Born circa 1660; died July 7 (18), 1708. Leader of an antifeudal revolt (1707-09) in Russia.
Bulavin, the son of a village hetman, was a Don cossack from the stanitsa (large cossack village) of Trekhizbianskaia. He took part in campaigns against the Crimean Tatars and was elected campaign hetman. Later, he was hetman of the Bakhmutsk saltworks and led a struggle with the Izium colonel Shidlovskii, who was trying to conquer the saltworks. In 1705, Bulavin burned the saltworks, and in October 1707 he started a revolt (the Bulavin Revolt of 1707-09). According to the official version, Bulavin, defending himself and aware of the hopelessness of his position, shot himself; in reality, he was killed in Cherkassk by cossack military officers.