Mongol-Tatars - the history of the seizure of the Russian land

The first Mongol-Tatar invasions into Russia began through the Black Sea steppes in the first half of the 13th century. Genghis Khan (Temuchin) intended thus to expand his vast state, which by this time stretched from the shores of the Pacific to the Caspian Sea.

In the southern steppes, near the shores of the Black Sea, the Polovtsian tribes lived at that time. They began to call on the Russian princes to help, arguing that if today the Mongol-Tatars capture the Polovtsian land, then tomorrow they will reach the Russian land.

The appearance of new, hitherto unknown powerful enemies, caused great fear in Russia. Only the princes of the southern lands decided to help the Polovtsy in the exile of the enemy. They emerged as a united army, but were completely defeated during the battle on the Kalka River. The Mongol-Tatars also suddenly decided to leave the Russian lands after their victory.

In 1227, the invincible Genghis Khan died, and his vast possessions were divided between his sons, the supremacy of all over to Udegeya.

Part of the land went to the grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu. He decided to continue his grandfather's aggressive policy and expand the boundaries of his new possessions.

In 1236 a huge army of Mongol-Tatars led by Baty easily captured the capital of the Volga-Kama Bulgarians, the city of Veliky Bulgar, and by 1237 came close to the borders of the Ryazan principality. Batu sent his ambassadors to the local princes with a demand to recognize his authority and agree to pay tithing. They proudly replied: "All yours, if we do not become."

The Ryazan princes turned to the Prince of Vladimir for help. But here the consequences of the prolonged fragmentation and disunity of Rus affected. Vladimir Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich decided not to give help, but to prepare for the battle and fight independently.

Each Russian principality exerted a desperate resistance to the enemy, but one by one they could not resist the organized forces of Batu.

After the capture of the Ryazan lands, the Mongol-Tatars went to Suzdal. The capital of the principality, the city of Vladimir, was captured and burned. It was followed by Rostov, Yaroslavl, Moscow, Tver and Suzdal. There was not a single village left on this land that would not have been horded over, killing and burning everything in its path. And the Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich died in the battle on the river City.

For two years, the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars conquered the whole north-east of Russia. The most fierce resistance was rendered by the inhabitants of the small town of Kozelsk. For this the invaders cut them all to one, and from the city they left only ruins.

By 1240 Batu's troops captured the south-western Russian territories. Pal Chernigov and Pereslavl. In the winter of 1240, Kiev took the Mongol-Tatars. Russia was subdued.

The next few years the horde went through the territories of Hungary, Silesia, Moravia and Poland. But for a long time the Tatars could not resist and retreated. The extreme western borders of conquests were the principalities of Volyn and Galicia.

After that, the Mongol-Tatars decided to stop in the south-west of the Russian plain and founded a new Khanate there - the Golden Horde. Legally it was subordinate to the great Mongolian khan, but gradually became an independent state. The Golden Horde dominated all Russian lands, in the Black Sea, the Urals and parts of the West Siberian steppes.

The Tatar Khan did not abolish the power of the Russian princes, but rose above it. After the recognition by the princes of the supreme authority of the Horde, they could officially rule in their principalities, receiving the so-called "label". Batu personally judged which of the surviving princes which princedom to give to the board. The power of the Russian princes over their people at the same time only intensified, because they now relied on the enormous external strength of the troops of the Golden Horde.

The entire population of the principalities was carefully rewritten and heavily taxed. Initially, her collection was entrusted to the Baskaks - special officials from the Horde. Sometimes this was done by the Basurman merchants, who from their own treasury paid the necessary amount of tribute, and then independently levied it from the local population, cashing in on it.

Pursuits, harassment and violence have repeatedly provoked popular uprisings against the Tatars. But the local princes tried so to negotiate with the Horde, so as not to incur repeated extermination on their people. At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the Tatar authorities still considered it more convenient to entrust the collection of the tribute directly to the Russian princes.

The power of the Golden Horde gradually weakened - strong rulers were no longer there, and the internecine trials of the khans only aggravated the situation. In November 1480, in a decisive clash at the Ugra River , Russian prince's forces were able to defeat the Mongol-Tatar army. As a result, the conquerors were forced to return to their historical territories. So officially ended the perennial Mongol-Tatar yoke, Russia once again became free.