DISPUTED QUESTIONS FROM EARLY HISTORY OF THE CITY OF ZEMLYANSK

Abstract

The article is devoted to the history of the town of Zemlyansk - a small fortress on the southeastern outskirts of the Russian state, founded in 1661 at the request of Ukrainian settlers - Cherkas. The greatest contribution to the study of the topic was made by V. P. Zagorovsky. His numerous discoveries from the early history of Zemlyansk are a support for the modern generation of researchers. E. V. Kamarauli, D. A. Lyapin, G. N. Mokshin, V. M. Brezgunova and others described in detail the activities of the Zemlyansk commanders and the local government office, the participation of local population (Cherkas and Russians) in organizing of security and guard service, as well as in the most important events of a nationwide scale, for example, in the Stepan Razin’s uprising. However, today there are a lot of questions that need further study. Based on the analysis of modern literature and archival sources published in recent years, the author came to the conclusion that controversial issues primarily include: the date of foundation of the Zemlyansky settlement (1661 or 1657), the reconstruction of the external and internal structure of the fortress, built 1661 and 1678 yy. (the article discusses in detail all their known variants), the proportion of Cherkasy in the population of Zemlyansk (it increased or decreased). There is practically no information in the literature on the economic and social life of Zemlyansk in the “Cherkasy” period of its history, on the social status of the main categories of city residents and adjoining settlements (boyar scions, townspeople, soldiers, Cossacks, cannoneers). The author of the article connects these gaps not so much with the lack of sources, as with the lack of researchers dealing with these issues.

Keywords

• zemlyansk
• fortress
• graphic reconstruction
• cherkasy
• guard and ship service