The name of the Mongol khan who conquered the ancient Russian principalities. Chronicle of the Tatar-Mongol yoke: historical fact or fiction

Chronology

• 1123 Battle of the Russians and Cumans with the Mongols on the Kalka River
• 1237 - 1240 Conquest of Rus' by the Mongols
• 1240 The defeat of the Swedish knights on the Neva River by Prince Alexander Yaroslavovich (Battle of the Neva)
• 1242 The defeat of the crusaders on Lake Peipsi by Prince Alexander Yaroslavovich Nevsky (Battle of the Ice)
• 1380 Battle of Kulikovo

The beginning of the Mongol conquests of the Russian principalities

In the 13th century the peoples of Rus' had to endure a difficult struggle with Tatar-Mongol conquerors, who ruled the Russian lands until the 15th century. (last century in a milder form). Directly or indirectly, the Mongol invasion contributed to the fall of the political institutions of the Kyiv period and the rise of absolutism.

In the 12th century. There was no centralized state in Mongolia; the unification of the tribes was achieved at the end of the 12th century. Temuchin, the leader of one of the clans. At the general meeting (“kurultai”) of representatives of all clans in 1206 he was proclaimed great khan with the name Genghis(“limitless power”).

Once the empire was created, it began its expansion. The organization of the Mongol army was based on the decimal principle - 10, 100, 1000, etc. An imperial guard was created that controlled the entire army. Before the advent of firearms Mongol cavalry prevailed in the steppe wars. She was better organized and trained than any army of nomads of the past. The reason for the success was not only the perfection of the military organization of the Mongols, but also the unpreparedness of their rivals.

At the beginning of the 13th century, having conquered part of Siberia, the Mongols began to conquer China in 1215. They managed to capture its entire northern part. From China, the Mongols brought the latest military equipment and specialists for that time. In addition, they received a cadre of competent and experienced officials from among the Chinese. In 1219, Genghis Khan's troops invaded Central Asia. Following Central Asia there was Northern Iran captured, after which Genghis Khan’s troops made a predatory campaign in Transcaucasia. From the south they came to the Polovtsian steppes and defeated the Polovtsians.

The Polovtsians' request to help them against a dangerous enemy was accepted by the Russian princes. The battle between the Russian-Polovtsian and Mongol troops took place on May 31, 1223 on the Kalka River in the Azov region. Not all Russian princes who promised to participate in the battle sent their troops. The battle ended in the defeat of the Russian-Polovtsian troops, many princes and warriors died.

In 1227 Genghis Khan died. Ögedei, his third son, was elected Great Khan. In 1235, the Kurultai met in the Mongol capital Kara-korum, where it was decided to begin the conquest of the western lands. This intention posed a terrible threat to Russian lands. At the head of the new campaign was Ogedei’s nephew, Batu (Batu).

In 1236, Batu's troops began a campaign against the Russian lands. Having defeated Volga Bulgaria, they set out to conquer the Ryazan principality. The Ryazan princes, their squads and townspeople had to fight the invaders alone. The city was burned and plundered. After the capture of Ryazan, Mongol troops moved to Kolomna. In the battle near Kolomna, many Russian soldiers died, and the battle itself ended in defeat for them. On February 3, 1238, the Mongols approached Vladimir. Having besieged the city, the invaders sent a detachment to Suzdal, which took it and burned it. The Mongols stopped only in front of Novgorod, turning south due to muddy roads.

In 1240, the Mongol offensive resumed. Chernigov and Kyiv were captured and destroyed. From here the Mongol troops moved to Galicia-Volyn Rus'. Having captured Vladimir-Volynsky, Galich in 1241 Batu invaded Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Moravia, and then in 1242 reached Croatia and Dalmatia. However, Mongol troops entered Western Europe significantly weakened by the powerful resistance they encountered in Rus'. This largely explains the fact that if the Mongols managed to establish their yoke in Rus', Western Europe only experienced an invasion and then on a smaller scale. This is the historical role of the heroic resistance of the Russian people to the Mongol invasion.

The result of Batu’s grandiose campaign was the conquest of a vast territory - the southern Russian steppes and forests of Northern Rus', the Lower Danube region (Bulgaria and Moldova). The Mongol Empire now included the entire Eurasian continent from the Pacific Ocean to the Balkans.

After Ogedei's death in 1241, the majority supported the candidacy of Ogedei's son Hayuk. Batu became the head of the strongest regional khanate. He founded his capital at Sarai (north of Astrakhan). His power extended to Kazakhstan, Khorezm, Western Siberia, Volga, North Caucasus, Rus'. Gradually the western part of this ulus became known as Golden Horde.

The struggle of the Russian people against Western aggression

When the Mongols occupied Russian cities, the Swedes, threatening Novgorod, appeared at the mouth of the Neva. They were defeated in July 1240 by the young prince Alexander, who received the name Nevsky for his victory.

At the same time, the Roman Church made acquisitions in the Baltic Sea countries. Back in the 12th century, German knighthood began to seize lands belonging to the Slavs beyond the Oder and in the Baltic Pomerania. At the same time, an attack was carried out on the lands of the Baltic peoples. The Crusaders' invasion of the Baltic lands and North-Western Rus' was sanctioned by the Pope and German Emperor Frederick II. German, Danish, Norwegian knights and troops from other northern European countries also took part in the crusade. The attack on Russian lands was part of the doctrine of “Drang nach Osten” (pressure to the east).

Together with his squad, Alexander liberated Pskov, Izborsk and other captured cities with a sudden blow. Having received news that the main forces of the Order were coming towards him, Alexander Nevsky blocked the path of the knights, placing his troops on the ice of Lake Peipsi. The Russian prince showed himself to be an outstanding commander. The chronicler wrote about him: “We win everywhere, but we won’t win at all.” Alexander placed his troops under the cover of a steep bank on the ice of the lake, eliminating the possibility of enemy reconnaissance of his forces and depriving the enemy of freedom of maneuver. Considering the formation of the knights in a “pig” (in the form of a trapezoid with a sharp wedge in front, which was made up of heavily armed cavalry), Alexander Nevsky arranged his regiments in the form of a triangle, with the tip resting on the shore. Before the battle, some of the Russian soldiers were equipped with special hooks to pull knights off their horses.

On April 5, 1242, a battle took place on the ice of Lake Peipsi, which became known as the Battle of the Ice. The knight's wedge pierced the center of the Russian position and buried itself in the shore. The flank attacks of the Russian regiments decided the outcome of the battle: like pincers, they crushed the knightly “pig”. The knights, unable to withstand the blow, fled in panic. The Russians pursued the enemy, “flogged, rushing after him as if through the air,” the chronicler wrote. According to the Novgorod Chronicle, in the battle “400 Germans and 50 were captured”

Persistently resisting Western enemies, Alexander was extremely patient with regard to the eastern onslaught. Recognition of the Khan's sovereignty freed up his hands to repel the Teutonic Crusade.

Tatar-Mongol yoke

Persistently resisting Western enemies, Alexander was extremely patient with regard to the eastern onslaught. The Mongols did not interfere in the religious affairs of their subjects, while the Germans tried to impose their faith on the conquered peoples. They pursued an aggressive policy under the slogan “Whoever does not want to be baptized must die!” Recognition of the Khan's sovereignty freed up forces to repel the Teutonic Crusade. But it turned out that the “Mongol flood” is not easy to get rid of. RThe Russian lands, devastated by the Mongols, were forced to recognize vassal dependence on the Golden Horde.

During the first period of Mongol rule, the collection of taxes and the mobilization of Russians into the Mongol troops was carried out on the orders of the Great Khan. Both money and recruits were sent to the capital. Under Gauk, Russian princes went to Mongolia to receive a label to reign. Later, a trip to Sarai was enough.

The continuous struggle waged by the Russian people against the invaders forced the Mongol-Tatars to abandon the creation of their own administrative authorities in Rus'. Rus' retained its statehood. This was facilitated by the presence in Rus' of its own administration and church organization.

To control the Russian lands, the institution of Baskaq governors was created - leaders of military detachments of the Mongol-Tatars who monitored the activities of the Russian princes. Denunciation of the Baskaks to the Horde inevitably ended either with the prince being summoned to Sarai (often he was deprived of his label, or even his life), or with a punitive campaign in the rebellious land. Suffice it to say that only in the last quarter of the 13th century. 14 similar campaigns were organized in Russian lands.

In 1257, the Mongol-Tatars undertook a population census - “recording the number.” Besermen (Muslim merchants) were sent to the cities, who were in charge of collecting tribute. The size of the tribute (“output”) was very large, only the “tsar’s tribute”, i.e. the tribute in favor of the khan, which was first collected in kind and then in money, amounted to 1,300 kg of silver per year. The constant tribute was supplemented by “requests” - one-time exactions in favor of the khan. In addition, deductions from trade duties, taxes for “feeding” the khan’s officials, etc. went to the khan’s treasury. In total there were 14 types of tribute in favor of the Tatars.

The Horde yoke slowed down the economic development of Rus' for a long time, destroyed its agriculture, and undermined its culture. The Mongol invasion led to a decline in the role of cities in the political and economic life of Rus', urban construction stopped, and fine and applied arts fell into decay. A serious consequence of the yoke was the deepening disunity of Rus' and the isolation of its individual parts. The weakened country was unable to defend a number of western and southern regions, which were later captured by Lithuanian and Polish feudal lords. The trade relations between Rus' and the West were dealt a blow: only Novgorod, Pskov, Polotsk, Vitebsk and Smolensk retained trade relations with foreign countries.

The turning point came in 1380, when Mamai’s army of thousands was defeated on the Kulikovo Field.

Rus' began to strengthen, its dependence on the Horde weakened more and more. The final liberation occurred in 1480 under Emperor Ivan III. By this time the period had ended, the gathering of Russian lands around Moscow and.

The classical version, that is, recognized by modern science, of the “Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus'”, the “Mongol-Tatar yoke” and “liberation from the Horde tyranny” is quite well known, but it would be useful to refresh your memory once again. So…

At the beginning of the 13th century, in the Mongolian steppes, a brave and devilishly energetic tribal leader named Genghis Khan put together a huge army of nomads, welded together with iron discipline, and set out to conquer the whole world, “to the last sea.”

Having conquered their closest neighbors, and then captured China, the mighty Tatar-Mongol horde rolled west. Having traveled about five thousand kilometers, the Mongols defeated the state of Khorezm, then Georgia, and in 1223 they reached the southern outskirts of Rus', where they defeated the army of the Russian princes in the battle on the Kalka River. In the winter of 1237, the Mongol-Tatars invaded Russia with their entire innumerable army, burned and destroyed many Russian cities, and in 1241, in fulfillment of the behests of Genghis Khan, they tried to conquer Western Europe - they invaded Poland, the Czech Republic, and reached shores of the Adriatic Sea, however, they turned back because they were afraid to leave Russia in their rear, devastated, but still dangerous for them. And the Tatar-Mongol yoke began. The huge Mongol empire, stretching from Beijing to the Volga, hung like an ominous shadow over Russia. The Mongol khans gave the Russian princes labels to reign, attacked Rus' many times to plunder and plunder, and repeatedly killed Russian princes in their Golden Horde. It should be clarified that there were many Christians among the Mongols, and therefore some Russian princes established rather close, friendly relations with the Horde rulers, even becoming their brothers-in-arms. With the help of the Tatar-Mongol detachments, other princes were kept on the “table” (i.e. on the throne), solved their purely internal problems, and even collected tribute for the Golden Horde on their own. Having strengthened over time, Rus' began to show its teeth. In 1380, the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Donskoy defeated the Horde Khan Mamai with his Tatars, and a century later, in the so-called “standing on the Ugra,” the troops of the Grand Duke Ivan III and the Horde Khan Akhmat met. 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 he had every chance of losing 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.”
Today, a lot of information has accumulated indicating that the so-called “Tatar-Mongol yoke” is a delusion of today’s historians, since the Tatar-Mongols were not nomadic peoples who came from Asia, but Russians. The Tatar-Mongols began to be considered Mongoloids only in the 17th century, possibly due to the deliberate falsification of historians of Peter I. The evidence that the Tatar-Mongols are Russian is as follows.

Sources about the “yoke”

The term “Tatar-Mongol yoke” itself, however, does not appear in Russian chronicles. All the so-called “defeats and sufferings” of the Russian people from the Mongols are described in the following entry (Hearts from strong damask steel. Collection of Russian chronicles and literary monuments.):

Oh, bright and beautifully decorated Russian land! You are famous for many beauties: you are famous for many lakes, locally revered rivers and springs, mountains, steep hills, high oak forests, clean fields, marvelous animals, various birds, countless great cities, glorious villages, monastery gardens, temples of God and formidable princes, honest boyars and many nobles. You are filled with everything, Russian land, O Orthodox Christian faith!

From here to the Ugrians and to the Poles, to the Czechs, from the Czechs to the Yatvingians, from the Yatvingians to the Lithuanians, to the Germans, from the Germans to the Karelians, from the Karelians to Ustyug, where the filthy Toymichi live, and beyond the Breathing Sea; from the sea to the Bulgarians, from the Bulgarians to the Burtases, from the Burtases to the Cheremises, from the Cheremises to the Mordtsy - everything was conquered by the Christian people with the help of God, these filthy countries obeyed the Grand Duke Vsevolod, his father Yuri, the Prince of Kiev, his grandfather Vladimir Monomakh, by whom The Polovtsians frightened their small children. But the Lithuanians did not emerge from their swamps, and the Hungarians strengthened the stone walls of their cities with iron gates so that the great Vladimir would not conquer them, and the Germans rejoiced that they were far away - across the blue sea. The Burtases, Cheremises, Vyadas and Mordovians fought against Grand Duke Vladimir. And Emperor Manuel of Constantinople, out of fear, sent great gifts to him so that Grand Duke Vladimir of Constantinople would not take it from him.

And in those days - from the great Yaroslav, and to Vladimir, and to the present Yaroslav, and to his brother Yuri, Prince of Vladimir, misfortune fell on Christians and the Pechersky Monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos was set on fire.

This text is called “The Word about the Destruction of the Russian Land” and is an excerpt from a work about the Tatar-Mongol invasion that has not reached us. But this text is too sparse, and it does not reveal any foreign invasion at all.

Part of this document was destroyed (possibly later by Romanov historians who created a falsification). However, this does not claim that the continuation of the document talks about the capture of Rus' by the Mongols. And the word “filthy” can mean both peasants, pagans, and simply neighboring peoples.

Appearance "Tatar-Mongol"

There are also doubts that the people who attacked Rus' were Asian Mongols. For example, the Mongoloid appearance of the head of the nomads, Genghis Khan, depicted in a rather “historically young” portrait, now kept in Taiwan, raises doubts. Ancient sources depict Genghis as tall, long-bearded, with “lynx-like” green-yellow eyes. The Persian historian Rashidad-Din (a contemporary of the “Mongol” wars) writes that in the family of Genghis Khan, children “were mostly born with gray eyes and blond hair.” G.E. Grumm-Grzhimailo mentions the “Mongolian” legend, according to which Genghis’s ancestor in the ninth tribe Boduanchar is blond and blue-eyed! And the same Rashid ad-Din also writes that this very family name Borjigin, assigned to the descendants of Boduanchar, precisely means Gray-Eyed!

By the way, Batu’s appearance is depicted in exactly the same way - fair hair, light beard, light eyes... The author of these lines lived his entire adult life not so far from the places where Genghis Khan allegedly “created his innumerable army.” By the way, there are no names “Batu” or “Batu” in any language of the Mongolian group. But “Batu” is in Bashkir, and “Basty”, as already mentioned, is in Polovtsian. So the very name of Genghis’s son definitely did not come from Mongolia.

I wonder what his fellow tribesmen in the “real”, present-day Mongolia wrote about their glorious ancestor Genghis Khan? The answer is disappointing: in the 13th century, the Mongolian alphabet did not yet exist. Absolutely all chronicles of the Mongols were written no earlier than the 17th century. And, therefore, any mention of the fact that Genghis Khan actually came out of Mongolia will be nothing more than a retelling of ancient legends written down three hundred years later... Which, presumably, the “real” Mongols really liked - undoubtedly, it was very pleasant to suddenly find out that your ancestors, it turns out, once walked with fire and sword all the way to the Adriatic...

The mysterious thing is that not a single contemporary of those events is able to find the Mongols. They simply don’t exist—black-haired, slant-eyed people, those whom anthropologists call “Mongoloids.” It was possible to trace only the traces of two Mongoloid tribes that certainly came from Central Asia - the Jalairs and Barlases. But they did not come to Rus' as part of Genghis’s army, but to Semirechye (a region of present-day Kazakhstan). From there, in the second half of the 13th century, the Jalairs migrated to the area of ​​present-day Khojent, and the Barlases to the valley of the Kashkadarya River. They came from Semirechye to some extent Turkified in terms of language. In the new place, they were already so Turkified that in the 14th century, at least in the second half, they considered the Turkic language their native language" (from the work of B.D. Grekov and A.Yu. Yakubovsky "Rus and Golden Horde" (1950). Just as there was no assimilation of the Russian peoples by the Mongoloids, which should have manifested itself in 300 years!

Starting from the 80s of the 16th century, the purposeful and unstoppable movement of Russians to the east, beyond the Urals began - “walking towards the sun.” It would be logical to assume that on this route, thousands of kilometers long, the Cossack pioneers would stumble upon at least some traces of the great empire of the Mongol khans, stretching from the eastern coast of China to the borders of Poland...
There is not the slightest trace of an empire! Somewhere cities have disappeared, somewhere the magnificent “Yamskaya tract” thousands of kilometers long, along which messengers from Rus' allegedly rushed to Karakorum, has disappeared. Not the slightest material trace of anything remotely resembling a state. Moreover, for some reason the local population does not know at all, does not remember either the great capital of Karakoram, which once flourished in the Mongolian steppes, or the great emperors whose power supposedly extended over half the world. The Manchus ruling in Northern China are remembered and known very well - this is a concrete, habitual evil, adversaries who still organize raids. But for some reason no one is able to remember Batu and Genghis Khan... What’s interesting is that nowhere from the Urals to Lake Baikal do the Cossacks even encounter the semblance of a state or cities! Only the “Kuchumovo kingdom” on the territory of the present Tyumen region vaguely resembles the embryo of a state, and its capital Isker, a small fortification, can hardly pass for a city.

It is curious that in all ancient miniatures the Tatar-Mongols are indicated with a Russian appearance. In the lower miniatures “Standing on the Ugra” and “Capture of Kozelsk” the appearance of the attackers is by no means Mongoloid.

It is interesting that in the Western European miniature “The Death of Genghis Khan”, Genghis Khan falling from the saddle is depicted in a helmet that is extremely reminiscent of Boleslav’s helmet - it was then that they were worn in Poland, and in Rus', and throughout Europe. By the way, almost all old Russian miniatures depict “Tatars”, who in appearance and weapons cannot be distinguished from Russian combatants.

Let's leave aside the question of composition - since it was not the duke who killed the Tatar, but the duke's Tatars, the image should have been somewhat different. Take a closer look at the “Tatar” trampled under foot by the noble duke. A completely Russian face, a Russian caftan, a Russian thick beard, a Russian hat, which was later worn by the archers. In the hands of the “Tatar” is not a crooked and narrow Central Asian saber, but a weapon called “elman”, at one time adopted by the Russians from the Turks. Sabers of this type, with modifications, were in service with the Russian cavalry for a long time, even in the time of Paul 1. In addition, similar weapons were used by the Germans and Italians (the falcione type cleaver, manufactured in Brescia in the 16th century).

How many Tatars were there?

Pre-revolutionary historians claimed that there were half a million nomads, but such an army was unlikely to be able to feed its horses while covering such distances. No matter how hardy the horses were, they would often die of hunger. Each nomad had 2-3 horses, plus carts. No amount of grass would be enough to feed the rear ranks of horsemen - the front ranks would have to devour all the fields like locusts. Apparently, the version of so many nomads was compiled by historians who had no idea about nomadic life.

Modern historians claim that there were 30 thousand Tatar-Mongols. But this is not enough - such a number of nomads would hardly be able to conquer a number of countries. This is too little to conquer almost all of Eurasia.

In addition, history does not know cases that forced nomadic peoples to unite into an army, move to the other side of the world and easily capture many countries. Typically, nomadic peoples who do not have a territorial connection stay in small groups, occasionally attacking their neighbors. It is doubtful that Genghis Khan was able to rally the wild nomadic peoples and force them to conquer the world - this meant that they had to abandon the nomadic life. Very strange motives appeared among the nomads - to abandon their families, and for some reason to go into the distance to conquer lands they hardly needed.

It is also surprising that the Tatar-Mongols adapted perfectly to combat conditions: they fought in the winter, and in the thickets, which, it would seem, nomadic life does not lend itself to. Moreover, they were not such “wild” peoples - they used siege weapons, battering rams, and, according to some reports, even “Greek” fire! Some sources also describe them as excellent navigators (allegedly the Mongolian navy in the 13th century fired something like missiles at the ships of the ancient Japanese). And if we also consider their ability to tact, iron discipline... It looks more like a well-armed European state. By the way, in many early images of the Mongols they were depicted in chain mail

Symbiosis of Russians and Tatars

For some reason, Russians and, especially Christians, are constantly fighting as part of the Tatar-Mongols. For example, in the Battle of Kalka (where, by the way, the word “Mongols” is never mentioned in the chronicles), the Russian princes who held the defense against the Tatars surrendered when a certain Ploskinya (the name is clearly Russian), who came out of the “Mongols”, kissed the pectoral cross, inviting the princes to surrender, promising that their lives will be spared. There were Christian churches in Sarai the Great, and at the “Khan’s headquarters” there was an Orthodox bishop.

There are a number of chronicles of those times about the Polovsk prince Basty, who converted to Christianity, which sheds light on the Tatar-Mongol people. There is an assumption that Basty (Batu) - the nickname of Vsevolod the Big Nest, and later Alexander Nevsky - their goals were too similar in unification of Russian principalities.

As official history teaches us, Vsevolod the Big Nest was the first to try to unite the Russian lands around his principality, i.e. Vladimir-Suzdalsky. He took possession of Vladimir and ascended to the throne of the Grand Duke, went on campaigns against the Volga Bulgarians and Mordovians, against Ryazan, and subjugated Kyiv, Chernigov and Galich. What is “Batu Khan” doing a quarter of a century after the death of Vsevolod? Imagine, he goes on campaigns against the Volga Bulgarians and Mordovians, subjugates Ryazan, Kiev, Chernigov and Galich, takes possession of Vladimir, and then... transfers the label for the great reign to Vsevolod’s grandson Alexander Nevsky.

With the arrival of the Tatar-Mongols, for some reason Rus', on the contrary, strengthened. The turmoil that existed before the Mongols and the struggle of princes for power subsided - order appeared. The prince who ruled Russia was chosen and received a label to reign in the Horde.

In 1242, under Alexander Nevsky, the Teutonic Order was easily repulsed, which indicated the excellent condition of the Russian troops.
Too much and often was written about how Russian princes and “Mongol khans” became brothers-in-law, relatives, sons-in-law and fathers-in-law, and how they went on joint military campaigns.

Russians on the side of the Mongols in his ranks

In Poland, the Kiev thousandth Demetrius was on the side of the Mongols, as Russian chronicles directly indicate. After taking the city of Vladimir, the Mongols left Prince Yaroslav to reign there, who distributed the surrounding cities to his brothers - it is strange that the nomads entrusted him with such power.

Not only Russian warriors fought on the side of the Tatar-Mongols. And the Tatar-Mongols often fought on the side of the Russians.

Alyn - “Horde Murza”. Mentioned in chronicles as a participant in the campaign of Prince Andrei Gorodetsky against Prince Dmitry Pereyaslavsky. Ektyak - “Tsarevich of Kazan”. In 1396, he commanded part of the troops of the Suzdal prince Simeon during the latter’s attack on the Murom separatists. Kavgady, a “Horde official,” takes part in the campaign of the Gorodets prince against Pereyaslavl (1281). Persuades Prince Mikhail of Tverskoy to cede the great reign to Prince of Moscow Yuri Danilovich (1317), commands part of the Moscow army during the attack on Tver. Present at the trial of Russian princes over Mikhail Tverskoy. Mengat - “voivode Batyev”. In 1239, he tries to persuade the Kyiv prince Mikhail to surrender the city without a fight - and after the killing of his ambassadors by the people of Kiev, he leaves the city. Nevryuy - “prince of the Tatar”. Commands the troops of Alexander Nevsky, sent against the princely brother Andrei, who was trying to unleash another strife. In 1296/1297, according to the Nikon, Simeonov and Laurentian chronicles, a princely congress was held.

There were oddities with the tax collectors as well. For some reason, yasak collectors appeared only 19 years after the “conquest” of Rus' by the Tatars. The collectors were often beaten by the Russians, but for some reason the Mongols were very calm about this - apparently, the collectors were also Russian. Most likely, the so-called Baskaks are ordinary tax collectors of the state.

It is also interesting that, on the one hand, Rus' seems to be a “vassal” of the Golden Horde. On the other hand, the Russians suddenly attack Volga Bulgaria, i.e. part of the Golden Horde and force the city there to take a vassal oath! It seems more likely that Rus' and the Horde were one state.

The kings of the Horde were called khans or kagans. Russian princes were often called this way before the advent of Christianity. “And faith in all languages ​​​​extended to our Russian language and praise to OUR KAGAN VOLODIMIR, from him he was baptized” - this is how Metropolitan Hilarion called Prince Vladimir. L.N. Gumilyov wrote: “The KHANS were the rulers of the Avars, Bulgarians, Hungarians and even the Rus: this title was borne by Vladimir the Holy, Yaroslav the Wise and, finally, his grandson - Oleg Svyatoslavich”

A number of undeservedly forgotten historians of the 17th century (for example, A.I. Lyzlov in his work “Scythian History”) generally indicate that the Tatars are a European people related to the Slavs. And Genghis Khan is only the founder of the Trans-Volga Horde (whose borders extended from the Sea of ​​Azov to the Caspian Sea, but not Asia). There is no mention of the Mongol campaigns in China, Georgia, and Asia in general. Only campaigns against India, or more precisely against Persia, are described (for some reason, India was, according to this information, near Euphrates, probably due to the fact that the word inde meant that outside - outside, and India meant neighboring states).

By the way, historians of that time do not mention Nestor’s chronicle at all, which only confirms the rumors that this chronicle is a falsification and is the disinformation work of the Petrine historian Miller, who encroached on many historical works of that time. And Tatishchev tried to prove that his fellow historians who created the “classical version” of the Tatar-Mongols were mistaken, but his conclusions were called “heresy.”

What is curious is that in Lyzlov’s book there are places that allow us to say with a high degree of confidence that the Great Tartary, also known as the Trans-Volga Horde, was called a long time ago... China! And Afanasy Nikitin clearly distinguished China** and China: “And from China to China it takes six months to travel by land and four days by sea.”

Also N.A. Morozov, in the 6th volume of his work “Christ,” began a scrupulous verification of the “most ancient” Chinese astronomical chronicles, supposedly dating back to 2650 BC, and found out the most interesting things. The Chinese, it turns out, have no documents written earlier than the 16th century AD. Moreover, they have no descriptions of astronomical instruments, and no traces of ancient observatories have been found on Chinese territory. For the first time, Chinese lists of the appearance of comets were published by Europeans in the 18th-19th centuries; these lists bear obvious traces of copying from each other and, as Morozov pointed out, additions to them by the Europeans themselves, that is, European scientists replenished Chinese sources with European materials, “tailoring the problem to the answer.” . For example, “Emperors Zhao-Le-Di, Wen-Di and Da-Di,” who supposedly reigned in the same year, are actually the Clear-Ardent King, the Literary King and the Great King. And the name Wu-Di means... “war king.” Which is more like a long list of titles for one person.
The parallels between the Roman Empire and China are sometimes surprising.

Beginning of the 3rd century AD: The Roman Empire ceases to exist in internecine wars. The time has come for “soldier emperors.” In those same years in China... the Han Empire perishes in internecine wars, “illiterate, morally corrupt soldiers came to power.”

Roman Empire: mid-3rd century. AD power in Rome passes to a relative of Emperor Caracalla, Julia Mesa, whose reign is called “bloody.” In the end, she is killed. In the same years in China... the wife of one of the emperors, “energetic and ferocious,” comes to power. He rules, shedding blood right and left. In the end, she is killed.

Beginning of the 4th century AD: The Roman Empire is divided into Eastern and Western. In those same years, the Jin Empire in China was divided into two parts - Eastern and Western.

The Roman Empire is at war with the Huns. China in the same years - with the Xiongnu

V century AD: The Western Roman Empire is conquered by the Germans and Huns. Chinese Western Liang... conquered by the Xiongnu. In both Rome and China, a “very young emperor” was on the throne at this time.
This is what happened in China since 1722 “The Manchu rulers formed a special committee to compile the history of the previous Ming dynasty... The opposition could not come to terms with this interpretation of the history of the fallen dynasty, so “private” histories of the Ming dynasty appeared...

The rulers responded with executions, imprisonments, exiles... Books that were objectionable to the government were confiscated. Between 1774 and 1782, seizures were made 34 times. Since 1772, a collection of all printed books ever published in China was undertaken. The collection lasted 20 years; 360 people were involved in analyzing and processing the collected material. A few years later, 3,457 titles were released in the new edition, and the remaining 6,766 were cataloged. In fact, it was a grandiose operation to confiscate books and an equally grandiose operation to falsify texts. In the new editions that were published, all undesirable passages were removed, even the names of the books were changed.” (“World History” in 10 volumes, prepared by the USSR Academy of Sciences.)

And in the 60-70s of the last century, Archimandrite P.I. traveled through the northern regions of China. Kafarov, head of the Russian Orthodox mission in Beijing. Lively interested in the history of China and the legends about the Great Wall, he diligently and for a long time searches for it... and does not find it! The Chinese Wall in its current form was created under Mao Tse-Tung; before that there were several earthen ramparts.
So the Mongols did not take “China”. More precisely, they may have taken it, but not that one, not the Chin Empire, but China of the “Golden Horde”.

The city of Karakum is the capital of the empire of Genghis Khan. The “classical” theory of the Mongol-Tatar empire places it somewhere in the Mongolian steppes. The word Karakum itself is Turkic and can be translated as “northern Crimea”. Here are the travel notes of monk Guillaume Rubruk, a participant in the embassy to the “Great Khan of the Mongols” sent by the French king Louis the Saint (1253). He goes to Karakorum... through the Black Sea, Taurida and the Don steppes. Returning - through Derbent and Armenia. A completely normal direction if the Karakorum is located somewhere on the Volga or in the Northern Crimea. If Karakorum is in the Mongolian steppes, you will never get there this way.

Invasion of Europe

In March 1241, the “Tatars”, having invaded Europe, the territory of Poland in two large groups, captured Sandomierz, Wroclaw and Krakow, where they committed robberies, murders and destruction. After the Silesian detachments were defeated near Opole, both wings of the Tatars united and moved to the town of Legnica, where on April 9, Henry II the Pious, Duke of Silesia, Lesser Poland and Greater Poland, blocked their road with an army of ten thousand. A battle ensued in which the Poles suffered a crushing defeat. The Mongols won with some strange smoke, possibly Greek fire.

“And when they saw a Tatar running out with a banner - and this banner looked like an “X”, and on top of it was a head with a long shaking beard, filthy and stinking smoke from his lips blowing towards the Poles - everyone was amazed * and horrified, and some rushed to run where they could, and so they were defeated” - from Lyzlov.

After the victory in Poland, the “Tatar” cavalry turns south, goes to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia and Dalmatia. Until the end of 1242, regardless of losses, the “Tatars” break through to the Adriatic Sea, and, in the end, reach its shores. They pass through the Czech Republic almost without fighting, and do not stay particularly long in Hungary. The “Tatar” cavalry is rushing to the Adriatic.

Neither in Poland, nor in the Czech Republic, nor in Hungary, nor in Croatia, nor in Dalmatia, do the “Tatars” make any attempts to somehow subjugate the country. They do not impose tribute on anyone, do not care about setting up their administration, and do not bring anyone to the vassal oath. There is no smell of conquest here - before us is a purely military campaign, the actions of which for some reason coincided with the actions of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation and King of Sicily (the Kingdom of Sicily then included Southern Italy). For some reason, the “wild” Mongols allied with Frederick II in his war against Pope Gregory X. Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary - all three countries defeated and devastated by the “Tatars” - were firm supporters of the pope in the conflict between the pope and Frederick.
In Europe at that time there was a widespread belief that Frederick II... secretly communicated with the “Tatars” and tried to crush papal power with their help! After the Russians returned to their homeland in Rus' in 1242. The crusaders attacked, and a “crusader army” also moved against Frederick, which stormed the capital city of Aachen to crown their emperor there.

By the way, medieval Western Europe... for some reason was convinced of the existence in the east of a huge kingdom of a certain Christian ruler “Prester John”, whose descendants in Europe were considered the khans of the “Mongol Empire”!

This belief held extremely firmly - for more than two hundred years, continuing into the 15th century! Many European chroniclers “for some reason” identified Presbyter John with Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan, by the way, “for some reason” was also called “King David.”

“A certain Philip, prior of the province of the Holy Land of the Dominican Order,” writes a modern historian, “taking wishful thinking, wrote to Rome that Christianity dominates everywhere in the Mongolian east.” Why - “wishful thinking”? And so it was. The “Mongolian East” was Rus', a completely Christian country. “This belief persisted for a long time and became an integral part of the geographical theory of the late Middle Ages.”

Interestingly, “Presbyter John” maintained a particularly warm and trusting relationship with Frederick II of Hohenstaufen! Thus, he became the only European monarch who did not experience the slightest anxiety at the news of the “Tatar” invasion of Europe. The only one who corresponded with the “Tatars” was Frederick II, as our reconstruction shows, who together with them carried out military operations against the pope.

And a certain Abbot Odo from the monastery of Saint-Rémy in Reims (1118-1151) wrote to his friend Count Thomas that he was in Rome when the patriarch from the kingdom of Prester John was there.

Conclusions: There are too many coincidences, or rather, mutually confirming evidence. Combined with the thesis that no Mongols from Central Asia ever appeared in Rus', and the “Horde” was nothing more than a Russian army, information about the “kingdom of Prester John” becomes the finishing touch of the picture. There is no other way to explain why Europe did not doubt the reality of the “Kingdom of John” for more than two hundred years. It can be assumed that in Western Europe in the 13th-15th centuries. they knew little about what was happening in REMOTE places like India, Indochina, Indonesia.

The “Tatar-Mongols” were Russians and a number of peoples living in the western Black Sea region and the Caucasus. The state of Genghis Khan was located between the Azov and Caspian Seas, and was essentially the heir of Khazaria. Tatar-Mongols are European peoples with European appearance (with rare exceptions). There was no yoke - order was simply established in Rus' after internecine wars for power between the principalities. Tatar-Mongol “invasions” occurred only in cases of separatism of any principalities. And the Baskaks were only ordinary government employees.
The capital of the Tatar state Karakum was apparently located somewhere near the Black Sea and Crimea.

Most of the Tatar-Mongol troops included Russians. For comparison, the troops of Batu (Cuman Basty) amounted to 600,000 people (“150,000 Tatars, 450,000 other infidels and Christians”)
Rus' and the Horde were essentially one state with common goals. Batu’s policy coincided with the policy of Vsevolod the Big Nest and Alexander Nevsky, perhaps Batu is Vsevolod (and later Alexander was assigned to him). There were Christian churches on the territory of the Horde, and perhaps Judaism, a remnant of Khazaria, was also widespread.

The territory of Kievan Rus was often called Moscow Tataria, the territory of the former Khazar Kaganate - Free Tataria, from where, by the way, the Cossack horsemen came, on which speculation about nomadic tribes was based (for example, among the “Tatar-Mongols” leaders were called vatamans!). The territory of Asia was often called Great Tartary, sometimes Siberian Tatary, part of the territory was called Chinese Tartary, which will be indicated on the lower maps. Many ancient maps have been preserved, proving that Russians were called Tatars. On them, the territory of Rus' is indicated as Tataria (Tartaria). And the word Mongolia most likely comes from the word Mogolia (indicated on the maps). Perhaps that is why the territory of Rus' was indicated in the Bible as the land of Magog.

On many ancient maps, it was not Tatar-Mongolia that was indicated, but Tartaro-Mogolia, and often Moscow Tataria (Kievan Rus) was indicated separately.

The Tatar-Mongols allied with Frederick II in his fight against the Pope. Under Peter I, the work of German historians was carried out under the leadership of Miller, who, apparently, decided to erase evidence of the formidable state of Rus'-Horde (Tataria) and attribute their exploits to wild nomadic peoples. At the same time, Nestor’s chronicles were created (or distorted), and other sources were destroyed. At various times this caused the indignation of such historians as Tatishchev and Lomonosov. Even the works of the latter were rewritten by Miller.

However, the misconception, despite obvious evidence, still remains in our heads.

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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.

N A S H K A L E N D A R B

November 24, 1480 - the end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke in Rus'

Ipatiev Chronicle under. 1240 describes the storming of the city in the following way: “The city of Chernigov was surrounded (“Tatarov” - B.S.) in heavy strength... Prince Mikhail Glebovich came to the foreigners with his troops, and the battle was fierce near Chernigov... But Mstislav was quickly defeated and a lot of howls (warriors - B.S.) beat him up quickly. And she took the hail and set it on fire...” Our excavations confirmed the accuracy of the chronicle record. The city was ravaged and burned to the ground. A ten-centimeter layer of ash covered the entire area of ​​one of the richest cities of Ancient Rus'. Fierce battles took place for every house. The roofs of houses often bore traces of impacts from heavy stones of Tatar catapults, the weight of which reached 120-150 kg (The chronicles noted that these stones could barely be lifted by four strong men.) Residents were either killed or taken prisoner. The ashes of the burned city were mixed with the bones of thousands of dead people.

After graduating from graduate school, already as a museum researcher, I worked on creating a permanent exhibition “Russian culture of the VI-XIII centuries.” In the process of preparing the exhibition, special attention was paid to the fate of a small ancient Russian fortified city, erected in the 12th century. on the southern borders of Ancient Rus', near the modern city of Berdichev, now called Raiki. To some extent, its fate is close to the fate of the world famous ancient Italian city of Pompeii, destroyed in 79 AD. during the eruption of Vesuvius.

But Raiki was completely destroyed not by the forces of the raging elements, but by the hordes of Batu Khan. The study of material material stored in the State Hermitage and written reports on excavations made it possible to reconstruct the terrible picture of the death of the city. It reminded me of the pictures of Belarusian villages and cities burned by the occupiers, seen by the author during our offensive during the Great Patriotic War, in which the author took part. Residents of the city desperately resisted and all died in an unequal struggle. Residential buildings were excavated, on the thresholds of which two skeletons lay - a Tatar and a Russian, killed with a sword in his hand. There were terrible scenes - the skeleton of a woman covering a child with her body. A Tatar arrow was stuck in her vertebrae. After the defeat, the city did not come to life, and everything remained in the same form as the enemy left it.

Hundreds of Russian cities shared the tragic fate of Raikov and Chernigov.

The Tatars destroyed about a third of the entire population of Ancient Rus'. Considering that at that time about 6 - 8,000,000 people lived in Rus', at least 2,000,000 - 2,500,000 were killed. Foreigners passing through the southern regions of the country wrote that Rus' had practically been turned into a dead desert, and there is no such state on the map Europe is no more. Russian chronicles and literary sources, such as “The Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land”, “The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan” and others, describe in detail the horrors of the Tatar-Mongol invasion. The tragic consequences of Batu's campaigns were greatly multiplied by the establishment of an occupation regime, which not only led to the total plunder of Rus', but drained the soul of the people. He delayed the forward movement of our Motherland for more than 200 years.

The Great Battle of Kulikovo in 1380 inflicted a decisive defeat on the Golden Horde, but could not completely destroy the yoke of the Tatar khans. The Grand Dukes of Moscow were faced with the task of completely, legally eliminating Rus'’s dependence on the Horde.

November 24 of the new style (11 of the old) on the church calendar marks a remarkable date in the history of our Motherland. 581 years ago, in 1480, the “Standing on the Ugra” ended. The Golden Horde Khan Akhma (? - 1481) turned his tumen from the borders of the Grand Duchy of Moscow and was soon killed.

This was the legal end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke. Rus' became a completely sovereign state.

Unfortunately, this date was not reflected either in the media or in the minds of the general public. Meanwhile, it is quite obvious that on that day a dark page in our history was turned, and a new stage in the independent development of the Fatherland began.

It is worth recalling, at least briefly, the development of events of those years.

Although the last khan of the Great Horde stubbornly continued to consider the Grand Duke of Moscow as his tributary, in fact, Ivan Sh Vasilyevich (reigned 1462 - 1505) was actually independent of the khan. Instead of regular tribute, he sent minor gifts to the Horde, the size and regularity of which he determined himself. The Horde began to understand that the times of Batu were gone forever. The Grand Duke of Moscow became a formidable opponent, and not a silent slave.

In 1472, the Khan of the Great (Golden) Horde, at the inspiration of the Polish king Casimir IV, who promised him support, undertook the usual Tatar campaign against Moscow. However, it ended in complete failure for the Horde. They could not even cross the Oka, which was the traditional defensive line of the capital.

In 1476, the Khan of the Great Horde sent an embassy to Moscow, headed by Akhmet Sadyk, with a formidable demand to completely restore tributary relations. In Russian written sources, in which legends and reports of true facts are intricately intertwined, the negotiations were complex. During the first stage, Ivan III, in the presence of the Boyar Duma, played for time, realizing that a negative answer meant war. It is likely that Ivan III made the final decision under the influence of his wife Sophia Fominichna Paleolog, a proud Byzantine princess, who allegedly angrily told her husband: “I married the Grand Duke of Russia, not a Horde slave.” At the next meeting with the ambassadors, Ivan III changed tactics. He tore up the khan's letter and trampled the basma underfoot (a basma or paiza box filled with wax with an imprint of the khan's heel was given to ambassadors as a credential). And he expelled the ambassadors themselves from Moscow. Both in the Horde and in Moscow it became clear that a large-scale war was inevitable.

But Akhmat did not immediately take action. In the early eighties, Casimir IV began to prepare for war with Moscow. A traditional alliance of the Horde and the Polish crown against Russia emerged. The situation in Moscow itself worsened. At the end of 1479, there was a quarrel between the Grand Duke and his brothers Boris and Andrei the Great. They rose from their estates with families and “yards” and headed through the Novgorod lands to the Lithuanian border. There was a real threat of unification of the internal separatist opposition with an attack from external enemies - Poland and the Horde.

Considering this circumstance, Khan Akhmat decided that the time had come to strike a decisive blow, which should be supported by an invasion of the Russian borders by Polish-Lithuanian troops. Having gathered a huge army, the khan of the Great Horde in the late spring of 1480, when the grass necessary to feed his cavalry turned green, moved towards Moscow. But not directly to the North, but bypassing the capital, from the southwest, to the upper reaches of the Oka, towards the Lithuanian border to connect with Casimir IV. In the summer, the Tatar hordes reached the right bank of the Ugra River, not far from its confluence with the Oka (Modern Kaluga region). There were about 150 km left to Moscow.

For his part, Ivan III took decisive measures to strengthen his positions. His intelligence services established contact with the enemy of the Great Horde - the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey, who attacked the southern regions of Lithuania and thereby prevented Casimir IV from coming to the aid of Akhmat. Ivan III moved his main forces towards the Horde, which approached the northern left bank of the Ugra, covering the capital.

In addition, the Grand Duke sent an auxiliary corps by water along the Volga to the capital of the Horde - the city of Sarai. Taking advantage of the fact that the main forces of the Horde were on the banks of the Ugra, the Russian landing force defeated it, and, according to legend, plowed up the ruins of the city, as a sign that the threat to Rus' would never come from this place again (Now the village of Selitryany is located in this place) .

Two huge armies met on the banks of a small river. The so-called “Standing on the Ugra” began, when both sides did not dare to start a general battle. Akhmat waited in vain for Casimir's help, and Ivan had to deal with his brothers. As an extremely cautious person, the Grand Duke took decisive action only in cases where he was confident of victory.

Several times the Tatars tried to cross the Ugra, but when met by powerful fire from Russian artillery, commanded by the famous Italian architect Aristotle Fiorovanti, builder of the Assumption Cathedral in 1479, they were forced to retreat.

At this time, Ivan III, abandoning his troops, returned to Moscow, which caused unrest in the capital, since the threat of a breakthrough by the Tatar troops was not eliminated. Residents of the capital demanded active action, accusing the Grand Duke of indecisiveness.

Rostov Archbishop Vassian in the famous “Message to the Ugra” called the Grand Duke a “runner” and called on him to “harrow his fatherland.” But Ivan’s caution is understandable. He could not start a general battle without a reliable rear. In Moscow, with the assistance of church hierarchs, on October 6, he made peace with his brothers, and their squads joined the grand ducal army.

Meanwhile, the situation favorable for Akhmat changed dramatically. Busy with the defense of the southern borders, the Polish-Lithuanian troops never came to the aid of Akhmat. Strategically, the khan had already lost the failed battle. Time passed towards autumn. Winter was approaching, the Ugra River froze, which gave the Tatars the opportunity to easily cross to the other side. Having become accustomed to warm winters on the shores of the Black and Azov Seas, the Tatars endured the cold weather worse than the Russians.

In mid-November, Ivan III gave the command to retreat to winter quarters in Borovsk, located 75 km from Moscow. On the banks of the Ugra he left a “watchman” to monitor the Tatars. Further events developed according to a scenario that no one in the Russian camp could have foreseen. On the morning of November 11, old style - 24 new, the guards unexpectedly saw that the right bank of the Ugra was empty. The Tatars secretly withdrew from their positions at night and went south. The speed and well-camouflaged retreat of the Khan's troops were perceived by the Russians as an escape that they did not expect.

Ivan III Vasilyevich, Grand Duke of Moscow and All Rus', as a winner, returned to Moscow.

Khan Akhmat, who had no reason to return to the burned Sarai, went to the lower reaches of the Volga, where on January 6, 1481 he was killed by the Nogai Tatars.

Thus, the Tatar-Mongol yoke, which brought untold disasters to our people, was eliminated.

November 24 of the new style is one of the most significant dates in Russian history, the memory of which cannot dissolve over the centuries.

The traditional version of the Tatar-Mongol invasion of Rus', the “Tatar-Mongol yoke,” and liberation from it is known to the reader from school. As presented by most historians, the events looked something like this. At the beginning of the 13th century, in the steppes of the Far East, the energetic and brave tribal leader Genghis Khan gathered a huge army of nomads, welded together by iron discipline, and rushed to conquer the world - “to the last sea.”

Having conquered their closest neighbors, and then China, the mighty Tatar-Mongol horde rolled west. Having traveled about 5 thousand kilometers, the Mongols defeated Khorezm, then Georgia, and in 1223 they reached the southern outskirts of Rus', where they defeated the army of Russian princes in the battle on the Kalka River. In the winter of 1237, the Tatar-Mongols invaded Russia with all their countless troops, burned and destroyed many Russian cities, and in 1241 they tried to conquer Western Europe, 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 in their rear, devastated, but still dangerous for them. The Tatar-Mongol yoke began.

The huge Mongol power, stretching from China to the Volga, hung like an ominous shadow over Russia. The Mongol khans gave the Russian princes labels to reign, attacked Rus' many times to plunder and plunder, and repeatedly killed Russian princes in their Golden Horde.

Having strengthened over time, Rus' 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 “stand on the Ugra” the troops of the Grand Duke Ivan III and the Horde Khan Akhmat met. 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 he 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 called into question. Geographer, ethnographer and historian Lev Gumilev convincingly showed that relations between Russia and the Mongols were much more complex 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 “complementarity” between the Mongols and Russians, that is, compatibility, the ability for 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 valid rights to the great reign. Thus, the Battle of Kulikovo and the “stand on the Ugra” are not episodes of the struggle against foreign aggressors, but pages of the civil war in Rus'. 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 publicist’s conclusions are full of irony and border on postmodern “banter,” but it should be noted that many facts of the history of the Tatar-Mongol invasion and “yoke” really look too mysterious and need closer attention and unbiased research. Let's try to look at some of these mysteries.

Who were the Mongols who approached the borders of the Christian world from the east? How did the powerful Mongol state appear? Let's make an excursion into its history, relying mainly on the works of Gumilyov.

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

In the clash with the Keraits, the character of Genghis Khan was fully revealed. When Wang Khan and his son Nilha fled from the battlefield, one of their noyons (military leaders) 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 you leave? You had both time and 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 must imitate this man.

Look how brave, faithful, valiant he is. I can’t kill you, noyon, I’m offering you a place in my army.” Noyon became a thousand-man and, of course, served Genghis Khan faithfully, because the Kerait horde disintegrated. Van Khan himself died while trying to escape to the Naiman. Their guards at the border, seeing Kerait, killed him, and presented the old man’s severed head to their khan.

In 1204, there was a clash between the Mongols of Genghis Khan and the powerful Naiman Khanate. And again the Mongols won. The vanquished were included in the horde of Genghis. In the eastern steppe there were no longer any tribes capable of actively resisting the new order, and in 1206, at the great kurultai, Chinggis was again elected khan, but of all Mongolia. This is how the pan-Mongolian state was born. The only tribe hostile to him 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 Mongolian stereotypes of behavior, the khan could and should have demanded humility, obedience to orders, and fulfillment of duties, but forcing a person to renounce his faith or customs was considered immoral - the individual had the right to his own choice. This state of affairs was attractive to many. In 1209, the Uighur state sent envoys to Genghis Khan with a request to accept them into his ulus. The request was naturally granted, and Genghis Khan gave the Uyghurs enormous trading privileges. A caravan route passed through Uyghuria, and the Uyghurs, once part of the Mongol state, became rich by selling water, fruit, meat and “pleasures” to hungry caravan riders at high prices. The voluntary union of Uighuria with Mongolia turned out to be useful for the Mongols. With the annexation of Uyghuria, the Mongols went beyond the boundaries of their ethnic area 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 arose after the weakening of the power of the Seljuk Turks. The rulers of Khorezm turned from governors of the ruler of Urgench into independent sovereigns and adopted the title of “Khorezmshahs”. They turned out to be energetic, enterprising and militant. This allowed them to conquer most of Central Asia and southern Afghanistan. The Khorezmshahs created a huge state in which the main military force were Turks from the adjacent steppes.

But the state turned out to be fragile, despite the wealth, brave warriors and experienced diplomats. The regime of the military dictatorship relied on tribes alien to the local population, who had a different language, different morals and customs. The cruelty of the mercenaries caused discontent among the residents 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 wealthy cities in Central Asia were also affected.

In this situation, Khorezmshah Muhammad decided to confirm his title of “ghazi” - “victor of the infidels” - and become famous for another victory over them. The opportunity presented itself to him in the same year 1216, when the Mongols, fighting with the Merkits, reached Irgiz. Having learned about the arrival of the Mongols, Muhammad sent an army against them on the grounds that the steppe inhabitants needed to be converted to Islam.

The Khorezmian army attacked the Mongols, but in a rearguard battle they themselves went on the offensive and severely battered the Khorezmians. Only the attack of the left wing, commanded by the son of the Khorezmshah, the talented commander Jalal ad-Din, straightened the situation. After this, the Khorezmians retreated, and the Mongols returned home: they did not intend 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 passed on their costs to consumers without losing anything. Wanting 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 faith, 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 clash on the Irgiz. 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 a new war with the Mongols.

Once again, Mongol-Khorezm relations were disrupted by the Khorezm Shah 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 food supplies and wash themselves in the bathhouse. There the merchants met two acquaintances, one of whom reported to the ruler of the city that these merchants were spies. He immediately realized that there was an excellent reason to rob travelers. The merchants were killed and their property was confiscated. The ruler of Otrar sent half of the loot to Khorezm, and Muhammad accepted the loot, which means he shared responsibility for what he had done.

Genghis Khan sent envoys to find out what caused the incident. Muhammad became angry when he saw the infidels, and ordered some of the ambassadors to be killed, and some, stripped naked, to be driven out to certain death in the steppe. Two or three Mongols finally made it home and told about what had happened. Genghis Khan's anger knew no bounds. From the Mongolian point of view, two of the most terrible crimes occurred: the deception 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 whom the Khorezmshah insulted and killed. Khan had to fight, otherwise his fellow tribesmen would simply refuse to trust him.

In Central Asia, the Khorezmshah had at his disposal a regular army of four hundred thousand. 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-Kitai, the Uighurs sent a detachment of 5 thousand people, only the Tangut ambassador boldly replied: “If you don’t have enough troops, don’t fight.” Genghis Khan considered the answer an insult and said: “Only the dead could I bear such an insult.”

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

Regarding the capture of Central Asian cities by the Mongols, there is an established version: “Wild nomads destroyed the cultural oases of agricultural peoples.” Is it so? This version, as L.N. Gumilev showed, is based on the legends of court Muslim historians. For example, the fall of Herat was reported by Islamic historians as a disaster in which the entire population of the city was exterminated, 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 coming to their senses, these “heroes” went to distant lands to rob caravans in order to regain their lost wealth.

But is this possible? If the entire population of a large city was exterminated and lay on the streets, then inside the city, in particular in the mosque, the air would be full of corpse miasma, and those hiding there would simply die. No predators, except jackals, live near the city, and they very rarely penetrate into the city. It was simply impossible for exhausted people to move to rob caravans several hundred kilometers from Herat, because they would have to walk, carrying heavy loads - 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 you 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 fighting, pushing the Khorezmshah's son Jalal ad-Din into northern India. Muhammad II Ghazi himself, broken by the struggle and constant defeats, died in a leper colony on an island in the Caspian Sea (1221). The Mongols made peace with the Shiite population of Iran, which was constantly offended by the Sunnis in power, in particular the Baghdad Caliph and Jalal ad-Din himself. As a result, the Shia population of Persia suffered significantly less than the Sunnis of Central Asia. Be that as it may, in 1221 the state of the Khorezmshahs was ended. Under one ruler - Muhammad II Ghazi - this state achieved both its greatest power and its destruction. As a result, Khorezm, Northern Iran, and Khorasan were annexed to the Mongol Empire.

In 1226, the hour struck for the Tangut state, 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 by Genghis Khan in 1227, having defeated the Tangut troops in previous battles.

During the siege of Zhongxing, Genghis Khan died, but the Mongol noyons, by order of their leader, hid his death. The fortress was taken, and the population of the “evil” city, which suffered the collective guilt of betrayal, was executed. 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 Chinese of the Ming Dynasty.

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

In the last years of 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, had no rights to their father’s throne. The sons from Borte differed in inclinations and character. The eldest son, Jochi, was born shortly after the Merkit captivity of Borte, and therefore not only evil tongues, but also his 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 his mother’s Merkit captivity fell on Jochi with the 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 the testimony of contemporaries, Jochi’s behavior contained some stable stereotypes that greatly distinguished him from Chinggis. If for Genghis Khan there was no concept of “mercy” in relation to enemies (he left life only for small children adopted by his mother Hoelun, and valiant warriors who went into Mongol service), then Jochi was distinguished by his 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 garrison of Gurganj was partially slaughtered, 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 the sovereign's mistrust of 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, who was 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 was quite capable of ending his son’s life.

In contrast to Jochi, Genghis Khan's second son, Chaga-tai, was a strict, efficient and even cruel man. Therefore, he received the position of "guardian of the Yasa" (something like an attorney general or chief 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 his kindness and tolerance towards people. The character of Ogedei is best illustrated by this incident: one day, on a joint trip, the brothers saw a Muslim washing himself by the water. According to Muslim custom, every believer is obliged to perform prayer and ritual ablution several times a day. Mongolian tradition, on the contrary, forbade a person to wash throughout the 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 considered an attempt on people’s lives. Nuker vigilantes of the ruthless zealot of the law Chagatai captured the Muslim. Anticipating a bloody outcome - the unfortunate man was in danger of having his head cut off - Ogedei sent his man to tell the Muslim to answer that he had dropped a gold piece into the water and was just looking for it there. The Muslim said so to Chagatay. He ordered to look for the coin, and during this time Ogedei’s warrior threw the gold into the water. The found coin was returned to the “rightful owner.” In parting, Ogedei, 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 Genghis' sons, Tului, was born in 1193. Since Genghis Khan was in captivity at that time, this time Borte’s infidelity was quite obvious, but Genghis Khan recognized Tuluya as his legitimate son, although he did not outwardly resemble his father.

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

All four sons had the right to succeed Genghis Khan. After Jochi was eliminated, there were three heirs left, and when Genghis died and a new khan had not yet been elected, Tului ruled the ulus. But at the kurultai of 1229, the gentle and tolerant Ogedei was chosen as the Great Khan, in accordance with the will of Genghis. Ogedei, as we have already mentioned, had a kind soul, but the kindness of a sovereign is often not to the benefit of the state and his subjects. The administration of the ulus under him was carried out mainly thanks to the severity of Chagatai and the diplomatic and administrative skills of Tuluy. The Great Khan himself preferred wanderings with hunts and feasts in Western Mongolia to state concerns.

The grandchildren of Genghis Khan were allocated various areas of the ulus or high positions. Jochi's eldest son, Orda-Ichen, received the White Horde, located between the Irtysh and the Tarbagatai ridge (the area of ​​​​present-day Semipalatinsk). The second son, Batu, began to own the Golden (Great) Horde on the Volga. The third son, Sheibani, received 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 soldiers, while the total number of the Mongol army reached 130 thousand people.

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

The Great Khan Ogedei also had a son, Guyuk, who claimed the inheritance. The expansion of the clan during the lifetime of Chingis’s children caused the division of the inheritance and enormous difficulties in managing the ulus, which stretched across the territory from the Black to the Yellow Sea. In these difficulties and family scores were hidden the seeds of future strife that destroyed the state created by Genghis Khan and his comrades.

How many Tatar-Mongols came to Rus'? Let's try to sort this issue out.

Russian pre-revolutionary historians mention a “half-million-strong Mongol army.” V. Yang, author of the famous trilogy “Genghis Khan”, “Batu” and “To the Last Sea”, names the number four hundred thousand. However, it is known that a warrior of a nomadic tribe goes on a campaign with three horses (minimum two). One carries luggage (packed rations, horseshoes, spare harness, arrows, armor), and the third needs to be changed from time to time so that one horse can rest if it suddenly has to go into battle.

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

All the main invasions of the Tatar-Mongols into Rus' took place in winter, when the remaining grass was hidden under the snow, and you couldn’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 existed “in service” with the horde. Horse breeding experts prove that the Tatar-Mongol horde rode Turkmens, and this is a completely different breed, looks different, and is not capable of feeding itself in the winter without human help...

In addition, the difference between a horse allowed to wander in winter without any work and a horse forced to make long journeys under a rider and also participate in battles is not taken into account. But in addition to the horsemen, they also had to carry heavy booty! The convoys followed the troops. The cattle that pull the carts also need to be fed... The picture of a huge mass of people moving in the rearguard of an army of half a million with convoys, wives and children seems quite fantastic.

The temptation for a historian to explain the Mongol campaigns 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 returning to their native steppes after campaigns. And the khans of the Jochi branch - Batu, Horde and Sheybani - received, according to the will of Genghis, only 4 thousand horsemen, i.e. about 12 thousand people 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: isn’t it enough? Despite the disunity of the Russian principalities, thirty thousand cavalry is too small a figure to cause “fire and ruin” throughout Rus'! After all, they (even supporters of the “classical” version admit this) 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 mistrust begins: could such a number of aggressors conquer Rus'?

It turns out to be a vicious circle: a huge Tatar-Mongol army, for purely physical reasons, would hardly be able to maintain combat capability in order to move quickly and deliver the notorious “indestructible blows.” A small army would hardly have been able to establish control over most of the territory of Rus'. To get out of this vicious circle, we have to admit: the Tatar-Mongol invasion was in fact only an episode of the bloody civil war that was going on in Rus'. The enemy forces were relatively small; they relied on their own forage reserves 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 Polovtsians had previously been used.

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

Having taken a general look at the history of the creation of the huge Mongol power, we must return to Rus'. Let us take a closer look at the situation with the Battle of the Kalka River, which is not fully understood by historians.

It was not the steppe people who represented the main danger to Kievan Rus at the turn of the 11th–12th centuries. Our ancestors were friends with the Polovtsian khans, married “red Polovtsian girls”, accepted baptized Polovtsians into their midst, and the descendants of the latter became Zaporozhye and Sloboda Cossacks, it is not for nothing that in their nicknames the traditional Slavic suffix of affiliation “ov” (Ivanov) was replaced by the Turkic one - “ enko" (Ivanenko).

At this time, a more formidable phenomenon emerged - a decline in morals, a rejection of traditional Russian ethics and morality. In 1097, a princely congress took place in Lyubech, marking the beginning of a new political form of existence of the country. There it was decided that “let everyone keep his fatherland.” Rus' began to turn into a confederation of independent states. The princes swore to inviolably observe what was proclaimed and kissed the cross in this. But after the death of Mstislav, the Kiev state began to quickly disintegrate. Polotsk was the first to settle down. 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, Andrei gave the city to his warriors for three days of plunder. Until that moment, in Rus' it was customary to do this only with foreign cities. During any civil strife, such a practice was never extended 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 dealing with Kiev, a city where the rivals of his dynasty were constantly strengthening. He agreed with the Smolensk prince Rurik Rostislavich and called on the Polovtsians for help. Prince Roman Volynsky spoke in defense of Kyiv, the “mother of Russian cities,” relying on the Torcan troops allied to him.

The plan of the Chernigov prince was implemented after his death (1202). Rurik, Prince of Smolensk, and the Olgovichi with the Polovtsy in January 1203, in a battle that was fought mainly between the Polovtsy and the Torks of Roman Volynsky, gained the upper hand. Having captured Kyiv, Rurik Rostislavich subjected the city to a terrible defeat. The Tithe Church and the Kiev Pechersk Lavra were destroyed, and the city itself was burned. “They have created a great evil that has not existed since baptism in the Russian land,” the chronicler left a message.

After the fateful year of 1203, Kyiv never recovered.

According to L.N. Gumilyov, by this time the ancient Russians had lost their passionarity, that is, their cultural and energetic “charge”. In such conditions, a clash 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 was the Cumans. Their enmity began in 1216, when the Cumans accepted the blood enemies of Genghis - the Merkits. The Polovtsians actively pursued their anti-Mongol policy, constantly supporting the Finno-Ugric tribes hostile to the Mongols. At the same time, the Cumans of the steppe were as mobile as the Mongols themselves. Seeing the futility of cavalry clashes with the Cumans, the Mongols sent an expeditionary force behind enemy lines.

Talented commanders 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 his army. The Mongols managed to capture the guides who showed the way through the Daryal Gorge. So they went to the upper reaches of the Kuban, to the rear of the Polovtsians. They, having discovered the enemy in their rear, retreated to the Russian border and asked for help from the Russian princes.

It should be noted that the relations between Rus' and the Polovtsians do not fit into the scheme of irreconcilable confrontation “sedentary - nomadic”. In 1223, the Russian princes became allies of the Polovtsians. The three strongest princes of Rus' - Mstislav the Udaloy from Galich, Mstislav of Kiev and Mstislav of Chernigov - gathered troops and tried to protect them.

The clash on Kalka in 1223 is described in some detail in the chronicles; In addition, there is another source - “The Tale of the Battle of Kalka, and of the Russian Princes, and of the Seventy Heroes.” However, the abundance of information does not always bring clarity...

Historical science has long not denied the fact that the events on Kalka were not the aggression of evil aliens, but an attack by the Russians. The Mongols themselves did not seek war with Russia. The ambassadors who arrived to the Russian princes quite friendly asked the Russians not to interfere in their relations with the Polovtsians. But, true to their allied obligations, the Russian princes rejected 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 just killed, but “tortured”). At all times, the murder of an ambassador or envoy was considered a serious crime; According to Mongolian law, deceiving someone who trusted was an unforgivable crime.

Following this, the Russian army sets out on a long march. Having left the borders of Rus', it first attacks the Tatar camp, takes booty, steals cattle, after which it moves outside its territory for another eight days. A decisive battle takes place on the Kalka River: the eighty-thousandth Russian-Polovtsian army attacked the twenty-thousandth (!) detachment of the Mongols. This battle was lost by the Allies due to their inability to coordinate their actions. The Polovtsy left the battlefield in panic. Mstislav Udaloy and his “younger” prince Daniil fled across the Dnieper; They were the first to reach the shore and managed to jump into the boats. At the same time, the prince chopped up the rest of the boats, fearing that the Tatars would be able to cross after him, “and, filled with fear, I reached Galich on foot.” Thus, he doomed his comrades, whose horses were worse than princely ones, to death. The enemies killed everyone they overtook.

The other princes are left alone with the enemy, fight off 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 up 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 actually 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 planks. Other sources write that the princes were simply killed without mockery, and still others that they were “captured.” So the story with a feast on the bodies is just one version.)

Different peoples perceive the rule of law and the concept of honesty differently. The Russians believed that the Mongols, by killing the captives, broke 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 someone who trusted them. Therefore, the point is not in deceit (history provides a lot of evidence of how the Russian princes themselves violated the “kiss of the cross”), but in the personality of Ploskini himself - a Russian, a Christian, who somehow mysteriously found himself among the warriors of the “unknown people”.

Why did the Russian princes surrender after listening to Ploskini’s entreaties? “The Tale of the Battle of Kalka” writes: “There were also wanderers along with the Tatars, and their commander was Ploskinya.” Brodniks are Russian free warriors who lived in those places, the predecessors of the Cossacks. However, establishing Ploschini's social status only confuses the matter. It turns out that the wanderers in a short time managed to come to an agreement with the “unknown peoples” and became so close to them that they jointly struck at their brothers in blood and faith? One thing can be stated with certainty: part of the army with which the Russian princes fought on Kalka was Slavic, Christian.

The Russian princes do not look their best in this whole story. But let's return to our riddles. For some reason, the “Tale of the Battle of Kalka” that we mentioned is not able to definitely name the enemy of the Russians! Here is the quote: “...Because of our sins, unknown peoples came, the godless Moabites [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 say Pechenegs.”

Amazing lines! They were written much later than the events described, when it was supposed to be known exactly who the Russian princes fought on 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 Rus' - they lived nearby for many years, then fought, then became related... The Taurmen - 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” certain “Tatars” are mentioned among the nomadic Turks who served the Chernigov prince.

One gets the impression that the chronicler is hiding something. For some reason unknown to us, he does not want to directly name the Russian enemy in that battle. Maybe the battle on Kalka is not a clash with unknown peoples at all, but one of the episodes of the internecine war waged among themselves by Russian Christians, Polovtsian Christians and the Tatars who got involved in the matter?

After the Battle of Kalka, some of the Mongols turned their horses to the east, trying to report on the completion of the assigned task - the victory over the Cumans. But on the banks of the Volga, the army was ambushed 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 Russians.

L.N. Gumilyov collected a huge amount of material, clearly demonstrating that the relationship between Russia and the Horde CAN be described by the word “symbiosis”. After Gumilev, they write especially a lot and often about how Russian princes and “Mongol khans” became brothers-in-law, relatives, sons-in-law and fathers-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 - the Tatars did not behave this way in any country they conquered. 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-Mongol yoke in Rus' (in the classical sense of the term) remains open. This topic awaits its researchers.

When it comes to “standing on the Ugra”, we are again faced with omissions and omissions. As those who diligently studied a school or university history course will remember, in 1480 the troops of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III, the first “sovereign of all Rus'” (ruler of the united state) and the hordes of the Tatar Khan Akhmat stood on the opposite banks of the Ugra River. After a long “standing”, the Tatars fled for some reason, and this event marked the end of the Horde yoke in Rus'.

There are many dark places in this story. Let's start with the fact that the famous painting, which even found its way into school textbooks, “Ivan III tramples the Khan’s basma,” was written based on a legend composed 70 years after “standing on the Ugra.” In reality, the Khan's ambassadors did not come to Ivan and he did not solemnly tear up any basma letter in their presence.

But here again an enemy is coming to Rus', an infidel who, according to contemporaries, threatens the very existence of Rus'. Well, everyone is preparing to fight back the adversary in a single impulse? No! We are faced with a strange passivity and confusion of opinions. With the news of Akhmat's approach, something happens in Rus' that still has no explanation. These events can be reconstructed only from scanty, fragmentary data.

It turns out that Ivan III does not at all seek to fight the enemy. Khan Akhmat is far away, hundreds of kilometers away, and Ivan’s wife, Grand Duchess Sophia, is fleeing Moscow, for which she receives accusatory epithets from the chronicler. Moreover, at the same time some strange events are unfolding in the principality. “The Tale of Standing on the Ugra” tells about it this way: “That same winter, Grand Duchess Sophia returned from her escape, for she fled to Beloozero from the Tatars, although no one was chasing her.” And then - even more mysterious words about these events, in fact the only mention of them: “And those lands through which she wandered became worse than from the Tatars, from the boyar slaves, from the Christian bloodsuckers. Reward them, Lord, according to the deceit of their actions, give them according to the works of their hands, for they loved wives more than the Orthodox Christian faith and the holy churches, and they agreed to betray Christianity, for their malice blinded them.”

What is it about? What was happening in the country? What actions of the boyars brought upon them accusations of “blood drinking” and apostasy from the faith? We practically do not know what was discussed. Some light is shed by reports about the “evil advisers” of the Grand Duke, who advised not to fight the Tatars, but to “run away” (?!). Even the names of the “advisers” are known - Ivan Vasilyevich Oshera Sorokoumov-Glebov and Grigory Andreevich Mamon. The most curious thing is that the Grand Duke himself does not see anything reprehensible in the behavior of his fellow boyars, and subsequently not a shadow of disfavor falls on them: after “standing on the Ugra” both remain in favor until their death, receiving new awards and positions.

What's the matter? It is completely dull and vague that it is reported that Oshera and Mamon, defending their point of view, mentioned the need to preserve a certain “antiquity”. In other words, the Grand Duke must give up resistance to Akhmat in order to observe some ancient traditions! It turns out that Ivan violates certain traditions by deciding to resist, and Akhmat, accordingly, acts in his own right? There is no other way to explain this mystery.

Some scientists have suggested: maybe we are facing a purely dynastic dispute? Once again, two people are vying for the Moscow throne - representatives of the relatively young North and the more ancient South, and Akhmat, it seems, has no less rights than his rival!

And here the Rostov Bishop Vassian Rylo intervenes in the situation. It is his efforts that turn the situation around, it is he who pushes the Grand Duke to go on a campaign. Bishop Vassian begs, insists, appeals to the prince’s conscience, gives historical examples, and hints that the Orthodox Church may turn away from Ivan. This wave of eloquence, logic and emotion is aimed at convincing the Grand Duke to come out to defend his country! What the Grand Duke for some reason stubbornly refuses to do...

The Russian army, to the triumph of Bishop Vassian, leaves for the Ugra. Ahead lies a long, several-month standstill. And again something strange happens. First, negotiations begin between the Russians and Akhmat. The negotiations are quite unusual. Akhmat wants to do business with the Grand Duke himself, but the Russians refuse. Akhmat makes a concession: he asks that the brother or son of the Grand Duke arrive - the Russians refuse. Akhmat concedes again: now he agrees to speak with a “simple” ambassador, but for some reason this ambassador must certainly become Nikifor Fedorovich Basenkov. (Why him? A mystery.) The Russians refuse again.

It turns out that for some reason they are not interested in negotiations. Akhmat makes concessions, for some reason he needs to come to an agreement, but the Russians reject all his proposals. Modern historians explain it this way: Akhmat “intended to demand tribute.” But if Akhmat was only interested in tribute, why such long negotiations? It was enough to send some Baskak. No, everything indicates that we are faced with some big and dark secret that does not fit into the usual patterns.

Finally, about the mystery of the retreat of the “Tatars” from the Ugra. Today, in historical science, there are three versions of not even a retreat - Akhmat’s hasty flight from the Ugra.

1. A series of “fierce battles” undermined the morale of the Tatars.

(Most historians reject this, rightly stating that there were no battles. There were only minor skirmishes, clashes of small detachments “in no man’s land.”)

2. The Russians used firearms, which sent the Tatars into panic.

(Hardly: by this time the Tatars already had firearms. The Russian chronicler, describing the capture of the city of Bulgar by the Moscow army in 1378, mentions that the residents “let thunder from the walls.”)

3. Akhmat was “afraid” of a decisive battle.

But here's another version. It is extracted from a historical work of the 17th century, written by Andrei Lyzlov.

“The lawless tsar [Akhmat], unable to endure his shame, in the summer of the 1480s gathered a considerable force: princes, and lancers, and Murzas, and princes, and quickly came to the Russian borders. In his Horde he left only those who could not wield weapons. The Grand Duke, after consulting with the boyars, decided to do a good deed. Knowing that in the Great Horde, from where the king came, there was no army left at all, he secretly sent his numerous army to the Great Horde, to the dwellings of the filthy. At their head were the service Tsar Urodovlet Gorodetsky and Prince Gvozdev, the governor of Zvenigorod. The king did not know about this.

They, in boats along the Volga, sailed to the Horde, saw that there were no military people there, but only women, old men and youths. And they began to captivate and devastate, mercilessly putting the filthy wives and children to death, setting their homes on fire. And, of course, they could kill every single one of them.

But Murza Oblyaz the Strong, Gorodetsky’s servant, whispered to his king, saying: “O king! It would be absurd to completely devastate and devastate this great kingdom, because this is where you yourself come from, and all of us, and here is our homeland. Let’s leave here, we’ve already caused enough destruction, and God may be angry with us.”

So the glorious Orthodox army returned from the Horde and came to Moscow with a great victory, having with them a lot of booty and a considerable amount of food. The king, having learned about all this, immediately retreated from Ugra and fled to the Horde.”

Does it not follow from this that the Russian side deliberately delayed the negotiations - while Akhmat was trying for a long time to achieve his unclear goals, making concession after concession, Russian troops sailed along the Volga to the capital of Akhmat and chopped down women, children and old people there, until the commanders woke up - like a conscience! Please note: it is not said that Voivode Gvozdev opposed the decision of Urodovlet and Oblyaz to stop the massacre. Apparently he was also fed up with blood. Naturally, Akhmat, having learned about the defeat of his capital, retreated from Ugra, hurrying home with all possible speed. So what is next?

A year later, the “Horde” is attacked with an army by the “Nogai Khan” named... Ivan! Akhmat was killed, his troops were defeated. Another evidence of the deep symbiosis and fusion of Russians and Tatars... The sources also contain another option for the death of Akhmat. According to him, a certain close associate of Akhmat named Temir, having received rich gifts from the Grand Duke of Moscow, killed Akhmat. This version is of Russian origin.

It is interesting that the army of Tsar Urodovlet, who carried out a pogrom in the Horde, is called “Orthodox” by the historian. It seems that we have before us another argument in favor of the version that the Horde members who served the Moscow princes were not Muslims at all, but Orthodox.

And one more aspect is of interest. Akhmat, according to Lyzlov, and Urodovlet are “kings”. And Ivan III is only a “Grand Duke”. Writer's inaccuracy? But at the time Lyzlov wrote his history, the title “tsar” was already firmly attached to the Russian autocrats, had a specific “binding” and precise meaning. Further, in all other cases Lyzlov does not allow himself such “liberties.” Western European kings are “kings”, Turkish sultans are “sultans”, padishahs are “padishahs”, cardinals are “cardinals”. Is it possible that the title of Archduke was given by Lyzlov in the translation “Artsyknyaz”. But this is a translation, not an error.

Thus, in the late Middle Ages there was a system of titles that reflected certain political realities, and today we are quite aware of this system. But it is not clear why two seemingly identical Horde nobles are called one “prince” and the other “Murza”, why “Tatar prince” and “Tatar khan” are by no means the same thing. Why are there so many holders of the title “tsar” among the Tatars, and why are Moscow sovereigns persistently called “grand princes?” Only in 1547, Ivan the Terrible for the first time in Rus' took the title “tsar” - and, as Russian chronicles extensively report, he did this only after much persuasion from the patriarch.

Couldn’t the campaigns of Mamai and Akhmat against Moscow be explained by the fact that, according to certain rules that were perfectly understood by contemporaries, the “tsar” was superior to the “grand duke” and had more rights to the throne? What did some dynastic system, now forgotten, declare itself to be here?

It is interesting that in 1501, the Crimean Tsar Chess, having been defeated in an internecine war, for some reason expected that the Kiev prince Dmitry Putyatich would come out on his side, probably due to some special political and dynastic relations between the Russians and Tatars. It is not known exactly which ones.

And finally, one of the mysteries of Russian history. In 1574, Ivan the Terrible divides the Russian kingdom into two halves; he rules one himself, and transfers the other to Kasimov’s Tsar Simeon Bekbulatovich - along with the titles of “Tsar and Grand Duke of Moscow”!

Historians still do not have a generally accepted convincing explanation for this fact. Some say that Grozny, as usual, mocked the people and those close to him, others believe that Ivan IV thus “transferred” his own debts, mistakes and obligations to the new tsar. Could we not be talking about joint rule, which had to be resorted to due to the same complicated ancient dynastic relations? Perhaps this is the last time in Russian history that these systems made themselves known.

Simeon was not, as many historians previously believed, a “weak-willed puppet” of Ivan the Terrible - on the contrary, he was one of the largest state and military figures of that time. And after the two kingdoms again united into one, Grozny by no means “exiled” Simeon to Tver. Simeon was granted the title of Grand Duke of Tver. But Tver in the time of Ivan the Terrible was a recently pacified hotbed of separatism, which required special supervision, and the one who ruled Tver certainly had to be Ivan the Terrible’s confidant.

And finally, strange troubles befell Simeon after the death of Ivan the Terrible. With the accession of Fyodor Ioannovich, Simeon was “removed” from the reign of Tver, blinded (a measure that in Rus' from time immemorial was applied exclusively to rulers who had rights to the table!), and was forcibly tonsured a monk of the Kirillov Monastery (also a traditional way to eliminate a competitor to the secular throne! ). But this turns out to be not enough: I.V. Shuisky sends a blind elderly monk to Solovki. One gets the impression that the Moscow Tsar was in this way getting rid of a dangerous competitor who had significant rights. A contender for the throne? Are Simeon's rights to the throne really not inferior to the rights of the Rurikovichs? (It is interesting that Elder Simeon survived his tormentors. Returned from Solovetsky exile by decree of Prince Pozharsky, he died only in 1616, when neither Fyodor Ioannovich, nor False Dmitry I, nor Shuisky was alive.)

So, all these stories - Mamai, Akhmat and Simeon - are more like episodes of a struggle for the throne, rather than a war with foreign conquerors, and in this respect they resemble similar intrigues around one or another throne in Western Europe. And those whom we have become accustomed to considering since childhood as “the deliverers of the Russian land”, perhaps, actually solved their dynastic problems and eliminated their rivals?

Many members of the editorial board are personally acquainted with the inhabitants of Mongolia, who were surprised to learn about their supposed 300-year rule over Russia. Of course, this news filled the Mongols with a sense of national pride, but at the same time they asked: “Who is Genghis Khan?”

from the magazine "Vedic Culture No. 2"

In the chronicles of the Orthodox Old Believers it is said unequivocally about the “Tatar-Mongol yoke”: “There was Fedot, but not the same one.” Let's turn to the Old Slovenian language. Having adapted runic images to modern perception, we get: thief - enemy, robber; Mughal - powerful; yoke - order. It turns out that the “Tata of the Aryans” (from the point of view of the Christian flock), with the light hand of the chroniclers, were called “Tatars”1, (There is another meaning: “Tata” is the father. Tatar - Tata of the Aryans, i.e. Fathers (Ancestors or older) Aryans) powerful - by the Mongols, and the yoke - the 300-year-old order in the State, which stopped the bloody civil war that broke out on the basis of the forced baptism of Russia - “holy martyrdom”. Horde is a derivative of the word Order, where “Or” is strength, and day is the daylight hours or simply “light.” Accordingly, the “Order” is the Power of Light, and the “Horde” is the Light Forces. So these Light Forces of the Slavs and Aryans, led by our Gods and Ancestors: Rod, Svarog, Sventovit, Perun, stopped the civil war in Russia on the basis of forced Christianization and maintained order in the State for 300 years. Were there dark-haired, stocky, dark-skinned, hook-nosed, narrow-eyed, bow-legged and very angry warriors in the Horde? Were. Detachments of mercenaries of different nationalities, who, as in any other army, were driven in the front ranks, preserving the main Slavic-Aryan Troops from losses on the front line.

Hard to believe? Take a look at the "Map of Russia 1594" in Gerhard Mercator's Atlas of the Country. All the countries of Scandinavia and Denmark were part of Russia, which extended only to the mountains, and the Principality of Muscovy is shown as an independent state not part of Rus'. In the east, beyond the Urals, the principalities of Obdora, Siberia, Yugoria, Grustina, Lukomorye, Belovodye are depicted, which were part of the Ancient Power of the Slavs and Aryans - Great (Grand) Tartaria (Tartaria - lands under the patronage of the God Tarkh Perunovich and the Goddess Tara Perunovna - Son and Daughter of the Supreme God Perun - Ancestor of the Slavs and Aryans).

Do you need a lot of intelligence to draw an analogy: Great (Grand) Tartaria = Mogolo + Tartaria = “Mongol-Tataria”? We do not have a high-quality image of the named painting, we only have the “Map of Asia 1754.” But this is even better! See for yourself. Not only in the 13th, but until the 18th century, Grand (Mogolo) Tartary existed as real as the faceless Russian Federation now.

The “history scribblers” were not able to distort and hide everything from the people. Their repeatedly darned and patched “Trishka caftan”, covering the Truth, is constantly bursting at the seams. Through the gaps, the Truth reaches the consciousness of our contemporaries bit by bit. They do not have truthful information, so they are often mistaken in the interpretation of certain factors, but the general conclusion they draw is correct: what school teachers taught to several dozen generations of Russians is deception, slander, falsehood.

Published article from S.M.I. “There was no Tatar-Mongol invasion” is a striking example of the above. Commentary on it from a member of our editorial board, Gladilin E.A. will help you, dear readers, dot the i's.
Violetta Basha,
All-Russian newspaper “My Family”,
No. 3, January 2003. p.26

The main source by which we can judge the history of Ancient Rus' is considered to be the Radzivilov manuscript: “The Tale of Bygone Years.” The story about the calling of the Varangians to rule in Rus' is taken from it. But can she be trusted? Its copy was brought at the beginning of the 18th century by Peter 1 from Konigsberg, then its original ended up in Russia. It has now been proven that this manuscript is forged. Thus, it is not known for certain what happened in Rus' before the beginning of the 17th century, that is, before the accession to the throne of the Romanov dynasty. But why did the House of Romanovs need to rewrite our history? Is it not to prove to the Russians that they have been subordinate to the Horde for a long time and are not capable of independence, that their destiny is drunkenness and obedience?

Strange behavior of princes

The classic version of the “Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus'” has been known to many since school. She looks like this. At the beginning of the 13th century, in the Mongolian steppes, Genghis Khan gathered a huge army of nomads, subject to iron discipline, and planned to conquer the whole world. Having defeated China, Genghis Khan's army rushed to the west, and in 1223 it reached the south of Rus', where it defeated the squads of Russian princes on the Kalka River. In the winter of 1237, the Tatar-Mongols invaded Rus', burned many cities, then invaded Poland, the Czech Republic and reached the shores of the Adriatic Sea, but suddenly turned back because they were afraid to leave devastated, but still dangerous Rus' in their rear. The Tatar-Mongol yoke began in Rus'. The huge Golden Horde had borders from Beijing to the Volga and collected tribute from the Russian princes. The khans gave the Russian princes labels to reign and terrorized the population with atrocities and robberies.

Even the official version says that there were many Christians among the Mongols and some Russian princes established very warm relations with the Horde khans. Another oddity: with the help of the Horde troops, some princes remained on the throne. The princes were very close people to the khans. And in some cases, the Russians fought on the side of the Horde. Aren't there a lot of strange things? Is this how the Russians should have treated the occupiers?

Having strengthened, Rus' began to resist, and in 1380 Dmitry Donskoy defeated the Horde Khan Mamai on the Kulikovo Field, and a century later the troops of Grand Duke Ivan III and the Horde Khan Akhmat met. The opponents camped for a long time on opposite sides of the Ugra River, after which the khan realized that he had no chance, gave the order to retreat and went to the Volga. These events are considered the end of the “Tatar-Mongol yoke.”

Secrets of the disappeared chronicles

When studying the chronicles of the Horde times, scientists had many questions. Why did dozens of chronicles disappear without a trace during the reign of the Romanov dynasty? For example, “The Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land,” according to historians, resembles a document from which everything that would indicate the yoke was carefully removed. They left only fragments telling about a certain “trouble” that befell Rus'. But there is not a word about the “invasion of the Mongols.”

There are many more strange things. In the story “about the evil Tatars,” the khan from the Golden Horde orders the execution of a Russian Christian prince... for refusing to worship the “pagan god of the Slavs!” And some chronicles contain amazing phrases, for example: “Well, with God!” - said the khan and, crossing himself, galloped towards the enemy.

Why are there suspiciously many Christians among the Tatar-Mongols? And the descriptions of princes and warriors look unusual: the chronicles claim that most of them were of the Caucasian type, had not narrow, but large gray or blue eyes and light brown hair.

Another paradox: why suddenly the Russian princes in the Battle of Kalka surrender “on parole” to a representative of foreigners named Ploskinia, and he... kisses the pectoral cross?! This means that Ploskinya was one of his own, Orthodox and Russian, and, moreover, of a noble family!

Not to mention the fact that the number of “war horses”, and therefore the warriors of the Horde army, was initially, with the light hand of historians of the House of Romanov, estimated at three hundred to four hundred thousand. Such a number of horses could neither hide in the copses nor feed themselves in the conditions of a long winter! Over the last century, historians have continually reduced the number of the Mongol army and reached thirty thousand. But such an army could not keep all the peoples from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean in subjection! But it could easily perform the functions of collecting taxes and establishing order, that is, serving as something like a police force.

There was no invasion!

A number of scientists, including academician Anatoly Fomenko, made a sensational conclusion based on a mathematical analysis of the manuscripts: there was no invasion from the territory of modern Mongolia! And there was a civil war in Rus', the princes fought with each other. There were no traces of any representatives of the Mongoloid race who came to Rus'. Yes, there were individual Tatars in the army, but not aliens, but residents of the Volga region, who lived in the neighborhood of the Russians long before the notorious “invasion.”

What is commonly called the “Tatar-Mongol invasion” was in fact a struggle between the descendants of Prince Vsevolod the “Big Nest” and their rivals for sole power over Russia. The fact of war between princes is generally recognized; unfortunately, Rus' did not unite immediately, and quite strong rulers fought among themselves.

But who did Dmitry Donskoy fight with? In other words, who is Mamai?

Horde - the name of the Russian army

The era of the Golden Horde was distinguished by the fact that, along with secular power, there was a strong military power. There were two rulers: a secular one, called the prince, and a military one, he was called the khan, i.e. "military leader" In the chronicles you can find the following entry: “There were also wanderers along with the Tatars, and their governor was so-and-so,” that is, the Horde troops were led by governors! And the Brodniks are Russian free warriors, the predecessors of the Cossacks.

Authoritative scientists have concluded that the Horde is the name of the Russian regular army (like the “Red Army”). And Tatar-Mongolia is Great Rus' itself. It turns out that it was not the “Mongols,” but the Russians who conquered a vast territory from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Arctic to the Indian. It was our troops who made Europe tremble. Most likely, it was fear of the powerful Russians that became the reason that the Germans rewrote Russian history and turned their national humiliation into ours.

By the way, the German word “Ordnung” (“order”) most likely comes from the word “horde.” The word "Mongol" probably comes from the Latin "megalion", that is, "great". Tataria from the word “tartar” (“hell, horror”). And Mongol-Tataria (or “Megalion-Tartaria”) can be translated as “Great Horror.”

A few more words about names. Most people of that time had two names: one in the world, and the other received at baptism or a military nickname. According to the scientists who proposed this version, Prince Yaroslav and his son Alexander Nevsky act under the names of Genghis Khan and Batu. Ancient sources depict Genghis Khan as tall, with a luxurious long beard, and “lynx-like” green-yellow eyes. Note that people of the Mongoloid race do not have a beard at all. The Persian historian of the Horde, Rashid al-Din, writes that in the family of Genghis Khan, children “were mostly born with gray eyes and blond hair.”

Genghis Khan, according to scientists, is Prince Yaroslav. He just had a middle name - Genghis with the prefix “khan”, which meant “warlord”. Batu is his son Alexander (Nevsky). In the manuscripts you can find the following phrase: “Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky, nicknamed Batu.” By the way, according to the description of his contemporaries, Batu had fair hair, a light beard and light eyes! It turns out that it was the Horde khan who defeated the crusaders on Lake Peipsi!

Having studied the chronicles, scientists discovered that Mamai and Akhmat were also noble nobles, who, according to the dynastic ties of the Russian-Tatar families, had the right to a great reign. Accordingly, “Mamaevo’s Massacre” and “Standing on the Ugra” are episodes of the civil war in Rus', the struggle of princely families for power.

Which Rus' did the Horde go to?

The records do say; "The Horde went to Rus'." But in the 12th-13th centuries, Russia was the name given to a relatively small territory around Kyiv, Chernigov, Kursk, the area near the Ros River, and Seversk land. But Muscovites or, say, Novgorodians were already northern inhabitants who, according to the same ancient chronicles, often “traveled to Rus'” from Novgorod or Vladimir! That is, for example, to Kyiv.

Therefore, when the Moscow prince was about to go on a campaign against his southern neighbor, this could be called an “invasion of Rus'” by his “horde” (troops). It is not for nothing that on Western European maps for a very long time Russian lands were divided into “Muscovy” (north) and “Russia” (south).

Grand falsification

At the beginning of the 18th century, Peter 1 founded the Russian Academy of Sciences. Over the 120 years of its existence, there have been 33 academic historians in the historical department of the Academy of Sciences. Of these, only three are Russians, including M.V. Lomonosov, the rest are Germans. The history of Ancient Rus' until the beginning of the 17th century was written by the Germans, and some of them did not even know Russian! This fact is well known to professional historians, but they make no effort to carefully review what kind of history the Germans wrote.

It is known that M.V. Lomonosov wrote the history of Rus' and that he had constant disputes with German academics. After Lomonosov's death, his archives disappeared without a trace. However, his works on the history of Rus' were published, but under the editorship of Miller. Meanwhile, it was Miller who persecuted M.V. Lomonosov during his lifetime! The works of Lomonosov on the history of Rus' published by Miller are falsifications, this was shown by computer analysis. There is little left of Lomonosov in them.

As a result, we do not know our history. The Germans of the House of Romanov hammered into our heads that the Russian peasant was good for nothing. That “he doesn’t know how to work, that he’s a drunkard and an eternal slave.