Shumyachi

Shumyachi lies east of Mstsislaw in the wooded country between the Sozh and Desna basins. It is first recorded in 1587, when the district belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The first partition of the Commonwealth in 1772 transferred Shumyachi to the Russian Empire, and the settlement became part of the lands administered from Mogilev. Its position placed it among the small communities of the eastern frontier of the former Lithuanian lands.