Who is Ataman Kudeyar? History, legend, mention in literary works

Ataman Kudeyar was a rather popular character in the history of Slavic folklore. Legends about him are known in many areas of both central and southern Russia. In this article, some fairly well-known references in the history, legends and literature of this ataman will be examined in more detail.

Origin of the name Kudeyar

No one can name the exact dates of Ataman Kudeyar's life, but it is commonly believed that he lived in the sixteenth century. There are many opinions about the origin of the Persian name Khudoyar, which in translation means "God's beloved", or Kudeyar, most often he is given the Tatar origin. In western and central Russia this name had a different meaning - the most powerful wizard.

For a long time Kudeyar's own name was found in many provinces, such as Voronezh, Kharkov, Tula, Kaluga and many others. Later, the name Kudeyarov began to gain popularity.

The name of Ataman Kudeyar is found not only in legends. There are examples of mentioning it in history:

• In the family of the Markovs, a native of Kursk, was Kildeyar Ivanovich, who was abbreviated as Kudeyar.
• In some historical documents, a landlord comes from Arzamas, who was named after Kudeyar Chufarov.
• The name of the Moscow Cossack Karachaev Kudeyar is known.
• Often in the annals mentioned Prince Meshchersky Kudeyar Ivanovich.
• There are also records about the traitor of the Motherland, who fled to the Crimea, named Kudeyar Tishenkov, originally from Belevsky boyars. Many associate this particular historical figure with the image of the ataman.

Identification of the ataman with Tsarevich Yuri

There are several legends in which a parallel is made between the ataman Kudeyar and Yuri Vasilievich, the son of Solomoniya Saburova and Vasily III. You can select some of them:

1. The legend comes from Saratov, which tells that Ivan the Terrible, before going to the military operations in Kazan, left Moscow in the custody of Kudeyar. Later it was found out that the Kazan decree was false, made in order that during the absence of the sovereign Kudeyar Vasilyevich, having appropriated the treasury of the state, escaped punishment.
2. The Simbirsk legend tells that Yuri Kudeyar was summoned to Kazan for execution at the hands of Grozny. However, having learned in advance about the Tsar's intentions, Yuri took defensive positions on the Volga, near the town of Krotkovo.
3. A legend is known that Tsar Ivan the Terrible still met with Yuri beside the besieged Kazan, and the latter, in turn, fled from the ruler to the north of the country.
4. Kursk legend says that Yuri was captured by the Tatars, who wanted to get a ransom from him for him. When the attempt failed, the captive was sent along with the army to the war for the royal throne. However, this idea proved to be inconclusive, after which Yuri stayed on Russian lands, where he took up robbery.
5. Suzdal legend, on the contrary, tells about the conclusion of a voluntary alliance with Tatars by Kudeyar Vasilievich, whose goal was to conquer the throne. However, seeing from the side of the outrage committed by the Tatars, he began to defend his native land.

All legends about the ataman and Yuri Kudeyar indicate his betrayal of the Motherland, which manifests itself in escape or in the transition to the side of the enemy.

Other legends about the origin of Kudeyar

There are many stories about the origin of Ataman Kudeyar:

• According to the Voronezh chronicles, Kudeyar was the collector of taxes from the khan. Once, having plundered the Russian settlements, he decided not to return to the ruler, he settled in the Voronezh lands, gathered around himself like-minded people and continued his predatory life. Soon he fell in love with a Slavic girl, kidnapped her and made her wife.

• In the village of Loch believe in the legend that Kudeyar was none other than the younger brother of Grozny. The Emperor decided to kill him, believing rumors that when he grows up, he will deprive him of his legitimate throne. However, the servants disobeyed the tsar's orders and fled with the prince, who later converted to Islam and was named Cudeyar.
• There is a legend that Kudeyar was the son of Zhigmont Botory, who was born even before the proclamation of his uncle by the Polish king. He fled to the Dnieper to the Cossacks, later joined the service of Ivan the Terrible, but after escaping from the Tsar's disgrace he went into a life of brigandage.
• In Ryazan there is an opinion that Kudeyar was an oprichnik, who not only robbed merchants from Moscow, but also appropriated cattle of local residents.
• In the Orel gubernia, the ataman was positioned as an unclean spirit, who guarded his treasures.

Given the huge number of sources that are different from each other, it is difficult to give an accurate description of Ataman Kudeyar.

Legends about the cave of Kudeyar

For a long time, many treasure seekers have tried to find treasures of the robber Kudeyar, about which there are many legends. Everything was unsuccessful. Many ancient manuscripts tell about cities where the robbers of Ataman Kudeyar hid the stolen goods. Most of these places are noted in the Voronezh region. According to some stories, in the forests of Bryansk there are places where treasures are hidden, and at night from the rubble of stones there is light, and sometimes a child's cry is heard.

Kudeyarov cave is described as a place in which not only the loot was stored, but the ataman himself lived in the richly furnished chambers. The mountain in which the cave was located is entirely covered with thickets. Next to it is another mountain - the Karaulnaya, on which the sentries of the robber were placed. A deep ditch was erected around these places, protecting the shelter and its inhabitants from uninvited guests. At the time when Kudeyar left his shelter in search of new profit, he locked all the rooms, and the entrance to the cave was filled with stones. It is believed that the spirit of the ataman continues to guard his untold wealth from people to this day. Some people are of the opinion that Kudeyar is still alive today because of his magical abilities.

There is another version of the legend. According to her, all his treasures were bewitched from the eyes of the people for 200 years. This term is long gone, and to search for treasure, an odd number of people are needed. After the entrance is dug, to open the lock you should use the golden key, which is stored in the Simov spring. It is not so easy to get it, it can only be done by the person who scoops up the spring or can get water from the Lake of the Dinner, the location of which nobody knows.

Collective image of a robber

The image of Tsarevich Yuri, whom many consider a robber Kudeyar, in history is collective and consists of biographical data of real, but completely different people. As a result, the name Kudeyar became a household name among the people. It characterizes all existing robbers. It is not possible to call this character authentically historical, due to the lack of data confirming its real existence.

According to the records made in the Saratov province, Kudeyar appears as a Tatar who knows Russian well and is distinguished by a rather high growth and bestial appearance. Also, many legends endow this character with magical abilities that helped him in looting, and also hid from his pursuers.

In some manuscripts, the ataman is described as a dark-tempered man of a quick temper and indomitable temper, who was also a willful Cossack. In turn, according to some folk tales, a different image is presented - a man of attractive appearance, a bogatyr statue, intelligent, having a weakness for young girls.

In general, we can identify several images of Kudeyar, based on ancient tales. Some attribute to him the life of a cruel robber, others believe that the ataman of Kudeyar was of royal blood and was hiding from the righteous wrath of the king. Also there is an opinion that he was an impostor who pretended to be a man of royal blood.

Mention a character in the work of Nekrasov

Ataman Kudeyar at Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, the great Russian writer, is mentioned in "Who Lives Well in Russia", in one of the chapters entitled "Feast for the Whole World." The last lines of this chapter differ depending on the publication, since several versions of the text are known:

• Manuscript of 1876 for the magazine "Otechestvennye zapiski" and a censorship typographic impression made on the basis of this manuscript. Another truncated publication in this magazine was noted in 1881.
• In 1879, an illegal publication of the Petersburg Free Press was published. This option is included in the collection of works of the author.

In this work, the character ataman Kudeyar is a legend, which Jonaska tells. In his narrative, he tells of a fierce robber who repented of perfect sins and began a hermit's life. However, he does not find a place, and one day he is a stranger who tells how to reach a pacifier. To do this, it is necessary to cut the age-old oak with the same weapon that innocent people were killed. The fulfillment of this task took years, but the tree collapsed only after the assassination of Pan Glukhovsky.

Approximate people from Ataman Kudeyar in "To Whom in Russia to Live Well" were few. The product indicates their number. In the poem it is said: "Twelve robbers lived, Kudeyar the Ataman lived." When Kudeyar decided to pray for sins and repent, he dismissed his retinue for free bread.

Mention in the work of other authors

The image of Ataman Kudeyar is present not only in the work of Nekrasov. Mention of him is in the novel Kostomarov "Kudeyar", as well as in "The Last Love of Kudeyar," described by Navrotsky.

In Kostomarov's works there are references to the legend of the origin of the character from the first marriage of Vasily the Third. His wife after the divorce was sent to the monastery due to infertility. However, within the walls of the monastery her son is born. A woman sends him with her loyal people to the Turkish border, where the prince is taken prisoner. A little later, becoming more adult, he commits an escape to his native land, where he becomes a robber named Kudeyar.

This character is also mentioned in Soviet literature:

• In the story of Kuprin "Grunya" there is a comparison of the uncle of the main character with the image of the famous ataman.
• The story of Kudeyar was described by Bakhrevsky in the work "The Treasure of the Ataman".
• Shiryaev mentions the ataman in "Kudeyarov Oak".
• Alexandrov describes the image in the "Kudeyarovoye camp."
• The robber is mentioned in the cycle "Pelagia" by the writer Akunin.

Song of Chaliapin

"There lived twelve robbers, lived Kudeyar Ataman" - that's how the first verse of the song "The Legend of the Twelve Robbers" performed by Fyodor Shalyapin according to the words of Nekrasov's work begins. According to some sources, the creation of music is attributed to Nikolai Manykin-Nevstruev.

"Kudeyar Ataman" - a song about a robber and his companions - is performed together with the chorus, which sings a refrain after each verse: "We will pray to the Lord God, we will tell the ancient story!" So in the Solovki we were told honest monk Pitirim. "

The given creation though is based on the text from the unfinished poem Nekrasov "To whom in Russia to live well", but, in turn, has significant semantic differences. For example, the poet's work did not say that Kudeyar and Pitirim are the same person, unlike the song.

In addition, in many legends and in the text of the work Kudeyar is described as a kind of avenger from the people who stops the life of a robber, becomes a pilgrim and lives in seclusion in the woods, and Kudeyar the ataman leaves for the monastery to pray for his sins.

The lyrics have several variants and artists. Many people heard this work performed by Eugene Dyatlov. Today it is included in the repertoire of many male church choirs.

Kudeyarovo hillfort

According to some legends, Ataman Kudeyar lived with his bandits on the banks of the Sejm, in the so-called Kudeyar fort. This legend mentions Catherine II, who at that time traveled to the south of Russia. In one of its halts not far from this site of ancient settlement Kudeyar stole the Empress's golden carriage and buried it between three oaks.

No less well known is Chertovo hillfort, which many call the Shutovaya Mountain, on the road from Kozelsk to Likhvin. This place was very well located, because it was on this road that caravans with goods, which were an excellent prey for any robber, often took place.

Many believe that here was located the refuge of Kudeyar, built for him by evil forces. It is believed that it is this force that still protects the hidden treasures of the robber, and at night in those places there appears the ghost of Lubusha, the daughter of the ataman, who was cursed and imprisoned by her father in these lands.

Black Yar

In fact, there is a large number of Kudeyarov cities in the territory of southern Russia. Each province has its own history and places, where the treasures of the Kudeyar gang are hidden.

Great popularity is enjoyed by Mount Black Yar, which is located in the Lipetsk region. Its distinctive feature is a stone of bluish color lying on the top, which is considered to be the petrified horse of the ataman, who received such a color when it was scorched by fire.

According to many legends, it was here that Kudeyarov fortress was located. According to legend, the Don Cossacks, displeased with the excesses of Kudeyar and his bandits, took up arms against them. When they reached the fortress, they could not seize it, so they surrounded it with brushwood and set it on fire.

Ataman hid all the loot and left his favorite horse as a guard. And so that she did not suffer from fire, he turned it into stone.

For most contemporaries ataman Kudeyar is a forgotten story, but not so long ago this character was legendary, one might say, half-mythical. And even today the memory of him is preserved in the names of mountains, cities, yars, and the name Kudeyar itself is associated with an ominous, uncommon force.