Ostyak princes and Kuchum Khan on the eve of the "Siberian capture" (to the interpretation of one chronicle source)
According to many historians Kuchum, defeated by Yermak’s soldiers near the Chuvash Cape, left his capital without a fight, in particular, because the Ostyak princes left the ranks of his troops and returned to their ulus. This version belongs to the early Tobolsk Chronicle (which was the protograph of the Basic editions of Esipov and Stroganov Chronicles), where it could come from some narrative source. Analysis of periodical entries, reflected the vicissitudes of the initial stage of the Siberian expedition of Yermak, allows to attribute the news about leaving by the Ostyak princes of Kuchum’s encampment near Qashliq to the “imaginary circumstances” of the famous campaign, though it is hardly probable that we know this news thanks to the legend, as R. G. Skrynnikov believed. It is also difficult to verify the validity of the entry in the Remezov Chronicle that the Siberian Khan has suffered a betrayal at the hands of the Ostyaks and Voguls after one or two days after the battle that opened the way to Isker for “Yermak Cossacks”. Most likely this news owes its origin to some Tobolsk scribe, who thereby emphasized the instability of the “Kuchum Kingdom”. No wonder that the relevant annalistic fragment (where specific details of the battle of Chuvash Cape are almost absent) ends with the moaning Khan’s speech addressed to his entourage, which is clearly was written by Esipov or his anonymous predecessor.