316 SIBERIA 



The first raids upon a tribe inhabiting the present Government of 

 Tobolsk were made as far back as the twelfth century by traders 

 from Novgorod, but these had always ended in the levying of a 

 ransom from the natives in the shape of rich furs. It was after 

 Russia had destroyed the Tartar kingdoms of Kazan and Astrakhan, 

 and had taken possession of the basin of the River Volga, whose 

 branches brought pioneers to the rich Ural Mountains, that proper 

 relations between the Russian and Siberian inhabitants com- 

 menced. 



In the year 1555 several Siberian princelings, oppressed by their 

 more powerful co-tribesmen, sent their ambassadors to the Tsar, 

 praying to be accepted as his subjects and agreeing to the imposi- 

 tion of a tribute, on condition that he should afford them military 

 protection against their oppressors. 



A very prominent part in the settlement of Siberia at that time 

 was played by the well-known family of the Stroganoffs. They 

 possessed vast tracts of unsettled lands, and very liberally assigned 

 them temporarily to enterprising tradesmen, on the condition that 

 they should settle there and cultivate the land. The settlers were 

 afforded many privileges, such as freedom from taxation, trade 

 duties, etc. In the reign of Ivan IV. these pioneers penetrated into 

 the region of the River Kama, and in 1558 the Stroganoff family 

 petitioned the Tsar to grant them that land for the purpose of 

 building a town, to enable them to develop industry, and to raise 

 troops for defence against attacks by the wild hordes who constantly 

 troubled them. The petition was granted for a period of twenty 

 years, during which the settlers bound themselves to build stockades 

 and maintain troops. Several small towns soon appeared in the 

 district, industries increased, and the population spread into regions 

 until then unknown and undeveloped. 



In the second half of the sixteenth century, during the reign of 

 Ivan the Terrible, many people fled to the newly-populated country. 

 There the fugitives found liberty, ease, and plenty of scope for 

 activity. Bands were soon formed, which completely severed them- 

 selves from the State and led the life of free Cossacks, engaging in 

 robbery, and threatening the territory under the authority of the 

 Tsar. For this, however, they were prosecuted by the Govern- 

 ment. 



Amongst the most important of these fugitives was a party of Don 

 Cossacks under the leadership of Yermack Timofeiev, who had been 

 a constant trouble to the Tsar's Government through his freebooting 

 expeditions on the River Volga. This party, being pursued by troops, 

 managed to escape up the Kama and reach the Stroganoff pos- 

 sessions. The Stroganoffs availed themselves of the opportunity 



