The Russian word "hard labor" comes from the Turkish "kaderg". So the Turks called their rowing ships - galleys. Often Russian slaves became rowers on galleys. But not all of them resigned themselves to their bitter lot.
At the lowest price
Every year, units of the Crimean Tatars raided the border lands of the Russian Kingdom and the Commonwealth, taking thousands of people to the full. Historians have calculated that from the 15th to the 18th century, more than 3 million slaves passed through the markets of the Crimean Khanate, and the welfare of this state was built on their tears and blood.
Turkey was the main buyer of live goods. Different fates awaited the slaves. Someone went to hard work in quarries, mines or fields, someone became a domestic slave, young Slavic beauties replenished the harems of Turkish pashas. But the worst fate awaited those whom the Turks bought as oarsmen for their huge fleet.
Once on the ship, the slave ceased to be a human forever and became part of the galley, the driving mechanism for a huge ten-meter oar. Chained to a bench, he lived, ate, slept, relieved himself near this oar without leaving his place. His whole existence was reduced to the fact that, at the limit of strength, move the ship along the sea waves to the sound of a huge drum that set the rhythm for the rowers.
Those who could not cope were encouraged by the whips of the overseers. If this did not help, the "faulty part" was forged and thrown overboard to be replaced with a new one in the nearest port.
Unsurprisingly, the rowers were willing to use the slightest opportunity to break free. At the same time, the captains of the galleys bought Russian prisoners at the lowest price - they constantly tried to escape or rebel against their tormentors.
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freedom or death
In the archives of the Order of Malta, which constantly fought with the Turks, there are numerous records of Russians who fled from captivity. The earliest dates back to 1574, when the Prior of the Order of Malta issued a certificate of protection to “ten Christians from Russia”. Other records confirm that it was Russian rowers who killed the galley's guards and sailed to the fortress of Gran Castello.
Many records have been preserved in the books of the Discharge Order, where the clerks recorded the stories of the returned prisoners, in order to extract useful military information from them later. Among them there is a petition from 1639 from the Voronezh governor Velyaminov. It said that "the archers Ivashka Anikeev and Sidorka Vasiliev, and with them the Cossacks Stenka Samsonov, Ievko Ivanov, Ermoshka Alekseev" sailed to the fortress on the Turkish gallery. According to them, this galley was sailing to Azov, and they were among the 140 rowers of "any language."
One night the Russians were able to knock off the chains, quietly strangle the sentries and free the rest of the slaves. In a fierce battle, the Turks were defeated and thrown into the sea. Along with the Russians, part of the foreign rowers came to Voronezh, including the Turks, who were exiled to galleys for grave crimes against Islam. By the Tsar's decree, Russian Cossacks and Streltsy were again recruited into the service, and foreigners were baptized and sent to work in the Ambassadorial Prikaz.
And in 1628 in the port of Mytilin, rowers revolted under the leadership of the gentry Marko Yakimovsky. Most of the rowers were Russian.
The Turks did not expect an uprising. A significant part of the Turkish team went ashore, and the rowers were relaxed for rest. The galley stood in a Turkish port, among many other similar galleys, so no one thought that the slaves would dare to do something. But Yakimovsky decided to take a desperate step.
At night, the brave nobleman made his way into the kitchen, beat the ship's cook with logs and took away his knives. Then he stabbed one of the overseers and freed his comrades in misfortune, distributing the selected knives to them. The Turkish guard had no chance. The deck was littered with the severed heads and hands of the Turks.
The rowers got on the oars again and rushed to the exit from the bay, so much so that the Turkish galleys sent in pursuit could not even get close. A few days later Yakimovsky brought the galley to Naples. From there, the freed slaves walked to Rome, where the Pope received them with honor. In memory of their feat, the Italians installed two marble boards.
Saber by Ivan Moshkin
The history of the Kaluga archer Ivan Semenov, son of Moshkin, is also preserved in the books of the Discharge Order.
In 1642, the Anti-Pasha galeas, on which Moshkin had been a rower for several years, took part in the siege of Azov. There were 280 slaves on board, most of them Russians.
Ivan Moshkin drew up a daring liberation plan. A certain Sylvester from Livorno specifically converted to Islam and got into the confidence of the Turks, for which he was freed from chains and sent to less heavy ship work.
During the confusion that accompanied the battles, Sylvester quietly stole gunpowder from the ship's supplies. The servant of Anti-Pasha, the Rusyn Mikula, also helped him.
The siege ended in failure for the Turks, and in addition, an unpleasant fact surfaced: Anti-Pasha - contrary to the order of the Sultan - robbed and captured the Greek population.
Anti-Pasha sailed to the Sea of Marmara and decided to wait until the sultan's anger cooled off. Taking the opportunity, the conspirators, under cover of darkness, planted the collected gunpowder to the cabin where the soldiers slept, and Mikula stole the keys to the slaves' chains from the captain. The thundering explosion was the signal for an uprising.
In the darkness on the cramped deck of the galleas, a fierce battle ensued. The Turks who survived the explosion, mostly janissaries, chopped the rowers with sabers and fired from bows, but could not cope with the bestial rage that had accumulated over the years of hopeless torment. The rowers wielded pieces of chains and an improvised ship tool, and sometimes even fought with their bare hands.
With a captured saber in his hands, the archer Moshkin, already wounded in the head, stomach and arm, personally grabbed Anti-Pasha, hacked him to death and threw his body into the sea. In total, 20 rowers were wounded in the battle, and only one was killed.
In the hands of the rebels was a ship fit for sailing, moreover, with a valuable cargo of silks and silver plundered during the siege. Galeas headed for Italy and after seven days reached the city of Messina. Along the way, the dashing sailors even managed to deceive a small Turkish shebek.
Ruble as a reward
Messina was then under Spanish rule. At first, the governor of the city greeted the Russians favorably and invited them to enter the Spanish service. Moshkin was immediately offered a large military rank and a salary of 20 rubles - a lot of money for a former archer.
However, everyone refused and only asked to help them get to Russia. The attitude of the Spanish authorities changed immediately. The ships with all their cargo and captured Turks were confiscated, weapons and all valuables were taken away from the former slaves, giving only a security certificate for passage to the Italian lands and an insignificant amount of money.
On foot, not knowing the road and the language, not really recovering from their wounds, the Russians continued on their way. They were lucky - in Italy they were greeted as heroes, comfortable rooms were allocated for the inn, the best Italian doctors helped the wounded.
Moshkin and several of the noblest captives from the gentry and the children of the boyars were personally received by Pope Urban VIII. The Italian typographer Grignani published in a huge circulation "Relation about the heroic escape of slaves from Turkish captivity."
The brave men from distant Russia were provided with a significant amount of money from the papal treasury and the papers necessary for returning to their homeland. They faced a difficult journey through Venice, Austria and Poland.
On the way, Moshkin and his comrades were again repeatedly offered to enter foreign service, but they invariably refused and rushed home with all their hearts. On the border of Russia, the former captives were met by the governor Orlov and taken to Moscow.
Streltsov, children of the boyars and Cossacks were given money and again accepted into the royal service. The peasants were also gifted with money and were given their freedom. In view of the long stay, first among the "Mohammedans" and then among the "Latins", an easy church repentance was imposed on everyone.
Moshkin received the largest monetary reward - one ruble. It cannot be said that the Motherland rewarded its heroes too generously.
Dmitry SHUKHMAN