Yakut Prince Mazary Bozekov in historiography: the experience of biographical reconstruction

Borisov Andrian Afanas'evich Doctor of History Chief Researcher, IGIiPMNS SB RAS 677000, Russia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Yakutsk, Petrovsky str., 1, office 409 a_a_borisov@mail.ru

Historiography is an auxiliary historical discipline that requires special attention to its subject, especially when it comes to the study of works devoted to historical figures, and especially those related to representatives of government at different levels. The further away the time when they lived is from our days, the more conventions and research requirements arise. In particular, the XVII century, in which the Yakut prince Mazary Bozekov lived (1633-1703), was characterized by the richness and dynamism of events that had an epochal impact on the course of national history (Turmoil, wars with Poland, Sweden, the Turkish Empire, the Split, the adoption of the "Council Code of 1649", peasant and urban uprisings, the promotion of Siberia, etc.). In the person of Mazara Bozekov, they see the first representative of the Yakut elite who entered into direct relations with the highest authorities and thanks to whom important state decisions were made on the management of Yakutia.

About the Yakut prince Mazara Bozekov, a bright historical figure from the history of Yakutia of the XVII - early XVIII century. there has not yet been a detailed scientific biographical study, except for some local history and popular scientific works (Berezkin I.G. In the footsteps of our ancestors and contemporaries. Yakutsk: Publishing House, 1981. pp.73-78 (in Yakut). The work was republished in Russian in 1987; Yakovlev E.L. Khangalastsy from century to century. Yakutsk, 2000. pp.84-87; Borisov A.A. Mazary Bozekov // Legendary and historical figures of Sakha. Yakutsk: Bichik, 2005. pp.32-35; The same. Mazary Bozekov // Leaders of Yakutia. Yakutsk: Bichik, 2012. pp.20-23). Unfortunately, due to the fact that most of the works dealing with the biography of the prince in one way or another were published under the influence of the ideological class attitudes of Soviet historiography, many stereotypical definitions about him migrated to those popularizing publications^[1]. To a certain extent, we did not avoid them in our early scientific research on other subjects, but where we indirectly attracted some information about Mazary Bozekov ^{[3; 4]}. We are talking about such cliches as the representation of the Kangalas prince as a feudal lord, an exploiter of the working people, an accomplice of tsarism, etc. In view of all this, it seems that it is long overdue to try to reconsider the problem in the light of modern scientific achievements, as well as to put it differently, more objectively. Moreover, the object of study deserves a similar approach to his person. This is seen as the relevance of the appeal to the historiography of the personality of Mazara Bozekov.

As modern historiographical research shows, the attitude towards historiography itself requires a revision and a more respectful attitude towards it as a self-sufficient historical discipline, although it is of an auxiliary nature. It is proposed, for example, to select quotations more carefully to illustrate the author's approach and style to the topic under study ^[8]. In relation to the history of the century in which the Yakut prince lived, there is an intensive historiographical analysis of the main trends ^[11]. Stating the exhaustion of the Marxist methodological approach, attention is drawn to the shift in emphasis from the study of the "basis" to the study of the "superstructure", in particular, to the history of personality ^{[11, p.270]}. Thus, in relation to the historiography of the personality of Mazara Bozekov, there is an urgent need to address this issue taking into account modern theoretical and methodological requirements.

The purpose of this study is to examine the history of studying the biography of the Yakut Prince Mazara Bozekov with an analysis of the nature of the ideas that have developed over a century period, about his personality and activities under the influence of the historical context.

1. Political actualization of the personality of the Yakut toyon. The historical significance of the personality of the Yakut toyon (from Yakut. ‘sir, the boss, i.e. a representative of the nobility, the elite) expressed itself in the formation of a vivid folklore image, there was a certain degree of its cyclization. This was recorded by early Yakut researchers, starting with G.V. Ksenofontov (1888-1938), the first ethnographer from the Yakuts, a major national socio-political figure. Being a well-known lawyer, and as a member of the Federalist Party, the leader of the national intelligentsia, he was in the thick of things, traveled a lot, communicated with the people. He constantly kept records of folk customs and folklore, especially actively in the 1920s and early 1930s, including collecting information about such important historical figures as Mazars Bozekov. These materials were prepared by him in the form of a collection of legends and legends "Elleiada", but were published much later ^{[12, 62-63, 74-76, 80-81, 96-97]}.

These folklore materials were updated in connection with the emergence of the Yakut national movement at the beginning of the 20th century and, even more broadly, with the revolutionary movement against autocracy. It is no coincidence that a Polish political exile, a member of the Land and Freedom society, who involuntarily found himself in Yakutia, L.G. Leventhal (1856-1910) indirectly mentioned in his work on the fiscal system in Yakutia of the XVIII - XIX centuries. the trip of the Yakut toyons in 1677, authorized by a royal decree. At the same time, he tried to link the deputation with the last Yakut uprising during the change of the voivodeship of Andrei Barneshlev by Ivan Priklonsky. He made a reference to private papers that spoke of permission to send 2-3 princelings with one "best" person with an interpreter ^{[13, p.244]}. The struggle against the tsarist government was the political slogan of all opposition forces. Thus, another representative of the Yakut national movement, the first Yakut historian G.A. Popov (1887-1942) found its origins in the activities of the Yakut princes of the XVII century ^{[20, p.73; 20, p.29, 62-63]}. In the interests of the emerging national consciousness, it was necessary to look for significant historical figures of the leaders of the Yakut people.

In his unpublished works, G.V. Ksenofontov asserted the idea of the monarchical orders that existed in the past among the Yakuts, that the Kangalass prince Tynin (folklore name Tygyn) was the last feudal ruler who transferred his supreme power over the Yakut people to the Russian tsar^[2]. It is difficult to agree with this thesis of the scientist due to insufficient validity, and his reference to the petition of Tygynov, Mazara's grandson in 1680, looks unconvincing.

G.A. Popov's works were published many years later due to the repressions to which the author was subjected in the 1930s. During the scientist's lifetime, they were not fully ready for publication, and, in addition, they bear traces of the influence of the era. G.A. Popov addressed the topic of the trip of the Yakut princes to Moscow in a special chapter "Toyonatstvo in the service of the great sovereign" in the book "The National Movement of the Yakuts before the February Revolution of 1917". The title of the chapter and the title of the work speaks for itself. The author belonged to the liberal national intelligentsia of Yakutia, and this is how his opposition to the overthrown tsarist regime was expressed. In his opinion, Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich himself summoned three "noble princes and their best people" to Moscow, but for some reason dated this call to 1678. Further, the historian noted that the issue of sending princes to Moscow was raised under voivode Barnyshev (actually Barneshlev). With reference to the published documents, G.A. Popov mentioned the obstacles caused by the governor to the trip of the Yakut princes through the shaman worship ^{[20, p.73; 21, p.29]}.

The scientist was perhaps the first in historiography to write about how on December 25, 1676, the princes of Mazara, Nocto, Track with six of their people "hit the forehead" of the Russian tsar with three forty sables and three black-browed foxes. Mentioning Nocto's death on January 8, 1677 in Moscow, he did not explain the cause of his death. At the same time, both trips seem to merge into one. There is no assessment of the reasons and results of the trip. Only the facts of the Yakuts' appeal with a request for the addition of yasak from the dead, offerings from the princes to the Russian tsar, the sale of furs for goods, as well as the fact that Mazars, according to the royal decree given by I.V. Priklonsky in 1680, should have been called "prince". Departure from Moscow is dated February 1680 ^{[21, pp.29, 62-63]}.

The scientist's conclusion is more than contradictory. "Here we already see Yakut toyons, allies of the Russian government, who, together with the Cossacks, conquered and subdued the "non-peaceful" and "traitors" of their relatives. Thus, the children of active rebels and fighters for national independence entered the service of the Russian state power," he wrote ^{[21, p.29]}. The author does not explain the process. There is an element of a class approach here, which blames the Yakut toyons-feudal lords for betrayal towards the working masses of the people. In addition, there is no need to talk about any struggle for national independence at the time being studied.

Both Yakut researchers G.V. Ksenofontov and G.A. Popov considered Mazars to be a representative of the Yakut feudal elite, which was obviously in the spirit of the times. The class-based scientific approach prevailed, it penetrated into most of the works of historians. The question of the feudal character of the Yakut society has already caused many doubts in Soviet historiography.

2. The data of the first archaeological excavations and their modern interpretation. In addition, G.V. Ksenofontov, together with M.I. Kovynin, conducted excavations of the burial of Mazara Bozekov in the village of Tuekey Byraana in 1933. Unfortunately, they were unable to publish these materials^[3]. This was done later, by local historians, first by I.G. Berezkin (Berezkin I.G. In the footsteps of our ancestors and contemporaries. Yakutsk: Publishing House, 1981. pp.73-78 (in Yakut)), and then by P.V. Vinokurov (Vinokurov P.V. Expedition on a bull cart // Ilin. 1999. ¹3-4). Nevertheless, the excavated materials were exhibited in the Museum of Local Lore, and G.V. Ksenofontov himself and the artist M.M. Nosov, impressed by their expressiveness, sketched some of them: a quiver with arrows, shoes, etc. ^{[15; 16]}. The wealth of the recovered inventory proved the importance of the person buried under an impressive tombstone structure - a wooden princely mausoleum. At that time, the local residents, the Khangalass Yakuts, still knew this building, and after the research, the historical person of Mazara Bozekov became the property of the scientific and cultural community.

Already today, Yakut archaeologists and ethnographers R.I. Bravina and V.V. Popov have summarized the materials from the burial of Mazara Bozekov, studied in 1933, showed their condition and what scientific interpretation they received. The generalized description is placed in the "Catalog of soil burials" under number 13. When compared with many other burials in several parameters, the tomb of the Khangalass prince clearly stands out 1) for its size, richness of inventory: 2) elegant shoes - sary eterbes; 3) a ring with an insert of colored stone with figured carvings; 4) an iron cauldron; a large number of arrows in a quiver (18 pcs.); 5) a silver circle of tuosakhta laid separately ^{[5, p.38-39, 115-117, 119, 123-129, 140-141, 220-221]}. This study, conducted in comparison with many identified Yakut burials, allows us to present the scale of the personality and political status of the buried prince on the basis of specific objects. The materials of the excavations have not been used in historiography for a long time, due to class hostility to the personality of the Yakut toyon, unreasonably elevated to the rank of "feudal lord".

3. Canonical views of Soviet historiography on the personality of Mazara Bozekov.

A major Soviet historian, Professor S.A. Tokarev (1899 - 1981), somewhat later than G.V. Ksenofontov and G.A. Popov, turned to the personality and activities of Mazara Bozekov ^{[25; 26]}, but it is to him that we owe much of the formation of the stereotypical image of the famous Yakut toyon. Thus, the scientist considered him "a zealous servant of the tsar, who enjoyed great authority among the Russian administration" ^{[26, p.87]}, and the trips of the Yakut princes of 1676-1680 to Moscow were called "direct harassment" ^{[25, p.314]}.

The visits of representatives of the Yakut nobility were in the spotlight. In particular, the following was reported about the first trip in 1676-1677.

First of all, a letter of petition was dismantled on January 3, 1677 addressed to the tsar, submitted by the Yakut princes to the Siberian Order, which spoke not only about complaints about the harassment of the voivodes Yakov Volkonsky and Andrei Barneshlev, but also contained political demands: the transfer of "small" court cases into the hands of the princes "without any red tape", their release from yasak, the collection of yasak should be transferred into the hands of the "parish yasak springs" "dressed up" by them ^{[25, pp.314-315; 26, pp.84-85]}.

The royal decree of February 9, 1677 on the involvement of princes in the examination of court cases was dismantled ^{[25, pp.314-315; 26, pp.84-85]}. In collaboration with his senior colleague, a major Soviet scientist, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Professor S.V. Bakhrushin (1882-1950), a conclusion was made about the development of feudal relations among the Yakuts, and the royal charter of 1678 on the joint court of princes with yasach collectors is interpreted somewhat differently. Some expansion of the judicial rights of toyonov was noted [Yakutia in the XVII century (essays) / S.V. Bakhrushin, S.A. Tokarev. Yakutsk, 1953. pp.418-419]. A prominent Yakut historian, Professor G.P. Basharin (1912 - 1992) believed that this was how the Yakut toyons achieved "participation in the legal protection of cattle ownership" ^{[1, p.153]}. In continuation of the thesis of his teacher, Professor G.P. Basharin, another Yakut historian, Professor V.N. Ivanov (1935-2021) reasonably noted that the demand of three toyons in Moscow "to be their judges over the springs" in 1677 suggests that they wanted to regain the judicial power they had lost ^{[6, p.265]}.

S.A. Tokarev also wrote about some details of the 1676 trip, in particular, about the "feed salary" for the road for 4 months, about receiving benefits from the tsar, but which are not explained ^{[26, pp. 88, 138]}.

He considered the second trip in 1679 to be commercial, since the princes sold 34 forty-32 sables for 1.5 thousand rubles. As S.A. Tokarev wrote, in his petition to the tsar in 1680, the prince called himself Mazarechka Tygin ^{[26, pp.88, 138]}. Here, for the first time in historiography, attention is drawn to this fact, which testified to the great authority and influence of the legendary grandfather Mazara - Tygyn.

Later, in that joint work with S.V. Bakhrushin, S.A. Tokarev again mentioned the naming of Mazara not by Bozekov, but by Tygynin, but at the same time also gave a reference to the mention of his grandfather, who voluntarily paid yasak and brought amanats ^{[29, p.145]}. The latter fact does not receive its explanation, or is interpreted as additional evidence of the class alliance between tsarism and the Yakut toyons.

V.N. Ivanov also wrote about the acquisition by Toyons of the official title of the ulus prince as a result of the petitions of 1679-1680. Chuki Kapchinov, Chugun Bodoev and Mazara Bozekov. The latter listed the merits of his grandfather, uncle and his own. The document on the assignment of such a title to Mazara due to a defect was not copied by the scribe G.F. Miller ^{[6, pp.354-355]}. The last observation shows an increasing interest in the topic under consideration.

S.V. Bakhrushin and S.A. Tokarev first wrote about Mazara Bozekov's obtaining in 1680 the rights to find and send criminals to Yakutsk, as well as send their springs to sable crafts on horseback ^{[29, pp.418-419]}. These functions were interpreted in the spirit of the times as granting toyons police and administrative rights by the feudal-serf state.

It is symptomatic that the authors of the second volume of the academic "History of the Yakut ASSR", with reference to the works of S.A. Tokarev, simply repeated the information already known in the historiography of that time about the circumstances of both Toyonov's trips to Moscow in 1676-1677 and 1679-1680, again noting their limited narrow class character ^{[10, pp.82-83]}.

Yakut jurist M.M. Fedorov (1920 - 2007) concisely, with references to his predecessors, repeated the facts of submitting petitions by a deputation of toyons in 1677 and 1680 and issuing royal decrees and granting them judicial functions, as well as assigning them the title of ulus princes ^{[28, pp.104-106]}. Later, in the collection of documents "Monuments of the Law of Sakha (Yakutia)", when publishing fragments of the petition of Princes dated January 3, 1677, extracts from the decree of February 9, 1677 and from the "memory" of voivode I.P. Priklonsky, he made a comment on them. In it, he stressed that the granting of judicial and police functions to the princes coincided with the fiscal interests of the tsarist government ^{[17, pp. 5-9]}.

S.A. Tokarev, the only researcher, albeit fragmentally, provides some facts about the early period of Mazara's life, for example, about court cases in which he acted as a plaintiff or witness ^{[25, pp.66, 130; 29, pp.101, 162]}. It is unnecessary to write how important information about the time of formation of the historical personality under study is. Another thing is that the researchers did not set out to write a complete biography of the Yakut prince.

In addition, the scientist managed to highlight some facts about his activities in the 1680s-1690s. The scientist mentions the lawsuit of the Borogon prince Chuka Kapchinov 1685-1686. about the theft of his horse, it is said that she walked in the Kangalasskaya parish with the horses of Mazara Bozekov and about two lawsuits of the Kangalassk prince himself 1692-1693 ^{[26, pp.118, 185, 211]}. However, these facts, as well as earlier ones, were interpreted as ordinary cases from the judicial practice of the Yakut voivodeship administration, which carried out the serfdom colonization policy of the tsarist government in the region.

A representative of the younger generation of Soviet historians, V.N. Ivanov, covering the activities of Mazara Bozekov after his Moscow trips, commented on the petition of 1685 by the princes Mazara Bozekov, Chugun Bodoev, Bukey Nikin and Chuka Kapchinov, as a result of which the judicial rights of toyons were again expanded by granting them the right to judge "old cases" up to 20 years old and more and serving people were forbidden to judge them ^{[6, p.356]}. Thus, he continued to develop his thesis on the return of judicial and administrative rights lost by the Yakut toyons as a result of the annexation of Yakutia to the Russian state in their uluses.

In the works of S.A. Tokarev, the research field is noticeably expanded. S.A. Tokarev for the first time gave the full text of a letter from Kangalassky Yakut Syupsyuk Tevelgin to Mazara Bozekov in 1690 with a request for protection from Vilyui yasach collectors, which he returned without a response. The historian noted that this is the very first known letter of this kind ^{[25, p.298]}. This episode was repeated in the academic "History of the Yakut ASSR" and, again, with emphasis on the class character of the Yakut toyon, who ignored the request of his subordinate ulus man ^{[10, p.83]}. Unfortunately, at the time when S.A. Tokarev worked in the funds of the archive of the LOII of the USSR Academy of Sciences (now the NIA SPBI RAS), the archival materials considered had not yet been fully archaeographically described and the researcher made a reference without specifying the number of the storage unit.

Valuable is the material discovered by S.A. Tokarev about Mazara Bozekov's campaign against the Indigir Lamuts together with Chuka Kapchinov in 1693 at the head of a detachment of 28 people together with the Cossacks, where they repelled the attack and achieved surrender through negotiations ^{[25, p.292; 26, p.102]}. The fact is presented as evidence of the zealous service of the Yakut Toyons to their class allies - the tsar and his voivodes.

In a joint monograph by S.V. Bakhrushin and S.A. Tokarev, new facts related to the activities of the Kangalassky prince were introduced into the research field. Thus, as evidence of the increased influence of the Kangalas prince, the fact of 1697 is given, when the Tunguses ranked among the Upper Vilyui winter quarters migrated and lived with Mazara Bozekov "in Kangalas" ^{[29, p.214]}. The work in question also refers to the petition of Mazara in 1682, where he reports that Baltuga and his brother, who were bailed out to him, do not live quietly ^{[29, p.302]}. Recall that we are talking about the Yarkan (Zharkhan) Yakut Baltug Timireev, who spoke out in the mid-1670s against the arbitrariness of the yasach collectors, who was defeated and captured by the military men sent by the governor.

The facts considered from the activities of Mazara Bozekov in the 1680s - 1690s are mostly of a private nature and it is difficult to link them into the general fabric of reconstruction in his biography. In any case, the researchers interpreted them in line with the concept of the colonial policy of tsarism and the increased exploitation of the population of Yakutia by the feudal-serf state.

Meanwhile, in the light of modern trends in the development of historiography, the solution of the problem in the context of the national policy of the Russian state in the peoples and regions annexed to it at different times looks promising ^[14].

4. Revitalization of the folklore image and prospects for further research

As a representative of the ulus elite of Mazara, Bozekov occupied a prominent place in the folklore memory of the people. This was noted at the end of the XIX century by some authors, in particular, the above-mentioned L.G. Leventhal. At the same time, the "Genealogy of the Kangalassky ulus" was recorded, which says that the Khangalassky prince was presented to Emperor Peter I. Yakut scholars of the early 20th century knew about it, but it was published much later. This was done by the Yakut folklorist S.I. Dyachkovsky-Bolo (1905 - 1938) ^[2]. In the 1920s, it should be recalled that G.V. Ksenofontov was active, who recorded a large number of legends about Masary.

 Also, another Yakut historian and public figure G.A. Popov, in a short article published for the first time in 1921, wrote that the Namsky Yakut I.I. Petrov kept an ancient manuscript written in an "ancient handwriting" about the summoning by the Russian tsar Alexei Mikhailovich of three Yakuts, among whom was the ancestor of that Yakut Nikon Nohto. Since the manuscript was lost, the contents of the text were restored with the help of the writer G. Chernykh. Those Yakuts were called Nokhto from Namsky, Khara-Bytyk-Masary from Kangalassky and Tiryan Orsokhov from Meginsky uluses. Since the Namsky Yakut is the main character, the following points are highlighted: when asking the tsar, his answers differed from those of his companions, the episode with the silver ladle, consent to be baptized, the death of the Namsky deputy, the theft of royal letters and gifts and compensation for them ^{[19, pp.37-38]}.

Information about the wise answers to the tsar and the rivalry between the Yakut princes participating in memorable trips got into scientific circulation. The interest in the personality of Mazara was great and the compilers of the collection "Historical legends and stories of the Yakuts", published in 1960 under the editorship of G.U. Ergis, found it necessary to include new folklore material about him. The first one is about the prudent Baai Masara, Tygin's son, who quarreled with Duoga Bootur over an accidentally killed horse. He proposed to resolve the dispute peacefully by taking a moderate ransom of four horses, since different people may come from the upper reaches of the Vilyui, with whom they may have to fight, and then the people of Duog Bootur could help ^{[9, pp.261-265, 299]}.

In the legend "Dyalagai Kiileen visits ysyakh Mazars" it is said how on the ysyakh of the Khangalass toyon, on the occasion of a safe return from a trip to Moscow, the Vilyui strongman Dyalagai Kiileen defeated the son-in-law of the owner and managed to escape from the chase sent by the latter ^{[30, pp.83-84]}. The publication in 1977 of the forgotten and considered lost folklore collection "Elleada" by G.V. Ksenofontov was not accidental ^[12,]. It includes seven samples of legends and legends about Masary, as well as a version of the "Genealogy of the Kangalassky ulus, compiled according to the verbal traditions of the Yakut elders on March 10, 1896." The compiler noted that this is "An ancient manuscript. It is not known by whom it was compiled. It belonged to the yakut of the Satinsky nasleg of the West Kanglas ulus, Platon Sleptsov. Gavriil Afanasyev, Yakut of the Bestyakhsky nasleg, received from him" ^{[12, pp.45-46]}.

In this regard, it should be noted that after the 1930s, folklore information was not in demand in historical research for a long time. The exception was made by some local history works (I.G. Berezkin), although folklorists (G.U. Ergis) published separate historical legends about Mazars. Meanwhile, the research potential of the historical folklore of the Yakuts remains fully untapped.

5. New aspects in the study of the topic

As the historiographical review shows, there are no special scientific works devoted to the biography of Mazara Bozekov, with the exception of some popular scientific articles. Assessments of his personality in many ways still remain at the level of achievements in the middle of the last century. The idea of him as a large feudal toyon who dominated in his parish, who, thanks to cunning, persistent "harassment" and a sense of solidarity with representatives of the feudal class of the Russian state, managed to achieve some weakening of the yasach regime and, above all, privileges for himself and other Yakut toyons, persists. Therefore, nowadays it is imperative to look for new aspects on new theoretical and methodological grounds.

In post-Soviet historiography, our first monograph mentions some previously known information about Mazary in order to strengthen the author's argument about the strength of Tygyn's political power ^[3]. In addition to those two of our popular science works mentioned at the beginning of the article, I managed to pay some attention to the personality of the prince in the monograph in the context of a traditional personality in the changing conditions of society's transition to a new time ^[4]. It seems that in those of our works, the use of historical folklore of the Yakuts has already given good results.

One of V.N. Ivanov's recent works on representatives of the Yakut people, participants in a trip to Moscow in 1676, is notable for its novelty.^[7] The author sought to overcome previous stereotypes of an ideological nature on the ways of recognizing them as ethnic leaders of his people. Also noteworthy are the author's theses on the peculiarities of the state policy of the tsarist government, which sought dialogue with its subjects who inhabited one of the separated outskirts of a large country.

As it seems to us, the king's summoning of Yakut toyons to the capital was not accidental. Paying tribute to the personality of Fyodor Alekseevich, who ruled for only six years, nevertheless remained in the history of Russia as a young enlightened sovereign, we will point out the peculiarities of state policy towards the nomadic peoples annexed at that time. There was an active process of their integration into the state. By the time of the study, various groups of Tatars from the Volga region to Siberia were already noticeably associated within the Eurasian state as peasant and service categories of the population. Representatives of the highest Tatar nobility joined the ranks of the first-class aristocracy of the Russian state. The middle and lower groups of the Tatar nobility occupied their niche in the thick of the emerging Russian nobility.

Similar processes took place among the Bashkirs, but with some differences. Finally, in the first half of the XVII century, numerous Kalmyk uluses migrated to the Volga region. Their Taishi and khans began to become subjects of the Russian tsar. Like all the peoples before them who had joined the Russian state, they gave the oath of allegiance to the latter.

So in the year of the arrival of the Yakut princes, similar events took place. So, on January 15, 1677, Ayuka Khan brought the second coat to Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich ^[24]. The Yakut toyons visited the high reception a little earlier on January 3 of the same year. It is obvious that the visit of the Yakut princes to the capital and the activities of Mazara Bozekov during this period should be considered in a broader all-Russian political aspect.

Conclusion

Thus, the historiographical analysis carried out in this article shows that there were no special scientific publications devoted to the personality of the Yakut Prince Mazara Bozekov, with the exception of some articles of a popular scientific nature.

Researchers, mainly from the Soviet period, used stories related to the activities of Mazara Bozekov in the context of research on other issues. And from the very beginning, they began to give the personality of the Yakut prince a certain ideologized subtext. This, and the idealization of his personality as the forerunner of the Yakut national movement (G.V. Ksenofontov, G.A. Popov), and the definition of his class status as a prominent representative of the Yakut feudal lords, who conspired with the tsar and his voivodes to exploit the working masses.

A similar attitude has appeared on the pages of popular science and local history works, it is also felt in modern publications. Meanwhile, it should be recognized that in the light of modern scientific achievements, and such publications require familiarization with them in the interests of a wide range of readers.

During the historiographical analysis, the successes of researchers who, to one degree or another, turned to the personality of the Yakut prince in identifying information about him in the historical folklore of the Yakuts were revealed. They significantly complement the data of historical documents stored in the archives of Moscow and St. Petersburg. The development of these materials in the archives of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (NIA SPBI RAS) and RGADA began in the earliest period of historiography. The greatest successes were achieved by S.V. Bakhrushin and S.A. Tokarev. The latter managed to introduce into scientific circulation a lot of documents, both on the early and late period in the life of Mazara Bozekov. Most of the documents were revealed about his trips as part of a delegation of Yakut princes to the tsar in 1676-1677 and 1679-1680. The main conclusion, obviously, cannot meet the modern requirements of historiographical science. We are talking about limiting the historical significance of these important actions of representatives of the Yakut elite to personal harassment within the framework of their class interests. Historians of the next generation, G.P. Basharin, M.M. Fedorov, V.N. Ivanov, and others, generally agreed with them.

Meanwhile, modern theoretical and methodological approaches allow us to take a fresh look at the personality of Mazara Bozekov. In particular, this can be seen in the latest work of V.N. Ivanov, in which he introduced new archival materials from the Russian Academy of Sciences into scientific circulation and in which he proposed to consider the Yakut princes who participated in the trips as ethnic leaders. And this is against the background of the historian's thoughtful arguments about the policy of the tsarist government aimed at cooperation with the elites of the peoples annexed to the Russian state in the XVI-XVII centuries.

The study of the problem requires new research not only in terms of finding additional sources, but also in terms of its modern scientific understanding.

^[1] So, at the very beginning of his article, V.I. Pesterev writes that his father, along with his brother Chelly and three other Kangalas "lucky people", was executed by Voivode Golovin in 1642 as the leaders of the suppressed uprising. Again, we note that the circumstances and nature of those events are not so clear in the light of modern research. Therefore, such definitions are rather declarative in nature. This becomes even more definite when the author further writes that then the son of the executed "leader of the uprising" suddenly began to regularly pay yasak, curry favor with the authorities. After a while, he suddenly began to be burdened by the "guardianship of the governor and the Cossacks" and, after consulting with other princes, decided to "see" the tsar.

The name of the Borogon prince, Mazara's co-comrade, is distorted, instead of Chuka Kapchinov, Chuka Kapchikov is written. The "memory" of voivode P.P. Zinoviev is defined as a "memo". In conclusion, it is stated that the second trip made Mazary a notable person not only among toyons, but also among the voivodeship administration. Here we can rather talk about increasing Mazara's authority, because he was a noble person before the trip (V.I. Pesterev Beats your servant Mazarychko Bozekov with his forehead // Pages of the history of Yakutia in documents, legends, myths. Yakutsk, 2000. pp.89-91).

^[2] For our criticism on this issue, see: Borisov A.A. Tygyn: man, legend, symbol // Ilin. 2001. No.3-4. pp.18-21.

^[3] The items themselves are stored in the funds of the Yaroslavsky YAGOMIKNS in Yakutsk. A documentary description of the excavations was deposited in the funds of the RS (Ya). See: F. R-1413. Op.1. D.2; F. R-1407. Op.1. D. 28.