Siberian fur trade

The Siberian fur trade is an exchange concerned with the gathering, buying, and selling of valuable animal furs that originate from Siberia. The Siberian fur trade expanded from localized trade and Siberian fur is now traded around the world. The Siberian fur trade had a significant impact on the development of Siberia through exploration and colonization. The fur trade also precipitated a decline in the number of fur-bearing animals and resulted in Siberia being conquered by Russia.

Traditionally, Siberians hunted as a means of sustenance and only used the fur from animals they hunted and consumed for gloves and hats. The practice of hunting animals solely for fur began after the Russians came to Siberia.Sable quickly became the most valuable and popular type of Siberian fur, and still maintains the distinction to this day.

The Siberian fur trade began in the sixteenth century, peaked in the seventeenth century, and continues to the present day. While sable has always been the most coveted fur from Siberia, the Siberian fur trade has included a large variety of animals pelts used for a variety of products, most frequently clothing. Some of the richest fur regions in Siberia are the Yakutsk, Kamchatka, and Okhotsk Peninsulas.

The Stroganov family, wealthy merchant-capitalists with extensive resources and influence in Russia, played a significant role in developing Siberia's fur trade. The Stroganovs owned several pieces of land in Siberia and made large profits trading with the natives for fur on these lands. The Stroganov family lead the way to fur trading in Siberia, which became both economically and culturally important to both Russia and Siberia.

Russians implemented several methods of acquiring the fur pelts from the Siberian furriers: yasak, purchase, confiscation, hunting expeditions, trade with natives, and in much later years, farming of the most valued fur-bearing animals. Yasak was the easiest way of collecting furs, as the furs were simply demanded as a tribute or tax from the Siberian natives. Russian explorers and hunters were not as skilled as the Siberian natives at hunting fur-bearing animals without damaging the fur, which made trading with the Siberians the second easiest way to obtain pelts. The Siberian natives knew how to kill the animals without ruining the fur.

Yasak, otherwise known as Iasak, refers to the fur tax that the natives of Siberia were forced to pay to the tsarist government of Russia. Russians would set up winter camps known as zimovya while they waited for the Siberians to hunt and pay their taxes in fur. In return, the Siberians were promised to be able to look to the Russian government for protection. If a native tribe, community, or individual did not comply to the tax or otherwise resisted, they would face government-backed Cossack raids.

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