The "ambassadorial affairs" of the Tomsk Cossack Yemelyan Vershinin in the 1630s–1640s

The aim of this study is to clarify the origin and ambassadorial activities of the little-known Tomsk equestrian Cossack Emelyan Vershinin, who made long trips to the rulers of the eastern states and Siberian nomadic formations. The study is based on published materials on the history of Russian-Mongolian and Russian-Chinese relations and on archival sources (tribute books) from the Siberian Prikaz of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts. In the early days of Siberian exploration it was important to establish ambassadorial and trade relations with neighbouring eastern countries. One of the active participants of Russian missions to “unpeaceful lands” and eastern countries was the Tomsk Cossack Yemelyan Vershinin, who came from a hereditary military environment. The purpose of his journeys was to bring the warlike nomads into Russian citizenship and to settle disputes with the rulers of independent states. Vershinin made his first trip to the Mongol ruler Altyn Khan in 1634 as part of the diplomatic mission of the boyar’s son S. Grechaninov. In the autumn of 1638 he was sent to the “Kyrgyz land” to the Yenisei princes Ishey and Koyan to persuade the nomadic owners to “obey” and take sherti (oath of allegiance to the Russian sovereign). In 1640 Vershinin headed a diplomatic mission to the first Kalmyk khan Daichin (Taichi-Taishi), son of the famous Oirat taisha Urlyuk, who roamed the upper reaches of the Irtysh and the Yaik. Demonstrating his independence from the Russian tsar, Daichin kept the Tomsk envoys in his dominion for three years. Having found themselves in “captivity”, the Russian ambassadors were forced to travel with Daichin’s caravan to Trukhmenkala (a city in Turkmenistan), then visited the Bukhara cities of Samarqand and Tashkent, and the Chinese border town Xining. While in Xinin, Vershinin met with Chinese officials and received a letter to the Russian authorities, which due to the lack of interpreters in the Siberian Prikaz was not read. Upon his return to Tomsk, Vershinin presented a report on the results of his stay in the Oirats’ land, Central Asia and China. Vershinin’s further service was marked by a trip to the Teleut prince K. Abakov with a statement of peace initiatives coming from the Russian authorities. The study concludes that the establishment of political and commercial relations with “foreign” rulers at an early stage of Siberian development allowed the Russian authorities to avoid major military conflicts, typical of Western states in the era of colonial conquests, and to form policies contributing to strengthening Russia’s influence on its eastern borders and transforming it into a powerful Eurasian state.