Kuban Pogrom (1717)
| Kuban Pogrom | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Crimean–Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
|
.svg){kind=small} Tsardom of Russia | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
 Bakhti Giray | Unknown | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
40,000 | |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 18,000—30,000[1] civilians captured | |||||||||
Kuban Pogrom of 1717, or Kuban Campaign of 1717 — an attack in early August 1717 by Kuban Horde (part of the Crimean Khanate), Cherkassians and Nekrasov Cossacks, who lived on Kuban, on part of the territory of South-Eastern Russia.
Campaign
[edit]Focusing his forces on the war with Sweden, Peter I reduced the guard along this section of the border: the defense system was weakened; fortress walls were deteriorating, and the garrisons were small and poorly armed. Taking advantage of this, the Nogais, Cherkassy, and Crimeans launched an attack on several areas of the Middle Volga region.
On August 1, 1717, the Kuban hordes settled along the Karai River. On August 2, they blockaded the fortress city of Petrovsk;[2] on August 3, they reached the city of Penza and invaded the territories of the Penza, Verkhny Lomov, and Kerensk Districts, advancing as far as the fortress city of Saransk.
Spreading out across the captured territory, the Kuban forces, in detachments of 50–100 men, began seizing captives and burning villages and hamlets, killing anyone who resisted. The defenders of the Ramzai fort put up stubborn resistance, delaying the Kuban advance. Having ravaged the area from the city of Petrovsk on the Medveditsa River to the city of Kerensk, the raiders withdrew, taking with them up to 18,000 or 30,000 captives.
The deep penetration (around 1,000 versts) of the Kuban forces into Russian territory was made possible both by the surprise of the attack and by the small number of Don Cossacks, who had been weakened by repressions following their participation in the Bulavin Rebellion of 1707—1709.
Aftermath
[edit]At the end of 1717, by decree of Peter I, four dragoon regiments were stationed between Penza and Saratov, and construction of the Tsaritsyn Defensive Line began. Its completion put an end to the raids on the Russian frontier lands by the Kuban and nomadic peoples of the Wild Fields.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- Penza Encyclopedia. — 2001, p. 272
- Peterson G.P. Pages from the Past. — Saransk, 1993
- Chekalin F.F. On the History of the Great Kuban Raid of 1717 // Penza Provincial Gazette. — 1893. — № 109
- “Mordovia” Encyclopaedia, A.B. Kuznetsov.