Tatar Mongol yoke in Russia briefly. How did the Tatar-Mongol yoke end?

Chronology

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

The beginning of the Mongol conquests of the Russian principalities

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

In the XII century. there was no centralized state in Mongolia; the union of the tribes was achieved at the end of the 12th century. Temuchin, the leader of one of the clans. At a general meeting (“kurultai”) of representatives of all clans in 1206 d. he was proclaimed a great khan with the name Genghis(“Infinite Power”).

As soon as the empire was created, it began its expansion. The organization of the Mongolian army was based on the decimal principle - 10, 100, 1000, etc. The imperial guard was created, which controlled the entire army. Before the advent of firearms Mongolian cavalry took up in the steppe wars. She is was better organized and trained than any nomadic army of the past. The reason for success was not only the perfection of the military organization of the Mongols, but also the unpreparedness of rivals.

At the beginning of the 13th century, having conquered part of Siberia, the Mongols in 1215 set about conquering China. They managed to capture the entire northern part of it. From China, the Mongols took out the latest military equipment and specialists for that time. In addition, they received cadres of competent and experienced officials from among the Chinese. In 1219, the troops of Genghis Khan invaded Central Asia. Following Central Asia captured Northern Iran, after which the troops of Genghis Khan made a predatory campaign in Transcaucasia. From the south they came to the Polovtsian steppes and defeated the Polovtsians.

The request of the Polovtsy to help them against a dangerous enemy was accepted by the Russian princes. The battle between the Russian-Polovtsian and Mongol troops took place on May 31, 1223 on the Kalka River in the Azov region. Not all Russian princes, who promised to participate in the battle, put up their troops. The battle ended with the defeat of the Russian-Polovtsian troops, many princes and combatants died.

In 1227, Genghis Khan died. Ogedei, his third son, was elected Great Khan. In 1235, the Kurultai met in the Mongolian capital of Karakorum, where it was decided to begin the conquest of the western lands. This intention posed a terrible threat to the Russian lands. Ogedei's nephew, Batu (Batu), became the head of the new campaign.

In 1236, the troops of Batu began a campaign against the Russian lands. Having defeated the Volga Bulgaria, they set off to conquer the Ryazan principality. The Ryazan princes, their squads and townspeople had to fight the invaders alone. The city was burned and plundered. After the capture of Ryazan, the Mongol troops moved to Kolomna. Many Russian soldiers died in the battle near Kolomna, and the battle itself ended in defeat for them. On February 3, 1238, the Mongols approached Vladimir. Having besieged the city, the invaders sent a detachment to Suzdal, who took it and burned it. The Mongols stopped only in front of Novgorod, turning south due to mudslides.

In 1240 the Mongol offensive resumed. Chernigov and Kyiv were captured and destroyed. From here, the Mongol troops moved into Galicia-Volyn Rus. Having captured Vladimir-Volynsky, Galich in 1241, Batu invaded Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Moravia, and then in 1242 reached Croatia and Dalmatia. However, the Mongol troops entered Western Europe significantly weakened by the powerful resistance they met in Russia. This largely explains the fact that if the Mongols managed to establish their yoke in Russia, then Western Europe experienced only an invasion, and then on a smaller scale. This is the historical role of the heroic resistance of the Russian people to the invasion of the Mongols.

The result of the grandiose campaign of Batu was the conquest of a vast territory - the southern Russian steppes and forests of Northern Russia, the region of the Lower Danube (Bulgaria and Moldova). The Mongol Empire now included the entire Eurasian continent from the Pacific Ocean to the Balkans.

After the death of Ögedei in 1241, the majority supported the candidacy of Ögedei's son Gayuk. Batu became the head of the strongest regional khanate. He established his capital at Sarai (north of Astrakhan). His power extended to Kazakhstan, Khorezm, Western Siberia, the Volga, the North Caucasus, Russia. Gradually, the western part of this ulus became known as Golden Horde.

The struggle of the Russian people against Western aggression

When the Mongols occupied Russian cities, the Swedes, threatening Novgorod, appeared at the mouth of the Neva. They were defeated in July 1240 by the young prince Alexander, who received the name Nevsky for his victory.

At the same time, the Roman Church was making acquisitions in the countries of the Baltic Sea. Back in the 12th century, German chivalry began to seize the lands belonging to the Slavs beyond the Oder and in the Baltic Pomerania. At the same time, an offensive was carried out on the lands of the Baltic peoples. The Crusaders' invasion of the Baltic lands and Northwestern Russia was sanctioned by the Pope and the German Emperor Frederick II. German, Danish, Norwegian knights and hosts from other northern European countries also took part in the crusade. The attack on Russian lands was part of the doctrine of "Drang nach Osten" (pressure to the east).

Baltics in the 13th century

Together with his retinue, Alexander liberated Pskov, Izborsk and other captured cities with a sudden blow. Having received the news that the main forces of the Order were coming at him, Alexander Nevsky blocked the way for the knights, placing his troops on the ice of Lake Peipsi. The Russian prince showed himself as an outstanding commander. The chronicler wrote about him: "Winning everywhere, but we won't win at all." Alexander deployed troops under the cover of a steep bank on the ice of the lake, eliminating the possibility of enemy reconnaissance of his forces and depriving the enemy of freedom of maneuver. Taking into account the construction of the knights as a “pig” (in the form of a trapezoid with a sharp wedge in front, which was heavily armed cavalry), Alexander Nevsky arranged his regiments in the form of a triangle, with a tip resting on the shore. Before the battle, part of the Russian soldiers were equipped with special hooks to pull the knights off their horses.

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

Stubbornly resisting the western enemies, Alexander was extremely patient with the eastern onslaught. Recognition of the sovereignty of the khan freed his hands to repel the Teutonic crusade.

Tatar-Mongol yoke

While persistently resisting the Western enemies, Alexander was extremely patient with the Eastern onslaught. The Mongols did not interfere in the religious affairs of their subjects, while the Germans tried to impose their faith on the conquered peoples. They pursued an aggressive policy under the slogan "Who does not want to be baptized must die!". Recognition of the Khan's sovereignty freed forces to repel the Teutonic crusade. But it turned out that the "Mongol flood" is not easy to get rid of. RRussian lands despoiled by the Mongols were forced to recognize vassal dependence on the Golden Horde.

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

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

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

In 1257, the Mongol-Tatars undertook a census of the population - "recording in number." Besermen (Muslim merchants) were sent to the cities, to whom the collection of tribute was given. The size of the tribute (“exit”) was very large, only the “royal tribute”, i.e. tribute in favor of the khan, which was first collected in kind, and then in money, amounted to 1300 kg of silver per year. The constant tribute was supplemented by "requests" - one-time requisitions in favor of the khan. In addition, deductions from trade duties, taxes for “feeding” khan officials, etc. went to the khan's treasury. In total there were 14 types of tributes in favor of the Tatars.

The Horde yoke slowed down the economic development of Russia for a long time, destroyed its agriculture, and undermined its culture. The Mongol invasion led to a decline in the role of cities in the political and economic life of Russia, urban construction was suspended, and fine and applied arts fell into decay. A severe consequence of the yoke was the deepening of the disunity of Russia and the isolation of its individual parts. The weakened country was unable to defend a number of western and southern regions, later captured by the Lithuanian and Polish feudal lords. Rus' trade relations with the West were dealt a blow: only Novgorod, Pskov, Polotsk, Vitebsk and Smolensk retained trade relations with foreign countries.

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

Battle of Kulikovo 1380

Russia began to grow stronger, its dependence on the Horde weakened more and more. The final liberation took place in 1480 under Tsar Ivan III. By this time, the period was over, the collection of Russian lands around Moscow and was ending.

1243 - After the defeat of Northern Russia by the Mongol-Tatars and the death of the great Prince of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich (1188-1238x), Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (1190-1246+) remained the eldest in the family, who became the Grand Duke.
Returning from the western campaign, Batu summons the Grand Duke Yaroslav II Vsevolodovich of Vladimir-Suzdal to the Horde and hands him a label (sign-permission) at the khan's headquarters in Saray for a great reign in Russia: "Would you be older than all the princes in the Russian language."
Thus, a unilateral act of vassalage of Russia to the Golden Horde was carried out and legally formalized.
Russia, according to the label, lost the right to fight and had to regularly pay tribute to the khans twice a year (in spring and autumn). Baskaks (deputies) were sent to the Russian principalities - their capitals - to oversee the strict collection of tribute and compliance with its size.
1243-1252 - This decade was a time when the Horde troops and officials did not disturb Russia, receiving timely tribute and expressions of external obedience. The Russian princes during this period assessed the current situation and developed their own line of conduct in relation to the Horde.
Two lines of Russian politics:
1. The line of systematic partisan resistance and continuous "point" uprisings: ("run, not serve the king") - led. book. Andrei I Yaroslavich, Yaroslav III Yaroslavich and others.
2. The line of complete, unquestioning submission to the Horde (Alexander Nevsky and most other princes). Many specific princes (Uglitsky, Yaroslavl, and especially Rostov) established relations with the Mongol khans, who left them to "rule and rule." The princes preferred to recognize the supreme power of the Horde Khan and donate to the conquerors part of the feudal rent collected from the dependent population, rather than risk losing their principalities (See "On the visits of Russian princes to the Horde"). The same policy was pursued by the Orthodox Church.
1252 Invasion of the "Nevryuev rati" The first after 1239 in North-Eastern Russia - Reasons for the invasion: Punish Grand Duke Andrei I Yaroslavich for disobedience and speed up the full payment of tribute.
Horde forces: The Nevruy army had a significant number - at least 10 thousand people. and a maximum of 20-25 thousand, this indirectly follows from the title of Nevryuy (tsarevich) and the presence in his army of two wings led by temniks - Yelabuga (Olabuga) and Kotiy, and also from the fact that Nevryuy’s army was able to disperse throughout the Vladimir-Suzdal principality and "comb" it!
Russian forces: Consisted of regiments of Prince. Andrei (i.e. regular troops) and squads (volunteer and security detachments) of the Tver governor Zhiroslav, sent by the Tver prince Yaroslav Yaroslavich to help his brother. These forces were an order of magnitude smaller than the Horde ones in terms of their numbers, i.e. 1.5-2 thousand people
The course of the invasion: Having crossed the Klyazma River near Vladimir, the punitive army of Nevryuy hastily headed for Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, where Prince took refuge. Andrew, and, having overtaken the army of the prince, they utterly defeated him. The Horde plundered and devastated the city, and then occupied the entire Vladimir land and, returning to the Horde, "combed" it.
The results of the invasion: The Horde army rounded up and captured tens of thousands of captive peasants (for sale in the eastern markets) and hundreds of thousands of cattle and took them to the Horde. Book. Andrei, with the remnants of his squad, fled to the Novgorod Republic, which refused to give him asylum, fearing reprisals from the Horde. Fearing that one of his "friends" would betray him to the Horde, Andrei fled to Sweden. Thus, the very first attempt to resist the Horde failed. The Russian princes abandoned the line of resistance and leaned towards the line of obedience.
The label for the great reign was received by Alexander Nevsky.
1255 The first complete census of the population of North-Eastern Russia, conducted by the Horde - Accompanied by spontaneous unrest of the local population, scattered, unorganized, but united by the common demand of the masses: "not to give the number of Tatars", i.e. not to give them any data that could become the basis for a fixed payment of tribute.
Other authors indicate different dates for the census (1257-1259)
1257 An attempt to conduct a census in Novgorod - In 1255, the census was not conducted in Novgorod. In 1257, this measure was accompanied by an uprising of the Novgorodians, the expulsion of the Horde "counters" from the city, which led to the complete failure of the attempt to collect tribute.
1259 The embassy of Murz Berke and Kasachik to Novgorod - the punitive and control army of the Horde ambassadors - Murz Berke and Kasachik - was sent to Novgorod to collect tribute and prevent anti-Horde actions of the population. Novgorod, as always in case of military danger, succumbed to force and traditionally paid off, and also gave an obligation itself, without reminders and pressure, to pay tribute regularly every year, "voluntarily" determining its size, without compiling census documents, in exchange for a guarantee of absence from the city Horde collectors.
1262 Meeting of representatives of Russian cities with a discussion of measures to resist the Horde - A decision was made to simultaneously expel the tribute collectors - representatives of the Horde administration in the cities of Rostov Veliky, Vladimir, Suzdal, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Yaroslavl, where anti-Horde popular uprisings take place. These riots were suppressed by the Horde military detachments, which were at the disposal of the Baskaks. But nevertheless, the khan's authorities took into account the 20-year experience of repeating such spontaneous rebellious outbreaks and abandoned Basqueism, transferring the collection of tribute into the hands of the Russian, princely administration.

Since 1263, the Russian princes themselves began to bring tribute to the Horde.
Thus, the formal moment, as in the case of Novgorod, turned out to be decisive. The Russians did not so much resist the fact of paying tribute and its size, but were offended by the foreign composition of the collectors. They were ready to pay more, but to "their" princes and their administration. The Khan authorities quickly realized the full benefit of such a decision for the Horde:
firstly, the absence of their own troubles,
secondly, the guarantee of an end to the uprisings and the complete obedience of the Russians.
thirdly, the presence of specific responsible persons (princes), who could always be easily, conveniently and even “legally” held accountable, punished for non-payment of tribute, and not have to deal with insurmountable spontaneous popular uprisings of thousands of people.
This is a very early manifestation of a specifically Russian social and individual psychology, for which the visible is important, not the essential, and which is always ready to make factually important, serious, significant concessions in exchange for visible, superficial, external, "toy" and allegedly prestigious, will be repeatedly repeated throughout Russian history up to the present time.
It is easy to persuade the Russian people, to appease them with a petty sop, a trifle, but they must not be annoyed. Then he becomes stubborn, intractable and reckless, and sometimes even angry.
But you can literally take it with your bare hands, circle it around your finger, if you immediately give in to some trifle. The Mongols understood this well, what were the first Horde khans - Batu and Berke.

I cannot agree with V. Pokhlebkin's unfair and humiliating generalization. You should not consider your ancestors stupid, gullible savages and judge them from the "height" of 700 past years. There were numerous anti-Horde uprisings - they were suppressed, presumably, cruelly, not only by the Horde troops, but also by their own princes. But the transfer of tribute collection (from which it was simply impossible to get rid of in those conditions) to the Russian princes was not a "petty concession", but an important, fundamental moment. Unlike a number of other countries conquered by the Horde, North-Eastern Russia retained its political and social system. There has never been a permanent Mongol administration on Russian soil; under the oppressive yoke, Russia managed to maintain the conditions for its independent development, although not without the influence of the Horde. An example of the opposite kind is the Volga Bulgaria, which, under the Horde, ultimately failed to preserve not only its own ruling dynasty and name, but also the ethnic continuity of the population.

Later, the khan's power itself was crushed, lost state wisdom and gradually, by its mistakes, "brought up" from Russia its equally insidious and prudent enemy as it was itself. But in the 60s of the XIII century. before this finale was still far away - as much as two centuries. In the meantime, the Horde spun the Russian princes and through them all of Russia, as it wanted. (The one who laughs last laughs well - isn't it?)

1272 The second Horde census in Russia - Under the guidance and supervision of the Russian princes, the Russian local administration, it passed peacefully, calmly, without a hitch, without a hitch. After all, it was carried out by "Russian people", and the population was calm.
It is a pity that the results of the census have not been preserved, or maybe I just don't know?

And the fact that it was carried out according to the khan's orders, that the Russian princes delivered its data to the Horde and this data directly served the Horde's economic and political interests - all this was for the people "behind the scenes", all this "did not concern" him and was not interested . The appearance that the census was taking place “without the Tatars” was more important than the essence, i.e. strengthening the tax oppression that came on its basis, the impoverishment of the population, its suffering. All this "was not visible", and therefore, according to Russian ideas, it means that this ... was not.
Moreover, in just three decades that have elapsed since the moment of enslavement, Russian society, in essence, got used to the fact of the Horde yoke, and the fact that it was isolated from direct contact with representatives of the Horde and entrusted these contacts exclusively to the princes completely satisfied him, both common people and nobles.
The proverb "out of sight - out of mind" very accurately and correctly explains this situation. As it is clear from the chronicles of that time, the lives of the saints, and patristic and other religious literature, which was a reflection of the dominant ideas, Russians of all classes and states had no desire to get to know their enslavers better, to get acquainted with "what they breathe", what they think, how they think how they understand themselves and Russia. They saw in them "God's punishment" sent down to the Russian land for sins. If they had not sinned, had not angered God, there would have been no such disasters - this is the starting point for all explanations on the part of the authorities and the church of the then "international situation". It is not difficult to see that this position is not only very, very passive, but that, in addition, it actually removes the blame for the enslavement of Russia from both the Mongol-Tatars and the Russian princes, who allowed such a yoke, and shifts it entirely to the people who found themselves enslaved and suffering from it more than anyone else.
Proceeding from the thesis of sinfulness, the churchmen called on the Russian people not to resist the invaders, but, on the contrary, to their own repentance and submission to the "Tatars", not only did not condemn the Horde authorities, but also ... set it as an example to their flock. This was a direct payment on the part of the Orthodox Church for the huge privileges granted to it by the khans - exemption from taxes and requisitions, solemn receptions of metropolitans in the Horde, the establishment in 1261 of a special Sarai diocese and permission to erect an Orthodox church directly opposite the Khan's Headquarters *.

*) After the collapse of the Horde, at the end of the XV century. the entire staff of the Sarai diocese was retained and transferred to Moscow, to the Krutitsky monastery, and the Sarai bishops received the title of metropolitans of Sarai and Podonsk, and then Krutitsky and Kolomna, i.e. they were formally equated in rank with the metropolitans of Moscow and All Russia, although they were no longer engaged in any real church-political activity. This historical and decorative post was liquidated only at the end of the 18th century. (1788) [Note. V. Pokhlebkin]

It should be noted that on the threshold of the XXI century. we are experiencing a similar situation. Modern "princes", like the princes of Vladimir-Suzdal Russia, are trying to exploit the ignorance and slavish psychology of the people and even cultivate it with the help of the same church.

At the end of the 70s of the XIII century. the period of temporary calm from the Horde unrest in Russia ends, explained by the ten-year emphasized humility of the Russian princes and the church. The internal needs of the economy of the Horde, which derived a constant profit from the trade in slaves (prisoners during the war) in the eastern (Iranian, Turkish and Arab) markets, require a new influx of funds, and therefore in 1277-1278. The Horde twice makes local raids into the Russian border limits solely to withdraw the Polonians.
It is significant that it is not the central khan's administration and its military forces that take part in this, but the regional, ulus authorities in the peripheral areas of the territory of the Horde, solving their local, local economic problems with these raids, and therefore strictly limiting both the place and time (very short, calculated in weeks) of these military actions.

1277 - A raid on the lands of the Galicia-Volyn principality is carried out by detachments from the western Dniester-Dnieper regions of the Horde, under the rule of the temnik Nogai.
1278 - A similar local raid follows from the Volga region to Ryazan, and it is limited only to this principality.

During the next decade - in the 80s and early 90s of the XIII century. - new processes are taking place in Russian-Horde relations.
The Russian princes, having become accustomed to the new situation over the previous 25-30 years and essentially deprived of any control from the side of domestic authorities, begin to settle their petty feudal scores with each other with the help of the Horde military force.
Just like in the XII century. Chernigov and Kyiv princes fought with each other, calling the Polovtsy to Russia, and the princes of North-Eastern Russia are fighting in the 80s of the XIII century. with each other for power, relying on the Horde detachments, which they invite to plunder the principalities of their political opponents, i.e., in fact, cold-bloodedly call on foreign troops to devastate the areas inhabited by their Russian compatriots.

1281 - The son of Alexander Nevsky Andrei II Alexandrovich, Prince Gorodetsky, invites the Horde army against his brother led. Dmitry I Alexandrovich and his allies. This army is organized by Khan Tuda-Meng, who at the same time gives Andrei II the label for a great reign, even before the outcome of the military clash.
Dmitry I, fleeing from the Khan's troops, first flees to Tver, then to Novgorod, and from there to his possession on Novgorod land - Koporye. But the Novgorodians, declaring themselves loyal to the Horde, do not let Dmitry into his fiefdom and, taking advantage of its location inside the Novgorod lands, force the prince to tear down all its fortifications and, in the end, force Dmitry I to flee from Russia to Sweden, threatening to hand him over to the Tatars.
The Horde army (Kavgadai and Alchegey), under the pretext of persecuting Dmitry I, relying on the permission of Andrei II, passes and devastates several Russian principalities - Vladimir, Tver, Suzdal, Rostov, Murom, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky and their capitals. The Horde reach Torzhok, practically occupying the entire North-Eastern Russia to the borders of the Novgorod Republic.
The length of the entire territory from Murom to Torzhok (from east to west) was 450 km, and from south to north - 250-280 km, i.e. almost 120 thousand square kilometers that were devastated by military operations. This restores the Russian population of the devastated principalities against Andrei II, and his formal "accession" after the flight of Dmitry I does not bring peace.
Dmitry I returns to Pereyaslavl and prepares for revenge, Andrei II leaves for the Horde with a request for help, and his allies - Svyatoslav Yaroslavich of Tverskoy, Daniil Aleksandrovich of Moscow and Novgorodians - go to Dmitry I and make peace with him.
1282 - Andrew II comes from the Horde with the Tatar regiments led by Turai-Temir and Ali, reaches Pereyaslavl and again expels Dmitry, who runs this time to the Black Sea, into the possession of the temnik Nogai (who at that time was the actual ruler of the Golden Horde) , and, playing on the contradictions of Nogai and the Sarai khans, he brings the troops given by Nogai to Russia and forces Andrei II to return his great reign.
The price of this "restoration of justice" is very high: the Nogai officials are given the tribute collection in Kursk, Lipetsk, Rylsk; Rostov and Murom are again being ruined. The conflict between the two princes (and the allies who joined them) continues throughout the 80s and into the early 90s.
1285 - Andrei II again goes to the Horde and brings out a new punitive detachment of the Horde, led by one of the sons of the Khan. However, Dmitry I manages to successfully and quickly break up this detachment.

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

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

1294-1315 Two decades pass without any Horde invasions.
The princes regularly pay tribute, the people, frightened and impoverished from previous robberies, slowly heal the economic and human losses. Only the accession to the throne of the extremely powerful and active Khan Uzbek opens a new period of pressure on Russia
The main idea of ​​Uzbek is to achieve complete disunity of the Russian princes and turn them into continuously warring factions. Hence his plan - the transfer of the great reign to the weakest and most non-militant prince - Moscow (under Khan Uzbek, the Moscow prince was Yuri Danilovich, who disputed the great reign from Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tver) and the weakening of the former rulers of the "strong principalities" - Rostov, Vladimir, Tver.
To ensure the collection of tribute, Khan Uzbek practices sending, together with the prince, who received instructions from the Horde, special envoys-ambassadors, accompanied by military detachments numbering several thousand people (sometimes there were up to 5 temniki!). Each prince collects tribute in the territory of a rival principality.
From 1315 to 1327, i.e. in 12 years, Uzbek sent 9 military "embassies". Their functions were not diplomatic, but military-punitive (police) and partly military-political (pressure on the princes).

1315 - "Ambassadors" of Uzbek accompany the Grand Duke Mikhail of Tver (see the Table of Ambassadors), and their detachments rob Rostov and Torzhok, near which they smash the detachments of the Novgorodians.
1317 - Horde punitive detachments accompany Yuri of Moscow and rob Kostroma, and then try to rob Tver, but suffer a severe defeat.
1319 - Kostroma and Rostov are robbed again.
1320 - Rostov for the third time becomes a victim of a robbery, but Vladimir is mostly ruined.
1321 - Tribute is beaten out of Kashin and the Kashin principality.
1322 - Yaroslavl and the cities of the Nizhny Novgorod principality are subjected to a punitive action to collect tribute.
1327 "Shchelkanova's army" - Novgorodians, frightened by the Horde's activity, "voluntarily" pay tribute to the Horde in 2000 silver rubles.
The famous attack of the Chelkan (Cholpan) detachment on Tver takes place, known in the annals as the "Shchelkanov invasion", or "Shchelkanov's army". It causes an unparalleled decisive uprising of the townspeople and the destruction of the "ambassador" and his detachment. "Shchelkan" himself is burned in the hut.
1328 - A special punitive expedition against Tver follows under the leadership of three ambassadors - Turalik, Syuga and Fedorok - and with 5 temniks, i.e. an entire army, which the chronicle defines as a "great army". In the ruin of Tver, along with the 50,000th Horde army, Moscow princely detachments also participate.

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

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

1347 - A raid is made on the city of Aleksin, a border town on the Moscow-Horde border along the Oka
1360 - The first raid is made by Novgorod ushkuiniki on the city of Zhukotin.
1365 - The Horde Prince Tagai raided the Ryazan principality.
1367 - Detachments of Prince Temir-Bulat invade the Nizhny Novgorod principality with a raid, especially intensively in the border strip along the Pyana River.
1370 - A new Horde raid on the Ryazan principality follows in the region of the Moscow-Ryazan border. But the guard regiments of Prince Dmitry IV Ivanovich who stood there did not let the Horde through the Oka. And the Horde, in turn, noticing the resistance, did not seek to overcome it and limited themselves to reconnaissance.
The raid-invasion is made by Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich Nizhny Novgorod on the lands of the "parallel" Khan of Bulgaria - Bulat-Temir;
1374 Anti-Horde uprising in Novgorod - The reason was the arrival of the Horde ambassadors, accompanied by a large armed retinue of 1000 people. This is common for the beginning of the XIV century. the escort was, however, regarded in the last quarter of the same century as a dangerous threat and provoked an armed attack by the Novgorodians on the "embassy", during which both the "ambassadors" and their guards were completely destroyed.
A new raid of the ushkuins, who rob not only the city of Bulgar, but are not afraid to penetrate as far as Astrakhan.
1375 - Horde raid on the city of Kashin, short and local.
1376 2nd campaign against the Bulgars - The united Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod army prepared and carried out the 2nd campaign against the Bulgars, and took an indemnity of 5,000 silver rubles from the city. This attack, unheard of in 130 years of Russian-Horde relations, by the Russians on the territory dependent on the Horde, naturally, causes a retaliatory military action.
1377 Massacre on the river Pyan - On the border Russian-Horde territory, on the river Pyan, where the Nizhny Novgorod princes were preparing a new raid on the Mordovian lands lying behind the river, dependent on the Horde, they were attacked by a detachment of Prince Arapsha (Arab Shah, Khan of the Blue Horde ) and suffered a crushing defeat.
On August 2, 1377, the united militia of the princes of Suzdal, Pereyaslav, Yaroslavl, Yuriev, Murom and Nizhny Novgorod was completely killed, and the "commander in chief" Prince Ivan Dmitrievich Nizhny Novgorod drowned in the river, trying to escape, along with his personal squad and his "headquarters" . This defeat of the Russian troops was explained to a large extent by their loss of vigilance due to many days of drunkenness.
Having destroyed the Russian army, the detachments of Prince Arapsha raided the capitals of the unlucky warrior princes - Nizhny Novgorod, Murom and Ryazan - and subjected them to complete looting and burning to the ground.
1378 Battle on the river Vozha - In the XIII century. after such a defeat, the Russians usually lost all desire to resist the Horde troops for 10-20 years, but at the end of the 14th century. the situation has completely changed:
already in 1378, an ally of the princes defeated in the battle on the Pyana River, Moscow Grand Duke Dmitry IV Ivanovich, having learned that the Horde troops that had burned Nizhny Novgorod intended to go to Moscow under the command of Murza Begich, decided to meet them on the border of his principality on the Oka and prevent to the capital.
On August 11, 1378, a battle took place on the banks of the right tributary of the Oka, the Vozha River, in the Ryazan principality. Dmitry divided his army into three parts and, at the head of the main regiment, attacked the Horde army from the front, while Prince Daniil Pronsky and the devious Timofey Vasilyevich attacked the Tatars from the flanks, in a girth. The Horde were utterly defeated and fled across the Vozha River, having lost many dead and carts, which the Russian troops captured the next day, rushing to pursue the Tatars.
The battle on the Vozha River was of great moral and military importance as a dress rehearsal before the Battle of Kulikovo, which followed two years later.
1380 Battle of Kulikovo - The Battle of Kulikovo was the first serious, specially prepared battle in advance, and not random and impromptu, like all previous military clashes between Russian and Horde troops.
1382 Tokhtamysh's invasion of Moscow - The defeat of Mamai's troops on the Kulikovo field and his flight to Kafa and death in 1381 allowed the energetic Khan Tokhtamysh to put an end to the power of the temniks in the Horde and reunite it into a single state, eliminating the "parallel khans" in the regions.
As his main military-political task, Tokhtamysh determined the restoration of the military and foreign policy prestige of the Horde and the preparation of a revanchist campaign against Moscow.

The results of Tokhtamysh's campaign:
Returning to Moscow in early September 1382, Dmitry Donskoy saw the ashes and ordered to immediately restore the devastated Moscow with at least temporary wooden buildings before the onset of frost.
Thus, the military, political and economic achievements of the Battle of Kulikovo were completely eliminated by the Horde two years later:
1. The tribute was not only restored, but actually doubled, for the population decreased, but the size of the tribute remained the same. In addition, the people had to pay the Grand Duke a special emergency tax to replenish the princely treasury taken away by the Horde.
2. Politically, vassalage has increased dramatically even formally. In 1384, Dmitry Donskoy was forced for the first time to send his son, heir to the throne, the future Grand Duke Vasily II Dmitrievich, who was 12 years old, to the Horde as a hostage (According to the generally accepted account, this is Vasily I. V.V. Pokhlebkin, apparently, considers 1 -m Vasily Yaroslavich Kostroma). Relations with neighbors escalated - Tver, Suzdal, Ryazan principalities, which were specially supported by the Horde to create a political and military counterweight to Moscow.

The situation was really difficult, in 1383 Dmitry Donskoy had to "compete" in the Horde for the great reign, which again presented his claims to Mikhail Alexandrovich Tverskoy. The reign was left to Dmitry, but his son Vasily was taken hostage to the Horde. The "fierce" ambassador Adash appeared in Vladimir (1383, see "The Golden Horde ambassadors in Russia"). In 1384, a heavy tribute had to be collected (half a penny per village) from all the Russian land, and from Novgorod - a black forest. Novgorodians opened robberies along the Volga and Kama and refused to pay tribute. In 1385, an unprecedented indulgence had to be shown to the Ryazan prince, who decided to attack Kolomna (annexed to Moscow back in 1300) and defeated the troops of the Moscow prince.

Thus, Russia was actually thrown back to the position of 1313, under Khan Uzbek, i.e. practically the achievements of the Battle of Kulikovo were completely crossed out. Both in military-political and economic terms, the Moscow principality was thrown back 75-100 years ago. The prospects for relations with the Horde, therefore, were extremely bleak for Moscow and Russia in general. It could be assumed that the Horde yoke would be fixed forever (well, nothing lasts forever!), If not for a new historical accident:
The period of the Horde's wars with the empire of Tamerlane and the complete defeat of the Horde during these two wars, the violation of all economic, administrative, political life in the Horde, the death of the Horde army, the ruin of both its capitals - Saray I and Saray II, the beginning of a new turmoil, the struggle for power of several khans in the period from 1391-1396. - all this led to an unprecedented weakening of the Horde in all areas and made it necessary for the Horde khans to focus on the turn of the XIV century. and XV century. exclusively on internal problems, temporarily neglect external ones and, in particular, weaken control over Russia.
It was this unexpected situation that helped the Moscow principality get a significant respite and restore its economic, military and political strength.

Here, perhaps, we should pause and make a few remarks. I do not believe in historical accidents of this magnitude, and there is no need to explain the further relations of Muscovite Russia with the Horde by an unexpectedly happened happy accident. Without going into details, we note that by the beginning of the 90s of the XIV century. One way or another, Moscow solved the economic and political problems that arose. The Moscow-Lithuania Treaty concluded in 1384 removed the Tver principality from the influence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tver, having lost support both in the Horde and in Lithuania, recognized the primacy of Moscow. In 1385, the son of Dmitry Donskoy, Vasily Dmitrievich, was sent home from the Horde. In 1386, Dmitry Donskoy reconciled with Oleg Ivanovich Ryazansky, which in 1387 was sealed by the marriage of their children (Fyodor Olegovich and Sofya Dmitrievna). In the same year, 1386, Dmitry succeeded in restoring his influence there by a large military demonstration near the Novgorod walls, taking the black forest in the volosts and 8,000 rubles in Novgorod. In 1388, Dmitry also faced the discontent of his cousin and comrade-in-arms Vladimir Andreevich, who had to be brought "to his will" by force, forced to recognize the political seniority of his eldest son Vasily. Dmitry managed to make peace with Vladimir on this two months before his death (1389). In his spiritual testament, Dmitry blessed (for the first time) the eldest son Vasily "with his father's great reign." And finally, in the summer of 1390, the marriage of Vasily and Sophia, the daughter of the Lithuanian prince Vitovt, took place in a solemn atmosphere. In Eastern Europe, Vasily I Dmitrievich and Cyprian, who became metropolitan on October 1, 1389, are trying to prevent the consolidation of the Lithuanian-Polish dynastic union and replace the Polish-Catholic colonization of Lithuanian and Russian lands with the consolidation of Russian forces around Moscow. The alliance with Vytautas, who was against the catholization of the Russian lands that were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, was important for Moscow, but could not be lasting, since Vytautas, of course, had his own goals and his own vision of which center the Russians should gather around lands.
A new stage in the history of the Golden Horde coincided with the death of Dmitry. It was then that Tokhtamysh came out of reconciliation with Tamerlane and began to claim territories subject to him. The confrontation began. Under these conditions, immediately after the death of Dmitry Donskoy, Tokhtamysh issued a label for the reign of Vladimir to his son, Vasily I, and strengthened it, transferring to him both the Nizhny Novgorod principality and a number of cities. In 1395, Tamerlane's troops defeated Tokhtamysh on the Terek River.

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

1405 - In 1405, based on the situation in the Horde, the Grand Duke of Moscow officially announced for the first time that he refused to pay tribute to the Horde. During 1405-1407. The Horde did not react in any way to this demarche, but then Edigei's campaign against Moscow followed.
Only 13 years after the campaign of Tokhtamysh (Apparently, there was a typo in the book - 13 years had passed since the campaign of Tamerlane), the Horde authorities could again recall the vassal dependence of Moscow and gather strength for a new campaign in order to restore the flow of tribute, which had been stopped since 1395.
1408 Yedigey's campaign against Moscow - On December 1, 1408, a huge army of Yedigei's temnik approached Moscow along the winter sleigh route and laid siege to the Kremlin.
On the Russian side, the situation was repeated to the details during the campaign of Tokhtamysh in 1382.
1. Grand Duke Vasily II Dmitrievich, having heard about the danger, like his father, fled to Kostroma (supposedly to gather an army).
2. In Moscow, Vladimir Andreevich Brave, Prince of Serpukhov, a participant in the Battle of Kulikovo, remained for the head of the garrison.
3. The settlement of Moscow was again burned, i.e. all wooden Moscow around the Kremlin, a mile away in all directions.
4. Edigey, approaching Moscow, set up his camp in Kolomenskoye, and sent a notice to the Kremlin that he would stand all winter and starve the Kremlin without losing a single soldier.
5. The memory of the invasion of Tokhtamysh was still so fresh among the Muscovites that it was decided to fulfill any requirements of Edigey, so that only he would leave without fighting.
6. Edigey demanded to collect 3,000 rubles in two weeks. silver, which was done. In addition, Edigey's troops, having scattered throughout the principality and its cities, began to gather polonyanniks for capturing (several tens of thousands of people). Some cities were heavily devastated, for example, Mozhaisk was completely burned.
7. On December 20, 1408, having received everything that was required, Edigey's army left Moscow without being attacked or pursued by the Russian forces.
8. The damage inflicted by Edigei's campaign was less than the damage from the invasion of Tokhtamysh, but he also fell a heavy burden on the shoulders of the population
The restoration of Moscow's tributary dependence on the Horde lasted from then on for almost another 60 years (until 1474)
1412 - Payment of tribute to the Horde became regular. To ensure this regularity, the Horde forces from time to time made eerily reminiscent raids on Russia.
1415 - Ruin by the Horde of the Yelets (border, buffer) land.
1427 - The raid of the Horde troops on Ryazan.
1428 - The raid of the Horde army on the Kostroma lands - Galich Mersky, the ruin and robbery of Kostroma, Plyos and Lukh.
1437 - Battle of Belev Campaign of Ulu-Muhammed to Zaoksky lands. The Battle of Belev on December 5, 1437 (the defeat of the Moscow army) because of the unwillingness of the Yuryevich brothers - Shemyaka and Krasny - to allow the army of Ulu-Mohammed to settle in Belev and make peace. As a result of the betrayal of the Lithuanian governor of Mtsensk, Grigory Protasyev, who went over to the side of the Tatars, Ulu-Mohammed won the Battle of Belev, after which he went east to Kazan, where he founded the Kazan Khanate.

Actually, from this moment begins the long struggle of the Russian state with the Kazan Khanate, which Russia had to wage in parallel with the heiress of the Golden Horde - the Great Horde, and which only Ivan IV the Terrible managed to complete. The first campaign of the Kazan Tatars against Moscow took place already in 1439. Moscow was burned, but the Kremlin was not taken. The second campaign of the Kazanians (1444-1445) led to a catastrophic defeat of the Russian troops, the capture of the Moscow prince Vasily II the Dark, a humiliating peace and, ultimately, the blinding of Vasily II. Further, the raids of the Kazan Tatars on Russia and the Russian response actions (1461, 1467-1469, 1478) are not indicated in the table, but they should be borne in mind (See "Kazan Khanate");
1451 - The campaign of Mahmut, the son of Kichi-Mohammed, to Moscow. He burned the settlements, but the Kremlin did not take it.
1462 - Termination by Ivan III of the issue of Russian coins with the name of the Khan of the Horde. Ivan III's statement about the rejection of the khan's label for a great reign.
1468 - Khan Akhmat's campaign against Ryazan
1471 - The campaign of the Horde to the Moscow frontiers in the trans-Oka zone
1472 - The Horde army approached the city of Aleksin, but did not cross the Oka. The Russian army set out for Kolomna. There was no collision between the two forces. Both sides feared that the outcome of the battle would not be in their favor. Caution in conflicts with the Horde is a characteristic feature of the policy of Ivan III. He didn't want to risk it.
1474 - Khan Akhmat again approaches the Zaokskaya region, on the border with the Moscow Grand Duchy. A peace is concluded, or, more precisely, a truce, on the condition that the Moscow prince pays an indemnity of 140 thousand altyns in two terms: in the spring - 80 thousand, in the fall - 60 thousand. Ivan III again avoids a military clash.
1480 Great standing on the river Ugra - Akhmat makes a demand to Ivan III to pay tribute for 7 years, during which Moscow stopped paying it. Goes on a trip to Moscow. Ivan III comes forward with an army towards the Khan.

We end the history of Russian-Horde relations formally in 1481 as the date of death of the last Khan of the Horde - Akhmat, who was killed a year after the Great Stand on the Ugra, since the Horde really ceased to exist as a state body and administration, and even as a certain territory, which was subject to jurisdiction and real the power of this once unified administration.
Formally and in fact, new Tatar states were formed on the former territory of the Golden Horde, much smaller, but controlled and relatively consolidated. Of course, practically the disappearance of a huge empire could not happen overnight and it could not "evaporate" completely without a trace.
People, peoples, the population of the Horde continued to live their former lives and, feeling that catastrophic changes had taken place, nevertheless they did not realize them as a complete collapse, as an absolute disappearance from the face of the earth of their former state.
In fact, the process of the disintegration of the Horde, especially at the lower social level, continued for another three or four decades during the first quarter of the 16th century.
But the international consequences of the disintegration and disappearance of the Horde, on the contrary, affected quite quickly and quite clearly, distinctly. The liquidation of the gigantic empire, which controlled and influenced events from Siberia to the Balakans and from Egypt to the Middle Urals for two and a half centuries, led to a complete change in the international situation not only in this space, but also radically changed the general international position of the Russian state and its military-political plans and actions in relations with the East as a whole.
Moscow was able to quickly, within one decade, radically restructure the strategy and tactics of its eastern foreign policy.
The statement seems too categorical to me: it should be borne in mind that the process of crushing the Golden Horde was not a one-time act, but took place throughout the entire 15th century. Accordingly, the policy of the Russian state also changed. An example is the relationship between Moscow and the Kazan Khanate, which separated from the Horde in 1438 and tried to pursue the same policy. After two successful campaigns against Moscow (1439, 1444-1445), Kazan began to experience more and more stubborn and powerful pressure from the Russian state, which formally was still in vassal dependence on the Great Horde (during the period under review, these were the campaigns of 1461, 1467-1469, 1478). ).
Firstly, an active, offensive line was chosen in relation to both the rudiments and quite viable heirs of the Horde. The Russian tsars decided not to let them come to their senses, to finish off the already half-defeated enemy, and not at all rest on the laurels of the winners.
Secondly, as a new tactic that gives the most useful military-political effect, it was used to set one Tatar group against another. Significant Tatar formations began to be included in the Russian armed forces to deliver joint strikes against other Tatar military formations, and primarily against the remnants of the Horde.
So, in 1485, 1487 and 1491. Ivan III sent military detachments to strike at the troops of the Great Horde, who attacked Moscow's ally at that time - the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray.
Particularly indicative in military-political terms was the so-called. spring campaign in 1491 in the "Wild Field" in converging directions.

1491 Campaign in the "Wild Field" - 1. The Horde khans Seid-Ahmet and Shig-Ahmet in May 1491 laid siege to the Crimea. Ivan III sent a huge army of 60 thousand people to help his ally Mengli Giray. under the leadership of the following commanders:
a) Prince Peter Nikitich Obolensky;
b) Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Repni-Obolensky;
c) Kasimov prince Satilgan Merdzhulatovich.
2. These independent detachments headed for the Crimea in such a way that they had to approach from three sides in converging directions to the rear of the Horde troops in order to clamp them in pincers, while the troops of Mengli Giray would attack them from the front.
3. In addition, on June 3 and 8, 1491, the allies were mobilized to strike from the flanks. These were again both Russian and Tatar troops:
a) Khan of Kazan Mohammed-Emin and his governors Abash-Ulan and Burash-Seid;
b) The brothers of Ivan III, the appanage princes Andrei Vasilyevich Bolshoy and Boris Vasilyevich with their detachments.

Another new tactic introduced since the 90s of the XV century. Ivan III in his military policy in relation to the Tatar attacks, is the systematic organization of the pursuit of the Tatar raids that invaded Russia, which had never been done before.

1492 - The pursuit of the troops of two governors - Fyodor Koltovsky and Goryain Sidorov - and their battle with the Tatars in the interfluve of the Fast Pine and Truds;
1499 - Chase after the raid of the Tatars on Kozelsk, recapturing from the enemy all the "full" and cattle taken away by him;
1500 (summer) - The army of Khan Shig-Ahmed (Great Horde) of 20 thousand people. stood at the mouth of the Tikhaya Sosna river, but did not dare to go further towards the Moscow border;
1500 (autumn) - A new campaign of an even more numerous army of Shig-Ahmed, but further on the Zaokskaya side, i.e. the territory of the north of the Orel region, it did not dare to go;
1501 - On August 30, the 20,000-strong army of the Great Horde began the devastation of the Kursk land, approaching Rylsk, and by November it reached the Bryansk and Novgorod-Seversky lands. The Tatars captured the city of Novgorod-Seversky, but further, to the Moscow lands, this army of the Great Horde did not go.

In 1501, a coalition of Lithuania, Livonia and the Great Horde was formed, directed against the union of Moscow, Kazan and Crimea. This campaign was part of the war between Moscow Russia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for the Verkhovsky principalities (1500-1503). It is wrong to talk about the capture by the Tatars of Novgorod-Seversky lands, which were part of their ally - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and were captured by Moscow in 1500. According to the truce of 1503, almost all these lands were ceded to Moscow.
1502 Liquidation of the Great Horde - The army of the Great Horde remained to spend the winter at the mouth of the river Seim and near Belgorod. Ivan III then agreed with Mengli-Giray that he would send his troops to expel the troops of Shig-Ahmed from this territory. Mengli Giray complied with this request, inflicting a strong blow on the Great Horde in February 1502.
In May 1502, Mengli-Girey again defeated the troops of Shig-Ahmed at the mouth of the Sula River, where they migrated to spring pastures. This battle actually ended the remnants of the Great Horde.

So Ivan III cracked down at the beginning of the 16th century. with the Tatar states by the hands of the Tatars themselves.
Thus, from the beginning of the XVI century. the last remnants of the Golden Horde disappeared from the historical arena. And the point was not only that this completely removed any threat of invasion from the East from the Muscovite state, seriously strengthened its security, - the main, significant result was a sharp change in the formal and actual international legal position of the Russian state, which manifested itself in a change in its international -legal relations with the Tatar states - the "heirs" of the Golden Horde.
This was precisely the main historical meaning, the main historical significance of the liberation of Russia from the Horde dependence.
For the Muscovite state, vassal relations ceased, it became a sovereign state, a subject of international relations. This completely changed his position among the Russian lands, and in Europe as a whole.
Until then, for 250 years, the Grand Duke received only unilateral labels from the Horde khans, i.e. permission to own his own patrimony (principality), or, in other words, the consent of the khan to continue trusting his tenant and vassal, to the fact that he will be temporarily not touched from this post if he fulfills a number of conditions: pay tribute, send a loyal khan politics, send "gifts", participate, if necessary, in the military activities of the Horde.
With the disintegration of the Horde and the emergence of new khanates on its ruins - Kazan, Astrakhan, Crimean, Siberian - a completely new situation arose: the institution of vassalage of Russia ceased to exist. This was expressed in the fact that all relations with the new Tatar states began to take place on a bilateral basis. The conclusion of bilateral treaties on political issues, at the end of wars and at the conclusion of peace, began. And that was the main and important change.
Outwardly, especially in the first decades, there were no noticeable changes in relations between Russia and the khanates:
Moscow princes continued to occasionally pay tribute to the Tatar khans, continued to send them gifts, and the khans of the new Tatar states, in turn, continued to maintain the old forms of relations with the Grand Duchy of Moscow, i.e. sometimes, like the Horde, they staged campaigns against Moscow right up to the walls of the Kremlin, resorted to devastating raids for the Polonians, stole cattle and robbed the property of the subjects of the Grand Duke, demanded that he pay an indemnity, etc. etc.
But after the end of hostilities, the parties began to sum up the legal results - i.e. fix their victories and defeats in bilateral documents, conclude peace or truce treaties, sign written obligations. And it was precisely this that significantly changed their true relations, led to the fact that in fact the entire relationship of forces on both sides changed significantly.
That is why it became possible for the Muscovite state to purposefully work to change this balance of forces in its favor and achieve, in the end, the weakening and liquidation of the new khanates that arose on the ruins of the Golden Horde, not within two and a half centuries, but much faster - in less than 75 years old, in the second half of the XVI century.

"From Ancient Russia to the Russian Empire". Shishkin Sergey Petrovich, Ufa.
V.V. Pokhlebkina "Tatars and Russia. 360 years of relations in 1238-1598." (M. "International Relations" 2000).
Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary. 4th edition, M. 1987.

If all lies are removed from history, this does not mean at all that only the 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. So they say in the textbooks, but in fact the relationship between the Horde and Russia was much more complicated. In particular, the famous historian Gumilyov 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 for the thousandth time a fantasy about medieval society, but to provide our readers with facts. Conclusions are everyone's business.

The beginning of the invasion and background

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 Kyiv prince Mstislav, and Subedei and Juba opposed them. The Russian army was not only defeated, it was actually destroyed. There are many reasons for this, but all of them are discussed in the article about the battle on Kalka. Returning to the first invasion, it took place in two stages:

• 1237-1238 - a campaign against the eastern and northern lands of Russia.
• 1239-1242 - a campaign in the southern lands, which led to the establishment of a yoke.

Invasion of 1237-1238

In 1236, the Mongols launched another campaign against the Polovtsy. 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. He had 150,000 people under him. Subedey, who was familiar with the Russians from previous clashes, participated in the campaign with him.

Map of the Tatar-Mongol invasion

The invasion took place at the beginning of the 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 the winter, but in the late autumn of the same year. With great speed, the Mongols' 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, Yuriev, Suzdal, Pereslavl, Dmitrov). In early March, Torzhok fell, thus opening the way for the Mongol army to the north, to Novgorod. But Batu made a different maneuver and instead of marching on Novgorod, he deployed his troops and went to storm Kozelsk. The siege went on for 7 weeks, ending only when the Mongols went to the trick. They announced that they would accept the surrender of the Kozelsk garrison and let everyone go alive. People believed and opened the gates of the fortress. Batu did not keep his word and gave the order to kill everyone. Thus ended the first campaign and the first invasion of the Tatar-Mongolian army into Russia.

Invasion of 1239-1242

After a break of a year and a half, in 1239 a new invasion of Russia by the troops of Batu Khan began. This year based events took place in Pereyaslav and Chernihiv. The sluggishness of Batu's offensive is due to the fact that at that time he was actively fighting the Polovtsy, in particular in the Crimea.

In the autumn of 1240, Batu led his army under the walls of Kyiv. The ancient capital of Russia could not resist for a long time. The city fell on December 6, 1240. Historians note the special brutality with which the invaders behaved. Kyiv was almost completely destroyed. There is nothing left of the city. The Kyiv that we know today has nothing to do with the ancient capital (except for its geographical location). After these events, the invading army split up:

• Part went to Vladimir-Volynsky.
• Part went to Galich.

Having captured these cities, the Mongols went on a European campaign, but we are of little interest in it.

The consequences of the Tatar-Mongol invasion of Russia

The consequences of the invasion of the Asian army in Russia are described by historians unambiguously:

• The country was cut, and became completely dependent on the Golden Horde.
• Russia began to pay tribute to the winners every year (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 comes down to the fact that all the problems that were in Russia at that time were written off as a yoke.

This is how, briefly, the Tatar-Mongol invasion appears from the point of view of official history and what we are told in textbooks. In contrast, we will consider Gumilyov's arguments, and also ask a number of simple, but very important questions for understanding the current issues and the fact that with the yoke, as well as with relations between Russia and the Horde, everything is much more complex than it is customary to say.

For example, it is absolutely incomprehensible and inexplicable how a nomadic people, who several decades ago still lived in a tribal system, created a huge empire and conquered half the world. After all, 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 to the Adriatic, from Vladimir to Burma. Giant countries were conquered: Russia, China, India ... Neither before nor after, no one was able to create a military machine that could conquer so many countries. And the Mongols could ...

To understand how difficult it was (if not to say that it was impossible), let's look at the situation with China (so as not to be accused of 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. If we take into account that the number of all the peoples of the Middle Ages is increasing by now, then the Mongols were less than 2 million people (including women, the elderly 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 movement of Batu

Let's return to the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia. What were the goals of this trip? Historians talk about the desire to plunder the country and subdue it. It also states that all these goals have been achieved. But this is not entirely true, because in ancient Russia there were 3 richest cities:

• Kyiv 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). Generally not affected by the invasion.
• Smolensk, also a trading city, was considered equal in wealth to Kyiv. 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 no one needs, just to turn south? Historians give two explanations, logical at first glance:

• Near 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 lost a lot of his army, then he needs to leave Russia to replenish his troops or take a break. But instead, the khan rushes to storm Kozelsk. Here, 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 flood of the 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 safely move around there. And if we talk about 1238, then that era is called by climatologists the Little Ice Age, 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 of global warming in March, Novgorod can be reached, and in the era of the Ice Age, everyone was afraid of river floods.

With Smolensk, the situation is also paradoxical and inexplicable. Having taken Torzhok, Batu set off to storm Kozelsk. This is a simple fortress, a small and very poor city. The Mongols stormed it for 7 weeks, lost thousands of people killed. What was it for? There was no benefit from the capture of Kozelsk - there is no money in the city, there are no food depots either. Why such sacrifices? But just 24 hours of cavalry movement from Kozelsk is Smolensk - the richest city in Russia, but the Mongols do not even think of moving 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 another remarkable fact that the official history simply bypasses, because. it is impossible to explain it. Both Tatar-Mongolian invasions were committed to Russia in winter (or started in late autumn). But these are nomads, and nomads start fighting only in the spring to finish 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 you should not even consider such issues, but the success of any operation directly depends on the provision:

• Charles 12 was unable to organize 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 for only 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 give figures from 50 thousand to 400 thousand horsemen. For example, Karamzin speaks of the 300,000th army of Batu. Let's look at the provision 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 fresh into battle). That is, 300 thousand people is 900 thousand horses. Add to this the horses that carried the ram guns (it is known for certain that the Mongols brought the guns assembled), the horses that carried food for the army, carried additional weapons, etc. It turns out, according to the most conservative estimates, 1.1 million horses! Now imagine how to feed such a herd in a foreign country in a snowy winter (during the Little Ice Age)? The answer is no, because it can't be done.

So how many armies did Dad have?

It is noteworthy, but the closer to our time there is a study of the invasion of the Tatar-Mongolian army, the smaller the number is obtained. For example, the historian Vladimir Chivilikhin speaks of 30 thousand who moved separately, because they could not feed themselves in a single army. Some historians lower 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 provisions from them, most of the fortresses were burned.
• If the Mongols were really only 30-50 thousand, then how did they manage to conquer Russia? After all, each principality fielded an army in the region of 50 thousand against Batu. If there were really so few Mongols and if they acted independently, the remnants of the horde and Batu himself would have been buried near Vladimir. But in reality, everything was different.

We invite the reader to look 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 another important fact that the whole world has recognized, including official history, but this fact is hushed up and published in few places. The main document, according to which the yoke and invasion were studied for many years, is the Laurentian Chronicle. But, as it turned out, the truth of this document raises big questions. Official history admitted that 3 pages of the annals (which speak of the beginning of the yoke and the beginning of the Mongol invasion of Russia) have been changed and are 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's almost impossible to answer this question...

The traditional version of the Tatar-Mongol invasion of Russia, the "Tatar-Mongol yoke", and the liberation from it is known to the reader from school. In the presentation of most historians, events looked something like this. At the beginning of the 13th century, in the steppes of the Far East, the energetic and brave tribal leader Genghis Khan gathered a huge army of nomads, soldered by iron discipline, and rushed to conquer the world - "to the last sea."

So was there a Tatar-Mongolian yoke in Russia?

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

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

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

Having grown stronger over time, Russia began to resist. In 1380, the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Donskoy defeated the Horde Khan Mamai, and a century later, in the so-called “standing on the Ugra”, the troops of Grand Duke Ivan III and the Horde Khan Akhmat converged. The opponents camped for a long time on opposite sides of the Ugra River, after which Khan Akhmat, finally realizing that the Russians had become strong and had little chance of winning the battle, gave the order to retreat and led his horde to the Volga. These events are considered "the end of the Tatar-Mongol yoke."

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

Of course, the conclusions of the publicist are filled with irony and border on postmodern "banter", but it should be noted that many facts of the history of the Tatar-Mongol invasion and the "yoke" really look too mysterious and need closer attention and unbiased research. Let's try to consider some of these mysteries.

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

Who were the Mongols who approached the borders of the Christian world from the east? How did the powerful Mongolian state appear? Let's take a tour of its history.

At the beginning of the 13th century, in 1202-1203, the Mongols first defeated the Merkits, and then the Keraites. The fact is that the Keraites were divided into supporters of Genghis Khan and his opponents. The opponents of Genghis Khan were led by the son of Van Khan, the legitimate heir to the throne - Nilha. He had reason to hate Genghis Khan: even at the time when Van Khan was an ally of Genghis, he (the leader of the Keraites), seeing the undeniable talents of the latter, wanted to transfer the Kerait throne to him, bypassing his own son. Thus, the clash of part of the Keraites with the Mongols occurred during the lifetime of Wang Khan. And although the Keraites had a numerical superiority, the Mongols defeated them, as they showed exceptional mobility and took the enemy by surprise.

In the clash with the Keraites, the character of Genghis Khan was fully manifested. When Van Khan and his son Nilha fled from the battlefield, one of their noyons (commanders) with a small detachment detained the Mongols, saving their leaders from captivity. This noyon was seized, brought before the eyes of Genghis, and he asked: “Why, noyon, seeing the position of your troops, did not leave yourself? You had both the time and the opportunity." He replied: "I served my khan and gave him the opportunity to escape, and my head is for you, O conqueror." Genghis Khan said: “Everyone should imitate this man.

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

In 1204, the Mongols of Genghis Khan and the powerful Naiman Khanate clashed. Once again, the Mongols won. The defeated were included in the horde of Genghis. There were no more tribes in the eastern steppe that could actively resist the new order, and in 1206, at the great kurultai, Genghis was again elected khan, but already of all Mongolia. Thus was born the all-Mongolian state. The only hostile tribe remained the ancient enemies of the Borjigins - the Merkits, but by 1208 they were forced out into the valley of the Irgiz River.

The growing power of Genghis Khan allowed his horde to assimilate different tribes and peoples quite easily. Because, in accordance with the Mongolian stereotypes of behavior, the khan could and should have demanded obedience, obedience to an order, fulfillment of duties, but it was considered immoral to force a person to abandon his faith or customs - the individual had the right to his own choice. This state of affairs was attractive to many. In 1209, the Uighur state sent ambassadors to Genghis Khan with a request to accept them as part of his ulus. The request, of course, was granted, and Genghis Khan gave the Uighurs huge trading privileges. The caravan route went through Uyghuria, and the Uyghurs, being part of the Mongolian state, got rich due to the fact that they sold water, fruits, meat and “pleasures” to hungry caravaners at high prices. The voluntary unification of Uighuria with Mongolia turned out to be useful for the Mongols as well. With the annexation of Uighuria, the Mongols went beyond the borders of their ethnic range and came into contact with other peoples of the ecumene.

In 1216, on the Irgiz River, the Mongols were attacked by the Khorezmians. Khorezm by that time was the most powerful of the states that emerged after the weakening of the power of the Seljuk Turks. The rulers of Khorezm from the governors of the ruler of Urgench turned into independent sovereigns and adopted the title of "Khorezmshahs". They were energetic, enterprising and warlike. This allowed them to conquer most of Central Asia and southern Afghanistan. The Khorezmshahs created a huge state in which the main military force was the Turks from the adjacent steppes.

But the state turned out to be fragile, despite the wealth, brave warriors and experienced diplomats. The regime of military dictatorship relied on tribes alien to the local population, who had a different language, other customs and customs. The cruelty of the mercenaries caused discontent among the inhabitants of Samarkand, Bukhara, Merv and other Central Asian cities. The uprising in Samarkand led to the destruction of the Turkic garrison. Naturally, this was followed by a punitive operation of the Khorezmians, who brutally dealt with the population of Samarkand. Other large and rich cities of Central Asia also suffered.

In this situation, Khorezmshah Mohammed decided to confirm his title of "ghazi" - "victorious infidels" - and become famous for another victory over them. The opportunity presented itself to him in that very year 1216, when the Mongols, fighting with the Merkits, reached the Irgiz. Upon learning of the arrival of the Mongols, Muhammad sent an army against them on the grounds that the steppe inhabitants must be converted to Islam.

The Khorezmian army attacked the Mongols, but in the rearguard battle they themselves went on the offensive and badly beaten the Khorezmians. Only the attack of the left wing, commanded by the son of Khorezmshah, the talented commander Jalal-ad-Din, corrected the situation. After that, the Khorezmians withdrew, and the Mongols returned home: they were not going to fight with Khorezm, on the contrary, Genghis Khan wanted to establish ties with the Khorezmshah. After all, the Great Caravan Route went through Central Asia and all the owners of the lands along which it ran grew rich due to the duties paid by merchants. Merchants willingly paid duties, because they shifted their costs to consumers, while losing nothing. Wishing to preserve all the advantages associated with the existence of caravan routes, the Mongols strove for peace and quiet on their borders. The difference of faiths, in their opinion, did not give a reason for war and could not justify bloodshed. Probably, the Khorezmshah himself understood the episodic nature of the collision on the Irshz. In 1218 Muhammad sent a trade caravan to Mongolia. Peace was restored, especially since the Mongols had no time for Khorezm: shortly before this, the Naiman prince Kuchluk began a new war with the Mongols.

Once again, Mongol-Khorezmian relations were violated by the Khorezmshah himself and his officials. In 1219, a rich caravan from the lands of Genghis Khan approached the Khorezm city of Otrar. The merchants went to the city to replenish their food supplies and take a bath. There, the merchants met two acquaintances, one of whom informed the ruler of the city that these merchants were spies. He immediately realized that there is a great reason to rob travelers. Merchants were killed, property was confiscated. The ruler of Otrar sent half of the loot to Khorezm, and Mohammed accepted the booty, which means he shared the responsibility for what he had done.

Genghis Khan sent envoys to find out what caused the incident. Mohammed was angry when he saw the infidels, and ordered to kill part of the ambassadors, and part, having stripped naked, drive them to certain death in the steppe. Two or three Mongols nevertheless got home and told about what had happened. Genghis Khan's anger knew no bounds. From the point of view of the Mongol, two of the most terrible crimes took place: the deceit of those who trusted and the murder of guests. According to custom, Genghis Khan could not leave unavenged either the merchants who were killed in Otrar, or the ambassadors who were insulted and killed by the Khorezmshah. The Khan had to fight, otherwise the tribesmen would simply refuse to trust him.

In Central Asia, the Khorezmshah had at his disposal a 400,000-strong regular army. And the Mongols, as the famous Russian orientalist V.V. Bartold believed, had no more than 200 thousand. Genghis Khan demanded military assistance from all allies. Warriors came from the Turks and Kara-Kitais, the Uighurs sent a detachment of 5 thousand people, only the Tangut ambassador boldly replied: "If you do not have enough troops, do not fight." Genghis Khan considered the answer an insult and said: "Only dead I could bear such an insult."

Genghis Khan threw the assembled Mongolian, Uyghur, Turkic and Kara-Chinese troops to Khorezm. Khorezmshah, having quarreled with his mother Turkan-Khatun, did not trust the military leaders related to her by kinship. He was afraid to gather them into a fist in order to repel the onslaught of the Mongols, and scattered the army among the garrisons. The best commanders of the Shah were his own unloved son Jalal-ad-Din and the commandant of the fortress Khojent Timur-Melik. The Mongols took fortresses one after another, but in Khujand, even taking the fortress, they could not capture the garrison. Timur-Melik put his soldiers on rafts and escaped pursuit along the wide Syr Darya. Scattered garrisons could not hold back the offensive of Genghis Khan's troops. Soon all the major cities of the Sultanate - Samarkand, Bukhara, Merv, Herat - were captured by the Mongols.

Regarding the capture of the Central Asian cities by the Mongols, there is an established version: "Wild nomads destroyed the cultural oases of the agricultural peoples." Is it so? This version, as shown by L. N. Gumilyov, is based on the legends of Muslim court historians. For example, the fall of Herat was reported by Islamic historians as a disaster in which the entire population was exterminated in the city, except for a few men who managed to escape in the mosque. They hid there, afraid to go out into the streets littered with corpses. Only wild animals roamed the city and tormented the dead. After sitting for some time and recovering, these "heroes" went to distant lands to rob caravans in order to regain their lost wealth.

But is it possible? If the entire population of a large city was exterminated and lay on the streets, then inside the city, in particular in the mosque, the air would be full of cadaveric miasma, and those who hid there would simply die. No predators, except for jackals, live near the city, and they very rarely penetrate the city. It was simply impossible for exhausted people to move to rob caravans a few hundred kilometers from Herat, because they would have to walk, carrying burdens - water and provisions. Such a “robber”, having met a caravan, would no longer be able to rob it ...

Even more surprising is the information reported by historians about Merv. The Mongols took it in 1219 and also allegedly exterminated all the inhabitants there. But already in 1229 Merv rebelled, and the Mongols had to take the city again. And finally, two years later, Merv sent a detachment of 10 thousand people to fight the Mongols.

We see that the fruits of fantasy and religious hatred gave rise to legends of Mongol atrocities. If, however, we take into account the degree of reliability of sources and ask simple but inevitable questions, it is easy to separate historical truth from literary fiction.

The Mongols occupied Persia almost without a fight, driving the Khorezmshah's son Jalal-ad-Din to northern India. Mohammed II Ghazi himself, broken by struggle and constant defeat, died in a leper colony on an island in the Caspian Sea (1221). The Mongols also made peace with the Shiite population of Iran, which was constantly offended by the Sunnis in power, in particular the Caliph of Baghdad and Jalal-ad-Din himself. As a result, the Shiite population of Persia suffered much less than the Sunnis of Central Asia. Be that as it may, in 1221 the state of the Khorezmshahs was finished. Under one ruler - Mohammed II Ghazi - this state reached its highest power, and died. As a result, Khorezm, Northern Iran, and Khorasan were annexed to the Mongol Empire.

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

During the siege of Zhongxing, Genghis Khan died, but the Mongol noyons, on the orders of their leader, concealed his death. The fortress was taken, and the population of the "evil" city, on which the collective guilt for betrayal fell, was subjected to execution. The Tangut state disappeared, leaving behind only written evidence of its former culture, but the city survived and lived until 1405, when it was destroyed by the Ming Chinese.

From the capital of the Tanguts, the Mongols took the body of their great ruler to their native steppes. The funeral rite was as follows: the remains of Genghis Khan were lowered into the dug grave along with many valuable things and all the slaves who performed the funeral work were killed. According to custom, exactly one year later, it was required to celebrate a commemoration. In order to later find a burial place, the Mongols did the following. At the grave they sacrificed a little camel just taken from their mother. And a year later, the camel herself found in the boundless steppe the place where her cub was killed. Having slaughtered this camel, the Mongols performed the prescribed rite of commemoration and then left the grave forever. Since then, no one knows where Genghis Khan is buried.

In the last years of his life, he was extremely concerned about the fate of his state. The khan had four sons from his beloved wife Borte and many children from other wives, who, although they were considered legitimate children, did not have rights to the throne of their father. Sons from Borte differed in inclinations and in character. The eldest son, Jochi, was born shortly after the Merkit captivity of Borte, and therefore not only evil tongues, but also the younger brother Chagatai called him a "Merkit degenerate." Although Borte invariably defended Jochi, and Genghis Khan himself always recognized him as his son, the shadow of the Merkit captivity of his mother fell on Jochi as a burden of suspicion of illegitimacy. Once, in the presence of his father, Chagatai openly called Jochi illegitimate, and the matter almost ended in a fight between the brothers.

It is curious, but according to contemporaries, there were some stable stereotypes in Jochi's behavior that greatly distinguished him from Genghis. If for Genghis Khan there was no concept of "mercy" in relation to enemies (he left life only for small children who were adopted by his mother Hoelun, and valiant bagaturas who transferred to the Mongol service), then Jochi was distinguished by humanity and kindness. So, during the siege of Gurganj, the Khorezmians, completely exhausted by the war, asked to accept surrender, that is, in other words, to spare them. Jochi spoke out in favor of showing mercy, but Genghis Khan categorically rejected the request for mercy, and as a result, the Gurganj garrison was partially massacred, and the city itself was flooded by the waters of the Amu Darya. The misunderstanding between the father and the eldest son, constantly fueled by the intrigues and slander of relatives, deepened over time and turned into distrust of the sovereign to his heir. Genghis Khan suspected that Jochi wanted to gain popularity among the conquered peoples and secede from Mongolia. It is unlikely that this was the case, but the fact remains: at the beginning of 1227, Jochi, hunting in the steppe, was found dead - his spine was broken. The details of what happened were kept secret, but, without a doubt, Genghis Khan was a person interested in the death of Jochi and quite capable of ending his son's life.

In contrast to Jochi, the second son of Genghis Khan, Chaga-tai, was a strict, executive and even cruel man. Therefore, he received the position of "Guardian of Yasa" (something like the Attorney General or the Supreme Judge). Chagatai strictly observed the law and treated its violators without any mercy.

The third son of the Great Khan, Ogedei, like Jochi, was distinguished by kindness and tolerance towards people. The character of Ogedei is best illustrated by the following case: once, on a joint trip, the brothers saw a Muslim bathing by the water. According to Muslim custom, every true believer is obliged to perform prayer and ritual ablution several times a day. Mongolian tradition, on the contrary, forbade a person to bathe during the whole summer. The Mongols believed that washing in a river or lake causes a thunderstorm, and a thunderstorm in the steppe is very dangerous for travelers, and therefore "calling a thunderstorm" was seen as an attempt on people's lives. The nukers-rescuemen of the ruthless zealot of the law Chagatai seized the Muslim. Anticipating a bloody denouement - the unfortunate man was threatened with beheading - Ogedei sent his man to tell the Muslim to answer that he had dropped gold into the water and was just looking for it there. The Muslim said so to Chagatai. He ordered to look for a coin, and during this time, Ugedei's combatant threw a gold one into the water. The found coin was returned to the "rightful owner". In parting, Ugedei, taking a handful of coins from his pocket, handed them to the rescued person and said: “The next time you drop gold into the water, don’t go after it, don’t break the law.”

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

Of the four sons of Genghis Khan, the youngest possessed the greatest talents and showed the greatest moral dignity. A good commander and an outstanding administrator, Tului was also a loving husband and distinguished by nobility. He married the daughter of the deceased head of the Keraites, Wan Khan, who was a devout Christian. Tului himself did not have the right to accept the Christian faith: like Genghisides, he had to profess the Bon religion (paganism). But the Khan's son allowed his wife not only to perform all Christian rites in a luxurious "church" yurt, but also to have priests with her and receive monks. The death of Tului can be called heroic without any exaggeration. When Ogedei fell ill, Tului voluntarily took a strong shamanic potion, seeking to "attract" the disease to himself, and died saving his brother.

All four sons were eligible to succeed Genghis Khan. After the elimination of Jochi, three heirs remained, and when Genghis died, and the new khan had not yet been elected, Tului ruled the ulus. But at the kurultai of 1229, in accordance with the will of Genghis, the gentle and tolerant Ogedei was chosen as the great khan. Ogedei, as we have already mentioned, had a good soul, but the kindness of the sovereign is often not to the benefit of the state and subjects. The management of the ulus under him was carried out mainly due to the severity of Chagatai and the diplomatic and administrative skills of Tului. The great khan himself preferred roaming with hunting and feasting in Western Mongolia to state concerns.

The grandchildren of Genghis Khan were allocated various areas of the ulus or high positions. The eldest son of Jochi, Orda-Ichen, received the White Horde, located between the Irtysh and the Tarbagatai ridge (the area of ​​\u200b\u200bpresent-day Semipalatinsk). The second son, Batu, began to own the Golden (big) Horde on the Volga. The third son, Sheibani, went to the Blue Horde, which roamed from Tyumen to the Aral Sea. At the same time, the three brothers - the rulers of the uluses - were allocated only one or two thousand Mongol soldiers each, while the total number of the Mongols' army reached 130 thousand people.

The children of Chagatai also received a thousand soldiers each, and the descendants of Tului, being at the court, owned the entire grandfather and father's ulus. So the Mongols established a system of inheritance, called the minority, in which the youngest son received all the rights of his father as an inheritance, and older brothers only a share in the common inheritance.

The great Khan Ugedei also had a son - Guyuk, who claimed the inheritance. The increase in the clan during the lifetime of the children of Genghis caused the division of the inheritance and enormous difficulties in managing the ulus, which stretched over the territory from the Black to the Yellow Sea. In these difficulties and family scores, the seeds of future strife lurked that ruined the state created by Genghis Khan and his associates.

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

Russian pre-revolutionary historians mention "a half-million Mongol army". V. Yan, the author of the famous trilogy "Genghis Khan", "Batu" and "To the last sea", calls the number four hundred thousand. However, it is known that a warrior of a nomadic tribe goes on a campaign with three horses (at least two). One is carrying luggage (“dry rations”, horseshoes, spare harness, arrows, armor), and the third needs to be changed from time to time so that one horse can rest if you suddenly have to engage in battle.

Simple calculations show that for an army of half a million or four hundred thousand fighters, at least one and a half million horses are needed. Such a herd is unlikely to be able to effectively advance a long distance, since the front horses will instantly destroy the grass in a vast area, and the rear ones will die from starvation.

All the main invasions of the Tatar-Mongolians into the borders of Russia took place in winter, when the remaining grass is hidden under the snow, and you can’t take much fodder with you ... The Mongolian horse really knows how to get food from under the snow, but ancient sources do not mention the horses of the Mongolian breed that were available "in service" of the horde. Horse breeding experts prove that the Tatar-Mongolian horde rode Turkmens, and this is a completely different breed, and looks different, and is not able to feed itself in winter without human help ...

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

The temptation for the historian to explain the campaigns of the Mongols of the 13th century by "migrations" is great. But modern researchers show that the Mongol campaigns were not directly related to the movements of huge masses of the population. Victories were won not by hordes of nomads, but by small, well-organized mobile detachments, after campaigns returning to their native steppes. And the khans of the Jochi branch - Baty, Horde and Sheibani - received, according to the will of Genghis, only 4 thousand horsemen, that is, about 12 thousand people who settled in the territory from the Carpathians to Altai.

In the end, historians settled on thirty thousand warriors. But here, too, unanswered questions arise. And the first among them will be this: is not it enough? Despite the disunity of the Russian principalities, thirty thousand cavalrymen is too small a figure to arrange "fire and ruin" throughout Russia! After all (even the supporters of the “classical” version admit this) they did not move in a compact mass. Several detachments scattered in different directions, and this reduces the number of "innumerable Tatar hordes" to the limit beyond which elementary distrust begins: could such a number of aggressors conquer Russia?

It turns out a vicious circle: a huge army of the Tatar-Mongolians, for purely physical reasons, would hardly be able to maintain combat capability in order to move quickly and inflict the notorious "indestructible blows." A small army would hardly have been able to establish control over most of the territory of Russia. To get out of this vicious circle, one has to admit that the Tatar-Mongol invasion was in fact only an episode of the bloody civil war that was going on in Russia. The enemy forces were relatively small, they relied on their own forage stocks accumulated in the cities. And the Tatar-Mongols became an additional external factor used in the internal struggle in the same way as the troops of the Pechenegs and Polovtsy were previously used.

The annalistic information about the military campaigns of 1237-1238 that has come down to us draws a classically Russian style of these battles - the battles take place in winter, and the Mongols - the steppes - act with amazing skill in the forests (for example, the encirclement and subsequent complete destruction of the Russian detachment on the City River under the command of the great Prince Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich).

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

At the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, it was by no means the steppes that represented the main danger to Kievan Rus. Our ancestors were friends with the Polovtsian khans, married the “red Polovtsian girls”, accepted the baptized Polovtsians into their midst, and the descendants of the latter became Zaporozhye and Sloboda Cossacks, not without reason in their nicknames the traditional Slavic suffix belonging to “ov” (Ivanov) was replaced by a Turkic one - “ enco" (Ivanenko).

At this time, a more formidable phenomenon emerged - the decline in morals, the rejection of traditional Russian ethics and morality. In 1097, a princely congress took place in Lyubech, which laid the foundation for a new political form of the country's existence. There it was decided that "let each one keep his fatherland." Russia began to turn into a confederation of independent states. The princes swore to inviolably observe what was proclaimed and in that they kissed the cross. But after the death of Mstislav, the Kievan state began to quickly disintegrate. Polotsk was the first to be laid aside. Then the Novgorod "republic" stopped sending money to Kyiv.

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

Igor Svyatoslavich, a descendant of Prince Oleg, the hero of The Tale of Igor's Campaign, who became the Prince of Chernigov in 1198, set himself the goal of cracking down on Kyiv, the city where the rivals of his dynasty were constantly strengthening. He agreed with the Smolensk prince Rurik Rostislavich and called for the help of the Polovtsy. In defense of Kyiv - "the mother of Russian cities" - Prince Roman Volynsky spoke out, relying on the troops of the Torks allied to him.

The plan of the Chernigov prince was realized after his death (1202). Rurik, Prince of Smolensk, and the Olgovichi with the Polovtsy in January 1203, in a battle that went mainly between the Polovtsy and the Torks of Roman Volynsky, prevailed. Having captured Kyiv, Rurik Rostislavich subjected the city to a terrible defeat. The Church of the Tithes and the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra were destroyed, and the city itself was burned. “They created a great evil, which was not from baptism in the Russian land,” the chronicler left a message.

After the fateful year 1203 Kyiv never recovered.

According to L. N. Gumilyov, by this time the ancient Russians had lost their passionarity, that is, their cultural and energy “charge”. Under such conditions, a collision with a strong enemy could not but become tragic for the country.

Meanwhile, the Mongol regiments were approaching the Russian borders. At that time, the main enemy of the Mongols in the west were the Cumans. Their enmity began in 1216, when the Polovtsians accepted the natural enemies of Genghis - the Merkits. The Polovtsians actively pursued the anti-Mongolian policy, constantly supporting the Finno-Ugric tribes hostile to the Mongols. At the same time, the Polovtsian steppes were as mobile as the Mongols themselves. Seeing the futility of cavalry clashes with the Polovtsy, the Mongols sent an expeditionary force behind enemy lines.

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

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

The clash at the Kalka in 1223 is described in some detail in the annals; in addition, there is another source - "The Tale of the Battle of the Kalka, and the Russian Princes, and the Seventy Bogatyrs." However, the abundance of information does not always bring clarity ...

Historical science has long denied the fact that the events on Kalka were not an aggression of evil aliens, but an attack by the Russians. The Mongols themselves did not seek war with Russia. The ambassadors who arrived at the Russian princes rather amiably asked the Russians not to interfere in their relations with the Polovtsians. But, true to their allied obligations, the Russian princes rejected the peace proposals. In doing so, they made a fatal mistake that had bitter consequences. All the ambassadors were killed (according to some sources, they were not even just killed, but "tortured"). At all times, the murder of an ambassador, a truce was considered a serious crime; according to Mongolian law, the deceit of a person who trusted was an unforgivable crime.

Following this, the Russian army sets out on a long march. Leaving the borders of Russia, it is the first to attack the Tatar camp, take prey, steal cattle, after which it moves out of its territory for another eight days. A decisive battle is taking place on the Kalka River: the eighty thousandth Russian-Polovtsian army fell on the twenty thousandth (!) Detachment of the Mongols. This battle was lost by the allies due to the inability to coordinate actions. The Polovtsy left the battlefield in panic. Mstislav Udaloy and his "younger" prince Daniel fled for the Dnieper; they were the first to reach the shore and managed to jump into the boats. At the same time, the prince cut down the rest of the boats, fearing that the Tatars would be able to cross after him, “and, filled with fear, he reached Galich on foot.” Thus, he doomed his comrades-in-arms, whose horses were worse than the prince's, to death. The enemies killed everyone they overtook.

Other princes remain one on one with the enemy, repulse his attacks for three days, after which, believing the assurances of the Tatars, they surrender. Here lies another mystery. It turns out that the princes surrendered after a certain Russian named Ploskinya, who was in the enemy’s battle formations, solemnly kissed the pectoral cross that the Russians would be spared and their blood would not be shed. The Mongols, according to their custom, kept their word: having tied the captives, they laid them on the ground, covered them with planks and sat down to feast on the bodies. Not a drop of blood was shed! And the latter, according to Mongolian views, was considered extremely important. (By the way, only “The Tale of the Battle of Kalka” reports that the captured princes were put under the boards. Other sources write that the princes were simply killed without mocking, and still others that they were “captured.” So the story of a feast on the bodies is just one of the versions.)

Different nations have different perceptions of the rule of law and the concept of honesty. The Russians believed that the Mongols, having killed the captives, violated their oath. But from the point of view of the Mongols, they kept their oath, and the execution was the highest justice, because the princes committed the terrible sin of killing the one who trusted. Therefore, the point is not in deceit (history gives a lot of evidence of how the Russian princes themselves violated the “kiss of the cross”), but in the personality of Ploskin himself - a Russian, a Christian, who somehow mysteriously found himself among the soldiers of the “unknown people”.

Why did the Russian princes surrender after listening to Ploskini's persuasion? “The Tale of the Battle of the Kalka” writes: “There were roamers along with the Tatars, and their governor was Ploskinya.” Brodniki are Russian free combatants who lived in those places, the predecessors of the Cossacks. However, the establishment of the social position of Ploskin only confuses the matter. It turns out that the roamers in a short time managed to agree with the “unknown peoples” and became close to them so much that they jointly hit their brothers in blood and faith? One thing can be stated with all certainty: part of the army with which the Russian princes fought on the Kalka was Slavic, Christian.

Russian princes in this whole story do not look the best. But back to our mysteries. For some reason, the "Tale of the Battle of the Kalka" mentioned by us is not able to definitely name the enemy of the Russians! Here is a quote: “... Because of our sins, unknown peoples came, the godless Moabites [a symbolic name from the Bible], about whom no one knows exactly who they are and where they came from, and what their language is, and what tribe they are, and what faith. And they call them Tatars, while others say - Taurmen, and others - Pechenegs.

Amazing lines! They were written much later than the events described, when it seemed to be necessary to know exactly who the Russian princes fought on the Kalka. After all, part of the army (albeit small) nevertheless returned from Kalka. Moreover, the victors, pursuing the defeated Russian regiments, chased them to Novgorod-Svyatopolch (on the Dnieper), where they attacked the civilian population, so that among the townspeople there should have been witnesses who saw the enemy with their own eyes. And yet he remains "unknown"! This statement further confuses the matter. After all, by the time described, the Polovtsians were well known in Russia - they lived side by side for many years, then fought, then became related ... The Taurmens, a nomadic Turkic tribe that lived in the Northern Black Sea region, were again well known to the Russians. It is curious that in the "Tale of Igor's Campaign" among the nomadic Turks who served the Chernigov prince, some "Tatars" are mentioned.

There is an impression that the chronicler is hiding something. For some reason unknown to us, he does not want to directly name the enemy of the Russians in that battle. Perhaps the battle on the Kalka was not at all a clash with unknown peoples, but one of the episodes of the internecine war waged between Christian Russians, Christian Polovtsians and Tatars who got involved in the matter?

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

L. N. Gumilyov collected a huge amount of material, clearly indicating that the relationship between Russia and the Horde CAN be denoted by the word "symbiosis". After Gumilyov, they write especially much and often about how Russian princes and “Mongol khans” became brothers, relatives, sons-in-law and father-in-law, how they went on joint military campaigns, how (let’s call a spade a spade) they were friends. Relations of this kind are unique in their own way - in no country conquered by them, the Tatars did not behave like this. This symbiosis, brotherhood in arms leads to such an interweaving of names and events that sometimes it is even difficult to understand where the Russians end and the Tatars begin...

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

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

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

But here again an enemy is coming to Russia, a non-believer, threatening, according to his contemporaries, the very existence of Russia. Well, all in a single impulse are preparing to repulse the adversary? Not! We are faced with a strange passivity and confusion of opinion. With the news of the approach of Akhmat in Russia, something happens that still has no explanation. It is possible to reconstruct these events only on the basis of meager, fragmentary data.

It turns out that Ivan III does not at all seek to fight the enemy. Khan Akhmat is far away, hundreds of kilometers away, and Ivan's wife, Grand Duchess Sophia, flees from Moscow, for which she receives accusatory epithets from the chronicler. Moreover, at the same time, some strange events are unfolding in the principality. “The Tale of Standing on the Ugra” tells about it this way: “In the same winter, the Grand Duchess Sophia returned from her escape, for she ran to Beloozero from the Tatars, although no one was chasing her.” And then - even more mysterious words about these events, in fact, the only mention of them: “And the lands where she wandered became worse than from the Tatars, from boyar serfs, from Christian bloodsuckers. Reward them, Lord, according to the treachery of their deeds, according to the deeds of their hands, give them, for they loved more women than the Orthodox Christian faith and holy churches, and they agreed to betray Christianity, for malice blinded them.

What is this about? What happened in the country? What actions of the boyars brought on them accusations of "blood drinking" and apostasy from the faith? We practically don't know what it was about. A little light is shed by reports about the "evil advisers" of the Grand Duke, who advised not to fight the Tatars, but "run away" (?!). Even the names of "advisors" are known - Ivan Vasilievich Oshchera Sorokoumov-Glebov and Grigory Andreevich Mamon. The most curious thing is that the Grand Duke himself does not see anything reprehensible in the behavior of the near boyars, and subsequently no shadow of disfavor falls on them: after “standing on the Ugra”, both remain in favor until their death, receiving new awards and positions.

What's the matter? It is completely dull, vaguely reported that Oshchera and Mamon, defending their point of view, mentioned the need to observe some kind of “old times”. In other words, the Grand Duke must give up resistance to Akhmat in order to observe some ancient traditions! It turns out that Ivan violates certain traditions, deciding to resist, and Akhmat, accordingly, acts in his own right? Otherwise, this riddle cannot be explained.

Some scholars have suggested: maybe we have a purely dynastic dispute? Once again, two people claim the throne of Moscow - representatives of the relatively young North and the more ancient South, and Akhmat, it seems, has no less rights than his rival!

And here Bishop of Rostov Vassian Rylo intervenes in the situation. It is his efforts that break the situation, it is he who pushes the Grand Duke on a campaign. Bishop Vassian pleads, insists, appeals to the conscience of the prince, gives historical examples, hints that the Orthodox Church may turn away from Ivan. This wave of eloquence, logic and emotion is aimed at convincing the Grand Duke to come to the defense of his country! What the Grand Duke for some reason stubbornly does not want to do ...

The Russian army, to the triumph of Bishop Vassian, leaves for the Ugra. Ahead - a long, for several months, "standing". And again something strange happens. First, negotiations begin between the Russians and Akhmat. The negotiations are quite unusual. Akhmat wants to do business with the Grand Duke himself - the Russians refuse. Akhmat makes a concession: he asks for the brother or son of the Grand Duke to arrive - the Russians refuse. Akhmat again concedes: now he agrees to speak with a "simple" ambassador, but for some reason Nikifor Fedorovich Basenkov must certainly become this ambassador. (Why him? A riddle.) The Russians again refuse.

It turns out that for some reason they are not interested in negotiations. Akhmat makes concessions, for some reason he needs to agree, but the Russians reject all his proposals. Modern historians explain it this way: Akhmat "intended to demand tribute." But if Akhmat was only interested in tribute, why such long negotiations? It was enough to send some Baskak. No, everything indicates that we have before us some big and gloomy secret that does not fit into the usual schemes.

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

1. A series of "fierce battles" undermined the morale of the Tatars.

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

2. The Russians used firearms, which led the Tatars into panic.

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

3. Akhmat was “afraid” of a decisive battle.

But here is another version. It is taken from a historical work of the 17th century, written by Andrey Lyzlov.

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

They, sailing in boats along the Volga to the Horde, saw that there were no military people there, but only women, old men and youths. And they undertook to captivate and devastate, mercilessly betraying the wives and children of the filthy to death, setting fire to their dwellings. And, of course, they could kill every single one.

But Murza Oblyaz the Strong, a servant of Gorodetsky, whispered to his king, saying: “O king! It would be absurd to devastate and ruin this great kingdom to the end, because you yourself come from here, and we all, and here is our homeland. Let’s get out of here, we’ve already caused enough ruin, and God can be angry with us.”

So the glorious Orthodox army returned from the Horde and came to Moscow with a great victory, having with them a lot of booty and a lot of food. The king, having learned about all this, at the same hour retreated from the Ugra and fled to the Horde.

Doesn’t it follow from this that the Russian side deliberately dragged out the negotiations - while Akhmat tried for a long time to achieve his unclear goals, making concessions after concessions, Russian troops sailed along the Volga to the capital of Akhmat and cut down women, children and the elderly there, until the commanders woke up that something like conscience! Please note: it is not said that the voivode Gvozdev opposed the decision of Urodovlet and Oblyaz to stop the massacre. Apparently, he was also fed up with blood. Naturally, Akhmat, having learned about the defeat of his capital, retreated from the Ugra, hurrying home with all possible speed. What next?

A year later, the “Horde” is attacked with an army by a “Nogai Khan” named ... Ivan! Akhmat is killed, his troops are defeated. Another evidence of a deep symbiosis and fusion of Russians and Tatars ... There is another version of the death of Akhmat in the sources. According to him, a certain close associate of Akhmat named Temir, having received rich gifts from the Grand Duke of Moscow, killed Akhmat. This version is of Russian origin.

Interestingly, the army of Tsar Urodovlet, who staged a pogrom in the Horde, is called "Orthodox" by the historian. It seems that before us is another argument in favor of the version that the Horde soldiers who served the Moscow princes were by no means Muslims, but Orthodox.

There is another aspect that is of interest. Akhmat, according to Lyzlov, and Urodovlet are "kings." And Ivan III is only a “Grand Duke”. Writer inaccuracy? But at the time when Lyzlov wrote his history, the title "Tsar" was already firmly entrenched in Russian autocrats, had a specific "binding" and precise meaning. Further, in all other cases, Lyzlov does not allow himself such "liberties". Western European kings he has "kings", Turkish sultans - "sultans", padishah - "padishah", cardinal - "cardinal". Is that the title of Archduke is given by Lyzlov in the translation "artsy prince". But this is a translation, not a mistake.

Thus, in the late Middle Ages there was a system of titles that reflected certain political realities, and today we are well aware of this system. But it is not clear why two seemingly identical Horde nobles are called one “Prince” and the other “Murza”, why “Tatar Prince” and “Tatar Khan” are by no means the same thing. Why are there so many holders of the title "Tsar" among the Tatars, and the Moscow sovereigns are stubbornly called "Grand Dukes". Only in 1547 Ivan the Terrible for the first time in Russia takes the title of "tsar" - and, as Russian chronicles extensively report, he did this only after much persuasion from the patriarch.

Are the campaigns of Mamai and Akhmat against Moscow explained by the fact that, according to some perfectly understandable contemporaries, the rules of the “tsar” were higher than the “grand prince” and had more rights to the throne? That some dynastic system, now forgotten, declared itself here?

It is interesting that in 1501 the Crimean king Chess, having been defeated in an internecine war, for some reason expected that the Kyiv prince Dmitry Putyatich would come out on his side, probably due to some special political and dynastic relations between the Russians and the Tatars. Which one is not exactly known.

And finally, one of the mysteries of Russian history. In 1574 Ivan the Terrible divides the Russian kingdom into two halves; He rules one himself, and transfers the other to the Kasimov Tsar Simeon Bekbulatovich - along with the titles of "Tsar and Grand Duke of Moscow"!

Historians still do not have a generally accepted convincing explanation for this fact. Some say that Grozny, as usual, mocked the people and those close to him, others believe that Ivan IV thus “transferred” his own debts, mistakes and obligations to the new king. But can we not talk about joint rule, which had to be resorted to due to the same intricate ancient dynastic relations? Perhaps for the last time in Russian history, these systems declared themselves.

Simeon was not, as many historians previously believed, Grozny's "weak-willed puppet" - on the contrary, he was one of the largest state and military figures of that time. And after the two kingdoms were again united into one, Grozny by no means “exiled” Simeon to Tver. Simeon was granted the Grand Dukes of Tver. But Tver in the time of Ivan the Terrible was a recently pacified center of separatism, which required special supervision, and the one who ruled Tver, by all means, had to be a confidant of the Terrible.

And finally, strange troubles fell upon Simeon after the death of Ivan the Terrible. With the accession of Fyodor Ioannovich, Simeon is “reduced” from the reign of Tver, blinded (a measure that in Russia from time immemorial was applied exclusively to sovereign persons who had the right to the table!), Forcibly tonsured monks of the Kirillov Monastery (also a traditional way to eliminate a competitor to the secular throne! ). But even this is not enough: I. V. Shuisky sends a blind, elderly monk to Solovki. One gets the impression that the Muscovite tsar in this way got rid of a dangerous competitor who had significant rights. A contender for the throne? Really the rights of Simeon to the throne were not inferior to the rights of the Rurikovich? (It is interesting that Elder Simeon survived his tormentors. Returned from Solovki exile by decree of Prince Pozharsky, he died only in 1616, when neither Fyodor Ivanovich, nor False Dmitry I, nor Shuisky were alive.)

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

Many members of the editorial board are personally acquainted with the inhabitants of Mongolia, who were surprised to learn about their supposedly 300-year-old dominion over Russia. Of course, this news filled the Mongols with a sense of national pride, but at the same time they asked: “Who is Genghis Khan?”

from the magazine "Vedic Culture No. 2"

In the annals of the Orthodox Old Believers about the "Tatar-Mongol yoke" it is said unambiguously: "There was Fedot, but not that one." Let's turn to the ancient Slovene language. Having adapted the runic images to modern perception, we get: thief - enemy, robber; mogul-powerful; yoke - order. It turns out that “Tati Arias” (from the point of view of the Christian flock) with the light hand of the chroniclers were called “Tatars”1, (There is another meaning: “Tata” - father. Tatar - Tata Arias, i.e. Fathers (Ancestors or the older ones) Aryans) the powerful - by the Mongols, and the yoke - the 300-year-old order in the State, which stopped the bloody civil war that broke out on the basis of the forced baptism of Russia - "martyrdom". Horde is a derivative of the word Order, where “Or” is strength, and day is daylight hours or simply “light”. Accordingly, the “Order” is the Force of Light, and the “Horde” is the Light Forces. So these Light Forces of the Slavs and Aryans, led by our Gods and Ancestors: Rod, Svarog, Sventovit, Perun, stopped the civil war in Russia on the basis of forced Christianization and maintained order in the State for 300 years. Were there dark-haired, stocky, dark-faced, hook-nosed, narrow-eyed, bow-legged and very evil warriors in the Horde? Were. Detachments of mercenaries of different nationalities, who, like in any other army, were driven in the forefront, saving the main Slavic-Aryan Troops from losses on the front line.

It's hard to believe? Take a look at the "Map of Russia 1594" in Gerhard Mercator's Atlas of the Country. All the countries of Scandinavia and Denmark were part of Russia, which extended only to the mountains, and the Principality of Muscovy is shown as an independent state that is not part of Russia. In the east, beyond the Urals, the principalities of Obdora, Siberia, Yugoria, Grustina, Lukomorye, Belovodye are depicted, which were part of the Ancient Power of the Slavs and Aryans - the Great (Grand) Tartaria (Tartaria - lands under the auspices of the God Tarkh Perunovich and the Goddess Tara Perunovna - Son and Daughter of the Supreme God Perun - Ancestor of the Slavs and Aryans).

Do you need a lot of intelligence to draw an analogy: Great (Grand) Tartaria = Mogolo + Tartaria = "Mongol-Tataria"? We do not have a high-quality image of the named picture, there is only "Map of Asia 1754". But it's even better! See for yourself. Not only in the 13th, but until the 18th century, Grand (Mogolo) Tartaria existed as realistically as the now faceless Russian Federation.

"Pisarchuks from history" not all were able to pervert and hide from the people. Their repeatedly darned and patched "Trishkin's caftan", which covers the Truth, now and then bursts at the seams. Through the gaps, the truth bit by bit reaches the consciousness of our contemporaries. They do not have truthful information, therefore they are often mistaken in the interpretation of certain factors, but they draw the correct general conclusion: what school teachers taught to several dozen generations of Russians is deceit, slander, falsehood.

Published article from S.M.I. "There was no Tatar-Mongol invasion" - a vivid example of the above. Commentary to it by a member of our editorial board Gladilin E.A. will help you, dear readers, to dot the "i".
Violetta Basha,
All-Russian newspaper "My family",
No. 3, January 2003. p.26

The main source by which we can judge the history of Ancient Russia is considered to be the Radzivilov manuscript: "The Tale of Bygone Years". The story about the calling of the Varangians to rule in Russia is taken from her. But can she be trusted? Its copy was brought at the beginning of the 18th century by Peter 1 from Koenigsberg, then its original turned out to be in Russia. This manuscript has now been proven to be a forgery. Thus, it is not known for certain what happened in Russia before the beginning of the 17th century, that is, before the accession to the throne of the Romanov dynasty. But why did the House of Romanov need to rewrite our history? Is it not then to prove to the Russians that for a long time they were subordinate to the Horde and were not capable of independence, that their lot was drunkenness and humility?

The strange behavior of princes

The classic version of the “Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia” has been known to many since school. She looks like this. At the beginning of the 13th century, in the Mongolian steppes, Genghis Khan gathered a huge army of nomads, subject to iron discipline, and planned to conquer the whole world. Having defeated China, the army of Genghis Khan rushed to the west, and in 1223 went to the south of Russia, where they defeated the squads of Russian princes on the Kalka River. In the winter of 1237, the Tatar-Mongols invaded Russia, burned many cities, then invaded Poland, the Czech Republic and reached the shores of the Adriatic Sea, but suddenly turned back, because they were afraid to leave Russia devastated, but still dangerous for them. In Russia, the Tatar-Mongol yoke began. The huge Golden Horde had borders from Beijing to the Volga and collected tribute from the Russian princes. The khans gave the Russian princes labels for reigning and terrorized the population with atrocities and robberies.

Even the official version says that there were many Christians among the Mongols and some Russian princes established very warm relations with the Horde khans. Another oddity: with the help of the Horde troops, some princes were kept on the throne. The princes were very close people to the khans. And in some cases, the Russians fought on the side of the Horde. Are there many strange things? Is this how the Russians should have treated the occupiers?

Having grown stronger, Russia began to resist, and in 1380 Dmitry Donskoy defeated the Horde Khan Mamai on the Kulikovo field, and a century later the troops of Grand Duke Ivan III and the Horde Khan Akhmat converged. The opponents camped for a long time on opposite sides of the Ugra River, after which the khan realized that he had no chance, gave the order to retreat and went to the Volga. These events are considered the end of the "Tatar-Mongol yoke".

Secrets of the disappeared chronicles

When studying the chronicles of the times of the Horde, scientists had many questions. Why did dozens of chronicles disappear without a trace during the reign of the Romanov dynasty? For example, "The Word about the destruction of the Russian land", according to historians, resembles a document from which everything that would testify to the yoke was carefully removed. They left only fragments telling about a certain "trouble" that befell Russia. But there is not a word about the "invasion of the Mongols."

There are many more oddities. In the story “About the Evil Tatars”, a Khan from the Golden Horde orders the execution of a Russian Christian prince ... for refusing to bow to the “pagan god of the Slavs!” And some chronicles contain amazing phrases, for example, such: “Well, with God!” - said the Khan and, crossing himself, galloped at the enemy.

Why are there suspiciously many Christians among the Tatar-Mongols? Yes, and the descriptions of princes and warriors look unusual: the chronicles claim that most of them were of the Caucasoid type, had not narrow, but large gray or blue eyes and blond hair.

Another paradox: why all of a sudden the Russian princes in the battle on the Kalka surrender "on parole" to a representative of foreigners named Ploskinya, and he ... kisses the pectoral cross ?! So, Ploskinya was his own, Orthodox and Russian, and besides, of a noble family!

Not to mention the fact that the number of “war horses”, and hence the soldiers of the Horde troops, at first, with the light hand of the historians of the Romanov dynasty, was estimated at three hundred to four hundred thousand. Such a number of horses could not hide in the copses, nor feed themselves in the conditions of a long winter! Over the past century, historians have constantly reduced the size of the Mongol army and reached thirty thousand. But such an army could not keep all the peoples from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean in subjection! But it could easily perform the functions of collecting taxes and restoring order, that is, serving as something like a police force.

There was no invasion!

A number of scientists, including Academician Anatoly Fomenko, made a sensational conclusion based on the mathematical analysis of manuscripts: there was no invasion from the territory of modern Mongolia! And there was a civil war in Russia, the princes fought with each other. No representatives of the Mongoloid race who came to Russia existed at all. Yes, there were some Tatars in the army, but not aliens, but residents of the Volga region, who lived in the neighborhood with the Russians long before the notorious "invasion".

What is commonly called the “Tatar-Mongol invasion” was in fact a struggle between the descendants of Prince Vsevolod the “Big Nest” and their rivals for sole power over Russia. The fact of the war between the princes is generally recognized, unfortunately, Russia did not unite immediately, and rather strong rulers fought among themselves.

But with whom did Dmitry Donskoy fight? In other words, who is Mamai?

Horde - the name of the Russian army

The era of the Golden Horde was distinguished by the fact that, along with secular power, there was a strong military power. There were two rulers: a secular one, who was called a prince, and a military one, they called him a khan, i.e. "warlord". In the annals you can find the following entry: “There were roamers along with the Tatars, and they had such and such a governor,” that is, the troops of the Horde were led by governors! And wanderers are Russian free combatants, the predecessors of the Cossacks.

Authoritative scientists have concluded that the Horde is the name of the Russian regular army (like the "Red Army"). And Tatar-Mongolia is Great Russia itself. It turns out that it was not the "Mongols", but the Russians who conquered a huge territory from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Arctic to the Indian. It was our troops that made Europe tremble. Most likely, it was the fear of powerful Russians that caused the Germans to rewrite Russian history and turn their national humiliation into ours.

By the way, the German word “ordnung” (“order”) most likely comes from the word “horde”. The word "Mongol" probably came from the Latin "megalion", that is, "great." Tataria from the word "tartar" ("hell, horror"). And Mongol-Tataria (or "Megalion-Tartaria") can be translated as "Great Horror".

A few more words about names. Most people of that time had two names: one in the world, and the other received at baptism or a battle nickname. According to the scientists who proposed this version, Prince Yaroslav and his son Alexander Nevsky act under the names of Genghis Khan and Batu. Ancient sources depict Genghis Khan as tall, with a luxurious long beard, with “lynx”, green-yellow eyes. Note that people of the Mongoloid race do not have a beard at all. The Persian historian of the times of the Horde, Rashid adDin, writes that in the family of Genghis Khan, children "were born mostly with gray eyes and blond."

Genghis Khan, according to scientists, is Prince Yaroslav. He just had a middle name - Genghis with the prefix "khan", which meant "commander". Batu - his son Alexander (Nevsky). The following phrase can be found in the manuscripts: "Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky, nicknamed Batu." By the way, according to the description of contemporaries, Batu was fair-haired, light-bearded and light-eyed! It turns out that it was the Khan of the Horde who defeated the Crusaders on Lake Peipsi!

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

What Russia was the Horde going to?

The chronicles do say; "The Horde went to Russia." But in the XII-XIII centuries, Rus was called a relatively small area around Kyiv, Chernigov, Kursk, the area near the Ros River, Seversk land. But Muscovites or, say, Novgorodians were already northern residents, who, according to the same ancient chronicles, often “went to Russia” from Novgorod or Vladimir! That is, for example, in Kyiv.

Therefore, when the Moscow prince was about to go on a campaign against his southern neighbor, this could be called an “invasion of Russia” by his “horde” (troops). Not in vain, on Western European maps, for a very long time, Russian lands were divided into “Muscovy” (north) and “Russia” (south).

A grand fabrication

At the beginning of the 18th century, Peter 1 founded the Russian Academy of Sciences. During the 120 years of its existence, there were 33 academicians-historians at the historical department of the Academy of Sciences. Of these, only three are Russians, including M.V. Lomonosov, the rest are Germans. The history of Ancient Russia until the beginning of the 17th century was written by the Germans, and some of them did not even know the Russian language! This fact is well known to professional historians, but they make no effort to carefully review what history the Germans wrote.

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

As a result, we do not know our history. The Germans of the Romanov family have hammered into our heads that the Russian peasant is good for nothing. That “he does not know how to work, that he is a drunkard and an eternal slave.

There are a large number of facts that not only unequivocally refute the hypothesis of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, but also indicate that history was deliberately distorted, and that this was done with a very specific purpose ... But who deliberately distorted history and why? What real events did they want to hide and why?

If we analyze the historical facts, it becomes obvious that the "Tatar-Mongol yoke" was invented in order to hide the consequences of "baptism". After all, this religion was imposed in a far from peaceful way ... In the process of "baptism" most of the population of the Kyiv principality was destroyed! It definitely becomes clear that those forces that were behind the imposition of this religion, in the future, fabricated history, juggling historical facts for themselves and their goals ...

These facts are known to historians and are not secret, they are publicly available, and anyone can easily find them on the Internet. Omitting scientific research and justification, which have already been described quite extensively, let's summarize the main facts that refute the big lie about the "Tatar-Mongol yoke".

1. Genghis Khan

Previously, in Russia, 2 people were responsible for governing the state: prince and Khan. responsible for the administration of the state in peacetime. Khan or "war prince" took over the reins of government during the war, in peacetime he was responsible for the formation of the horde (army) and maintaining it in combat readiness.

Genghis Khan is not a name, but the title of a "military prince", which, in the modern world, is close to the position of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army. And there were several people who bore such a title. The most prominent of them was Timur, it is about him that they usually talk about when they talk about Genghis Khan.

In the surviving historical documents, this man is described as a tall warrior with blue eyes, very white skin, powerful reddish hair and a thick beard. Which clearly does not correspond to the signs of a representative of the Mongoloid race, but fully fits the description of the Slavic appearance (L.N. Gumilyov - "Ancient Russia and the Great Steppe".).

French engraving by Pierre Duflos (1742-1816)

In modern "Mongolia" there is not a single folk tale that would say that this country once conquered almost all of Eurasia in ancient times, just like there is nothing about the great conqueror Genghis Khan ... (N.V. Levashov "Visible and invisible genocide).

Reconstruction of the throne of Genghis Khan with a family tamga with a swastika.

2. Mongolia

The state of Mongolia appeared only in the 1930s, when the Bolsheviks came to the nomads living in the Gobi desert and informed them that they were the descendants of the great Mongols, and their “compatriot” created the Great Empire at one time, which they were very surprised and delighted with . The word "Mogul" is of Greek origin and means "Great". This word the Greeks called our ancestors - the Slavs. It has nothing to do with the name of any people (N.V. Levashov "Visible and invisible genocide").

3. The composition of the army "Tatar-Mongols"

70-80% of the army of the "Tatar-Mongols" were Russians, the remaining 20-30% were other small peoples of Russia, in fact, as now. This fact is clearly confirmed by a fragment of the icon of Sergius of Radonezh "The Battle of Kulikovo". It clearly shows that the same warriors are fighting on both sides. And this battle is more like a civil war than a war with a foreign conqueror.

4. What did the "Tatar-Mongols" look like?

Pay attention to the drawing of the tomb of Henry II the Pious, who was killed on the Legnica field.

The inscription is as follows: “The figure of a Tatar under the feet of Henry II, Duke of Silesia, Krakow and placed on the grave in Breslau of this prince, who was killed in the battle with the Tatars at Liegnitz on April 9, 1241.” As we can see, this "Tatar" has a completely Russian appearance, clothes and weapons. In the next image - "Khan's palace in the capital of the Mongol Empire, Khanbalik" (it is believed that Khanbalik is allegedly Beijing).

What is "Mongolian" and what is "Chinese" here? Again, as in the case of the tomb of Henry II, before us are people of a clearly Slavic appearance. Russian caftans, archer caps, the same broad beards, the same characteristic blades of sabers called "elman". The roof on the left is almost an exact copy of the roofs of the old Russian towers ... (A. Bushkov, "Russia that was not").

5. Genetic expertise

According to the latest data obtained as a result of genetic research, it turned out that Tatars and Russians have very similar genetics. Whereas the differences between the genetics of Russians and Tatars from the genetics of the Mongols are colossal: “The differences between the Russian gene pool (almost completely European) and the Mongolian (almost completely Central Asian) are really great - it’s like two different worlds ...” (oagb.ru).

6. Documents during the Tatar-Mongol yoke

During the existence of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, not a single document in the Tatar or Mongolian language has been preserved. But there are many documents of this time in Russian.

7. Lack of objective evidence supporting the hypothesis of the Tatar-Mongol yoke

At the moment, there are no originals of any historical documents that would objectively prove that there was a Tatar-Mongol yoke. But on the other hand, there are many fakes designed to convince us of the existence of a fiction called the "Tatar-Mongol yoke." Here is one of those fakes. This text is called "The Word about the Destruction of the Russian Land" and in each publication it is announced as "an excerpt from a poetic work that has not come down to us in its entirety ... About the Tatar-Mongol invasion":

“Oh, bright and beautifully decorated Russian land! You are glorified by many beauties: you are famous for many lakes, locally revered rivers and springs, mountains, steep hills, high oak forests, clear fields, marvelous animals, various birds, countless great cities, glorious villages, monastery gardens, God's and formidable temples, honest boyars and nobles many. You are full of everything, Russian land, O Christian Orthodox Faith!..»

There is not even a hint of the "Tatar-Mongol yoke" in this text. But in this "ancient" document there is such a line: “You are full of everything, Russian land, O Orthodox Christian faith!”

Before Nikon's church reform, which was carried out in the middle of the 17th century, Christianity in Russia was called "orthodox". It began to be called Orthodox only after this reform... Therefore, this document could have been written no earlier than the middle of the 17th century and has nothing to do with the era of the "Tatar-Mongol yoke"...

On all maps that were published before 1772 and were not corrected in the future, you can see the following.

The western part of Russia is called Muscovy, or Moscow Tartaria ... In this small part of Russia, the Romanov dynasty ruled. Until the end of the 18th century, the Moscow Tsar was called the ruler of Moscow Tartaria or the Duke (Prince) of Moscow. The rest of Russia, which occupied almost the entire continent of Eurasia in the east and south of Muscovy at that time, is called the Russian Empire (see map).

In the 1st edition of the British Encyclopedia of 1771, the following is written about this part of Russia:

“Tartaria, a huge country in the northern part of Asia, bordering Siberia in the north and west: which is called Great Tartaria. Those Tartars living south of Muscovy and Siberia are called Astrakhan, Cherkasy and Dagestan, living in the north-west of the Caspian Sea are called Kalmyk Tartars and which occupy the territory between Siberia and the Caspian Sea; Uzbek Tartars and Mongols, who live north of Persia and India, and, finally, Tibetan, living northwest of China ... "(see the Food of the Republic of Armenia website)…

Where did the name Tartaria come from

Our ancestors knew the laws of nature and the real structure of the world, life, and man. But, as now, the level of development of each person was not the same in those days. People who in their development went much further than others, and who could control space and matter (control the weather, heal diseases, see the future, etc.), were called Magi. Those of the Magi who knew how to control space at the planetary level and above were called Gods.

That is, the meaning of the word God, among our ancestors, was not at all the same as it is now. The gods were people who had gone much further in their development than the vast majority of people. For an ordinary person, their abilities seemed incredible, however, the gods were also people, and the capabilities of each god had their own limit.

Our ancestors had patrons - God, he was also called Dazhdbog (giving God) and his sister - Goddess Tara. These Gods helped people in solving such problems that our ancestors could not solve on their own. So, the gods Tarkh and Tara taught our ancestors how to build houses, cultivate the land, write and much more, which was necessary in order to survive after the catastrophe and eventually restore civilization.

Therefore, more recently, our ancestors told strangers "We are Tarha and Tara ...". They said this because in their development, they really were children in relation to Tarkh and Tara, who had significantly departed in development. And the inhabitants of other countries called our ancestors "Tarkhtars", and later, because of the difficulty in pronunciation - "Tartars". Hence the name of the country - Tartaria ...

Baptism of Russia

And here the baptism of Russia? some may ask. As it turned out, very much so. After all, baptism did not take place in a peaceful way ... Before baptism, people in Russia were educated, almost everyone knew how to read, write, count (see article). Let us recall from the school curriculum on history, at least, the same “Birch Bark Letters” - letters that peasants wrote to each other on birch bark from one village to another.

Our ancestors had a Vedic worldview, as I wrote above, it was not a religion. Since the essence of any religion comes down to the blind acceptance of any dogmas and rules, without a deep understanding of why it is necessary to do it this way and not otherwise. The Vedic worldview, on the other hand, gave people an understanding of real nature, an understanding of how the world works, what is good and what is bad.

People saw what happened after the "baptism" in neighboring countries, when, under the influence of religion, a successful, highly developed country with an educated population, in a matter of years, plunged into ignorance and chaos, where only representatives of the aristocracy could read and write, and then not all of them. ..

Everyone understood perfectly well what the “Greek religion” carried in itself, into which the Bloody and those who stood behind him were going to baptize Kievan Rus. Therefore, none of the inhabitants of the then Kyiv principality (a province that broke away from Great Tartary) accepted this religion. But there were large forces behind Vladimir, and they were not going to retreat.

In the process of "baptism" for 12 years of forced Christianization, with rare exceptions, almost the entire adult population of Kievan Rus was destroyed. Because such a “teaching” could only be imposed on unreasonable people, who, due to their youth, could not yet understand that such a religion turned them into slaves both in the physical and spiritual sense of the word. All those who refused to accept the new "faith" were killed. This is confirmed by the facts that have come down to us. If before the "baptism" on the territory of Kievan Rus there were 300 cities and 12 million inhabitants, then after the "baptism" there were only 30 cities and 3 million people! 270 cities were destroyed! 9 million people were killed! (Diy Vladimir, "Orthodox Russia before the adoption of Christianity and after").

But despite the fact that almost the entire adult population of Kievan Rus was destroyed by the "holy" baptists, the Vedic tradition did not disappear. On the lands of Kievan Rus, the so-called dual faith was established. Most of the population purely formally recognized the imposed religion of slaves, while they themselves continued to live according to the Vedic tradition, though without showing it off. And this phenomenon was observed not only among the masses, but also among part of the ruling elite. And this state of affairs continued until the reform of Patriarch Nikon, who figured out how to deceive everyone.

findings

In fact, only children and a very small part of the adult population who adopted the Greek religion remained alive after baptism in the Principality of Kiev - 3 million people out of a population of 12 million before baptism. The principality was completely devastated, most of the cities, villages and villages were looted and burned. But exactly the same picture is drawn to us by the authors of the version of the “Tatar-Mongol yoke”, the only difference is that the same cruel actions were allegedly carried out there by the “Tatar-Mongols”!

As always, the winner writes history. And it becomes obvious that in order to hide all the cruelty with which the Kiev principality was baptized, and in order to stop all possible questions, the “Tatar-Mongol yoke” was subsequently invented. Children were brought up in the traditions of the Greek religion (the cult of Dionysius, and later Christianity) and history was rewritten, where all the cruelty was blamed on the “wild nomads”…

The famous statement of President V.V. Putin about, in which the Russians allegedly fought against the Tatars with the Mongols ...

The Tatar-Mongol yoke is the biggest myth of history.