Story Highlights
- Historical event:
- 16 June 1671
- Cossack Stenka Razin belonged to the so-called Don Cossacks, who were used as a specific military force by the Russian emperors. He invaded Persia and even Turkmen areas east of the Caspian Sea.
On this day Cossack leader Stenka Razin was executed.
Razin led a very unusual life, during which he led a number of gangs that plundered even across distant Persia (Iran).
Razin belonged to the so-called Don Cossacks, used as a specific military force by the Russian emperors. He was born on the banks of the Volga River.
Since the Volga flows into the Caspian Sea, the Cossacks were able to use that waterway to reach all the way to the north of Persia (Iran) aboard their ships.
Namely, it is interesting that northern Iran is today a part of the shoreline of the Caspian Sea (the largest lake in the world). Indeed, the current capital of Iran – Tehran – is only about 80 km away from the shore of the lake.
On their ventures, Razin’s Cossacks occupied the city of Baku (today the capital of Azerbaijan), which is on the coast of the Caspian Sea.
In Iran, Razin journeyed all the way to Isfahan in an effort to get land from the Shah of Iran in exchange for obedience. He did not succeed, so the Cossacks continued to pillage. They raided even Turkmen areas east of the Caspian Sea.
Eventually, Razin became overconfident and led the attack on the Russian Empire itself. He planned to conquer the areas along the Volga to the north, towards Moscow.
However, he was captured and, on this day, executed by quartering at a square in Moscow.
