Temerchinskaya volost and the Temerchins of ujezd Tomskiy in XVII century

The article is dedicated to Temerchinsk volost, one of the twenty two aboriginal volosts of Tomsk province in the early 17 century. After the city of Tomsk was founded, the Temerchins were included in the category of population subject to the payment of yasak. However, in a few years, under unknown circumstances they became the subjects of Chat morza Kasay and turned to be his 'kyshtyms'. It was only in 1631 that they were brought back to the province. Temerchinsk volost was located on the territory of today's Kozhevni-kovo district in Tomsk region, on the right bank of it. The significant part of the volost territory was a flood plain rich in waters and wetlands. Throughout its history, the Kashtakovskiye yurts constituted volost's administrative centre of a kind. The volost was ruled by knyazets. There are names of some of them mentioned in written sources: Tazak, Ilimek Kurmyshev, and Sauzarak. In the early 17century there were 15 payers of yasak in the volost, whereas by the middle of the century there were only 10. In the 17 century the volost population was referred to in sources as 'Tatars', 'outlanders', 'lyudishki' and the name of Temerchinsk was only used with regard to the volost itself. In the 18 century the aboriginal population knew this volost as being called 'temertsi-yon'. These data were found by J.P. Fakk in the 18 century. According to A.P. Dulson, this name is translated from the Turkic language as 'a people of blacksmiths'. The name is not accidental. Archaeologists have discovered a few medieval archaeological sights that largely indicate iron production in the area. As of today, there is no consensus among researchers as to the ethnic origins of the volost population in the 17century. The ethno-genesis and the early history of the Temerchins still remain virtually unexplored by now. Two extreme research views can be identified in this regard: the Temerchins are a Turkic group that was there in the Ob area before the Russian population came. According to the second view, it was the Selkups that constituted the population of this volost in the early 17 century. As a result of the impact on the part of the Turkic-speaking population they lost their language and culture by the middle of the 18th century. The residents of the volost and of the village of Kashtakovo themselves, in the late 19 and even in the middle 20 century, would persistently relate the history of their settlement to the name of Kuchum. The Kuchum mound was known in the area surrounding Kashtakovo. In the 19 century it was excavated by S.K. Kuznetsov who did not find anything remarkable therein. Drastic changes took place in the life of the Temerchins by the end of the first quarter of the 18 century. Around the year 1720 they adopted Christianity. From that moment, the Temerchins actively started settling in Russian villages and quickly mixed with the neighbouring Russian population.

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