In the year, Lake Baikal returned to the north, and Russia conquered Siberia.
Hello, today let's continue the historical origins of Lake Baikal. In our previous article, we have learned that in 1581 the Russians crossed the Ural Mountains and expanded eastward, capturing the Ob, Yenisei, and Lena river valleys.
In 1639, Moskivin reached the Sea of Okhotsk, and in 1648, Dezhniov bypassed the Bering Strait in the northeastern corner of Siberia. As a result, most of Siberia was already occupied by the Russian Empire.
In the course of Russia's expansion into Siberia, it was like no one to the east. Against the primitive natives, who were armed only with bows, arrows and spears, the Cossacks needed only a few dozen people.
The Cossacks, relying on muskets, artillery and strong fortresses, inflicted a dimensionality reduction blow on the natives. Everywhere they went, they forced indigenous people to pay taxes. Huge fur profits prompted the Cossacks to go further and bolder.
The Baikal region, located in the northern part of the Mongolian plateau, was also not spared from the Cossack invasion. It is inhabited by Buryat Mongols, Tunguska, Kyrgyz and Daurs.
They have been inextricably linked to the Central Plains dynasty in the south since ancient times.
In 1635, Emperor Taiji captured the Solon tribe in the Transbaikal region, and the following year conquered Mongol Mongolia, thus concurrently serving as the Great Khan of the Mongols. In 1638, the Mobei Khalkha Mongols presented the "Nine White Tribute" to the Qing Dynasty as a sign of submission, and also marked that the vast Mobei region nominally belonged to the Qing Dynasty.
However, the Qing Dynasty's sovereignty over Mobei was only a formality, and it could not even be called a feudal rule. What's more serious is that in 1644, the Qing army entered the customs, the prelude to the change of dynasty was opened, and the focus of Manchu rule shifted to Guannei, and the Mobei region was left unattended, which became an excellent opportunity for the first people to invade the south.
* On the one hand, people infiltrated the Heilongjiang River basin and on the other hand extended their tentacles to the Baikal region, and after continuous conquests, they finally reached the shores of Baikal in 1643, and a series of fortresses were built around Baikal.
In 1646, the Cossacks built Verkhniy Angarsk at the mouth of the Angara River, and in 1652 they built a winter camp at the place where the Irkut River flows into the Angara River, which later became the famous Irkutsk.
In 1654, the Cossacks founded the city of Nebuchu, known as Nerchensk, at the point where the Nebuchu River emptied into the Shilka River. In the same year, Russia established the "Daur Governor's Military District" in Nebuchu and appointed Bashkov as the "Chinese Amur Overseer of the Daur Region" to administer Transbaikal and the Heilongjiang River basin.
The establishment of the Governorate Nebuchu marked the establishment of the Russian Empire's rule in Transbaikalia, and the next step for the Russian Empire to focus on consolidating the occupied territories and making huge profits.
In 1654, the Yeniseisk overseers sent Dmitry Firsov to the Angara River valley to carry out colonization activities. Filsov founded Baragansk at the place where the Onga River flows into the Angara River, in the center of the Balagansian steppe in the northwest of Lake Baikal, where the land is fertile and rich in water and grass, which is very suitable for grazing and farming.
In 1658, the Russian army established Terembinsk on the shores of Lake Teremba. On July 16, 1661, near the mouth of the Irkut River on the right bank of the Angara River, the foundation stone of Irkutsk was officially laid.
Then the Cossacks turned their attention to the southern shore of Lake Baikal and colonized south along the Selenga River. The Selenga River is the largest river system in Mobei, which flows into Lake Baikal in a fan-shaped shape, and the famous Xiongnu, Dingling, Xianbei and Mongolian ethnic groups in history all originated here.
The Selenga River is geographically important, starting from Lake Baikal and following the Selenga River up to the heart of the Mongolian plateau, Kara and Forest.
Historically, nomads have been operating near the Selenga River, competing with the Central Plains Dynasty for dominance. If they win, they may enter the Central Plains; If that fails, they migrate north along the Selenga River, resting in the forests of southern Siberia and waiting for another rise.
For thousands of years, they have considered the area around Lake Baikal to be a safe backyard. However, by the 17th century, everything had changed. People attacked from behind and cut off their retreat, which directly determined their historical fate.
In 1665, the ten-captain Osip Vasilyev and Gavril Lovtsov led 69 Cossacks across Lake Baikal and up the Selenga River.
They founded Selengsk at the point where the Chikoy River emptied into the Selenga River, and this fortress became the center of the expansion of the ** people on the southern shore of Lake Baikal. In the following years, the ** people established the Udinsk Winter Camp at the mouth of the Uda River, which was later renamed Verkhniy Udinsk, and now it is the famous capital of the Buryatia Autonomous Republic of the Russian Federation, Ulan-Ude.
In 1676, the Russians founded the Yeravninsky Fort on the shores of Lake Yeravnin, where they defeated the Buryats and completely conquered the lower Selenga River.
By the 70s of the 17th century, the ** people had built a series of important castles and strongholds around Lake Baikal, tightly controlling Lake Baikal.
The cruel Cossacks plundered the furs and hostages of the Baikal region, and even sold captives into slavery. The Buryats resisted and fought to the death against the Russians, eventually annihilating 136 men led by Bedakov.
Despite the countless hardships and sufferings, they persevered and persevered in the struggle until they were free and equal.
The Buryats have been causing problems for the ** authorities, but their power is still weak in comparison with the firepower of the Cossacks. ** The brutal and ruthless tactics used against the insurgents led to the displacement of large numbers of indigenous people and the desertion of villages.
Some Buryats were forced to migrate to Outer Mongolia, and some to the Hulunbuir region, where they were given the name "Balhu people" and incorporated into the Eight Banners. The mass exodus of the people and the constant uprisings created a serious obstacle to the colonial activities of the authorities.
However, the tsar ** did not change his ruling strategy because of this, and was even more demanding. In 1684, the Qing Dynasty, having consolidated its rule in the south, began to re-examine the issue of the northern frontier.
With the support of Emperor Kangxi, Tushetu Khan sent representatives to Irkutsk and Selengesk, demanding the return of the land and population of Buryatia.
However, the authorities turned a deaf ear to this and categorically refused to return the territories that had already been acquired. Although the Buryats persisted in their resistance for decades, this revolt eventually subsided due to the lack of outside assistance.
At the same time that the Qing army regained the south and began to expand its power to the northeast, ** also began to try to expand at this time. As a result, the Battle of Yaksa broke out between Qing and Russia.
Although the Qing army besieged the Russian army for almost a year, the Russian army suffered heavy losses and was finally forced to agree to peace. ** The negotiating delegation sent was a strong team, carrying a large amount of ammunition and food and grass, and even prepared by force.
Qing ** also sent a delegation led by Suo Etu, although the number was small, but it was well equipped. After lengthy negotiations, the two countries finally reached an agreement that ended the war.
In July 1689, Suoetu planned to travel from Outer Mongolia to Selengesk, but the road was blocked due to the invasion of the Khalkha Mongols by the Dzungar leader Galdan, so he had to retreat to Beijing.
The Qing army defeated Galdan at Ulan Butong, and the Khalkha Third Division decided to defect to the Qing Dynasty, and the road to Mobei was unblocked. As a result, the Qing Dynasty and ** decided to hold peace talks in Nebuchu and changed the location.
Suo Etu and his entourage set out from Beijing on June 13, 1689, and traveled day and night to Nebuchu. Before they arrived, the Chinese navy had already anchored the ships along the river, and the sailors had set up camps on the shore, totaling more than 3,000 people.
At the same time, about 1,400 Chinese army troops, 800 Suo Etu's personal soldiers, and some co-servicemen formed a huge delegation of about 9,000-10,000 people.
At the beginning of the peace talks, the two sides were tense and tense, and it seemed that war would break out at any moment. The situation at that time was not in favor of **, they were bogged down on the European battlefield, and the inhabitants of Buryatia and Daur around Nebuchu also revolted because of the rule of the tsar.
About 600 to 700 Khalkha Mongols attacked the occupied Nebuchu, and the Buryats around Nebuchu also intended to join forces with the Qing mission to attack Nebuchu.
However, there was also a hidden danger within the Qing Dynasty, namely the rising Dzungar Khanate. In the end, the Qing delegates compromised, and the two sides signed a treaty. On September 7, 1689, the Treaty of Nebuchu was signed.
The treaty confirmed that the Heilongjiang River basin and Sakhalin Island belonged to China, but the Qing Dynasty agreed to give the area west of the Ergun River and east of Lake Baikal to **. Since then, the Transbaikal region has been part of the Russian Empire.
While the Qing Russian representatives were arguing with Nebuchu, Galdan relaunched an offensive towards Mobei. Under the new situation, the ** mission refused to negotiate with the Qing Dynasty on the ownership of the border in the middle section south of Lake Baikal, and their strategy was to first keep the existing territory and then look for opportunities to reap more benefits.
With the military defeat of Galdan, the Dzungar forces withdrew from Mobei. In May 1692, the Qing Dynasty officially incorporated Khalkha Mongolia into its rule, setting up 32 banners, divided into left, middle and right routes.
At this point, all the Khalkha Mongols were subordinated to the Manchu Qing, and the territory of the Qing Empire also expanded to the middle border of China and Russia. At that time, the Russian Empire was under the reign of Peter the Great, and the border between China and Russia was in a blurred zone.
Peter the Great took advantage of the fact that the borders were not demarcated to encroach on large swaths of Outer Mongolia and refused the Qing Dynasty's proposals. In order to reduce this loss, after Emperor Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, the Qing Dynasty linked the two sides to the border issue and restricted the behavior of merchants in China.
In 1725, Peter the Great died and was succeeded by Empress Catherine I. She believed that the war between the Qing Dynasty and Dzungaria had become white-hot, and in the upcoming decisive battle, the Qing Dynasty would definitely look forward to maintaining neutrality, so that it could seek the greatest benefit on the issue of demarcating the border.
In the same year, Sava Vladislavich was sent as minister plenipotentiary to China to negotiate the border issue. Before leaving, the Tsar's instructions to Sava instructed that China must cede "Transbaikal, Udinsk, Selengesk, Nebuchu and other places."
In 1726, Sava came to the Chinese border with a mission of 2,000 men, but he was not friendly. On the way to Beijing, he repeatedly contacted the Junggar rebel forces, trying to blackmail the Qing **.
He also contacted the French missionary Bardo in China, asking him to provide information about Qing's attitude. He even took in Chinese fugitives in an attempt to occupy more Chinese land before the negotiations.
On July 3, 1727, the place of negotiations was changed to the banks of the Boer River, more than 10 kilometers from Kyakhta. The chief negotiator of the Qing Dynasty was Long Keduo, but he was later withdrawn due to his crime and changed to the county king.
But at this time, the negotiations were already extremely unfavorable to the Qing Dynasty. The Russian side has a tough attitude, the Dzungars are eyeing each other, and there are internal ghosts. Coupled with the incompetence of the Qing negotiators, the final Treaty of Brensky did not work well.
On August 31, 1727, the Qing and Russian sides signed the Treaty of Brenschi. On 2 November, the two sides signed the "Kyakhta Boundary Treaty," the "Seleng Boundary Treaty," and the "Abahai Yitu Boundary Treaty," which demarcated several sections of the border, thus thoroughly sorting out the border line between China and Russia in the middle section.
Since then, the region north of Kyakhta has completely broken away from China's embrace. This means that the fate of Lake Baikal is already sealed.
The signing of the Treaties of Nebuchu and the Treaty of Brensky established a peaceful border between the Qing Empire and the Russian Empire. Since then, the peoples of the two countries have spent more than 100 years of peace on the border line.
In southern Siberia, the confrontation between the Russian Empire and the Qing Empire reached its peak, but the two sides eventually found a balance, and the Russians stopped the pace of expansion.
In 1757, the Qing army successfully defeated the Dzungar Khanate, and the Qing Empire and the Russian Empire jointly divided the inheritance of the Dzungar Khanate, and the northern steppe has not been at war since.
Looking to the north, Lake Baikal has become a symbol of history and will forever be remembered in the memory of the Chinese nation. If you like this article, please like, bookmark, share and follow Shishu123.