[1]Babruysk is located at the intersection of railroads to Asipovichy, Zhlobin, Aktsyabrski and roads to Minsk, Gomel, Mogilev, Kalinkavichy, Slutsk, and Rahachow.

The name Babruysk (as well as that of the Babruyka River) probably originates from the Belarusian word babyor (бабёр, lit.

During the reign of Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev, in place of modern-day Babruysk there was a village whose inhabitants were occupied with fishing and beaver trapping.

For many centuries Babruysk was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and was an important militarily fortified border post.

The town was surrounded by fortifications made from wood and earth, whose length stretched for over 3 km (2 mi).

In 1810, the construction of a fortress began to mark the border between Russia and Austria and Prussia; in 1812 it was almost completed and was successful in repelling Napoleon's attack for four months.

The Babruysk fortress has served its purpose for many decades and today it is a major tourist attraction.

The ethnic groups living in Babruysk included Belarusians, Ukrainians, Poles, and Jews.

During the 1890s, the citizens of Babruysk witnessed pogroms after the assassination of the Russian emperor Alexander II.

[citation needed] In 1902, the Great Fire of Babruysk left 2,500 families homeless and destroyed over 250 business, 15 schools and the market.

There were more than 7 million rubles in property damage, however the city was quickly rebuilt, this time with brick and stone.

[4] Between February 2 and March 11, 1918, was a Battle of Bobrujsk, between units of the Polish I Corps in Russia, commanded by General Jozef Dowbor-Musnicki, fought with the Red Army over the control of the city and region of Babruysk.

General Gotthard Heinrici considered the largely-evacuated city "a dump consisting mainly of wooden houses" and was appalled by the "extremely primitive" surrounding area.

The few Jews who escaped joined partisan forces in the surrounding forest and went about attacking enemy railroad lines.

The difficult process of rebuilding was conducted by thousands of workers and war prisoners who labored to clear factories and streets of rubble and filled in craters made by the bombardment.