| Great Perm | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1324–1708 | |||||||||
 | |||||||||
| Capital | Cherdyn (1324–1472, 1535–1613) Pokcha (1472–1535) Solikamsk (1636–1708) | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 1324 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1708 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Russia | ||||||||
Great Perm,[a] orPerm Land,[b] also known as thePrincipality of Perm (1451–1505),[c] is a historical region and formerprincipality along theKama River inRussia.[1] The city ofCherdyn was the center of the region.[1][2]
The region is first mentioned in 1324.[1]Vasily II of Moscow appointed a prince in 1451 to govern the region.[1] Great Perm was formally dependent onNovgorod until 1471, after which it was dependent onMoscow until it was finally incorporated into the Russian state in 1505.[1][3]
The use of the official nameGreat Perm ceased in 1708 when theSiberia Governorate was established as part of administrative reforms byPeter the Great.Perm Governorate was later established in 1796, which in turn was succeeded byPerm Krai, now afederal subject of Russia.
The origin of the namePerm is uncertain. The most common explanation derives the namePerm fromparma ("forested highlands" in the Komi language). While the city ofPerm is a modern foundation named for Permia, the town ofCherdyn was reportedly itself known as the capital of "Great Perm" in the past. Cherdyn acted as a central market town, and it is sometimes suggested thatperm was simply a term for "merchants" or "market" in alocal language,[4] but there have been other suggestions.[5]
According to Russian linguist Dmitry Bubrikh, the name was loaned into Russian from Finnicperämaa ("hinterland").[6] The same name is likely reflected in the toponymBjarmaland inNorse sagas.[7] The general region of Great Perm was known aswisu (ويسو) in medievalArab ethnography, so referred to in the works ofAhmad ibn Fadlan,al-Gharnati,Zakariya al-Qazwini andYaqut al-Hamawi (in hisDictionary of Countries). The term is perhaps derived from the name of theVepsians (Ves) who settled aroundLake Ladoga and the upperSukhona River.[8]
The region of Perm is first mentioned in 1187, which at first referred to theVychegda basin and what later came to be known asOld Perm orLittle Perm.[2] TheKomi territories "along theKama River" in the south were first mentioned under the year 1324 in the chronicle ofNovgorod when describing the last trip ofYury of Moscow to theGolden Horde.[1] Great Perm came to consist of the upper Kama, from thePechora River andLake Chusovskoye in the north, the confluence of theChusovaya River and the Kama River in the south, the source of the Kama in the west, and theUral Mountains in the east.[1]
Salt production on theUsolka River began in 1430 and the Russian settlement of Sol-Kamskaya (nowSolikamsk) was established the same year.[1][9] Although Novgorod claimed the territory, it had little control and formally gave up its rights in 1471, before it was ultimately annexed byMoscow in 1478.[2]
Vasily II of Moscow appointedMikhail Yermolayevich [ru] as the prince of Great Perm in 1451.[1] Mikhail's father,Yermolay [ru], and his brother, Vasily, were sent to governVychegda Perm. According to theVychegda-Vym Chronicle: "Grand Prince Vasily Vasilyevich sent to the Perm land a viceroy from the line of the Vereyan princes, Yermolai, and after him Yermolai and his son Vasily, to rule the Perm land of Vychegda, and sent the eldest son of Yermolai, Mikhail Yermolich, to Great Perm to Cherdyn". Mikhail recognized the suzerainty of the grand prince of Moscow, but refused to participate in theRusso-Kazan War of 1467–1469 during the reign ofIvan III.[1] Instead, in 1467, he launched a campaign against theMansi (Voguls), together withVyatka.[1]
Although the Russian missionaryStephen of Perm in the late 14th century was unusually successful in converting the Komi, as he was able to establish his residence atUst-Vym and become the first bishop in the Vychegda basin, Great Perm remained unconverted for another century.[10] The first attempt at Christianizing theKomi-Permyaks in 1455 ended in failure, as the Russian bishop of Perm,Pitirim [ru], was killed by the Mansi during a raid.[1][11] From 1462, the efforts of the new bishop,Jonah [ru], led to new churches and monasteries being built, such as theMonastery of Saint John the Theologian [ru] inCherdyn.[12] Russian influence grew as Moscow massed up forces to attack the Mansi and Russian colonists began to settle on the upper Kama.[9]
In 1472, Ivan III dispatchedFyodor Paletsky [ru] for a campaign against Great Perm, and his forces fromVeliky Ustyug defeated the Komi-Permyak forces.[12] Fyodor Paletsky founded the settlement ofPokcha, which became a stronghold for Moscow.[12] Prince Mikhail and other members of the nobility were captured and taken to Moscow, before being sent back.[12] Prince Mikhail was allowed to continue to rule as a servant of the grand prince.[12] During a raid by the Mansi princeAsyka [ru] in 1481, Mikhail died and was succeeded by his son Matvey.[12] The Komi-Permyaks later took part in Moscow-ledcampaigns against Yugra and the Mansi.[12] At the same time, Great Perm was subject to attacks by the Mansi,Ostyaks andSiberian Tatars.[12]
Great Perm was finally incorporated into the Russian state in 1505 when Ivan III appointed a Russian prince,Vasily Kovrov [ru], as the governor.[12] The next grand prince,Vasily III, issued the Great Perm Charter the same year which set the powers of the governor.[12]Ivan IV would later expand this charter in 1553.[12] He also issued a charter in 1558 giving large landholdings to theStroganov family.[12] By the early 16th century, Russians had replaced the Komi elite in local administration.[13] Russian peasants also heavily colonized Komi lands around 1500, leading to the assimilation of the Komi, while other Komi were forced to move further north, which in turn led to some of the Mansi being displaced.[13]
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Up to the early 18th century, the name Great Perm was officially used of theUpper Kama area, a southern part of which was governed by theStroganov family.
The name was borrowed (as the 'Permian' period) by the nineteenth century geologist SirRoderick Murchison to refer to rocks of a certain age, following extensive studies which he conducted in the region.
