The North Caucasus Borderland

 My Persian Napoleonic rabbit hole in the Southern Caucasus led me to wonder how Russia got into the North Caucasus. Then I came across a review of this new book by Murat Yasar that covers the border between Muscovy and the Ottoman Empire from 1555 to 1605. This was a period when Muscovy was pushing its border southwards, clashing with the Crimean Khanate and then the Ottomans. I am always interested in the history of borderlands, so this is a double hit. The author quotes Owen Lattimore's argument that ‘the linear frontier as it is conventionally indicated on a map always proves, when studied on the ground, to be a zone rather than a line’. This was certainly the case here.

The North Caucasus is globally known for its ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity. Nearly fifty languages with no cognates to the major linguistic families are a testament to the impact of geography and the region's role as a refuge. I was watching Bethany Hughes' excellent 'Treasures' series, when she highlighted this in a visit to the region. The scenery is just magnificent.

Three major imperial powers surrounded the North Caucasus in the sixteenth century: the Ottoman Empire, the Tsardom of Muscovy and the Safavid Empire. The Persians were being pushed out, and the other two powers had different approaches at the start of this period. Muscovy favoured direct control, imposed through a fortress-building programme supplemented by local clients. The Ottoman approach adorned local rulers with imperial titles and granted salaries. If a local ruler failed to fulfil his promises or was no longer loyal, the Ottoman Porte sent the Crimean Khan to punish him. As Muscovy advanced, the Ottomans incorporated the region into its normal administrative structures. They even started an ambitious canal-building project from the Volga to the Don rivers. 

The author takes us through the various stages of the expansion. He covers the complex network of peoples who populated the region, some nomadic and others more sedentary. I suggest printing off a map because the local 'states' will probably not be familiar. He analyses the different strategies, which for the Ottomans included building a naval squadron on the Caspian Sea. As with all borderlands, most conflicts were small-scale. However, larger battles were also fought with Ottoman armies entering the region and faced by Muscovite Streltsy musketeers and cossacks.

In the end, neither the Ottomans nor the Muscovites lost, but rather the local polities, peoples, and rulers of the North Caucasus, who became dependent on the power and strategies of these two empires in the following centuries.

This is a complex story and, in places, a challenging read. However, there are very few objective studies on this period and region in English. It also has modern-day relevance.

I don't have any Streltsy for the wargame table, but I have the excellent Foundry Cossacks! This would be another period for which you could adapt to Flags of War, Border Wars game.