224 years ago, the national hero of the Bashkir people, batyr Salavat Yulaev, died in the Rogervik fortress (Paldiski, Estonia), serving a life-long prison term.
Salavat Yulaev was an educated, brave young man who observed the traditions of his people. He knew the Koran by heart, and the people called him hafiz for this. He was a physically strong man and bore the title of batyr (brave warrior). He was gifted with poetic talent and wrote beautiful poems. He spoke Arabic, and Russian, and could write in Turkic.
Having a fiery heart and love for his land, Salavat Yulaev understood that the uprising of Yemelyan Pugachev was a chance for the Bashkirs to break away from the Russian Empire forever and gain independence.
Commanding several thousand Bashkir warriors, he captured the Simsky and Kataysky factories, the Krasnoufimsk fortress, Sarapul, Kungur and many other Russian settlements. When capturing Russian settlements, he usually offered those who wanted to join the army of Yemelyan Pugachev, and those who did not want to, forced them to leave the Bashkir lands. He burned the settlement, fortress or factory itself. All the leaders of the Bashkir military units did this.
Thus, after the Pugachev uprising, there were practically no Russian villages left on the Bashkir lands.
Salavat Yulaev was the only one who did not accept the condition of Empress Catherine II to lay down arms and confess. For this, he was exiled to hard labor with his father.
For Salavat Yulaev’s disobedience, the tsar’s punishers burned not only his native village but also six other nearby villages of his relatives. It was forbidden to mention the name of Salavat Yulaev, it was forbidden to name his sons after him.
But the memory of the people is stronger.
Today, Salavat Yulaev is officially a national hero of the Bashkir people, his monument proudly rises above the Agidel River, and thousands of Bashkirs bear his name.
Salavat Yulaev’s cause lives on in the Bashkir people!
Ruslan Gabbasov
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