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Ural - A River between Europe and Asia by Max Sher
When people speak of Ural, most think of the Ural Mountains or of the whole region that divides Russia into the European and Asian parts. The river Ural does not come to mind at once although it is one of the “great” or at least one of the best known rivers for the Russians. But why? Yes, the length… It is about 2,500 km long. But along almost the whole length Ural is not navigable and sometimes reminds a rivulet where it is pretty hard even to ride a motor boat. It is not the grandeur that made Ural famous but its geography and history.
Its original name was Yaik (the Kazakhs still call it Zhaiyk ). The river and the adjacent outlandish area were once synonymous with limitless freedom for the Cossacks and reckless thugs of all races who were coming here in search for new happiness and independence from the government’s tutelage. Locals’ rebellious character was pretty much in keeping with the river’s. One spring it may burst its banks and the next year it may flow peacefully and playing it cool. Moreover, Yaik-Ural has many times changed its stream course forming new islands, oxbows and branches as if it was covering up traces. It was the same with the Cossacks’ nonconformity: it broke the banks in late 18th century with an uprising led by Emelian Pugachev, a Cossack and a self-proclaimed czar. The rebels have managed to take several important cities, including Kazan, before Catherine II sent in the troops, crushed the rebels and executed Pugachev in Moscow in 1775. The empress was so terrified by the uprising that she not only abolished the Cossack self-government but also ordered the river Yaik be renamed to Ural and the Yaik Cossacks - to Ural Cossacks. She was eager to erase any reminder of the rebellion even from the maps. This is the only case in the Russian history when a major river’s name has fallen victim to politics. (Even the Communists who renamed hundreds of Russian towns, villages and streets did not touch rivers).
The river Ural marks a portion of a geographical border between Europe and Asia. We do not know who has drawn this border but already during the dashing Cossack times, Ural’s European bank was called Samara side (according to a Russian city) and the Asian bank – the Bukhara side after a famous Central Asian city.
Today, the river became shared by two independent although very similar nations – Russia and Kazakhstan, both located in Europe and Asia. Ural even serves as international border between them at some places. Still, it does not divide but rather mix various cultures, languages and faiths.
Border regions always had a certain appeal: here you are in Europe, then cross a bridge and you are in Asia. While here, you have a subconscious wish to peer into people’s faces to get a sense of who is Asian and who is European, where the Asian character is and where is the European one. In reality though, everything is not obvious because the “border” here is rather factitious. Differences and similarities smoothly intertwine. Locals (ethnic Bashkir, Kazakh, Koreans, Russians, Tartar and others) have characters and cultures that mix many Asian and many European traits. And one should probably dare to object the Russian poet Alexander Blok’s famous verse Scythians: “we” – those who live in the vastnesses of Russia and Kazakhstan - are not “Asians”, as the poet said, or Europeans but rather Eurasians, at least geographically, and this visual trip along the river Ural may probably serve as evidence.
