Russian President Vladimir Putin is coming to Delhi today on a two-day visit. Entire Delhi is on high alert regarding his visit. Today Putin’s name is on everyone’s lips in India. Putin is counted among the few most powerful people in the world. Well, there has been another Putin in the history of Russia, who was called the most powerful person in Russia at that time. A person on whom many films and songs were written. Even today in Russia, people shudder when his name comes up.
We are talking here about Rasputin, whose full name was Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin… A dirty, smelly, beggar-looking Siberian peasant had taken Russia’s most powerful royal family under his control to such an extent that the entire Romanov Empire of Tsar Nicholas II was governed by his orders. Queen Alexandra had become his devotee. And a small prophecy ended the 300-year-old Romanov dynasty forever.
Even today, people in Russia shudder at the mention of Rasputin’s name. Some call him a devil, some a miraculous saint… but the truth is that he threw Russia into the fire of the Bolshevik Revolution.
The beggar from Siberia whose eyes had magic
Born in 1869 in a poor peasant family in the village of Pokrovskoye in Siberia, Grigory Rasputin was different since childhood. Theft, alcohol, women… he was involved in everything. The villagers called him ‘mad monk’. But there was a strange twinkle in his eyes. People used to say that he heals the sick just by touching them. In 1903 he reached St. Petersburg as a pilgrim. Dirty hair, smelly clothes, but such power of speech that even great priests would get lost in his words. Gradually he made a place in the royal court.
When Rasputin saved the life of the Tsar’s son
In 1905, the only son of Tsar Nicholas II and Queen Alexandra, Alexei, was born. But that child had hemophilia, which means his blood did not clot. Even a small injury could have taken his life. The doctors had given up. One night in 1907, Alexei started bleeding. The queen is crying inconsolably. Then someone suggested the name of Rasputin. He came, sat near the child, caressed his hands, recited some mantras and… the bleeding stopped.
There were tears in the queen’s eyes. He touched Rasputin’s feet and said, ‘You are God’s messenger.’ It was from here that Rasputin’s magic began. He used to come and go in the royal palace. The queen started calling him ‘our friend’. Tsar Nicholas started considering him as a ‘holy monk’.
Rasputin with his family (Photo- Wikipedia)
What did Rasputin predict?
Then one day Rasputin said… ‘As long as I am alive, the Romanov dynasty will be safe. With my death your empire will also end. This prediction later proved true.
Rasputin’s life was full of mysteries. He became a holy monk during the day, and drowned himself in alcohol and women at night. Famous women of St. Petersburg used to come to him. He used to say… ‘Purity is attained only by committing sins.’ Princesses, duchesses and ministers’ wives also attended his parties. It is said that he brought women from many Russian aristocratic families under his control. He also told the Tsar… ‘All the ministers in your court follow my orders.’
There used to be a gathering of Russian elite women in Rasputin’s parties.
And it was true. He gets the ministers appointed and dismissed. Russia was deeply involved in the First World War, but at the behest of Rasputin, the Tsar himself took command of the army and went to the front. The queen was left alone and Rasputin took over the entire royal administration.
Neither died by poison nor by bullet
The elite class was troubled by Rasputin’s power. Eventually Prince Felix Yusupov made a plan to kill him. On the night of 30 December 1916… Yusupov called Rasputin to his palace. Cyanide added to cake and wine. It is said that Rasputin ate and drank a lot, but nothing happened. Then Yusupov shot him in the chest. Rasputin fell, but got up again. Started running. Fired a second shot outside in the snow. Still didn’t die. Ultimately he was tied with a rope and thrown into the ice of the Neva River.
And the prophecy came true
Revolution took place in Russia in February 1917, just 14 months after Rasputin’s death. Tsar Nicholas had to abdicate the throne. In July 1918 the Bolsheviks shot the Tsar, the Queen and their five children in a cellar. The 300-year-old Romanov dynasty ended and Rasputin’s prediction came true.
Even today, after 109 years, people in Russia get scared at the mention of Rasputin’s name. Some consider him a saint, some a devil. There is no grave for him in Russia. His dead body had also disappeared. But his pictures, his eyes still scare people. His picture hangs in many homes in Russia – people believe that it protects from the evil eye.
