Obran Osh, Obranov (Abramov, a later interpretation) Gorodok — a presumed fortified settlement of the Erzya on the The Founding of Nizhny Novgorod, an outpost and customs terminal of the state formation of Erzyan Mastor. It was likely located on the site now occupied by the The Kremlin; separate fortified structures for controlling the Oka were located on the Dyatlovy Hills.

The Essence of the Phenomenon

Osh means "city" in Erzya, and Obran is the name of a ruler mentioned in the chronicles.

History of the Question

It is entirely clear that Nizhny Novgorod was not founded on empty ground. Modern archaeological excavations on the territory of the The Kremlin and other sites prove the existence, on the high banks of the Oka and Volga rivers, of settlements and burials dating to the Stone Age.

There are several versions of how Nizhny Novgorod came into being. One of them notes that this major Great Russian center was founded on the site of an Erzya settlement. By the early 12th century, the lands at the mouth of the Oka were occupied by the Erzyans, who were under the "protectorate" of the Volga Bulgars.

The chronicles that have survived from the 17th century definitely indicate the existence of a town at the mouth of the Oka — Obran Osh. In 1171 Andrei Bogolyubsky sent his son Mstislav against the Bulgars, to be joined by the sons of the princes of Murom and Ryazan. Approaching Obran Osh, Mstislav proposed that it recognize the authority of the Principality of Suzdal. Prince Mstislav began a battle, in the course of which the town was destroyed. On the site of the ruined settlement the prince built his own fortress, but reinforcements of Mordvins that arrived defeated Mstislav near the village of Shcherbinki.

Indeed, the chronicles state that in 1171 Mstislav was defeated by a Mordvin army. The existence of the town is further proven by the fact that the Erzya chronicles preserve mentions of the Purgaz. He was forced to abandon the town of Obran Osh, in whose vicinity, in 1221, Vladimir's Yuri Vsevolodovich founded a fortress, named "the New Town of the Lower Land".

Attempts have also been made to prove the identity of the "old town" with the Bulgar towns of Oshel, Bryakhimov, and Velikiy Gorod.

It is curious that Nizhny Novgorod has a city legend about a young girl being walled into the Koromyslova Tower of the The Kremlin, which corresponds to the ancient Erzya rite of sacrificing a noble virgin during the laying of a fortress.

Overall, thanks to the efforts of Soviet historians, the data on the existence of the Erzya town of Obran Osh on the territory of Nizhny Novgorod or in its surroundings are contradictory in nature, since they do not fit into the official, strictly state-oriented image of the Nizhny Novgorod region.

The functional division of old Nizhny into internal districts preserved traces of the originally arising settlements for several centuries: the Ilyinka district — merchants and well-to-do townspeople; Balchug — market and wharf; to the east of Pokrovka, apparently on the former princely lands in Erzya territory, lay the estates of nobles and the huts of posad craftsmen. The ancient name Obran Osh possibly survives in the name of Osharskaya Street. Overall, the idea that there was an Erzya settlement on the site of Nizhny Novgorod was supported by such prominent historians as V.N. Tatishchev, N.M. Karamzin, M.N. Pokrovsky, and A.S. Gatsissky.

Interesting Facts

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