Westward travel

[KLange]

Does anyone know where I can get some information about Russia's westward expansion to the Urals? When did it start, who settled where, and so on?

[ILay]

westward expansion to the Ural?

do I miss something..?

[davlet]

Originally posted by KLange
Does anyone know where I can get some information about Russia's westward expansion to the Urals? When did it start, who settled where, and so on?

I think you mean eastward expansion.

[Ragnvald]

I think, first step in Russia's eastward expansion was taking Kazan by Ivan the Terrible. Was it 16th century?
It was like opening the gate. But probably nobody went through it before Peter the Great (18th century), when Peter started to build military and fleet and needed a lot of metal. From that time Urals is centre of Russia's heavy industry.
That's probably it about Russia's expansion to the East as a state business. The rest was done mainly by Cossaks.
Her is about how Russians crossed Urals:
"Russian conquest of Siberia began with the expedition of the Cossack YERMAK TIMOFEYEVICH in 1581-82 and continued through the 17th century. Siberian furs and, after 1700, minerals became a major source of wealth for the Russian Empire. From the early 17th century Siberia was also used as a penal colony for criminals and political prisoners.

Exploration and settlement began seriously in the 17th century. There had been, of course, earlier attempts, dating back to the 11th century but they were incidental by nature. From the early beginning, settlers established trading centers here.
The period of exploration passed through several well marked steps. In 1581, the first cossack band crossed the Ural mountains. This detachment was under the leadership of Yermak who was commissioned by the Strogonov family to open up this area for fur trading. In 1583, they captured a small Tatar town located in the eastern side of Urals. This town was named Sibir. After the fall of Sibir, Russians met with very little resistance in the Eastern World in their sweep to the Pacific, which took place in the short span of time of approximately 60 years.
Explorers following the routes of the first expeditions to Siberia continued to exercise control over the area through the establishment of forts and trading ports. At the initial stage of exploration, this was done to facilitate the collection of furs from native hunters.
The 18th century witnessed the flow of settlers into Siberia who laid out town with forts, churches and rows of little huts. In the 18th century, many of the fur trading centers gave way to agricultural settlements and many new villages were established to accommodate the influx of Russian farmers. Farms grew in number after the construction of the Moscow track (a road cut through the wilderness east to west) had been completed.
The coming of the Trans-Siberian Railway in the 1890’s initiated urbanization. Wherever the railway crossed a river a new town was established. The river rail towns grew and soon surpassed the old regional centres that lay to the north of the main rail line.
As time passed, the life of settlers was pleasantly modified. One can not underestimate the amalgamation of people in those days. Mostly there was Russian blood, but with a continuing infusion of Swedish, Polish and German. Like other important commercial centers of Siberia, Irkutsk was multi-national in the past. The history of this city is fascinating.

[KLange]

Originally posted by Ragnvald
I think, first step in Russia's eastward expansion was taking Kazan by Ivan the Terrible. Was it 16th century?
It was like opening the gate. But probably nobody went through it before Peter the Great (18th century), when Peter started to build military and fleet and needed a lot of metal. From that time Urals is centre of Russia's heavy industry.
That's probably it about Russia's expansion to the East as a state business. The rest was done mainly by Cossaks.
Her is about how Russians crossed Urals:
"Russian conquest of Siberia began with the expedition of the Cossack YERMAK TIMOFEYEVICH in 1581-82 and continued through the 17th century. Siberian furs and, after 1700, minerals became a major source of wealth for the Russian Empire. From the early 17th century Siberia was also used as a penal colony for criminals and political prisoners.

Exploration and settlement began seriously in the 17th century. There had been, of course, earlier attempts, dating back to the 11th century but they were incidental by nature. From the early beginning, settlers established trading centers here.
The period of exploration passed through several well marked steps. In 1581, the first cossack band crossed the Ural mountains. This detachment was under the leadership of Yermak who was commissioned by the Strogonov family to open up this area for fur trading. In 1583, they captured a small Tatar town located in the eastern side of Urals. This town was named Sibir. After the fall of Sibir, Russians met with very little resistance in the Eastern World in their sweep to the Pacific, which took place in the short span of time of approximately 60 years.
Explorers following the routes of the first expeditions to Siberia continued to exercise control over the area through the establishment of forts and trading ports. At the initial stage of exploration, this was done to facilitate the collection of furs from native hunters.
The 18th century witnessed the flow of settlers into Siberia who laid out town with forts, churches and rows of little huts. In the 18th century, many of the fur trading centers gave way to agricultural settlements and many new villages were established to accommodate the influx of Russian farmers. Farms grew in number after the construction of the Moscow track (a road cut through the wilderness east to west) had been completed.
The coming of the Trans-Siberian Railway in the 1890’s initiated urbanization. Wherever the railway crossed a river a new town was established. The river rail towns grew and soon surpassed the old regional centres that lay to the north of the main rail line.
As time passed, the life of settlers was pleasantly modified. One can not underestimate the amalgamation of people in those days. Mostly there was Russian blood, but with a continuing infusion of Swedish, Polish and German. Like other important commercial centers of Siberia, Irkutsk was multi-national in the past. The history of this city is fascinating.

Thanks Rangvald, that's exactly what I was looking for. By the way, I meant eastward expansion. I just accendentally mixed up the terms. Ah well, no one's perfect. By the way, I heard that a lot of the Russian settlers in Udmurtia came from the Novgorod Regions. Was that true, and if so, were they the only ones?

[Danger-boy]

The first colonization of the northern forests was done by Novgorod. They colonized much of the region, including Viatka and Perm regions, all the way to, and even beyond, the Urals. This was carried out in the 11th-13th centuries. After Kazan, Moscow organized a cossack expedition into western siberia in the 16th century, opening up the rest of Siberia for Russian colonization.

[KLange]

Originally posted by Danger-boy
The first colonization of the northern forests was done by Novgorod. They colonized much of the region, including Viatka and Perm regions, all the way to, and even beyond, the Urals. This was carried out in the 11th-13th centuries. After Kazan, Moscow organized a cossack expedition into western siberia in the 16th century, opening up the rest of Siberia for Russian colonization.

Thanks, Danger Boy, but were Novgorod colonists the only ones who settled Viatka and Perm areas? I've heard about Moscow's Cossack expedtion east of the Urals, but was that before or after they conquered the Khanate of Sibir?