[1] The town was founded in 1564 by voivode of Witebsk Stefan Zbaraski on the order of King Sigismund II Augustus as a defensive stronghold against possible Muscovite attacks.

[3] In 1580, Polish forces under hetman Jan Zamoyski stayed in the town before recapturing Velizh.

[3] Following the First Partition of Poland (1772), it was annexed by Russia, and from 1802 it was administratively located in the Vitebsk Governorate.

[3] It hosted the main quarters of Napoleonic Viceroy of Italy Eugène de Beauharnais during the French invasion of Russia of 1812.

On August 12, 1941, between 600 and 750 Jews were gathered by the Germans on the location of the former printing office in Sourazh.