Yermak organised a military expedition towards the upper regions of
Irtish River in order to recover the supply of food and to subdue some of Tatar tribes
that could not be overwhelmed under submission. Tatars showed a severe resistance in the
downstream of Irtish River. However, they were obliged to run away ahead of Kazaks. The
tribes in this region had been submissive to Küçüm Khan. Yermak tried to capture a
castle named as "Kullar" located in the west of Irtish River; but he could not
achieve any success. Therefore he followed the Irtish River and started to climb upwards.
After a while, they obtained the news about "the approach of a merchant caravan from
Bokhara".
Yermak decided to
despoil this caravan. To this effect, he swiftly started to advance along Vagay River that
flowed into Irtish River. However, they could not encounter the relevant caravan. Since
Kazakhs were so tired and exhausted, they decided to spend the night in a place called
as"Atbaş" and they landed on the small isle there. Yermak and his Kazaks were
chased by Küçüm Khan with great attention and care that were in a place near to them.
Upon the nightfall when the Kazakhs fell asleep in deep dreams, the soldiers of Küçüm
Khan made a sudden attack over Kazakhs and they put all the Kazaks to the sword excluding
one Kazakh. Yermak was among those who were killed. This incident took place on the date
of 5th/6th August 1584. The Russian historians did not want to believe in the slaying of
Yermak by Küçüm Khan. Therefore, they considered that "he jumped into Irtish River
in order to get on the boat, However, he was killed by Tatars in the course of the raid
since he had worn the fur given as a present by the Tsar. According to the more serious
investigations, the Sibir conqueror, Yermak Timofeyeviç was killed by the fellows of Küçüm
Khan. Küçüm Khan who was the hero defender of Sibir had taken his revenge upon this
raid.
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