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In 1237 - 1241 Russian lands were hit from the side Mongol Empire- the Central Asian state, which conquered in the first half of the XIII century. vast territory of the Eurasian continent from The Pacific to Central Europe. In Europe, the Mongols began to be called Tatars. This was the name of one of the Mongol-speaking tribes that roamed near the border with China. The Chinese transferred its name to all Mongolian tribes, and the name "Tatars" as a designation for the Mongols spread to other countries, although the Tatars themselves were almost completely exterminated during the creation of the Mongol Empire.
The term “Mongolo-Tatars”, widespread in the historical literature, is a combination of the self-name of a people with the term by which this people was designated by its neighbors. In 1206, at the kurultai - the congress of the Mongol nobility - Temujin (Temuchin), who took the name of Genghis Khan, was recognized as the great khan of all Mongols. In the next five years, the Mongol troops, united by Genghis Khan, conquered the lands of their neighbors, and by 1215 they had conquered Northern China. In 1221, the hordes of Genghis Khan defeated the main forces of Khorezm and conquered Central Asia.
Battle of Kalka.
The first clash of Ancient Rus with the Mongols took place in 1223, when a 30-thousandth Mongol detachment with reconnaissance purposes marched from Transcaucasia to the Black Sea steppes, defeating the Alans and Polovtsians. The Polovtsians, defeated by the Mongols, turned to the Russian princes for help. At their call, a united army headed by three of the strongest princes of Southern Russia marched into the steppe: Mstislav Romanovich of Kiev, Mstislav Svyatoslavich of Chernigov and Mstislav Metis-Lavich Galitsky.
May 31, 1223 in the battle on the river. Kalke (near Sea of Azov) as a result of the uncoordinated actions of their leaders, the allied Russian-Polovtsian army was defeated. Six Russian princes were killed, three, including Kiev prince, were captured and brutally killed by the Mongols. The conquerors pursued the retreating ones up to the Russian borders, and then turned back to the Central Asian steppes. Thus, in Russia, for the first time, they felt the military power of the Mongol hordes.
The invasion of the Mongol Tatars to Russia.
After the death of the founder of the Mongol Empire, Genghis Khan (1227), according to his will, at the kurultai of the Mongol nobility in 1235, it was decided to start an aggressive campaign against Europe. At the head of the united army of the Mongol Empire was the grandson of Genghis Khan Batu Khan (called Batu in Russian sources). The prominent Mongolian commander Subedei, who participated in the Battle of Kalka, was appointed its first commander.
Trekking to North-Eastern Russia (1237 - 1238).
A year after the start of the campaign, having conquered the Volga Bulgaria, the Polovtsian hordes in the interfluve of the Volga and the Don, the land of the Burtases and Mordovians on the Middle Volga in late autumn 1237, Batu's main forces concentrated in the upper reaches of the Voronezh River to invade North-Eastern Russia.
The number of Batu hordes, according to a number of researchers, reached 140 thousand warriors, and the actual Mongols numbered no more than 50 thousand people. At this time, Russian princes could collect no more than 100 thousand soldiers from all lands, and the squads of the princes of North-Eastern Russia amounted to no more than 1/3 of this number.
The inter-princely feuds and strife in Russia hindered the formation of a united Russian army. Therefore, the princes could resist the Mongol invasion only one by one. In the winter of 1237, the hordes of Batu ravaged the Ryazan principality, the capital of which was burned down, and all its inhabitants were exterminated. Following this, in January 1238, the Mongol troops defeated near Kolomna the armies of the Vla-Dimiro-Suzdal land, led by the son of the Grand Duke Vsevolod Yuryevich, captured Moscow, Suzdal, and on February 7 - Vladimir. On March 4, 1238, the army of the Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodich was defeated on the City River in the upper Volga, the Grand Duke himself perished in this battle.
After the capture of the "suburb" of Veliky Novgorod - Torzhok, bordering on Suzdal land - the road to North-Western Russia opened before the Mongol hordes. But the approaching spring thaw and significant human losses forced the conquerors to turn back to the Polovtsian steppes. An unparalleled feat was accomplished by residents of the small town of Kozelsk on the river. Zhizdre. For seven weeks they held the defense of their city. After the capture of Kozelsk in May 1238, Batu ordered to wipe out this "evil city" from the face of the earth, and to destroy all inhabitants.
Summer 1238 Batu spent in the Don steppes, restoring strength for further campaigns. In the spring of 1239 he defeated the Pereyaslavl principality, and in the fall the Chernigov-Seversk land was ruined.
Conquest of Southern Russia (1240 - 1241).
In the fall of 1240, Batu's troops moved to Europe through Southern Russia. In September, they crossed the Dnieper and surrounded Kiev. At that time Kiev was owned by the Galician prince Daniil Romanovich, who entrusted the defense of the city to the tysyatsky Dmitry. The South Russian princes did not manage to organize a joint defense of their lands against the Mongol threat. After a stubborn defense in December 1240 Kiev fell. Following this, in December 1240 - January 1241, the Mongol hordes ravaged almost all the cities of Southern Russia (except for Kholm, Kremenets and Danilov).
In the spring of 1241, having seized the Galicia-Volyn land, Batu invaded Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, reached the borders of Northern Italy and Germany. However, without receiving reinforcements and suffering significant losses, the Mongol troops by the end of 1242 were forced to return to the lower Volga steppe. Here the westernmost ulus of the Mongol Empire, the so-called Golden Horde, was formed.
Russian lands after Batu's invasion
The Kiev principality ceased to be the object of the struggle of the Russian princes. The Horde Khan appropriated the prerogative of delivering the Kiev prince, and Kiev was transferred first to the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yaroslav Vsevolodich (1243), and then to his son Alexander Nevsky (1249). Both of them, however, did not sit directly in Kiev, preferring Vladimir-on-Klyazma.
Kiev lost the status of a nominal all-Russian capital, which was consolidated in 1299 by the departure of the Metropolitan of All Russia to Vladimir. In Kiev until the middle of the XIV century. insignificant princes reigned (apparently, from the Chernigov Olgovichi), and in the 60s of the same century the Kiev land came under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In the Chernigov land, after the invasion, territorial fragmentation intensified, small principalities were formed, in each of which its own line of the Olgovichi branch was fixed. The forest-steppe part of the Chernigov region was systematically subjected to devastation by the Tatars. For some time, the Bryansk principality became the strongest in the Chernigov land, whose princes simultaneously occupied the Chernigov table.
But at the end of the XIV century. The Bryansk reign passed (obviously, at the initiative of the Horde) into the hands of the Smolensk princes and the possibility of integrating the small principalities of Chernigov under the auspices of Bryansk was lost. The Chernigov reign was never entrenched in any of the Olgovichi lines, and in the 60s - 70s of the XIV century. most of the territory of the Chernigov land was seized by the Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd. Only in its northern, Verkhneokskaya part, the principalities under the control of the Olgovichi survived, which became the object of a long struggle between Lithuania and Moscow.
In the Galicia-Volyn land, Prince Daniil Romanovich (1201-1264) managed to form a large state. In 1254 he took over the royal title from the papal curia. The Galicia-Volyn principality was almost not fragmented and retained its power during the second half of the 13th - early 14th century. At the same time, the foreign policy position of the Galicia-Volyn land was extremely unfavorable. She was surrounded by three opposing state formations - Lithuania, Poland and Hungary - and at the same time was a vassal of the Golden Horde.
In this regard, the Galician-Volyn princes were forced, on the one hand, to participate in the campaigns of the Horde to the Lithuanian, Polish and Hungarian lands, and on the other, to reflect the raids of the Horde khans. After the suppression in the early 20s of the XIV century. The male line of the descendants of Daniel in the Galicia-Volyn land was reigned by their heir on the female line Boleslav - Yuri, and after his death (1340) Southwestern Russia became the arena of struggle between Lithuania and Poland. As a result, in the middle of the XIV century. Volhynia became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and Galicia became part of the Kingdom of Poland.
The Smolensk principality, which did not border directly on the possessions of the Golden Horde, practically did not experience the Mongol-Tatar ruin. But the Smolensk princes, weakened in the internecine war of the 30s of the 13th century, already on the eve of Batu's invasion acted as secondary political figures. From the middle of the XIII century. they, apparently, recognized the suzerainty of the great princes of Vladimir. Since the second half of this century, the main foreign policy factor that influenced the Smolensk principality was the onslaught of Lithuania. For a long time, the Smolensk princes managed to maintain relative independence, maneuvering between Lithuania and the Grand Duchy of Vladimir. But in the end, in 1404, Smolensk fell under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
In the Novgorod land in the second half of the XIII - XIV centuries. the republican form of government is finally taking shape. At the same time, since the time of Alexander Nevsky, Novgorod has recognized the Grand Duke of Vladimir as its suzerain, i.e. the supreme ruler of North-Eastern Russia. In the XIV century. in fact, the Pskov land acquires complete independence, where a form of government similar to the Novgorodian form of government is taking shape. At the same time, the Pskovites during the XIV century. hesitated in orientation between the Lithuanian and Vladimir Grand Dukes.
Ryazan principality managed in the second half of the XIII - XIV centuries. maintain relative independence, although from the end of the XIV century the Ryazan princes began to recognize the political eldership of the great Vladimir princes (from the Moscow house). The small Murom principality did not play an independent role, and at the end of the XIV century. passed under the rule of the Moscow princes.
On the eve of Batu's invasion, the Polotsk land was significantly weakened as a result of the onslaught of Lithuania and the German Order. Finally, it became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the end of the XIII - beginning of the XIV century. At the same time, the weak Turovo-Pinsk land fell under the Lithuanian rule.
After the invasion, the Pereyaslavl principality was for some time under the direct control of the Horde, then representatives of the Olgovichi branch reigned there, and in the 60s of the XIV century. Pereyaslavl land, together with Chernigov land, became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Bibliography
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Mongol-Tatar invasion- the invasion of the troops of the Mongol Empire on the territory of the Russian principalities in 1237 - 1240. (Western campaign or Kipchak campaign) and in 1236 - 1242. (hike led by and).
Main events during the conquest of Russia by the Mongol-Tatars (1237-1275)
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Date of conquest by the Mongols
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Principality
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Short description events
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December 1237
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Ryazanskoe
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The result of the battle - the defeat of the Russian troops broke the resistance of the princes of North-Eastern Russia to the Mongol invasion. All the lands of North-Eastern Russia were dependent on the Mongol Empire.
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Chernigov
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Attack on the Chernigov principality. It was completely devastated by Khan Batu.
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Novgorodskoe
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After the capture of the city of Torzhok, the Mongol troops, not reaching 100 versts to Novgorod, turned south.
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The destruction of the cities of Vologda and Bezhitsa.
Novgorod lands were partially destroyed.
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Pereyaslavskoe
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Captured by Batu Khan.
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1239, 1281
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Muromskoe
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Attack on Murom. The city was destroyed and burned.
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September - December 1240
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Kievskoe
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Captured and destroyed by Batu Khan.
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1241 - 1242
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Galicia-Volynskoe
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A devastating hike through Galitskoe and Volyn principality... Destruction of cities - Volkovysk, Novogrudok, Slonim.
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Daniil Galitsky was forced to recognize the power of the Golden Horde Khan in 1245, but retained the rights to the Galicia-Volyn principality.
The vassal dependence of the principality on the Mongol Empire was established.
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Smolenskoe
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Mongol troops passed through the principality and went to battle against Lithuania. With this historians associate the establishment of the power of the Horde in the Smolensk principality.
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Baskakov functions:
- maintaining order, obedience to princes and their subjects
- monitoring the proper collection and receipt of tribute from Russia to the Horde, that "Horde exit", which chronicles and legends mention with bitterness and pain
Taxation units:
- in rural areas - farming ("village", "plow", "plow").
Only the clergy were exempted from tribute, which the conquerors tried to use to strengthen their power.
There are 14 known types of "Horde burdens", of which the main ones were:
- "Exit", or "tsar's tribute": (in the 13th century, the size of the exit was from the plow)
- tax directly for the Mongol Khan;
- trade fees ("myt", "tamga");
- plow (feed from the plow);
- import duties ("", "carts"); (levy for maintaining the Yamskaya chase - postal service);
- the maintenance of the khan's ambassadors ("feed");
- various "gifts" and "honors" to the khan, his relatives and associates, etc.
- Large "requests" for military and other needs were periodically collected.
2. Population registration (population census) - to keep track of tribute payers. |
In 1239 Batu sent part of his forces to the city-key, which blocked the approaches to Southern Russia - to Pereyaslavl, "and to take the city of Pereyaslavl with a spear." The population of the city was "beaten up". The stone cathedral of the Archangel Michael, one of the oldest and richest in Southern Russia, was destroyed, and its sacristy was plundered. There, the Mongols killed the local bishop Semeon.
From Pereyaslavl, the Tatar-Mongol hordes approached Chernigov. Mikhail Vsevolodovich was not in Chernigov. As soon as Yaroslav Vsevolodovich left Kiev for Vladimir-on-Klyazma in the spring of 1238, Mikhail Vsevolodovich came to Kiev from Chernigov to the table of his brother Yuri, who died on March 4 in the City.
To defend Chernigov with a regiment, only one of the Olgovichi drove up - Mstislav Glebovich, a cousin of Mikhail Vsevolodovich. The rest of the Olgovichi chose to hide from the Mongols in Hungary.
Courageous Mstislav Glebovich laid his head under the walls of Chernigov. Many of his soldiers died with the prince. The ancient, wealthy Chernigov Mongols took and set on fire. The life of the local bishop was spared. The Mongols took him with them to the city of Glukhov.
From Glukhov the hordes turned into the steppe. To Kiev, on the left bank of the Dnieper, in the summer of 1239 one of the Mongol commanders "Mengoukanovi" drove up. It was the grandson of Genghis Khan Mengu. The Mongols, approaching the Dnieper, stood at the "Pesochny town" and, seeing on the mountains, across the river, a huge city crowned with golden heads of many cathedrals, "marveled at its beauty and majesty."
The Mongols sent ambassadors to Kiev, to Prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich and to the townspeople, "although it is not deceitful and not obscene." Mongolian ambassadors in Kiev were killed. And it was after this that Mikhail Vsevolodovich left Kiev and rushed to Hungary.
So, in 1236 Yaroslav Vsevolodovich came from the northeast to South Russia and took Kiev from the Grand Duke Vladimir Rurikovich. In the spring of 1238 Yaroslav left Kiev for the ruined Vladimir-on-Klyazma. In 1238 Mikhail Vsevolodovich Chernigovsky seized Kiev. And in 1239 Mikhail left Kiev and took refuge in Hungary.
Mikhail's son Rostislav held Galich, but inadvertently left the city on a campaign against Lithuania. Galich and all of Western Russia before the invasion of the Mongols were captured by Daniil Romanovich. This prince united Volhynia and Galicia under his rule.
In 1239, when Pereyaslavl and Chernigov were blazing, many events took place in Russia that, as it seemed, had no direct relation to the invasion of the Batu hordes.
The new Grand Duke of North-Eastern Russia Yaroslav Vsevolodovich in 1239 gathered the surviving children and nephews. Many princes gathered. One of Yaroslav's sons perished in Tver in 1238 (Fedor?). But six other "Oleksandr" remained alive. Andrews. Kostyantin. Ofonasii. Danilo. Mikhailo ". The brother of the Grand Duke Yaroslav Svyatoslav with his son Dimitri, who participated in the battle on the City, was in Suzdal. Yaroslav's nephews survived with their offspring "Ivan Vsevolodich" and Vasily Vsevolodovich. They inherited from their father Vsevolod Konstantinovich, who laid down his head on the City on March 4, 1238, the city of Yaroslavl with the volost. Outlived in 1238 Prince Vladimir Konstantinovich (perhaps Uglichsky). And from the Rostov prince Vasilko Konstantinovich, killed by the Mongols in the Shernsky forest in March 1238, two sons remained - Boris and Gleb.
It was a considerable force, and the Oostovo-Suzdal land, torn apart by Batu, slowly began to come to its senses. In the summer of 1239, in the prince's estate near Suzdal, in Kideksha, on the feast day, Bishop Kirill of Rostov re-consecrated the church of Boris and Gleb.
In 1239, the old enmity between Yaroslav Vsevolodovich and Mikhail Vsevolodovich of Chernigov emerged.
It was written above that Mikhail Chernigovsky fled from Kiev to Hungary in 1239, fearing the Mongols who were crushing Pereyaslavl and Chernigov. The choice of the refuge by Mikhail was not made by chance.
Mikhail's son Rostislav previously fled from Galicia from Prince Daniel Romanovich also to Hungary. Rostislav Mikhailovich was the fiancé of the daughter of the Hungarian king Bela. The father also followed the son.
When in the summer of 1239 in Russia it became known about the departure of Mikhail Vsevolodovich of Chernigov from Kiev to Hungary, the following events took place. Prince Rostislav Mstislavovich came from the Smolensk principality to Kiev. Having learned about this, the prince of Volyn and Galicia, Daniil Romanovich, came to Kiev from Western Russia. He took Kiev from Rostislav Mstislavovich and subsequently took him to Hungary, leaving the Mongols. In Kiev, Daniil Romanovich left one of his boyars named "Dmitra". The courageous boyar Daniel, leaving for the west, ordered the ancient capital of Russia, Kiev, to "hold against the foreign languages".
In the same 1239 Grand Duke Yaroslav Vsevolodovich drove up to the Volyn town "Kamenets".
Yaroslav Vsevolodovich "took Kamenets" and captured in the city the wife of an old enemy Mikhail Vsevolodovich Chernigovsky. In Kamenets, the boyars Mikhail were also captured.
Soon, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich had complications. The fact is that the wife of Mikhail Chernigovsky was the sister of Daniil Romanovich Galitsky and Volynsky.
As soon as Daniel found out about what had happened in Kamenets, he immediately sent ambassadors to Yaroslav Vsevolodovich with a demand to let his sister go to Volyn. Yaroslav did not dare to disobey, and Princess Theodora returned to the brothers Daniel and Vasilko Romanovich. And in Hungary in 1239, King Bela, who was well aware of the affairs of Russia, "did not give his maid to Rostislavou and chase away." So, in disgrace, Mikhail Vsevolodovich Chernigovsky and his son Rostislav from Hungary went to Poland, to Prince Konrad (Mazovetsky). From Poland, Mikhail sent ambassadors to Daniil Romanovich with an oath “like nikoli. do not have enmity with you ". Daniil and Vasilko Romanovichs "did not remember" the Olgovichs of their sitting in Galich, they gave Mikhail their sister, and Mikhail of Chernigovsky himself was brought to their lands. Moreover, Daniel, after consulting with his brother Vasilko, promised Kiev to Mikhail. The son of Mikhail Rostislav Romanovich gave one of the largest cities in Volyn - Louchek. But that was 1239, and Mikhail Vsevolodovich "for fear of the Tatarskiye and do not dare Kyevu with them." Then the Romanovichs allowed Mikhail Vsevolodovich of Chernigov "to walk on their land, and will give him a lot of wheat, and he will be happy with mead and beef and sheep."
When 1240 came and Mikhail Vsevolodovich learned about the capture of Kiev by the Mongols, without losing a single day, the prince with his son Rostislav, princess, boyars and servants fled to Poland to Konrad (Mazovetsky).
But even there Mikhail did not feel safe and “could not stand the touto” went to the city of Wroclaw. When Mikhail found himself in a German town named Sereda, a misfortune happened. The Germans, astonished at the wealth of the Russian prince, plundered Mikhail's property, beat the servants and "his oubisha's ounoukou" (apparently, the child of Rostislav Mikhailovich).
When Michael, completely saddened by the robbery and murders, learned that the Tatar-Mongols were already in the very belly of Poland and were preparing to fight Indrikh, the prince turned his horse to the east. Michael again came to Mazovia, to the remote north-east of Poland, bypassed by the Mongol storm, to the court of Konrad. But Mikhail Vsevolodovich Chernigovsky did not manage to escape fate. In 1246, Michael was killed by the Mongols in a horde for refusing to worship their deities. Prince Mikhail of Chernigov was subsequently canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.
But back to 1239. Upon his return from Western Russia, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich approached Smolensk. The Lithuanians did not fail to take advantage of the terrible blow inflicted by the Tatar-Mongols of Russia in 1237 -1239 and took possession of Smolensk. Yaroslav Vsevolodovich "Victory over Lithuania, and their prince yal". In Smolensk, Yaroslav planted one of the local princes - Vsevolod Mstislavovich.
Yaroslav Vsevolodovich arrived in the Rostov-Suzdal lands "with a multitude of people with a great streak."
In the winter of 1239-1240. the Tatar-Mongols took possession of the Mordovian lands. Coming out of the dense forests to the Oka, the Mongols burned the Murom and set off to fight along the valley of the Klyazma River, in its lower reaches. Then the town of Gorokhovets, which survived in 1238, was burned down. The Mongols did not aspire to the Suzdal opolye, realizing that there was nothing to take there. About winter 1239-1240 the compiler of the Laurentian Chronicle wrote: "Then there were no more ashes all over the earth, and they themselves did not know, and where would anyone run."
The year 1239 the Mongols, in addition to the burning of Pereyaslavl, Chernigov and Gorokhovets with Murom, were used to deal with the Polovtsians who found themselves in the rear. The Polovtsian Khan Kotyan (father-in-law of Mstislav Mstislavovich the Brave) was defeated in 1239 in the steppes of the lower Volga by Batu. Khan Kotyan with forty thousand tribesmen found refuge in Hungary. The Polovtsians were given lands for nomadic life, and Kotyan himself adopted Christianity. |
Removing all lies from history does not mean at all that only truth will remain - as a result, nothing may remain at all.
Stanislav Jerzy Lec
The Tatar-Mongol invasion began in 1237 with the invasion of Batu's cavalry into the Ryazan lands, and ended in 1242. The result of these events was a two-century yoke. This is what the textbooks say, but in reality the relationship between the Horde and Russia was much more complicated. In particular, the famous historian Gumilev speaks about this. In this material, we will briefly consider the issues of the invasion of the Mongol-Tatar army from the point of view of the generally accepted interpretation, and also consider the controversial issues of this interpretation. Our task is not to offer a fantasy about medieval society for the thousandth time, but to provide our readers with facts. And the conclusions are already everyone's business.
The beginning of the invasion and prerequisites
For the first time, the troops of Russia and the Horde met on May 31, 1223 in the battle on Kalka. The Russian troops were led by the Kiev prince Mstislav, and they were opposed by Subedei and Juba. Russian army it was not only defeated, it was actually destroyed. There are many reasons for this, but they are all discussed in the article about the battle on Kalka. Returning to the first invasion, it took place in two stages:
- 1237-1238 - a campaign to the eastern and northern lands of Russia.
- 1239-1242 - a campaign to the southern lands, which led to the establishment of the yoke.
Invasion of 1237-1238
In 1236, the Mongols began another campaign against the Polovtsians. In this campaign, they achieved great success and in the second half of 1237 approached the borders of the Ryazan principality. The commander of the Asian cavalry was Batu Khan (Batu Khan), the grandson of Genghis Khan. There were 150 thousand people under his command. With him in the campaign participated Subedei, who was familiar with the Russians from previous clashes.
Map of the Tatar-Mongol invasion
The invasion took place in the early winter of 1237. It is impossible to establish the exact date here, since it is unknown. Moreover, some historians say that the invasion did not take place in winter, but in late autumn of the same year. At great speed, the Mongol cavalry moved around the country, conquering one city after another:
- Ryazan - fell at the end of December 1237. The siege lasted 6 days.
- Moscow - fell in January 1238. The siege lasted 4 days. This event was preceded by the Battle of Kolomna, where Yuri Vsevolodovich with his army tried to stop the enemy, but was defeated.
- Vladimir - fell in February 1238. The siege lasted 8 days.
After the capture of Vladimir, virtually all the eastern and northern lands were in the hands of Batu. He conquered one city after another (Tver, Yuryev, Suzdal, Pereslavl, Dmitrov). In early March, Torzhok fell, thereby opening the way for the Mongol army to the north, to Novgorod. But Batu made another maneuver, and instead of a march on Novgorod, he deployed his troops and went to storm Kozelsk. The siege lasted for 7 weeks, which ended only when the Mongols went for cunning. They announced that they would accept the surrender of the Kozelsk garrison and release everyone alive. People believed and opened the gates of the fortress. Batu did not keep his word and gave the order to kill everyone. This is how the first campaign and the first invasion of the Tatar-Mongol army to Russia ended.
Invasion of 1239-1242
After a break of one and a half years, in 1239, a new invasion of Russia by the troops of Khan Batu began. This year, the events based took place in Pereyaslav and Chernigov. The lethargy of Batu's offensive is due to the fact that at this time he was actively fighting the Polovtsy, in particular on the territory of the Crimea.
Autumn 1240 Batu led his army under the walls of Kiev. The ancient capital of Russia could not resist for a long time. The city fell on December 6, 1240. Historians note the particular atrocity with which the invaders behaved. Kiev was almost completely destroyed. Nothing remained of the city. The Kiev that we know today has nothing to do with the ancient capital (except geographic location). After these events, the invading army was divided:
- Part went to Vladimir-Volynsky.
- Part went to Galich.
Having captured these cities, the Mongols went on to a European campaign, but we are not interested in it.
Consequences of the Tatar-Mongol invasion of Russia
Historians unambiguously describe the consequences of the invasion of the Asian army into Russia:
- The country was covered, and became completely dependent on the Golden Horde.
- Russia began to pay tribute to the winners annually (in money and people).
- The country fell into a stupor in terms of progress and development due to an unbearable yoke.
This list can be continued, but, in general, it all boils down to the fact that all the problems that were in Russia at that time were written off to the yoke.
This is exactly what, in short, the Tatar-Mongol invasion seems to be from the point of view of official history and what we are told in textbooks. In contrast, we will consider the arguments of Gumilyov, and also ask a number of simple but very important questions for understanding the current problems and the fact that with the yoke, as well as with the Rus-Horde relations, everything is much more complex than it is customary to say.
For example, it is absolutely incomprehensible and inexplicable how a nomadic people, who still lived in a tribal system several decades ago, created a huge empire and conquered half of the world. Indeed, considering the invasion of Russia, we are considering only the tip of the iceberg. The empire of the Golden Horde was much larger: from the Pacific Ocean to the Adriatic, from Vladimir to Burma. Giant countries were conquered: Russia, China, India ... Neither before nor after has anyone been able to create a war machine that could conquer so many countries. And the Mongols were able to ...
To understand how difficult it was (if not to say that it was impossible), let's look at the situation with China (so that they do not accuse that we are looking for a conspiracy around Russia). The population of China at the time of Genghis Khan was approximately 50 million people. No one conducted a census of the Mongols, but, for example, today this nation has 2 million people. Considering that the number of all peoples of the Middle Ages is increasing by now, the Mongols were less than 2 million people (with women, old people and children). How did they manage to conquer China of 50 million inhabitants? And then also India and Russia ...
The strangeness of the geography of Batu's movement
Let's go back to the invasion of the Mongol Tatars to Russia. What were the goals of this trip? Historians talk about the desire to plunder the country and subjugate it. It also says that all of these goals have been achieved. But this is not entirely true, because in ancient Russia there were 3 richest cities:
- Kiev is one of the largest cities in Europe and the ancient capital of Russia. The city was conquered by the Mongols and destroyed.
- Novgorod is the largest trading city and the richest in the country (hence its special status). Didn't suffer from the invasion at all.
- Smolensk is also a trading city, it was considered equal in wealth to Kiev. The city also did not see the Mongol-Tatar army.
So it turns out that 2 of the 3 largest cities did not suffer from the invasion at all. Moreover, if we consider plunder as a key aspect of Batu's invasion of Russia, then the logic is not traced at all. Judge for yourself, Batu takes Torzhok (he spends 2 weeks on the assault). This is the poorest city, whose task is to protect Novgorod. But after that, the Mongols do not go to the North, which would be logical, but turn to the south. Why was it necessary to spend 2 weeks on Torzhok, which nobody needs, just to turn to the South? Historians give two explanations that seem logical at first glance:
- At Torzhok, Batu lost many soldiers and was afraid to go to Novgorod. This explanation could well be considered logical if not for one "but". Since Batu has lost a lot of his army, then he needs to leave Russia to replenish the army or take a break. But instead, the khan rushes to storm Kozelsk. There, by the way, the losses were huge and as a result the Mongols hastily left Russia. But why they did not go to Novgorod is not clear.
- The Tatar-Mongols were afraid of the spring flooding of rivers (it was in March). Even in modern conditions, March in the north of Russia is not distinguished by a mild climate and you can easily move around there. And if we talk about 1238, then that era is called the Little Ice Age by climatologists, when winters were much more severe than modern ones and in general the temperature is much lower (this is easy to check). That is, it turns out that in the era global warming in March you can get to Novgorod, and in the era ice age everyone was afraid of the flooding of rivers.
The situation with Smolensk is also paradoxical and inexplicable. Taking Torzhok, Batu sets out to storm Kozelsk. It is a simple fortress, a small and very poor city. The Mongols stormed it for 7 weeks, and lost thousands of people killed. What was it done for? There was no benefit from the capture of Kozelsk - there is no money in the city, there are no food warehouses either. Why such sacrifices? But only 24 hours of cavalry movement from Kozelsk is Smolensk - the richest city in Russia, but the Mongols do not even think to move towards it.
Surprisingly, all these logical questions are simply ignored by official historians. Standard excuses are given, they say, who knows these savages, that's how they decided for themselves. But such an explanation does not stand up to scrutiny.
Nomads never howl in winter
There is one more remarkable fact, which the official history simply bypasses. it is impossible to explain it. Both Tatar-Mongol invasions were committed to Russia in winter (or began in late autumn). But these are nomads, and nomads begin to fight only in the spring in order to end the battles before winter. After all, they move on horses that need to be fed. Can you imagine how you can feed the many thousands of Mongolian army in snowy Russia? Historians, of course, say that this is a trifle and it is not even worth considering such questions, but the success of any operation directly depends on the provision of:
- Karl 12 was unable to establish the provision of his army - he lost Poltava and the Northern War.
- Napoleon was unable to establish security and left Russia with a half-starved army, which was absolutely incapable of combat.
- Hitler, according to many historians, managed to establish security only by 60-70% - he lost the Second World War.
And now, understanding all this, let's see what the Mongol army was like. It is noteworthy, but there is no definite figure for its quantitative composition. Historians call numbers from 50 thousand to 400 thousand horsemen. For example, Karamzin speaks about Batu's 300 thousandth army. Let's take a look at the supply of the army using this figure as an example. As you know, the Mongols always went on military campaigns with three horses: riding (the rider moved on it), pack (carried the rider's personal belongings and weapons) and combat (went empty so that at any moment she could enter the battle fresh). That is, 300 thousand people are 900 thousand horses. Add to this the horses that transported the ramming guns (it is known for certain that the Mongols brought the guns assembled), the horses that brought food for the army, carried additional weapons, etc. It turns out, according to the most conservative estimates, 1.1 million horses! Now imagine how, in a snowy winter (during the era of the Little Ice Age), to feed such a herd in a foreign country? There is no answer, since this cannot be done.
So how many army did Dad have?
It is noteworthy, but the closer to our time there is a study of the invasion of the Tatar-Mongol army, the smaller the number is obtained. For example, the historian Vladimir Chivilikhin speaks of 30 thousand who moved separately, since they could not feed themselves in a single army. Some historians drop this figure even lower - up to 15 thousand. And here we come across an insoluble contradiction:
- If there really were so many Mongols (200-400 thousand), then how could they feed themselves and their horses in the harsh Russian winter? The cities did not surrender to them in peace in order to take their provisions, most of the fortresses were burned.
- If there were really only 30-50 thousand Mongols, then how did they manage to conquer Russia? After all, an army in the region of 50 thousand against Batu was fielded by each principality. If there were really so few Mongols and if they had acted on their own, the remains of the horde and Batu himself would have been buried under Vladimir. But in reality, everything was different.
We invite the reader to search for conclusions and answers to these questions on their own. For our part, we did the main thing - we pointed out the facts that completely refute the official version of the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars. At the end of the article, I want to note one more important fact that the whole world has recognized, including the official history, but this fact is hushed up and is published in few places. The main document, according to which the yoke and invasion was studied for many years, is the Laurentian Chronicle. But, as it turned out, the truth of this document raises big questions. The official history recognized that 3 pages of the chronicle (which speaks of the beginning of the yoke and the beginning of the Mongol invasion of Russia) were changed and were not original. I wonder how many more pages from the history of Russia have been changed in other chronicles, and what actually happened? But it is almost impossible to answer this question ...
In the XIII century, the climatic optimum that gave birth to the "path from the Varangians to the Greeks" began to end. In the Asian steppes, a cool and arid climate has replaced a warm and humid one. The nomadic hordes had to die (which has happened to them more than once and will be) or give birth to a leader. And they gave birth to the genius inventor of organizational weapons - Genghis Khan, who knew how to become stronger due to the strength of the enemy.
Somewhere far in the east, great empires were crumbling under the Mongol ram, and our free princes, our cities and suburbs still freely inserted caps to each other.
The squads of four Russian princes on Kalka had already been crushed in the literal and figurative sense (the Mongols feasted, laying the platform directly on the prisoners), and the degree of cooperation between the Russian principalities only fell every year. Already the Mongols are concentrating their forces on the Volga and Don, and the Russian princes waste time like puppies in a careless fuss. And it is not true that the princes did not have information about the concentration of Mongols at their eastern threshold, crowds of Bulgar refugees flooded Vladimir and Ryazan. Especially cruel feuds hit South-Western Russia at this time, which did not end even with the beginning of the Batu invasion.
After Bogolyubsky, more than one Russian prince did not dare to engage in the unification of the country - health is more expensive. The spatial extent and inconvenient transport communications always gave free princes and free cities the opportunity to dissuade themselves from such a troublesome event as the convening of a single army. And if you think about it - it is for the better - the army, brought down from the squads of different princes, would have perished, as under Kalka. After all, the squads were created not for the sake of "putting their belly for their friends", but for the sake of the merrymaking of the Rurik people among themselves. Any Mongol army at the level of fractal geometry reflected the general Mongolian organization.
Rus River was doomed - precisely because of its "freedoms". Ironside, however, maneuverable Tatar-Mongols, one after another, grinded selected Russian squads, with the help of advanced siege technology (Chinese know-how), they easily took Russian cities.
By the way, the paradox of Russian disorganization showed itself in an anecdotal manner even during the Batu pogrom. The princes, as usual, continue their strife. The princes of Southwestern Russia are fighting for Galich and Kiev, but with the approach of Batu's troops, both the Kiev prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich, and the Volyn prince Daniil Romanovich, who just captured Galich and Kiev, and Prince Mikhail of Chernigov fled behind the cordon, to Hungary and Poland. Northeastern Russia nevertheless gave the Mongols three battles in the field, in South-Western Russia and this did not happen, the resistance to the invasion there turned out to be completely disorganized and weak. Despite the annihilation of the most important centers of urban culture, for 3-4 years after the invasion, the elite managed to forget the pogrom, although the princes visited the khan's headquarters - the same Daniil Romanovich went to Galich to get a label. But the Tatar-Mongols returned, as they had promised, again taught a lesson with the help of Nevrueva rati (1252) and lowered the curtain over the first Rus.
The Mongols who finally returned established a truly mafia power for 240 years, which was strikingly different from their power in civilized China or cultural Iran. In Russia, it was a combination of irresponsibility (in most of it the Mongol-Tatars did not directly rule; the Mongol-Tatar administrative system existed only in some southwestern Russian lands, which later became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) and plunder. Russia has become the clearest example of a donor system.
Robbery according to the rules was carried out in the form of collecting tribute. 5-7 thousand silver rubles only from the Moscow principality - mind you, the tribute was collected in silver, although there was no silver in Russia. This means that the financial elite of that time - the Germans and Italians - had a good gain. In addition, add the extortion of commemoration gifts, as well as the milking of other requisitions for the Mongolian chiefs.
Robbery without rules was carried out in the form of predatory campaigns - there were dozens of them, look only at the collection of Russian chronicles (PSRL). The captured booty was resold through the main market traders of that time - the Italians - in the Crimean ulus. Add, if the Mongols burned a field or took away grain, this meant starvation for the village, and hide and seek in the forest more often brought a high mortality rate for the weak.
Some Mongol-Tatar campaigns of the times of the yoke were not inferior in destructiveness to the invasion of Batu, for example, Dudenev's army in 1293. Only in the 13th century, after Batu, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky was destroyed 4 more times (1252, 1281, 1282, 1293), Murom, Suzdal and Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky - three times, Vladimir - twice and three times its surroundings were completely devastated. More like not a benevolent management, but the anti-partisan operations of the Wehrmacht.
The Tatar-Mongol power cut off Rus proper from the world trade communications, from the world division of labor. Although the Horde itself actively participated in it. Yes, the resources plundered from Russia, including human resources, were sold and resold (and somewhere far in the west they sponsored the Renaissance), but the trading operations in the Horde were almost exclusively carried out by Muslim merchants-Sermen and Italian merchants-fryagi. The Baltic-Black Sea route, which Russia actually created, was now destroying Russia. What the impoverished Russia sold through Novgorod enriched only a narrow stratum of Novgorod compradors and the Hanseatic corporation, which completely controlled trade in the Baltic.
Late Middle Ages and Renaissance - this period was in Europe a time of transition to a new time, here in one bottle and the development of technology, and the accumulation of trade capital, and the complication of social institutions. For us, it was the time of the disappearance of all complex crafts and the cessation of stone construction, as well as the return to archaic slash or switch farming - only in the dense forest was there an opportunity to hide from the Horde racketeers. It was a time of unproductive farming on loam between the Oka and the upper Volga, with a minimum yield of surplus product, a time of poverty. What is the accumulation of capital, if only not to die of hunger. The true name of this state is Forest Rus.
His face was two or three-courtyard villages with peasants of their own land and backward agriculture, in which (to maintain soil fertility) a constant movement into the depths of the forest was required - farther and farther from the inhabited spaces and trade routes. Only land expansion and the burning of forests could produce a sufficient harvest with scarce workers' hands and poor soils. There were also opolye, densely populated territories with rather intensive agriculture on the border of the forest and the steppe - but it was on them that the princes collected taxes for the Mongols, and it was here that the punishing blow of the Mongolian cavalry fell in case of material dissatisfaction of the khans and emirs.
The entire system of Rus' Lesnaya has the character of transition, oscillation, with indistinct boundaries of power, sovereignty, inhabited territories.
The Tatar-Mongol yoke was unfavorable for Russia, and here, in the spirit of Lao Tzu, I will add that this is precisely why it became beneficial.
The constant pressure of the external environment - the Golden Horde - strengthened the internal ties of the Russian space and led to a new type of stability.
Within the framework of the challenge-response concept created by A. Toynbee, this pressure will create new type Russian state with a new level of organization and social consciousness. However, from Russia Lesnaya, an eternal atavism remained the inclusion in the international division of labor on alien terms, relative isolation from world trade and the stay of the national core in the zone of unproductive Agriculture, expensive construction as well as manufacturing and transport, which are highly seasonally dependent.
Used a fragment from my essay: Alexander Tyurin. "Formula of history"
Appendix. List of major campaigns of the Mongol-Tatars against the Russian principalities 1237-1472.
1237, December: Old Ryazan was destroyed by the Mongol-Tatars, the entire population was destroyed; the Principality of Pronskoe was ruined
1238, January 1: the ruin of the city of Kolomna by Batu Khan, the death of Prince Roman, the governor Jeremey Glebovich and the military leader Kulkhan, the youngest son of Genghis Khan.
1238, January-March: Mongol-Tatars conquer and devastate the Vladimir, Pereslavl, Yuryev, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Uglitsk and Kozelsk princedoms.
1239: Mongol-Tatars conquer the Pereyaslavl and Chernigov principalities, burn Murom.
1240: Mongol-Tatars destroy Kiev.
1241: Mongol-Tatars conquer the Vladimir-Volyn and Galician principalities.
1252: "Nevryuev army": a large detachment of Tatar cavalry under the command of Nevryuya defeats the princely squad, destroys Pereslavl-Zalessky and Suzdal. "Tatarove, however, scattered about the earth ... and the people were mad, leading up to the horse and cattle, and a lot of evil outstripped."
1258: on the borders of the Galician principality appears large army led by Burunday, who forces Prince Daniel Romanovich to destroy the fortresses and provide an army for campaigns along with the Horde.
1273: two attacks of the Mongols on the Novgorod lands. Destruction of Vologda and Bezhitsa.
1275: the defeat of the southeastern outskirts of Russia, the devastation of Kursk: "Tartars are great evil and great dirty trick and annoyance as Christians, in the volosts, in the villages, grabishe yards, horses and cattle and estates are taken away, and where they have met, and those who have peeled naked will let them go."
1274: the ruin of the Smolensk principality.
1277: raid on the lands of the Galicia-Volyn principality
1278: "That same summer, the Tatars came to Ryazan, and she opened up a lot of evil, and spent her time in her own way."
1281: a large army of Kovdygai and Alchida destroyed Murom and Pereslavl, ravaged the environs of Suzdal, Rostov, Vladimir, Yuriev-Polsky, Tver, Torzhok.
1282: Mongol-Tatar raid on Vladimir and Pereyaslavl lands.
1283: the ruin of the Vorgol, Ryl and Lipovech princedoms, the Mongols captured Kursk and Vorgol.
1285: "Prince Eltorai Ordinsky, son of Temirev, come to Ryazan, and the warrior Ryazan, Murom, Mordovians, and there is a lot of evil outstripped."
1287: raid on Vladimir.
1288: raid on Ryazan.
1293: "in the summer of 6801 Duden came to Russia and the captivity of 14 and more hailstones", including Murom, Moscow, Kolomna, Vladimir, Suzdal, Yuriev, Pereslavl, Mozhaisk, Volok, Dmitrov, Uglich-Pole. "That same summer, the Tatar prince Takhtamir came from the Horde to Tver, and inflict a lot on the people." On the way through the Vladimir lands, this detachment is "one piece of sheep, and the other is full of them." From Murom to Tver, the Tatars "laid down the whole land empty."
1307: campaign to the Ryazan principality
1315: Mongol-Tatars destroy Torzhok ( Novgorod land) with the participation of the prince of Tver, as well as Rostov
1317: sack of Kostroma, invasion of the Tver principality
1319: hike to Kostroma and Rostov
1320: raid on Rostov and Vladimir
1321: raid on Kashin
1322: ruin of Yaroslavl
1327: Mongol-Tatars ravage Tver and the cities of the Tver principality
1347: raid on Aleksin
1358, 1365, 1370, 1373: campaigns on the Ryazan principality
1367: foray into Nizhny Novgorod principality
1375: raid on the southeastern outskirts of the Nizhny Novgorod principality
1375: raid on Kashin
1377 and 1378: raids on the Nizhny Novgorod principality, a campaign in the Ryazan principality
1382: Khan Tokhtamysh burns Moscow, tens of thousands of Muscovites died
1391: hike to Vyatka
1395: devastation of Yelets by Tamerlane's troops
1399: raid on the principality of Nizhny Novgorod
1408: Tatars under the leadership of Edigei ravage Serpukhov, the environs of Moscow, Pereslavl, Rostov, Yuryev, Dmitrov, Nizhny Novgorod, Galician (Galich Kostroma) and Belozersk lands
1410: ruin of Vladimir
1429: Mongol-Tatars ravage the vicinity of Galich, Kostroma, Kostroma, Lukh, Pleso
1439: Mongol-Tatars ravage the environs of Moscow and Kolomna
1443: Tatars ravage the vicinity of Ryazan, but are repelled from the city
1445: raid of Ulu-Muhammad's troops to Nizhny Novgorod and Suzdal
1449: the ruin of the southern outskirts of the Moscow principality
1451: the ruin of the environs of Moscow by Khan Mazovsha
1455 and 1459: the ruin of the southern outskirts of the Moscow principality
1468: devastation of the surroundings of Galich Kostroma
1472: the plunder of the city of Aleksin and the extermination of its inhabitants by the army of Khan Akhmat
List sources:
Kargalov V. V. The liberation struggle of Russia against the Mongol-Tatar yoke // "Questions of history." - 1969. - No. 2-4.
Kargalov V.V. Feudal Rus and nomads. - M .: 1967.
Complete collection of Russian chronicles. - 2001. - ISBN 5-94457-011-3
Kuchkin V.A.Russia under the yoke. - "Panorama", 1991. - ISBN 5-85220-101-4
You can read about the struggle of Russia against the predatory heirs of the Golden Horde in my book: Alexander Tyurin. War and Peace of Ivan the Terrible. M. 2009. Available
Well, in conclusion, my answer to one typical question that a reader of this post on the Badnews website asked me:
www.alterinf.biz (06.03.2011 21:25)
The invasion of the "Mongols" was invented by the Millers in the 18th century as an action in the information war against Russia. At the same time, the originals of chronicles and other ancient Russian documents were destroyed, the Norman theory was invented, and so on.
What is known for certain?
According to Asian sources, Genghis Khan was tall, fair-haired and light-eyed.
Western European sources say nothing about narrow-eyed Asians. "Mongols" according to z. European sources on outward appearance and weapons are no different from the Russians.
The originals of Russian sources have been destroyed.
In the genes of the Russian people, the Mongoloid admixture is vanishingly small.
The European, one might say conditionally, the Slavic population beyond the Urals existed for many centuries before the campaigns of Ermak.
Elementary calculations show that the giant hordes of nomads simply would not have been able to feed the horses. Especially in winter.
Obviously, the Horde is a regular united Russian army.
Some kind of substitution of concepts occurred during the accession of the Rurikids.
And under Peter the Great, the rewriting of history began from a Westernist position.
My answer:
We do not need either Westernism or Easternism. We are on our own, we have our own civilization. By the way, the Mongols were quite connected with the West and calmly traded with it the booty that they plundered in Russia.
The Mongol-Tatar invasions, as I wrote above, are the raids of a whole conglomerate of steppe tribes, Kipchaks, Karluks, Oguzes, Mongol tribes.
This is not Miller's invention at all. The invasions of the steppe people (both before the Mongols, and Batyevo, and after Batu) are extensively reflected in the Russian chronicles written long before Peter; sometimes it is not a sin to look into them, since they have been published several times as "The Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles".
The results of the invasions were fully reflected in the physical reality - the desolation of the vast area of Russian settled settlements, which became known as the Wild Field and which had to be repopulated in the 16-18 centuries.
In the 12th century. Polovtsian nomads (Polovtsians are also Kipchaks) have already knocked out Russian settlements from part of the territories along the Donets, Don, and tributaries of the lower Dnieper. By the end of the 13th century. - the beginning of the 14th century. the border of Russian settled life was mainly narrower, much to the north, along the Oka; with only a few clusters south of it, in wooded areas.
That is, the steppe and forest-steppe were lost for the sedentary population - this is the result of the Mongol-Tatar invasion. Kursk, for example, appears again only three centuries later.
Companions of Metropolitan Pimen see on the Don at the end of 14 in only the remains of settlements - fortified settlements. (The general decline was estimated, for example, by Kargalov, by the reduction in the number of settlements and the death of the population of urban centers, such as old Ryazan, Kiev, Vladimir, etc.).
The result of the Mongol-Tatar invasions was the formation of several states, not only the Golden Horde. But also, for example, the state of Chagataev in Central Asia, Khubilai in China, Hulagu in Iran.
The Slavs beyond the Urals, or rather the Eastern Indo-Europeans or Proto-Slavs (in the terminology of the ethnogenetist of Klesov), carriers of the R1a1 DNA marker are truly a historical reality given to us in archaeological
cultures of Andronov, Afanasiev and others, during the Bronze and Iron Age. They really settled down to the Chinese Gansu (perhaps this is the blonde dinlins from the Chinese chronicles). Indo-Europeans Saki and Tochars lived right up to Central Asia at the beginning of our era.
But this fact by no means rejects the existence of the Turks and Mongols who went through ethnogenesis in the northern part of Central Asia.
The change in the anthropological type of the Turks and Mongols took place during their movement to the west. Indo-Europeans Tochars could mix with the Turks and Mongols very early.
Russians went to Western Siberia, of course, even before Yermak, remember only the campaigns of the Moscow army in Ugra at the end of the 15th century, which ended in the subordination of the Ugra princes (albeit temporarily).
The Norman theory is not at all in the subject here (personally, I am an anti-Normanist). Western European scribes knew very little about the Kipchaks, Mongols, etc., only indirectly. But the poet Petrarch notices absolutely unusual narrow-eyed cheekbones on the streets of Genoa, which had extensive ties with the Golden Horde (see Petrarch's letter to the Genoese bishop Guido Setti). These were just the guests from the Horde.
