1243 - After the defeat of Northern Russia by the Mongol-Tatars and the death of the great Prince of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich (1188-1238x), Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (1190-1246+) remained the eldest in the family, who became the Grand Duke.
Returning from the western campaign, Batu summons the Grand Duke Yaroslav II Vsevolodovich of Vladimir-Suzdal to the Horde and hands him a label (sign-permission) for a great reign in Russia at the Khan's headquarters in Saray: "Be older than all the princes in the Russian language."
Thus, a unilateral act of vassalage of Russia to the Golden Horde was carried out and legally formalized.
Russia, according to the label, lost the right to fight and had to regularly pay tribute to the khans twice a year (in spring and autumn). Baskaks (deputies) were sent to the Russian principalities - their capitals - to oversee the strict collection of tribute and compliance with its size.
1243-1252 - This decade was a time when the Horde troops and officials did not disturb Russia, receiving timely tribute and expressions of external obedience. The Russian princes during this period assessed the current situation and developed their own line of conduct in relation to the Horde.
Two lines of Russian politics:
1. The line of systematic partisan resistance and continuous "point" uprisings: ("run, not serve the king") - led. book. Andrei I Yaroslavich, Yaroslav III Yaroslavich and others.
2. The line of complete, unquestioning submission to the Horde (Alexander Nevsky and most other princes). Many specific princes (Uglitsky, Yaroslavl, and especially Rostov) established relations with the Mongol khans, who left them to "govern and rule." The princes preferred to recognize the supreme power of the Horde Khan and donate to the conquerors part of the feudal rent collected from the dependent population, rather than risk losing their principalities (See "On the visits of Russian princes to the Horde"). The same policy was pursued by the Orthodox Church.
1252 Invasion of the "Nevryuev rati" The first after 1239 in North-Eastern Russia - Reasons for the invasion: Punish Grand Duke Andrei I Yaroslavich for disobedience and speed up the full payment of tribute.
Horde forces: The Nevruy army had a significant number - at least 10 thousand people. and a maximum of 20-25 thousand, this indirectly follows from the title of Nevryuy (tsarevich) and the presence in his army of two wings led by temniks - Yelabuga (Olabuga) and Kotiy, and also from the fact that Nevryuy’s army was able to disperse throughout the Vladimir-Suzdal principality and "comb" it!
Russian forces: Consisted of regiments of Prince. Andrei (i.e. regular troops) and squads (volunteer and security detachments) of the Tver governor Zhiroslav, sent by the Tver prince Yaroslav Yaroslavich to help his brother. These forces were an order of magnitude smaller than the Horde ones in terms of their numbers, i.e. 1.5-2 thousand people
The course of the invasion: Having crossed the Klyazma River near Vladimir, the punitive army of Nevryuy hastily headed for Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, where Prince took refuge. Andrew, and, having overtaken the army of the prince, they utterly defeated him. The Horde plundered and devastated the city, and then occupied the entire Vladimir land and, returning to the Horde, "combed" it.
The results of the invasion: The Horde army rounded up and captured tens of thousands of captive peasants (for sale in the eastern markets) and hundreds of thousands of cattle and took them to the Horde. Book. Andrei, with the remnants of his squad, fled to the Novgorod Republic, which refused to give him asylum, fearing reprisals from the Horde. Fearing that one of his "friends" would betray him to the Horde, Andrei fled to Sweden. Thus, the very first attempt to resist the Horde failed. The Russian princes abandoned the line of resistance and leaned towards the line of obedience.
The label for the great reign was received by Alexander Nevsky.
1255 The first complete census of the population of North-Eastern Russia, conducted by the Horde - Accompanied by spontaneous unrest of the local population, scattered, unorganized, but united general requirement masses: "do not give numbers to the Tatars", i.e. not to give them any data that could become the basis for a fixed payment of tribute.
Other authors indicate different dates for the census (1257-1259)
1257 An attempt to conduct a census in Novgorod - In 1255, the census was not conducted in Novgorod. In 1257, this measure was accompanied by an uprising of the Novgorodians, the expulsion of the Horde "counters" from the city, which led to the complete failure of the attempt to collect tribute.
1259 The embassy of Murz Berke and Kasachik to Novgorod - the punitive and control army of the Horde ambassadors - Murz Berke and Kasachik - was sent to Novgorod to collect tribute and prevent anti-Horde actions of the population. Novgorod, as always in case of military danger, succumbed to force and traditionally paid off, and also gave an obligation itself, without reminders and pressure, to pay tribute regularly every year, "voluntarily" determining its size, without compiling census documents, in exchange for a guarantee of absence from the city Horde collectors.
1262 Meeting of representatives of Russian cities with a discussion of measures to resist the Horde - A decision was made to simultaneously expel the tribute collectors - representatives of the Horde administration in the cities of Rostov Veliky, Vladimir, Suzdal, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Yaroslavl, where anti-Horde popular uprisings take place. These riots were suppressed by the Horde military detachments, which were at the disposal of the Baskaks. Nevertheless, the khan's authorities took into account the 20-year experience of repeating such spontaneous rebellious outbreaks and abandoned the Basques, transferring the collection of tribute into the hands of the Russian, princely administration.
Since 1263, the Russian princes themselves began to bring tribute to the Horde.
Thus, the formal moment, as in the case of Novgorod, turned out to be decisive. The Russians did not so much resist the fact of paying tribute and its size, but were offended by the foreign composition of the collectors. They were ready to pay more, but to "their" princes and their administration. The Khan authorities quickly realized the full benefit of such a decision for the Horde:
firstly, the absence of their own troubles,
secondly, the guarantee of an end to the uprisings and the complete obedience of the Russians.
thirdly, the presence of specific responsible persons (princes), who could always be easily, conveniently and even "legally" held accountable, punished for non-payment of tribute, and not have to deal with insurmountable spontaneous popular uprisings of thousands of people.
This is a very early manifestation of a specifically Russian social and individual psychology, for which the visible is important, not the essential, and which is always ready to make factually important, serious, essential concessions in exchange for visible, superficial, external, "toy" and allegedly prestigious ones, will be repeatedly repeated throughout Russian history up to the present time.
It is easy to persuade the Russian people, to appease them with a petty sop, a trifle, but they must not be annoyed. Then he becomes stubborn, intractable and reckless, and sometimes even angry.
But you can literally take it with your bare hands, circle it around your finger, if you immediately give in to some trifle. The Mongols understood this well, what were the first Horde khans - Batu and Berke.
I cannot agree with V. Pokhlebkin's unfair and humiliating generalization. You should not consider your ancestors stupid, gullible savages and judge them from the "height" of 700 past years. There were numerous anti-Horde uprisings - they were suppressed, presumably, cruelly, not only by the Horde troops, but also by their own princes. But the transfer of tribute collection (from which it was simply impossible to get rid of in those conditions) to the Russian princes was not a "petty concession", but an important, fundamental moment. Unlike a number of other countries conquered by the Horde, North-Eastern Russia retained its political and social order. There has never been a permanent Mongol administration on Russian soil; under the oppressive yoke, Russia managed to maintain the conditions for its independent development, although not without the influence of the Horde. An example of the opposite kind is the Volga Bulgaria, which, under the Horde, was ultimately unable to preserve not only its own ruling dynasty and name, but also the ethnic continuity of the population.
Later, the khan's power itself was crushed, lost state wisdom and gradually, by its mistakes, "brought up" from Russia its equally insidious and prudent enemy, which it was itself. But in the 60s of the XIII century. before this finale was still far away - as much as two centuries. In the meantime, the Horde spun the Russian princes and through them all of Russia, as it wanted. (The one who laughs last laughs well - isn't it?)
1272 The second Horde census in Russia - Under the guidance and supervision of the Russian princes, the Russian local administration, it passed peacefully, calmly, without a hitch, without a hitch. After all, it was carried out by "Russian people", and the population was calm.
It is a pity that the results of the census have not been preserved, or maybe I just don't know?
And the fact that it was carried out according to the khan's orders, that the Russian princes delivered its data to the Horde and this data directly served the Horde's economic and political interests - all this was for the people "behind the scenes", all this did not concern him and was not interested . The appearance that the census was taking place “without the Tatars” was more important than the essence, i.e. strengthening the tax oppression that came on its basis, the impoverishment of the population, its suffering. All this "was not visible", and therefore, according to Russian ideas, it means that this ... was not.
Moreover, in just three decades since the enslavement, Russian society, in essence, got used to the fact of the Horde yoke, and the fact that it was isolated from direct contact with representatives of the Horde and entrusted these contacts exclusively to the princes completely satisfied him, both ordinary people and nobles.
The proverb "out of sight - out of mind" very accurately and correctly explains this situation. As it is clear from the chronicles of that time, the lives of the saints, and patristic and other religious literature, which was a reflection of the dominant ideas, Russians of all classes and conditions had no desire to get to know their enslavers better, to get acquainted with "what they breathe", what they think, how they think how they understand themselves and Russia. They saw in them "God's punishment" sent down to the Russian land for sins. If they had not sinned, had not angered God, there would have been no such disasters - this is the starting point for all explanations on the part of the authorities and the church of the then "international situation". It is not difficult to see that this position is not only very, very passive, but that, in addition, it actually removes the blame for the enslavement of Russia from both the Mongol-Tatars and the Russian princes, who allowed such a yoke, and shifts it entirely to the people who found themselves enslaved and suffering from it more than anyone else.
Proceeding from the thesis of sinfulness, the churchmen called on the Russian people not to resist the invaders, but, on the contrary, to their own repentance and submission to the "Tatars", not only did not condemn the Horde authorities, but also ... set it as an example to their flock. It was a direct payment from the side Orthodox Church huge privileges granted to her by the khans - exemption from taxes and requisitions, solemn receptions of metropolitans in the Horde, the establishment in 1261 of a special Sarai diocese and permission to erect an Orthodox church directly opposite the Khan's Headquarters *.
*) After the collapse of the Horde, at the end of the XV century. the entire staff of the Sarai diocese was retained and transferred to Moscow, to the Krutitsky monastery, and the Sarai bishops received the title of metropolitans of Sarai and Podonsk, and then Krutitsky and Kolomna, i.e. they were formally equated in rank with the metropolitans of Moscow and All Russia, although they were no longer engaged in any real church-political activity. This historical and decorative post was liquidated only at the end of the 18th century. (1788) [Note. V. Pokhlebkin]
It should be noted that on the threshold of the XXI century. we are experiencing a similar situation. Modern "princes", like the princes of Vladimir-Suzdal Russia, are trying to exploit the ignorance and slavish psychology of the people and even cultivate it with the help of the same church.
At the end of the 70s of the XIII century. the period of temporary calm from the Horde unrest in Russia ends, explained by the ten-year emphasized humility of the Russian princes and the church. The internal needs of the economy of the Horde, which derived a constant profit from the trade in slaves (captives during the war) in the eastern (Iranian, Turkish and Arab) markets, require a new influx of funds, and therefore in 1277-1278. The Horde twice makes local raids into the Russian border limits solely to withdraw the Polonians.
It is significant that it is not the central khan's administration and its military forces that take part in this, but the regional, ulus authorities in the peripheral areas of the Horde's territory, solving their local, local problems with these raids. economic problems, and therefore strictly limiting both the place and time (very short, calculated in weeks) of these military actions.
1277 - A raid on the lands of the Galicia-Volyn principality is carried out by detachments from the western Dniester-Dnieper regions of the Horde, under the rule of the temnik Nogai.
1278 - A similar local raid follows from the Volga region to Ryazan, and it is limited only to this principality.
During the next decade - in the 80s and early 90s of the XIII century. - new processes are taking place in Russian-Horde relations.
The Russian princes, having accustomed themselves to the new situation over the previous 25-30 years and essentially deprived of any control from the side of domestic authorities, begin to settle their petty feudal scores with each other with the help of the Horde military force.
Just like in the XII century. Chernigov and Kyiv princes fought with each other, calling the Polovtsy to Russia, and the princes of North-Eastern Russia are fighting in the 80s of the XIII century. with each other for power, relying on the Horde detachments, which they invite to plunder the principalities of their political opponents, i.e., in fact, cold-bloodedly call on foreign troops to devastate the areas inhabited by their Russian compatriots.
1281 - The son of Alexander Nevsky Andrei II Alexandrovich, Prince Gorodetsky, invites the Horde army against his brother led. Dmitry I Alexandrovich and his allies. This army is organized by Khan Tuda-Meng, who at the same time gives Andrei II the label for a great reign, even before the outcome of the military clash.
Dmitry I, fleeing from the Khan's troops, first flees to Tver, then to Novgorod, and from there to his possession on Novgorod land- Koporye. But the Novgorodians, declaring themselves loyal to the Horde, do not let Dmitry into his fiefdom and, taking advantage of its location inside the Novgorod lands, force the prince to tear down all its fortifications and, in the end, force Dmitry I to flee from Russia to Sweden, threatening to hand him over to the Tatars.
The Horde army (Kavgadai and Alchegey), under the pretext of persecuting Dmitry I, relying on the permission of Andrei II, passes and devastates several Russian principalities - Vladimir, Tver, Suzdal, Rostov, Murom, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky and their capitals. The Horde reach Torzhok, practically occupying the entire North-Eastern Russia to the borders of the Novgorod Republic.
The length of the entire territory from Murom to Torzhok (from east to west) was 450 km, and from south to north - 250-280 km, i.e. almost 120 thousand square kilometers that were devastated by military operations. This restores the Russian population of the devastated principalities against Andrei II, and his formal "accession" after the flight of Dmitry I does not bring peace.
Dmitry I returns to Pereyaslavl and prepares for revenge, Andrei II leaves for the Horde with a request for help, and his allies - Svyatoslav Yaroslavich of Tverskoy, Daniil Aleksandrovich of Moscow and Novgorodians - go to Dmitry I and make peace with him.
1282 - Andrew II comes from the Horde with the Tatar regiments led by Turai-Temir and Ali, reaches Pereyaslavl and again expels Dmitry, who runs this time to the Black Sea, into the possession of the temnik Nogai (who at that time was the actual ruler of the Golden Horde) , and, playing on the contradictions of Nogai and the Sarai khans, he brings the troops given by Nogai to Russia and forces Andrei II to return his great reign.
The price of this "restoration of justice" is very high: the Nogai officials are given the tribute collection in Kursk, Lipetsk, Rylsk; Rostov and Murom are again being ruined. The conflict between the two princes (and the allies who joined them) continues throughout the 80s and into the early 90s.
1285 - Andrew II again goes to the Horde and brings out a new punitive detachment of the Horde, led by one of the sons of the Khan. However, Dmitry I manages to successfully and quickly break up this detachment.
Thus, the first victory of the Russian troops over the regular Horde troops was won in 1285, and not in 1378, on the Vozha River, as is usually believed.
It is not surprising that Andrew II stopped turning to the Horde for help in subsequent years.
In the late 80s, the Horde sent small predatory expeditions to Russia themselves:
1287 - Raid in Vladimir.
1288 - Raid on Ryazan and Murom and Mordovian lands These two raids (short-term) were of a specific, local nature and were aimed at robbing property and capturing Polonians. They were provoked by a denunciation or complaint by the Russian princes.
1292 - "Dedenev's army" to the Vladimir land, Andrei Gorodetsky, together with princes Dmitry Borisovich of Rostov, Konstantin Borisovich Uglitsky, Mikhail Glebovich Belozersky, Fedor Yaroslavsky and Bishop Tarasy went to the Horde to complain about Dmitry I Alexandrovich.
Khan Tokhta, having listened to the complainers, detached a significant army under the leadership of his brother Tudan (in the Russian chronicles - Deden) to conduct a punitive expedition.
"Dedenev's army" passed through the whole of Vladimir Russia, ruining the capital city of Vladimir and 14 other cities: Murom, Suzdal, Gorokhovets, Starodub, Bogolyubov, Yuryev-Polsky, Gorodets, Coal field (Uglich), Yaroslavl, Nerekhta, Ksnyatin, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky , Rostov, Dmitrov.
In addition to them, only 7 cities remained untouched by the invasion, which lay outside the route of movement of the Tudan detachments: Kostroma, Tver, Zubtsov, Moscow, Galich Mersky, Unzha, Nizhny Novgorod.
On the approach to Moscow (or near Moscow), Tudan's army was divided into two detachments, one of which went to Kolomna, i.e. to the south, and the other - to the west: to Zvenigorod, Mozhaisk, Volokolamsk.
In Volokolamsk, the Horde army received gifts from the Novgorodians, who hastened to bring and present gifts to the khan's brother far from their lands. Tudan did not go to Tver, but returned to Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, which was made a base where all the loot was brought and prisoners were concentrated.
This campaign was a significant pogrom of Russia. It is possible that Klin, Serpukhov, Zvenigorod, not named in the annals, also passed Tudan with his army. Thus, the area of its operations covered about two dozen cities.
1293 - In winter, a new Horde detachment appeared near Tver, led by Toktemir, who came with punitive goals at the request of one of the princes to restore order in feudal strife. He had limited goals, and the chronicles do not describe his route and time on Russian territory.
In any case, the whole of 1293 passed under the sign of another Horde pogrom, the cause of which was exclusively the feudal rivalry of the princes. It was they who were the main reason for the Horde repressions that fell upon the Russian people.
1294-1315 Two decades pass without any Horde invasions.
The princes regularly pay tribute, the people, frightened and impoverished from previous robberies, slowly heal the economic and human losses. Only the accession to the throne of the extremely powerful and active Khan Uzbek opens a new period of pressure on Russia
The main idea of Uzbek is to achieve complete disunity of the Russian princes and turn them into continuously warring factions. Hence his plan - the transfer of the great reign to the weakest and most non-militant prince - Moscow (under Khan Uzbek, the Moscow prince was Yuri Danilovich, who disputed the great reign from Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver) and the weakening of the former rulers of the "strong principalities" - Rostov, Vladimir, Tver.
To ensure the collection of tribute, Khan Uzbek practices sending, together with the prince, who received instructions from the Horde, special envoys-ambassadors, accompanied by military detachments numbering several thousand people (sometimes there were up to 5 temniki!). Each prince collects tribute in the territory of a rival principality.
From 1315 to 1327, i.e. in 12 years, Uzbek sent 9 military "embassies". Their functions were not diplomatic, but military-punitive (police) and partly military-political (pressure on the princes).
1315 - "Ambassadors" of Uzbek accompany the Grand Duke Mikhail of Tver (see the Table of Ambassadors), and their detachments rob Rostov and Torzhok, near which they smash the detachments of the Novgorodians.
1317 - Horde punitive detachments accompany Yuri of Moscow and rob Kostroma, and then try to rob Tver, but suffer a severe defeat.
1319 - Kostroma and Rostov are robbed again.
1320 - Rostov for the third time becomes a victim of a robbery, but Vladimir is mostly ruined.
1321 - Tribute is beaten out of Kashin and the Kashin principality.
1322 - Yaroslavl and the cities of the Nizhny Novgorod principality are subjected to a punitive action to collect tribute.
1327 "Shchelkanova's army" - Novgorodians, frightened by the Horde's activity, "voluntarily" pay tribute to the Horde in 2000 silver rubles.
The famous attack of the Chelkan (Cholpan) detachment on Tver takes place, known in the annals as the "Shchelkanov invasion", or "Shchelkanov's army". It causes an unparalleled decisive uprising of the townspeople and the destruction of the "ambassador" and his detachment. "Shchelkan" himself is burned in the hut.
1328 - A special punitive expedition against Tver follows under the leadership of three ambassadors - Turalyk, Syugi and Fedorok - and with 5 temniks, i.e. an entire army, which the chronicle defines as a "great army". In the ruin of Tver, along with the 50,000th Horde army, Moscow princely detachments also participate.
From 1328 to 1367 - there comes a "great silence" for as much as 40 years.
It is the direct result of three things:
1. The complete defeat of the Tver principality as a rival of Moscow and thereby eliminating the cause of military-political rivalry in Russia.
2. The timely collection of tribute by Ivan Kalita, who, in the eyes of the khans, becomes an exemplary executor of the fiscal orders of the Horde and, in addition, expresses to her exceptional political humility, and, finally
3. The result of the understanding by the Horde rulers that the Russian population has matured the determination to fight the enslavers and therefore it is necessary to apply other forms of pressure and consolidate the dependence of Russia, except for punitive ones.
As for the use of some princes against others, this measure no longer seems to be universal in the face of possible popular uprisings uncontrolled by "tame princes". There is a turning point in Russian-Horde relations.
Punitive campaigns (invasions) in the central regions of North-Eastern Russia with the inevitable ruin of its population have ceased from now on.
At the same time, short-term raids with predatory (but not ruinous) goals on the peripheral sections of Russian territory, raids on local, limited areas continue to take place and remain as the most favorite and safest for the Horde, one-sided short-term military and economic action.
A new phenomenon in the period from 1360 to 1375 is the retaliatory raids, or rather the campaigns of Russian armed detachments in the peripheral, dependent on the Horde, bordering on Russia, lands - mainly in the Bulgars.
1347 - A raid is made on the city of Aleksin, a border town on the Moscow-Horde border along the Oka
1360 - The first raid is made by Novgorod ushkuiniki on the city of Zhukotin.
1365 - The Horde Prince Tagai raided the Ryazan principality.
1367 - Detachments of Prince Temir-Bulat invade the Nizhny Novgorod principality with a raid, especially intensively in the border strip along the Pyana River.
1370 - A new Horde raid on the Ryazan principality follows in the region of the Moscow-Ryazan border. But the guard regiments of Prince Dmitry IV Ivanovich who stood there did not let the Horde through the Oka. And the Horde, in turn, noticing the resistance, did not seek to overcome it and limited themselves to reconnaissance.
The raid-invasion is made by Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich Nizhny Novgorod on the lands of the "parallel" Khan of Bulgaria - Bulat-Temir;
1374 Anti-Horde uprising in Novgorod - The reason was the arrival of the Horde ambassadors, accompanied by a large armed retinue of 1000 people. This is common for the beginning of the XIV century. the escort was, however, regarded in the last quarter of the same century as a dangerous threat and provoked an armed attack by the Novgorodians on the "embassy", during which both the "ambassadors" and their guards were completely destroyed.
A new raid of the ushkuins, who rob not only the city of Bulgar, but are not afraid to penetrate as far as Astrakhan.
1375 - Horde raid on the city of Kashin, short and local.
1376 2nd campaign against the Bulgars - The combined Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod army prepared and carried out the 2nd campaign against the Bulgars, and took an indemnity of 5,000 silver rubles from the city. This attack, unheard of in 130 years of Russian-Horde relations, by the Russians on the territory dependent on the Horde, naturally, causes a retaliatory military action.
1377 Massacre on the river Pyan - On the border Russian-Horde territory, on the river Pyan, where the Nizhny Novgorod princes were preparing a new raid on the Mordovian lands lying behind the river, dependent on the Horde, they were attacked by a detachment of Prince Arapsha (Arab Shah, Khan of the Blue Horde ) and suffered a crushing defeat.
On August 2, 1377, the united militia of the princes of Suzdal, Pereyaslav, Yaroslavl, Yuriev, Murom and Nizhny Novgorod was completely killed, and the "commander in chief" Prince Ivan Dmitrievich Nizhny Novgorod drowned in the river, trying to escape, along with his personal squad and his "headquarters" . This defeat of the Russian troops was explained to a large extent by their loss of vigilance due to many days of drunkenness.
Having destroyed the Russian army, the detachments of Prince Arapsha raided the capitals of the unlucky warrior princes - Nizhny Novgorod, Murom and Ryazan - and subjected them to complete looting and burning to the ground.
1378 Battle on the river Vozha - In the XIII century. after such a defeat, the Russians usually lost all desire to resist the Horde troops for 10-20 years, but at the end of the 14th century. the situation has completely changed:
already in 1378, an ally of the Moscow princes defeated in the battle on the Pyan River Grand Duke Dmitry IV Ivanovich, having learned that the Horde troops that had burned Nizhny Novgorod intended to go to Moscow under the command of Murza Begich, decided to meet them on the border of his principality on the Oka and prevent them from reaching the capital.
On August 11, 1378, a battle took place on the banks of the right tributary of the Oka, the Vozha River, in the Ryazan principality. Dmitry divided his army into three parts and, at the head of the main regiment, attacked the Horde army from the front, while Prince Daniil Pronsky and the devious Timofei Vasilyevich attacked the Tatars from the flanks, in the girth. The Horde were utterly defeated and fled across the river Vozha, having lost many dead and carts, which the Russian troops captured the next day, rushing to pursue the Tatars.
The battle on the Vozha River had a huge moral and military value how dress rehearsal before the Battle of Kulikovo, which followed two years later.
1380 Battle of Kulikovo - The Battle of Kulikovo was the first serious, specially prepared battle in advance, and not random and impromptu, like all previous military clashes between Russian and Horde troops.
1382 Tokhtamysh's invasion of Moscow - The defeat of Mamai's troops on the Kulikovo field and his flight to Kafa and death in 1381 allowed the energetic Khan Tokhtamysh to put an end to the power of the temniks in the Horde and reunite it into single state, eliminating the "parallel khans" in the regions.
As his main military-political task, Tokhtamysh determined the restoration of the military and foreign policy prestige of the Horde and the preparation of a revanchist campaign against Moscow.
The results of Tokhtamysh's campaign:
Returning to Moscow in early September 1382, Dmitry Donskoy saw the ashes and ordered to immediately restore the devastated Moscow with at least temporary wooden buildings before the onset of frost.
Thus, the military, political and economic achievements of the Battle of Kulikovo were completely eliminated by the Horde two years later:
1. The tribute was not only restored, but actually doubled, for the population decreased, but the size of the tribute remained the same. In addition, the people had to pay the Grand Duke a special emergency tax to replenish the princely treasury taken away by the Horde.
2. Politically, vassalage has increased dramatically even formally. In 1384, Dmitry Donskoy was forced for the first time to send his son, heir to the throne, the future Grand Duke Vasily II Dmitrievich, who was 12 years old, to the Horde as a hostage (According to the generally accepted account, this is Vasily I. V.V. Pokhlebkin, apparently, considers 1 -m Vasily Yaroslavich Kostroma). Relations with neighbors escalated - Tver, Suzdal, Ryazan principalities, which were specially supported by the Horde to create a political and military counterweight to Moscow.
The situation was really difficult, in 1383 Dmitry Donskoy had to "compete" in the Horde for the great reign, to which Mikhail Alexandrovich Tverskoy again presented his claims. The reign was left to Dmitry, but his son Vasily was taken hostage to the Horde. The "fierce" ambassador Adash appeared in Vladimir (1383, see "The Golden Horde ambassadors in Russia"). In 1384, a heavy tribute had to be collected (half a penny per village) from all the Russian land, and from Novgorod - a black forest. Novgorodians opened robberies along the Volga and Kama and refused to pay tribute. In 1385, an unprecedented indulgence had to be shown to the Ryazan prince, who decided to attack Kolomna (attached to Moscow back in 1300) and defeated the troops of the Moscow prince.
Thus, Russia was actually thrown back to the position of 1313, under Khan Uzbek, i.e. practically the achievements of the Battle of Kulikovo were completely crossed out. Both in military-political and economic terms, the Moscow principality was thrown back 75-100 years ago. The prospects for relations with the Horde, therefore, were extremely bleak for Moscow and Russia in general. It could be assumed that the Horde yoke would be fixed forever (well, nothing lasts forever!), if a new historical accident had not occurred:
The period of the Horde's wars with the empire of Tamerlane and the complete defeat of the Horde during these two wars, the violation of all economic, administrative, political life in the Horde, the death of the Horde army, the ruin of both its capitals - Saray I and Saray II, the beginning of a new turmoil, the struggle for power of several khans in the period from 1391-1396. - all this led to an unprecedented weakening of the Horde in all areas and made it necessary for the Horde khans to focus on the turn of the XIV century. and XV century. exclusively on internal problems, temporarily neglect external ones and, in particular, weaken control over Russia.
It was this unexpected situation that helped the Moscow principality get a significant respite and restore its economic, military and political strength.
Here, perhaps, we should pause and make a few remarks. I do not believe in historical accidents of this magnitude, and there is no need to explain the further relations of Muscovite Russia with the Horde by an unexpectedly happened happy accident. Without going into details, we note that by the beginning of the 90s of the XIV century. One way or another, Moscow solved the economic and political problems that arose. The Moscow-Lithuania treaty concluded in 1384 removed the Tver principality from the influence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tver, having lost support both in the Horde and in Lithuania, recognized the primacy of Moscow. In 1385, the son of Dmitry Donskoy, Vasily Dmitrievich, was sent home from the Horde. In 1386, Dmitry Donskoy reconciled with Oleg Ivanovich Ryazansky, which in 1387 was sealed by the marriage of their children (Fyodor Olegovich and Sofya Dmitrievna). In the same year, 1386, Dmitry succeeded in restoring his influence there by a large military demonstration near the Novgorod walls, taking the black forest in the volosts and 8,000 rubles in Novgorod. In 1388, Dmitry also faced discontent cousin and colleague Vladimir Andreevich, who had to be brought "to his will" by force, forced to recognize the political seniority of his eldest son Vasily. Dmitry managed to make peace with Vladimir on this two months before his death (1389). In his spiritual testament, Dmitry blessed (for the first time) the eldest son Vasily "with his father's great reign." And finally, in the summer of 1390, the marriage of Vasily and Sophia, the daughter of the Lithuanian prince Vitovt, took place in a solemn atmosphere. In Eastern Europe, Vasily I Dmitrievich and Cyprian, who became metropolitan on October 1, 1389, are trying to prevent the strengthening of the Lithuanian-Polish dynastic union and replace the Polish-Catholic colonization of Lithuanian and Russian lands with the consolidation of Russian forces around Moscow. The alliance with Vytautas, who was against the catholization of the Russian lands that were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, was important for Moscow, but could not be lasting, since Vytautas, of course, had his own goals and his own vision of which center the Russians should gather around lands.
A new stage in the history of the Golden Horde coincided with the death of Dmitry. It was then that Tokhtamysh came out of reconciliation with Tamerlane and began to claim territories subject to him. The confrontation began. Under these conditions, Tokhtamysh, immediately after the death of Dmitry Donskoy, issued a label for the reign of Vladimir to his son, Vasily I, and strengthened it, transferring to him both the Nizhny Novgorod principality and a number of cities. In 1395, Tamerlane's troops defeated Tokhtamysh on the Terek River.
At the same time, Tamerlane, having destroyed the power of the Horde, did not carry out his campaign against Russia. Having reached Yelets without fighting and robbery, he unexpectedly turned back and returned to Central Asia. Thus, the actions of Tamerlane at the end of the XIV century. became a historical factor that helped Russia survive in the fight against the Horde.
1405 - In 1405, based on the situation in the Horde, the Grand Duke of Moscow officially announced for the first time that he refused to pay tribute to the Horde. During 1405-1407. The Horde did not react in any way to this demarche, but then Edigei's campaign against Moscow followed.
Only 13 years after the campaign of Tokhtamysh (Apparently, there was a typo in the book - 13 years had passed since the campaign of Tamerlane), the Horde authorities could again recall the vassal dependence of Moscow and gather strength for a new campaign in order to restore the flow of tribute, which had been stopped since 1395.
1408 Yedigey's campaign against Moscow - On December 1, 1408, a huge army of Yedigei's temnik approached Moscow along the winter sleigh route and laid siege to the Kremlin.
On the Russian side, the situation was repeated to the details during the campaign of Tokhtamysh in 1382.
1. Grand Duke Vasily II Dmitrievich, having heard about the danger, like his father, fled to Kostroma (supposedly to gather an army).
2. In Moscow, Vladimir Andreevich Brave, Prince of Serpukhov, a participant in the Battle of Kulikovo, remained for the head of the garrison.
3. The settlement of Moscow was again burned, i.e. all wooden Moscow around the Kremlin, a mile away in all directions.
4. Edigey, approaching Moscow, set up his camp in Kolomenskoye, and sent a notice to the Kremlin that he would stand all winter and starve the Kremlin without losing a single soldier.
5. The memory of the invasion of Tokhtamysh was still so fresh among the Muscovites that it was decided to fulfill any requirements of Edigey, so that only he would leave without fighting.
6. Edigey demanded to collect 3,000 rubles in two weeks. silver, which was done. In addition, Edigey's troops, having scattered throughout the principality and its cities, began to gather polonyanniks for capturing (several tens of thousands of people). Some cities were heavily devastated, for example, Mozhaisk was completely burned.
7. On December 20, 1408, having received everything that was required, Edigey's army left Moscow without being attacked or pursued by the Russian forces.
8. The damage inflicted by Edigei's campaign was less than the damage from the invasion of Tokhtamysh, but he also fell a heavy burden on the shoulders of the population
The restoration of Moscow's tributary dependence on the Horde lasted from then on for almost another 60 years (until 1474)
1412 - Payment of tribute to the Horde became regular. To ensure this regularity, the Horde forces from time to time made eerily reminiscent raids on Russia.
1415 - Ruin by the Horde of the Yelets (border, buffer) land.
1427 - The raid of the Horde troops on Ryazan.
1428 - The raid of the Horde army on the Kostroma lands - Galich Mersky, the ruin and robbery of Kostroma, Plyos and Lukh.
1437 - Battle of Belev Campaign of Ulu-Muhammed to Zaoksky lands. The Battle of Belev on December 5, 1437 (the defeat of the Moscow army) because of the unwillingness of the Yuryevich brothers - Shemyaka and Krasny - to allow the army of Ulu-Mohammed to settle in Belev and make peace. As a result of the betrayal of the Lithuanian governor of Mtsensk, Grigory Protasyev, who went over to the side of the Tatars, Ulu-Mohammed won the Battle of Belev, after which he went east to Kazan, where he founded the Kazan Khanate.
Actually, from this moment begins the long struggle of the Russian state with the Kazan Khanate, which Russia had to wage in parallel with the heiress of the Golden Horde - the Great Horde, and which only Ivan IV the Terrible managed to complete. The first campaign of the Kazan Tatars against Moscow took place already in 1439. Moscow was burned, but the Kremlin was not taken. The second campaign of the Kazanians (1444-1445) led to a catastrophic defeat of the Russian troops, the capture of the Moscow prince Vasily II the Dark, a humiliating peace and, ultimately, the blinding of Vasily II. Further, the raids of the Kazan Tatars on Russia and the Russian response actions (1461, 1467-1469, 1478) are not indicated in the table, but they should be borne in mind (See "Kazan Khanate");
1451 - The campaign of Mahmut, the son of Kichi-Mohammed, to Moscow. He burned the settlements, but the Kremlin did not take it.
1462 - Termination by Ivan III of the issue of Russian coins with the name of the Khan of the Horde. Ivan III's statement about the rejection of the khan's label for a great reign.
1468 - Khan Akhmat's campaign against Ryazan
1471 - The campaign of the Horde to the Moscow frontiers in the trans-Oka zone
1472 - The Horde army approached the city of Aleksin, but did not cross the Oka. The Russian army set out for Kolomna. There was no collision between the two forces. Both sides feared that the outcome of the battle would not be in their favor. Caution in conflicts with the Horde - feature policies of Ivan III. He didn't want to risk it.
1474 - Khan Akhmat again approaches the Zaokskaya region, on the border with the Moscow Grand Duchy. A peace is concluded, or, more precisely, a truce, on the condition that the Moscow prince pays an indemnity of 140 thousand altyns in two terms: in the spring - 80 thousand, in the fall - 60 thousand. Ivan III again avoids a military clash.
1480 Great standing on the river Ugra - Akhmat makes a demand Ivan III pay tribute for 7 years, during which Moscow stopped paying it. Goes on a trip to Moscow. Ivan III comes forward with an army towards the Khan.
We end the history of Russian-Horde relations formally in 1481 as the date of death of the last Khan of the Horde - Akhmat, who was killed a year after the Great Standing on the Ugra, since the Horde really ceased to exist as a state body and administration, and even as a certain territory, which was subject to jurisdiction and real the power of this once unified administration.
Formally and in fact, new Tatar states were formed on the former territory of the Golden Horde, much smaller, but controlled and relatively consolidated. Of course, practically the disappearance of a huge empire could not happen overnight and it could not "evaporate" completely without a trace.
People, peoples, the population of the Horde continued to live their former lives and, sensing that catastrophic changes had taken place, nevertheless did not realize them as a complete collapse, as an absolute disappearance from the face of the earth of their former state.
In fact, the process of the collapse of the Horde, especially on the lower social level, continued for another three or four decades during the first quarter of the 16th century.
But the international consequences of the disintegration and disappearance of the Horde, on the contrary, affected quite quickly and quite clearly, distinctly. The liquidation of the gigantic empire, which controlled and influenced events from Siberia to the Balakans and from Egypt to the Middle Urals for two and a half centuries, led to a complete change in the international situation not only in this space, but also radically changed the general international position of the Russian state and its military-political plans and actions in relations with the East as a whole.
Moscow was able to quickly, within one decade, radically restructure the strategy and tactics of its eastern foreign policy.
The statement seems too categorical to me: it should be borne in mind that the process of crushing the Golden Horde was not a one-time act, but took place throughout the entire 15th century. Accordingly, the policy of the Russian state also changed. An example is the relationship between Moscow and the Kazan Khanate, which separated from the Horde in 1438 and tried to pursue the same policy. After two successful campaigns against Moscow (1439, 1444-1445), Kazan began to experience more and more stubborn and powerful pressure from the Russian state, which formally was still in vassal dependence on the Great Horde (during the period under review, these were the campaigns of 1461, 1467-1469, 1478). ).
First, an active, offensive line in relation to both rudiments and quite viable heirs of the Horde. The Russian tsars decided not to let them come to their senses, to finish off the already half-defeated enemy, and not at all rest on the laurels of the winners.
Secondly, as a new tactic that gives the most useful military-political effect, it was used to set one Tatar group against another. Significant Tatar formations began to be included in the Russian armed forces to deliver joint strikes against other Tatar military formations, and primarily against the remnants of the Horde.
So, in 1485, 1487 and 1491. Ivan III sent military detachments to strike at the troops of the Great Horde, who attacked Moscow's ally at that time - on Crimean Khan Mengli Giray.
Particularly indicative in military-political terms was the so-called. spring campaign in 1491 in the "Wild Field" in converging directions.
1491 Campaign in the "Wild Field" - 1. The Horde khans Seid-Ahmet and Shig-Ahmet in May 1491 laid siege to the Crimea. Ivan III sent a huge army of 60 thousand people to help his ally Mengli Giray. under the leadership of the following commanders:
a) Prince Peter Nikitich Obolensky;
b) Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Repni-Obolensky;
c) Kasimov prince Satilgan Merdzhulatovich.
2. These independent detachments headed for the Crimea in such a way that they had to approach from three sides in converging directions to the rear of the Horde troops in order to clamp them in pincers, while the troops of Mengli Giray would attack them from the front.
3. In addition, on June 3 and 8, 1491, the allies were mobilized to strike from the flanks. These were again both Russian and Tatar troops:
a) Khan of Kazan Mohammed-Emin and his governors Abash-Ulan and Burash-Seid;
b) The brothers of Ivan III, the appanage princes Andrei Vasilyevich Bolshoy and Boris Vasilyevich with their detachments.
Another new tactic introduced since the 90s of the XV century. Ivan III in his military policy in relation to the Tatar attacks, is the systematic organization of the pursuit of the Tatar raids that invaded Russia, which had never been done before.
1492 - The pursuit of the troops of two governors - Fyodor Koltovsky and Goryain Sidorov - and their battle with the Tatars in the interfluve of the Fast Pine and Truds;
1499 - Chase after the raid of the Tatars on Kozelsk, recapturing from the enemy all the "full" and cattle taken away by him;
1500 (summer) - The army of Khan Shig-Ahmed (Great Horde) of 20 thousand people. stood at the mouth of the Tikhaya Sosna river, but did not dare to go further towards the Moscow border;
1500 (autumn) - New campaign even more numerous troops Shig-Ahmed, but beyond the Zaokskaya side, i.e. the territory of the north of the Orel region, it did not dare to go;
1501 - On August 30, the 20,000-strong army of the Great Horde began the devastation of the Kursk land, approaching Rylsk, and by November it reached the Bryansk and Novgorod-Seversky lands. The Tatars captured the city of Novgorod-Seversky, but further, to the Moscow lands, this army of the Great Horde did not go.
In 1501, a coalition of Lithuania, Livonia and the Great Horde was formed, directed against the union of Moscow, Kazan and Crimea. This campaign was part of the war between Moscow Russia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for the Verkhovsky principalities (1500-1503). It is wrong to talk about the capture by the Tatars of Novgorod-Seversky lands, which were part of their ally - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and were captured by Moscow in 1500. According to the truce of 1503, almost all these lands were ceded to Moscow.
1502 Liquidation of the Great Horde - The army of the Great Horde remained to spend the winter at the mouth of the river Seim and near Belgorod. Ivan III then agreed with Mengli-Giray that he would send his troops to expel the troops of Shig-Ahmed from this territory. Mengli Giray complied with this request, inflicting a strong blow on the Great Horde in February 1502.
In May 1502, Mengli-Girey again defeated the troops of Shig-Ahmed at the mouth of the Sula River, where they migrated to spring pastures. This battle actually ended the remnants of the Great Horde.
So Ivan III cracked down at the beginning of the 16th century. with the Tatar states by the hands of the Tatars themselves.
Thus, from the beginning of the XVI century. the last remnants of the Golden Horde disappeared from the historical arena. And the point was not only that this completely removed any threat of invasion from the East from the Muscovite state, seriously strengthened its security, - the main, significant result was a sharp change in the formal and actual international legal position of the Russian state, which manifested itself in a change in its international -legal relations with the Tatar states - the "heirs" of the Golden Horde.
This was precisely the main historical meaning, the main historical significance of the liberation of Russia from the Horde dependence.
For the Muscovite state, vassal relations ceased, it became a sovereign state, a subject of international relations. This completely changed his position among the Russian lands, and in Europe as a whole.
Until then, for 250 years, the Grand Duke received only unilateral labels from the Horde khans, i.e. permission to own his own patrimony (principality), or, in other words, the consent of the khan to continue trusting his tenant and vassal, to the fact that he will be temporarily not touched from this post if he fulfills a number of conditions: pay tribute, send a loyal khan politics, send "gifts", participate, if necessary, in the military activities of the Horde.
With the disintegration of the Horde and the emergence of new khanates on its ruins - Kazan, Astrakhan, Crimean, Siberian - a completely new situation arose: the institution of vassalage of Russia ceased to exist. This was expressed in the fact that all relations with the new Tatar states began to take place on a bilateral basis. The conclusion of bilateral treaties on political issues, at the end of wars and at the conclusion of peace, began. And that was the main and important change.
Outwardly, especially in the first decades, there were no noticeable changes in relations between Russia and the khanates:
Moscow princes continued to occasionally pay tribute to the Tatar khans, continued to send them gifts, and the khans of the new Tatar states, in turn, continued to maintain the old forms of relations with the Grand Duchy of Moscow, i.e. sometimes, like the Horde, organized campaigns against Moscow right up to the walls of the Kremlin, resorted to devastating raids for the Polonians, stole cattle and robbed the property of the subjects of the Grand Duke, demanded that he pay an indemnity, etc. etc.
But after the end of hostilities, the parties began to sum up the legal results - i.e. record their victories and defeats in bilateral documents, conclude peace or truce treaties, sign written commitments. And it was precisely this that significantly changed their true relations, led to the fact that, in fact, the entire relationship of forces on both sides changed significantly.
That is why it became possible for the Muscovite state to purposefully work to change this balance of forces in its favor and achieve, in the end, the weakening and liquidation of the new khanates that arose on the ruins of the Golden Horde, not within two and a half centuries, but much faster - in less than 75 years old, in the second half of the XVI century.
"From Ancient Russia to the Russian Empire". Shishkin Sergey Petrovich, Ufa.
V.V. Pokhlebkina "Tatars and Russia. 360 years of relations in 1238-1598." (M. "International Relations" 2000).
Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary. 4th edition, M. 1987.
Most history textbooks say that in the XIII-XV centuries, Russia suffered from the Mongol Tatar yoke. Recently, however, voices of those who doubt that the invasion took place at all have been heard more and more often. Did the huge hordes of nomads really flood the peaceful principalities, enslaving their inhabitants? Let's analyze historical facts, many of which may be shocking.
The yoke was invented by the Poles
The term "Mongol-Tatar yoke" itself was coined by Polish authors. The chronicler and diplomat Jan Dlugosh in 1479 called the time of the existence of the Golden Horde so. He was followed in 1517 by the historian Matvey Mekhovsky, who worked at the University of Krakow. This interpretation of the relationship between Russia and the Mongol conquerors was quickly picked up in Western Europe, and from there it was borrowed by domestic historians.
Moreover, there were practically no Tatars in the Horde troops themselves. It’s just that in Europe they knew the name of this Asian people well, and therefore it spread to the Mongols. Meanwhile, Genghis Khan tried to exterminate the entire Tatar tribe by defeating their army in 1202.
The first census of the population of Russia
The first census in the history of Russia was carried out by representatives of the Horde. They had to collect accurate information about the inhabitants of each principality, about their class affiliation. The main reason for such an interest in statistics on the part of the Mongols was the need to calculate the amount of taxes that were levied on subjects.
In 1246, the census took place in Kyiv and Chernigov, the Ryazan principality was subjected to statistical analysis in 1257, the Novgorodians were counted two years later, and the population of the Smolensk region - in 1275.
Moreover, the inhabitants of Russia raised popular uprisings and drove out from their land the so-called "besermen", who collected tribute for the khans of Mongolia. But the governors of the rulers of the Golden Horde, called Baskaks, lived and worked in the Russian principalities for a long time, sending the collected taxes to Saray-Batu, and later to Saray-Berka.
Joint trips
The princely squads and the Horde warriors often made joint military campaigns, both against other Russians and against the inhabitants of Eastern Europe. So, in the period 1258-1287, the troops of the Mongols and Galician princes regularly attacked Poland, Hungary and Lithuania. And in 1277, the Russians participated in the military campaign of the Mongols in the North Caucasus, helping their allies conquer Alania.
In 1333 Muscovites stormed Novgorod, and the following year the Bryansk squad went to Smolensk. Each time, the Horde troops also participated in these internecine wars. In addition, they regularly helped the great princes of Tver, who were considered at that time the main rulers of Russia, to pacify the recalcitrant neighboring lands.
The basis of the horde was the Russians
The Arab traveler Ibn Battuta, who visited the city of Sarai-Berke in 1334, wrote in his essay “A Gift to those who contemplate the wonders of cities and the wonders of wanderings” that there are many Russians in the capital of the Golden Horde. Moreover, they make up the bulk of the population: both working and armed.
This fact was also mentioned by the white émigré author Andrei Gordeev in the book “History of the Cossacks”, which was published in France in the late 20s of the twentieth century. According to the researcher, most of the Horde troops were the so-called wanderers - ethnic Slavs who inhabited the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov and the Don steppes. These predecessors of the Cossacks did not want to obey the princes, so they moved south for the sake of a free life. The name of this ethno-social group probably comes from the Russian word "roam" (to wander).
As is known from chronicles, in the Battle of Kalka in 1223, roamers fought on the side of the Mongol troops, led by the voivode Ploskynya. Perhaps his knowledge of the tactics and strategy of the princely squads was of great importance for defeating the combined Russian-Polovtsian forces.
In addition, it was Ploskinya who lured the ruler of Kyiv, Mstislav Romanovich, along with two Turov-Pinsk princes, by cunning, and handed them over to the Mongols for execution.
However, most historians believe that the Mongols forced the Russians to serve in their army, i.e. the invaders forcibly armed the representatives of the enslaved people. Although this seems unlikely.
And Marina Poluboyarinova, a senior researcher at the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in her book “Russian People in the Golden Horde” (Moscow, 1978) suggested: “Probably, the forced participation of Russian soldiers in the Tatar army stopped later. There were mercenaries who had already voluntarily joined the Tatar troops.”
Caucasian Invaders
Yesugei-bagatur, the father of Genghis Khan, was a representative of the Borjigin clan of the Mongolian tribe Kiyat. According to the descriptions of many eyewitnesses, both he himself and his legendary son were tall fair-skinned people with reddish hair.
The Persian scholar Rashid-ad-Din in his work "Collection of Chronicles" (beginning of the 14th century) wrote that all the descendants of the great conqueror were mostly blond and gray-eyed.
This means that the elite of the Golden Horde belonged to the Caucasians. Probably, representatives of this race also predominated among other invaders.
There were few
We are accustomed to believe that in the XIII century, Russia was filled with countless hordes of Mongol-Tatars. Some historians speak of a 500,000-strong army. However, it is not. After all, even the population of modern Mongolia barely exceeds 3 million people, and given the brutal genocide of fellow tribesmen committed by Genghis Khan on the way to power, the size of his army could not be so impressive.
It is difficult to imagine how to feed the half-million army, which also traveled on horseback. Animals simply would not have enough pasture. But each Mongolian horseman led at least three horses with him. Now imagine a herd of 1.5 million. The horses of the warriors riding in the vanguard of the army would have eaten and trampled everything they could. The rest of the horses would die of starvation.
According to the most daring estimates, the army of Genghis Khan and Batu could not exceed 30 thousand horsemen. While the population Ancient Russia, according to the historian Georgy Vernadsky (1887-1973), before the start of the invasion was about 7.5 million people.
Bloodless executions
The Mongols, like most peoples of that time, executed people who were not noble or respected by cutting off their heads. However, if the sentenced person enjoyed authority, then his spine was broken and left to die slowly.
The Mongols were sure that blood is the seat of the soul. Shedding it means complicating the afterlife of the deceased to other worlds. Bloodless execution was applied to rulers, political and military figures, shamans.
The reason for the death sentence in the Golden Horde could be any crime: from desertion from the battlefield to petty theft.
The bodies of the dead were thrown into the steppes
The method of burial of the Mongol also directly depended on his social status. Rich and influential people found peace in special burials, in which valuables, gold and silver jewelry, and household items were buried along with the bodies of the dead. And the poor and ordinary soldiers who died in battle were often simply left in the steppe, where their life path ended.
In the disturbing conditions of a nomadic life, consisting of regular skirmishes with enemies, it was difficult to arrange funeral rites. The Mongols often had to move on quickly, without delay.
It was believed that the corpse worthy person quickly eaten by scavengers and vultures. But if the birds and animals did not touch the body for a long time, according to popular beliefs, this meant that a serious sin was registered behind the soul of the deceased.
The main reason for the dispute that arose around the size of the Mongol army lies in the fact that historians of the 13th-14th centuries, whose works, by right, should become the primary source, unanimously explained the unprecedented success of the nomads by overwhelming numbers. In particular, the Hungarian Dominican missionary Julian noted that the Mongols "have so many fighters that it can be divided into forty parts, and there is no power on earth that would be able to resist one of their parts."
If the Italian traveler Giovanni del Plano Carpini writes that Kyiv was besieged by 600 thousand pagans, then the Hungarian historian Simon notes that 500 thousand Mongol-Tatar soldiers invaded Hungary.
They also said that the Tatar horde occupies a space for twenty days of travel in length and fifteen in width, i.e. That is, it will take 70 days to bypass it.
Perhaps it is time to write a few words about the term "Tatars". In a bloody struggle for power over Mongolia, Genghis Khan inflicted a severe defeat on the Mongol Tatar tribe. In order to avoid revenge and ensure a peaceful future for posterity, all Tatars who turned out to be taller than the axis of the cart wheel were eliminated. From this we can conclude that the Tatars as an ethnic group ceased to exist by the beginning of the 13th century.
Cruelty decision quite understandable from the positions and moral principles of that era. The Tatars at one time, having corrected all the laws of the steppe, violated hospitality and poisoned the father of Genghis Khan, Yesugei Baatur. Long before this, the Tatars, having betrayed the interests of the Mongol tribes, participated in the capture of the Mongol Khan Khabul by the Chinese, who executed him with sophisticated cruelty.
In general, the Tatars often acted as allies of the Chinese emperors.
It is a paradox, but the Asian and European peoples called Tatars in a generalized way all the Mongolian tribes. Ironically, it was under the name of the Tatar tribe that they destroyed that the Mongols became known to the whole world.
Borrowing these figures, the mere mention of which makes one shudder, the authors of the three-volume "History of the Mongolian People's Republic" claim that 40 tumens of warriors went to the West.
Pre-revolutionary Russian historians are inclined to give breathtaking figures. In particular, N. M. Karamzin, the author of the first generalizing work on the history of Russia, writes in his History of the Russian State:
Batyev's strength incomparably surpassed ours and was the only reason for his success. In vain do new historians talk about the superiority of the Moghuls (Mongols) in military affairs: the ancient Russians, for many centuries fighting either with foreigners or with fellow earthmen, were not inferior both in courage and in the art of exterminating people to any of the then European peoples. But the squads of the Princes and the city did not want to unite, they acted in a special way, and in a very natural way could not resist half a million Batyev: for this conqueror constantly multiplied his army, adding the vanquished to it.
S. M. Solovyov determines the size of the Mongol army at 300 thousand soldiers.
Military historian of the period tsarist Russia, Lieutenant General M.I. Ivanin writes that the Mongol army initially consisted of 164 thousand people, but by the time of the invasion of Europe it had reached a grandiose figure of 600 thousand people. These included numerous detachments of prisoners performing technical and other auxiliary work.
The Soviet historian V.V. Kargalov writes: “The figure of 300 thousand people, which was usually called by pre-revolutionary historians, is controversial and overestimated. Some information that allows us to roughly judge the number of Batu's troops is contained in the "Collection of Chronicles" by the Persian historian Rashid ad-Din. The first volume of this extensive historical work provides a detailed list of the Mongol troops that remained after the death of Genghis Khan and were distributed among his heirs.
In total, the great Mongol Khan left to his sons, brothers and nephews “one hundred and twenty-nine thousand people.” Rashid ad-Din not only determines the total number of Mongol troops, but also indicates which of the khans - the heirs of Genghis Khan - and how he received warriors under his command. Therefore, knowing which khans participated in Batu's campaign, one can roughly determine the total number of Mongol soldiers who were with them on the campaign: there were 40-50 thousand people. It must be borne in mind, however, that in the "Collection of Chronicles" we are talking only about the Mongol troops proper, purebred Mongols, and, apart from them in the army Mongolian khans there were many warriors from conquered countries. According to the Italian Plano Carpini, at Batu, warriors from the conquered peoples accounted for approximately ¾ of the troops. Thus, the total number of the Mongol-Tatar army, which was preparing for a campaign against the Russian principalities, can be determined at 120-140 thousand people. This figure is supported by the following considerations. Usually, in campaigns, khans, descendants of Genghis, commanded a “tumen”, that is, a detachment of 10 thousand horsemen. Batu’s campaign against Russia, according to Eastern historians, was attended by 12-14 “Genghisid” khans, who could lead 12-14 “tumens” (that is, 120-140 thousand people).”
“Such a size of the Mongol-Tatar army is quite sufficient to explain the military successes of the conquerors. In the conditions of the 13th century, when an army of several thousand people already represented a significant force, more than a hundred thousandth army of the Mongol khans provided the conquerors with overwhelming superiority over the enemy. Recall, by the way, that the troops of the crusader knights, which, in essence, united a significant part of the military forces of all the feudal states of Europe, never exceeded 100 thousand people. What forces could oppose the feudal principalities of North-Eastern Russia to the hordes of Batu?
Let's hear the opinions of other researchers.
The Danish historian L. de Hartog in his work "Genghis Khan - Ruler of the World" notes:
“The army of Batu Khan consisted of 50 thousand soldiers, the main forces of which went to the west. By order of Ogedei, the ranks of this army were replenished with additional units and detachments. It is believed that in the army of Batu Khan, who went on a campaign, there were 120 thousand people, most of whom were representatives of the Turkic peoples, but the entire command was in the hands of purebred Mongols.
N. Ts. Munkuev, on the basis of his research, concludes:
“The eldest sons of all the Mongols were sent on a campaign to Russia and Europe, including the owners of inheritances, khan's sons-in-law and khan's wives. If we assume that the Mongolian troops during this period consisted<…>out of 139 thousand units, five people each, then, assuming that each family consisted of five people, the army of Batu and Subedei numbered about 139 thousand soldiers in its ranks.
E. Khara-Davan in his book "Genghis Khan as a Commander and His Legacy", first published in 1929 in Belgrade, but which has not lost its value to this day, writes that in the army of Batu Khan, who went to conquer Russia, there were from 122 to 150 thousand people of the combat element.
In general, almost all Soviet historians unanimously believed that the figure of 120-150 thousand soldiers was the most realistic. This figure also wandered into the work of modern researchers.
So, A. V. Shishov in his work “One Hundred Great Commanders” notes that Batu Khan led 120-140 thousand people under his banners.
It seems that the reader will undoubtedly be interested in excerpts from one research work. A. M. Ankudinova and V. A. Lyakhov, who set themselves the goal of proving (if not by facts, then by word) that the Mongols were able to break the heroic resistance of the Russian people only thanks to their numbers, write: “In the autumn of 1236, the huge hordes of Batu, numbering about 300 thousand people fell upon the Volga Bulgaria. The Bulgars courageously defended themselves, but were crushed by the huge numerical superiority of the Mongolo-Tatars. In the autumn of 1237, Batu's troops reached the Russian borders.<…>Ryazan was taken only when there was no one to defend it. All the soldiers, led by Prince Yuri Igorevich, died, all the inhabitants were killed. The Grand Prince of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich, who did not respond to the call of the Ryazan princes to oppose the Mongol-Tatars together, now found himself in a difficult situation. True, he used the time while Batu lingered on Ryazan land, and gathered a significant army. Having won a victory near Kolomna, Batu moved to Moscow ... Despite the fact that the Mongols had an overwhelming numerical superiority, they were able to take Moscow in five days. The defenders of Vladimir inflicted significant damage on the Mongol-Tatars. But the effect was huge numerical superiority, and Vladimir fell. Batu's troops moved from Vladimir in three directions. The defenders of Pereyaslavl-Zalessky courageously met the Mongol-Tatar invaders. Within five days, they fought off several violent attacks of the enemy, who had multiple superiority in strength. But the huge numerical superiority of the Mongol-Tatars affected, and they broke into Pereyaslavl-Zalessky.
I think it is useless and redundant to comment on what has been quoted.
Historian J. Fennel asks: “How did the Tatars manage to defeat Russia so easily and quickly?” and he himself answers: “It is necessary, of course, to take into account the size and extraordinary strength of the Tatar army. The conquerors undoubtedly had a numerical superiority over their opponents. However, he notes that it is incredibly difficult to give even the most rough estimate of the number of Batu Khan's troops and believes that the figure indicated by the historian V.V. Kargalov seems to be the most probable.
The Buryat researcher Y. Halbay in his book "Genghis Khan - a genius" provides such data. Batu Khan's army consisted of 170 thousand people, of which 20 thousand Chinese were in
technical parts. However, he did not provide facts to prove these figures.
English historian J.J. Saunders in his study "The Mongol Conquests" indicates a figure of 150 thousand people.
If the "History of the USSR", published in 1941, says that the Mongolian army consisted of 50 thousand soldiers, then in the "History of Russia", published six decades later, a slightly different figure is indicated, but within the permissible limits - 70 thousand . human.
In recent works on this topic, Russian researchers are inclined to give a figure of 60-70 thousand people. In particular, B. V. Sokolov writes in his book One Hundred Great Wars that Ryazan was besieged by a 60,000-strong Mongol army. Since Ryazan was the first Russian city that was on the path of the Mongol troops, we can conclude that this is the number of all the soldiers of Batu Khan.
Published in Russia in 2003, "History of the Fatherland" is the fruit of the joint work of the authors and indicates the figure of the Mongolian army at 70 thousand soldiers.
G. V. Vernadsky, who wrote a major work on the history of Russia in the era of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, writes that the core of the Mongol army probably amounted to 50 thousand soldiers. With the newly formed Turkic formations and various auxiliary troops, the total could be 120 thousand and even more, but due to the vast territories to be controlled and garrisoned, during the invasion, the strength of Batu's field army in his main campaign was hardly more than 50 thousand in every phase.
The famous scientist L. N. Gumilyov writes:
“The forces of the Mongols, pulled together for the western campaign, turned out to be small. Of the 130 thousand soldiers they had, 60 thousand had to be sent to permanent service in China, another 40 thousand went to Persia to suppress the Muslims, and 10 thousand soldiers were constantly at the rate. Thus, a ten thousandth corps remained for the campaign. Realizing its insufficiency, the Mongols conducted an emergency mobilization. From each family, they took the eldest son into the service.
However, the total number of troops that went west was unlikely to exceed 30-40 thousand people. After all, when crossing several thousand kilometers, you can’t get by with one horse. Each warrior must have, in addition to a riding, also a pack horse. And for an attack, a war horse was needed, because fighting on a tired or untrained horse is tantamount to suicide. Detachments and horses were required to transport siege weapons. Consequently, there were at least 3-4 horses per rider, which means that a 30,000-strong detachment should have had at least 100,000 horses. It is very difficult to feed such livestock when crossing the steppes. It was impossible to carry provisions for people and fodder for a large number of animals with them. That is why the figure of 30-40 thousand seems to be the most realistic estimate of the Mongol forces during the western campaign.
Despite the fact that Sergei Bodrov's film "Mongol" caused great criticism in Mongolia, his film clearly showed what kind of military art the ancient Mongols possessed, when a small cavalry detachment could defeat a huge army.
A. V. Venkov and S. V. Derkach joint work“Great commanders and their battles” note that Batu Khan gathered 30 thousand people under his banners (of which 4 thousand Mongols). These researchers could borrow the named figure from I. Ya. Korostovets.
An experienced Russian diplomat I. Ya. Korostovets, who served in Mongolia in one of the most vulnerable periods of our history - in the 1910s. - in his grandiose study "From Genghis Khan to Soviet Republic. Short story Mongolia, taking into account the latest time, writes that Batu Khan's invasion army consisted of 30 thousand people.
Summarizing the above, we can conclude that historians name approximately three groups of numbers: from 30 to 40 thousand, from 50 to 70 thousand and from 120 to 150 thousand. The fact that the Mongols, even having mobilized the conquered peoples, could not put up a 150 thousandth army , already a fact. In spite of supreme decree Ogedei, hardly every family had the opportunity to send their eldest son to the West. After all, the campaigns of conquest had lasted for more than 30 years, and the human resources of the Mongols were already scarce. After all, campaigns in one way or another affected every family. But even a 30,000-strong army, with all its valor and heroism, could hardly conquer several principalities in a dizzyingly short time.
In our opinion, taking into account the mobilization of older sons and conquered peoples, Batu's army numbered from 40 to 50 thousand soldiers.
Along the way, we criticize the prevailing opinions about the large number of Mongols who went on a campaign under the banner of the grandson of Genghis, and about hundreds of thousands of prisoners, who were allegedly led by the conquerors, due to the following historical facts:
Firstly, did the inhabitants of Ryazan dare to enter into an open battle with the Mongols, if in fact there were more than 100 thousand soldiers? Why did they not consider it prudent to sit outside the city walls and try to withstand the siege?
Secondly, why did the “guerrilla war” of only 1,700 combatants of Yevpaty Kolovrat alert Batukhan to such an extent that he decided to suspend the offensive and first deal with the “troublemaker”? he had hardly heard of such a governor. The fact that even 1,700 uncompromising patriots became a force for the Mongols to be reckoned with indicates that Batu Khan could not lead “beloved darkness” under his banners.
Thirdly, the people of Kiev, contrary to the customs of the war, put to death the ambassadors of Mongke Khan, who came to the city demanding surrender. Only a side confident in its invincibility would dare to take such a step. So it was in 1223 before the Battle of Kalka, when the Russian princes, confident in their abilities, condemned to death Mongolian ambassadors. He who does not believe in his own strength would never kill foreign ambassadors.
Fourthly, in 1241 the Mongols passed more than 460 km in Hungary in three incomplete days. Such examples are numerous. Is it possible to cover such a distance in such a short time with numerous prisoners and other non-combat equipment? But not only in Hungary, in general, for the entire period of the campaign of 1237-1242. the advance of the Mongols was so rapid that they always won in time and appeared, like the god of war, where they were not expected at all, thereby bringing their victory closer. Moreover, not one of the great conquerors could have captured even an inch of land with an army whose ranks were replenished with motley and non-combat elements.
A good example of this is Napoleon. Only the French brought him victories. And he did not win a single war, fighting with an army replenished with representatives of the conquered peoples. What was the cost of adventures in Russia - the so-called "invasion of the twelve languages".
The Mongols supplemented the small number of their army with the perfection of military tactics and efficiency. The description of the tactics of the Mongols by the English historian Harold Lamb is of interest:
- “1. A kurultai, or main council, was gathering at the headquarters of Kha-Khan. It was supposed to be attended by all senior military leaders, with the exception of those who were given permission to remain in the army. The emerging situation and the plan for the upcoming war were discussed there. Movement routes were chosen and various corps were formed
- 2. Spies were sent to the enemy guards and "languages" were obtained.
- 3. The invasion of the enemy's country was carried out by several armies in different directions. Each separate division or army corps (tumen) had its own commander, who moved with the troops to the intended target. He was given complete freedom of action within the limits of the task given to him, with close communication through a courier with the headquarters of the supreme leader or orkhon.
- 4. When approaching heavily fortified cities, the troops left a special corps to monitor them. Supplies were collected in the vicinity and, if necessary, a temporary base was set up. The Mongols rarely simply put up a barrier in front of a well-fortified city, most often one or two tumens proceeded to tax and siege it, using prisoners and siege engines for this purpose, while the main forces continued the offensive.
- 5. When a meeting in the field with an enemy army was foreseen, the Mongols usually adopted one of the following two tactics: they either tried to attack the enemy by surprise, quickly concentrating the forces of several armies on the battlefield, as was the case with the Hungarians in 1241, or, if, the enemy turned out to be vigilant and it was impossible to count on surprise; they directed their forces in such a way as to bypass one of the enemy flanks. Such a maneuver was called “tulugma”, or standard coverage.
The Mongols strictly adhered to this tactic during their aggressive campaigns, including during the invasion of Russia and European countries.
Exists a large number of facts that not only unambiguously refute the hypothesis of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, but also indicate that history was deliberately distorted, and that this was done with a very specific purpose ... But who deliberately distorted history and why? What kind real events they wanted to hide and why?
If we analyze the historical facts, it becomes clear that " Tatar-Mongol yoke" was invented in order to hide the consequences of "baptism". After all, this religion was imposed in a far from peaceful way ... In the process of "baptism" most of the population of the Kyiv principality was destroyed! It definitely becomes clear that those forces that were behind the imposition of this religion, in the future, fabricated history, juggling historical facts for themselves and their goals ...
These facts are known to historians and are not secret, they are publicly available, and anyone can easily find them on the Internet. Omitting scientific research and justification, which have already been described quite extensively, let's summarize the main facts that refute the big lie about the "Tatar-Mongol yoke".
1. Genghis Khan
Reconstruction of the throne of Genghis Khan with a family tamga with a swastika.
2. Mongolia
The state of Mongolia appeared only in the 1930s, when the Bolsheviks came to the nomads living in the Gobi desert and informed them that they were the descendants of the great Mongols, and their "compatriot" had created in due time Great Empire to which they were very surprised and delighted. The word "Mogul" is of Greek origin and means "Great". This word the Greeks called our ancestors - the Slavs. It has nothing to do with the name of any people (N.V. Levashov "Visible and invisible genocide").
3. The composition of the army "Tatar-Mongols"
70-80% of the army of the "Tatar-Mongols" were Russians, the remaining 20-30% were other small peoples of Russia, in fact, as now. This fact is clearly confirmed by a fragment of the icon of Sergius of Radonezh "The Battle of Kulikovo". It clearly shows that the same warriors are fighting on both sides. And this battle is more like a civil war than a war with a foreign conqueror.
4. What did the "Tatar-Mongols" look like?
Pay attention to the drawing of the tomb of Henry II the Pious, who was killed on the Legnica field.
The inscription is as follows: “The figure of a Tatar under the feet of Henry II, Duke of Silesia, Krakow and Poland, placed on the grave in Breslau of this prince, who was killed in the battle with the Tatars at Liegnitz on April 9, 1241.” As we can see, this "Tatar" has a completely Russian appearance, clothes and weapons. In the next image - "Khan's palace in the capital of the Mongol Empire, Khanbalik" (it is believed that Khanbalik is allegedly there).
What is "Mongolian" and what is "Chinese" here? Again, as in the case of the tomb of Henry II, before us are people of a clearly Slavic appearance. Russian caftans, archer caps, the same broad beards, the same characteristic blades of sabers called "elman". The roof on the left is almost an exact copy of the roofs of the old Russian towers ... (A. Bushkov, "Russia that was not").
5. Genetic expertise
According to the latest data from genetic research, it turned out that the Tatars and Russians have very close genetics. Whereas the differences between the genetics of Russians and Tatars from the genetics of the Mongols are colossal: “The differences between the Russian gene pool (almost completely European) and the Mongolian (almost completely Central Asian) are really great - these are, as it were, two around the world…” (oagb.ru).
6. Documents during the Tatar-Mongol yoke
During the existence of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, not a single document in the Tatar or Mongolian language has been preserved. But there are many documents of this time in Russian.
7. Lack of objective evidence supporting the hypothesis of the Tatar-Mongol yoke
There are currently no originals historical documents, which would objectively prove that there was a Tatar-Mongol yoke. But on the other hand, there are many fakes designed to convince us of the existence of a fiction called "". Here is one of those fakes. This text is called “The Word about the Destruction of the Russian Land” and in each publication it is declared “an excerpt from a poetic work that has not come down to us in its entirety ... About the Tatar-Mongol invasion”:
“Oh, bright and beautifully decorated Russian land! You are glorified by many beauties: you are famous for many lakes, locally revered rivers and springs, mountains, steep hills, high oak forests, clean fields, marvelous beasts, various birds, countless great cities, glorious villages, monastery gardens, temples of God and formidable princes, honest boyars and many nobles. You are full of everything, Russian land, O Christian Orthodox Faith!..»
There is not even a hint of the "Tatar-Mongol yoke" in this text. But in this "ancient" document there is such a line: “You are full of everything, Russian land, O Orthodox Christian faith!”
Before Nikon's church reform, which was carried out in the middle of the 17th century, it was called "orthodox." It began to be called Orthodox only after this reform... Therefore, this document could have been written no earlier than the middle of the 17th century and has nothing to do with the era of the "Tatar-Mongol yoke"...
On all maps that were published before 1772 and were not corrected in the future, you can see the following picture.
The western part of Russia is called Muscovy, or Moscow Tartaria ... In this small part of Russia, the Romanov dynasty ruled. Until the end of the 18th century, the Moscow Tsar was called the ruler of Moscow Tartaria or the Duke (Prince) of Moscow. The rest of Russia, which occupied almost the entire continent of Eurasia in the east and south of Muscovy at that time, is called Tartaria or (see map).
In the 1st edition of the British Encyclopedia of 1771, the following is written about this part of Russia:
“Tartaria, a huge country in the northern part of Asia, bordering Siberia in the north and west: which is called Great Tartaria. Those Tartars living south of Muscovy and Siberia are called Astrakhan, Cherkasy and Dagestan, living in the north-west of the Caspian Sea are called Kalmyk Tartars and which occupy the territory between Siberia and the Caspian Sea; Uzbek Tartars and Mongols, who live north of Persia and India, and, finally, Tibetan, living northwest of China ... "(see the Food of the Republic of Armenia website)…
Where did the name Tartaria come from
Our ancestors knew the laws of nature and the real structure of the world, life, and man. But, as now, the level of development of each person was not the same in those days. People who in their development went much further than others, and who could control space and matter (control the weather, heal diseases, see the future, etc.), were called Magi. Those of the Magi who knew how to control space at the planetary level and above were called Gods.
That is, the meaning of the word God, among our ancestors, was not at all the same as it is now. The gods were people who had gone much further in their development than the vast majority of people. For ordinary person their abilities seemed incredible, however, the gods were also people, and the possibilities of each god had their own limit.
Our ancestors had patrons - he was also called Dazhdbog (giving God) and his sister - Goddess Tara. These Gods helped people in solving such problems that our ancestors could not solve on their own. So, the gods Tarh and Tara taught our ancestors how to build houses, cultivate the land, write and much more, which was necessary in order to survive after the catastrophe and eventually restore civilization.
Therefore, more recently, our ancestors told strangers "We are the children of Tarkh and Tara ...". They said this because in their development, they really were children in relation to Tarkh and Tara, who had significantly departed in development. And the inhabitants of other countries called our ancestors "Tarkhtars", and later, because of the difficulty in pronunciation - "Tartars". Hence the name of the country - Tartaria ...
Baptism of Russia
And here the baptism of Russia? some may ask. As it turned out, very much so. After all, baptism did not take place in a peaceful way ... Before baptism, people in Russia were educated, almost everyone knew how to read, write, count (see article). Let us recall from the school curriculum on history, at least, the same “Birch Bark Letters” - letters that peasants wrote to each other on birch bark from one village to another.
Our ancestors had a Vedic worldview, as I wrote above, it was not a religion. Since the essence of any religion comes down to the blind acceptance of any dogmas and rules, without a deep understanding of why it is necessary to do it this way and not otherwise. The Vedic worldview, on the other hand, gave people precisely an understanding of the real, an understanding of how the world works, what is good and what is bad.
People saw what happened after the "baptism" in neighboring countries, when, under the influence of religion, a successful, highly developed country with an educated population, in a matter of years, plunged into ignorance and chaos, where only representatives of the aristocracy could read and write, and then not all of them. ..
Everyone perfectly understood what the “Greek religion” carried in itself, into which Prince Vladimir the Bloody and those who stood behind him were going to baptize Kievan Rus. Therefore, none of the inhabitants of the then Kyiv principality (the province that broke away from) did not accept this religion. But there were large forces behind Vladimir, and they were not going to retreat.
In the process of "baptism" for 12 years of forced Christianization, with rare exceptions, almost the entire adult population was destroyed. Kievan Rus. Because such a “teaching” could only be imposed on unreasonable children, who, due to their youth, could not yet understand that such a religion turned them into slaves both in the physical and spiritual sense of the word. All those who refused to accept the new "faith" were killed. This is confirmed by the facts that have come down to us. If before the "baptism" on the territory of Kievan Rus there were 300 cities and 12 million inhabitants, then after the "baptism" there were only 30 cities and 3 million people! 270 cities were destroyed! 9 million people were killed! (Diy Vladimir, "Orthodox Russia before the adoption of Christianity and after").
But despite the fact that almost the entire adult population of Kievan Rus was destroyed by the "holy" baptists, the Vedic tradition did not disappear. On the lands of Kievan Rus, the so-called dual faith was established. Most of the population purely formally recognized the imposed religion of slaves, while they themselves continued to live according to the Vedic tradition, though without showing it off. And this phenomenon was observed not only among the masses, but also among part of the ruling elite. And this state of affairs continued until the reform of Patriarch Nikon, who figured out how to deceive everyone.
conclusions
In fact, only children and a very small part of the adult population who adopted the Greek religion remained alive after baptism in the Principality of Kiev - 3 million people out of a population of 12 million before baptism. The principality was completely devastated, most of the cities, villages and villages were looted and burned. But exactly the same picture is drawn to us by the authors of the version of the “Tatar-Mongol yoke”, the only difference is that the same cruel actions were allegedly carried out there by the “Tatar-Mongols”!
As always, the winner writes history. And it becomes obvious that in order to hide all the cruelty with which the Kiev principality was baptized, and in order to stop all possible questions, and the "Tatar-Mongol yoke" was subsequently invented. Children were brought up in the traditions of the Greek religion (the cult of Dionysius, and later Christianity) and history was rewritten, where all the cruelty was blamed on the “wild nomads”…
The famous statement of President V.V. Putin about, in which the Russians allegedly fought against the Tatars with the Mongols ...
The Tatar-Mongol yoke is the biggest myth of history.
The Tatar-Mongol yoke is called the system of political dependence of the Russian principalities on the Mongol Empire. In 2013, in textbooks on the history of Russia, the period of the Tatar-Mongol yoke began to be called "Horde dominion."
In this article, we will briefly consider the features of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, its influence on the development of Russia, and also in general - a place in.
Years of the Tatar-Mongol yoke
The years of the Tatar-Mongol yoke amounted to almost 250 years: from 1237 to 1480.
Tatar-Mongol yoke in Russia
The history of Kievan Rus is full of many cases when its princes, who ruled different cities, fought among themselves for the right to own a larger territory.
As a result, this led to fragmentation, the depletion of human resources and the weakening of the state. In addition, Pechenegs or Polovtsy periodically attacked Russia, which further worsened the position of the state.
An interesting fact is that shortly before the invasion of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, Russian princes could turn the tide of history. Around 1219, the Mongols found themselves near Russia for the first time, as they were about to attack the Polovtsy.
To increase their chances of winning, they asked for help from Kyiv princes and assured them that they were not going to fight them. Moreover, the Mongols asked for peace with the Russian princes, as a result of which they sent their ambassadors to them.
Having gathered at the veche, the rulers of the Kyiv principalities decided not to enter into any agreements with the Mongols, because they did not trust them. They killed the ambassadors and thereby became the enemies of the Mongols.
The beginning of the Tatar-Mongol yoke
From 1237 to 1243, Batu continuously made raids on Russia. His huge army, numbering 200,000 people, ravaged the cities, killed and captured the Russian inhabitants.
Ultimately, the Horde army managed to subjugate many other Russian principalities.
Perhaps by making peace with the Mongols, Russia would have been able to avoid such sad consequences of the Mongol invasion. However, this would most likely lead to a change in religion, culture and language.
The structure of power under the Tatar-Mongol yoke
Kievan Rus developed on a democratic basis. The main body of power was the veche, which gathered all free men. It discussed any issues related to the life of the townspeople.
Veche was in every city, but with the advent of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, everything changed. People's assemblies ceased to exist almost everywhere, with the exception of Novgorod (see), Pskov and some other cities.
Periodically, the Mongols conducted a census to control the collection of tribute. They also recruited conscripts to serve in their army. An interesting fact is that even after the expulsion of the Tatar-Mongolians in Russia, they continued to carry out a census.
The Mongols introduced a rather important innovation regarding the creation of the so-called "pits". The pits were inns where travelers could get an overnight stay, or a cart. Thanks to this, correspondence between the khans and their governors was accelerated.
Local residents were forced to take care of the needs of caretakers, feed the horses and carry out the orders of high-ranking officials on the road.
Such a system made it possible to effectively control not only the Russian principalities under the Tatar-Mongol yoke, but also the entire territory of the Mongol Empire.
Orthodox Church and the Tatar-Mongol yoke
During their raids, the Tatar-Mongols desecrated and destroyed Orthodox churches. They killed the clergy or took them into slavery.
An interesting fact is that the Horde army believed that it was God's punishment for the Russian people. It is worth noting that the inhabitants of Russia also believed that the Mongol-Tatar yoke was a punishment for their sins. In this regard, they turned to the church even more, seeking support from the priests.
During the reign of Mengu-Timur, the situation changed. The Orthodox Church received the legal concept of a label (charter of immunity). Despite the fact that the temples were under the rule of the Mongols, this label guaranteed them immunity.
He exempted the church from taxation, and also allowed the priests to remain free and not be in the service.
Thus, the church turned out to be practically independent of the princes and was able to retain large territories in its composition. Thanks to the label, none of the Mongol or Russian soldiers had the right to exert physical or spiritual pressure on the church and its representatives.
The monks were given the opportunity to spread Christianity by converting pagans to it. Temples were built in one place after another, thanks to which the position of the Orthodox Church was further strengthened.
After the destruction of Kyiv in 1299, the church center was moved to Vladimir, and in 1322 moved to.
Change of language after the Tatar-Mongol yoke
The change in language during the period of the Tatar-Mongolian yoke had a radical effect on the conduct of trade, military affairs and the management of the state apparatus.
Thousands of new words, borrowed from the Mongolian and Turkic languages, appeared in the Russian lexicon. Here are just a few words that came to us from the Eastern peoples:
- coachman
- money
- label
- horse
- sheepskin coat
Culture during the Mongol-Tatar yoke
During the Tatar-Mongol yoke, many cultural and art figures were deported, which led to an artistic revival.
In 1370, the Suzdalians successfully intervened in the struggle for power in the Horde (on the middle Volga), and in 1376 the Muscovite troops ransomed the Horde governors of the middle Volga and imprisoned Russian customs officers there.
The battle on the Vozha River - a battle between the Russian army under the command and the army of the Golden Horde under the command of Murza Begich (Begish) took place on August 11, 1378. As a result of a fierce battle, the Tatar army was defeated. This event glorified the Russian prince and raised the spirit of the oppressed people.
Battle of Kulikovo
Later, Mamai decided to again go to war against the Russian prince, gathering an army of 150 thousand people. It is worth noting that the united Russian army, led by the Moscow Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy, numbered almost half as many soldiers.
The battle took place near the Don River on the Kulikovo field in 1380. In a bloody battle, the victory went to the Russian army.
Despite the fact that half of the Russian soldiers died on the battlefield, the Horde army was almost completely exterminated, and Grand Duke Dmitry went down in history under the nickname "Donskoy".
Prince Dmitry Donskoy However, soon Moscow was again devastated by Khan Tokhtamysh, as a result of which she again began to pay tribute to the Tatar-Mongols.
Nevertheless, the decisive victory of the Russian troops was an important step towards the restoration of the unity of Russia and the future overthrow of the Golden Horde yoke.
In the era that followed the Battle of Kulikovo, the Tatar-Mongol yoke significantly changed its character in the direction of greater independence of the great Moscow princes.
The end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke
Every year Moscow strengthened its position and exerted a serious influence on other principalities, including Novgorod.
Later, Moscow forever threw off the shackles of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, in which it had been for almost 250 years.
The official date of the end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke is considered to be 1480.
The results of the Tatar-Mongol yoke
The result of the Tatar-Mongolian yoke in Russia was political, religious and social changes.
According to some historians, the Tatar-Mongol yoke led Russian state to decline. Supporters of this point of view believe that it is precisely for this reason that Russia has begun to lag behind the countries of the West.
Important crafts practically disappeared in it, as a result of which Russia was thrown back several centuries ago. According to experts, the Tatar-Mongols destroyed approximately 2.5 million people, which was about a third of the entire population of Ancient Russia.
Other historians (including those) believe that the Tatar-Mongol yoke, on the contrary, played a positive role in the evolution of Russian statehood.
The Horde contributed to its development, as it served as a reason for the end civil wars and civil strife.
Be that as it may, but the Tatar-Mongolian yoke in Russia is major event in the history of Russia.
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