Tara

Tara stands on the Irtysh in the forested country of western Siberia. Founded in 1594 by Prince Andrey Yeletsky on the orders of Tsar Fyodor, it was intended to establish arable farming, secure access to salt and press against Kuchum, the former ruler of the Siberian khanate. The new town became a Russian stronghold upstream from Tobolsk.

In 1722 Tara became the scene of a revolt among Cossacks and peasants. The immediate cause was Peter I’s decree on succession to the throne, which required an oath recognising the sovereign’s right to choose an heir. Resistance to the oath brought severe punishment. The episode revealed the tensions that could persist in a distant Siberian town even after the first generation of conquest and settlement, under the authority of officials appointed by the Russian state.