Военно-политическая история Северного Кавказа в европейских исследованиях (XVIII–XX вв.)

52Military and political history of the North Caucasus... First Russian Forts Foundation. From the middle of the XVI c. the Russian front-ranked bases, so-called “state” or even “Sovereign’s” towns were founded in the region. These settlements were founded at the manner, similar to the former style of the Russian “Wild Field” steppes colonization. All of them were built according to straight requests of the Moscow state’s foreign policy, having their main aim – to stop the Crimean’s cavalry movement by the “Ottoman Road”. It seemed, that problems of the further region colonization, didn’t worry the Moscow government that time at all. Anyway, building fortified settlements, and placing armed man so far from its borders, Moscow Tsars sometimes formally violated international agreements with the Persians and Ottomans.The first Russian fortified town in the North Caucasus, called in the historical literature as Sunja Town, was built in 1567. It was founded by Astrakhan commanding voevodas Andrey Babichev and Peter Protasyev, who arrived to the left bank of Terek opposite the place of its confluence with the mountain river Sunja – the border, separated the Kabardians and the Kumyks lands. The fortified settlement was built by the Ivan Grozny’s father in-law Temruck Idarov’s request to have a military force, enough to protect this allied local-ruler from the Crimeans’ and Ottomans’ attacks.Being built as a chopped wood settlement, the fort wasn’t strongly armed. Its fortifications were solemnly built from wood and ground; it had also some wooden watchtowers and a moat. The garrison of Sunja Town consisted from the Muscovites shooters (so-called “streltsi”), who were lately replaced by the Grebensky Cossacks regiment groups.In 1571 the Ottoman Sultan declared, that the Sunja Town’s foundation had violated the international treaty, concluded by the Moscow Tsar with him. So, the town was razed to the ground, but in 1578 it was rebuilt again and Russian garrison succeeded...