4 >I1IKKIA. 



l<imls of privili'p's w.-iv j/ivi'ii tlif^m for 20 ycai-. ..uu in.- >.-illers bound themselves to 

 build st(.fkadfs and to inaintiiiii troops at their own expense. A few small towns quickly 

 a|pp';iiv,| <,ii the sput, iniliisiry iii<n'asi-d, the Russian population grew and eslahlished itself 

 lirnily in places till thru unknown V> it. Thus, the Stro^'anovs, thanks to their vast resources 

 and ihcir iiiln'pidiiy, cntfrpris.- and ••rn-rf/y, not only eoiis(didated the Russian sovereignty in 

 the Crals, hut ishm' Kussiun settlers the possihiljiy of passing over to the Eastern siile of 

 till' iiiouniain range; so richly eiulowed by natun'. 



CiMseless collisicms with the natives and the striving U> ileve|ii(i their industry over 

 a widci ti'nitory indneed the Stroganovs to heg the Tsar to aiithori/e them to scllle 

 places oil the nihiT side of till' Urals also. The lirilliant example of the settlement of the 

 Kama district hail denioiistrated to the Ciovernment the advantageousness of undertakings of 

 this kind. The permissiuii was given, and the Stroganovs bound themselves by the same condi- 

 tions as liei'iire, and were even empowered to wage war not only of a defensive but of an 

 olTeiisive nature. J''nr nmre extended offensive operations the Stroganovs could not at once 

 lind enough armed jiien, hut these were not long forthcoming. 



In the second half of the sixteenth century, during the reign of Ivan the Tenible, a 

 mass of people lied into Lithuania while not a few bent their steps into the waste regions 

 forming the new acquisitions of Russia. There in those outlying regions the fugitives found 

 libeity. ease and abundant space; whole bands were formed out of chance associates, who 

 almost completely severed themselves from the State, paid but scant attention to the latter and 

 lived their free Cossack life. But the Cossacks, engaged In robbery, harried also the territories 

 which were under the authority of the Tsar, and were prosecuted by the Government for 

 their brigandage. One of these parties of Don Cossacks, which had particnlarly destinguished 

 itself by its freebooting expedition on the Volga, and which was being pursued by the Tsar's 

 troops, proceeded under the leadership of its ataman Yermak Timofeev up the Kama and so 

 reached tlie Stroganov possessions. The Stroganovs availed themselves of the opportunity and 

 invited the Cossacks to enter their service. The latter consented and in a short time, equipped 

 by the Stroganovs and with Yermak at their head, started across the Ural mountains and 

 entered the limits of Kuchum's kingdom. 



In 1580 Yermak was already on the banks of the Tura, defeated the Tartar princelet 

 Yepancha, then took by storm the town of Shingi-Tura, upon whose site stands at the pre- 

 sent time the town of Tinmen, and there took up his winter quarters. In the spring of the 

 subsequent year Yermak moved on to the capital of Kuchum, the town of Isker or Siberia. 

 Having navigated the Tura, Tobol and Irtycli in barges, the Cossacks on October 26, 1581, 

 reached the Khaif s residence, and after a fierce fight took possession of it. Kuchum fled 

 with the remains of his troops into the southern steppes. Yermak immediatety sent his trusty 

 lieutenant and ataman, KoHso, with the news of this conquest to Moscow, having furnished 

 him with costly furs and commanded him <Ao humbly salute the Lord Ivan Yasilevich the 

 Terrible with the acquisition of the new Siberian kingdom;). The Tsar forgave Yermak his 

 foriuer faults, presented him Avith a cloak and medal, and sent the leader Glukhov to his 

 assistance. Yermak Timofeev was however not long fated to rule Siberia. In 158-1, enticed 

 too far by the cunning of the Tartars, he perished together with his band in a fight upon 



