What was covered up by the Tatar-Mongol yoke? A different look at history. Mongol invasion of Rus'

Reproduction of the painting “Baskaki” by artist S.V. Ivanov Photo: perstni.com

Famous Russian academic historians reflect on the phenomenon of the Golden Horde

The Mongol invasion of Rus' led to the fact that for almost two and a half hundred years it was under the yoke. This left a strong imprint on the fate and life of the future united state. The offensive of the Mongol-Tatars was swift and destructive. Even after trying to get together, the Russian princes could not stop him. diletant.media conducted a survey of experts about the reasons for such a catastrophic defeat.

Mikhail Myagkov,nScientific Director of the Russian Military Historical Society

The Tatar-Mongols did not conquer Rus'. It is generally accepted to say that the Mongol-Tatar yoke was established in Rus'. But the Mongols were not present on the territory of Ancient Rus' as occupiers. As for the defeat of the Russian troops in the fight against Batu, there are several reasons. The first reason is that at that time Rus' was at the stage of fragmentation; it was unable to gather into a single fist all the military forces that were then located on the territory of the Russian principalities. The principalities of North-Eastern Rus', then South and South-West were defeated one by one. Some territories remained untouched by the Mongol invasion. The second point is that at that time the Mongol army was at the peak of its military power. The military equipment, the fighting techniques that the Mongols learned from previously conquered countries, for example, in China: battering guns, stone-throwing machines, battering rams - all this was put into action. The third is the extreme cruelty of the Mongol army. The nomads were also cruel, but the cruelty of the Mongols exceeded all possible limits. As a rule, having captured a city, they completely destroyed it, as well as all its inhabitants, as well as prisoners of war. There were exceptions, but these were only minor episodes. They struck the enemy with this cruelty. One can also note the numerical superiority of the Mongol army. He is assessed differently, but on his first campaign Batu led about 150 thousand with him. The organization of the army and strict discipline also played a role. For the escape of one out of ten, all ten warriors were executed.

Stepan Sulakshin, director of the Center for Scientific Political Thought and Ideology

In history there are bursts of activity of certain civilizations, which, in moments of historical drive, expand their spaces, gaining victories over adjacent proto-civilizations or civilizations. This is exactly what happened. The Tatar-Mongols had military know-how. Also, the proto-state organization, combined with military and organizational power, defeated a somewhat immature state with a low defensive potential - Rus'. There are no special exotic explanations for this historical episode.

Alexander Nevzorov, publicist

There was no state. There was an absolutely diffuse group of tribes of different languages, different cultures, with different interests, which, naturally, were absorbed by the Horde and became its structural division, part of the Horde possession, part of the Horde state. This is what organized the so-called statehood of Russia, if I may say so. True, this was not statehood, but an embryo of some kind of statehood, which was then successfully raised by the Poles, then remained in a state of chaos for some time, until it was finally created by Peter. With Peter, we can already talk about some kind of statehood. Because everything that appears to us in Russian history under the guise of statehood is only due to a lack of understanding of the real scale. It seems to us that some Ivan the Terrible, some archers are walking somewhere there. In fact, all this was such a microscopic phenomenon in the world that it is impossible to talk about any statehood. But the Tatars did not seize, they took what they believed was rightfully theirs. Just as they did with any wild tribes, with any wild settlements, with any non-state unorganized structure. When they stumbled upon more or less formalized European statehood, they realized that this was not their prize, although they had won the Battle of Legnica. Why, in fact, did they turn around? Why did they not want to take Novgorod? Because they understood that at that time Novgorod was already part of some serious global European society, at least in a commercial sense. And if it weren’t for the tricks of Alexander Yaroslavich, who is called Nevsky, the Tatars probably would never have ruined Novgorod. You just need to understand that there were no Russians. These are inventions of the 15th century. They came up with some kind of Ancient Rus'. This is entirely a product of literary fantasies on this topic.

Alexander Golubev, head of the Center for the Study of Russian Culture, Institute of Russian History, Russian Academy of Sciences

There are a number of reasons for this. The first is surprise. In Rus' they are accustomed to the fact that nomads fight in the summer. In winter, it was assumed that the roads were blocked for the cavalry, and there was nowhere for the horses to get food. However, Mongolian horses, even in Mongolia, were accustomed to get food from under the snow. As for roads, rivers served them as roads for the Mongols. Therefore, the winter offensive of the Mongols was completely unexpected. The second is that the Mongolian army had been fighting for decades before this; it was a well-developed and well-functioning structure, which in its organization was superior not only to the nomads who were familiar to the Russians, but even, perhaps, to the Russian squads. The Mongols were simply better organized. Organization beats quantity. Now historians are arguing about what Batu’s army was like, but perhaps the most minimal figure is 40 thousand. But 40 thousand cavalry for any single Russian principality is already an overwhelming superiority. Also in Rus' there were no stone fortresses. For the simple reason that no one needed them. Nomads could not take wooden fortresses. There was one episode in Russian history when the Cumans captured a tiny border fortress, which caused shock throughout Kievan Rus. The Mongols had primitive technology, borrowed from China, which made it possible to take wooden fortresses. For the Russians this was something absolutely impossible. And the Mongols did not even approach the stone fortresses that were in the north (Pskov, Novgorod, Ladoga, and so on) or in the west, in the Vladimir-Volyn land.

3 The emergence and development of the Old Russian state (IX - beginning of the 12th century). The emergence of the Old Russian state is traditionally associated with the unification of the Ilmen region and the Dnieper region as a result of the campaign against Kiev by the Novgorod prince Oleg in 882. Having killed Askold and Dir, who reigned in Kiev, Oleg began to rule on behalf of the young son of Prince Rurik, Igor. The formation of the state was the result of long and complex processes that took place over vast areas of the East European Plain in the second half of the 1st millennium AD. By the 7th century East Slavic tribal unions settled in its vastness, the names and location of which are known to historians from the ancient Russian chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years” by the Monk Nestor (11th century). These are the glades (along the western bank of the Dnieper), the Drevlyans (to the northwest of them), the Ilmen Slovenes (along the banks of Lake Ilmen and the Volkhov River), the Krivichi (in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, Volga and Western Dvina), the Vyatichi (along the banks of the Oka), northerners (along the Desna), etc. The northern neighbors of the eastern Slavs were the Finns, the western - the Balts, the south-eastern - the Khazars. Trade routes were of great importance in their early history, one of which connected Scandinavia and Byzantium (the route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” from the Gulf of Finland along the Neva, Lake Ladoga, Volkhov, Lake Ilmen to the Dnieper and the Black Sea), and the other connected the Volga regions with the Caspian Sea and Persia. Nestor cites the famous story about the calling of the Varangian (Scandinavian) princes Rurik, Sineus and Truvor by the Ilmen Slovenes: “Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order in it: come reign and rule over us.” Rurik accepted the offer and in 862 he reigned in Novgorod (that is why the monument “Millennium of Russia” was erected in Novgorod in 1862). Many historians of the 18th-19th centuries. were inclined to understand these events as evidence that statehood was brought to Rus' from the outside and the Eastern Slavs were unable to create their own state on their own (Norman theory). Modern researchers recognize this theory as untenable. They pay attention to the following: - Nestor’s story proves that the Eastern Slavs by the middle of the 9th century. there were bodies that were the prototype of state institutions (prince, squad, meeting of tribal representatives - the future veche); - the Varangian origin of Rurik, as well as Oleg, Igor, Olga, Askold, Dir is indisputable, but the invitation of a foreigner as a ruler is an important indicator of the maturity of the prerequisites for the formation of a state. The tribal union is aware of its common interests and tries to resolve contradictions between individual tribes with the calling of a prince standing above local differences. The Varangian princes, surrounded by a strong and combat-ready squad, led and completed the processes leading to the formation of the state; - large tribal super-unions, which included several tribal unions, developed among the Eastern Slavs already in the 8th-9th centuries. - around Novgorod and around Kyiv; - in the formation of the Ancient Tehran state, external factors played an important role: threats coming from outside (Scandinavia, Khazar Kaganate) pushed for unity; - the Varangians, having given Rus' a ruling dynasty, quickly assimilated and merged with the local Slavic population; - as for the name “Rus”, its origin continues to cause controversy. Some historians associate it with Scandinavia, others find its roots in the East Slavic environment (from the Ros tribe, who lived along the Dnieper). Other opinions are also expressed on this matter. At the end of the 9th - beginning of the 11th century. The Old Russian state was going through a period of formation. The formation of its territory and composition was actively underway. Oleg (882-912) subjugated the tribes of the Drevlyans, Northerners and Radimichi to Kyiv, Igor (912-945) successfully fought with the streets, Svyatoslav (964-972) - with the Vyatichi. During the reign of Prince Vladimir (980-1015), the Volynians and Croats were subjugated, and power over the Radimichi and Vyatichi was confirmed. In addition to the East Slavic tribes, the Old Russian state included Finno-Ugric peoples (Chud, Merya, Muroma, etc.). The degree of independence of the tribes from the Kyiv princes was quite high. For a long time, the only indicator of submission to the authorities of Kyiv was the payment of tribute. Until 945, it was carried out in the form of polyudya: the prince and his squad from November to April traveled around the territories under their control and collected tribute. The murder of Prince Igor in 945 by the Drevlyans, who tried to collect a second tribute that exceeded the traditional level, forced his wife Princess Olga to introduce lessons (the amount of tribute) and establish graveyards (places where tribute was to be taken). This was the first example known to historians of how the princely government approved new norms that were mandatory for ancient Russian society. Important functions of the Old Russian state, which it began to perform from the moment of its inception, were also protecting the territory from military raids (in the 9th - early 11th centuries these were mainly raids by the Khazars and Pechenegs) and pursuing an active foreign policy (campaigns against Byzantium in 907, 911, 944, 970, Russian-Byzantine treaties 911 and 944, the defeat of the Khazar Khaganate in 964-965, etc.). The period of formation of the Old Russian state ended with the reign of Prince Vladimir I the Holy, or Vladimir the Red Sun. Under him, Christianity was adopted from Byzantium (see ticket No. 3), a system of defensive fortresses was created on the southern borders of Rus', and the so-called ladder system of transfer of power was finally formed. The order of succession was determined by the principle of seniority in the princely family. Vladimir, having taken the throne of Kiev, placed his eldest sons in the largest Russian cities. The most important reign after Kyiv - Novgorod - was transferred to his eldest son. In the event of the death of the eldest son, his place was to be taken by the next in seniority, all other princes were moved to more important thrones. During the life of the Kyiv prince, this system worked flawlessly. After his death, as a rule, there followed a more or less long period of struggle by his sons for the reign of Kiev. The heyday of the Old Russian state occurred during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054) and his sons. It includes the oldest part of the Russian Pravda - the first monument of written law that has come down to us (“Russian Law,” information about which dates back to Oleg’s reign, has not been preserved either in the original or in copies). Russian Truth regulated relations in the princely economy - the patrimony. Its analysis allows historians to talk about the existing system of government: the Kiev prince, like the local princes, is surrounded by a squad, the top of which are called boyars and with whom he consults on the most important issues (the Duma, the permanent council under the prince). From among the warriors, mayors are appointed to manage cities, governors, tributaries (collectors of land taxes), mytniki (collectors of trade duties), tiuns (administrators of princely estates), etc. Russian Pravda contains valuable information about ancient Russian society. It was based on the free rural and urban population (people). There were slaves (servants, serfs), farmers dependent on the prince (zakup, ryadovichi, smerds - historians do not have a common opinion about the situation of the latter). Yaroslav the Wise pursued an energetic dynastic policy, tying his sons and daughters by marriage with the ruling families of Hungary, Poland, France, Germany, etc. Yaroslav died in 1054, before 1074. his sons managed to coordinate their actions. At the end of the 11th - beginning of the 12th century. the power of the Kyiv princes weakened, individual principalities acquired increasing independence, the rulers of which tried to agree with each other on cooperation in the fight against the new - Polovtsian - threat. Tendencies towards fragmentation of a single state intensified as its individual regions grew richer and stronger (for more details, see ticket number 2). The last Kyiv prince who managed to stop the collapse of the Old Russian state was Vladimir Monomakh (1113-1125). After the death of the prince and the death of his son Mstislav the Great (1125-1132), the fragmentation of Rus' became a fait accompli.

4 Mongol-Tatar yoke briefly

The Mongol-Tatar yoke is the period of the capture of Rus' by the Mongol-Tatars in the 13th-15th 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 hostility, so they could not give a worthy 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 troops took place on the Kalka River, 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 enemy’s onslaught was held back for quite some time.

In the winter of 1237, a targeted invasion of the main Tatar-Mongol troops into the territory of Rus' began. This time the enemy army was commanded by the grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu. The army of nomads managed to move quite quickly into the interior of the country, plundering the principalities in turn and killing everyone who tried to resist as they went along.

Main dates of the capture of Rus' by the Tatar-Mongols

1223 The Tatar-Mongols approached the border of Rus';

Winter 1237. The beginning of a targeted invasion of Rus';

1237 Ryazan and Kolomna were captured. The Ryazan principality fell;

Autumn 1239. Chernigov captured. The Principality of Chernigov fell;

1240 Kyiv is captured. The Principality of Kiev fell;

1241 The Galician-Volyn principality fell;

1480 Overthrow of the Mongol-Tatar yoke.

Reasons for the fall of Rus' under the onslaught of the Mongol-Tatars

lack of a unified organization in the ranks of Russian soldiers;

numerical superiority of the enemy;

weakness of the command of the Russian army;

poorly organized mutual assistance on the part of disparate princes;

underestimation of enemy forces and numbers.

Features of the Mongol-Tatar yoke in Rus'

The establishment of the Mongol-Tatar yoke with new laws and orders began in Rus'.

Vladimir became the de facto center of political life; it was from there that the Tatar-Mongol khan exercised his control.

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

Feudal fragmentation of territories was encouraged in every possible way, as this reduced the likelihood of a centralized rebellion.

Tribute was regularly collected from the population, the “Horde exit.” The collection of money was carried out 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 Rus' were terrible.

Many cities and villages were destroyed, people were killed;

Agriculture, handicrafts and art fell into decline;

Feudal fragmentation increased significantly;

The population has decreased significantly;

Rus' 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 Grand Duke Ivan III refused to pay money to the horde and declared the independence of Rus'.

1243 - After the defeat of Northern Rus' by the Mongol-Tatars and the death of the Grand Duke 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 Grand Duke Yaroslav II Vsevolodovich of Vladimir-Suzdal to the Horde and presents him at the Khan's headquarters in Sarai with a label (sign of permission) for the great reign in Rus': “You will be older than all the princes in the Russian language.”
This is how the unilateral act of vassal submission of Rus' to the Golden Horde was carried out and legally formalized.
Rus', according to the label, lost the right to fight and had to regularly pay tribute to the khans twice annually (in spring and autumn). Baskaks (governors) were sent to the Russian principalities - their capitals - to oversee the strict collection of tribute and compliance with its amounts.
1243-1252 - This decade was a time when Horde troops and officials did not bother Rus', receiving timely tribute and expressions of external submission. During this period, the Russian princes assessed the current situation and developed their own line of behavior in relation to the Horde.
Two lines of Russian policy:
1. The line of systematic partisan resistance and continuous “spot” uprisings: (“to run away, not to serve the king”) - led. book Andrey I Yaroslavich, Yaroslav III Yaroslavich and others.
2. Line of complete, unquestioning submission to the Horde (Alexander Nevsky and most other princes). Many appanage princes (Uglitsky, Yaroslavl, and especially Rostov) established relations with the Mongol khans, who left them to “rule and rule.” The princes preferred to recognize the supreme power of the Horde khan and donate part of the feudal rent collected from the dependent population to the conquerors, rather than risk losing their reigns (See “On the arrivals of Russian princes to the Horde”). The Orthodox Church pursued the same policy.
1252 Invasion of the "Nevryuev Army" The first after 1239 in North-Eastern Rus' - Reasons for the invasion: To punish Grand Duke Andrei I Yaroslavich for disobedience and to speed up the full payment of tribute.
Horde forces: Nevryu’s army had a significant number - at least 10 thousand people. and a maximum of 20-25 thousand. This indirectly follows from the title of Nevryuya (prince) and the presence in his army of two wings led by temniks - Yelabuga (Olabuga) and Kotiy, as well as from the fact that Nevryuya’s army was able to disperse throughout the Vladimir-Suzdal principality and "comb" it!
Russian forces: Consisted of regiments of the prince. Andrei (i.e. regular troops) and the squad (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 in number, i.e. 1.5-2 thousand people.
Progress of the invasion: Having crossed the Klyazma River near Vladimir, Nevryu’s punitive army hastily headed to Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, where the prince took refuge. Andrei, and, having overtaken the prince’s army, defeated him completely. The Horde plundered and destroyed the city, and then occupied the entire Vladimir land and, returning to the Horde, “combed” it.
Results of the invasion: The Horde army rounded up and captured tens of thousands of captive peasants (for sale in eastern markets) and hundreds of thousands of heads of livestock and took them to the Horde. Book Andrei and the remnants of his squad fled to the Novgorod Republic, which refused to give him asylum, fearing Horde reprisals. Fearing that one of his “friends” would hand him over to the Horde, Andrei fled to Sweden. Thus, the first attempt to resist the Horde failed. The Russian princes abandoned the line of resistance and leaned towards the line of obedience.
Alexander Nevsky received the label for the great reign.
1255 The first complete census of the population of North-Eastern Rus', carried out by the Horde - was accompanied by spontaneous unrest of the local population, scattered, unorganized, but united by the common demand of the masses: “not to give numbers to the Tatars,” i.e. do not provide them with any data that could form the basis for a fixed payment of tribute.
Other authors indicate other dates for the census (1257-1259)
1257 Attempt to conduct a census in Novgorod - In 1255, a census was not carried out 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 Embassy of the Murzas Berke and Kasachik to Novgorod - The punitive-control army of the Horde ambassadors - the Murzas Berke and Kasachik - was sent to Novgorod to collect tribute and prevent anti-Horde protests by the population. Novgorod, as always in case of military danger, yielded to force and traditionally paid off, and also gave an obligation to pay tribute annually, without reminders or pressure, “voluntarily” determining its size, without drawing up census documents, in exchange for a guarantee of absence from the city Horde collectors.
1262 Meeting of representatives of Russian cities to discuss measures to resist the Horde - A decision was made to simultaneously expel tribute collectors - representatives of the Horde administration in the cities of Rostov the Great, Vladimir, Suzdal, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Yaroslavl, where anti-Horde popular protests take place. These riots were suppressed by Horde military detachments at the disposal of the Baskaks. But nevertheless, the khan’s government took into account 20 years of experience in repeating such spontaneous rebellious outbreaks and abandoned the Baskas, from now on 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 as they were offended by the foreign composition of the collectors. They were ready to pay more, but to “their” princes and their administration. The Khan's authorities quickly realized the benefits of such a decision for the Horde:
firstly, the absence of your own troubles,
secondly, a guarantee of an end to the uprisings and complete obedience of the Russians.
thirdly, the presence of specific responsible persons (princes), who could always easily, conveniently and even “legally” be brought to justice, punished for failure to pay tribute, and not have to deal with intractable 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 actually important, serious, essential concessions in exchange for visible, superficial, external, “toy” and supposedly prestigious ones, will be repeated many times throughout Russian history up to the present time.
The Russian people are easy to persuade, to appease with petty handouts, trifles, but they cannot be irritated. Then he becomes stubborn, intractable and reckless, and sometimes even angry.
But you can literally take it with your bare hands, wrap it around your finger, if you immediately give in to some trifle. The Mongols, like the first Horde khans - Batu and Berke, understood this well.

I cannot agree with V. Pokhlebkin’s unfair and humiliating generalization. You should not consider your ancestors as stupid, gullible savages and judge them from the “height” of 700 past years. There were numerous anti-Horde protests - they were suppressed, presumably, cruelly, not only by the Horde troops, but also by their own princes. But the transfer of the collection of tribute (from which it was simply impossible to free oneself in those conditions) to the Russian princes was not a “petty concession”, but an important, fundamental point. Unlike a number of other countries conquered by the Horde, North-Eastern Rus' retained its political and social system. There was never a permanent Mongol administration on Russian soil; under the painful yoke, Rus' 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 became smaller, lost state wisdom and gradually, through its mistakes, “raised” from Rus' its enemy as insidious and prudent as itself. But in the 60s of the 13th century. this finale was still far away - two whole centuries. In the meantime, the Horde manipulated the Russian princes and, through them, all of Russia, as it wanted. (He who laughs last laughs best - isn't it?)

1272 Second Horde census in Rus' - Under the leadership and supervision of the Russian princes, the Russian local administration, it took place peacefully, calmly, without a hitch. After all, it was carried out by “Russian people”, and the population was calm.
It’s a pity that the census results were not 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 “behind the scenes” for the people, all this “did not concern” them and did not interest them . The appearance that the census was taking place “without Tatars” was more important than the essence, i.e. the strengthening of the tax oppression that came on its basis, the impoverishment of the population, and its suffering. All this “was not visible,” and therefore, according to Russian ideas, this means that... it did not happen.
Moreover, in just three decades since the enslavement, Russian society had essentially become accustomed 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 it, both ordinary people and nobles.
The proverb “out of sight, out of mind” explains this situation very accurately and correctly. As is clear from the chronicles of that time, the lives of saints and patristic and other religious literature, which was a reflection of the prevailing 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 as they understand themselves and Rus'. They were seen as “God’s punishment” sent down to the Russian land for sins. If they had not sinned, if they had not angered God, there would not have been such disasters - this is the starting point of 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 Rus' from both the Mongol-Tatars and the Russian princes who allowed such a yoke, and shifts it entirely onto the people who found themselves enslaved and suffered more than anyone else from this.
Based on 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”; they not only did not condemn the Horde power, but also... set it as an example to their flock. This was direct payment on the part of the Orthodox Church for the enormous privileges granted to it by the khans - exemption from taxes and levies, ceremonial 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 15th 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 of Krutitsky and Kolomna, i.e. formally they were equal in rank with the metropolitans of Moscow and All Rus', although they were no longer engaged in any real church-political activities. This historical and decorative post was liquidated only at the end of the 18th century. (1788) [Note. V. Pokhlebkina]

It should be noted that on the threshold of the 21st century. we are going through a similar situation. Modern “princes,” like the princes of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus', are trying to exploit the ignorance and slave psychology of the people and even cultivate it, not without the help of the same church.

At the end of the 70s of the 13th century. The period of temporary calm from Horde unrest in Rus' is ending, explained by ten years of emphasized submission of the Russian princes and the church. The internal needs of the Horde economy, which made constant profits from the trade in slaves (captured 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 borders solely to take away the Polyanniks.
It is significant that it is not the central khan’s administration and its military forces that take part in this, but regional, ulus authorities in the peripheral areas of the Horde’s territory, solving their local, local economic problems with these raids, and therefore strictly limiting both 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, which were 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 13th century. - new processes are taking place in Russian-Horde relations.
The Russian princes, having become accustomed to the new situation over the previous 25-30 years and essentially deprived of any control from domestic authorities, begin to settle their petty feudal scores with each other with the help of the Horde military force.
Just like in the 12th century. The Chernigov and Kyiv princes fought with each other, calling the Polovtsians to Rus', and the princes of North-Eastern Rus' fought in the 80s of the 13th century. with each other for power, relying on Horde troops, which they invite to plunder the principalities of their political opponents, i.e., in fact, they coldly 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-Mengu, who simultaneously gives Andrew II the label for the great reign, even before the outcome of the military clash.
Dmitry I, fleeing from the Khan's troops, fled first 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 allow Dmitry to enter his estate and, taking advantage of its location inside the Novgorod lands, force the prince to tear down all its fortifications and ultimately force Dmitry I to flee from Rus' 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 Andrew II, passes through and devastates several Russian principalities - Vladimir, Tver, Suzdal, Rostov, Murom, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky and their capitals. The Horde reached Torzhok, practically occupying all of North-Eastern Rus' 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 turns the Russian population of the devastated principalities against Andrew II, and his formal “reign” after the flight of Dmitry I does not bring peace.
Dmitry I returns to Pereyaslavl and prepares for revenge, Andrei II goes to the Horde with a request for help, and his allies - Svyatoslav Yaroslavich Tverskoy, Daniil Alexandrovich Moskovsky and the Novgorodians - go to Dmitry I and make peace with him.
1282 - Andrew II comes from the Horde with Tatar regiments led by Turai-Temir and Ali, reaches Pereyaslavl and again expels Dmitry, who flees this time to the Black Sea, into the possession of Temnik Nogai (who at that time was the de facto ruler of the Golden Horde) , and, playing on the contradictions between Nogai and the Sarai khans, brings the troops given by Nogai to Russia and forces Andrei II to return the great reign to him.
The price of this “restoration of justice” is very high: Nogai officials are left to collect tribute 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 early 90s.
1285 - Andrew II again travels to the Horde and brings from there a new punitive detachment of the Horde, led by one of the khan’s sons. However, Dmitry I manages to successfully and quickly defeat this detachment.

Thus, the first victory of 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.
The Horde themselves sent small predatory expeditions to Rus' in the late 80s:

1287 - Raid on 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 plundering property and capturing polyanyans. They were provoked by a denunciation or complaint from the Russian princes.
1292 - “Dedeneva’s army” to the Vladimir land Andrei Gorodetsky, together with princes Dmitry Borisovich Rostovsky, Konstantin Borisovich Uglitsky, Mikhail Glebovich Belozersky, Fyodor Yaroslavsky and Bishop Tarasius, went to the Horde to complain about Dmitry I Alexandrovich.
Khan Tokhta, having listened to the complainants, dispatched a significant army under the leadership of his brother Tudan (in Russian chronicles - Deden) to conduct a punitive expedition.
"Dedeneva's army" marched throughout Vladimir Rus', ravaging the capital of Vladimir and 14 other cities: Murom, Suzdal, Gorokhovets, Starodub, Bogolyubov, Yuryev-Polsky, Gorodets, Uglechepol (Uglich), Yaroslavl, Nerekhta, Ksnyatin, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky , Rostov, Dmitrov.
In addition to them, only 7 cities that lay outside the route of movement of Tudan’s detachments remained untouched by the invasion: Kostroma, Tver, Zubtsov, Moscow, Galich Mersky, Unzha, Nizhny Novgorod.
On the approach to Moscow (or near Moscow), Tudan’s army divided into two detachments, one of which headed 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 looted booty was brought and prisoners were concentrated.
This campaign was a significant pogrom of Rus'. It is possible that Tudan and his army also passed through Klin, Serpukhov, and Zvenigorod, which were not named in the chronicles. Thus, its area of ​​​​operation covered about two dozen cities.
1293 - In winter, a new Horde detachment appeared near Tver under the leadership of Toktemir, who came with punitive purposes 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 of stay on Russian territory.
In any case, the entire year of 1293 passed under the sign of another Horde pogrom, the cause of which was exclusively the feudal rivalry of the princes. They were the main reason for the Horde repressions that fell on 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, are slowly healing from economic and human losses. Only the accession to the throne of the extremely powerful and active Uzbek Khan opens a new period of pressure on Rus'
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 unwarlike prince - Moscow (under Khan Uzbek, the Moscow prince was Yuri Danilovich, who challenged the great reign from Mikhail Yaroslavich Tver) and the weakening of the former rulers of the "strong principalities" - Rostov, Vladimir, Tver.
To ensure the collection of tribute, Uzbek Khan practices sending, together with the prince, who received instructions in the Horde, special envoys-ambassadors, accompanied by military detachments numbering several thousand people (sometimes there were up to 5 temniks!). Each prince collects tribute on the territory of a rival principality.
From 1315 to 1327, i.e. over 12 years, Uzbek sent 9 military “embassies”. Their functions were not diplomatic, but military-punitive (police) and partly military-political (pressure on princes).

1315 - “Ambassadors” of Uzbek accompany Grand Duke Mikhail of Tverskoy (see Table of Ambassadors), and their detachments plunder Rostov and Torzhok, near which they defeat detachments of Novgorodians.
1317 - Horde punitive detachments accompany Yuri of Moscow and plunder Kostroma, and then try to rob Tver, but suffer a severe defeat.
1319 - Kostroma and Rostov are robbed again.
1320 - Rostov becomes a victim of robbery for the third time, but Vladimir is mostly destroyed.
1321 - Tribute is extorted from 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 “Shchelkanov’s Army” - Novgorodians, frightened by the Horde’s activity, “voluntarily” pay a tribute of 2,000 rubles in silver to the Horde.
The famous attack of Chelkan’s (Cholpan’s) detachment on Tver takes place, known in the chronicles as the “Shchelkanov invasion”, or “Shchelkanov’s army”. It causes an unprecedentedly decisive uprising of the townspeople and the destruction of the “ambassador” and his detachment. “Schelkan” himself is burned in the hut.
1328 - A special punitive expedition follows against Tver under the leadership of three ambassadors - Turalyk, Syuga and Fedorok - and with 5 temniks, i.e. an entire army, which the chronicle defines as a “great army.” Along with the 50,000-strong Horde army, Moscow princely detachments also took part in the destruction of Tver.

From 1328 to 1367, “great silence” sets in for 40 years.
It is a direct result of three circumstances:
1. Complete defeat of the Tver principality as a rival of Moscow and thereby eliminating the causes of military-political rivalry in Rus'.
2. Timely collection of tribute by Ivan Kalita, who in the eyes of the khans becomes an exemplary executor of the Horde’s fiscal orders and, in addition, expresses exceptional political obedience to it, and, finally
3. The result of the understanding by the Horde rulers that the Russian population had matured in its determination to fight the enslavers and therefore it was necessary to apply other forms of pressure and consolidation of the dependence of Rus', other than punitive ones.
As for the use of some princes against others, this measure no longer seems universal in the face of possible popular uprisings uncontrolled by the “tame princes.” A turning point is coming in Russian-Horde relations.
Punitive campaigns (invasions) into the central regions of North-Eastern Rus' with the inevitable ruin of its population have since ceased.
At the same time, short-term raids with predatory (but not ruinous) purposes on peripheral areas of Russian territory, raids on local, limited areas continue to take place and are preserved as the most favorite and safest for the Horde, one-sided short-term military-economic action.

A new phenomenon in the period from 1360 to 1375 were retaliatory raids, or more precisely, campaigns of Russian armed detachments in peripheral lands dependent on the Horde, bordering with Russia - 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 raids the Ryazan principality.
1367 - The troops of Prince Temir-Bulat invade the Nizhny Novgorod principality with a raid, especially intensively in the border strip along the Piana River.
1370 - A new Horde raid follows on the Ryazan principality in the area of ​​the Moscow-Ryazan border. But the Horde troops stationed there were not allowed to cross the Oka River by Prince Dmitry IV Ivanovich. And the Horde, in turn, noticing the resistance, did not strive to overcome it and limited themselves to reconnaissance.
The raid-invasion is carried out by Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich of 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 Horde ambassadors, accompanied by a large armed retinue of 1000 people. This is common at the beginning of the 14th 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 by the Ushkuiniks, who rob not only the city of Bulgar, but are not afraid to penetrate to Astrakhan.
1375 - Horde raid on the city of Kashin, brief 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 Russians on a territory dependent on the Horde, naturally provokes a retaliatory military action.
1377 Massacre on the Pyana River - On the border Russian-Horde territory, on the Pyana River, where the Nizhny Novgorod princes were preparing a new raid on the Mordovian lands that lay beyond 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, Pereyaslavl, Yaroslavl, Yuryevsky, Murom and Nizhny Novgorod was completely killed, and the “commander-in-chief” Prince Ivan Dmitrievich of Nizhny Novgorod drowned in the river, trying to escape, along with his personal squad and his “headquarters” . This defeat of the Russian army was explained to a large extent by their loss of vigilance due to many days of drunkenness.
Having destroyed the Russian army, the troops of Tsarevich Arapsha raided the capitals of the unlucky warrior princes - Nizhny Novgorod, Murom and Ryazan - and subjected them to complete plunder and burning to the ground.
1378 Battle of the Vozha River - In the 13th century. after such a defeat, the Russians usually lost any 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, the ally of the princes defeated in the battle on the Pyana River, Moscow Grand Duke Dmitry IV Ivanovich, having learned that the Horde troops who 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 not allow to the capital.
On August 11, 1378, a battle took place on the bank 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 Okolnichy Timofey Vasilyevich attacked the Tatars from the flanks, in the girth. The Horde were completely defeated and fled across the Vozha River, losing many killed and carts, which Russian troops captured the next day, rushing to pursue the Tatars.
The Battle of the Vozha River had enormous moral and military significance as a dress rehearsal for 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 improvised, like all previous military clashes between Russian and Horde troops.
1382 Tokhtamysh's invasion of Moscow - The defeat of Mamai's army on the Kulikovo field and his flight to Kafa and death in 1381 allowed the energetic Khan Tokhtamysh to end the power of the Temniks in the Horde and reunite it into a single state, eliminating the "parallel khans" in the regions.
Tokhtamysh identified as his main military-political task the restoration of the military and foreign policy prestige of the Horde and the preparation of a revanchist campaign against Moscow.

Results of Tokhtamysh’s campaign:
Returning to Moscow in early September 1382, Dmitry Donskoy saw the ashes and ordered the immediate restoration of devastated Moscow, at least with 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, because 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 increased sharply, even formally. In 1384, Dmitry Donskoy was forced for the first time to send his son, the 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, believes 1 -m Vasily Yaroslavich Kostromsky). Relations with neighbors worsened - the Tver, Suzdal, Ryazan principalities, which were specially supported by the Horde to create a political and military counterbalance 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 made his claims. The reign was left to Dmitry, but his son Vasily was taken hostage into the Horde. The “fierce” ambassador Adash appeared in Vladimir (1383, see “Golden Horde Ambassadors in Rus'”). In 1384, it was necessary to collect a heavy tribute (half a ruble per village) from the entire Russian land, and from Novgorod - Black Forest. The Novgorodians began looting along the Volga and Kama and refused to pay tribute. In 1385, it was necessary to show unprecedented leniency towards the Ryazan prince, who decided to attack Kolomna (annexed to Moscow back in 1300) and defeated the troops of the Moscow prince.

Thus, Rus' was actually thrown back to the situation in 1313, under the Uzbek Khan, i.e. practically, the achievements of the Battle of Kulikovo were completely erased. Both in military-political and economic terms, the Moscow principality was thrown back 75-100 years. The prospects for relations with the Horde, therefore, were extremely gloomy for Moscow and Rus' as a whole. One could have assumed that the Horde yoke would be consolidated forever (well, nothing lasts forever!) if a new historical accident had not occurred:
The period of the wars of the Horde with the empire of Tamerlane and the complete defeat of the Horde during these two wars, the disruption of all economic, administrative, political life in the Horde, the death of the Horde army, the ruin of both of its capitals - Sarai I and Sarai II, the beginning of a new unrest, 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 14th 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 gain significant respite and restore its strength - economic, military and political.

Here, perhaps, we should pause and make a few notes. I do not believe in historical accidents of this magnitude, and there is no need to explain the further relations of Muscovite Rus' with the Horde as an unexpected happy accident. Without going into details, we note that by the early 90s of the 14th century. Moscow somehow solved the economic and political problems that arose. The Moscow-Lithuanian Treaty concluded in 1384 removed the Principality of Tver from the influence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Mikhail Alexandrovich Tverskoy, 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 released from the Horde. In 1386, a reconciliation between Dmitry Donskoy and Oleg Ivanovich Ryazansky took place, which in 1387 was sealed by the marriage of their children (Fyodor Olegovich and Sofia Dmitrievna). In the same 1386, Dmitry managed to restore his influence there with a large military demonstration under the Novgorod walls, take the black forest in the volosts and 8,000 rubles in Novgorod. In 1388, Dmitry also faced the discontent of his cousin and comrade-in-arms Vladimir Andreevich, who had to be brought “to his will” by force and forced to recognize the political seniority of his eldest son Vasily. Dmitry managed to make peace with Vladimir two months before his death (1389). In his spiritual will, Dmitry blessed (for the first time) his eldest son Vasily “with his fatherland with his great reign.” And finally, in the summer of 1390, in a solemn atmosphere, the marriage of Vasily and Sophia, the daughter of the Lithuanian prince Vitovt, took place. 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. An alliance with Vytautas, who was against the Catholicization of the Russian lands that were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, was important for Moscow, but could not be durable, since Vytautas, naturally, had his own goals and his own vision of what 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 the reconciliation with Tamerlane and began to lay claim to the territories under his control. A 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 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 Rus'. Having reached Yelets without fighting or looting, he unexpectedly turned back and returned to Central Asia. Thus, Tamerlane’s actions at the end of the 14th century. became a historical factor that helped Rus' 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 Tokhtamysh’s campaign (Apparently, there is a typo in the book - 13 years have passed since Tamerlane’s campaign) could the Horde authorities again remember the vassalage of Moscow and gather forces for a new campaign in order to restore the flow of tribute, which had ceased since 1395.
1408 Edigei's campaign against Moscow - December 1, 1408, a huge army of Edigei's temnik approached Moscow along the winter sled road and besieged the Kremlin.
On the Russian side, the situation during Tokhtamysh’s campaign in 1382 was repeated in detail.
1. Grand Duke Vasily II Dmitrievich, hearing about the danger, like his father, fled to Kostroma (supposedly to gather an army).
2. In Moscow, Vladimir Andreevich Brave, Prince Serpukhovsky, a participant in the Battle of Kulikovo, remained as the head of the garrison.
3. The Moscow suburb was burned out again, i.e. all wooden Moscow around the Kremlin, for a mile in all directions.
4. Edigei, approaching Moscow, set up his camp in Kolomenskoye, and sent a notice to the Kremlin that he would stand all winter and starve out the Kremlin without losing a single fighter.
5. The memory of Tokhtamysh’s invasion was still so fresh among Muscovites that it was decided to fulfill any demands of Edigei, so that only he would leave without hostilities.
6. Edigei demanded to collect 3,000 rubles in two weeks. silver, which was done. In addition, Edigei's troops, scattered throughout the principality and its cities, began to gather Polonyanniks for capture (several tens of thousands of people). Some cities were severely devastated, for example Mozhaisk was completely burned.
7. On December 20, 1408, having received everything that was required, Edigei’s army left Moscow without being attacked or pursued by Russian forces.
8. The damage caused by Edigei’s campaign was less than the damage caused by Tokhtamysh’s invasion, but it also fell heavily 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 frighteningly reminiscent raids on Rus'.
1415 - Ruin of the Yelets (border, buffer) land by the Horde.
1427 - Raid of Horde troops on Ryazan.
1428 - Raid of the Horde army on the Kostroma lands - Galich Mersky, destruction and robbery of Kostroma, Ples and Lukh.
1437 - Battle of Belevskaya Campaign of Ulu-Muhammad to the Trans-Oka lands. The Battle of Belev on December 5, 1437 (the defeat of the Moscow army) due to the reluctance of the Yuryevich brothers - Shemyaka and Krasny - to allow the army of Ulu-Muhammad to settle in Belev and make peace. Due to the betrayal of the Lithuanian governor of Mtsensk, Grigory Protasyev, who went over to the side of the Tatars, Ulu-Mukhammed 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 Rus' had to wage in parallel with the heir 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 Kazan people (1444-1445) led to the catastrophic defeat of the Russian troops, the capture of the Moscow prince Vasily II the Dark, a humiliating peace and the eventual blinding of Vasily II. Further, the raids of the Kazan Tatars on Rus' and the retaliatory Russian actions (1461, 1467-1469, 1478) are not indicated in the table, but they should be kept in mind (See "Kazan Khanate");
1451 - Campaign of Mahmut, son of Kichi-Muhammad, to Moscow. He burned the settlements, but the Kremlin did not take them.
1462 - Ivan III stopped issuing Russian coins with the name of the Khan of the Horde. Statement by Ivan III on the renunciation of the khan's label for the great reign.
1468 - Khan Akhmat's campaign against Ryazan
1471 - Campaign of the Horde to the Moscow borders in the Trans-Oka region
1472 - The Horde army approached the city of Aleksin, but did not cross the Oka. The Russian army marched to Kolomna. There was no clash 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 is a characteristic feature of the policy of Ivan III. He didn't want to take any risks.
1474 - Khan Akhmat again approaches the Zaoksk region, on the border with the Moscow Grand Duchy. Peace, or, more precisely, a truce, is concluded on the terms of the Moscow prince paying 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 conflict.
1480 Great Standing on the Ugra River - Akhmat demands that Ivan III pay tribute for 7 years, during which Moscow stopped paying it. Goes on a campaign against Moscow. Ivan III advances with his army to meet the Khan.

We formally end the history of Russian-Horde relations with the year 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 organism and administration and even as a certain territory to which 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 in size, but manageable and relatively consolidated. Of course, the virtual 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, feeling that catastrophic changes had occurred, nevertheless did not realize them as a complete collapse, as the absolute disappearance from the face of the earth of their former state.
In fact, the process of the collapse of the Horde, especially at the lower social level, continued for another three to four decades during the first quarter of the 16th century.
But the international consequences of the collapse and disappearance of the Horde, on the contrary, affected themselves 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 area, 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 taken into account that the process of fragmentation of the Golden Horde was not a one-time act, but occurred throughout the entire 15th century. The policy of the Russian state changed accordingly. 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 increasingly persistent and powerful pressure from the Russian state, which was formally still in vassal dependence on the Great Horde (in the period under review these were the campaigns of 1461, 1467-1469, 1478). ).
Firstly, an active, offensive line was chosen in relation to both rudiments and completely 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 to rest on the laurels of the victors.
Secondly, pitting one Tatar group against another was used as a new tactical technique that gave the most useful military-political effect. Significant Tatar formations began to be included in the Russian armed forces to carry out joint attacks on other Tatar military formations, and primarily on the remnants of the Horde.
So, in 1485, 1487 and 1491. Ivan III sent military detachments to strike the troops of the Great Horde, who were attacking Moscow's ally at that time - the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey.
Particularly significant in military-political terms was the so-called. spring campaign of 1491 to the “Wild Field” along converging directions.

1491 Campaign to the “Wild Field” - 1. The Horde khans Seid-Akhmet and Shig-Akhmet besieged Crimea in May 1491. Ivan III dispatched a huge army of 60 thousand people to help his ally Mengli-Girey. under the leadership of the following military leaders:
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 the rear of the Horde troops from three sides in converging directions in order to squeeze them into pincers, while they would be attacked from the front by the troops of Mengli-Girey.
3. In addition, on June 3 and 8, 1491, the allies were mobilized to attack from the flanks. These were again both Russian and Tatar troops:
a) Kazan Khan Muhammad-Emin and his governors Abash-Ulan and Burash-Seyid;
b) Ivan III's brothers appanage princes Andrei Vasilyevich Bolshoi and Boris Vasilyevich with their troops.

Another new tactical technique introduced in the 90s of the 15th century. Ivan III in his military policy regarding Tatar attacks is a systematic organization of pursuit of Tatar raids invading Russia, which has 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 area between the Bystraya Sosna and Trudy rivers;
1499 - Pursuit after the Tatars’ raid on Kozelsk, which recaptured from the enemy all the “full” and cattle he had taken away;
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) - A new campaign of an even more numerous army of Shig-Akhmed, but further than the Zaokskaya side, i.e. territory of the north of the Oryol 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-Seversk lands. The Tatars captured the city of Novgorod-Seversky, but this army of the Great Horde did not go further to the Moscow lands.

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 Muscovite Rus' and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for the Verkhovsky principalities (1500-1503). It is incorrect to talk about the Tatars seizing the 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 of these lands went to Moscow.
1502 Liquidation of the Great Horde - The army of the Great Horde remained to winter at the mouth of the Seim River and near Belgorod. Ivan III then agreed with Mengli-Girey that he would send his troops to expel Shig-Akhmed’s troops from this territory. Mengli-Girey fulfilled this request, inflicting a strong blow on the Great Horde in February 1502.
In May 1502, Mengli-Girey defeated the troops of Shig-Akhmed for the second time at the mouth of the Sula River, where they migrated to spring pastures. This battle effectively ended the remnants of the Great Horde.

This is how Ivan III dealt with it at the beginning of the 16th century. with the Tatar states through the hands of the Tatars themselves.
Thus, from the beginning of the 16th century. the last remnants of the Golden Horde disappeared from the historical arena. And the point was not only that this completely removed from the Moscow state any threat of invasion from the East, 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 “successors” of the Golden Horde.
This was precisely the main historical meaning, the main historical significance of the liberation of Russia from Horde dependence.
For the Moscow state, vassal relations ceased, it became a sovereign state, a subject of international relations. This completely changed his position both 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 fiefdom (principality), or, in other words, the khan’s consent to continue to trust his tenant and vassal, to the fact that he will temporarily not be touched from this post if he fulfills a number of conditions: pay tribute, conduct loyalty to the khan politics, send “gifts,” and participate, if necessary, in the military activities of the Horde.
With the collapse of the Horde and the emergence of new khanates on its ruins - Kazan, Astrakhan, Crimean, Siberian - a completely new situation arose: the institution of vassal submission to Rus' disappeared and ceased. This was expressed in the fact that all relations with the new Tatar states began to occur on a bilateral basis. The conclusion of bilateral treaties on political issues began at the end of wars and at the conclusion of peace. And this was precisely the main and important change.
Outwardly, especially in the first decades, there were no noticeable changes in the relations between Russia and the khanates:
The 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 Moscow Grand Duchy, i.e. Sometimes, like the Horde, they organized campaigns against Moscow right up to the walls of the Kremlin, resorted to devastating raids for the meadows, stole cattle and plundered the property of the Grand Duke’s subjects, demanded that he pay indemnity, etc. and so on.
But after the end of hostilities, the parties began to draw legal conclusions - i.e. record their victories and defeats in bilateral documents, conclude peace or truce treaties, sign written obligations. And it was precisely this that significantly changed their true relations, leading to the fact that the entire relationship of forces on both sides actually changed significantly.
That is why it became possible for the Moscow state to purposefully work to change this balance of forces in its favor and ultimately achieve 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 16th century.

"From Ancient Rus' to the Russian Empire." Shishkin Sergey Petrovich, Ufa.
V.V. Pokhlebkina "Tatars and Rus'. 360 years of relations in 1238-1598." (M. "International Relations" 2000).
Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary. 4th edition, M. 1987.

Rus' under the Mongol-Tatar yoke existed in an extremely humiliating way. She was completely subjugated both politically and economically. Therefore, the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke in Rus', the date of standing on the Ugra River - 1480, is perceived as the most important event in our history. Although Rus' became politically independent, the payment of tribute in a smaller amount continued until the time of Peter the Great. The complete end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke is the year 1700, when Peter the Great canceled payments to the Crimean khans.

Mongol army

In the 12th century, Mongol nomads united under the rule of the cruel and cunning ruler Temujin. He mercilessly suppressed all obstacles to unlimited power and created a unique army that won victory after victory. He, creating a great empire, was called Genghis Khan by his nobility.

Having conquered East Asia, the Mongol troops reached the Caucasus and Crimea. They destroyed the Alans and Polovtsians. The remnants of the Polovtsians turned to Rus' for help.

First meeting

There were 20 or 30 thousand soldiers in the Mongol army, it is not precisely established. They were led by Jebe and Subedei. They stopped at the Dnieper. And at this time, Khotchan persuaded the Galich prince Mstislav the Udal to oppose the invasion of the terrible cavalry. He was joined by Mstislav of Kiev and Mstislav of Chernigov. According to various sources, the total Russian army numbered from 10 to 100 thousand people. The military council took place on the banks of the Kalka River. A unified plan was not developed. spoke alone. He was supported only by the remnants of the Cumans, but during the battle they fled. The princes who did not support Galician still had to fight the Mongols who attacked their fortified camp.

The battle lasted three days. Only by cunning and a promise not to take anyone prisoner did the Mongols enter the camp. But they didn’t keep their words. The Mongols tied up the Russian governors and princes alive and covered them with boards and sat on them and began to feast on the victory, enjoying the groans of the dying. So the Kiev prince and his entourage died in agony. The year was 1223. The Mongols, without going into details, went back to Asia. In thirteen years they will return. And all these years in Rus' there was a fierce squabble between the princes. It completely undermined the strength of the Southwestern principalities.

Invasion

The grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu, with a huge half-million army, having conquered the Polovtsian lands in the east and the south, approached the Russian principalities in December 1237. His tactics were not to give a big battle, but to attack individual detachments, defeating everyone one by one. Approaching the southern borders of the Ryazan principality, the Tatars ultimatively demanded tribute from him: a tenth of horses, people and princes. There were barely three thousand soldiers in Ryazan. They sent for help to Vladimir, but no help came. After six days of siege, Ryazan was taken.

The inhabitants were killed and the city was destroyed. This was the beginning. The end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke will occur in two hundred and forty difficult years. Next was Kolomna. There the Russian army was almost all killed. Moscow lies in ashes. But before that, someone who dreamed of returning to their native places buried a treasure of silver jewelry. It was found by accident during construction in the Kremlin in the 90s of the 20th century. Next was Vladimir. The Mongols spared neither women nor children and destroyed the city. Then Torzhok fell. But spring was coming, and, fearing muddy roads, the Mongols moved south. Northern swampy Rus' did not interest them. But the defending tiny Kozelsk stood in the way. For almost two months the city resisted fiercely. But reinforcements came to the Mongols with battering machines, and the city was taken. All the defenders were slaughtered and no stone was left unturned from the town. So, all of North-Eastern Rus' by 1238 lay in ruins. And who can doubt whether there was a Mongol-Tatar yoke in Rus'? From the brief description it follows that there were wonderful good neighborly relations, doesn’t it?

Southwestern Rus'

Her turn came in 1239. Pereyaslavl, the Chernigov principality, Kyiv, Vladimir-Volynsky, Galich - everything was destroyed, not to mention smaller cities and villages. And how far away is the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke! How much horror and destruction its beginning brought. The Mongols entered Dalmatia and Croatia. Western Europe trembled.

However, news from distant Mongolia forced the invaders to turn back. But they didn’t have enough strength for a second campaign. Europe was saved. But our Motherland, lying in ruins and bleeding, did not know when the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke would come.

Rus' under the yoke

Who suffered the most from the Mongol invasion? Peasants? Yes, the Mongols did not spare them. But they could hide in the forests. Townspeople? Certainly. There were 74 cities in Rus', and 49 of them were destroyed by Batu, and 14 were never restored. Craftsmen were turned into slaves and exported. There was no continuity of skills in crafts, and the craft fell into decline. They forgot how to cast glassware, boil glass to make windows, and there was no more multi-colored ceramics or jewelry with cloisonné enamel. Masons and carvers disappeared, and stone construction stopped for 50 years. But it was hardest of all for those who repelled the attack with weapons in their hands - the feudal lords and warriors. Of the 12 Ryazan princes, three remained alive, of the 3 Rostov princes - one, of the 9 Suzdal princes - 4. But no one counted the losses in the squads. And there were no less of them. Professionals in military service were replaced by other people who were accustomed to being pushed around. So the princes began to have full power. This process subsequently, when the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke comes, will deepen and lead to the unlimited power of the monarch.

Russian princes and the Golden Horde

After 1242, Rus' fell under the complete political and economic oppression of the Horde. In order for the prince to legally inherit his throne, he had to go with gifts to the “free king,” as our princes called the khans, to the capital of the Horde. I had to stay there for quite a long time. Khan slowly considered the lowest requests. The whole procedure turned into a chain of humiliations, and after much deliberation, sometimes many months, the khan gave a “label,” that is, permission to reign. So, one of our princes, having come to Batu, called himself a slave in order to retain his possessions.

The tribute to be paid by the principality was necessarily specified. At any moment, the khan could summon the prince to the Horde and even execute anyone he disliked. The Horde pursued a special policy with the princes, diligently fanning their feuds. The disunity of the princes and their principalities was to the advantage of the Mongols. The Horde itself gradually became a colossus with feet of clay. Centrifugal sentiments intensified within her. But this will be much later. And at first its unity is strong. After the death of Alexander Nevsky, his sons fiercely hate each other and fight fiercely for the Vladimir throne. Conventionally, reigning in Vladimir gave the prince seniority over everyone else. In addition, a decent plot of land was added to those who brought money to the treasury. And for the great reign of Vladimir in the Horde, a struggle flared up between the princes, sometimes to the death. This is how Rus' lived under the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The Horde troops practically did not stand in it. But if there was disobedience, punitive troops could always come and start cutting and burning everything.

The Rise of Moscow

The bloody feuds of the Russian princes among themselves led to the fact that during the period from 1275 to 1300, Mongol troops came to Rus' 15 times. Many principalities emerged from the strife weakened, and people fled to quieter places. Little Moscow turned out to be such a quiet principality. It went to the younger Daniel. He reigned from the age of 15 and pursued a cautious policy, trying not to quarrel with his neighbors, because he was too weak. And the Horde did not pay close attention to him. Thus, an impetus was given to the development of trade and enrichment in this area.

Settlers from troubled places poured into it. Over time, Daniil managed to annex Kolomna and Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, increasing his principality. His sons after his death continued their father's relatively quiet policy. Only the Tver princes saw them as potential rivals and tried, while fighting for the Great Reign in Vladimir, to spoil Moscow’s relations with the Horde. This hatred reached the point that when the Moscow prince and the prince of Tver were simultaneously summoned to the Horde, Dmitry Tverskoy stabbed Yuri of Moscow to death. For such arbitrariness he was executed by the Horde.

Ivan Kalita and “great silence”

The fourth son of Prince Daniil seemed to have no chance of winning the Moscow throne. But his older brothers died, and he began to reign in Moscow. By the will of fate, he also became the Grand Duke of Vladimir. Under him and his sons, Mongol raids on Russian lands stopped. Moscow and the people in it became richer. Cities grew and their population increased. An entire generation grew up in North-Eastern Rus' and stopped trembling at the mention of the Mongols. This brought closer the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke in Rus'.

Dmitry Donskoy

By the birth of Prince Dmitry Ivanovich in 1350, Moscow was already turning into the center of political, cultural and religious life in the northeast. The grandson of Ivan Kalita lived a short, 39 years, but bright life. He spent it in battles, but now it is important to dwell on the great battle with Mamai, which took place in 1380 on the Nepryadva River. By this time, Prince Dmitry defeated the punitive Mongol detachment between Ryazan and Kolomna. Mamai began to prepare a new campaign against Rus'. Dmitry, having learned about this, in turn began to gather strength to fight back. Not all princes responded to his call. The prince had to turn to Sergius of Radonezh for help in order to gather a people's militia. And having received the blessing of the holy elder and two monks, at the end of summer he gathered a militia and moved towards the huge army of Mamai.

On September 8, at dawn, a great battle took place. Dmitry fought in the front ranks, was wounded, and was found with difficulty. But the Mongols were defeated and fled. Dmitry returned victorious. But the time has not yet come when the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke in Rus' will come. History says that another hundred years will pass under the yoke.

Strengthening Rus'

Moscow became the center of the unification of Russian lands, but not all princes agreed to accept this fact. Dmitry's son, Vasily I, ruled for a long time, 36 years, and relatively calmly. He defended Russian lands from the encroachments of the Lithuanians, annexed the Suzdal and Nizhny Novgorod principalities. The Horde weakened, and was taken into account less and less. Vasily visited the Horde only twice in his life. But there was no unity within Rus' either. Riots broke out endlessly. Even at the wedding of Prince Vasily II a scandal broke out. One of the guests was wearing the gold belt of Dmitry Donskoy. When the bride found out about this, she publicly tore it off, causing an insult. But the belt was not just a piece of jewelry. He was a symbol of the grand ducal power. During the reign of Vasily II (1425-1453), feudal wars took place. The Moscow prince was captured, blinded, his entire face was wounded, and for the rest of his life he wore a bandage on his face and received the nickname “Dark.” However, this strong-willed prince was released, and young Ivan became his co-ruler, who, after the death of his father, would become the liberator of the country and receive the nickname the Great.

The end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke in Rus'

In 1462, the legitimate ruler Ivan III ascended the Moscow throne, who would become a transformer and reformer. He carefully and prudently united the Russian lands. He annexed Tver, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Perm, and even obstinate Novgorod recognized him as sovereign. He made the double-headed Byzantine eagle his coat of arms and began building the Kremlin. This is exactly how we know him. Since 1476, Ivan III stopped paying tribute to the Horde. A beautiful but untrue legend tells how this happened. Having received the Horde embassy, ​​the Grand Duke trampled the Basma and sent a warning to the Horde that the same thing would happen to them if they did not leave his country alone. The enraged Khan Ahmed, having gathered a large army, moved towards Moscow, wanting to punish her for disobedience. About 150 km from Moscow, near the Ugra River on Kaluga lands, two troops stood opposite each other in the fall. The Russian was headed by Vasily's son, Ivan the Young.

Ivan III returned to Moscow and began supplying the army with food and fodder. So the troops stood opposite each other until early winter came with lack of food and buried all of Ahmed’s plans. The Mongols turned around and went to the Horde, admitting defeat. This is how the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke took place bloodlessly. Its date is 1480 - a great event in our history.

The meaning of the fall of the yoke

Having suspended the political, economic and cultural development of Rus' for a long time, the yoke pushed the country to the margins of European history. When the Renaissance began and flourished in Western Europe in all areas, when the national identities of peoples took shape, when countries grew rich and flourished with trade, sent a naval fleet in search of new lands, there was darkness in Rus'. Columbus discovered America already in 1492. For Europeans, the Earth was growing rapidly. For us, the end of the Mongol-Tatar yoke in Rus' marked the opportunity to leave the narrow medieval framework, change laws, reform the army, build cities and develop new lands. In short, Rus' gained independence and began to be called Russia.

Mongol-Tatars are all nomadic peoples living in the Volga region and further to the East, with whom Rus' fought in the 13th-15th centuries. The name was given by the name of one of the tribes

“In 1224 an unknown people appeared; an unheard of army came, godless Tatars, about whom no one knows well who they are and where they came from, and what kind of language they have, and what tribe they are, and what kind of faith they have ... "

(I. Brekov “The World of History: Russian Lands in the 13th-15th Centuries”)

Mongol-Tatar invasion

• 1206 - Congress of the Mongolian nobility (kurultai), at which Temujin was elected leader of the Mongolian tribes, who received the name Genghis Khan (Great Khan)
• 1219 - Beginning of Genghis Khan's three-year conquest in Central Asia
• 1223, May 31 - The first battle of the Mongols and the united Russian-Polovtsian army at the borders of Kievan Rus, on the Kalka River, near the Sea of ​​Azov
• 1227 - Death of Genghis Khan. Power in the Mongolian state passed to his grandson Batu (Batu Khan)
• 1237 - Beginning of the Mongol-Tatar invasion. Batu's army crossed the Volga in its middle course and invaded North-Eastern Rus'
• 1237, December 21 - Ryazan was taken by the Tatars
• 1238, January - Kolomna captured
• 1238, February 7 - Vladimir captured
• 1238, February 8 - Suzdal taken
• 1238, March 4 - Pal Torzhok
• 1238, March 5 - Battle of the squad of Moscow Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich with the Tatars near the Sit River. Death of Prince Yuri
• 1238, May - Capture of Kozelsk
• 1239-1240 - Batu’s army camped in the Don steppe
• 1240 - Devastation of Pereyaslavl and Chernigov by the Mongols
• 1240, December 6 - Kyiv destroyed
• 1240, end of December - Russian principalities of Volyn and Galicia destroyed
• 1241 - Batu's army returned to Mongolia
• 1243 - Formation of the Golden Horde, a state from the Danube to the Irtysh, with its capital Sarai in the lower Volga

The Russian principalities retained statehood, but were subject to tribute. In total, there were 14 types of tribute, including directly in favor of the khan - 1300 kg of silver per year. In addition, the khans of the Golden Horde reserved for themselves the right to appoint or overthrow the Moscow princes, who were to receive the label for the great reign in Sarai. The power of the Horde over Russia lasted for more than two centuries. It was a time of complex political games, when the Russian princes either united with each other for the sake of some momentary benefits, or were at enmity, while at the same time attracting Mongol troops as allies. A significant role in the politics of that time was played by the Polish-Lithuanian state that arose on the western borders of Rus', Sweden, the German orders of knighthood in the Baltic states, and the free republics of Novgorod and Pskov. Creating alliances with each other and against each other, with the Russian principalities, the Golden Horde, they waged endless wars

In the first decades of the 14th century, the rise of the Moscow principality began, which gradually became a political center and collector of Russian lands.

On August 11, 1378, the Moscow army of Prince Dmitry defeated the Mongols in the battle on the Vazha River. On September 8, 1380, the Moscow army of Prince Dmitry defeated the Mongols in the battle on the Kulikovo Field. And although in 1382 the Mongol Khan Tokhtamysh plundered and burned Moscow, the myth of the invincibility of the Tatars collapsed. Gradually, the Golden Horde state itself fell into decay. It split into the khanates of Siberian, Uzbek, Kazan (1438), Crimean (1443), Kazakh, Astrakhan (1459), Nogai Horde. Of all the tributaries of the Tatars, only Rus' remained, but it also periodically rebelled. In 1408, Moscow Prince Vasily I refused to pay tribute to the Golden Horde, after which Khan Edigei made a devastating campaign, robbing Pereyaslavl, Rostov, Dmitrov, Serpukhov, and Nizhny Novgorod. In 1451, Moscow Prince Vasily the Dark again refused to pay. The Tatar raids were fruitless. Finally, in 1480, Prince Ivan III officially refused to submit to the Horde. The Mongol-Tatar yoke ended.

Lev Gumilev about the Tatar-Mongol yoke

- “Batu’s army, which opposed the Polovtsians, with whom the Mongols had been at war since 1216, passed through Rus' to the rear of the Polovtsians in 1237-1238, and forced them to flee to Hungary. At the same time, Ryazan and fourteen cities in the Vladimir Principality were destroyed. And in total there were about three hundred cities there at that time. The Mongols did not leave garrisons anywhere, did not impose tribute on anyone, being content with indemnities, horses and food, which was what any army did in those days when advancing.”

- (As a result) “Great Russia, then called Zalesskaya Ukraine, voluntarily united with the Horde, thanks to the efforts of Alexander Nevsky, who became the adopted son of Batu. And the original Ancient Rus' - Belarus, Kiev region, Galicia and Volyn - submitted to Lithuania and Poland almost without resistance. And now, around Moscow there is a “golden belt” of ancient cities that remained intact during the “yoke,” but in Belarus and Galicia there are not even traces of Russian culture left. Novgorod was defended from the German knights by Tatar help in 1269. And where Tatar help was neglected, everything was lost. In the place of Yuryev - Dorpat, now Tartu, in the place of Kolyvan - Revol, now Tallinn; Riga closed the river route along the Dvina to Russian trade; Berdichev and Bratslav - Polish castles - blocked the roads to the "Wild Field", once the homeland of the Russian princes, thereby taking control of Ukraine. In 1340, Rus' disappeared from the political map of Europe. It was revived in 1480 in Moscow, on the eastern outskirts of former Rus'. And its core, ancient Kievan Rus, captured by Poland and oppressed, had to be saved in the 18th century.”

- “I believe that Batu’s “invasion” was actually a large raid, a cavalry raid, and further events have only an indirect connection with this campaign. In Ancient Rus', the word “yoke” meant something used to fasten something, a bridle or a collar. It also existed in the meaning of a burden, that is, something that is carried. The word “yoke” in the meaning of “domination”, “oppression” was first recorded only under Peter I. The alliance of Moscow and the Horde lasted as long as it was mutually beneficial.”

The term “Tatar yoke” originates in Russian historiography, as well as the position about its overthrow by Ivan III, from Nikolai Karamzin, who used it in the form of an artistic epithet in the original meaning of “a collar put on the neck” (“bent the neck under the yoke of the barbarians” ), who may have borrowed the term from the 16th-century Polish author Maciej Miechowski