Chyorny Yar

Chyorny Yar, the “Black Bank,” was a fortified Russian settlement on the lower Volga, between Tsaritsyn and Astrakhan. Founded in 1627 by officers sent from Moscow, it guarded river traffic through the steppe. Its wooden and earthen defenses were rebuilt and strengthened as the riverbank and the demands of war altered the site.

During Stenka Razin's revolt in 1670 the fortress garrison joined the rebels and turned its guns against the tsar's army. It again changed allegiance during the Astrakhan revolt of 1705–1706, withstanding a siege by Kalmyk forces loyal to the tsar. Farther north, near the Solenikova fishing station, government troops defeated Yemelyan Pugachev's army in August 1774. The fortress had witnessed the Volga route's importance to rebels as well as to merchants and officials.