Western Siberia in international relations in the 16th-17th centuries

The main directions of the trade-economic and political interaction between indigenous political structures of Western Siberia with its neighbors in the Eurasian continent in the 16th-17th centuries are discussed. The existing system of relations, the main subjects of cooperation, benefits and spheres of influence of the subjects under consideration are analyzed. The focus is on three areas: southern, western and northern. The south direction of trade was long strategic for the Western Siberia. The very location of Western Siberia, the terrain and the direction of flow of the main rivers (mainly the Irtysh) contributed to relations with its southern, rather than western, neighbors. For the Central Asia states traditional Western Siberia trade and economic significance as a whole (from the Altai to the lower reaches of the Ob) was determined by two areas of cooperation: as a transit corridor in the interactions of Central Asia and the Volga states (Volga Bulgaria, later the Golden Horde and states separated from it, in particular, the Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates) and as an importer of a number of commodities, especially furs. In the first half of the 16th century, in the northern direction Western Europe witnessed events that drastically altered trade cooperation in this part of the continent. At this time, historians record dramatic changes in the world situation with prices of walrus tusks, especially the "soft stuff', which forced Western merchants and explorers to find new procurement markets. It is well known that the British opened the sea route to Russia in 1553, the first Dutch voyage up to the mouth of the Ob is recorded in 1595. In the author's opinion, this is what prompted the Russian government to start active political and military actions in Western Siberia, seeking to proactively extend its authority to the regions perspective from the viewpoint of fur production. Finally, in the west relations with the Moscow principality, as well as states left of the Golden Horde, above all the Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates, played a key role. It is concluded that in the period under review Western Siberia was in the scope of economic and, as a consequence, political interests of the leading countries of Europe and Asia, which determined the fate of the independent Siberian Khanate. The independent Siberian Kuchum Khanate in the second half of the 16th century turned out irrelevant in the trade and economic relations between Europe, the Moscow state and Central Asia (concerning not only and not so much governments, but representatives of the major international trade - Bukhara merchants, the Stroganovs, European industrialists), which determined the absence of the international support of Kuchum during the accession of Western Siberia to the Moscow state.

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