Golden Horde - one of the saddest pages in Russian history. Some time after the victory in Battle of Kalka, the Mongols began to prepare a new invasion of Russian lands, having studied the tactics and characteristics of the future enemy.
Golden Horde.
The Golden Horde (Ulus Juni) was formed in 1224 as a result of the division Mongol Empire Genghis Khan between his sons to the western and eastern parts. The Golden Horde became the western part of the empire from 1224 to 1266. Under the new khan, Mengu-Timur became virtually (although not formally) independent from the Mongol Empire.
Like many states of that era, in the 15th century it experienced feudal fragmentation and as a result (and there were a lot of enemies offended by the Mongols) by the 16th century it finally ceased to exist.
In the 14th century, Islam became the state religion of the Mongol Empire. It is noteworthy that in the territories under their control the Horde khans (including in Rus') did not particularly impose their religion. The concept of “Golden” became established among the Horde only in the 16th century because of the golden tents of its khans.
Tatar-Mongol yoke.
Tataro- Mongol yoke , just like Mongol-Tatar yoke, - not entirely true from a historical point of view. Genghis Khan considered the Tatars his main enemies, and destroyed most of them (almost all) tribes, while the rest submitted to the Mongol Empire. The number of Tatars in the Mongol troops was scanty, but due to the fact that the empire occupied all former lands Tatars, the troops of Genghis Khan began to be called Tatar-Mongolian or Mongol-Tatar conquerors. In reality, it was about Mongol yoke.
So, the Mongolian, or Horde, yoke is a system of political dependence Ancient Rus' from the Mongol Empire, and a little later from the Golden Horde, as a separate state. The complete elimination of the Mongol yoke occurred only at the beginning of the 15th century, although the actual one was somewhat earlier.
Mongol invasion began after the death of Genghis Khan Batu Khan(or Khan Batu) in 1237. The main Mongol troops converged on the territories near present-day Voronezh, which had previously been controlled by the Volga Bulgars until they were almost destroyed by the Mongols.
In 1237, the Golden Horde captured Ryazan and destroyed the entire Ryazan principality, including small villages and towns.
In January-March 1238, the same fate befell the Vladimir-Suzdal principality and Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. The last to be taken were Tver and Torzhok. There was a threat of taking the Novgorod principality, but after the capture of Torzhok on March 5, 1238, less than 100 km from Novgorod, the Mongols turned around and returned to the steppes.
Until the end of 38, the Mongols only made periodic raids, and in 1239 they moved to Southern Rus' and took Chernigov on October 18, 1239. Putivl (the scene of “Yaroslavna’s Lament”), Glukhov, Rylsk and other cities on the territory of what is now Sumy, Kharkov and Belgorod regions were destroyed.
In the same year Ögedey(the next ruler of the Mongol Empire after Genghis Khan) sent additional troops to Batu from Transcaucasia and in the fall of 1240 Batu Khan besieged Kyiv, having previously plundered all the surrounding lands. The Kyiv, Volyn and Galician principalities at that time were ruled by Danila Galitsky, son of Roman Mstislavovich, who at that moment was in Hungary, unsuccessfully trying to conclude an alliance with the Hungarian king. Perhaps later, the Hungarians regretted their refusal to Prince Danil, when Batu's Horde captured all of Poland and Hungary. Kyiv was taken by early December 1240 after several weeks of siege. The Mongols began to control most of Rus', including even those areas (on an economic and political level) that they did not capture.
Kyiv, Vladimir, Suzdal, Tver, Chernigov, Ryazan, Pereyaslavl and many other cities were completely or partially destroyed.
An economic and cultural decline set in in Rus' - this explains the almost complete absence of chronicles of contemporaries, and as a result - a lack of information for today's historians.
For some time, the Mongols were distracted from Rus' due to raids and invasions of Polish, Lithuanian, Hungarian and other European lands.
Horde rule in Rus'. Novgorod the Great and Pskov, like most other Russian lands, fell into vassalage from the ulus of Jochi (Golden Horde, as it was called in Rus') - one of the four uluses, which in the middle of the 13th century. The huge Mongol empire collapsed.
After the death of Yuri Vsevolodovich, his brother Yaroslav became the Grand Duke of Vladimir. At the request of Batu, he appeared in 1243 in Sarai-Batu. Prince accepted "with great honor", received, by the will of the khan, a label for the great reign of Vladimir. Batu and his successors exercised power in Rus' not directly themselves, but through vassals - Russian princes. At the same time, the khans constantly pitted the princes against each other, jealously monitored their policies, not allowing anyone to become excessively stronger. Prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich of Chernigov, not inclined to submission, was killed in the Horde. Another prince, the proud Daniil of Galitsky, also summoned to Batu, was forced to become his vassal. All princes were confirmed on the thrones in Golden Horde . The princes were given labels - khan's letters, confirming their appointment.
Yaroslav Vsevolodovich did not escape an evil fate - he was poisoned in Karakorum in 1246. The sons of the deceased - Alexander and Andrei - were also summoned there. However, the brothers, fearing that they would be treated the same way as their father, were in no hurry. Meanwhile, the Golden Horde appointed a successor to the Russian grand-ducal table - Svyatoslav, brother of Yaroslav. Finally, Alexander and Andrei Yaroslavich arrived in Karakorum (1247). Andrei Yaroslavich was appointed Grand Duke of Vladimir there, and Alexander received the title of Grand Duke of Kyiv, which no longer meant anything. Thus, the conquerors obviously wanted to quarrel between the brothers. Only five years later, in 1252, Alexander became "oldest" in Rus', but "out of hand" Batu.
Power over Russia Horde supported through constant terror. In the Russian principalities and cities, Horde detachments were located led by the Baskaks - representatives of the khan, whose task was to maintain order, obedience of the princes and their subjects, and most importantly - to monitor the proper collection and receipt of tribute from Rus' to the Horde, "Horde exit", which chronicles and legends mention with bitterness and pain.
For the purpose of accounting for tribute payers, their "counted as a number", i.e., they conducted a population census. It started back in the mid-40s. V ; Some Russians had to pay tribute in kind - animal skins, others were sold into slavery. In 1257 the Horde "numerals" They recorded the population in the Ryazan lands. People were divided into tens and hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands. This made it easier for the Horde to impose taxes and all sorts of extortions on the peoples of the conquered countries, to calculate the flow of money and soldiers into the Horde army - the khans, among other things, “they drove people away, told them to fight with them”.
The khans exempted only the clergy from taxes. They understood that priests have considerable influence, and gave the hierarchs of the Russian church labels (letters) for benefits in taxes and duties. Alexander Nevsky and Metropolitan of All Rus' Kirill achieved the formation of a Russian bishopric in Sarai. It served the religious needs of the Russian people, many of whom had accumulated in the Horde. Church lands were protected by khan's officials, but during raids they were often destroyed.
Not only tribute was taken from the residents, but also other taxes: plow (to give from the plow), yam (collection to support the yam chase - postal service), "feed", collected carts, warriors, and artisans.
Uprisings in Rus'. Horde "rati". In 1257, news that came from Suzdal Rus' excited the Novgorodians: they learned that the Horde had begun a census of the inhabitants there. Soon appeared "numerals" and in Novgorod. Unrest and uprisings began here. Their participants dealt with the mayor Mikhail Stepanovich. Censuses were especially actively opposed "lesser people"; " big people» - boyars and other rich people - were inclined to obey the Horde.
We arrived in Novgorod Grand Duke Vladimirsky Alexander Nevsky and the Horde ambassadors. Alexander's young son Vasily, who was then a prince in Novgorod, was on the side of the Novgorodians and did not agree with his father; as a sign of protest, he left for Pskov. My father understood that he could not challenge the Horde of Rus'. Reprisals against the rebels followed: some had their noses cut off, others had their eyes gouged out. Alexander Yaroslavich ordered his son to leave Pskov, and he did not contradict his father, returning to the Vladimir-Suzdal lands. Under the threat of the appearance of Horde troops, the Novgorodians surrendered.
In the winter of 1259, “numerals” from the Horde appeared in Novgorod, accompanied by Nevsky and other Russian princes. They got down to business. The Novgorodians again “doubled” - they were divided in two: the boyars persuaded the “lesser people” to go to the census, and they tried to avoid it. But their resistance was suppressed again, and the Mongols began to travel around the courtyards and record their inhabitants.
In the same 50s. residents led by Prince Daniil fought against the Horde military leader Kuremsa. His army was repulsed from Vladimir-Volynsky and Lutsk, and Prince Daniil captured in 1254 seven cities previously occupied by the Horde. However, five years later, another Horde governor, Burundai, restored the dependence of Galician-Volyn Rus on Golden Horde .
In 1262, the inhabitants of Vladimir, Suzdal, Rostov, Yaroslavl, and Ustyug the Great rebelled. The Rostovites began - by decision of the veche, they expelled Muslim tax farmers from the city, to whom the khans had given the right to collect taxes; some of them were killed. In Yaroslavl, the rebels killed the former monk Izosima, who converted to Islam and, together with other tax farmers, collected tributes and duties. According to some reports, the rebels were supported and inspired by the Grand Duke of Vladimir Alexander Nevsky.
Uprisings in the cities of North-Eastern Rus' in the 60s. XIII century became one of the reasons for the later abolition of the tax farming system and the gradual transfer of the tax "Horde exit" into the hands of Russian princes.
In 1263, returning from the Horde, Alexander Yaroslavich died in the city of Gorodets on the Volga, possibly poisoned at the Khan's headquarters. “The sun has set in the land of Suzdal”, said Metropolitan Kirill at his funeral service.
Disagreements and strife between the princes flared up with renewed vigor. They were fueled by khans and baskakis. The sons of Nevsky - Prince Dmitry of Pereyaslavl and Prince Andrei of Gorodets - fought for the Vladimir table. He moved first to one, then to the other, depending on the favor of the Horde rulers. At the same time, Andrei did not hesitate to bring Tatar detachments from the Horde, and they marched through the cities and villages of Rus' with fire and sword, burned and robbed, and took away prisoners.
In those years, the Russian people, driven to despair by heavy tributes, extortions and extortion, often rose up against the Horde.
The people of Kursk, led by Prince Svyatoslav, defeated the settlement of Baskak Akhmat. The rebels of Rostov expelled the Horde from their city in 1289. And the Yaroslavl people did not allow the Khan’s ambassador into their city. The response to all these speeches was the new Horde "rati".
In 1293, Andrei Alexandrovich, who again opposed his brother, brought the Horde led by the military leader Tudan (Dyuden) to Rus'. Together with the squads of Gorodets and other princes, they devastated Vladimir, Suzdal, Yuryev, Moscow, Volokolamsk and other cities. They remembered the terrible "Dudenev's Army", like the other “armies” that followed her. But Rus' is beginning to increasingly oppose the Golden Horde.
Put an indelible mark in the history of Rus', dividing it into two eras - before "Batyev's presence" and after him, pre-Mongol Rus' and Rus' after the Mongol invasion. It was from this time that Rus' began to lag behind a number of Western European countries. If economic and cultural progress continued there, beautiful buildings were erected, literary masterpieces were created, the Renaissance was just around the corner, then Rus' lay, and for quite a long time, in ruins.
Horde yoke in Rus' undoubtedly played a negative role. This is recognized by the overwhelming majority of historians, publicists, and writers, although opinions have been expressed that foreign rule also had a positive impact on the development of Rus' - the strengthening of state order there, the weakening of princely strife, the establishment of the Yamsk connection, etc. Of course, more than two centuries of domination The Horde led, among other things, to mutual borrowing - in the economy, everyday life, language, etc. But the main thing is the invasion and Mongol-Tatar yoke threw the Russian lands back in their development. The Horde rulers did not at all promote centralization in Rus', the unification of its lands, but, on the contrary, hindered this. It was in their interests to incite enmity between the Russian princes and prevent their unity. Everything that happened during these years in terms of further development Rus', it was done against their will, by the will of the Russian people, and they paid a high price.
The Tatar-Mongol yoke in Rus' began in 1237. Great Rus' collapsed, and the formation of the Moscow state began.
The Tatar-Mongol yoke refers to the brutal period of rule in which Rus' was subordinate to the Golden Horde. The Mongol-Tatar yoke in Rus' was able to last for almost two and a half millennia. To the question of how long the Horde’s arbitrariness lasted in Rus', history answers 240 years.
The events that took place during this period greatly affected the formation of Russia. Therefore, this topic has been and remains relevant to this day. The Mongol-Tatar yoke is associated with the most severe events of the 13th century. These were wild extortions of the population, the destruction of entire cities and thousands and thousands of dead.
The rule of the Tatar-Mongol yoke was formed by two peoples: the Mongol dynasty and the nomadic tribes of the Tartars. The overwhelming majority were still Tatars. In 1206, a meeting of the higher Mongol classes took place, at which the leader of the Mongol tribe, Temujin, was elected. It was decided to begin the era of the Tatar-Mongol yoke. The leader was named Genghis Khan (Great Khan). The abilities of Genghis Khan's reign turned out to be magnificent. He managed to unite all nomadic peoples and create the prerequisites for the development of the cultural and economic development of the country.
Military distributions of the Tatar-Mongols
Genghis Khan created a very strong, warlike and rich state. His warriors had surprisingly very hardy qualities; they could spend the winter in their yurt, in the midst of snow and winds. They had a thin build and a thin beard. They shot straight and were excellent riders. During attacks on states, he had punishments for cowards. If one soldier escaped from the battlefield, the entire ten were shot. If a dozen leaves the battle, then the hundred to which they belonged is shot.
The Mongol feudal lords closed a tight ring around the Great Khan. By elevating him to chieftainship, they planned to receive a lot of wealth and jewelry. Only an unleashed war and uncontrolled plunder of the conquered countries could lead them to the desired goal. Soon, after the creation of the Mongolian state, the campaigns of conquest began to bring the expected results. The robbery continued for approximately two centuries. The Mongol-Tatars longed to rule the whole world and own all the riches.
Conquests of the Tatar-Mongol yoke
- In 1207, the Mongols enriched themselves with large volumes of metal and valuable rocks. Attacking the tribes located to the north of the Selenga and in the Yenisei valley. This fact helps explain the emergence and expansion of weapons property.
- Also in 1207, the Tangut state from Central Asia was attacked. The Tanguts began to pay tribute to the Mongols.
- 1209 They were involved in the seizure and robbery of the land of Khigurov (Turkestan).
- 1211 A grandiose defeat of China took place. The emperors' troops were crushed and collapsed. The state was plundered and left in ruins.
- Date 1219-1221 The states of Central Asia were defeated. The result of this three-year war was no different from the previous campaigns of the Tatars. The states were defeated and plundered, the Mongols took talented artisans with them. Leaving behind only burnt houses and poor people.
- By 1227, vast territories in the east came into the possession of the Mongol feudal lords Pacific Ocean to the west of the Caspian Sea.
The consequences of the Tatar-Mongol invasion are the same. Thousands of killed and the same number of enslaved people. Destroyed and plundered countries that take a very, very long time to recover. By the time the Tatar-Mongol yoke approached the borders of Rus', its army was extremely numerous, having gained experience in combat, endurance and the necessary weapons.
Conquests of the Mongols
Mongol invasion of Rus'
Start Tatar-Mongol yoke in Rus' the year 1223 has long been considered. Then the experienced army of the Great Khan came very close to the borders of the Dnieper. At that time, the Polovtsians provided assistance, since the principality in Rus' was in disputes and disagreements, and its defensive capabilities were significantly reduced.
- Battle of the Kalka River. May 31, 1223 A Mongol army of 30 thousand broke through the Cumans and faced the Russian army. The first and only ones to take the blow were the princely troops of Mstislav the Udal, who had every chance of breaking through the dense chain of Mongol-Tatars. But he did not receive support from other princes. As a result, Mstislav died, surrendering to the enemy. The Mongols received a lot of valuable military information from Russian prisoners. Were very big losses. But the onslaught of the enemy for a long time still holding back.
- Invasion begins on December 16, 1237. Ryazan was the first on the way. At that time, Genghis Khan passed away, and his place was taken by his grandson, Batu. The army under the command of Batu was no less fierce. They swept away and robbed everything and everyone they met along the way. The invasion was targeted and carefully planned, so the Mongols quickly penetrated deep into the country. The city of Ryazan lasted five days under siege. Despite the fact that the city was surrounded by strong, high walls, under the pressure of enemy weapons, the walls of the city fell. The Tatar-Mongol yoke robbed and killed the people for ten days.
- Battle near Kolomna. Then Batu’s army began to move towards Kolomna. On the way, they met an army of 1,700 people, subordinate to Evpatiy Kolovrat. And despite the fact that the Mongols outnumbered Evpatiy’s army many times over, he did not chicken out and fought back the enemy with all his might. As a result, causing him significant damage. The army of the Tatar-Mongol yoke continued to move and went along the Moscow River, to the city of Moscow, which lasted five days under siege. At the end of the battle, the city was burned and most of the people were killed. You should know that before reaching the city of Vladimir, the Tatar-Mongols carried out defensive actions all the way against the hidden Russian squad. They had to be very careful and always be ready for a new battle. There were many battles and skirmishes with the Russians on the road.
- Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich did not respond to requests for help from the Ryazan prince. But then he himself found himself under threat of attack. The prince wisely managed the time that was between the Ryazan battle and the Vladimir battle. He recruited a large army and armed it. It was decided to select the city of Kolomna as the site of the battle. On February 4, 1238, the plan of Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich began its implementation.
- This was the most ambitious battle in terms of the number of troops and the heated battle of the Tatar-Mongols and Russians. But he too was lost. The number of Mongols was still significantly higher. The Tatar-Mongol invasion of this city lasted exactly a month. Ended on March 4, 1238, the year the Russians were defeated and also plundered. The prince fell in a heavy battle, causing a great loss to the Mongols. Vladimir became the last of fourteen cities conquered by the Mongols in Northeastern Rus'.
- In 1239 the cities of Chernigov and Pereslavl were defeated. A trip to Kyiv is planned.
- December 6, 1240. Kyiv captured. This further undermined the already shaky structure of the country. Powerfully fortified Kyiv was defeated by huge battering guns and rapids. The path to Southern Rus' and Eastern Europe opened.
- 1241 The Principality of Galicia-Volyn fell. After which the Mongols' actions stopped for a while.
In the spring of 1247, the Mongol-Tatars reached the opposite border of Rus' and entered Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Batu placed the created “Golden Horde” on the borders of Rus'. In 1243, they began to accept and approve the princes of the regions into the horde. There were also large cities that survived against the Horde, such as Smolensk, Pskov and Novgorod. These cities tried to express their disagreement and resist Batu's rule. The first one made an attempt great Andrey Yaroslavovich. But his efforts were not supported by the majority of ecclesiastical and secular feudal lords, who, after so many battles and attacks, finally established relations with the Mongol khans.
In short, after the established order, the princes and church feudal lords did not want to leave their places and agreed to recognize the power of the Mongol khans and the established tribute exactions from the population. The theft of Russian lands will continue.
The country suffered more and more attacks from the Tatar-Mongol yoke. And it became increasingly difficult to give a worthy rebuff to the robbers. In addition to the fact that the country was already pretty tired, the people were impoverished and downtrodden, the princely squabbles also made it impossible to get up from their knees.
In 1257, the Horde started a census in order to reliably establish the yoke and impose an unbearable tribute on the people. Become the unshakable and undisputed ruler of Russian lands. Rus' managed to defend its political system and reserved for itself the right to create a social and political stratum.
The Russian land was subjected to endless painful invasions of the Mongols, which would last until 1279.
Overthrow of the Tatar-Mongol yoke
The end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke in Rus' came in 1480. The Golden Horde began to gradually disintegrate. Many large principalities were divided and lived in constant conflict with each other. The liberation of Rus' from the Tatar-Mongol yoke is the service of Prince Ivan III. Reigned from 1426 to 1505. The prince united the two large cities of Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod and moved towards the goal of overthrowing the Mongol-Tatar yoke.
In 1478, Ivan III refused to pay tribute to the Horde. In November 1480, the famous “standing on the Ugra River” took place. The name is characterized by the fact that neither side decided to start a battle. After staying on the river for a month, the overthrown Khan Akhmat closed his camp and went to the Horde. How many years the Tatar-Mongol rule lasted, which ruined and destroyed the Russian people and Russian lands, can now be answered with confidence. Mongol yoke in Rus' 
In the mass historical consciousness, the topic of the Mongol invasion of the 13th century and subsequent relations between Rus' and the Horde is one of the topics that arouses the greatest interest and strong emotional response. Traditionally, Russian-Horde relations were usually characterized through the concept of “yoke.”
For a long time, this “yoke” was designated, as a rule, by the definition “Mongol-Tatar” or “Tatar-Mongolian,” but by the end of the 20th century, in order to avoid associations with modern peoples, Mongols and Tatars, the phrase “Horde yoke” was established ”, that is, by the name of the state, “Horde”. Nowadays, the concept of “yoke” in scientific works is gradually falling out of use. Most modern researchers do not use it or use it at least in quotation marks. The fact is that this characteristic of Russian-Horde relations does not belong to contemporaries of events, as one might think. For the first time it is found in the Polish chronicler Jan Dlugosz in 1479. Latin form- “iugum”, in Russia the word “yoke” to denote relations with the Horde appears only in the 17th century, that is, when these relations had already become a distant past. Contemporaries, authors of the 13th, 14th, 15th centuries, have different assessments of oppression on the part of the Horde, and quite emotionally charged ones: this is, say, “fierce besermen’s languor”, “violence” (“Rus was weakened by the violence of the besermen” "), "bondage" ("then all the princes were in Tatar bondage"), "work" (in the sense of "slavery" - "bitter work from foreigners"), but there was no universal concept. Therefore, from a scientific point of view, it is more accurate to talk about “the system of dependence of Russian lands on the Horde.”
But if the term “yoke” is not found among contemporaries of the events and is not suitable as scientific concept, this does not mean, of course, that there was no phenomenon that was traditionally designated by it (as is often stated in modern pseudo-scientific journalism). The dependence of the Russian lands on the Horde undoubtedly took place and was perceived by the people of that era as a heavy dependence. The above definitions also speak to this: “languishing”, “violence”, “captivity”, “slavery” - all these are indications of extreme high degree oppression. However, not everything is clear on this issue. Science studied, first of all, the political relations between the Russian lands and the Horde. The system of power itself, its institutions, and the economic side have been studied much less. The reason is the relative poverty of information from sources. A certain clarity exists only regarding one of the manifestations of dependence - the approval by the khans of Russian princes on their tables by issuing letters and labels. From 1243, when the Vladimir Grand Duke Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (father of Alexander Nevsky) was summoned to Batu’s headquarters, and until the middle of the 15th century, sources contain a lot of news about the trips of princes to the khans in the Horde for labels to reign, about princely disputes over these labels, etc. As for the system of taxes, the functions of the Horde officials associated with Russia - there is little information here, and there are certain difficulties in interpretation.
In such cases, a comparative historical approach can help. The conquests of the Mongols in the 13th century covered vast areas, almost all of Eurasia - from Korea, China and Indochina in the East to the Middle Danube, that is, Central Europe, and Asia Minor in the West. Information about the Mongol campaigns and their consequences for different countries reflected in multilingual sources: Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Persian, Armenian, Syrian, Georgian, Greek, Russian, Hungarian, Polish, German, Italian, English, French. Consideration of the features of Mongolian power in different regions can shed some light on the study of her character in Rus'.
The Mongol Empire used two main models of managing conquered territories in its expansion - direct control, through the establishment of its own administration on the conquered land, and control through local rulers: when local princes are retained, and domination is exercised through them. Both models were applied in Eastern Europe after Batu's invasion, which occurred in 1236-1242. Steppe zone from the Ural River to the Danube came under the direct rule of the Mongols, the elite of the local nomadic population - the Polovtsians - was destroyed. The same thing happened in Volga Bulgaria, a state that was located in the Middle Volga region, and whose population was sedentary, like the population of Rus'. Russian lands found themselves under indirect influence - with the preservation local princes- management, like many other states that found themselves at the extreme limits of Mongol expansion - Korea, the countries of Southeast Asia, the states of Transcaucasia and Asia Minor, Danube Bulgaria. These countries, where local rulers were retained after the conquest, were considered by the descendants of Genghis Khan as a springboard for further conquests: Japan was to be conquered after Korea, Syria and Egypt were to be conquered beyond Transcaucasia and Asia Minor, Poland and Hungary were to be conquered beyond Russia. These plans, despite the repeated invasions of the Mongol troops into the listed states, were not destined to come true, but the system of “indirect” control for countries beyond which the Mongol expansion did not advance became a tradition over time.
At first, the Russian lands depended both on the khans of the Juchi ulus (Golden Horde) and on the great Mongol khans who sat in Karakorum, the capital of the Mongol Empire, but since the 1260s the Golden Horde actually separated from the Mongol Empire and remained only dependence of Russian lands on it. This dependence was expressed in the approval of the Russian princes by the khans at their tables through the issuance of charters-labels for reign, in the payment of taxes (the main of which was the poll tax, called “exit” in Rus') and the obligation of the Russian princes to provide military assistance to the khans (though this was obliged -ness can be traced only until the middle of the 14th century; later there were no such facts). Princely labels were an effective means of keeping Russian princes in obedience, because they made it possible to maintain a competitive struggle for power between them; The rulers of the Horde sought to prevent the excessive strengthening of some princes at the expense of others. The author of the hagiographic Tale of Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich Tverskoy, who was killed at the headquarters of Khan Uzbek in 1318, vividly expressed himself on this matter: “The customs are still filthy to this day: accommodating enmity between the brethren, the Russian princes take for themselves multiplying gifts” - that is, they sow enmity between Russian princes and receive from them gifts that the princes brought to the khan’s headquarters in order to earn the favor of the khan or people from his entourage and receive the desired label. To regulate the collection of taxes, the conquerors conducted population censuses: in Southern Rus' already in the 1240s, soon after Batu’s campaign, in most others - in the late 1250s, when such an event was carried out in almost all countries conquered by the Mongol khans - from the Middle East to China. The responsibility to participate in the military campaigns of the Mongols was distributed differently in different Russian lands: the princes of North-Eastern Rus' were involved in such campaigns relatively infrequently, but the rulers of South-Western Rus' (Galician-Volyn land), which bordered the states of Central Europe and Lithuania , in the second half of the 13th century, they were constantly recruited to participate in campaigns against Lithuania, Poland and Hungary.
At the same time, in different Russian lands (and Rus' in the middle of the 13th century did not represent a unity; there were more than a dozen virtually independent states, “lands”) in the second half of the 13th century, unequal variants of the rule of the Mongol rulers were noted. The Kiev land was placed in the most severe conditions, since Kyiv, which retained the status of an all-Russian capital, although nominal, until the invasion of Batu, was considered by the conquerors as the main city of all Rus'. Here the entire male population, regardless of age, was subject to tribute; a Mongol official, the Baskak, was installed in Kyiv to control the collection of tribute. A slightly milder regime was established for North-Eastern Rus' - the Suzdal land, where tribute affected only the adult male population, and although Basqueism existed, it was abolished fairly soon, by the end of the 13th century. Relatively milder forms of dependence characterized the lands located on the periphery of the territory conquered by the Mongols in Eastern Europe - Novgorod (northwest Rus') and Galicia-Volynsk (southwest Rus'). The institution of Baskaism was not introduced here, and tribute from the very beginning was collected by the Russian princes themselves, and not by Horde collectors. But it must be said that from the end of the 13th century such an order was established in North-Eastern Rus' - there, too, the local princes themselves began to collect tribute.
The ruler of the Horde, the khan, in Rus' was called “tsar” - this was a higher title than any of the Russian princes, which corresponded to the Western European “emperor” and the Byzantine “basileus”. The power of the Horde khan, the tsar, over time began to be perceived as traditional and was considered in Rus' to a certain extent legitimate and legal. Another factor also contributed to its long-term preservation: in Rus' for a long time, until the middle of the 15th century, there was a fear that the Horde would decide to move away from “indirect”, with the preservation of local princes, power, and move to direct dominion in Russian cities. In particular, such fear was reflected in some monuments dedicated to the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, where it is stated that the ruler of the Horde, Mamai, then intended not only to ruin Rus', but to directly settle on it, and convert the population into Muslim faith. The following words were put into his mouth: “I will take the Russian land, and I will destroy the Christian churches, and I will transfer their faith to my own, and I will order them to bow to my Mahmet.” Sometimes this statement is taken at face value in journalism, but in reality, of course, Mamai had no such plans. However, this fear - that direct rule of the Horde would be established on the territory of Rus' - still lived in Russian lands for some time.
The question of what is the role of foreign invasion and yoke in the destinies of Rus' has long been one of the controversial issues that cause controversy in science. Three groups of researchers can be distinguished (rather conditionally). The first are those who recognize the very significant impact of the conquerors on the development of Rus', expressed in the creation thanks to them of a single Russian (Moscow) state. The founder of this point of view was Nikolai Karamzin. A peculiar development of this approach was the views of the so-called “Eurasians” in the 20th century, who believed that after the conquest, Rus' entered into a special Eurasian civilization, which saved it from being absorbed by Catholic Europe. Other historians (among them Sergei Solovyov and Vasily Klyuchevsky) assessed the impact of the conquerors on inner life ancient Russian society as extremely insignificant, and they believed that all the processes that took place in the second half of the 13th and 14th centuries either stemmed from the trends of the previous period, or, if they were new, they arose independently of the Horde. Finally, many researchers are characterized by a somewhat “intermediate” position, according to which the influence of the conquerors is regarded as noticeable, but not decisive for the development of the country. This point of view prevailed in Russian historiography of the Soviet period. The influence of the conquerors was then considered as an exclusively negative, inhibiting development of Rus', including the process of unification of lands; the creation of a single state, from this point of view, occurred not thanks to, but in spite of the Horde.
When assessing the impact of the conquest on Russian society, one must distinguish between immediate and long-term consequences. As for the first, then, of course, Batu’s invasion and subsequent campaigns had catastrophic consequences in the form mass death and the captivity of people, the destruction in fires of cultural property - both books and monuments of painting and architecture. In the middle of the 13th century, approximately two-thirds of the largest cities were destroyed, and of those destroyed in turn, about the same percentage, about two-thirds either did not revive at all after the destruction, or lost their former significance. At the same time, some cities were ruined not only during Batu’s invasion, but also as a result of subsequent campaigns that began due to certain political circumstances. So, Vladimir went bankrupt three times: in addition to destruction in 1238 during Batu’s invasion, also in 1293 and 1410. Moscow - also three times, during Batu’s campaign in 1238, and then in 1293 and 1382. And, say, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky was destroyed five times. Of course, the taxes imposed by the conquerors placed a heavy burden on the country. As a result, some craft technologies were lost, and stone temple construction stopped for several decades.
A more difficult question is about the long-term consequences, about the extent to which the changes that took place in Russian society in the 13th-15th centuries were connected precisely with the influence of the Horde. If we talk about the culture of Russian lands, then the influence of the conquerors as a whole can be assessed as minimal. Here, interrelations were hampered by the religious barrier between Christian Russia and first the pagan and then the Muslim Horde. There were also economic differences: in Rus', the main occupation of the population was farming; in the Horde, nomadic cattle breeding coexisted with large trading cities. Borrowing took place in the area where these two societies constantly came into contact - in military affairs. One can, of course, assume that to some extent, under the Horde influence in Rus', what can conventionally be called a “hardening of morals” took place. It was during the Horde era that the previously existing sharply irreconcilable attitude towards murder as a means of political struggle disappeared in Russian literature; on the other hand, the death penalty is spreading in Rus' as a legal norm (which did not exist in the pre-Mon-Gol period). But it is difficult to determine the extent of this impact, because, say, the death penalty was used not only by the Mongols and then in the Horde, but also existed among the western neighbors of Rus'.
As for the political structure, if on the eve of the invasion in Rus' there were more than a dozen “lands” - independent political entities, then by the end of the 15th century, when the power of the Horde over North-Eastern Russia ceased, in their place we see actually only two states, and very large in size: this is the Grand Duchy of Moscow (which included the northern and eastern Russian lands - Suzdal, Novgorod, part of Smolensk and Chernigov) and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which included the western and most of the southern Russian lands. If before the invasion the boundaries of the lands were stable, then in the Horde era, thus, a large-scale territorial redistribution occurs, and the map of Russian lands changes completely. Moreover, acquisitions during this territorial redistribution were made not only by Moscow and Lithuanian princes, but also by many other princes.
However, it does not in any way follow from this that the formation of a single state - Moscow, which later received the name Russia - was thanks to the Horde. Research shows that the Horde's support for the Moscow princes was far from constant. On the contrary, the khans sought to maintain a balance, to prevent the strengthening of some Russian princes at the expense of others. In addition, there were extremely rare cases when territorial changes in Rus' occurred on the initiative of the rulers of the Horde - usually the initiative came from the princes themselves (Russian or Lithuanian), and the khans only supported (and sometimes did not support) it. But, of course, the very presence of a center of supreme power in Eastern Europe outside of Rus' since the 1240s created the possibility of this territorial redistribution. A claimant to a particular principality needed to make a claim on it and gain support for his claims in the Horde, and the princes, Russian and Lithuanian, began to actively take advantage of this opportunity. In the end, it was the Lithuanian and Moscow princes who succeeded most in this redistribution of territories, while others, who at times also became stronger (Pereyaslav, Smolensk, Tver, Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod, Ryazan), as a result, disappeared from the historical scene. We can say that this phenomenon was undoubtedly associated with the influence of the Horde, but this influence must be recognized not as direct, but as indirect.
Another indirect impact concerned the social system of Rus'. In the era when the Russian lands came under the supreme power of the Horde, the center of Russian statehood moved from the Middle Dnieper to the northeast of the East Slavic territory, to the Suzdal land. Meanwhile, in the northeast of Russian lands, to a greater extent than in Southern Rus', negative impact natural-geographical factor. Local conditions caused low agricultural productivity and, accordingly, an insufficient amount of surplus product necessary for the functioning of state structures. The situation was aggravated by the general cooling that began in the 13th century (the so-called “little glaciation”). At the same time, a significant part of the already modest surplus product now went outside the country in the form of the Horde tribute - “exit”. Russian statehood was thus placed in difficult economic conditions. This inevitably led to a greater “rigidity” of the structures of the state emerging around Moscow in the 14th-15th centuries than in the “Kyiv” era, and to a tendency to strengthen the unity of power of the ruler, the Grand Duke. From a foreign policy point of view, only this nature of the state made it possible to both free ourselves from Horde dependence (which happened during the events of the 1470s) and resist the onslaught from the west, from the strong Lithuanian state. But in the long term, it led to autocracy as a form of government and serfdom as a system of dependence of the ordinary population - these phenomena, which would become established during the 16th-17th centuries, then, in modern times, would begin to slow down the development of the country.
Most history textbooks say that in the 13th-15th centuries Rus' suffered from the Mongol-Tatar yoke. However, recently the voices of those who doubt that the invasion even took place have been increasingly heard. Did huge hordes of nomads really surge into peaceful principalities, enslaving their inhabitants? Let's analyze historical facts, many of which may be shocking.
The yoke was invented by the Poles
The term “Mongol-Tatar yoke” itself was coined by Polish authors. The chronicler and diplomat Jan Dlugosz in 1479 called the time of existence of the Golden Horde this way. He was followed in 1517 by the historian Matvey Miechowski, who worked at the University of Krakow. This interpretation relations between Rus' and the Mongol conquerors were quickly picked up in Western Europe, and from there it was borrowed by domestic historians.
Moreover, there were practically no Tatars themselves in the Horde troops. It’s just that in Europe the name of this Asian people was well known, and therefore it spread to the Mongols. Meanwhile, Genghis Khan tried to exterminate the entire Tatar tribe, defeating their army in 1202.
The first census of Rus'
The first population census in the history of Rus' was carried out by representatives of the Horde. They had to collect accurate information about the inhabitants of each principality and their class affiliation. The main reason Such interest in statistics on the part of the Mongols was due to the need to calculate the amount of taxes imposed on their subjects.
In 1246, a census took place in Kyiv and Chernigov, the Ryazan principality was subjected to statistical analysis in 1257, the Novgorodians were counted two years later, and the population of the Smolensk region - in 1275.
Moreover, the inhabitants of Rus' raised popular uprisings and drove out the so-called “besermen” who were collecting tribute for the khans of Mongolia from their land. But the governors of the rulers of the Golden Horde, called Baskaks, lived and worked for a long time in the Russian principalities, sending collected taxes to Sarai-Batu, and later to Sarai-Berke.
Joint hikes
Princely squads and Horde warriors often carried out joint military campaigns, both against other Russians and against residents of Eastern Europe. Thus, in the period 1258-1287, the troops of the Mongols and Galician princes regularly attacked Poland, Hungary and Lithuania. And in 1277, the Russians took part in the Mongol military campaign in the North Caucasus, helping their allies conquer Alanya.
In 1333, Muscovites stormed Novgorod, and the next year the Bryansk squad marched on Smolensk. Each time, Horde troops also took part in these internecine battles. In addition, they regularly helped the great princes of Tver, considered at that time the main rulers of Rus', to pacify the rebellious neighboring lands.
The basis of the horde were Russians
The Arab traveler Ibn Battuta, who visited the city of Sarai-Berke in 1334, wrote in his essay “A Gift to Those Contemplating the Wonders of Cities and the Wonders of Wanderings” that there are many Russians in the capital of the Golden Horde. Moreover, they make up the bulk of the population: both working and armed.
This fact was also mentioned by the White émigré author Andrei Gordeev in the book “History of the Cossacks,” which was published in France in the late 20s of the 20th century. According to the researcher, most of the Horde troops were the so-called Brodniks - ethnic Slavs who inhabited the Azov region and the Don steppes. These predecessors of the Cossacks did not want to obey the princes, so they moved to the south for the sake of a free life. The name of this ethnosocial group probably comes from the Russian word “wander” (wander).
As is known from chronicle sources, in the Battle of Kalka in 1223, the Brodniki, led by the governor Ploskyna, fought on the side of the Mongol troops. Perhaps his knowledge of the tactics and strategy of the princely squads had great value to defeat the united Russian-Polovtsian forces.
In addition, it was Ploskynya who, by cunning, lured out the ruler of Kyiv, Mstislav Romanovich, along with two Turov-Pinsk princes and handed them over to the Mongols for execution.
However, most historians believe that the Mongols forced Russians to serve in their army, i.e. the invaders forcibly armed representatives of the enslaved people. Although this seems implausible.
And a senior researcher at the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Marina Poluboyarinova, in the book “Russian People in the Golden Horde” (Moscow, 1978) suggested: “Probably, the forced participation of Russian soldiers in the Tatar army later ceased. There were mercenaries left who had already voluntarily joined the Tatar troops.”
Caucasian invaders
Yesugei-Baghatur, the father of Genghis Khan, was a representative of the Borjigin clan of the Mongolian Kiyat tribe. According to the descriptions of many eyewitnesses, both he and his legendary son were tall, fair-skinned people with reddish hair.
The Persian scientist Rashid ad-Din in his work “Collection of Chronicles” (early 14th century) wrote that all the descendants of the great conqueror were mostly blond and gray-eyed.
This means that the elite of the Golden Horde belonged to Caucasians. It is likely that representatives of this race predominated among other invaders.
There weren't many of them
We are accustomed to believe that in the 13th century Rus' was invaded by countless hordes of Mongol-Tatars. Some historians talk about 500,000 troops. However, this is not true. After all, even the population of modern Mongolia barely exceeds 3 million people, and if we take into account the brutal genocide of fellow tribesmen committed by Genghis Khan on his way to power, the size of his army could not be so impressive.
It is difficult to imagine how to feed an army of half a million, moreover, traveling on horses. The animals simply would not have enough pasture. But each Mongolian horseman brought with him at least three horses. Now imagine a herd of 1.5 million. The horses of the warriors riding at the forefront of the army would eat and trample everything they could. The remaining horses would have starved to death.
According to the most daring estimates, the army of Genghis Khan and Batu could not have exceeded 30 thousand horsemen. While the population of Ancient Rus', according to historian Georgy Vernadsky (1887-1973), before the invasion, was about 7.5 million people.
Bloodless executions
The Mongols, like most peoples of that time, executed people who were not noble or disrespected by cutting off their heads. However, if the condemned person enjoyed authority, then his spine was broken and left to slowly die.
The Mongols were sure that blood was the seat of the soul. To shed it means to complicate the afterlife path of the deceased to other worlds. Bloodless execution was applied to rulers, political and military figures, and shamans.
The reason for a death sentence in the Golden Horde could be any crime: from desertion from the battlefield to petty theft.
The bodies of the dead were thrown into the steppe
The method of burial of a Mongol also directly depended on his social status. Rich and influential people found peace in special burials, in which valuables, gold and silver jewelry, and household items were buried along with the bodies of the dead. And the poor and ordinary soldiers killed in battle were often simply left in the steppe, where their life’s journey ended.
In the alarming conditions of nomadic life, consisting of regular skirmishes with enemies, it was difficult to organize funeral rites. The Mongols often had to move on quickly, without delay.
It was believed that the corpse of a worthy person would be quickly eaten by scavengers and vultures. But if birds and animals have not touched the body for a long time, folk beliefs this meant that the soul of the deceased had a grave sin.
