When was the Mongol Tatar yoke. Mongol-Tatar yoke

Mongolian Tatar yoke- the period of the capture of Russia by the Mongol-Tatars in the 13-15 centuries. The Mongol-Tatar yoke lasted for 243 years.

The truth about the Mongol-Tatar yoke

The Russian princes at that time were in a state of enmity, so they could not give a fitting rebuff to the invaders. Despite the fact that the Cumans came to the rescue, the Tatar-Mongol army quickly seized the advantage.

The first direct clash between the troops took place on the Kalka River, on May 31, 1223, and was quickly lost. Even then it became clear that our army would not be able to defeat the Tatar-Mongols, but the onslaught of the enemy was held back for quite a long time.

In the winter of 1237, a targeted invasion of the main troops of the Tatar-Mongols into the territory of Russia began. This time, the enemy army was commanded by the grandson of Genghis Khan - Batu. The army of nomads managed to move quickly enough inland, plundering the principalities in turn and killing everyone who tried to resist on their way.

The main dates of the capture of Russia by the Tatar-Mongols

1223. The Tatar-Mongols approached the border of Russia;
May 31, 1223. First battle;
Winter 1237. The beginning of a targeted invasion of Russia;
1237. Ryazan and Kolomna were captured. Palo Ryazan principality;
March 4, 1238. Killed Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich. The city of Vladimir is captured;
Autumn 1239. Captured Chernigov. Palo Chernihiv Principality;
1240 year. Kyiv captured. The Kiev principality fell;
1241. Palo Galicia-Volyn principality;
1480. The overthrow of the Mongol-Tatar yoke.

Causes of the fall of Russia under the onslaught of the Mongol-Tatars

the absence of a unified organization in the ranks of Russian soldiers;
numerical superiority of the enemy;
the weakness of the command of the Russian army;
poorly organized mutual assistance from scattered princes;
underestimation of the strength and number of the enemy.

Features of the Mongol-Tatar yoke in Russia

In Russia, the establishment of the Mongol-Tatar yoke with new laws and orders began.

actual center political life Vladimir became, it was from there that the Tatar-Mongol Khan exercised his control.

The essence of management Tatar-Mongol yoke was that the Khan handed the label to reign at his own discretion and completely controlled all the territories of the country. This increased the enmity between the princes.

The feudal fragmentation of the territories was strongly encouraged, as it reduced the likelihood of a centralized rebellion.

Tribute was regularly levied from the population, the “Horde output”. The money was collected by special officials - Baskaks, who showed extreme cruelty and did not shy away from kidnappings and murders.

Consequences of the Mongol-Tatar conquest

The consequences of the Mongol-Tatar yoke in Russia were terrible.

Many cities and villages were destroyed, people were killed;
Agriculture, handicrafts, and the arts declined;
Feudal fragmentation increased significantly;
Significantly reduced population;
Russia began to noticeably lag behind Europe in development.

The end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke

Complete liberation from the Mongol-Tatar yoke occurred only in 1480, when the Grand Duke Ivan III refused to pay money to the horde and declared the independence of Russia.

o (Mongol-Tatar, Tatar-Mongol, Horde) - the traditional name for the system of exploitation of Russian lands by nomadic conquerors who came from the East from 1237 to 1480.

This system was aimed at the implementation of mass terror and robbery of the Russian people by levying cruel requisitions. It acted primarily in the interests of the Mongol nomadic military-feudal nobility (noyons), in whose favor the lion's share of the collected tribute came.

The Mongol-Tatar yoke was established as a result of the invasion of Batu Khan in the 13th century. Until the early 1260s, Russia was ruled by the great Mongol khans, and then by the khans of the Golden Horde.

The Russian principalities were not directly part of the Mongol state and retained the local princely administration, the activities of which were controlled by the Baskaks - representatives of the khan in the conquered lands. The Russian princes were tributaries of the Mongol khans and received from them labels for the possession of their principalities. Formally, the Mongol-Tatar yoke was established in 1243, when Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich received a label from the Mongols for the Grand Duchy of Vladimir. 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).

On the territory of Russia there was no permanent Mongol-Tatar army. The yoke was supported by punitive campaigns and repressions against recalcitrant princes. The regular flow of tribute from the Russian lands began after the census of 1257-1259, conducted by the Mongolian "numerals". The units of taxation were: in cities - the yard, in rural areas - "village", "plough", "plough". Only the clergy were exempt from tribute. The main "Horde hardships" were: "exit", or "Tsar's tribute" - a tax directly for the Mongol Khan; trading fees ("myt", "tamka"); transport duties ("pits", "carts"); the content of the khan's ambassadors ("fodder"); various "gifts" and "honors" to the khan, his relatives and associates. Every year, a huge amount of silver left the Russian lands in the form of tribute. Large "requests" for military and other needs were periodically collected. In addition, the Russian princes were obliged, by order of the khan, to send soldiers to participate in campaigns and in battue hunts (“catchers”). In the late 1250s and early 1260s, tribute from the Russian principalities was collected by Muslim merchants (“besermens”), who bought this right from the great Mongol khan. Most of the tribute went to the great khan in Mongolia. During the uprisings of 1262, the "besermen" from Russian cities were expelled, and the duty of collecting tribute passed to the local princes.

The struggle of Russia against the yoke was gaining more and more breadth. In 1285, Grand Duke Dmitry Alexandrovich (son of Alexander Nevsky) defeated and expelled the army of the “Horde prince”. At the end of the 13th - the first quarter of the 14th century, performances in Russian cities led to the elimination of the Basques. With the strengthening of the Moscow principality, the Tatar yoke is gradually weakening. Moscow Prince Ivan Kalita (reigned in 1325-1340) won the right to collect "exit" from all Russian principalities. From the middle of the XIV century, the orders of the khans of the Golden Horde, not supported by a real military threat, were no longer carried out by the Russian princes. Dmitry Donskoy (1359-1389) did not recognize the khan's labels issued to his rivals and seized the Grand Duchy of Vladimir by force. In 1378 he defeated the Tatar army on the Vozha River in the Ryazan land, and in 1380 he defeated the Golden Horde ruler Mamai in the Battle of Kulikovo.

However, after the campaign of Tokhtamysh and the capture of Moscow in 1382, Russia was again forced to recognize the power of the Golden Horde and pay tribute, but already Vasily I Dmitrievich (1389-1425) received the great reign of Vladimir without the khan's label, as "his fiefdom." Under him, the yoke was nominal. Tribute was paid irregularly, the Russian princes pursued an independent policy. The attempt of the Golden Horde ruler Edigey (1408) to restore full power over Russia ended in failure: he failed to take Moscow. The strife that began in the Golden Horde opened before Russia the possibility of overthrowing the Tatar yoke.

However, in the middle of the 15th century, Muscovite Russia itself experienced a period internecine war, which weakened its military potential. During these years, the Tatar rulers organized a series of devastating invasions, but they were no longer able to bring the Russians to complete obedience. The unification of the Russian lands around Moscow led to the concentration in the hands of the Moscow princes of such political power, which the weakening Tatar khans could not cope with. The Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III Vasilyevich (1462-1505) in 1476 refused to pay tribute. In 1480, after the unsuccessful campaign of the Khan of the Great Horde Akhmat and “standing on the Ugra”, the yoke was finally overthrown.

The Mongol-Tatar yoke had negative, regressive consequences for the economic, political and cultural development of the Russian lands, was a brake on the growth of the productive forces of Russia, which were at a higher socio-economic level compared to the productive forces of the Mongol state. It artificially preserved long time purely feudal natural character of the economy. Politically, the consequences of the yoke were manifested in the disruption of the natural process of the state development of Russia, in the artificial maintenance of its fragmentation. The Mongol-Tatar yoke, which lasted two and a half centuries, was one of the reasons for the economic, political and cultural backwardness of Russia from Western European countries.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources.

50 famous mysteries of the Middle Ages Zgurskaya Maria Pavlovna

So was there a Tatar-Mongolian yoke in Russia?

A passing Tatar. Hell will truly embrace them.

(Passes.)

From the parody theatrical play by Ivan Maslov "Elder Pafnutiy", 1867.

The traditional version of the Tatar-Mongol invasion of Russia, the "Tatar-Mongol yoke", and the liberation from it is known to the reader from school. In the presentation of most historians, events looked something like this. At the beginning of the XIII century in the steppes Far East the energetic and brave tribal leader Genghis Khan gathered a huge army of nomads, soldered by iron discipline, and rushed to conquer the world - "to the last sea." Having conquered the nearest neighbors, and then China, the mighty Tatar-Mongol horde rolled to the west. Having traveled about 5 thousand kilometers, the Mongols defeated Khorezm, then Georgia, and in 1223 reached the southern outskirts of Russia, where they defeated the army of Russian princes in a battle on the Kalka River. In the winter of 1237, the Tatar-Mongols invaded Russia already with all their countless troops, burned and devastated many Russian cities, and in 1241 tried to conquer Western Europe by invading Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, reached the shores of the Adriatic Sea, but turned back, because that they were afraid to leave Russia devastated, but still dangerous for them, in their rear. The Tatar-Mongol yoke began.

The great poet A. S. Pushkin left heartfelt lines: “Russia was assigned a high destiny ... its boundless plains absorbed the power of the Mongols and stopped their invasion at the very edge of Europe; the barbarians did not dare to leave enslaved Russia in their rear and returned to the steppes of their East. The emerging enlightenment was saved by a torn and dying Russia…”

The huge Mongol state, stretching from China to the Volga, hung over Russia like an ominous shadow. The Mongol khans issued labels to the Russian princes for reigning, attacked Russia many times in order to rob and rob, repeatedly killed Russian princes in their Golden Horde.

Having grown stronger over time, Russia began to resist. In 1380, the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Donskoy defeated the Horde Khan Mamai, and a century later, in the so-called “standing on the Ugra”, the troops of Grand Duke Ivan III and the Horde Khan Akhmat converged. The opponents camped for a long time on opposite sides of the Ugra River, after which Khan Akhmat, finally realizing that the Russians had become strong and had little chance of winning the battle, gave the order to retreat and led his horde to the Volga. These events are considered "the end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke."

But in recent decades, this classic version has been challenged. The geographer, ethnographer and historian Lev Gumilyov convincingly showed that relations between Russia and the Mongols were much more complicated than the usual confrontation between cruel conquerors and their unfortunate victims. Deep knowledge in the field of history and ethnography allowed the scientist to conclude that there was a certain “complimentarity” between the Mongols and the Russians, that is, compatibility, the ability to symbiosis and mutual support at the cultural and ethnic level. The writer and publicist Alexander Bushkov went even further, "twisting" Gumilyov's theory to its logical conclusion and expressing a completely original version: what is commonly called the Tatar-Mongol invasion was in fact a struggle of the descendants of Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest (son of Yaroslav and grandson of Alexander Nevsky ) with their rival princes for sole power over Russia. Khans Mamai and Akhmat were not alien raiders, but noble nobles who, according to the dynastic ties of the Russian-Tatar families, had legally justified rights to a great reign. Thus, the Battle of Kulikovo and “standing on the Ugra” are not episodes of the struggle against foreign aggressors, but pages civil war in Russia. Moreover, this author promulgated a completely “revolutionary” idea: under the names “Genghis Khan” and “Batu”, the Russian princes Yaroslav and Alexander Nevsky appear in history, and Dmitry Donskoy is Khan Mamai himself (!).

Of course, the conclusions of the publicist are filled with irony and border on postmodern "banter", but it should be noted that many facts of the history of the Tatar-Mongol invasion and the "yoke" really look too mysterious and need closer attention and unbiased research. Let's try to consider some of these mysteries.

Let's start with a general remark. Western Europe in the 13th century presented a disappointing picture. Christendom was going through a certain depression. The activity of Europeans shifted to the borders of their range. German feudal lords began to seize the border Slavic lands and turn their population into disenfranchised serfs. The Western Slavs who lived along the Elbe resisted German pressure with all their might, but the forces were unequal.

Who were the Mongols who approached the borders Christendom from the east? How did the powerful Mongolian state appear? Let's take a tour of its history.

At the beginning of the 13th century, in 1202-1203, the Mongols first defeated the Merkits and then the Keraits. The fact is that the Keraites were divided into supporters of Genghis Khan and his opponents. The opponents of Genghis Khan were led by the son of Van Khan, the legitimate heir to the throne - Nilha. He had reason to hate Genghis Khan: even at the time when Van Khan was an ally of Genghis, he (the leader of the Keraites), seeing the undeniable talents of the latter, wanted to transfer the Kerait throne to him, bypassing his own son. Thus, the clash of part of the Keraites with the Mongols occurred during the lifetime of Wang Khan. And although the Keraites had a numerical superiority, the Mongols defeated them, as they showed exceptional mobility and took the enemy by surprise.

In the clash with the Keraites, the character of Genghis Khan was fully manifested. When Van Khan and his son Nilha fled from the battlefield, one of their noyons (commanders) with a small detachment detained the Mongols, saving their leaders from captivity. This noyon was seized, brought before the eyes of Genghis, and he asked: “Why, noyon, seeing the position of your troops, did not leave yourself? You had both the time and the opportunity." He replied: "I served my khan and gave him the opportunity to escape, and my head is for you, O conqueror." Genghis Khan said: “Everyone should imitate this man.

See how brave, loyal, valiant he is. I cannot kill you, noyon, I offer you a place in my army.” Noyon became a thousand-man and, of course, faithfully served Genghis Khan, because the Kerait horde disintegrated. Wang Khan himself died while trying to escape to the Naimans. Their guards on the border, seeing the Kerait, killed him, and presented the severed head of the old man to their khan.

In 1204, the Mongols of Genghis Khan and the powerful Naiman Khanate clashed. Once again, the Mongols won. The defeated were included in the horde of Genghis. There were no more tribes in the eastern steppe that could actively resist the new order, and in 1206, at the great kurultai, Genghis was again elected khan, but already of all Mongolia. Thus was born the all-Mongolian state. The only hostile tribe remained the ancient enemies of the Borjigins - the Merkits, but by 1208 they were forced out into the valley of the Irgiz River.

The growing power of Genghis Khan allowed his horde to assimilate different tribes and peoples quite easily. Because, in accordance with the Mongolian stereotypes of behavior, the khan could and should have demanded obedience, obedience to orders, fulfillment of duties, but it was considered immoral to force a person to abandon his faith or customs - the individual had the right to make his own choice. This state of affairs was attractive to many. In 1209, the Uighur state sent ambassadors to Genghis Khan with a request to accept them as part of his ulus. The request, of course, was granted, and Genghis Khan gave the Uighurs huge trading privileges. The caravan route went through Uyghuria, and the Uyghurs, being part of the Mongolian state, got rich due to the fact that they sold water, fruits, meat and “pleasures” to hungry caravaners at high prices. The voluntary unification of Uighuria with Mongolia turned out to be useful for the Mongols as well. With the annexation of Uighuria, the Mongols went beyond the borders of their ethnic range and came into contact with other peoples of the ecumene.

In 1216, on the Irgiz River, the Mongols were attacked by the Khorezmians. Khorezm by that time was the most powerful of the states that emerged after the weakening of the power of the Seljuk Turks. The rulers of Khorezm from the governors of the ruler of Urgench turned into independent sovereigns and adopted the title of "Khorezmshahs". They proved to be energetic, enterprising and warlike. This allowed them to win most of Central Asia and southern Afghanistan. The Khorezmshahs created a huge state in which the main military force was the Turks from the adjacent steppes.

But the state turned out to be fragile, despite the wealth, brave warriors and experienced diplomats. The regime of military dictatorship relied on tribes alien to the local population, who had a different language, other customs and customs. The cruelty of the mercenaries caused discontent among the inhabitants of Samarkand, Bukhara, Merv and other Central Asian cities. The uprising in Samarkand led to the destruction of the Turkic garrison. Naturally, this was followed by a punitive operation of the Khorezmians, who brutally dealt with the population of Samarkand. Other large and rich cities of Central Asia also suffered.

In this situation, Khorezmshah Mohammed decided to confirm his title of "ghazi" - "victorious infidels" - and become famous for another victory over them. The opportunity presented itself to him in that very year 1216, when the Mongols, fighting with the Merkits, reached the Irgiz. Upon learning of the arrival of the Mongols, Muhammad sent an army against them on the grounds that the steppe inhabitants must be converted to Islam.

The Khorezmian army attacked the Mongols, but in the rearguard battle they themselves went on the offensive and badly beaten the Khorezmians. Only the attack of the left wing, commanded by the son of Khorezmshah, the talented commander Jalal-ad-Din, corrected the situation. After that, the Khorezmians withdrew, and the Mongols returned home: they were not going to fight with Khorezm, on the contrary, Genghis Khan wanted to establish ties with the Khorezmshah. After all, the Great Caravan Route went through Central Asia and all the owners of the lands along which it ran grew rich due to the duties paid by merchants. Merchants willingly paid duties, because they shifted their costs to consumers, while losing nothing. Wishing to preserve all the advantages associated with the existence of caravan routes, the Mongols strove for peace and quiet on their borders. The difference of faiths, in their opinion, did not give a reason for war and could not justify bloodshed. Probably, the Khorezmshah himself understood the episodic nature of the collision on the Irshz. In 1218 Muhammad sent a trade caravan to Mongolia. Peace was restored, especially since the Mongols had no time for Khorezm: shortly before this, the Naiman prince Kuchluk began new war with the Mongols.

Once again, Mongol-Khorezmian relations were violated by the Khorezmshah himself and his officials. In 1219, a rich caravan from the lands of Genghis Khan approached the Khorezm city of Otrar. The merchants went to the city to replenish their food supplies and take a bath. There, the merchants met two acquaintances, one of whom informed the ruler of the city that these merchants were spies. He immediately realized that there great occasion rob travelers. Merchants were killed, property was confiscated. The ruler of Otrar sent half of the loot to Khorezm, and Mohammed accepted the booty, which means he shared the responsibility for what he had done.

Genghis Khan sent envoys to find out what caused the incident. Mohammed was angry when he saw the infidels, and ordered to kill part of the ambassadors, and part, having stripped naked, drive them to certain death in the steppe. Two or three Mongols nevertheless got home and told about what had happened. Genghis Khan's anger knew no bounds. From the point of view of the Mongol, two of the most terrible crimes took place: the deceit of those who trusted and the murder of guests. According to custom, Genghis Khan could not leave unavenged either the merchants who were killed in Otrar, or the ambassadors who were insulted and killed by the Khorezmshah. The Khan had to fight, otherwise the tribesmen would simply refuse to trust him.

In Central Asia, the Khorezmshah had at his disposal a 400,000-strong regular army. And the Mongols, as the famous Russian orientalist V.V. Bartold believed, had no more than 200 thousand. Genghis Khan demanded military assistance from all allies. Warriors came from the Turks and Kara-Kitais, the Uighurs sent a detachment of 5 thousand people, only the Tangut ambassador boldly replied: "If you do not have enough troops, do not fight." Genghis Khan considered the answer an insult and said: "Only dead I could bear such an insult."

Genghis Khan threw the assembled Mongolian, Uyghur, Turkic and Kara-Chinese troops to Khorezm. Khorezmshah, having quarreled with his mother Turkan-Khatun, did not trust the military leaders related to her by kinship. He was afraid to gather them into a fist in order to repel the onslaught of the Mongols, and scattered the army among the garrisons. The best commanders of the Shah were his own unloved son Jalal-ad-Din and the commandant of the fortress Khojent Timur-Melik. The Mongols took fortresses one after another, but in Khujand, even taking the fortress, they could not capture the garrison. Timur-Melik put his soldiers on rafts and escaped pursuit along the wide Syr Darya. Scattered garrisons could not hold back the offensive of Genghis Khan's troops. Soon everyone big cities sultanate - Samarkand, Bukhara, Merv, Herat - were captured by the Mongols.

Regarding the capture of the Central Asian cities by the Mongols, there is an established version: "Wild nomads destroyed the cultural oases of the agricultural peoples." Is it so? This version, as shown by L. N. Gumilyov, is based on the legends of Muslim court historians. For example, the fall of Herat was reported by Islamic historians as a disaster in which the entire population was exterminated in the city, except for a few men who managed to escape in the mosque. They hid there, afraid to go out into the streets littered with corpses. Only wild animals roamed the city and tormented the dead. After sitting for some time and recovering, these "heroes" went to distant lands to rob caravans in order to regain their lost wealth.

But is it possible? If the entire population big city was exterminated and lay on the streets, then inside the city, in particular in the mosque, the air would be full of cadaveric miasma, and those who hid there would simply die. No predators, except for jackals, live near the city, and they very rarely penetrate the city. It was simply impossible for exhausted people to move to rob caravans a few hundred kilometers from Herat, because they would have to walk, carrying burdens - water and provisions. Such a “robber”, having met a caravan, would no longer be able to rob it ...

Even more surprising is the information reported by historians about Merv. The Mongols took it in 1219 and also allegedly exterminated all the inhabitants there. But already in 1229 Merv rebelled, and the Mongols had to take the city again. And finally, two years later, Merv sent a detachment of 10 thousand people to fight the Mongols.

We see that the fruits of fantasy and religious hatred gave rise to legends of Mongol atrocities. If, however, we take into account the degree of reliability of sources and ask simple but inevitable questions, it is easy to separate historical truth from literary fiction.

The Mongols occupied Persia almost without a fight, driving the Khorezmshah's son Jalal-ad-Din to northern India. Mohammed II Ghazi himself, broken by struggle and constant defeat, died in a leper colony on an island in the Caspian Sea (1221). The Mongols also made peace with the Shiite population of Iran, which was constantly offended by the Sunnis in power, in particular the Caliph of Baghdad and Jalal-ad-Din himself. As a result, the Shiite population of Persia suffered much less than the Sunnis of Central Asia. Be that as it may, in 1221 the state of the Khorezmshahs was finished. Under one ruler - Mohammed II Ghazi - this state reached the highest power, and died. As a result, Khorezm, Northern Iran, and Khorasan were annexed to the Mongol Empire.

In 1226, the hour of the Tangut state struck, which at the decisive moment of the war with Khorezm refused to help Genghis Khan. The Mongols rightly viewed this move as a betrayal that, according to Yasa, required vengeance. The capital of Tangut was the city of Zhongxing. It was besieged in 1227 by Genghis Khan, having defeated the Tangut troops in previous battles.

During the siege of Zhongxing, Genghis Khan died, but the Mongol noyons, on the orders of their leader, concealed his death. The fortress was taken, and the population of the "evil" city, on which the collective guilt for betrayal fell, was subjected to execution. The Tangut state disappeared, leaving behind only written evidence of its former culture, but the city survived and lived until 1405, when it was destroyed by the Ming Chinese.

From the capital of the Tanguts, the Mongols took the body of their great ruler to their native steppes. The funeral rite was as follows: the remains of Genghis Khan were lowered into the dug grave along with many valuable things and all the slaves who performed the funeral work were killed. According to custom, exactly one year later, it was required to celebrate a commemoration. In order to later find a burial place, the Mongols did the following. At the grave they sacrificed a little camel just taken from their mother. And a year later, the camel herself found in the boundless steppe the place where her cub was killed. Having slaughtered this camel, the Mongols performed the prescribed rite of commemoration and then left the grave forever. Since then, no one knows where Genghis Khan is buried.

AT last years During his life he was extremely concerned about the fate of his state. The khan had four sons from his beloved wife Borte and many children from other wives, who, although they were considered legitimate children, did not have rights to the throne of their father. Sons from Borte differed in inclinations and in character. The eldest son, Jochi, was born shortly after the Merkit captivity of Borte, and therefore not only evil tongues, but also the younger brother Chagatai called him a "Merkit degenerate." Although Borte invariably defended Jochi, and Genghis Khan himself always recognized him as his son, the shadow of the Merkit captivity of his mother fell on Jochi as a burden of suspicion of illegitimacy. Once, in the presence of his father, Chagatai openly called Jochi illegitimate, and the matter almost ended in a fight between the brothers.

It is curious, but according to contemporaries, there were some stable stereotypes in Jochi's behavior that greatly distinguished him from Genghis. If for Genghis Khan there was no concept of "mercy" in relation to enemies (he left life only for small children who were adopted by his mother Hoelun, and valiant bagaturas who transferred to the Mongol service), then Jochi was distinguished by humanity and kindness. So, during the siege of Gurganj, the Khorezmians, completely exhausted by the war, asked to accept surrender, that is, in other words, to spare them. Jochi spoke out in favor of showing mercy, but Genghis Khan categorically rejected the request for mercy, and as a result, the Gurganj garrison was partially massacred, and the city itself was flooded by the waters of the Amu Darya. The misunderstanding between the father and the eldest son, constantly fueled by the intrigues and slander of relatives, deepened over time and turned into distrust of the sovereign to his heir. Genghis Khan suspected that Jochi wanted to gain popularity among the conquered peoples and secede from Mongolia. It is unlikely that this was the case, but the fact remains: at the beginning of 1227, Jochi, hunting in the steppe, was found dead - his spine was broken. The details of what happened were kept secret, but, without a doubt, Genghis Khan was a person interested in the death of Jochi and quite capable of ending his son's life.

In contrast to Jochi, the second son of Genghis Khan, Chaga-tai, was a strict, executive and even cruel man. Therefore, he received the position of "Guardian of Yasa" (something like the Attorney General or the Supreme Judge). Chagatai strictly observed the law and treated its violators without any mercy.

The third son of the Great Khan, Ogedei, like Jochi, was distinguished by kindness and tolerance towards people. The character of Ogedei is best illustrated by the following case: once, on a joint trip, the brothers saw a Muslim bathing by the water. According to Muslim custom, every true believer is obliged to perform prayer and ritual ablution several times a day. Mongolian tradition, on the contrary, forbade a person to bathe during the whole summer. The Mongols believed that washing in a river or lake causes a thunderstorm, and a thunderstorm in the steppe is very dangerous for travelers, and therefore "calling a thunderstorm" was seen as an attempt on people's lives. The nukers-rescuemen of the ruthless zealot of the law Chagatai seized the Muslim. Anticipating a bloody denouement - the unfortunate man was threatened with beheading - Ogedei sent his man to tell the Muslim to answer that he had dropped gold into the water and was just looking for it there. The Muslim said so to Chagatai. He ordered to look for a coin, and during this time, Ugedei's combatant threw a gold one into the water. The found coin was returned to the "rightful owner". In parting, Ugedei, taking a handful of coins from his pocket, handed them to the rescued person and said: “The next time you drop gold into the water, don’t go after it, don’t break the law.”

The youngest of the sons of Genghis, Tului, was born in 1193. Since Genghis Khan was then in captivity, this time Borte's infidelity was quite obvious, but Genghis Khan recognized Tuluya as his legitimate son, although outwardly he did not resemble his father.

Of the four sons of Genghis Khan, the youngest possessed the greatest talents and showed the greatest moral dignity. A good commander and an outstanding administrator, Tului was also a loving husband and distinguished by nobility. He married the daughter of the deceased head of the Keraites, Wan Khan, who was a devout Christian. Tului himself did not have the right to accept the Christian faith: like Genghisides, he had to profess the Bon religion (paganism). But the Khan's son allowed his wife not only to perform all Christian rites in a luxurious "church" yurt, but also to have priests with her and receive monks. The death of Tului can be called heroic without any exaggeration. When Ogedei fell ill, Tului voluntarily took a strong shamanic potion, seeking to "attract" the disease to himself, and died saving his brother.

All four sons were eligible to succeed Genghis Khan. After the elimination of Jochi, three heirs remained, and when Genghis died, and the new khan had not yet been elected, Tului ruled the ulus. But at the kurultai of 1229, in accordance with the will of Genghis, the gentle and tolerant Ogedei was chosen as the great khan. Ogedei, as we have already mentioned, had a good soul, but the kindness of the sovereign is often not to the benefit of the state and subjects. The management of the ulus under him was carried out mainly due to the severity of Chagatai and the diplomatic and administrative skills of Tului. The great khan himself preferred roaming with hunting and feasting in Western Mongolia to state concerns.

The grandchildren of Genghis Khan were allocated various areas of the ulus or high positions. The eldest son of Jochi, Orda-Ichen, received the White Horde, located between the Irtysh and the Tarbagatai ridge (the area of \u200b\u200bpresent-day Semipalatinsk). The second son, Batu, began to own the Golden (big) Horde on the Volga. The third son, Sheibani, went to the Blue Horde, which roamed from Tyumen to the Aral Sea. At the same time, the three brothers - the rulers of the uluses - were allocated only one or two thousand Mongol warriors, while the total number of the Mongols' army reached 130 thousand people.

The children of Chagatai also received a thousand soldiers each, and the descendants of Tului, being at the court, owned the entire grandfather and father's ulus. So the Mongols established a system of inheritance, called the minor, in which the youngest son received all the rights of his father as an inheritance, and older brothers only a share in the common inheritance.

The great Khan Ogedei also had a son - Guyuk, who claimed the inheritance. The increase in the clan during the lifetime of the children of Genghis caused the division of the inheritance and enormous difficulties in managing the ulus, which stretched over the territory from the Black to the Yellow Sea. In these difficulties and family scores, the seeds of future strife lurked that ruined the state created by Genghis Khan and his associates.

How many Tatar-Mongol came to Russia? Let's try to deal with this issue.

Russian pre-revolutionary historians mention "a half-million Mongol army". V. Yan, the author of the famous trilogy "Genghis Khan", "Batu" and "To the last sea", calls the number four hundred thousand. However, it is known that a warrior of a nomadic tribe goes on a campaign with three horses (at least two). One is carrying luggage (“dry rations”, horseshoes, spare harness, arrows, armor), and the third needs to be changed from time to time so that one horse can rest if you suddenly have to engage in battle.

Simple calculations show that for an army of half a million or four hundred thousand fighters, at least one and a half million horses are needed. Such a herd is unlikely to be able to effectively advance a long distance, since the front horses will instantly destroy the grass in a vast area, and the rear ones will die from starvation.

All the main invasions of the Tatar-Mongolians into Russia took place in winter, when the remaining grass is hidden under the snow, and you can’t take much fodder with you ... The Mongolian horse really knows how to get food from under the snow, but ancient sources do not mention the horses of the Mongolian breed that were available "in service" of the horde. Horse breeding experts prove that the Tatar-Mongolian horde rode Turkmens, and this is a completely different breed, and looks different, and is not able to feed itself in winter without human help ...

In addition, the difference between a horse released to roam in the winter without any work, and a horse forced to make long transitions under a rider, and also to participate in battles, is not taken into account. But they, in addition to the riders, also had to carry heavy prey! Wagon trains followed the troops. The cattle that pulls the carts also need to be fed ... The picture of a huge mass of people moving in the rearguard of a half-million army with carts, wives and children seems quite fantastic.

The temptation for the historian to explain the campaigns of the Mongols of the 13th century by "migrations" is great. But modern researchers show that the Mongol campaigns were not directly related to the movements of huge masses of the population. Victories were won not by hordes of nomads, but by small, well-organized mobile detachments, after campaigns returning to their native steppes. And the khans of the Jochi branch - Baty, Orda and Sheibani - received, according to the will of Genghis, only 4 thousand horsemen, that is, about 12 thousand people who settled in the territory from the Carpathians to Altai.

In the end, historians settled on thirty thousand warriors. But here, too, unanswered questions arise. And the first among them will be this: is not it enough? Despite the disunity of the Russian principalities, thirty thousand horsemen is too small a number to arrange "fire and ruin" throughout Russia! After all (even the supporters of the “classical” version admit this) they did not move in a compact mass. Several detachments scattered in different directions, and this reduces the number of "innumerable Tatar hordes" to the limit beyond which elementary distrust begins: could such a number of aggressors conquer Russia?

It turns out a vicious circle: a huge army of the Tatar-Mongolians, for purely physical reasons, would hardly be able to maintain combat capability in order to move quickly and inflict the notorious "indestructible blows." A small army would hardly have been able to establish control over most of the territory of Russia. To get out of this vicious circle, one has to admit that the Tatar-Mongol invasion was in fact only an episode of the bloody civil war that was going on in Russia. The enemy forces were relatively small, they relied on their own forage stocks accumulated in the cities. And the Tatar-Mongols became an additional external factor used in the internal struggle in the same way as the troops of the Pechenegs and Polovtsy were previously used.

The annalistic information about the military campaigns of 1237–1238 that has come down to us draws a classically Russian style of these battles - the battles take place in winter, and the Mongols - the steppes - act with amazing skill in the forests (for example, the encirclement and subsequent complete destruction of the Russian detachment on the City River under the command of the great Prince Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich).

Having cast a general look at the history of the creation of the huge Mongol state, we must return to Russia. Let us take a closer look at the situation with the battle of the Kalka River, not fully understood by historians.

At the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, it was by no means the steppes that represented the main danger to Kievan Rus. Our ancestors were friends with the Polovtsian khans, married the “red Polovtsian girls”, accepted the baptized Polovtsians into their midst, and the descendants of the latter became Zaporizhzhya and Sloboda Cossacks, not without reason in their nicknames the traditional Slavic suffix belonging to “ov” (Ivanov) changed to Turkic - “ enco" (Ivanenko).

At this time, a more formidable phenomenon marked itself - a decline in morals, a rejection of traditional Russian ethics and morality. In 1097, a princely congress took place in Lyubech, which laid the foundation for a new political form of the country's existence. There it was decided that "let each one keep his fatherland." Russia began to turn into a confederation of independent states. The princes swore to inviolably observe what was proclaimed and in that they kissed the cross. But after the death of Mstislav, the Kievan state began to quickly disintegrate. Polotsk was the first to be laid aside. Then the Novgorod "republic" stopped sending money to Kyiv.

A striking example of the loss of moral values and patriotic feelings was the act of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky. In 1169, having captured Kyiv, Andrew gave the city to his warriors for a three-day plunder. Until that moment in Russia it was customary to act in this way only with foreign cities. Under no civil strife, this practice never spread to Russian cities.

Igor Svyatoslavich, a descendant of Prince Oleg, the hero of The Tale of Igor's Campaign, who became the Prince of Chernigov in 1198, set himself the goal of cracking down on Kyiv, the city where the rivals of his dynasty were constantly strengthening. He agreed with the Smolensk prince Rurik Rostislavich and called for the help of the Polovtsy. In defense of Kyiv - "the mother of Russian cities" - Prince Roman Volynsky spoke out, relying on the troops of the Torks allied to him.

The plan of the Chernigov prince was realized after his death (1202). Rurik, Prince of Smolensk, and the Olgovichi with the Polovtsy in January 1203, in a battle that went mainly between the Polovtsy and the Torks of Roman Volynsky, prevailed. Having captured Kyiv, Rurik Rostislavich subjected the city to a terrible defeat. The Church of the Tithes and the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra were destroyed, and the city itself was burned. “They created a great evil, which was not from baptism in the Russian land,” the chronicler left a message.

After the fateful year 1203 Kyiv never recovered.

According to L. N. Gumilyov, by this time the ancient Russians had lost their passionarity, that is, their cultural and energy “charge”. Under such conditions, a collision with a strong enemy could not but become tragic for the country.

Meanwhile, the Mongol regiments were approaching the Russian borders. At that time, the main enemy of the Mongols in the west were the Cumans. Their enmity began in 1216, when the Polovtsy accepted the natural enemies of Genghis - the Merkits. The Polovtsians actively pursued the anti-Mongolian policy, constantly supporting the Finno-Ugric tribes hostile to the Mongols. At the same time, the Polovtsian steppes were as mobile as the Mongols themselves. Seeing the futility of cavalry clashes with the Polovtsy, the Mongols sent an expeditionary force behind enemy lines.

The talented generals Subetei and Jebe led a corps of three tumens across the Caucasus. The Georgian king George Lasha tried to attack them, but was destroyed along with the army. The Mongols managed to capture the guides, who showed the way through the Darial Gorge. So they went to the upper reaches of the Kuban, to the rear of the Polovtsians. Those, finding the enemy in their rear, retreated to the Russian border and asked for help from the Russian princes.

It should be noted that the relationship between Russia and the Polovtsy does not fit into the scheme of irreconcilable confrontation "sedentary - nomads". In 1223, the Russian princes became allies of the Polovtsy. The three strongest princes of Russia - Mstislav Udaloy from Galich, Mstislav of Kyiv and Mstislav of Chernigov - having gathered troops, tried to protect them.

The clash at the Kalka in 1223 is described in some detail in the annals; in addition, there is another source - "The Tale of the Battle of the Kalka, and the Russian Princes, and the Seventy Bogatyrs." However, the abundance of information does not always bring clarity ...

Historical science has long denied the fact that the events on Kalka were not an aggression of evil aliens, but an attack by the Russians. The Mongols themselves did not seek war with Russia. The ambassadors who arrived at the Russian princes rather amiably asked the Russians not to interfere in their relations with the Polovtsians. But, true to their allied obligations, the Russian princes rejected the peace proposals. In doing so, they made a fatal mistake that had bitter consequences. All the ambassadors were killed (according to some sources, they were not even just killed, but "tortured"). At all times, the murder of an ambassador, a truce was considered a serious crime; according to Mongolian law, the deceit of a person who trusted was an unforgivable crime.

Following this Russian army goes on a long journey. Leaving the borders of Russia, it is the first to attack the Tatar camp, take prey, steal cattle, after which it moves out of its territory for another eight days. A decisive battle is taking place on the Kalka River: the eighty thousandth Russian-Polovtsian army fell on the twenty thousandth (!) Detachment of the Mongols. This battle was lost by the allies due to the inability to coordinate actions. The Polovtsy left the battlefield in panic. Mstislav Udaloy and his "younger" prince Daniel fled for the Dnieper; they were the first to reach the shore and managed to jump into the boats. At the same time, the prince cut down the rest of the boats, fearing that the Tatars would be able to cross after him, “and, filled with fear, he reached Galich on foot.” Thus, he doomed his comrades-in-arms, whose horses were worse than the prince's, to death. The enemies killed everyone they overtook.

Other princes remain one on one with the enemy, repulse his attacks for three days, after which, believing the assurances of the Tatars, they surrender. Here lies another mystery. It turns out that the princes surrendered after a certain Russian named Ploskinya, who was in the enemy’s battle formations, solemnly kissed the pectoral cross that the Russians would be spared and their blood would not be shed. The Mongols, according to their custom, kept their word: having tied the captives, they laid them on the ground, covered them with planks and sat down to feast on the bodies. Not a drop of blood was shed! And the latter, according to Mongolian views, was considered extremely important. (By the way, only the “Tale of the Battle of Kalka” reports that the captured princes were put under the boards. Other sources write that the princes were simply killed without mocking, and still others that they were “captured.” So the story of feast on the bodies - just one of the versions.)

Different nations have different perceptions of the rule of law and the concept of honesty. The Russians believed that the Mongols, having killed the captives, violated their oath. But from the point of view of the Mongols, they kept their oath, and the execution was the highest justice, because the princes committed the terrible sin of killing the one who trusted. Therefore, the point is not in deceit (history gives a lot of evidence of how the Russian princes themselves violated the "kissing of the cross"), but in the personality of Ploskin himself - a Russian, a Christian, who somehow mysteriously found himself among the soldiers of the "unknown people".

Why did the Russian princes surrender after listening to Ploskini's persuasion? “The Tale of the Battle of the Kalka” writes: “There were roamers along with the Tatars, and their governor was Ploskinya.” Brodniki are Russian free combatants who lived in those places, the predecessors of the Cossacks. However, the establishment of the social position of Ploskin only confuses the matter. It turns out that the roamers in a short time managed to agree with the “unknown peoples” and became close to them so much that they jointly hit their brothers in blood and faith? One thing can be stated with all certainty: part of the army with which the Russian princes fought on the Kalka was Slavic, Christian.

Russian princes in this whole story do not look the best. But back to our mysteries. For some reason, the "Tale of the Battle of the Kalka" mentioned by us is not able to definitely name the enemy of the Russians! Here is a quote: “... Because of our sins, unknown peoples came, the godless Moabites [a symbolic name from the Bible], about whom no one knows exactly who they are and where they came from, and what their language is, and what tribe they are, and what faith. And they call them Tatars, while others say - Taurmen, and others - Pechenegs.

Amazing lines! They were written much later than the events described, when it seemed to be necessary to know exactly who the Russian princes fought on the Kalka. After all, part of the army (albeit small) nevertheless returned from Kalka. Moreover, the victors, pursuing the defeated Russian regiments, chased them to Novgorod-Svyatopolch (on the Dnieper), where they attacked the civilian population, so that among the townspeople there should have been witnesses who saw the enemy with their own eyes. And yet he remains "unknown"! This statement further confuses the matter. After all, by the time described, the Polovtsians were well known in Russia - they lived side by side for many years, then fought, then became related ... The Taurmens, a nomadic Turkic tribe that lived in the Northern Black Sea region, were again well known to the Russians. It is curious that in the "Tale of Igor's Campaign" among the nomadic Turks who served the Chernigov prince, some "Tatars" are mentioned.

There is an impression that the chronicler is hiding something. For some reason unknown to us, he does not want to directly name the enemy of the Russians in that battle. Perhaps the battle on the Kalka was not at all a clash with unknown peoples, but one of the episodes of the internecine war waged between Christian Russians, Christian Polovtsians and Tatars who got involved in the matter?

After the battle on the Kalka, part of the Mongols turned their horses to the east, trying to report on the completion of the task - the victory over the Polovtsians. But on the banks of the Volga, the army fell into an ambush set up by the Volga Bulgars. The Muslims, who hated the Mongols as pagans, unexpectedly attacked them during the crossing. Here the victors at Kalka were defeated and lost many people. Those who managed to cross the Volga left the steppes to the east and united with the main forces of Genghis Khan. Thus ended the first meeting of the Mongols and the Russians.

L. N. Gumilyov collected a huge amount of material, clearly indicating that the relationship between Russia and the Horde CAN be denoted by the word "symbiosis". After Gumilyov, they write especially much and often about how Russian princes and “Mongol khans” became brothers, relatives, sons-in-law and father-in-law, how they went on joint military campaigns, how (let’s call a spade a spade) they were friends. Relations of this kind are unique in their own way - in no country conquered by them, the Tatars did not behave like this. This symbiosis, brotherhood in arms leads to such an interweaving of names and events that sometimes it is even difficult to understand where the Russians end and the Tatars begin...

Therefore, the question of whether there was a Tatar-Mongolian yoke in Russia (in the classical sense of the term) remains open. This topic is waiting for its researchers.

This text is an introductory piece. author

7.4. Fourth period: the Tatar-Mongol yoke from the battle on the City (1238) to "standing on the Ugra" (1481) - the official end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke in Russia KHAN BATY from 1238 YAROSLAV VSEVOLODOVICH, 1238–1248, ruled 10 years, capital - Vladimir .came from Novgorod, p. 70. According to,

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author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

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From the book Book 1. New Chronology of Russia [Russian Chronicles. "Mongol-Tatar" conquest. Kulikovo battle. Ivan the Terrible. Razin. Pugachev. Defeat of Tobolsk and author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

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From the book Gumilev son of Gumilev author Belyakov Sergey Stanislavovich

THE TATAR-MONGOLIAN YOKE But, perhaps, the victims were justified, and the "alliance with the Horde" saved the Russian land from the worst misfortune, from the insidious papal prelates, from the merciless dog-knights, from the enslavement not only of the physical, but also of the spiritual? Maybe Gumilyov is right, and Tatar help

From the book Reconstruction of True History author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

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Chapter X "Tatar-Mongol yoke" - as it was The so-called yoke of the Tatars did not exist. The Tatars never occupied Russian lands and did not keep their garrisons there ... It is difficult to find parallels in history to such generosity of the winners. B. Ishboldin, honorary professor

Since ancient times, numerous nomads, famous for their courage and militancy, roamed the endless expanses. They did not have a single government, they did not have a commander under whose leadership they could become united and invincible. But at the beginning of the 13th century it appeared. He managed to unite under his command most of the nomadic tribes. Genghis Khan was not a well-known nomad, but ideas about world domination reigned in his soul. In order to implement them, he needed a well-trained army, ready to go even to the ends of the Earth. So he set about preparing his army. With all his might, Genghis Khan went to Central Asia, China and the Caucasus. Encountering no serious resistance on his way, he enslaved them. Now in the thoughts of the ardent Mongol-Tatar commander is the idea of eliminating Russia, which has long been famous for its wealth and beauty, from the list of its enemies.

Mongol-Tatars in Russia

Taking a short break from previous battles and replenishing provisions, the Tatar horde headed for the Russian lands. The organization of the offensive was carefully thought out, providing for all the pluses and minuses that could arise in the course of its implementation. In 1223, the first armed clash of nomadic tribes with Russian warriors and Polovtsian warriors took place. The battle took place on the Kalka River. Several combat detachments under the command of the Khan's commanders Dzhebe and Subede fought for three days with a small army of Russian-Polovtsian soldiers. The Polovtsy were the first to take the blow, for which they immediately paid with their own lives. No less severe blow fell on the main Russian forces. The outcome of the battle was a foregone conclusion. The Tatars defeated the Russians.

Important! In this battle, more than nine Russian princes fell, among whom were Mstislav the Old, Mstislav Udatny, Mstislav Svyatoslavich.

Rice. 2. The only portrait of Genghis Khan

The death of Genghis Khan and the accession of Batu

During the next trip to the countries of Central Asia, Genghis Khan died. After the death of the leader, strife began between the sons, which caused a lack of autocracy. The grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu Khan, managed to reunite the power of the army again. In 1237, he decides to go to North-Eastern Russia again. In the autumn of 1237, the khan's commander sent ambassadors to the Ryazan prince Yuri demanding tribute. Answering with a proud refusal, Yuri began to prepare for battle, hoping for help from the Prince of Vladimir, but he could not provide it. In the meantime, having entered into battle with the vanguard of Ryazan, the Tatars defeated it, and already on December 16, 1237, the city was besieged. After a nine-day siege, the Mongols set in motion wall-beating machines and broke into the city, where they staged a massacre. The heroic resistance of the Russian people did not stop there.Evpaty Kolovrat appeared. He assembled a detachment of about 1,700 people from partisans and surviving people.Operating behind enemy lines, he inflicted serious damage on the attackers. The Tatars, not understanding what was happening, thought that the Russians had risen from the dead. Surrounding a handful of Russian knights, the Mongols killed them. Yevpaty Kolovrat himself also fell. Many believe that this is fiction, but in reality these are facts, as the chronicle says.

Meeting of the Mongol-Tatars and combatants on the Vladimir-Suzdal land - a chronology of events

As soon as the nomads with their leader Batu entered the Vladimir-Suzdal land, Yuri II sent military regiments under the command of his son Vsevolod to meet them. Having met near Kolomna, Batu defeated them.

Moscow and Vladimir

Moscow was the next stop on the way. At that time it was a capital city and was surrounded by high oak walls. The Tatars smashed everything, Moscow was destroyed, and the way to Vladimir was opened. On February 3, 1238, the grand ducal capital was besieged.Yuri Vsevolodovich decides to leave Vladimir and goes to the Sit River, where he begins to gather a new army. On February 7, infidels enter the city. Members of the princely family and bishops, trying to hide in the church, fell victim to the fire.

Suzdal, Rostov and Veliky Novgorod

While some enemies besieged Vladimir, others ravaged Suzdal. Sweeping away Pereyaslavl and Rostov along the way, the invaders split up. One part went to the river Sit, where the battle later took place. Prince Yuri II was killed, and his army was defeated. The second part went to Novgorod and Torzhok. Meanwhile, the Novgorodians were preparing for a long defense.

Important! Approaching Veliky Novgorod, the Mongol-Tatar authorities make an unexpected decision to turn south, so as not to get bogged down in the spring thaw. It happened too suddenly. Only 100 miles saved the city from ruin.

Chernihiv

Now the Chernihiv lands are under attack. Having met the city of Kozelsk on their way, the conquerors lingered near it for almost two months. After this time, the city was captured and nicknamed "evil".

Kyiv

The Polovtsian lands were next in line for destruction. Having made devastating raids, the next year Batu again returns to the northeast, andKyiv was captured in 1240. At this, the suffering of Russia temporarily ceased. Weakened by continuous fighting, Batu's troops withdrew to Volhynia, Poland, Galicia, and Hungary. The main burden of ruin and cruelty fell on the Russian share, but other countries received life positions. The whole culture of Ancient Russia, all knowledge and discoveries went into oblivion for many years.

What caused the rapid victory of the conquerors?

The victory of the Mongol-Tatars was not at all in the fact that they were good warriors and possessed excellent weapons, which had no equal. The fact was that each of the princes of Kievan Rus wanted to curry favor and be a hero. And so it turned out, everyone became heroes, only posthumously. The main thing was to unite forces into one whole, and with this power to deliver a decisive blow to the Golden Horde (as the troops of the great khan were called). This did not happen, total control was established. Princes were appointed only in the Horde, the Baskaks controlled their actions. They still paid tribute. For the solution of global issues, it was necessary to go to the khan. Such a life could not be called free.

Rice. 4. "Dmitry Donskoy on the Kulikovo field". O. Kiprensky. 1805

Dmitry Donskoy

But in 1359, Dmitry Ivanovich was born, who would later receive the nickname Donskoy. His father, Ivan the Red, ruled his principality wisely. He did not ask for trouble, he obediently carried out everything, regularly paid tribute to the Horde. But soon he died, and power passed to his son. However, before that, power belonged to his grandfather, Ivan Kalita, who received from the khan the right to collect tribute from all over Russia. From childhood, Dmitry Donskoy could not watch how his father was running errands for the Horde Khan and fulfilled all his requirements, made numerous censuses. The new prince revealed open disobedience to Batu, and, realizing what followed, began to gather an army. The Horde Khan, seeing that Dmitry Ivanovich was proud, decided to punish him, again plunging him into dependence. Hastily collecting a huge army, he set off on a campaign. At the same time, the Moscow prince managed to unite under his command the squads of almost all Russian princes.History says that there has never been such a force in Russia. The battle was to take place on the Kulikovo field. Before the battle, the Grand Duke turned to the monastery to Sergius of Radonezh. He blessed him and gave two monks to help him: Peresvet and Oslyabya.

Rice. 5. "Morning on the sandpiper field." A. P. Bubnov. 1943–1947

Battle on the Kulikovo field

Early in the morning September 8, 1380two armies lined up on both sides of the vast field. Before the start of the battle, two warriors fought. Russian - Peresvet and Khan's - Chelubey. Having dispersed on their horses, they pierced each other with spears and fell dead on the damp earth. This was the signal for the start of the battle. Dmitry Ivanovich, despite his age, was a fairly experienced strategist. He placed part of the army in the forest in such a way that the Horde could not see it, but in which case they could change the course of the battle. Their task was to strictly carry out the order. Not earlier, not later. This card was a trump card. And so it happened. In a fierce battle, the Tatars began to crush the Russian regiments one by one, but they steadfastly held on. Not expecting such a maneuver, the new Khan Mamai realized that he could not win a victory, and rushed away from the battlefield. The fact of the appearance of fresh forces changed everything. Left without a leader, the Mongol-Tatars were confused and, after Mamai, they rushed to run. Russian troops caught up with them and killed them. In this battle, the horde lost almost the entire army, while the Russians lost about 20 thousand people. The end of the battle marked that the main thing in the fight against the enemy is the cohesion of actions. “When we are united, we are strong,” the prince said after the battle.It is believed that it was Dmitry Donskoy who liberated the Russian lands from numerous enemy raids.For another century, the skirmishes of the Russian people and the Mongol conquerors will last, but now they will no longer bear such consequences as before.

The overthrow of the Horde yoke

Soon Ivan Vasilyevich the Third reigned on the Moscow throne. He, like Dmitry Ivanovich, completely refused to pay tribute and began to prepare for the last battle. Autumn 1480two troops stood on both banks of the Ugra River. No one dared to cross the river. There were attempts by the Mongols to swim across it, but to no avail. Only occasionally shooting from guns in the direction of the enemy, the confrontation ended. It is standing on the Ugra River that is considered to be the point of liberation, when Russia regained its independence and became independent. The dominion of the Golden Horde, which lasted 2 centuries, was overthrown to the end, so this date became sacred for the Russian people. Gradually, lost skills and abilities began to return, cities were revived and fields were sown. Life started picking up its pace. No matter how much grief befalls the Russian people, they will always be able to regain their former happiness, they will go against the establishment, contrary to the system, but they will achieve their goal. We recommend watching an interesting video about the Tatar-Mongol yoke:

In the late autumn of 1480, the Great Standing on the Ugra ended. It is believed that after that in Russia there was no Mongol-Tatar yoke.

INSULT

The conflict between the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III and the Khan of the Great Horde Akhmat arose, according to one version, due to non-payment of tribute. But a number of historians believe that Akhmat received tribute, but went to Moscow because he did not wait for the personal presence of Ivan III, who was supposed to receive a label for a great reign. Thus, the prince did not recognize the authority and power of the khan.

Akhmat should have been especially offended by the fact that when he sent ambassadors to Moscow to ask for tribute and dues for past years, the Grand Duke again did not show due respect. The Kazan History even says: “The Grand Duke was not afraid ... taking the basma, he spat, broke it, threw it to the ground and trampled it with his feet.” Of course, such behavior of the Grand Duke is hard to imagine, but the refusal to recognize the power of Akhmat followed.

Khan's pride is also confirmed in another episode. In the Ugorshchina, Akhmat, who was not in the best strategic position, demanded that Ivan III himself come to the Horde headquarters and stand at the stirrup of the lord, waiting for a decision.

WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION

But Ivan Vasilyevich was concerned about his own family. The people did not like his wife. Having panicked, the prince first of all saves his wife: “Ioann sent the Grand Duchess Sophia (a Roman, as the chroniclers say), together with the treasury, to Beloozero, giving the order to go further to the sea and ocean if the khan crosses the Oka,” wrote historian Sergey Solovyov. However, the people did not rejoice at her return from Beloozero: “Grand Duchess Sophia ran from the Tatars to Beloozero, and no one drove her.”

The brothers, Andrei Galitsky and Boris Volotsky, revolted, demanding to share the inheritance of their deceased brother, Prince Yuri. Only when this conflict was settled, not without the help of his mother, Ivan III could continue the fight against the Horde. In general, "women's participation" in standing on the Ugra is great. According to Tatishchev, it was Sophia who persuaded Ivan III to make a historic decision. The victory in Standing is also attributed to the intercession of the Virgin.

By the way, the size of the required tribute was relatively low - 140,000 altyns. Khan Tokhtamysh collected about 20 times more from the Vladimir principality a century before.

They did not save even when planning defense. Ivan Vasilyevich gave the order to burn the settlements. Residents were moved inside the fortress walls.

There is a version that the prince simply paid off the khan after the Standing: he paid one part of the money on the Ugra, the second - after the retreat. Beyond the Oka, Andrey Menshoi, Ivan III's brother, did not attack the Tatars, but gave the "way out".

indecisiveness

The Grand Duke refused to take action. Subsequently, posterity approved of his defensive stance. But some contemporaries had a different opinion.

At the news of Akhmat's approach, he panicked. The people, according to the chronicle, accused the prince of endangering everyone with his indecision. Fearing assassination attempts, Ivan left for Krasnoye Selo. His heir, Ivan Molodoy, was at that time with the army, ignoring the requests and letters of his father demanding to leave the army.

The Grand Duke nevertheless left in the direction of the Ugra in early October, but did not reach the main forces. In the city of Kremenets, he waited for the brothers who had reconciled with him. And at this time there were battles on the Ugra.

WHY DID THE POLISH KING NOT HELP?

Akhmat Khan's main ally, the great Lithuanian prince and Polish king Casimir IV, never came to the rescue. The question arises: why?

Some write that the king was preoccupied with the attack of the Crimean Khan Mepgli Giray. Others point to internal strife in the Lithuanian land - "a conspiracy of princes." "Russian elements", dissatisfied with the king, sought support from Moscow, wanted to reunite with the Russian principalities. There is also an opinion that the king himself did not want conflicts with Russia. The Crimean Khan was not afraid of him: the ambassador had been negotiating in Lithuania since mid-October.

And the freezing Khan Akhmat, having waited for the frosts, and not for reinforcements, wrote to Ivan III: “And now if it’s gone from the shore, because I have people without clothes, and horses without blankets. And the heart of winter will pass for ninety days, and I will again attack you, and I have muddy water to drink.

Proud, but careless, Akhmat returned to the steppe with booty, ruining the lands of his former ally, and stayed for the winter at the mouth of the Donets. There, the Siberian Khan Ivak, three months after the "Ugorshchina", personally killed the enemy in a dream. An ambassador was sent to Moscow to announce the death of the last ruler of the Great Horde. Historian Sergei Solovyov writes about it this way: “The last formidable Khan of the Golden Horde for Moscow died from one of the descendants of Genghis Khanov; he had sons who were also destined to die from Tatar weapons.

Probably, the descendants still remained: Anna Gorenko considered Akhmat her maternal ancestor and, becoming a poetess, took a pseudonym - Akhmatova.

DISPUTES ABOUT PLACE AND TIME

Historians argue about where the Standing was on the Ugra. They also name the area under the Opakovy settlement, and the village of Gorodets, and the confluence of the Ugra with the Oka. “A land road from Vyazma stretched to the mouth of the Ugra along its right, “Lithuanian” bank, along which Lithuanian help was expected and which the Horde could use for maneuvers. Even in the middle of the XIX century. The Russian General Staff recommended this road for the movement of troops from Vyazma to Kaluga,” writes historian Vadim Kargalov.

The exact date of the arrival of Akhamat to the Ugra is not known either. Books and chronicles agree on one thing: it happened no earlier than the beginning of October. The Vladimir chronicle, for example, is accurate up to the hour: “I came to the Ugra on October 8, a week, at 1 o’clock in the afternoon.” In the Vologda-Perm chronicle it is written: “the tsar went away from the Ugra on Thursday, the eve of Mikhailov’s days” (November 7).