Chronicles of Toyan's Town: On the History of Eushta Tatars in the 17th-18th Centuries

The article is devoted to the most important events in the history of Eushta knyaz Toyan and his subjects in the 17th-18th centuries. Although Tomsk emerged on the map of Siberia largely due to knyaz Toyan's policies, Toyan's Town never became a "place of memory" for citizens. It was severely damaged when the tuberculosis hospital was built on the spot. All of this makes it relevant to reconstruct the milestones of the history of Eushta Tatars. The history of knyaz Toyan's stavka counts at least 300 years: from Toyan's great-grandfather, who lived there even before the Russians came, until the very end of the 18th century, when the Town was almost abandoned due to various reasons named in the article. Information on Eushta Tatars collected from different sources demonstrates an extremely high level of stress in the region in the 17th century caused by permanent military threat coming from Kyrgyz people and Teleuts. This threat prompted consolidation of the Russians and Tatars very much, producing the ongoing mutual support, close cultural contacts and sharing the same territories as early as a few years after Tomsk was founded. Tatars and Russians participated jointly in at least 14 campaigns and battles during the first third of the 17th century. We also discuss the vital issues associated with origins of Tomsk Tatars and including their territories into the Khanate of Sibir. Considering the fact that "Tomsk Tatars" is constructed as an umbrella term covering various ethnicities (Chat, Eushta, Kalmak) and that the Pritomye Tatar culture developed with participation of Kazan Tatars and people of Central Asian descent in the 17th-19th centuries, we believe it to be impossible to trace the general origins of Tomsk Tatars. Each ethnic subgroup should be investigated individually. Another question discussed in the article is whether territories of Eushta Tatars were included into the Khanate of Sibir. The issue is challenging in that there is no evidence of Kuchum Khan having control over the territories. Besides, the article cites materials proving the subordinacy of Eushta Tatars to Kyrgyz people who said knyaz Toyan had been their best kholop (serf) before Russians came to the river Tom. Finally, the archaeological surveys carried out on Toyan's Town in 2015 proved there is a preserved cultural layer, which brings back to light a lot of issues associated with preserving and studying one of the key monuments in the history of Tomsk.

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