The Tatar yoke was thrown off during the reign. Tatar-Mongol invasion of Russia

So was there a Tatar-Mongol yoke in Russia?

Having conquered the closest neighbors, and then China, the mighty Tatar-Mongol horde rolled westward. Having traveled about 5 thousand kilometers, the Mongols defeated Khorezm, then Georgia and in 1223 reached the southern outskirts of Russia, where they defeated the army of Russian princes in the battle on the Kalka River. In the winter of 1237, the Tatar-Mongols invaded Russia with all their countless army, burned and ruined many Russian cities, and in 1241 they tried to conquer Western Europe by invading Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary, reached the shores of the Adriatic Sea, but turned back, therefore that they were afraid to leave in their rear the ruined, but still dangerous for them Russia. The Tatar-Mongol yoke began.

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

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

Having strengthened over time, Russia began to resist. In 1380 Grand Duke Moscow Dmitry Donskoy defeated the Horde Khan Mamai, 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 different 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 took 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 Gumilyov convincingly showed that relations between Russia and the Mongols were much more complicated than the usual confrontation between cruel conquerors and their unfortunate victims. Deep knowledge in the field of history and ethnography allowed the scientist to conclude that there was a kind of "complementarity" between the Mongols and the Russians, that is, compatibility, the ability to symbiosis and mutual support at the cultural and ethnic level. The writer and publicist Alexander Bushkov went even further, "twisting" Gumilyov's theory to its logical conclusion and expressing a completely original version: what is commonly called the Tatar-Mongol invasion was in fact the struggle of the descendants of Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest (son of Yaroslav and grandson of Alexander Nevsky ) with their rival princes for the sole power over Russia. Khans Mamai and Akhmat were not alien raiders, but noble nobles who, according to the dynastic ties of the Russian-Tatar families, had legally justified rights to the great reign. Thus, the Battle of Kulikovo and "standing on the Ugra" are not episodes of the struggle against foreign aggressors, but pages of the civil war in Russia. Moreover, this author promulgated a completely "revolutionary" idea: under the names "Genghis Khan" and "Batu" in history ... Russian princes Yaroslav and Alexander Nevsky, and Dmitry Donskoy - this is Khan Mamai himself (!).

Of course, the conclusions of the publicist 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 the "yoke" really look too mysterious and need more close attention and unbiased research. Let's try to consider some of these mysteries.

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

Who were the Mongols who approached the borders of the Christian world from the east? How did the powerful Mongolian state come about? Let's make an excursion into its history.

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

In the clash with the Kerait, the character of Genghis Khan was fully manifested. 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 Chinggis, and he asked: “Why, noyon, seeing the position of your troops, didn’t leave yourself? You had both the time and the opportunity. " He replied: "I served my khan and gave him the opportunity to escape, and my head is for you, about the victor." Genghis Khan said: “Everyone should imitate this man.

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

In 1204, the Mongols of Genghis Khan and the powerful Naiman Khanate clashed. And again the Mongols won the victory. The defeated were included in the Chinggis horde. 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 re-elected as khan, but for the whole of Mongolia. This is how the all-Mongolian state was born. The only hostile tribe to him remained the old enemies of the Borjigins - the Merkits, but even those by 1208 were forced out into the valley of the Irgiz River.

The growing power of Genghis Khan allowed his horde to quite easily assimilate different tribes and peoples. Because, in accordance with Mongolian stereotypes of behavior, the khan could and should have required obedience, obedience to orders, performance of duties, but forcing a person to abandon his faith or customs was considered immoral - the individual had the right to make his own choice. This state of affairs was attractive to many. In 1209, the Uyghur state sent ambassadors to Genghis Khan with a request to accept them into his ulus. The request, of course, was granted, and Genghis Khan gave the Uyghurs huge trade privileges. A caravan route passed through the Uyguria, and the Uyghurs, being part of the Mongol state, became rich due to the fact that they sold water, fruits, meat and "pleasure" to starving caravan men at high prices. The voluntary union of the Uyguria with Mongolia turned out to be useful for the Mongols as well. With the annexation of the Uyguria, the Mongols went beyond the boundaries of their ethnic range and came into contact with other peoples of the oikumene.

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 from the governors of the ruler of Urgench turned into independent sovereigns and took the title of “Khorezmshahs”. They turned out to be energetic, adventurous and belligerent. This allowed them to conquer most of Central Asia and southern Afghanistan. The Khorezmshahs created a huge state in which the main military force was made up of the Turks from the adjacent steppes.

But the state turned out to be fragile, despite wealth, brave warriors and experienced diplomats. The regime of the military dictatorship relied on tribes alien to the local population, which had a different language, different customs and customs. The mercenaries' cruelty 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 by the Khorezmians, who cruelly dealt with the population of Samarkand. Other large and wealthy cities of Central Asia also suffered.

In this situation, Khorezmshah Muhammad decided to confirm his title “ghazi” - “conqueror 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. Upon learning of the arrival of the Mongols, Muhammad sent an army against them on the grounds that the steppe dwellers must be converted to Islam.

The Khorezm army attacked the Mongols, but in the rearguard battle they themselves went on the offensive and badly wounded 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 that, the Khorezmians withdrew, and the Mongols returned home: they were not going to fight 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 got rich at the expense of the duties paid by merchants. The merchants willingly paid the duties, because they passed their expenses onto the consumers without losing anything. Wishing to preserve all the advantages associated with the existence of caravan routes, the Mongols strove for peace and tranquility on their borders. The difference of faith, in their opinion, did not give a pretext for war and could not justify the bloodshed. Probably, the Khorezmshah himself understood the episodic nature of the clash on Irshze. In 1218, Muhammad sent a trade caravan to Mongolia. Peace was restored, especially since the Mongols were not up to Khorezm: shortly before this, the Naiman prince Kuchluk began a new war with the Mongols.

Once again, Mongol-Khorezm relations were violated by the Khorezmshah himself and his officials. In 1219, a rich caravan from the lands of Genghis Khan approached the Khorezm city of Otrar. The merchants went to the city to replenish food supplies and bathe in the bathhouse. There the merchants met two acquaintances, one of whom informed the governor of the city that these merchants were spies. He immediately realized that there was a great reason to rob the travelers. The merchants were killed, 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 ambassadors to find out what caused the incident. Muhammad was angry when he saw the infidels, and ordered some of the ambassadors to kill, and some, stripping naked, drive them out to certain death in the steppe. Two or three Mongols finally got home and told them what had happened. Genghis Khan's anger had no limits. From the Mongolian point of view, there were two most terrible crimes: deceiving those who confided in and killing guests. According to custom, Genghis Khan could not leave unavenged neither the merchants who were killed in Otrar, nor the ambassadors whom the Khorezmshah insulted and killed. The khan had to fight, otherwise his fellow tribesmen would simply refuse to trust him.

In Central Asia, the Khorezmshah had at their 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-Kitays, the Uighurs sent a detachment of 5 thousand people, only the Tangut ambassador boldly replied: "If you do not have enough troops, do not fight." Genghis Khan considered the answer an insult and said: "Only dead could I bear such an insult."

Genghis Khan threw the assembled Mongol, Uyghur, Turkic and Kara-Chinese troops on Khorezm. Khorezmshah, having quarreled with his mother Turkan-Khatun, did not trust the military leaders who were 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 across the garrisons. The best generals of the shah were his own unloved son Jalal-ad-Din and the commandant of the Khujand fortress Timur-Melik. The Mongols took the fortresses one after another, but in Khojent, even taking the fortress, they could not capture the garrison. Timur-Melik put his soldiers on rafts and escaped pursuit along the wide Syrdarya. 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 a well-established version: "Wild nomads destroyed the cultural oases of agricultural peoples." Is it so? This version, as LN Gumilev showed, is based on the legends of the court Muslim historians. For example, the fall of Herat was reported by Islamic historians as a disaster in which the entire population was exterminated in the city, except for a few men who managed to escape in the mosque. They hid there, afraid to take to the streets littered with corpses. Only wild beasts roamed the city and tormented the dead. After sitting out 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 it 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 cadaveric miasma, and those who were hiding there would simply die. No predators, except jackals, live near the city, and they very rarely enter 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, could no longer rob it ...

Even more surprising is the information reported by historians about Merv. The Mongols took it in 1219 and also supposedly exterminated all the inhabitants there. But already in 1229 Merv revolted, 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 the legends of Mongol atrocities. If we take into account the degree of reliability of the sources and ask simple but inevitable questions, it is easy to separate the historical truth from literary fiction.

The Mongols occupied Persia almost without a fight, driving out the son of the Khorezmshah Jelal ad-Din to northern India. Muhammad II Gazi himself, broken by 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 Shiite 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 finished. Under one ruler - Muhammad II Gazi - this state reached its highest power and perished. As a result, Khorezm, Northern Iran, and Khorasan were annexed to the Mongol empire.

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

During the siege of Zhongsin, Genghis Khan died, but the Mongol noyons, on the orders of their leader, concealed his death. The fortress was taken, and the population of the "evil" city, on which the collective guilt for betrayal fell, was subjected to execution. The Tangut state disappeared, leaving behind only written evidence of the past 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 rite was as follows: the remains of Genghis Khan were lowered into the dug grave, along with many valuable things, and all the slaves who performed the funeral work were killed. According to custom, exactly one year later, it was required to celebrate the commemoration. In order to find the burial place later, the Mongols did the following. At the grave they sacrificed a little camel just taken from the mother. And a year later, the camel herself found in the boundless steppe the place where her cub was killed. Having killed this camel, the Mongols performed the prescribed ceremony of commemoration 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 considered legitimate children, did not have the right to the father's throne. 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 the younger brother Chagatai called him a “Merkit geek”. 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 case almost ended in a fight between the brothers.

It is curious, but according to the testimony of contemporaries, there were some persistent stereotypes in Jochi's behavior that greatly distinguished him from Chinggis. If for Genghis Khan there was no concept of "mercy" in relation to enemies (he left life only to young children, who were adopted by his mother Hoelun, and to the valiant Bagatur who passed to the 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 the surrender, that is, in other words, to spare them. Jochi spoke in favor of showing mercy, but Genghis Khan categorically rejected the request for mercy, and as a result, the garrison of Gurganj was partially cut, 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 distrust 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 so, but the fact remains: at the beginning of 1227, Jochi, hunting in the steppe, was found dead - his spine was broken. The details of the incident were kept secret, but, without a doubt, Genghis Khan was a person interested in the death of Jochi and quite capable of ending his son's life.

In contrast to Jochi, the second son of Genghis Khan, Chaga-tai, was a strict, executive and even cruel man. Therefore, he was promoted to the "custodian of the Yasa" (something like attorney general or supreme judge). Chagatai strictly observed the law and treated its violators without mercy.

The third son of the great khan, Ogedei, like Jochi, was distinguished by kindness and tolerance towards people. The character of Ogedei is best illustrated by the following incident: once, on a joint trip, the brothers saw a Muslim washing himself by the water. According to Muslim custom, every believer is obliged to perform namaz and ritual ablution several times a day. Mongolian tradition, on the other hand, forbade a person to bathe during the entire 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. The nukers-vigilantes of the ruthless adherent of the Chagatai law seized a Muslim. Anticipating a bloody denouement - the unfortunate man was threatened with cutting off his head - Ogedei sent his man to tell the Muslim to answer that he had dropped the gold into the water and was just looking for it there. The Muslim said so to Chagatay. He ordered to look for a coin, and during this time Ogedei's vigilante threw the gold into the water. The found coin was returned to the "rightful owner". At parting, Ogedei, taking out a handful of coins from his pocket, handed them to the rescued person and said: "The next time you drop a gold coin into the water, don't go after it, don't break the law."

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

Of the four sons of Genghis Khan, the youngest had the greatest talents and showed the greatest moral dignity. A good commander and an outstanding administrator, Tului was also a loving husband and distinguished for his nobility. He married the daughter of the deceased head of the Kerait, Wang Khan, who was a devout Christian. Tului himself had no right to accept the Christian faith: like Chinggisid, he had to profess the Bon religion (paganism). But the son of the khan allowed his wife not only to perform all Christian rituals in a luxurious "church" yurt, but also to have priests with them and receive monks. The death of Tului can be called heroic without any exaggeration. When Ogedei fell ill, Tului voluntarily took a strong shamanic potion, trying to "attract" the disease to himself, and died saving his brother.

All four sons had the right to inherit Genghis Khan. After the elimination of Jochi, three heirs remained, and when Chinggis was gone, and the 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 Chinggis. Ogedei, as we have already mentioned, had a kind soul, but the kindness of the sovereign is often not good for the state and subjects. Under him, the management of the ulus was mainly due to the strictness of Chagatai and the diplomatic and administrative skills of Tului. The great khan himself preferred nomadic wanderings with hunts and feasts in Western Mongolia to state concerns.

Genghis Khan's grandchildren 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 (big) Horde on the Volga. The third son, Sheibani, went to the Blue Horde, roaming from Tyumen to the Aral Sea. At the same time, the three brothers - the rulers of the uluses - were allocated only one to two thousand Mongolian soldiers each, while the total number of the Mongol army reached 130 thousand people.

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

The great khan Ogedei also had a son - Guyuk, who claimed the inheritance. The increase in the clan during the lifetime of Chinggis's children caused the division of the inheritance and enormous difficulties in managing the ulus, stretching from the Black to the Yellow Sea. These difficulties and family accounts concealed the seeds of future strife that destroyed the state created by Genghis Khan and his associates.

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

Russian pre-revolutionary historians mention the "half-million Mongolian army." V. Yan, author of the famous trilogy "Genghis Khan", "Batu" and "To the Last Sea", calls the number four hundred thousand. However, it is known that a warrior of a nomadic tribe sets out on a campaign with three horses (at least two). One carries luggage ("dry rations", horseshoes, spare harness, arrows, armor), and on the third one needs to change from time to time so that one horse can rest if suddenly it is necessary to engage in battle.

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

All the main invasions of the Tatar-Mongols into Russia took place in winter, when the remaining grass is hidden under the snow, and you cannot take a lot of forage with you ... The Mongolian horse really knows how to get food from under the snow, but ancient sources do not mention the Mongolian horses "In service" of the horde. Horse breeding experts prove that the Tatar-Mongol horde rode the Turkmens, and this is a completely different breed, and looks different, and is not capable of feeding in winter without human help ...

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

The temptation for the historian to explain the campaigns of the Mongols of the 13th century by "migrations" is great. But modern researchers show that the Mongol campaigns were not directly related to the displacement 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 Sheibani - received, according to the will of Chinggis, only 4 thousand horsemen, that is, about 12 thousand people who settled in the territory from the Carpathians to Altai.

In the end, historians settled on thirty thousand warriors. But even here unanswered questions arise. And the first among them will be this: is it not enough? Despite the disunity of the Russian principalities, thirty thousand horsemen is too small a figure to arrange “fire and ruin” all over Russia! After all, they (even the supporters of the "classical" version admit it) 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 begins an elementary distrust: could such a number of aggressors conquer Russia?

It turns out to be a vicious circle: for purely physical reasons, a huge army of Tatar-Mongols could hardly have retained its 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 Russia. To get out of this vicious circle, one has to admit: the invasion of the Tatar-Mongols was actually just an episode of the bloody civil war going on in Russia. The forces of the opponents were relatively small, they relied on their own stocks of fodder 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 were previously used.

The chronicles that have come down to us about the military campaigns of 1237-1238 paint the classically Russian style of these battles - battles take place in winter, and the Mongols - steppe people - operate with amazing skill in the forests (for example, the encirclement and subsequent complete destruction of the Russian detachment on the City River under the command of the great Prince Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich).

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

At the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, it was not the steppe inhabitants that represented the main danger for Kievan Rus. Our ancestors were friends with the Polovtsian khans, married "red Polovtsian girls", accepted the baptized Polovtsians into their midst, and the descendants of the latter became Zaporozhye and Sloboda Cossacks, not without reason in their nicknames the traditional Slavic suffix of belonging "ov" (Ivanov) was replaced by a Turkic one - " Enko ”(Ivanenko).

At this time, a more formidable phenomenon emerged - a fall in morals, a rejection of traditional Russian ethics and morality. In 1097, a princely congress took place in Lyubech, which marked the beginning of a new political form of the country's existence. There it was decided that "let everyone keep his fatherland." Russia began to turn into a confederation of independent states. The princes vowed to keep the proclaimed indestructiblely and in that they kissed the cross. But after the death of Mstislav, the Kiev state began to quickly disintegrate. Polotsk was the first to postpone. Then the Novgorod "republic" stopped sending money to Kiev.

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

Igor Svyatoslavich, a descendant of Prince Oleg, the hero of The Lay of Igor's Regiment, who became Prince of Chernigov in 1198, set himself the goal of dealing with Kiev, a city where rivals of his dynasty were constantly strengthening. He agreed with the Smolensk prince Rurik Rostislavich and called for the help of the Polovtsi. In defense of Kiev - "the mother of Russian cities" - the prince Roman Volynsky, who relied on the allied troops of the Torks, spoke out.

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 went mainly between the Polovtsy and the torques of Roman Volynsky, prevailed. Having captured Kiev, Rurik Rostislavich subjected the city to a terrible defeat. The Church of the Tithes and the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra were destroyed, and the city itself was burned. “They did a great evil, which was not from baptism in the Russian land,” the chronicler left a message.

After the fateful year 1203, Kiev has not 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 adversary 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 Polovtsy. Their enmity began in 1216, when the Polovtsians accepted Chinggis's blood enemies - the Merkits. The Polovtsians actively pursued the anti-Mongol policy, constantly supporting the Finno-Ugric tribes hostile to the Mongols. At the same time, the steppe-Polovtsians were as mobile as the Mongols themselves. Seeing the futility of cavalry clashes with the Polovtsy, the Mongols sent an expeditionary corps to the rear of the enemy.

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

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

The collision on Kalka in 1223 is described in some detail in the annals; in addition, there is another source - "The Tale of the Battle of Kalka, and about the Russian princes, and about seventy heroes." However, the abundance of information does not always clarify ...

Historical science has not denied for a long time 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 strive for a war with Russia. The ambassadors who arrived to the Russian princes quite friendly asked the Russians not to interfere in their relations with the Polovtsy. But, true to allied commitments, the Russian princes rejected the peace proposals. In doing so, they made a fatal mistake that had bitter consequences. All the ambassadors were killed (according to some sources, they were not even simply killed, but "tortured"). At all times, the murder of an ambassador, a parliamentarian was considered a grave crime; according to the Mongolian law, the deception of the trusting person was an unforgivable crime.

Following this, the Russian army sets out on a long campaign. Having left the borders of Russia, it was the first to attack the Tatar camp, take prey, steal cattle, after which it moves out of its territory for another eight days. A decisive battle takes place on the Kalka River: the eighty thousandth Russian-Polovtsian army fell on the twenty thousandth (!) Detachment of the Mongols. This battle was lost by the Allies due to the inability to coordinate actions. The Polovtsi left the battlefield in panic. Mstislav Udaloy and his "younger" Prince Daniel 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 them, "and, fearful, he reached Galich." Thus, he doomed to death his comrades-in-arms, whose horses were worse than the prince's. The enemies killed everyone they overtook.

The other princes are left alone with the enemy, they beat off his attacks for three days, after which, believing the assurances of the Tatars, they surrender. Another mystery lurks here. 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 not shed their blood. The Mongols, according to their custom, kept their word: having tied the captives, they laid them on the ground, covered them with a deck of planks and sat down to feast on the bodies. Not a drop of blood was really spilled! And the latter, according to Mongolian views, was considered extremely important. (By the way, the fact that the captive princes were put under the boards is only reported by “The Tale of the Battle on Kalka.” Other sources write that the princes were simply killed without mockery, and still others - that they were “taken prisoner.” So the story with a feast on bodies is just one of the versions.)

Different peoples have different perceptions of the rule of law and the concept of honesty. The Rusichi believed that the Mongols, having killed the captives, had broken their oath. But from the point of view of the Mongols, they kept the oath, and execution was the highest justice, because the princes committed the terrible sin of murdering the one who trusted. Therefore, the point is not in treachery (history gives 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, Christian, who somehow mysteriously found himself among the soldiers of the “unknown people”.

Why did the Russian princes surrender after listening to the persuasions of Ploskini? "The Tale of the Battle of Kalka" writes: "There were also the wanderers with the Tatars, and Ploskinya was their commander." Brodniks are Russian free warriors who lived in those places, the predecessors of the Cossacks. However, the establishment of Ploskini's social position only confuses the matter. It turns out that the rovers were able to come to an agreement with the "unknown peoples" in a short time 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.

Russian princes in this whole story do not look the best way... But back to our riddles. The Tale of the Battle of Kalka, which we have mentioned, for some reason is not able to definitely name the enemy of the Russians! Here is a quote: “... Because of our sins, nations came unknown, 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 kind of tribe they are, and what faith. And they call them Tatars, and some say - Taurmen, and others - Pechenegs. "

Amazing lines! They were written much later than the events described, when it seemed like it was supposed to know exactly with whom the Russian princes fought on Kalka. After all, part of the army (albeit a small one) nevertheless returned from Kalka. Moreover, the victors, in pursuit of the broken 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 had seen the enemy with their own eyes. And yet he remains "unknown"! This statement further confuses the matter. After all, the Polovtsians by the described time in Russia knew perfectly well - for many years they lived side by side, they 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 "Lay of Igor's Regiment" some "Tartars" are mentioned among the nomadic Türks 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 enemy of the Russians in that battle. Perhaps the battle on Kalka was not a clash with unknown peoples at all, but one of the episodes of the internecine war waged between Russian Christians, Polovtsian Christians and the Tatars who got involved in the cause?

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

LN Gumilev has collected a huge amount of material that clearly shows that the relationship between Russia and the Horde CAN be designated by the word "symbiosis". After Gumilyov, they write especially a lot and often about how Russian princes and "Mongol khans" became brothers-in-arms, relatives, sons-in-law and father-in-law, how they went on joint military campaigns, how (let's call things by their proper names) they were friends. Relations of this kind are unique in their own way - in no other country they conquered did the Tatars behave like that. 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 Russia (in the classical sense of this term) remains open. This topic is waiting for its researchers.

When it comes to "standing on the Ugra", we again encounter omissions and omissions. As those diligently studying the school or university course of history remember, in 1480 the troops of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III, the first "sovereign of all Russia" (the ruler of the united state) and the hordes of the Tatar Khan Akhmat stood on opposite banks of the Ugra River. After a long "standing" the Tatars fled for some reason, and this event was the end of the Horde yoke in Russia.

There are many dark places in this story. Let's start with the fact that the famous painting that even got into school textbooks - "Ivan III tramples on the Khan's Basma" - was written on the basis of a legend composed about 70 years after "standing on the Ugra". In fact, the khan's ambassadors did not come to Ivan and he did not solemnly tore up any Basma letter in their presence.

But here again an enemy, a non-believer, is coming to Russia, threatening, according to his contemporaries, the very existence of Russia. Well, all in one impulse are preparing to repulse the adversary? No! We are faced with a strange passivity and confusion of opinion. At the news of the approach of Akhmat, something happens in Russia, for which there is still no explanation. It is possible to reconstruct these events only on the basis of 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, flees from Moscow, for which she is rewarded with 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 as follows: "In the same winter the Grand Duchess Sofia returned from her escape, for she ran to Beloozero from the Tatars, although no one was chasing her." And further - even more mysterious words about these events, in fact, the only mention of them: “And those lands in which she wandered, it became worse than from the Tatars, from the boyar slaves, from the Christian bloodsuckers. Give them back, Lord, according to the deceit of their deeds, according to the works of their hands, give them, for they loved more wives 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 accusations of "bloodsucking" and apostasy from the faith on them? We practically do not know what it was about. A little 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 Vasilievich Oschera 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 there is no shadow of disgrace 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 all too dull, vaguely reported that Oshchera and Mamon, defending their point of view, mentioned the need to observe some kind of "antiquity". In other words, the Grand Duke must abandon resistance to Akhmat in order to observe some ancient traditions! It turns out that Ivan breaks some traditions, deciding to resist, and Akhmat, accordingly, acts in his own right? Otherwise, this riddle cannot be explained.

Some scholars have suggested: maybe we are facing a purely dynastic dispute? Once again, two are claiming 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 tide, it is he who pushes the Grand Duke into the campaign. Bishop Vassian begs, insists, appeals to the prince's conscience, gives historical examples, hints that the Orthodox Church may turn its back on 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, goes to Ugra. Ahead - a long, for several months, "standing". Again, something strange happens. First, negotiations begin between the Russians and Akhmat. The negotiations are rather unusual. Akhmat wants to do business with the Grand Duke himself - the Russians refuse. Akhmat makes a concession: he asks for a brother or son of the Grand Duke to arrive - the Russians refuse. Akhmat again concedes: now he agrees to speak with a "simple" ambassador, but for some reason Nikifor Fedorovich Basenkov must become this ambassador. (Why exactly he? A riddle.) The Russians again refuse.

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 of his proposals. Modern historians explain it this way: Akhmat "intended to demand tribute." But if Akhmat was only interested in tribute, why so long negotiations? It was enough to send some baskak. No, everything indicates that we have before us some big and dark secret that does not fit into the usual schemes.

Finally, about the riddle of the retreat of the "Tatars" from the Ugra. Today in historical science there are three versions of not even retreat - Akhmat's hasty flight from Ugra.

1. A series of "fierce battles" undermined the fighting spirit of the Tatars.

(Most historians reject this, rightly stating that there were no battles. There were only minor skirmishes, clashes of small detachments "on a no-man's land".)

2. The Russians used firearms, which caused the Tatars to panic.

(It is unlikely: by this time the Tatars already had firearms. The Russian chronicler, describing the capture of the Bulgar city by the Muscovite army in 1378, mentions that the inhabitants “thundered from the walls.”)

3. Akhmat was "afraid" of a decisive battle.

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

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

Having sailed to the Horde in boats along the Volga, they saw that there were no military people there, but only the female sex, old men and youths. And they undertook to capture and devastate, unmercifully betraying wives and children of filthy death, setting fire to their dwellings. And, of course, we could have killed every one.

But Murza Oblaz the Strong, a servant of Gorodetsky, whispered to his king, saying: “O king! It would be absurd to devastate and destroy this great kingdom to the end, because from here you yourself come from, and we are all, and here is our homeland. Let us go away from here, and without that they have done enough ruin, 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 great deal. The king, having learned about all this, at the same hour departed from Ugra and fled to the Horde. "

Does it not follow from this that the Russian side deliberately dragged out the negotiations - while Akhmat was trying for a long time to achieve his vague goals, making concession after concession, Russian troops sailed along the Volga to the capital of Akhmat and chopped down women, children and the elderly there, until the commanders woke up that something like a conscience! Please note: it is not said that the governor Gvozdev opposed the decision of Urodovlet and Oblaz 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 from all possible speed... So what is next?

A year later, the "Horde" is attacked with an army by a "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 version of Akhmat's death. According to him, a certain close to 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 the Tsar Urodovlet, who staged a pogrom in the Horde, is called an "Orthodox" historian. It seems that we have before us another argument in favor of the version that the Horde who served the Moscow princes were by no means Muslims, but Orthodox.

And one more aspect is of interest. Akhmat, according to Lyzlov, and Urodovlet are “tsars”. And Ivan III is only the “Grand Duke”. Writer's inaccuracy? But at the time when Lyzlov was writing his history, the title "tsar" was already firmly entrenched in the Russian autocrats, had a specific "tie" 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”, and the cardinal is “cardinal”. Is that the title of Archduke was given by Lyzlov in the translation “prince of arts”. But this is a translation, not a mistake.

Thus, in late middle ages there was a system of titles that reflected certain political realities, and today we are well aware of this system. But it is not clear why two seemingly identical Horde nobles are called one "Tsarevich" and the other "Murza", why "Tatar Prince" and "Tatar Khan" are not the same thing. Why among the Tatars there are so many holders of the title "Tsar", and the Moscow sovereigns are persistently called "Grand Dukes"? It was only in 1547 that Ivan the Terrible for the first time in Russia took the title "Tsar" - and, as the Russian chronicles say at length, he did this only after much persuasion from the patriarch.

Are not the campaigns of Mamai and Akhmat on Moscow explained by the fact that according to some perfectly understandable rules of the contemporaries, the “tsar” was taller than the “grand duke” and had more rights to the throne? What did some dynastic system, now forgotten, declare about itself here?

It is interesting that in 1501, the Crimean king Chess, having suffered defeat in an internecine war, for some reason expected that the Kiev prince Dmitry Putyatich would take his side, probably due to some special political and dynastic relations between Russians and Tatars. Which ones are not exactly known.

And finally, one of the mysteries of Russian history. In 1574, Ivan the Terrible divided Russian kingdom in two halves; one is ruled by himself, and the other is transferred to the Kasimov 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, blunders and obligations to the new tsar. Couldn't we be talking about joint rule, which had to be resorted to due to the same tangled old dynastic relations? Perhaps the last time in Russian history, these systems declared themselves.

Simeon was not, as many historians previously believed, a "weak-willed puppet" of Grozny - on the contrary, he is one of the largest statesmen and military leaders of that time. And after the two kingdoms were once again united into one, the Terrible did not "exile" Simeon to Tver. Simeon was granted to the Grand Dukes of Tver. But Tver at the time of Ivan the Terrible was recently a pacified hotbed of separatism, which required special supervision, and the one who ruled Tver was bound to be a confidant of Grozny.

And finally, strange troubles befell Simeon after the death of Ivan the Terrible. With the accession of Fyodor Ioannovich, Simeon was "brought down" from the Tver reign, blinded (a measure that in Russia from time immemorial was applied exclusively to the sovereign persons who had the right to the table!), Forcibly tonsured into monks of the Kirillov Monastery (also a traditional way to eliminate a competitor to the secular throne! ). But even 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 in this way got rid of a dangerous competitor who had weighty rights. A pretender to the throne? Was Simeon's right to the throne not inferior to the rights of the Rurikids? (It is interesting that Elder Simeon survived his tormentors. Returned from Solovetsky exile by order of Prince Pozharsky, he died only in 1616, when neither Fyodor Ioannovich, nor False Dmitry I, nor Shuisky were alive.)

So, all these stories - Mamai, Akhmat and Simeon - are more like episodes of the struggle for the throne, and not like a war with foreign conquerors, and in this respect they resemble similar intrigues around this or that throne in Western Europe. And those whom we have been accustomed to considering from childhood as “deliverers of the Russian land,” perhaps, actually solved their dynastic problems and eliminated rivals?

Many members of the editorial board are personally acquainted with the inhabitants of Mongolia, who were surprised to learn about their allegedly 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 Pravo-Glorious Old Believers about the "Tatar-Mongol yoke" it is said unequivocally: "There was Fedot, but not that one." Let's turn to the Old Slovenian language. Having adapted the runic images to modern perception, we get: thief - an enemy, a robber; mogul-powerful; yoke - order. It turns out that "tati Arias" (from the point of view of the Christian flock), with the light hand of the chroniclers, were called "Tartars" 1, (There is one more meaning: "Tata" is a father. the older ones) the Aryans) powerful - the Mongols, and the yoke - the 300-year-old order in the State, which ended the bloody civil war that broke out on the basis of the forcible baptism of Russia - "holy martyrdom". Horde is a derivative of the word Order, where "Or" is strength, and day is 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 violent Christianization and kept order in the State for 300 years. And were there dark-haired, stocky, dark-skinned, hunch-nosed, narrow-eyed, bow-legged and very evil warriors in the Horde? Were. Detachments of mercenaries of different nationalities, who, like in any other army, were driven in the forefront, keeping the main Slavic-Aryan Troops from losses on the front line.

It's 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 up to the mountains, and the principality of Muscovy is shown as an independent state that is not part of Russia. In the east, beyond the Urals, are depicted the principalities of Obdora, Siberia, Yugoria, Grustin, Lukomorye, Belovodye, which were part of the Ancient State of the Slavs and Aryans - Great (Grand) Tartaria (Tartaria - lands under the auspices of God Tarkh Perunovich and Goddess Tara Perunovna - Son and Daughter of the Highest God Perun - the ancestor of the Slavs and Aryans).

Does it take a lot of mind to draw an analogy: Great (Grand) Tartary = Mogolo + Tartary = "Mongol-Tartary"? We do not have a high-quality image of the named painting, there is only "Map of Asia 1754". But it's even better! See for yourself. Not only in the 13th, but until the 18th century, Grand (Mogolo) Tartary existed as real as the faceless RF is now.

"Pisarchuk from history" not all were able to distort and hide from the people. Their many times darned and patched "Trishkin caftan", covering the Truth, now and then burst at the seams. Through the gaps Truth bit by bit reaches the consciousness of our contemporaries. They do not have truthful information, therefore they are often mistaken in the interpretation of certain factors, but the general conclusion they make is correct: what school teachers taught to several dozen generations of Russians is deception, slander, falsehood.

Published article from S.M. “There was no Tatar-Mongol invasion” is a vivid example of the above. Commentary on it by E.A. Gladilin, a member of our editorial board. will help you, dear readers, to 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 history Ancient Rus, it is considered to be the Radziwill manuscript: "The Tale of Bygone Years." The story about the vocation of the Varangians to rule in Russia is taken from it. But can you trust her? A copy of it was brought to early XVIII century by Peter 1 of Konigsberg, then in Russia it turned out to be its original. This manuscript has now been proven to be forged. Thus, it is not known for certain what happened in Russia before early XVI 1st century, that is, before the accession to the throne of the Romanov dynasty. But why did the house of the Romanovs need to rewrite our history? Was it then, to prove to the Russians that they were subordinate to the Horde for a long time and were not capable of independence, that their lot is drunkenness and obedience?

Strange behavior of the princes

The classic version of the "Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia" is known to many since school. It looks like this. At the beginning of the 13th century, in the Mongol steppes, Genghis Khan gathered from the nomads a huge army, subject to iron discipline, and planned to conquer the whole world. Having defeated China, the army of Genghis Khan rushed to the west, and in 1223 went to the south of Russia, where it defeated the squads of Russian princes on the Kalka River. In the winter of 1237, the Tatar-Mongols invaded Russia, 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 the ruined, but still dangerous for them, Russia in the rear. The Tatar-Mongol yoke began in Russia. The huge Golden Horde had borders from Beijing to the Volga and collected tribute from the Russian princes. The khans issued labels to the Russian princes for reign and terrorized the population with atrocities and plunder.

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 troops of the Horde, some of the princes were kept 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 oddities? Is that how the Russians should have treated the invaders?

Having strengthened, Russia began to resist, and in 1380 Dmitry Donskoy defeated the Horde Khan Mamai on the Kulikovo Field, and a century later the troops of the Grand Duke Ivan III and the Horde Khan Akhmat came together. The opponents camped for a long time on different sides of the Ugra River, after which the khan realized that he had no chance, gave the order to retreat and left for 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 Lay of the Death of the Russian Land", according to historians, resembles a document from which everything was carefully removed, which would testify to the yoke. They left only fragments telling about a certain "misfortune" that befell Russia. But there is not a word about the "Mongol invasion".

There are many more oddities. In the story "About the Evil Tatars" the khan from the Golden Horde orders the execution of the Russian Christian prince ... for refusing to worship the "pagan god of the Slavs!" And some chronicles contain amazing phrases, for example, such as: "Well, with God!" - said the khan and, crossing himself, galloped to 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 Russian princes in the battle on Kalka surrender "on parole" to a representative of foreigners named Ploskinya, and he ... kisses his pectoral cross ?! This means that Ploskinya was his own, Orthodox and Russian, and besides, of a noble family!

Not to mention the fact that the number of "war horses", and hence the soldiers of the Horde army, at first, with the light hand of the historians of the Romanov dynasty, was estimated at three or 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 past century, historians have constantly reduced the number of the Mongol army and reached thirty thousand. But such an army could not keep in subjection all the peoples from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean! But it could easily perform the functions of collecting taxes and restoring order, that is, serve 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 Russia, the princes fought with each other. No representatives of the Mongoloid race who came to Russia did not exist at all. Yes, there were some Tatars in the army, but not newcomers, but the inhabitants of the Volga region, who lived in the neighborhood with the Russians long before the notorious "invasion".

What is commonly called the "Tatar-Mongol invasion" was actually the struggle of the descendants of Prince Vsevolod "Big Nest" with their rivals for sole power over Russia. The fact of the war between the princes is generally recognized, unfortunately, Russia was not united at once, and rather strong rulers fought among themselves.

But with whom did Dmitry Donskoy fight? 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 the secular power, there was a strong military power. There were two rulers: a secular one who was called a prince, and a military man, it was he who was called the khan, i.e. "Warlord". In the annals you can find the following record: "There were also roamers with the Tatars, and they had such and such a governor," that is, the troops of the Horde were led by the governors! And the Brodniks are Russian free warriors, the predecessors of the Cossacks.

Authoritative scholars have concluded that the Horde is the name of the Russian regular army (like the "Red Army"). And Tatar-Mongolia is Great Russia itself. It turns out that no "Mongols", but the Russians, 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 precisely the fear of 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." Tartary from the word "tartar" ("hell, horror"). And Mongolo-Tataria (or "Megalion-Tartaria") can be translated as "Great Horror".

A few more words about the 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, under the names of Genghis Khan and Batu are Prince Yaroslav and his son Alexander Nevsky. Ancient sources paint Genghis Khan tall, with a luxurious long beard, with "lynx", green-yellow eyes. Note that people of the Mongoloid race do not have a beard at all. Persian historian of the time of the Horde Rashid adDin writes that in the family of Genghis Khan, children were "born mostly with gray eyes and blond".

Genghis Khan, according to scientists, is Prince Yaroslav. He just had a middle name - Chingis with the prefix "khan", which meant "military leader." 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 was fair-haired, light-bearded and light-eyed! It turns out that the Horde Khan defeated the crusaders on Lake Peipsi!

Having studied the chronicles, scientists found that Mamai and Akhmat were also noble nobles, according to the dynastic ties of the Russian-Tatar clans, who had the right to a great reign. Accordingly, "Mamayevo's massacre" and "standing on the Ugra" are episodes of the civil war in Russia, the struggle of the princely families for power.

Which Rus did the Horde go to?

The annals do say; "The Horde went to Russia." But in the XII-XIII centuries, Rus was called a relatively small territory around Kiev, Chernigov, Kursk, an area near the Ros river, Severskaya land. But Muscovites or, say, Novgorodians were already northern inhabitants, who, according to the same ancient chronicles, often "went to Russia" from Novgorod or Vladimir! That is, for example, to Kiev.

Therefore, when the Moscow prince was about to go on a campaign against his southern neighbor, it could be called the "invasion of Russia" by his "horde" (troops). No wonder that on Western European maps, for a very long time, Russian lands were divided into "Muscovy" (north) and "Russia" (south).

Grandiose falsification

At the beginning of the 18th century, Peter the Great founded the Russian Academy of Sciences. During the 120 years of its existence, the historical department of the Academy of Sciences has had 33 academic historians. Of these, only three are Russians, including M.V. Lomonosov, the rest are Germans. The history of Ancient Russia until the beginning of the 17th century was written by the Germans, and some of them did not even know the Russian language! This fact is well known to professional historians, but they make no effort to look closely at what history the Germans wrote.

It is known that M.V. Lomonosov wrote the history of Rus and that he had constant disputes with German academicians. After Lomonosov's death, his archives disappeared without a trace. However, his works on the history of Russia were published, but edited by Miller. Meanwhile, it was Miller who arranged the persecution of M.V. Lomonosov during his lifetime! Lomonosov's works on the history of Russia published by Miller are falsifications, as shown by computer analysis. Little is left of Lomonosov in them.

As a result, we don't know our history. The Germans of the Romanovs' house hammered into our heads that the Russian peasant is not good for anything. That “he does not know how to work, that he is a drunkard and an eternal slave.

Chronology

1123 The battle of the Russians and Polovtsians with the Mongols on the Kalka River
1237 - 1240 The conquest of Russia by the Mongols
1240 The defeat by Prince Alexander Yaroslavovich of the Swedish knights on the Neva River (Battle of the Neva)
1242 The defeat of the Crusaders by Prince Alexander Yaroslavovich Nevsky on Lake Peipsi (Battle of the Ice)
1380 Battle of Kulikovo

The beginning of the Mongol conquests of the Russian principalities

In the XIII century. the peoples of Russia had to endure a hard struggle with Tatar-Mongol conquerors who ruled in the Russian lands until the 15th century. (the last century in a milder form). Directly or indirectly, the Mongol invasion contributed to the fall of the political institutions of the Kiev period and the growth of absolutism.

In the XII century. in Mongolia there was no centralized state, the union of the tribes was achieved at the end of the 12th century. Temujin, the leader of one of the clans. At a general meeting ("kurultai") of representatives of all clans in 1206 he was proclaimed a great khan with the name Chinggis("Limitless power").

Once the empire was established, it began its expansion. The organization of the Mongol army was based on the decimal principle - 10, 100, 1000, etc. The Imperial Guard was created, which controlled the entire army. Before the advent of firearms Mongol cavalry took up in the steppe wars. She was better organized and trained than any nomadic army 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 the 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 the entire northern part. From China, the Mongols took out the newest for that time military equipment and specialists. In addition, they received cadres of competent and experienced officials from among the Chinese. In 1219, the troops of Genghis Khan invaded Central Asia. Following Central Asia, there was captured northern Iran, after which the troops of Genghis Khan made a predatory campaign in the Caucasus. From the south, they came to the Polovtsian steppes and defeated the Polovtsians.

The request of the Polovtsians to help them against a dangerous enemy was accepted by the Russian princes. The battle between the Russian-Polovtsian and Mongolian 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 put up their troops. The battle ended with the defeat of the Russian-Polovtsian troops, many princes and warriors died.

Genghis Khan died in 1227. Ogedei, his third son, was elected the Great Khan. In 1235, Kurultai gathered in the Mongolian capital Kara-Korum, where it was decided to begin the conquest of the western lands. This intention posed a terrible threat to the 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 the 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, the Mongol troops moved to Kolomna. Many Russian soldiers died in the battle near Kolomna, 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 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 Kiev 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, Czech Republic, Moravia, and then in 1242 reached Croatia and Dalmatia. However, the Mongol troops entered Western Europe significantly weakened by the powerful resistance they met in Russia. This explains in many ways the fact that if the Mongols managed to establish their yoke in Russia, then Western Europe experienced only 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 grand campaign was the conquest of a huge territory - the southern Russian steppes and forests of Northern Russia, 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 Gayuk. Batu also 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, Russia. Gradually Western part 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 was making acquisitions in the Baltic Sea countries. Back in the XII century, German knighthood began to seize the lands belonging to the Slavs beyond the Oder and in the Baltic Pomerania. At the same time, an offensive was carried out on the lands of the Baltic peoples. The invasion of the Crusaders on the lands of the Baltic and North-Western Russia was sanctioned by the Pope and German Emperor Frederick II. Germanic, 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 Drang nach Osten doctrine (push to the east).

Baltic in the XIII century

Together with his retinue, Alexander with a sudden blow liberated Pskov, Izborsk and other captured cities. Having received the news that the main forces of the Order were marching on him, Alexander Nevsky blocked the way for 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 conquer everywhere, and we will not conquer Nicholas." Alexander deployed troops under cover of the steep bank on the ice of the lake, excluding the possibility of enemy reconnaissance of his forces and depriving the enemy of freedom of maneuver. Taking into account the construction of the knights "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, the tip resting on the shore. Before the battle, some of the Russian soldiers were equipped with special hooks to pull the knights off their horses.

On April 5, 1242, a battle took place on the ice of Lake Peipsi, which was called the Battle of the Ice. The knight's wedge pierced the center of the Russian position and buried itself on the shore. The flanking attacks of the Russian regiments decided the outcome of the battle: like ticks, they crushed the knightly "pig". The knights, unable to withstand the blow, fled in panic. The Russians pursued the enemy, “flogging, carrying after him as if through the air,” the chronicler wrote. According to the Novgorod Chronicle, in the battle "German 400 and 50 were taken prisoner"

Persistently resisting the enemies of the West, Alexander was extremely patient with the eastern onslaught. The recognition of the sovereignty of the Khan freed his hands to repel the Teutonic crusade.

Tatar-Mongol yoke

Persistently resisting the enemies of the West, 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 "He who does not want to be baptized must die!" The recognition of the sovereignty of the khan freed up forces to repel the Teutonic crusade. But it turned out that it is not easy to get rid of the “Mongolian flood”. Rthe Russian lands infiltrated by the Mongols were forced to recognize their vassal dependence on the Golden Horde.

In the first period of Mongol rule, tax collection and the mobilization of Russians into Mongol troops were carried out on the orders of the great khan. Both money and recruits were sent to the capital. Under Gauk, Russian princes traveled to Mongolia to receive a reign label. Later, a trip to Saray was enough.

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

To control the Russian lands, the institution of governors-Baskaks was created - the leaders of the military detachments of the Mongol-Tatars, who monitored the activities of the Russian princes. The denunciation of the Baskaks to the Horde inevitably ended either with the summons of the prince to Sarai (he often lost his label, or even his life), or with a punitive campaign into the rebellious land. Suffice it to say that only in the last quarter of the XIII century. 14 such trips to the Russian lands were organized.

In 1257, the Mongol-Tatars undertook a population census - “record in the number”. Besermens (Muslim merchants) were sent to the cities, who were given the mercy of collecting tribute. The amount of tribute (“exit”) was very large, only one “tsar's tribute”, i.e. tribute to the khan, which was first collected in kind, and then in money, amounted to 1300 kg of silver per year. The constant tribute was supplemented by "requests" - one-time levies in favor of the khan. In addition, the khan's treasury received deductions from trade duties, taxes to “feed” the khan's officials, and so on. In total, there were 14 types of tributes in favor of the Tatars.

The Horde yoke slowed down the economic development of Russia for a long time, destroyed its agriculture, and undermined its culture. Mongol invasion led to a decline in the role of cities in the political and economic life of Russia, urban construction stopped, the fine and applied arts fell into decay. A grave consequence of the yoke was the deepening of the disunity of Russia 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 the Lithuanian and Polish feudal lords. A blow was dealt to the trade relations of Russia with the West: trade relations with foreign countries survived only at Novgorod, Pskov, Polotsk, Vitebsk and Smolensk.

The turning point was 1380, when the army of many thousands of Mamai was defeated on the Kulikovo field.

Battle of Kulikovo 1380

Russia began to grow stronger, its dependence on the Horde was getting weaker and weaker. The final liberation took place in 1480 under the sovereign Ivan III. By this time, the period ended, the gathering of Russian lands around Moscow ended and.

50 famous mysteries of the Middle Ages Zgurskaya Maria Pavlovna

So was there a Tatar-Mongol yoke in Russia?

A passing Tatar. Hell will truly envelop them.

(She passes.)

From the parody theatrical play by Ivan Maslov "The Elder Paphnutius", 1867

The traditional version of the Tatar-Mongol invasion of Russia, the "Tatar-Mongol yoke", and the liberation from it is known to the reader from school. In the account of 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 the closest neighbors, and then China, the mighty Tatar-Mongol horde rolled westward. Having traveled about 5 thousand kilometers, the Mongols defeated Khorezm, then Georgia and in 1223 reached the southern outskirts of Russia, where they defeated the army of Russian princes in the battle on the Kalka River. In the winter of 1237, the Tatar-Mongols invaded Russia with all their countless army, burned and ruined many Russian cities, and in 1241 they tried to conquer Western Europe by invading Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary, reached the shores of the Adriatic Sea, but turned back, therefore that they were afraid to leave in their rear the ruined, but still dangerous for them Russia. The Tatar-Mongol yoke began.

Having strengthened over time, Russia began to resist. In 1380, the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Donskoy defeated the Horde Khan Mamai, and a century later, the troops of the Grand Duke Ivan III and the Horde Khan Akhmat met in the so-called "standing on the Ugra". The opponents camped for a long time on different 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 took 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 Gumilyov convincingly showed that relations between Russia and the Mongols were much more complicated than the usual confrontation between cruel conquerors and their unfortunate victims. Deep knowledge in the field of history and ethnography allowed the scientist to conclude that there was a kind of "complementarity" between the Mongols and the Russians, that is, compatibility, the ability to symbiosis and mutual support at the cultural and ethnic level. The writer and publicist Alexander Bushkov went even further, "twisting" Gumilyov's theory to its logical conclusion and expressing a completely original version: what is commonly called the Tatar-Mongol invasion was in fact the struggle of the descendants of Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest (son of Yaroslav and grandson of Alexander Nevsky ) with their rival princes for the sole power over Russia. Khans Mamai and Akhmat were not alien raiders, but noble nobles who, according to the dynastic ties of the Russian-Tatar families, had legally justified rights to the great reign. Thus, the Battle of Kulikovo and the "standing on the Ugra" are not episodes of the struggle against foreign aggressors, but pages of the civil war in Russia. Moreover, this author promulgated a completely "revolutionary" idea: under the names "Genghis Khan" and "Batu" in history ... Russian princes Yaroslav and Alexander Nevsky, and Dmitry Donskoy - this is Khan Mamai himself (!).

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

Who were the Mongols who approached the borders of the Christian world from the east? How did the powerful Mongolian state come about? Let's make an excursion into its history.

The growing power of Genghis Khan allowed his horde to quite easily assimilate different tribes and peoples. Because, in accordance with Mongolian stereotypes of behavior, the khan could and should have required obedience, obedience to orders, performance of duties, but forcing a person to abandon 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 Uyghur state sent ambassadors to Genghis Khan with a request to accept them into his ulus. The request, of course, was granted, and Genghis Khan gave the Uyghurs huge trade privileges. A caravan route passed through the Uyguria, and the Uyghurs, being part of the Mongol state, became rich due to the fact that they sold water, fruits, meat and "pleasure" to starving caravan men at high prices. The voluntary union of the Uyguria with Mongolia turned out to be useful for the Mongols as well. With the annexation of the Uyguria, the Mongols went beyond the boundaries of their ethnic range and came into contact with other peoples of the oikumene.

In this situation, Khorezmshah Muhammad decided to confirm his title "ghazi" - "winner 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. Upon learning of the arrival of the Mongols, Muhammad sent an army against them on the grounds that the steppe dwellers must be converted to Islam.

The third son of the great khan, Ogedei, like Jochi, was distinguished by kindness and tolerance towards people. The character of Ogedei is best illustrated by the following incident: once, on a joint trip, the brothers saw a Muslim washing himself by the water. According to Muslim custom, every believer is obliged to perform namaz and ritual ablution several times a day. Mongolian tradition, on the other hand, forbade a person to bathe during the entire 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. The nukers-vigilantes of the ruthless adherent of the Chagatai law seized a Muslim. Foreseeing a bloody denouement - the unfortunate man was threatened with cutting off his head - Ogedei sent his man to tell the Muslim to answer that he had dropped the gold one into the water and was just looking for it there. The Muslim said so to Chagatay. He ordered to look for a coin, and during this time Ogedei's vigilante threw the gold into the water. The found coin was returned to the "rightful owner". At parting, Ogedei, taking out a handful of coins from his pocket, handed them to the rescued person and said: "The next time you drop a gold coin into the water, don't go after it, don't break the law."

The children of Chagatai also received a thousand warriors, and the descendants of Tului, being at the court, owned all of their grandfather's and father's ulus. So the Mongols established a system of inheritance, called the minorat, in which the youngest son inherited all the rights of the father, and the older brothers - only a share in the common inheritance.

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

At the turn of the 11th – 12th centuries, it was not the steppe inhabitants that represented the main danger for Kievan Rus. Our ancestors were friends with the Polovtsian khans, married the "red Polovtsian girls", accepted the baptized Polovtsians into their midst, and the descendants of the latter became Zaporozhye and suburban Cossacks, not without reason in their nicknames the traditional Slavic suffix of belonging "ov" (Ivanov) was replaced by a Turkic one - " Enko ”(Ivanenko).

Igor Svyatoslavich, a descendant of Prince Oleg, the hero of The Lay of Igor's Regiment, who became Prince of Chernigov in 1198, set himself the goal of dealing with Kiev, a city where rivals of his dynasty were constantly strengthening. He agreed with the Smolensk prince Rurik Rostislavich and called for the help of the Polovtsi. In defense of Kiev - "the mother of Russian cities" - the prince Roman Volynskiy came forward, relying on the Tork troops allied to him.

After the fateful year 1203, Kiev has not recovered.

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

Russian princes in this whole story do not look the best. But back to our riddles. The Tale of the Battle of Kalka, which we have mentioned, for some reason is not able to definitely name the enemy of the Russians! Here is a quote: “... Because of our sins, nations came unknown, 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 kind of tribe they are, and what faith. And they call them Tatars, and some say - Taurmen, and others - Pechenegs. "

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

This text is an introductory fragment. the author

7.4. The fourth period: the Tatar-Mongol yoke from the battle of the City (1238) to "standing on the Ugra" (1481) - the official end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke in Russia KHAN BATY since 1238 YAROSLAV VSEVOLODOVICH, 1238-1248, ruled for 10 years, the capital is Vladimir . Came from Novgorod, s. 70. According to

From the book Russia and the Horde. Great empire of the middle ages the author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

2. The Tatar-Mongol invasion as the unification of Russia under the rule of the Novgorod = Yaroslavl dynasty of George = Genghis Khan and then his brother Yaroslav = Batu = Ivan Kalita

From the book Russia and the Horde. Great empire of the middle ages the author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

3. "Tatar-Mongol yoke" in Russia - the era of military control in the Russian Empire and its heyday 3.1. What is the difference between our version and the Millerovo-Romanovskoy Millerovsko-Romanovskoy history paints the era of the XIII-XV centuries in the dark colors of a fierce foreign yoke in Russia. With one

From the book Reconstruction of True History the author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

12. There was no foreign "Tatar-Mongol conquest" of Russia. Medieval Mongolia and Russia are just one and the same thing. No foreigners conquered Russia. Russia was originally inhabited by peoples primordially living on their land - Russians, Tatars, etc.

the author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

7.4. The fourth period: the Tatar-Mongol yoke from the battle of the City in 1238 to the "standing on the Ugra" in 1481, which is considered today the "official end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke" KHAN BATY since 1238. YAROSLAV VSEVOLODOVICH 1238-1248, ruled for 10 years the capital is Vladimir. Came from Novgorod

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

2. The Tatar-Mongol invasion as the unification of Russia under the rule of the Novgorod = Yaroslavl dynasty of George = Genghis Khan and then his brother Yaroslav = Batu = Ivan Kalita

3. Tatar-Mongol yoke in Russia - a period of military rule in the United Russian Empire 3.1. What is the difference between our version and the Millerovo-Romanovskoy Millerovsko-Romanovskoy history paints the era of the XIII-XV centuries in the dark colors of a fierce foreign yoke in Russia. WITH

the author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

4 period: the Tatar-Mongol yoke from the battle of the City in 1237 to the "standing on the Ugra" in 1481, which is considered today the "official end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke" Batu Khan since 1238 Yaroslav Vsevolodovich 1238-1248 (10), the capital - Vladimir, came from Novgorod (, p. 70). By: 1238-1247 (8). By

From the book New Chronology and Concept ancient history Russia, England and Rome the author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

The Tatar-Mongol invasion as the unification of Russia under the rule of the Novgorod = Yaroslavl dynasty of George = Genghis Khan and then his brother Yaroslav = Batu = Ivan Kalita

From the book New chronology and the concept of the ancient history of Russia, England and Rome the author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

The Tatar-Mongol yoke in Russia = the period of military rule in the united Russian empire What is the difference between our version and the traditional one? Traditional history paints the epoch of the XIII-XV centuries in the dark colors of a foreign yoke in Russia. On the one hand, we are encouraged to believe

From the book Gumilyov son of Gumilyov the author Belyakov Sergey Stanislavovich

TATARO-MONGOL YAGO But, perhaps, the sacrifices were justified, and the "alliance with the Horde" saved the Russian land from the worst misfortune, from the insidious papal prelates, from the merciless dog knights, from enslavement not only physical, but also spiritual? Maybe Gumilev is right, and Tatar help

From the book Reconstruction of True History the author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

12. There was no foreign "Tatar-Mongol conquest" of Russia. Medieval Mongolia and Russia are just one and the same thing. No foreigners conquered Russia. Russia was originally inhabited by peoples originally living on their land - Russians, Tatars, etc.

the author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

From the book Rus. China. England. Dating the Nativity of Christ and the First Ecumenical Council the author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

From the book The Great Alexander Nevsky. "The Russian Land will stand!" the author Pronina Natalia M.

Chapter IV. The internal crisis of Russia and the Tatar-Mongol invasion And the point was that by the middle of the XIII century the Kiev state, like most of the early feudal empires, suffered a painful process of complete fragmentation and disintegration. Actually, the first attempts to break

From the book Türks or Mongols? The era of Genghis Khan the author Olovintsov Anatoly Grigorievich

Chapter X "Tatar-Mongol yoke" - as it was There was no so-called yoke of the Tatars. The Tatars never occupied the Russian lands and did not keep their garrisons there ... It is difficult to find parallels in history to such generosity of the victors. B. Ishboldin, Honorary Professor

1243 - After the defeat of Northern Russia by the Mongol-Tatars and the death of the great Vladimir prince Yuri Vsevolodovich (1188-1238x), Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (1190-1246 +) remained the eldest in the family, who became the Grand Duke.
Returning from the western campaign, Baty summons the Grand Duke Yaroslav II Vsevolodovich Vladimir-Suzdalsky to the Horde and gives him a label (permission sign) for the great reign in Russia at the khan's headquarters in Sarai: "You will be older than all the princes in the Russian language."
This is how the unilateral act of vassal subordination of Russia to the Golden Horde was carried out and legally formalized.
Russia, according to the label, lost the right to fight and had to pay tribute to the khans twice (in spring and autumn) on a regular basis. Baskaks (governors) were sent to the Russian principalities - their capitals - to monitor the rigorous collection of tribute and the observance of its size.
1243-1252 - This decade was a time when the Horde troops and officials did not bother Russia, receiving timely tribute and expressions of external obedience. Russian princes during this period assessed the current situation and developed their own line of conduct in relation to the Horde.
Two lines of Russian politics:
1. The line of systematic partisan resistance and continuous "point" uprisings: ("to run, not serve the king") - led. book Andrey I Yaroslavich, Yaroslav III Yaroslavich and others.
2. The line of complete, unquestioning submission to the Horde (Alexander Nevsky and most of the other princes). Many appanage princes (Uglitsk, Yaroslavl, and especially Rostov) established relations with the Mongol khans, who left them to "reign and rule." The princes preferred to recognize the supreme power of the Horde Khan and donate to the conquerors part of the feudal rent collected from the dependent population, rather than risk losing their reigns (see "On the Arrivals of Russian Princes to the Horde"). The Orthodox Church pursued the same policy.
1252 Invasion of "Nevruyeva rati" The first after 1239 in North-Eastern Russia - Reasons for the invasion: Punish Grand Duke Andrei I Yaroslavich for disobedience and speed up the full payment of the tribute.
Horde forces: The Nevryu 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, headed by the temniks - Elabuga (Olabuga) and Kotiy, and also from the fact that the army of Nevryuya was able to disperse across the Vladimir-Suzdal principality and "comb" it!
Russian forces: Consisted of the regiments of Prince. Andrey (i.e. regular troops) and the squads (volunteer and security detachments) of the Tver governor Zhiroslav, sent by the Tver prince Yaroslav Yaroslavich to help his brother. These forces were an order of magnitude smaller than the Horde forces in terms of their numbers, i.e. 1.5-2 thousand people
The course of the invasion: Having crossed the Klyazma River near Vladimir, the punitive army of Nevryuya hastily headed for Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, where Prince. Andrew, and, overtaking the army of the prince, defeated him utterly. The Horde plundered and ravaged 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 the eastern markets) and hundreds of thousands of cattle and took them to the Horde. Book. Andrei with the remnants of his squad fled to the Novgorod Republic, which refused to give him asylum, fearing the Horde's repressions. Fearing that one of his "friends" would betray him to the Horde, Andrei fled to Sweden. Thus, the first attempt to resist the Horde failed. Russian princes abandoned the line of resistance and bowed to the line of obedience.
Alexander Nevsky received the label for the great reign.
1255 The first complete census of the population of North-Eastern Russia, conducted by the Horde - It was accompanied by spontaneous unrest of the local population, scattered, unorganized, but united by the general demand of the masses: "do not give a number to the Tatars", i.e. not to give them any data that could become the basis for a fixed payment of tribute.
Other authors indicate different dates for the census (1257-1259)
1257 Attempt to conduct a census in Novgorod - In 1255 no census was 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 a complete failure of the attempt to collect tribute.
1259 The embassy of Murz Berke and Kasachik to Novgorod - The punitive control army of the Horde ambassadors - Murz Berke and Kasachik - was sent to Novgorod to collect tribute and prevent anti-Horde uprisings of the population. Novgorod, as always in the event of a military threat, yielded to force and traditionally bought off, and also made an obligation itself, without reminders or pressure, to regularly pay tribute annually, "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 demonstrations take place. These riots were suppressed by the Horde military units at the disposal of the Baskaks. But nevertheless, the khan's government took into account the 20-year experience of repeating such spontaneous rebellious outbreaks and abandoned Basque, from that time on the collection of tribute in the hands of the Russian, princely administration.

From 1263 the Russian princes began to bring tribute to the Horde themselves.
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 payment of the tribute and its size, as they were offended by the foreign, foreign composition of the collectors. They were ready to pay more, but to "their" princes and their administration. The Khan authorities quickly realized the full benefits of such a decision for the Horde:
firstly, the lack of your own troubles,
secondly, the guarantee of an end to the uprisings and the complete obedience of the Russians.
thirdly, the presence of specific responsible persons (princes), whom it was always easy, convenient and even "legal" could be brought to justice, punished for not paying tribute, and not deal with the insurmountable spontaneous popular uprisings of thousands of people.
This is a very early manifestation of a specifically Russian social and individual psychology, for which the visible is important, not the essential, and which is always ready to make actually important, serious, significant concessions in exchange for visible, superficial, external, "toy" and supposedly prestigious, will be repeated many times throughout Russian history up to the present time.
It is easy to persuade the Russian people, to appease with a petty handout, a trifle, but it cannot be irritated. Then he becomes stubborn, intractable and reckless, and sometimes even angry.
But you can literally take it with your bare hands, circle it around your finger, if you immediately give in in some trifle. This was well understood by the Mongols, who were the first Horde khans - Batu and Berke.

I cannot agree with the unfair and humiliating generalization of V. Pokhlebkin. You should not consider your ancestors stupid, gullible savages and judge them from the "height" of the past 700 years. There were numerous anti-Horde demonstrations - they were suppressed, presumably, brutally, 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, principled moment. Unlike a number of other countries conquered by the Horde, Northeastern Russia retained its political and social system. On Russian soil there has never been a permanent Mongol administration, under the onerous yoke, Russia managed to maintain the conditions for its independent development, although not without the influence of the Horde. An example of the opposite kind is the Volga Bulgaria, which, under the Horde, as a result, could not preserve not only its own ruling dynasty and name, but also the ethnic continuity of the population.

Later, the khan's power itself crumbled, lost its statesmanship and gradually, by its mistakes, "brought up" from Russia its equally insidious and circumspect enemy as it was itself. But in the 60s of the XIII century. this final was still far away - two whole centuries. In the meantime, the Horde spun the Russian princes and through them all of Russia, as it wanted. (It will be good to be confused by the one who will be the last to be confused - isn't that so?)

1272 The second Horde census in Russia - Under the leadership and supervision of the Russian princes, the Russian local administration, it passed peacefully, calmly, without a hitch, without a hitch. After all, it was carried out by "Russian people", and the population was calm.
It's a shame that the census results weren't saved, 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 her data to the Horde and these data directly served the Horde's economic and political interests - all this was for the people "behind the scenes", all this "did not concern" him and did not interest ... The appearance that the census was taking place "without Tatars" was more important than the essence, that is, the strengthening of the tax oppression that has come on its basis, the impoverishment of the population, its suffering. All this "was not visible," and therefore, according to Russian ideas, this means that ... was not.
Moreover, in just three decades that have elapsed since the moment of enslavement, Russian society, in fact, has 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 noble ones.
The proverb "out of sight - out of mind" very accurately and correctly explains this situation. As it is clear from the chronicles of that time, the lives of the saints and the patristic and other religious literature, which was a reflection of the dominant ideas, Russians of all estates and states had no desire to get to know their enslavers better, to get to know "what they breathe", what they think, how think, as they understand themselves and Russia. They saw "God's punishment" sent down to the Russian land for sins. If they had not sinned, had not angered God, there would have been no such calamities - this is the starting point of all explanations from the authorities and the church of the then "international situation". It is not difficult to see that this position is not only very, very passive, but that, in addition, it actually removes the blame for the enslavement of Russia both from the Mongol-Tatars and from the Russian princes who made such a yoke, and shifts it entirely onto the people who found themselves enslaved and suffered from it more than anyone.
Proceeding from the thesis of sinfulness, the churchmen called on the Russian people not to resist the invaders, but, on the contrary, to their own repentance and obedience to the "Tatars", not only did not condemn the Horde power, but also ... set it up as an example for their flock. This was a direct payment on the part of the Orthodox Church for the enormous privileges granted to it by the khans - exemption from taxes and extortions, solemn receptions of metropolitans in the Horde, the establishment in 1261 of a special Sarai diocese and permission to erect an Orthodox church directly opposite the khan's headquarters *.

*) After the collapse of the Horde, at the end of the 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 metropolitan of Sarai and Podonsky, and then of Krutitsky and Kolomna, i.e. were formally equalized in rank with the metropolitans of Moscow and All Russia, although they were no longer engaged in any real central political activity. This historical and decorative post was abolished only at the end of the 18th century. (1788) [Approx. V.Pokhlebkin]

It should be noted that on the threshold of the XXI century. we are experiencing a similar situation. Modern "princes", like the princes of Vladimir-Suzdal Russia, are trying to exploit the ignorance and slavish psychology of the people and even cultivate it, not without the help of the same church.

In the late 70s of the XIII century. the period of temporary lull from the Horde troubles in Russia is coming to an end, which can be explained by the ten-year underlined obedience of the Russian princes and the church. The internal needs of the Horde economy, which made a constant profit from the trade of 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 border Russian borders exclusively for the removal of the polonyanniki.
It is significant that not the central khan administration and its military forces are involved in this, but the 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 the place and the time (very short, calculated in weeks) of these military actions.

1277- The 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 Temnik Nogai.
1278 - A similar local raid follows from the Volga region to Ryazan, and it is limited only to this principality.

During the next decade - in the 80s and early 90s of the XIII century. - new processes are taking place in Russian-Horde relations.
The Russian princes, who have gotten used to the new situation in the previous 25-30 years and have essentially been deprived of any control from the side of domestic authorities, begin to settle their petty feudal scores with each other with the help of the Horde military force.
Just like in the XII century. Chernigov and Kiev princes fought with each other, calling Polovtsy to Russia, and the princes of North-Eastern Russia fought in the 80s of the XIII century. with each other for power, relying on the Horde detachments, which they invite to plunder the principalities of their political opponents, i.e., in fact, cold-bloodedly call on foreign troops to devastate the regions 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 at the same time gives Andrew II a 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 the Novgorod land - Koporye. But the Novgorodians, declaring themselves loyal to the Horde, do not allow Dmitry to enter his patrimony and, taking advantage of its location inside the Novgorod lands, force the prince to tear down all its fortifications and, in the end, force Dmitry I to flee from Russia to Sweden, threatening to hand him over to the Tatars.
The Horde army (Kavgadai and Alchegei), under the pretext of persecuting Dmitry I, relying on the permission of Andrei II, passes and devastates several Russian principalities - Vladimir, Tver, Suzdal, Rostov, Murom, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky and their capitals. The Horde reaches Torzhok, practically occupying the entire North-Eastern Russia up 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, which were devastated by the hostilities. This restores the Russian population of the ruined principalities against Andrey II, and his formal "accession" after the flight of Dmitry I does not bring peace.
Dmitry I returns to Pereyaslavl and prepares for revenge, Andrei II leaves for the Horde with a request for help, and his allies - Svyatoslav Yaroslavich Tverskoy, Daniil Alexandrovich Moskovsky and Novgorodians - go to Dmitry I and make peace with him.
1282 - Andrei II comes from the Horde with Tatar regiments led by Turai-Temir and Ali, reaches Pereyaslavl and again expels Dmitry, who this time runs to the Black Sea, to the possession of Temnik Nogai (who at that time was the actual 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 given the responsibility of collecting tribute in Kursk, Lipetsk, Rylsk; Rostov and Murom are again subjected to ruin. The conflict between the two princes (and the allies who joined them) continues throughout the 80s and early 90s.
1285 - Andrew II again goes 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 succeeds in successfully and quickly defeating this detachment.

Thus, the first victory of the Russian troops over the regular Horde troops was won in 1285, and not in 1378, on the river Vozhe, as is usually believed.
It is not surprising that Andrew II in the following years stopped turning to the Horde for help.
At the end of the 80s, the Horde sent small predatory expeditions to Russia themselves:

1287 - Raid to Vladimir.
1288 - The raid on Ryazan and Murom and the Mordovian lands These two raids (short-term) were of a specific, local nature and were aimed at plundering property and capturing the polonyans. They were provoked by the denunciation or complaint of the Russian princes.
1292 - "Dedenev's army" to the Vladimir land Andrei Gorodetsky, together with princes Dmitry Borisovich Rostovsky, Konstantin Borisovich Uglitsky, Mikhail Glebovich Belozersky, Fedor Yaroslavsky and Bishop Tarasiy went to the Horde to complain about Dmitry I Alexandrovich.
Khan Tokhta, after listening to the complainants, dispatched a significant army under the leadership of his brother Tudan (in Russian chronicles - Deden) to conduct a punitive expedition.
"Dedenev's army" passed through all Vladimir Rus, having ruined the capital of Vladimir and 14 more cities: Murom, Suzdal, Gorokhovets, Starodub, Bogolyubov, Yuryev-Polsky, Gorodets, Uglechepole (Uglich), Yaroslavl, Nerekhta, Ksnyatin, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky , Rostov, Dmitrov.
In addition to them, only 7 cities remained untouched by the invasion that lay outside the route of the Tudan troops: Kostroma, Tver, Zubtsov, Moscow, Galich Mersky, Unzha, Nizhny Novgorod.
On the way to Moscow (or near Moscow), Tudan's army was divided into two detachments, one of which went to Kolomna, i.e. to the south, and the other to the west: to Zvenigorod, Mozhaisk, Volokolamsk.
In Volokolamsk, the Horde army received gifts from the Novgorodians, who hastened to bring and present gifts to the khan's brother far from their lands. Tudan did not go to Tver, but returned to Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, made the base where all the loot was taken and the prisoners were concentrated.
This campaign was a significant pogrom of Russia. It is possible that Tudan with his army also passed Klin, Serpukhov, Zvenigorod, not named in the annals. Thus, the area of his operations covered about two dozen cities.
1293 - In winter, a new Horde detachment under the leadership of Toktemir appeared near Tver, which came with punitive purposes at the request of one of the princes to restore order in the feudal strife. He had limited goals, and the chronicles do not describe his route and time spent on Russian territory.
In any case, the whole of 1293 passed under the sign of another Horde pogrom, the cause of which was exclusively the feudal rivalry of the princes. They were the ones the main reason Horde repressions that fell on the Russian people.

1294-1315 biennium Two decades pass without any Horde invasions.
The princes regularly pay tribute, the people, frightened and impoverished from previous robberies, slowly heal economic and human losses. Only the accession to the throne of the extremely powerful and active Khan Uzbek opens a new period of pressure on Russia
The main idea of Uzbek is to achieve complete disunity of the Russian princes and their transformation into continuously warring groups. Hence his plan - the transfer of the great reign to the weakest and most non-military prince - Moscow (under Khan Uzbek, the Moscow prince was Yuri Danilovich, who challenged the great reign with Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver) and the weakening of the previous 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 from the Horde, special commissioners-ambassadors, accompanied by military detachments of 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. in 12 years, Uzbek has sent 9 military "embassies". Their functions were not diplomatic, but military-punitive (police) and partly military-political (pressure on the princes).

1315 - "Ambassadors" of Uzbek accompany the Grand Duke Mikhail of Tver (see the Table of Ambassadors), and their detachments rob Rostov and Torzhok, near which they defeat the detachments of Novgorodians.
1317 - Horde punitive detachments accompany Yuri of Moscow and rob Kostroma, and then try to rob Tver, but suffer a severe defeat.
1319 - The robbery of Kostroma and Rostov is committed again.
1320 - Rostov falls victim to a robbery for the third time, but Vladimir is mostly ruined.
1321 - Tribute is knocked out of Kashin and the Kashin principality.
1322 - Yaroslavl and the cities of the Nizhny Novgorod principality are subjected to a punitive action to collect tribute.
1327 "Shchelkanov's Host" - The Novgorodians, frightened by the Horde's activity, "voluntarily" pay the Horde a tribute of 2000 rubles in silver.
The famous attack of the Chelkan (Cholpan) detachment on Tver, known in the annals as the "Shchelkanov invasion" or "Shchelkanov army", took place. It provokes an unprecedentedly decisive uprising of the townspeople and the destruction of the "ambassador" and his detachment. Himself "Shchelkan" 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. a whole army, which the chronicle defines as a "great army". In the devastation of Tver, along with the 50-thousandth Horde army, Moscow princely detachments also participate.

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

A new phenomenon in the period from 1360 to 1375 is the retaliatory raids, or more precisely, the campaigns of the Russian armed detachments in the peripheral lands, dependent on the Horde, bordering with Russia, mainly in the Bulgars.

1347 - A raid is made on Aleksin, a border town on the Moscow-Horde border along the Oka
1360 - The Novgorod ushkuyniks make the first raid on the town of Zhukotin.
1365 - The Horde prince Tagai raided the Ryazan principality.
1367 - Detachments of Prince Temir-Bulat invade the principality of Nizhny Novgorod with a raid, especially intensively in the border strip along the Pyana river.
1370 - A new Horde raid follows on the Ryazan principality in the area of the Moscow-Ryazan border. But through the Oka the Horde people were not allowed to stand there by the guard regiments of Prince Dmitry IV Ivanovich. And the Horde, in turn, noticing resistance, did not seek to overcome it and limited themselves to reconnaissance.
Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich of Nizhegorodsky makes an invasion raid on the lands of the "parallel" khan of Bulgaria - Bulat-Temir;
1374 Anti-Horde uprising in Novgorod - The occasion was the arrival of the Horde ambassadors, accompanied by a large armed retinue of 1000 people. This is common for the beginning of the XIV century. the escort was, however, regarded in the last quarter of the same century as a dangerous threat and provoked an armed attack by Novgorodians on the "embassy", during which both the "ambassadors" and their guards were completely destroyed.
A new raid of the Ushkuyniks, who rob not only the Bulgar city, but are not afraid to penetrate as far as Astrakhan.
1375 - Horde raid on the city of Kashin, short and local.
1376 2nd campaign against the Bulgars - The United Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod army prepared and carried out the 2nd campaign against the Bulgars, and took from the city an indemnity of 5000 rubles in silver. This attack by the Russians on the territory dependent on the Horde, unheard of in 130 years of Russian-Horde relations, naturally triggers a retaliatory military action.
1377 Massacre on the Pyane River - On the border Russian-Horde territory, on the Pyane River, where the Nizhny Novgorod princes were preparing a new raid on the Mordovian lands lying beyond the river, dependent on the Horde, they were attacked by a detachment of Tsarevich 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, Pereyaslavsky, Yaroslavsky, Yurievsky, Murom and Nizhny Novgorod was completely killed, and the "commander-in-chief" himself, Prince Ivan Dmitrievich of Nizhny Novgorod, drowned in the river, trying to escape, together with his personal squad and his "headquarters" ... This defeat of the Russian army was due to a large extent to its loss of vigilance due to many days of drunkenness.
Having destroyed the Russian army, the detachments of Tsarevich Arapsha raided the capitals of the hapless warrior princes - Nizhny Novgorod, Murom and Ryazan - and subjected them to complete looting and burning to the ground.
1378 Battle on the river Vozha - In the XIII century. after such a defeat, the Russians usually lost any desire to resist the Horde troops for 10-20 years, but at the end of the XIV century. the setting has completely changed:
Already in 1378, the ally of the princes defeated in the battle on the Pyane River, the Moscow Grand Duke Dmitry IV Ivanovich, having learned that the Horde troops who had burned Nizhny Novgorod intend to march to Moscow under the command of Murza Begich, decided to meet them on the border of his principality on the Oka River 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 Daniel Pronsky and the okolnichy Timofey Vasilyevich attacked the Tatars from the flanks, in a girth. The Horde were utterly defeated and fled across the river Vozhu, having lost many killed and carts, which the Russian troops captured the next day, rushing to pursue the Tatars.
The battle on the River Vozha had great 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 accidental and improvised, like all previous military clashes between the Russian and Horde troops.
1382 Tokhtamysh's invasion of Moscow - The defeat of Mamai's troops on the Kulikovo field and his flight to Kafa and death in 1381 allowed the energetic Khan Tokhtamysh to end the Temniks' rule in the Horde and reunite it into a single state, eliminating the "parallel khans" in the regions.
Tokhtamysh identified the restoration of the military and foreign policy prestige of the Horde and the preparation of a revanchist campaign against Moscow as his main military-political task.

Results of Tokhtamysh's campaign:
Returning to Moscow in early September 1382, Dmitry Donskoy saw the ashes and ordered to immediately restore the devastated Moscow 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 after two years:
1. The tribute was not only restored, but actually doubled, for the population decreased, but the size of the tribute remained the same. In addition, the people had to pay the Grand Duke a special extraordinary tax to replenish the princely treasury taken away by the Horde.
2. Politically, vassal dependence has increased sharply, even formally. In 1384, Dmitry Donskoy was forced to send his son, heir to the throne, the future Grand Duke Vasily II Dmitrievich, who was 12 years old, to the Horde for the first time (According to the generally accepted account, this is Vasily I. V.V. Pokhlebkin, apparently, considers 1 -m Vasily Yaroslavich Kostromsky). Relations with the neighbors - the Tver, Suzdal, Ryazan principalities, which were specially supported by the Horde to create a political and military counterbalance to Moscow, became aggravated.

The situation was really difficult, in 1383 Dmitry Donskoy had to "compete" in the Horde for the great reign, to which Mikhail Alexandrovich Tverskoy again presented his claims. The reign was left to Dmitry, but his son Vasily was taken hostage to the Horde. The "fierce" ambassador Adash (1383, see "Golden Horde Ambassadors in Russia") appeared in Vladimir. In 1384, he had to collect a heavy tribute (half a dollar from the village) from all over the Russian land, and from Novgorod - a black forest. Novgorodians opened robberies along the Volga and Kama and refused to pay tribute. In 1385, he had 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, Russia was actually thrown back into the position of 1313, during the reign of Khan Uzbek, i.e. practically the achievements of the Battle of Kulikovo were completely erased. Both politically and economically, the Moscow principality was thrown back 75-100 years ago. The prospects for relations with the Horde, therefore, were extremely grim for Moscow and Russia as a whole. It could be assumed that the Horde yoke would be fixed forever (well, nothing is eternal!), If a new historical accident did not occur:
The period of the Horde's wars with the empire of Tamerlane and the complete defeat of the Horde during these two wars, the disruption of all economic, administrative, and political life in the Horde, the death of the Horde army, the devastation of both of its capitals - Sarai I and Sarai II, the beginning of a new turmoil, the struggle for the power of several khans in the period from 1391-1396. - all this led to an unparalleled weakening of the Horde in all spheres and made it necessary for the Horde khans to focus on the turn in the XIV century. and XV century. exclusively on internal problems, temporarily neglect external ones and, in particular, weaken control over Russia.
It was this unexpected situation that helped the Moscow principality to get a significant respite and restore its strength - economic, military and political.

Here, perhaps, we should interrupt 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 by an unexpectedly happened happy accident. Without going into details, we note that by the beginning of the 90s of the XIV century. Moscow has somehow solved the economic and political problems that have arisen. The Moscow-Lithuanian treaty concluded in 1384 removed the Tver principality from under the influence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and Mikhail Alexandrovich of 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, Dmitry Donskoy reconciled with Oleg Ivanovich Ryazansky, which in 1387 was sealed by the marriage of their children (Fedor Olegovich and Sofia Dmitrievna). In the same 1386, Dmitry succeeded in restoring his influence there with a large military demonstration under the Novgorod walls, taking 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 "into his will" by force, forced to recognize the political seniority of his eldest son Vasily. Dmitry managed to make up on this with Vladimir two months before his death (1389). In his spiritual testament, Dmitry blessed (for the first time) his eldest son Vasily "with his father's great reign". And finally, in the summer of 1390, the wedding of Vasily and Sophia, the daughter of the Lithuanian prince Vitovt, took place in a solemn atmosphere. V Eastern Europe Vasily I Dmitrievich and Cyprian, who became Metropolitan on October 1, 1389, are trying to prevent the consolidation of the Lithuanian-Polish dynastic union and replace the Polish-Catholic colonization of the Lithuanian and Russian lands with the consolidation of Russian forces around Moscow. An alliance with Vitovt, 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 lasting, since Vitovt, naturally, had his own goals and his own vision of around which center the gathering of Russians should take place. lands.
A new stage in the history of the Golden Horde coincided with the death of Dmitry. It was then that Tokhtamysh came out of reconciliation with Tamerlane and began to claim the territories under his control. The confrontation began. Under these conditions, Tokhtamysh, immediately after the death of Dmitry Donskoy, issued a label for the reign of Vladimirskoe to his son, Vasily I, and strengthened it by transferring to him the principality of Nizhny Novgorod and a number of cities. In 1395, Tamerlane's troops defeated Tokhtamysh on the Terek River.

At the same time, Tamerlane, having destroyed the power of the Horde, did not carry out his campaign against Russia. Having reached Yelets without fighting and robbery, he suddenly turned back and returned to Central Asia. Thus, the actions of Tamerlane at the end of the XIV century. became a historical factor that helped Russia survive in the fight against the Horde.

1405 - In 1405, based on the situation in the Horde, the Grand Duke of Moscow officially announced for the first time that he refused to pay tribute to the Horde. During 1405-1407. The Horde did not react in any way to this demarche, but then Edigei's campaign against Moscow followed.
Only 13 years after Tokhtamysh's campaign (Apparently, there is a typo in the book - 13 years have passed since Tamerlane's campaign) the Horde authorities could again recall the vassal dependence of Moscow and gather forces for a new campaign to restore the flow of tribute, which had been stopped since 1395.
1408 Yedigei's campaign to Moscow - December 1, 1408, a huge army of the temnik Edigei approached Moscow along a winter sled route and laid siege to the Kremlin.
On the Russian side, the situation was repeated to the details during Tokhtamysh's campaign in 1382.
1. Grand Duke Vasily II Dmitrievich, hearing about the danger, like his father, fled to Kostroma (supposedly to collect an army).
2. In Moscow, Vladimir Andreevich the Brave, Prince Serpukhovsky, a participant in the Battle of Kulikovo, remained for the head of the garrison.
3. The posad of Moscow was once again burned out, i. E. all wooden Moscow around the Kremlin, 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 soldier.
5. The memory of the invasion of Tokhtamysh was still so fresh among the Muscovites that it was decided to fulfill any demands of Edigei, so that only he would leave without hostilities.
6. Edigei demanded to collect 3000 rubles in two weeks. silver, which was done. In addition, the troops of Edigei, scattered throughout the principality and its cities, began to collect polonyanniks for captivity (several tens of thousands of people). Some cities were badly devastated, for example, Mozhaisk was completely burnt down.
7. On December 20, 1408, having received everything that was required, the army of Edigei left Moscow, without being attacked or pursued by the Russian forces.
8. The damage inflicted by Edigei's campaign was less than the damage from the invasion of Tokhtamysh, but it also laid a heavy burden on the shoulders of the population
The restoration of Moscow's tributary dependence on the Horde lasted from then on for almost another 60 years (until 1474).
1412 - Payment of tribute to the Horde becomes regular. To ensure this regularity, the Horde forces from time to time made eerily-reminiscent raids on Russia.
1415 - The destruction of the Elets (border, buffer) land by the Horde.
1427 - Horde troops raid on Ryazan.
1428 - The raid of the Horde troops on the Kostroma lands - Galich Mersky, the ruin and robbery of Kostroma, Plyos and Lukh.
1437 - Battle of Belevskaya Ulu-Muhammad's campaign to the Zaoksky lands. Belevskaya battle on December 5, 1437 (defeat of the Moscow army) because of the unwillingness of the Yuryevich brothers - Shemyaka and Krasny - to allow the army of Ulu-Muhammad to settle in Belev and make peace. As a result of the betrayal of the Lithuanian governor of Mtsensk Grigory Protasyev, who went over to the side of the Tatars, Ulu-Muhammad won the Belevsk battle, after which he went east, to Kazan, where he founded the Kazan Khanate.

Actually, from that moment on, a long struggle between the Russian state and the Kazan Khanate begins, which Russia had to wage in parallel with the heiress of the Golden Horde - the Great Horde and which only Ivan IV the Terrible managed to complete. The first trip of the Kazan Tatars to 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, humiliating peace and ultimately the blinding of Vasily II. Further, the raids of the Kazan Tatars to Russia and the Russian retaliatory actions (1461, 1467-1469, 1478) are not indicated in the table, but they should be borne in mind (see "Kazan Khanate");
1451 - Campaign of Makhmut, son of Kichi-Muhammad, to Moscow. He burned down the townships, but the Kremlin did not take it.
1462 - Ivan III stopped issuing Russian coins with the name of the Horde Khan. Ivan III's statement about the rejection of the khan's label for the great reign.
1468 - Campaign of Khan Akhmat to Ryazan
1471 - Hike of the Horde to the Moscow borders in the Zaoksky strip
1472 - The Horde army approached the city of Aleksin, but did not cross the Oka. The Russian army set out for Kolomna. There was no 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 risk it.
1474 - Khan Akhmat again approaches the Zaokskaya region, on the border with the Moscow Grand Duchy. A peace, or, more precisely, an armistice, is concluded on the basis of payment by the Moscow prince of an indemnity of 140 thousand altyns in two terms: in the spring - 80 thousand, in the fall - 60 thousand. Ivan III again avoids a military clash.
1480 Great standing on the river Ugra - Akhmat demands that Ivan III pay tribute for 7 years, during which Moscow stopped paying it. Goes on a campaign to Moscow. Ivan III sets out with an army to meet the khan.

We end the history of Russian-Horde relations formally in 1481 as the date of death of the last khan of the Horde - Akhmat, who was killed a year after the Great Standing on the Ugra, since the Horde really ceased to exist as a state 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, on the former territory of the Golden Horde, new Tatar states were formed, much smaller in size, but controlled and relatively consolidated. Of course, the practically disappearance of a huge empire could not be accomplished overnight and it could not "evaporate" completely without a trace.
People, peoples, the population of the Horde continued to live their former life and, sensing that catastrophic changes had taken place, nevertheless did not realize them as a complete collapse, as an absolute disappearance from the face of the earth of their former state.
In fact, the process of the collapse of the Horde, especially at the lowest 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, manifested themselves quite quickly and quite clearly, distinctly. The liquidation of the gigantic empire that controlled and influenced events from Siberia to Balakan and from Egypt to the Middle Urals for two and a half centuries led to complete change the international situation not only in this space, but also radically changed the general international position of the Russian state and its military-political plans and actions in relations with the East as a whole.
Moscow was able to quickly, within one decade, radically restructure the strategy and tactics of its eastern foreign policy.
The statement seems to me too categorical: it should be borne in mind that the process of crushing the Golden Horde was not an instantaneous act, but took place throughout the 15th century. The policy of the Russian state also 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 to Moscow (1439, 1444-1445) Kazan began to experience more and more stubborn 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 campaigns in 1461, 1467-1469, 1478. ).
First, an active, offensive line was chosen against both rudiments and quite viable heirs of the Horde. The Russian tsars decided not to let them come to their senses, to finish off the already half-defeated enemy, and not at all to rest on the laurels of the victors.
Secondly, inciting one Tatar grouping against another was used as a new tactical technique that gives the most useful military-political effect. Significant Tatar formations began to be included in the Russian armed forces to deliver joint strikes against other Tatar military formations, and primarily against the remnants of the Horde.
So, in 1485, 1487 and 1491. Ivan III sent military detachments to strike at the troops of the Great Horde, who were attacking Moscow's ally at that time - the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey.
Particularly indicative in the military-political sense was the so-called. spring campaign in 1491 in the "Wild Field" in converging directions.

1491 Hike to the "Wild Field" - 1. The Horde khans Seid-Akhmet and Shig-Akhmet in May 1491 laid siege to Crimea. 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 went to the Crimea so that they had to approach from three sides in converging directions to the rear of the Horde troops in order to pinch them in pincers, while the troops of Mengli-Girey would attack them from the front.
3. In addition, on June 3 and 8, 1491, the Allies were mobilized to strike from the flanks. These were again both Russian and Tatar troops:
a) Kazan Khan Mohammed-Emin and his governors Abash-Ulan and Burash-Seid;
b) Brothers of Ivan III, appanage princes Andrei Vasilievich Bolshoi and Boris Vasilievich with their detachments.

Another new tactical technique introduced since the 90s of the 15th century. Ivan III, in his military policy regarding the Tatar attacks, is a systematic organization of the pursuit of the Tatar raids that have invaded Russia, which has never been done before.

1492 - The chase of the troops of two governors - Fyodor Koltovsky and Goryain Sidorov - and their battle with the Tatars in the interfluve of Bystraya Sosna and Trudy;
1499 - The chase after the Tatars' raid on Kozelsk, which recaptured from the enemy all the "full" and cattle that he had taken away;
1500 (summer) - Army of Khan Shig-Ahmed (Big Horde) of 20 thousand people. got up at the mouth of the Tikhaya Sosna River, but did not dare to go further towards the Moscow border;
1500 (autumn) - New hike the even more numerous army of Shig-Akhmed, but further from the Zaokskaya side, i.e. the territory of the north of the Oryol region, it did not dare to go;
1501 - On August 30, the 20-thousandth army of the Great Horde began the devastation of the Kursk land, approaching Rylsk, and by November it reached the Bryansk and Novgorod-Seversky lands. The Tatars captured the city of Novgorod-Seversky, but further, to the Moscow lands, and this army of the Great Horde did not go.

In 1501, a coalition of Lithuania, Livonia and the Great Horde was formed, directed against the alliance of Moscow, Kazan and Crimea. This campaign was part of the war between Muscovy Rus and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for the Verkhovsk principalities (1500-1503). It is wrong to talk about the seizure of the Novgorod-Seversky lands by the Tatars, which were part of their ally - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and were captured by Moscow in 1500. By the armistice of 1503, almost all of these lands were transferred to Moscow.
1502 Liquidation of the Great Horde - The Army of the Great Horde was left to spend the 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 drive out the troops of Shig-Akhmed from this territory. Mengli-Girey fulfilled this request by inflicting a strong blow on the Great Horde in February 1502.
In May 1502 Mengli-Girey inflicted a second defeat on the troops of Shig-Akhmed at the mouth of the Sula River, where they migrated to spring pastures. This battle actually put an end to the remnants of the Great Horde.

So Ivan III made short work at the beginning of the 16th century. with the Tatar states by the hands of the Tatars themselves.
Thus, from the beginning of the XVI century. the last remnants of the Golden Horde have 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 - "heirs" of the Golden Horde.
This was the main historical meaning, the main historical meaning liberation of Russia from the Horde dependence.
For the Muscovite state, vassal relations ceased, it became a sovereign state, a subject of international relations. This completely changed his position both among the Russian lands and in Europe as a whole.
Until then, for 250 years, the Grand Duke received labels only unilaterally from the Horde khans, i.e. permission to own his own fiefdom (principality), or, in other words, the khan's consent to continue trusting his tenant and vassal, to the fact that he will not be temporarily moved from this post, if he fulfills a number of conditions: pay tribute, conduct a loyal khan politics, send "gifts", participate, if necessary, in military activities of the Horde.
With the collapse of the Horde and with the emergence of new khanates on its ruins - Kazan, Astrakhan, Crimean, Siberian - a completely new situation arose: the institution of vassal subordination of Russia disappeared and ceased. This was expressed in the fact that all relations with the new Tatar states began to take place on a bilateral basis. Began the conclusion of bilateral treaties on political issues, at the end of wars and at the conclusion of peace. And this was the main and important change.
Outwardly, especially in the first decades, there were no noticeable changes in 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 preserve the old forms of relations with the Grand Duchy of Moscow, i.e. sometimes, like the Horde, they organized campaigns against Moscow right up to the walls of the Kremlin, resorted to devastating raids after the polonyanniki, stole cattle and plundered the property of the Grand Duke's subjects, demanded that he pay an indemnity, etc. etc.
But after the end of hostilities, the parties began to summarize the legal results - i.e. record their victories and defeats in bilateral documents, conclude peace or truce agreements, sign written commitments. And it was this that significantly changed their true relationship, led to the fact that in fact, the entire relationship of the forces of both sides changed significantly.
That is why it became possible for the Muscovite state to purposefully work to change this balance of forces in its favor and to eventually 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.
VVPokhlebkin "Tatars and Russia. 360 years of relations in 1238-1598." (M. "International Relations" 2000).
Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary. Publishing house 4th, M. 1987.

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

According to Russian chronicles, these nomads were called "Tatars" in Russia after the name of the most active and active tribe of the Otuz-Tatars. It became known from the time of the conquest of Beijing in 1217, and the Chinese began to call by this name all the tribes of the occupiers who came from the Mongolian steppes. Under the name "Tatars", the invaders entered the Russian chronicles as a generalizing concept for all eastern nomads who devastated the Russian lands.

The beginning of the yoke was laid during the years of the conquest of Russian territories (the Battle of Kalka in 1223, the conquest of north-eastern Russia 1237-1238, the invasion of southern Russia in 1240 and south-western Russia in 1242). It was accompanied by the destruction of 49 out of 74 Russian cities, which was a heavy blow to the foundations of Russian urban culture - handicraft production. The yoke led to the elimination of numerous monuments of material and spiritual culture, the destruction stone buildings, arson of monastery and church libraries.

The date of the formal establishment of the yoke is 1243, when the father of Alexander Nevsky is the last son of Vsevolod the Big Nest, Prince. Yaroslav Vsevolodovich accepted from the conquerors a label (certifying document) for the great reign in the Vladimir land, in which he was called "the eldest of all other princes in the Russian land." At the same time, the Russian principalities, defeated by the Mongol-Tatar troops a few years earlier, were not considered directly included in the empire of the conquerors, which received the name of the Golden Horde in the 1260s. They remained politically autonomous, retained the local princely administration, whose activities were controlled by permanent or regular representatives of the Horde (Baskaks). Russian princes were considered tributaries of the Horde khans, but if they received labels from the khans, they remained officially recognized rulers of their lands. Both systems - tributaries (the collection of tribute by the Horde - "exit" or, later, "yasak") and the issuance of labels - consolidated the political fragmentation of the Russian lands, increased rivalry between the princes, contributed to the weakening of ties between the northeastern and northwestern principalities and lands with the southern and southwestern Russia, which became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland.

The Horde did not keep a permanent army on the conquered Russian territory. The yoke was supported by the direction of punitive detachments and troops, as well as by repressions against the disobedient rulers who resisted the administration of administrative measures conceived at the headquarters of the khan. Thus, in Russia, in the 1250s, a general census of the population of the Russian lands by the Baskaks-"censors", and later - the establishment of submarine and military duties, aroused particular discontent. One of the ways of influencing the Russian princes was the system of hostages, leaving one of the princes' relatives in the khan's headquarters, in the city of Sarai on the Volga. At the same time, the relatives of obedient rulers were encouraged and released, the obstinate were killed.

The Horde encouraged the loyalty of those princes who compromised with the conquerors. So, for Alexander Nevsky's willingness to pay "exit", (tribute) to the Tatars, he not only received the support of the Tatar cavalry in the battle with the German knights on Lake Peipsi in 1242, but also ensured that his father, Yaroslav, received the first label for the great reign. In 1259, during a rebellion against the "census" in Novgorod, Alexander Nevsky ensured the census and even gave guards ("watchmen") for the Baskaks so that they would not be torn apart by the rebellious townspeople. For the support provided to him, Khan Berke renounced the violent Islamization of the conquered Russian territories. Moreover, the Russian Church was exempted from paying tribute ("exit").

When the first, most difficult time of the introduction of the khan's power into Russian life passed, and the top of Russian society (princes, boyars, merchants, church) found a common language with the new government, the whole burden of paying tribute to the united forces of conquerors and old masters fell on the people. The waves of popular uprisings, described by the chronicler, constantly rose for almost half a century, starting from 1257-1259, the first attempt at an all-Russian census. Its implementation was entrusted to Kitata, a relative of the great khan. Rebellions against the Baskaks repeatedly arose everywhere: in the 1260s in Rostov, in 1275 - in the southern Russian lands, in the 1280s - in Yaroslavl, Suzdal, Vladimir, Murom, in 1293 and again, in 1327, in Tver. The elimination of the Basque system after the participation of the troops of the Moscow Prince. Ivan Danilovich Kalita in the suppression of the Tver uprising of 1327 (since that time, the collection of tribute from the population was entrusted, in order to avoid new conflicts, to the Russian princes and their subordinate tax farmers) did not stop paying tribute as such. Temporary exemption from them was obtained only after the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, but already in 1382 the payment of tribute was restored.

The first prince who received the great reign without the ill-fated "label", on the basis of the rights of his "fatherland", was the son of the winner of the Horde in the Battle of Kulikovo, v. Kn. Vasily I Dmitrievich. "Exit" to the Horde began to be paid irregularly under him, and Khan Edigei's attempt to restore the former order of things by capturing Moscow (1408) failed. Although during the feudal war of the middle of the 15th century. Horde and made a number of new devastating invasions of Russia (1439, 1445, 1448, 1450, 1451, 1455, 1459), but they could no longer restore their dominion over. The political unification of the Russian lands around Moscow under Ivan III Vasilievich created the conditions for the complete elimination of the yoke, in 1476 he refused to pay tribute at all. In 1480, after the unsuccessful campaign of the Khan of the Great Horde Akhmat ("Standing on the Ugra" in 1480), the yoke was finally overthrown.

Modern researchers differ significantly in their assessments of the Horde's rule over the Russian lands for more than 240 years. The very designation of this period as "yoke" in relation to Russian and Slavic history in general was introduced by the Polish chronicler Dlugosh in 1479 and has since become firmly entrenched in Western European historiography. In Russian science, this term was first used by N.M. Karamzin (1766-1826), who believed that it was precisely the yoke that held back the development of Russia in comparison with Western Europe: “The shade of the barbarians, darkening the horizon of Russia, hid Europe from us at the same time, when beneficial information and skills more and more multiplied in her. " The same opinion about the yoke as a restraining factor in the development and formation of all-Russian statehood, the strengthening of Eastern despotic tendencies in it was also shared by S.M. Soloviev and V.O. Klyuchevsky, who noted that the consequences of the yoke were the ruin of the country, a long lag behind Western Europe, irreversible changes in cultural and socio-psychological processes. This approach to assessing the Horde yoke also prevailed in Soviet historiography (A.N. Nasonov, V.V. Kargalov).

Scattered and rare attempts to revise the established point of view met with resistance. The works of historians who worked in the West (primarily G.V. Vernadsky, who saw a complex symbiosis in the relationship between the Russian lands and the Horde, from which each nation gained something) were criticized. The concept of the famous Russian Turkologist L.N. Gumilyov, who tried to destroy the myth that nomadic peoples brought Russia only suffering and were only robbers and destroyers of material and spiritual values, was also hushed up. He believed that the nomadic tribes who invaded Russia from the East were able to establish a special administrative order that ensured the political autonomy of the Russian principalities, saved their religious identity (Orthodoxy) and thereby laid the foundations of religious tolerance and the Eurasian essence of Russia. Gumilev argued that the result of the conquests of Russia at the beginning of the 13th century. it was not a yoke, but a kind of alliance with the Horde, the recognition of the supreme power of the khan by the Russian princes. At the same time, the rulers of the neighboring principalities (Minsk, Polotsk, Kiev, Galich, Volyn), who did not want to recognize this power, turned out to be conquered by the Lithuanians or Poles, became part of their states and underwent centuries of Catholicization. It was Gumilev who first pointed out that the ancient Russian name of nomads from the East (among whom the Mongols predominated) - "Tatarov" - cannot offend the national feelings of the modern Volga (Kazan) Tatars living on the territory of Tatarstan. Their ethnos, he believed, was not historically responsible for the actions of nomadic tribes from the steppes of southeastern Asia, since the ancestors of the Kazan Tatars were the Kama Bulgars, Kipchaks and partly the ancient Slavs. The history of the appearance of the "myth of the yoke" Gumilev connected with the activities of the creators of the Norman theory - German historians who served in the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences of the 18th century, and distorted real facts.

In post-Soviet historiography, the question of the existence of the yoke is still controversial. As a result of the growth in the number of supporters of the Gumilyov concept, appeals to the President of the Russian Federation in 2000 to cancel the celebration of the anniversary of the Battle of Kulikovo became, since, according to the authors of the appeals, “there was no yoke in Russia”. According to these researchers, supported by the authorities of Tatarstan and Kazakhstan, the united Russian-Tatar troops fought in the Battle of Kulikovo with the usurper of power in the Horde, Temnik Mamai, who proclaimed himself a khan and gathered under his banners mercenary Genoese, Alans (Ossetians), Kasogs (Circassians) and Polovtsy.

Despite the controversial nature of all these statements, the fact of a significant mutual influence of the cultures of peoples who have lived in close political, social and demographic contacts for almost three centuries is indisputable.

Lev Pushkarev, Natalia Pushkareva