Conqueror of Siberia, Cossack ataman Yermak, was a Nestorian bishop-Hunnic khagan of the Kazakhs Yer-Mar
I remember back in school, when we covered the conquest of Siberia by Ermak in history class, I would ask myself: what kind of name is this – Ermak? Maybe it’s a nickname; then why was the patronymic Timofeevich attached to the nickname, and if there is a patronymic, where is the surname? It’s strange that a person entrusted with such a responsible task doesn’t even have a biography. I was also surprised by the behavior of Siberia’s indigenous peoples, who so willingly accepted Ermak’s rule, exchanging the outsider Kuchum for another ruler, albeit still a foreigner.
These questions would have remained unanswered ever since, if not for an article by M. Valiev in the journal Science and Religion, offering an unexpected version of the biography of the Cossack ataman Ermak Timofeevich. It turns out Ermak was not a Cossack at all, but a Siberian prince of the Hunnic tribe of the Keraites. And not just a prince, but a prince-bishop, Er-Mar Temüjin. And he went to war in Siberia to reclaim his ancestral lands, taken away by Khan Kuchum. But let’s take it in order.
In the 11th century, the ruler of the Kerait tribe embraced Christianity of the Nestorian persuasion. (Historical note: Nestorianism is a current in Christianity founded in Byzantium in the 5th century by Constantinople Archbishop Nestorius, who asserted that Jesus Christ, having been born a man, was not God by birth, but only later assumed a divine nature. Nestorius urged that the Blessed Virgin Mary be called Christotokos instead of Theotokos. Nestorianism was condemned as a heresy at the Council of Ephesus in 431.)
In 1198, the Nestorian Keraites helped the rulers of the Manchurian-Chinese state of Jin achieve military successes, for which their ruler Toghril received the hereditary title “wang” (khan, prince) and became known as Wang Khan. While remaining the head of the Nestorian community, Wang Khan became known among neighboring peoples as “Prester John.” It is known that one of Genghis Khan’s wives was the daughter of Prester John. This explains why, although the Genghisids ruled over the conquered lands, the Nestorian Keraites enjoyed relative autonomy, holding in their possession the lands and forests along the banks of the Tobol, Tura, Ishim, and Irtysh rivers – the country of Siberia.
In the 14th century, after Tamerlane’s destruction of the Nestorian communities in Central Asia, some of them fled to Siberia – to the domains of their fellow believers, the descendants of Prester John. There were so many Christians in Siberia that the titles of the Kerait prince-high priests were supplemented with the title “mar” (saint, bishop), and after a successful victory over the ravager of the Siberian land, the Genghisid Abak, also with the title “er” (bogatyr, hero). Thus the rulers of Siberia came to be called Er-Mars – “hero-bishops.”
After the victory over Abak, Prince Er-Mar Muhammad founded a new capital for Siberia – Asker, better known among neighboring peoples as Kashlyk (in some chronicles referred to as the city of Sibir). But in 1563, the nephew of the defeated Abak, Khan Koshim, popularly nicknamed Kuchum (meaning alien, stranger), seized Kashlyk and brutally dealt with all blood relatives. Only one of Prester John’s descendants, Er-Mar Temüjin, managed to escape. The indigenous people of Siberia, the Nestorians, put up strong resistance to the Muslim mullahs who came from Bukhara with Khan Kuchum, and did not want to renounce the faith of their fathers. All the baptized people of Siberia awaited the return of their lawful co-religionist ruler Er-Mar Temüjin, who hid in the lands bordering Siberia and there received the nickname Ermak – son of Timofei…
The newly-minted Cossack served faithfully in the sovereign’s service: he was a clerk under the Perm voivode, acted as a guide in trade expeditions across Siberia, and led as ataman during a campaign against Poland. Wherever the enterprising Ermak went, his first order of business was to seek friendship with influential people. This friendship with the mighty of this world more than once saved the former prince, who was in no way willing to reconcile himself to the fate of a simple Cossack: at times he would clash with someone from the nobility, or, according to steppe customs, he might steal a high-born bride.
And so, the previously unknown Ermak, son of Timofei, receives unlimited authority and enormous resources, allowing him to gather a rather impressive army capable of waging a victorious campaign across the boundless Siberian expanses over several years. Siberian tribes rendered Ermak truly khan-like honors, warning his army more than once of Kuchum’s ambushes. Unsophisticated in comparative theology, the Nestorian natives willingly exchanged their faith for Orthodoxy, not seeing much ritual difference. Fortunately, they were already familiar with confession, communion, and liturgy with all-night vigils. They even had mobile church-yurts.
Laden with substantial trophies, Ermak’s druzhina did not even think of heading home, as was customary for Cossacks; it would not accept peace from Khan Kuchum, who repeatedly offered to make peace on terms favorable for the Cossacks, but year after year stubbornly advanced toward the center of the Siberian Khanate – the capital city of Asker. The Siberian khan Er-Mar was reclaiming his hereditary kingdom.
Ermak’s high birth also explains the honors he received from Ivan the Terrible, after he made a petition to the tsar with new rich lands. The ataman was granted the title “Prince of Siberia,” and five hundred tsar’s streltsy were placed under his command, led by a voivode-prince and a strelets captain. Ermak’s Siberian origin is confirmed by the fact that to this day the Voguls, Ostyaks, Turks, and other Siberian peoples honor Ermak – the one who once conquered their ancestors.
Some may not like the historical version that the dashing Cossack ataman was actually of foreign blood and, moreover, not of entirely pure Orthodox faith—practically a heretic. But this is only a version. It is entirely possible that he was after all a Cossack with the Orthodox name Yerma, reshaped into Ermak, and his origins were noble, concealed for some reason. But is that really important? A true patriot is one who brings real benefit to the Fatherland, regardless of how his surname is pronounced and the shape of his eyes.
Valery MELNIKOV
Related articles
- The destruction of the church is proceeding according to the 1923 instructions from Siberia “What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing…
- Alexander Men was killed 20 years ago Download the film: Who killed priest Alexander Men? On an early autumn morning, September 9, 1990, …
- Pastor of the Church of Evangelical Faith Christians in the city of Kobrin, Viktor Novik, was found guilty under Part 2 of Article 23.34 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Belarus and was punished with a fine On June 29, 2010, by the decision of the court of the Kobrin District of the Brest Oblast, the pastor of the Church of Evangelical Faith Christians…
- Jerusalem, May 25. Jesus Christ was most likely crucified on Friday, April 3, 33 A.D. Geologists have made this assertion based on a publication in the scientific journal International Geology Review. Jerusalem, May 25. Jesus Christ was most likely crucified on Friday, April 3, 33 A.D. …