Bratsk outposts ("ostrozhki") from the Ilim river estuary to Oka river estuary (documentary sources on Bratsk outposts construction in 1627-1631)

Purpose. There is some misunderstanding in scientific literature concerning the fortified places built by Yeniseisk service people in 1627-1631 that had the name «Bratsk ostrozhki», including who they were built by and at what time. Their geographical location is very important as well, because this information is crucial for archaeological excavations devoted to the spread of Russian influence in Siberia in the first half of the 17th century. Russian archaeology has been actively developing this issue recently, and the present article is aimed at clarifying the location, the origin and the chronological periods involved. Results. Analysis of the scientific literature shows that on the banks of the Angara River in the area from the mouth of the Ilim River to the mouth of the Oka river at least four outposts were built known as «Bratsk ostrozhki» in documentary sources. We analyzed the explanatory letters of service people, official letters («otpiska») of the Eniseysk voivodes (a military governors) to Moscow and Tobolsk, сertificates to the Office of the Kazan Palace and other documents available in order to reconstruct the chain of events. The first «Bratsk» outpost mentioned in the sources was built in the autumn of 1627 by a detachment of a Yenisei ataman M. Perfiryev sent to Buryatia by voivode A. Oshanin. It was built under the first Bratsk rapids named «Shamansky porog». This outpost was a two-day journey above the mouth of the river Ilim. In this outpost, ataman Perfiryev’s detachment spent the winter of 1627/1628. The second «Bratsk» outpost was built by a Yenisei centurion P. Beketov in the early spring of 1629 on the orders of another Yenisei voivoda V. Argamakov. Some sources and articles name it as «Ilimsky» as it was built at the mouth of the river Ilim. The purpose of constructing the outpost was to prevent the J. Khripunov’s detachment from collecting tribute («yasak») instead of silver from the territories where the tribute had already been collected. In the late summer of 1630 the Perfiryev’s detachment builds a temporary outpost in the Bratsk rap ids area to restore the relationship with the Buryats broken in the previous year due to different tribute collectors. Service people had a task to build a stronghold where a small garrison could stay permanently. The location of the outpost could be either the place of the 1627 outpost under the «Shamanskiy» rapids previously burnt by the Buryats, or the place of the 1629 summer camp of the J. Khripunov’s detachment located five-day journey above the «Shamanskiy» rapids. In the early spring of 1631, the Perfiryev’s detachment built one more Bratsk outpost under the «Padun» rapids, which remained an important stronghold of the Yeniseisk administration on the Middle Angara in the years to come. Conclusion. The very construction of these outposts demonstrates how serious the contradictions between the Russian service people and the locals were. Besides, there was a certain contradiction between the service people subordinated to different administrative units. It is obvious that the small groups of people which came to the remote areas to collect furs had to build some temporary housing, but not all of them were important and could become outposts. The unimportant constructions were not mentioned in the sources while the outposts described played an important role in stabilizing relations with the locals and ensured a certain increase in the tributes collected. The information on their location and number reconstructs the history of the areas in the middle of the Angara basin joining Russia and facilitates archaeological work in the area.