg commenced at Orsk in 1735. However, by 1743 'Orenburg' was moved a further 250 km west to its current location. The next planned construction was to be a fort on the Aral Sea. The consequence of the Aral Sea fort would involve crossing Bashkir and the Kazakh Lesser Horde lands, some of whom had recently offered a nominal submission to the Russia Crown.
  Kirillov's plan was approved on May 1, 1734 and he was placed in command. Although Kirillov was warned that this may provoke a Bashkir rebellion, the warnings were ignored. Kirillov left Ufa with 2,500 men in 1735.
  Warfare commenced on the first of July, 1735. The war consisted of many small raids and complex troop movements, so it cannot be easily summarized.
  For example: In the spring of 1736, Kirillov burned 200 villages, killed 700 in battle and executed 158. An expedition of 773 men left Orenburg in November and lost 500 from cold and hunger. At Seiantusa the Bashkir planned to massacre sleeping Russians, however, the ambush failed. In retaliation, one thousand villagers, including women and children, were put to the sword and another 500 driven into a storehouse and burned to death. Raiding parties then went out and burned about 50 villages and killed another 2,000. Eight thousand Bashkirs attacked a Russian camp and killed 158, losing 40 killed and three Bashkir prisoners were promptly hanged by the Russians. Rebellious Bashkirs raided loyal Bashkirs. Leaders who submitted were sometimes fined one horse per household and on other occasions, hanged. Kirillov died of disease during the war and there were several changes of commander. The Baskir War occurred during the reign of Empress Anna of Russia and the Russo-Turkish War (1735–1739).
  Although the history of the 1735 Bashkir War cannot be easily summarized, its results can be.
  The Russian Imperial goal of expansion into Central Asia was delayed to deal with the Bashkir problem.
  Bashkiria was pacified in 1735–1740.
  Orenburg was established.
  The southern side of Bashkiria was partitioned by the Orenburg Line of forts. The forts ran from Samara on the Volga east as far as the Samara River headwaters.. It then crossed to the middle of the Ural River and following the river course east and then north on the eastern side of the Urals. It then went east along the Uy River to Ust-Uisk on the Tobol River where it connected to the ill-defined 'Siberian Line' along the forest-steppe boundary.
  In 1740 a report was made of Bashkir losses which listed: Killed: 16,893; sent to Baltic regiments and fleet: 3,236; women & children distributed (presumably as serfs): 8,382 with a grand total of 28,511. Fines were reported as: horses: 12,283; cattle and sheep: 6,076; money: 9,828 rubles; villages destroyed: 696. The compilation was from army reports and excluded losses from irregular raiding, hunger, disease and cold. At the time, the Bashkir population was estimated at 100,000.
  Next major rebellion occurred in 1755–56. In its suppression, 36,000 Russian regular troops were involved. The number of rebels was about 50,000. The rebellion was cruelly crushed.
  Later, in 1774, the Bashkirs, under the leadership of Salavat Yulayev, supported Pugachev's Rebellion. In 1786, the Bashkirs achieved tax-free status; and in 1798 Russia formed an irregular Bashkir
caption: Davlekanovo (Ufa Governorate). Kumis cooking, the beginning of the 20th century
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