The collection of the Tobolsk Provincial Museum contains the second sheet from the album of the Tobolsk artist Mikhail Znamenskiy, which was called ‘Walking through the historical surroundings of the city of Tobolsk’. Znamenskiy created his album at the end of the 19th century. On this sheet, he painted in watercolors a historical place on the banks of the Irtysh river where Isker, the capital of the Khanate of Sibir, used to be located. Today, there is an archaeological monument, ‘Kuchumovo Settlement’.

The inscription on the sheet is dedicated to an event from the Siberian campaign of Yermak against Khan Kuchum who came to power in Siberia. The capital of his khanate, the settlement of Isker, or Kashlyk, was located on the edge of the steep bank of the Irtysh river 15 kilometers from Tobolsk in the direction of Abalak. The fortress was impregnable from the side of the Irtysh and the log of the Sibirka river. On the Eastern side, Isker was protected by strong defensive fortifications made of a double line of wooden walls.

Despite this, on October 26, 1582, ataman Yermak and his men occupied Isker. The Khanty tired of Kuchum’s power brought gifts to the Cossack and welcomed him. Yermak promised protection in exchange for yasak and the oath. From that moment on, the power of the Russian Tsar extended to all the local peoples.

One of the first detailed descriptions of the ancient monument in the vicinity of Tobolsk was published by the publisher Grigoriy Spasskiy in the Siberian Bulletin in 1818:

At the end of the 19th century, the territory of Isker attracted many researchers, including Mikhail Znamenskiy. For 15 years, he privately conducted archaeological excavations on Isker without the permission of the Imperial Archaeological Commission. The museum’s collections contain watercolors that document archaeological items from the artist’s collection.