What is the Golden Horde. Years of the Golden Horde

At what stage of education do schoolchildren usually get to know the concept of the Golden Horde? Grade 6, of course. The history teacher tells the children how the Orthodox people suffered from foreign invaders. It seems that in the thirteenth century, Rus experienced the same brutal occupation as in the forties of the last century. But is it worthwhile to blindly draw parallels between the Third Reich and the medieval semi-nomadic state? And what for the Slavs meant the Tatar-Mongol yoke? What was the Golden Horde for them? "History" (Grade 6, textbook) is not the only source on this topic. There are other, more thorough works of researchers. Let us take an adult look at a fairly long time period in the history of our native country.

The beginning of the Golden Horde

Europe first became acquainted with the Mongolian nomadic tribes in the first quarter of the thirteenth century. The troops of Genghis Khan reached the Adriatic and could successfully advance further - to Italy and to Western Europe. But the dream of the great conqueror happened - the Mongols were able to scoop water from the West Sea with a helmet. That is why the army of many thousands returned to its steppes. For another twenty years, the Mongol empire and feudal Europe existed, not encountering anything, as if in parallel worlds. In 1224 Genghis Khan divided his kingdom between his sons. Thus appeared Ulus (province) Juchi - the most western in the empire. If we ask ourselves what the Golden Horde is, then the year 1236 can be considered the starting point of this state formation. It was then that the ambitious Khan Batu (son of Juchi and grandson of Genghis Khan) began his Western campaign.

What is the Golden Horde

This military operation, which lasted from 1236 to 1242, markedly expanded the territory of the ulus of Juchi to the west. However, it was still too early to talk about the Golden Horde. Ulus is an administrative unit in the great empire of Genghis Khan, and it was dependent on the central authority. However, Khan Batu (in the Russian annals Baty) in 1254 moved his capital to the Lower Volga region. There he arranged the capital. Khan founded the large city of Saray-Batu (now a place near the village of Selitrennoe in the Astrakhan region). In 1251, the kurultai took place, where the emperor was elected Munke. Baty came to the capital Karakorum and supported the heir to the throne. Other applicants were executed. Their lands were divided between Mongke and Chingizids (including Batu). The very term "Golden Horde" appeared much later - in 1566, in the book "Kazan History", when this very state ceased to exist. The self-name of this territorial formation was "Ulu Ulus", which means in translation from the Turkic "Grand Principality".

Years of the Golden Horde

The display of devotion to the Khan Mongke served Bata well. His ulus received greater autonomy. But the state gained complete independence only after the death of Batu (1255), already during the reign of Khan Mengu-Timur, in 1266. But even then the nominal dependence on the Mongolian empire was preserved. The composition of this exaggerated ulus included Volga Bulgaria, Northern Khorezm, Western Siberia, Desht-i-Kipchak (steppes from the Irtysh to the Danube), the Northern Caucasus and the Crimea. By area, public education can be compared to the Roman Empire. Its southern outskirts were Derbent, and the north-eastern limit was Iskar and Tyumen in Siberia. In 1257, Batu's brother ascended to the throne of the ulus , Berke Khan (ruled until 1266). He converted to Islam, but, most likely, for political reasons. The broad masses of the Mongols did not affect Islam, but it enabled the khan to attract Arab handicraftsmen and traders from Central Asia and the Volga Bulgars to his side. The Golden Horde reached its peak in the 14th century, when the Uzbek Khan ascended the throne (1313-1342). Under him, Islam became the state religion. After the death of Uzbek, the state began to experience an era of feudal fragmentation. Tamerlane's campaign (1395) drove the last nail into the coffin of this great but short-lived power.

The End of the Golden Horde

In the XV century the state disintegrated. Small independent principalities appeared: the Nogai Horde (the first years of the fifteenth century), the Kazan, the Crimean, the Astrakhan, the Uzbek, the Siberian Khanate. Central power remained and continued to be considered supreme. But the Golden Horde times have passed. The power of the assignee became more and more nominal. This state was called the Great Horde. It was located in the Northern Black Sea coast and extended to the Lower Volga. The Great Horde ceased to exist only at the beginning of the sixteenth century, being absorbed by the Crimean Khanate.

Rus and Ulus Juchi

The Slav lands were not part of the Mongol Empire. What is the Golden Horde, Rusich could judge only in the extreme western ulus of Juchi. The rest of the empire and its metropolitan splendor remained out of sight of the Slav princes. Their relationship with the ulus of Juchi in certain periods was of a different nature - from partner to frankly slavish. But in most cases it was typically a feudal relationship between the feudal lord and the vassal. Russian princes came to the capital of ulus Djuchi, the city of Saray, and brought homage to the khan, receiving from him a "shortcut" - the right to manage his state. The first to do this in 1243 was Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. Therefore, the most influential and the first in subordination was a label on the Vladimir-Suzdal reign. From this during the Tatar-Mongol yoke and the center of all Russian lands shifted. They became the city of Vladimir.

The "terrible" Tatar-Mongol yoke

A textbook of history for the sixth class paints the misfortunes that the Russian people suffered under the invaders. However, not everything was so sad. The princes first used Mongol troops to fight their enemies (or pretenders to the throne). It was necessary to pay for such military support. Then, in times of vassalage, the princes were to give part of their income from taxes to the khan of ulus Juchi - his lord. This was called the "horde exit". If the fee was delayed, the Bakauli arrived, who collected the taxes themselves. But at the same time the Slavic princes ruled the people, and his life flowed as before.

Peoples of the Mongolian Empire

If we ask ourselves what the Golden Horde is from the point of view of the state system, then there is no single answer. At first it was a semi-military and semi-nomadic alliance of Mongolian tribes. Very quickly - within one or two generations - the strike force of the conquerors' forces assimilated among the conquered population. Already at the beginning of the fourteenth century, the Russians called the Horde "Tatars". The ethnographic composition of this empire was very heterogeneous. Alans, Uzbeks, Kipchaks and other nomadic or sedentary people lived there permanently. The Khans strongly encouraged the development of trade, crafts and the construction of cities. There was no discrimination on the basis of nationality or religion. In the capital of the ulus - Saraje - in 1261 even an Orthodox bishopric was formed, so numerous was the Russian diaspora.