«Задумали Базилевці» - пісня про Турбаївське повстання (1789—1793)

words, music: folk performance: Nazar Bozhynskyi (2013) historical background: the Turbaiv Uprising (1789-1793) was one of the largest anti-serf peasant protests in Left Bank Ukraine in the second half of the 18th century. It took place in the village of Turbaiy, Hradizhsky District, Katerynoslav Governorate (now Globynsky District, Poltava Region). The direct cause of the uprising was the peasants' attempt to free themselves from serfdom. After Khmelnytskyi, the village of Turbai, inhabited by Cossacks and commoners, was considered a free military village and belonged to the Myrhorod regiment. But in 1711, the Myrhorod colonel Danylo Apostol, after writing out the Turbay residents from the Cossack comput, "ordered them to be listed as his subjects according to revisions." Since 1776, Turbai belonged to the Basilevsky landlords, and they exploited Turbai residents as their subjects. The latter began to actively develop their economy, forcing peasants to perform duties. The people of Turbay did not want to put up with the position of serf peasants and actively sought confirmation of their Cossack status, turning to local and central administrative institutions. Struggling against enfranchisement, the people of Turbay filed a lawsuit to the senate. In June 1788, the Senate passed a decision to recognize Cossack rights and privileges only for 76 Turbayiv families (about 2,000 people lived in the village), which were transferred to the Cossacks in 1738 by Myrhorod Colonel Vasyl Kapnist. The decision of the senate, which was announced to the people of Turbayiv on January 5 (16), 1789, caused discontent among the peasants, whose Cossack rights were not recognized. The peasants, having decided to achieve their freedom by their own efforts, flatly refused to work for the lord, stopped obeying Basilevsky and created a self-government based on the Cossack model led by Nazar Olifer (chieftain), Hryhoriy Yastrubenko (judge) and Trokhym Dovzhenko (scribe). The most important issues were resolved at a general meeting of the villagers. In May 1789, in order to settle the "Cossack case" and quell the peasant unrest, representatives of the Holtvian Lower Zemstvo Court along with a military team arrived in the village. However, the court, under the influence of the Bazilevsky landowners, recognized only 29 Turbay residents as Cossacks, and it also turned out that the judges did not have a list of persons recognized by the Senate as belonging to the Cossack state. On June 8 (June 19), the peasants expressed their indignation against such a court decision, and at the initiative of the peasants G. Rakshi, Stapan and Leontii Rohachki, Musii and Manoil Parkhomenki, H. Velichka, A. Bondar, Semen Pomazan and others, started an armed uprising. Armed with scythes, spears, and pokers, they disarmed the military team, beat and arrested the members of the court, got them to write a document about the "voluntary transfer to the Cossacks" of Turbayiv peasants, attacked the manor's house, broke windows and doors, began to dismantle the property, and the landlords themselves - Ivan, Stepan and Maria Bazilevskih - beaten to death. Having introduced self-government - the "Public Assembly", for four years the peasants independently decided all public affairs. Villagers from the surrounding villages of Ocheretuvate, Krynok, and Ostapya followed the example of Turbay residents. Due to the complications of the international situation (wars with the Ottoman Empire and Sweden, revolutionary events in France), the government of Catherine II tried for a long time to stop the peasant protest without the use of military force. However, having failed, the authorities resorted to cruel punitive measures. In June 1793, an infantry battalion of the Buza Hunter Regiment and 200 Cossacks, armed with even two cannons, were introduced to the village. Government troops carried out mass arrests of villagers. The trial of the rebels lasted from July 11 (July 22) 1793 to January 31 (February 11) 1794. The most active participants were beaten with kanchuks, their nostrils were torn out, a "thief" mark was made on their cheeks and foreheads and sent to lifelong hard labor in Tobolsk, others were punished with kanchuks. 15 villagers died after being bullied. Part of Turbay residents were evicted to the steppes of the Kherson and Tavria provinces. The authorities even changed the name of the village of Turbai, renaming it Skorbne (they returned to the former name only in 1919).