Locating the Winter Stavka of Knyaz Toyan

The article revolves around the problem of locating the principal stavka of Eushta knyaz Toyan. Despite the great role played by this archaeological monument in Tomsk history, there is no precise topography data. Scientists of 18th - 19th centuries provided contradictory information on Toyan's Town location. For example, Gerhard Friedrich Muller located the stavka on the left bank of the river Tom in one of his works and on an island in another. Besides, no researcher made a topographical plan or at least a sketch of Toyan's Town in the 19th - 20th centuries, which complicates the problem of locating the monument. Although several hill forts existed around today's Timiryazevo village, people associated the name of Toyan with a particular object. Actually, this hill fort was named Toyan's Town, just as the nearby burial site. Some researchers have found it inappropriate to associate the object with the name of the Eushta knyaz. Andrei Dulson argued that this erroneous association was only inspired by local Eushta Tatar legends. The situation is complicated by the fact that the alleged location of Toyan's Town is almost completely developed with buildings today, so no fortifications can be traced in the land relief. To solve this problem, we use archaeological, historical, ethnographical, mapping and toponymic data. A fragment of Tomsk suburbs archaeological map made by Alexander Adrianov in late 19th century is published for the first time in this article. This is the only map today that shows the defense line shielding the hill fort in the Middle Ages. The integrated research we conducted allows for locating Toyan's Town on the only cape in the left-bank area of the river Tom, opposite Tomsk, close to the anabranch known as Toyan's Lake. This place was the winter settlement of Eushta Tatars. In summer, the population moved to a floodplain a few kilometers north of Toyan's Town and used floodplain meadows and the island on the river Tom for farming. The archaeological surveys carried out on the abovementioned cape in summer 2015 confirmed our hypothesis. In the excavations found many artifacts dated XVI-XVII centuries, relating to Eushta Tatars culture. The artifacts are presented mostly ceramic dishes and bones of horses. Also a silver coin dated 1631and a cannonball of early XVII century were found. Certainly, Toyan's Town located in such a convenient location, opposite the city of Tomsk, played an important role in the politics and economy of the region in the early XVII century. We can only hope that one day the stationary archaeological research of preserved cultural layer will be held and we can put an end to the history of the destruction of the Town and start new history of its scientific study and conservation.

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