Toktamysh is the last khan of a single horde. Short-lived peace with Russia

Khan of Dzhuchiev Ulus (in Russian sources, starting from the 16th century - the Golden Horde) Toktamysh (Tokhtamysh) was a very remarkable figure. Unfortunately, in research literature his personality attracted attention, as a rule, in connection with the Khan’s campaign against Moscow in 1382, or as part of his military actions against Timur (Tamerlane). An exception is the review of the life and activities of the khan compiled by V.V. Bartold. Meanwhile, reconstruction is possible full biography Toktamysh allows you to take a new look at a number of internal and foreign policy events stories Horde state last third XIV - early XV centuries.
Toktamysh was the son of Tui-Khodja (Toi-Khoja) and Kutan-Kunchek-Khatun (Kui-Kechik) and belonged to the family of the thirteenth son of Juchi Khan, the eldest son of Genghis Khan. That is, he was a representative of the ruling dynasty in the Ulus, but one of its younger branches. His father, the ruler of Mangyshlak, was killed by Urus Khan, the ruler of the Kok Orda (Blue Horde) - the right wing of the Dzhuchiev Ulus, around 1364. IN this period, which received the name “Great Jammy” in Russian sources, representatives of the dynasties of Jochi’s younger sons began to make claims to the throne in Sarai. According to Persian sources, Urus Khan repeatedly called on his father Chimpai to conquer the Volga region, but he refused. Having ascended the throne of the Kok Horde, Urus Khan decided to undertake a campaign against Sarai. Tuy-Khoji-Oglan refused to take part in it, for which he was executed.
Toktamish “ran away from the horde once or twice,” but he was forgiven “since he had not yet reached adulthood.” Around 1375, Toktamysh again fled from the Horde and arrived at the court of Timur. The Central Asian ruler provided assistance to Genghisid. Toktamysh gained a foothold in Otrar and Sairam. However, Uruskhan's son Kutlug-Bug attacked Toktamysh "and fought a lot" with him. In one of the battles, Kutlug-Buga received a mortal wound from an arrow and died. However, his troops defeated the enemy, and Toktamysh again found himself at the Samarkand court. Timur equipped troops to help Genghisid, but in a battle with another son of Urus Khan, Toktakiy, Toktamysh was again defeated and almost died: while swimming across the Seyhun River, he was wounded by an arrow in the arm. Idigu-barlas, Timur's brother, found him in the river thickets. Toktamysh was taken to Bukhara, where Timur was then located. Idigu-mangut (Edigei), who had fled from the camp of Urus Khan, arrived there. He reported that the Horde ruler with his troops was moving after Toktamysh. Then the ambassadors of Urus Khan arrived and demanded the extradition of the prince. However, Timur refused them this. Moreover, the Central Asian commander advanced his troops against Urus Khan. The armies stood against each other for three months (winter 1375 - 1376). Then Timur's troops managed to capture Otrar and reach Jeyran-Kamysh. Here the news of the death of Urus Khan was received. Toktamysh was declared khan, and Timur returned to Samarkand. But the Horde aristocracy, in contrast to Timur’s protege, along with the son of Tui-Khoja-Oglan, proclaimed Urus Khan’s son Toktakiya khan, and after his death, Timur-Melik-Oglan. His troops in 1376 opposed Toktamysh and he, having once again suffered defeat, fled to Timur.

Khan of the Golden Horde in 1380-1395, Khan of the Tyumen Khanate from 1400, one of the descendants of Jochi, the eldest son of Genghis Khan

short biography

Tokhtamysh(Toktamysh, Takhtamysh, Totamikh) (Nog. Toktamys Khan; Tat. Tuktamysh Khan, Tuqtamış xan; Bashk. Tuҡtamysh Khan; Kaz. Toktamys Khan; Uzbek. Toʻxtamish) mind. 1406 - Khan of the Golden Horde in 1380-1395, Khan of the Tyumen Khanate from 1400, one of the descendants of Jochi, the eldest son of Genghis Khan.

Rise to power

Chingizid Tokhtamysh was the son of Oglan Tui-Khoja, the ruler of Mangyshlak and an influential khanzada under Urus Khan. After Tui-Khoja was executed by order of Urus Khan for disobedience, young Tokhtamysh, fearing for his life, fled to Samarkand in 1376 to the ruler of Transoxiana, Timur (Tamerlane).

In 1377, Tokhtamysh, with the support of Timur, began to conquer the Golden Horde. However, in the very first battle, despite the death of the White Horde prince Kutlug-Buga, son of Urus Khan, Tokhtamysh was defeated and fled to Timur. Soon he is at the head of more strong army, provided to him by Timur, invaded a second time Golden Horde. However, he was again defeated by the son of Urus Khan Toktakiya and took refuge with Timur. Urus Khan demanded that the emir, under threat of war, hand over Tokhtamysh to him, but Timur refused.

Timur himself began to prepare for a campaign in the Golden Horde against Urus Khan and soon invaded its borders and settled down at Sygnak opposite the troops of Urus Khan. However, due to severe frosts the warriors were not able to hold weapons in their hands, and Tamerlane postponed the conquest of the Horde until spring. IN next year A decisive clash did not occur again, since Urus Khan suddenly died. After the short reign of Toktakiya, Timur-Malik Oglan ascended the Golden Horde throne. Tokhtamysh, at the head of the army given to him by Timur, invaded the Horde, but was again defeated, barely escaping death. Due to numerous vices and weaknesses, Timur-Malik quickly began to lose power, thanks to which Timur considered it possible to again send Tokhtamysh to conquer the Horde throne. Tokhtamysh defeated Timur-Malik and became the ruler of the White Horde with its center in Sygnak.

In the spring of 1378, after the fall East End with its capital in Sygnak, Tokhtamysh invaded western part, controlled by Mamai. By April 1380, Tokhtamysh managed to capture the entire Golden Horde all the way to Azov, including the capital, Sarai-Berke.

The reign of Tokhtamysh dates back to the revival of the Golden Horde cities in the Lower Volga region.

After the Battle of Kulikovo, Tokhtamysh, with the help of Timur, seized the throne of the united Golden Horde, killed Beklyari Bek Mamai and sent ambassadors to the Russian princes with the news of his accession. The princes received the ambassadors with honor and, in turn, sent ambassadors with gifts for the new khan. However, the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Donskoy did not consider it necessary to go to the new ruler of the Golden Horde to receive from his hands the label for the great reign. Rus' and the Horde spent the next two years as two independent states.

In the 14th century, near the Ukrainian city of Berislav there was the residence of Khan Tokhtamysh Dogangechit.

March on Moscow

Wanting to curb the Russian princes, who had risen after the Battle of Kulikovo, Tokhtamysh ordered to rob the Russian guests and seize their ships, and in 1382 he himself went to Moscow with a large army.

Prince Dmitry Konstantinovich of Nizhny Novgorod, having learned about Tokhtamysh’s campaign, sent his sons Vasily Kirdyapa and Semyon Dmitrievich to him, and Grand Duke Ryazansky Oleg Ivanovich showed him the fords on the Oka. Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy and Vladimir Andreevich Brave fled to Kostroma and Volok Lamsky, respectively. Metropolitan Cyprian took refuge in Tver. Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tver sent an ambassador to Tokhtamysh with a declaration of submission.

When Tokhtamysh took Serpukhov, in Moscow, due to its complete helplessness, a rebellion arose. Came to the aid of Muscovites Lithuanian prince Ostey. On August 24, 1382, Tokhtamysh approached the city. For two days the Muscovites and Lithuanians stubbornly defended themselves. However, Tokhtamysh took Moscow by cunning, sending Nizhny Novgorod princes Vasily Kirdyapa and Semyon Dmitrievich, who swore that Tokhtamysh would not do anything bad to the Muscovites if they surrendered. On August 26, Moscow surrendered. The promise was not fulfilled: many people were killed, the city was plundered. After this, the Tatars took Pereyaslavl, Vladimir, Yuryev, Zvenigorod, Mozhaisk and other cities near Moscow.

After one of the Horde detachments was defeated by Vladimir Andreevich the Brave near Volok Lamsky, Tokhtamysh went to the Horde, plundering way back Ryazan land. The successor of Dmitry Donskoy, his son Vasily I Dmitrievich, bought a label for the Nizhny Novgorod principality in the Horde.

The fight against Tamerlane

The Tatars made small raids on Russian soil several more times, plundered Ryazan, but Tokhtamysh could not undertake a large and serious campaign against Moscow, since at that time he entered into a fight with Timur (Tamerlane), to whom he owed the throne. Fearing the transition of Transcaucasia and Western Iran to enemy rule, Tokhtamysh launched an invasion of this region in 1385. Having captured Tabriz and plundered it, the khan retreated with rich booty; Among the 90,000 captives was the poet Kamol Khujandi. In the 1390s, Timur inflicted two severe defeats on the Horde khan - at Kondurch (1391) and Terek (1395) - after which Tokhtamysh lost his throne and was forced to wage a constant struggle with the khans appointed by Timur. After the defeat, Tokhtamysh apparently managed to seize power for a short time in the Tyumen Khanate or in part of its uluses.

Fight with Edigei

Soon, with the assistance of Emir Edigei, Timur-Kutlug reigned on the Golden Horde throne, defeating Tokhtamysh, who then fled with his family to Kyiv to the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt. Tokhtamysh was received by the Grand Duke, who wanted to use him as a conductor of his political influence in the Horde.

Tokhtamysh was finally lost political influence, however in last years began to lean toward peace with Timur, to whom he even sent an embassy. Therefore, after this resounding victory, Edigei did not leave Tokhtamysh alone and fought him for a long time with varying success.

In 1405, Timur died, and Tokhtamysh was finally defeated and killed in the 16th battle with Edigei and Chokre. Before 1406, the Arkhangelsk Chronicler (part of the Ustyug Chronicle Code) reports (fol. 215 vol. - 216):

During the same winter, Tsar Zhenibek killed Taktamysh in the Siberian lands near Tyumen, and he himself sat in the Horde.

Labels of Khan Toktamysh

Label of Khan Toktamysh Yagailu

The label was found in 1834 by K. M. Obolensky in the Moscow Main Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The document was among the papers of A. S. Narushevich, which were once in the Krakow crown archive.

The original label consists of two sheets of polished paper. The length of the first sheet is 39.6 cm, width - 19.8 cm. The length of the second sheet is 41.8 cm, width - 19.8 cm. Both sheets have the sign of a bull's head. The text is written in ink in the Uyghur script in the Chagatai language on the front sides of the sheets - 13 lines on the first sheet and 12 lines on the second. On the first sheet, the first line and the first word of the sixth line are written in gold. The third, fourth and fifth lines following the mention of the addressee's name are shifted “down” (to the left). Next to these lines on the right side is a gold imprint of a quadrangular seal (6x6 cm). The seal consists of two squares, one of which is located inside the other with text on Arabic written in Kufic script. The inscription in the inner square is “Justice Sultan Toktamysh.” The inscription in the outer square is “In the name of Allah, the merciful, the merciful! There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. May Allah bless him and welcome him!” On the second sheet the beginning of the first and sixth lines are written in gold. The label was written on May 20, 1393 (year of the chicken, 8 Rajab 795).

At the same time, another label was discovered, made on similar paper(the sign of the bull's head is inverted), written in Western Russian semi-ustav, which has similar content, but is not a translation.

Famous whole line translations of the label into Russian. In 1835, such a translation was carried out by O. M. Kovalevsky, in 1837 - by A. K. Kazem-Bek, in 1850 - by I. N. Berezin, in 1888 - by V. V. Radlov. In 1927, A. N. Samoilovich published a work in which he made some clarifications to the translations of I. N. Berezin and V. V. Radlov.

The most frequently cited translations of the label are those by I. N. Berezin and V. V. Radlov.

I, Toktamysh, speak to Yagail.
To inform us about how We sat down in a great place, We first sent ambassadors under the leadership of Kutlu Buga and Hassan, and then you sent your petitioners to Us. In the third year, some oglans, headed by Bekbulat and Kojamedin, and beks, headed by Bekish, Turduchak-berdi and Davud, sent a man named Edugu to Temir to call him secretly. He came to this call and, according to their malicious intent, sent them a message. We learned about this (only) when it reached the borders of (our) people, we gathered, and at the time when We wanted to enter into battle, those evil people from the very beginning they were shaken and as a result of this there was confusion among the people. The whole thing happened this way. But God was merciful and punished the oglans and beks hostile to us, led by Bekbulat, Kojamedin, Bekish, Turduchak-berdi and Davud.
To report these matters, we are now sending envoys under the leadership of Hassan and Tuulu Khoja. Now there is another matter: You collect tribute from the peoples subject to Us and convey it to the ambassadors who came to you; let them deliver it to the treasury. Let your merchant artels travel around again as before; it will be better for the condition of the great people.
We published such a label with a golden sign. In the year of the chicken, according to chronology 795, on the 8th day of the month of Rejeb, when the horde was in Tana, we wrote (this).
- Radlov V.V. Labels of Toktamysh and Temir-Kutlug//ZVORAO. 1888. T.3., pp.1-17

Jogaila: We sent ambassadors, of whom the main ones were Kotlubuga and Asan, to let us know about the accession to the great place, and you also sent an envoy to us. In the third year, not a few Uglans, of which the most important were Bekbulat and Khoja Medin, and Beki, of which the main ones were Bekgich and Turduchak Berdi Davud, sending ahead a man named Idikgiya, they sent (without my knowledge) to Temir. At that request he spoke. When he, believing in their evil heart and the same tongue, came secretly ahead, we, having learned, gathered together; During the battle before, those bad people left the place, which is why the people also left the place. This is what was the reason for what had happened until then. God, having granted us favor, handed over to us the warring Ughlans and Beks, of whom the main ones were Bekbulat, Khoja Medin, Bekgich and Turduchak Berdi Davud. Now we sent ambassadors, of which the main ones were Asan and Tulu Oja, to let us know about this happening. And then
Collect the exits from the volosts of Our subjects, hand them over to the en route ambassadors for delivery to the treasury. According to the previous rule, let (my) merchants and your merchants go one to another: recognizing this as good for the Great Ulus, we approved a charter with a gold sign. It was ordered to write the Kuryak year of Gijra, the seven hundred and ninety-fifth new lunar month of Rejeb, on the eighth day, when the Horde was on the Don.
- Berezin I.N. Khan's labels. 1. Label of Khan of the Golden Horde Tokhtamysh to the Polish king Jogaila. 1392-1993 Kazan, 1850, S. 12

Related to the problem of translation accuracy is the question of where the letter was written. O. M. Kovalevsky, A. K. Kazem-Bek, I. N. Berezin in their translations mark this place with the phrase “when the Horde was on the Don.” In the translations of V. G. Tizenhausen and V. V. Radlov, Tan is indicated as the place where the letter was written, by which the translators understand the city near the mouth of the Don (Azov). IN the latter case the interpretation is more convincing, since in known cases when a document was compiled on the bank of a river (Timur-Kutluk's label, Ulug-Muhammad's letter, Mahmud Khan's letter), other words are used to designate the place.

The original was transferred to Poland in 1921.

Label of Tokhtamysh Bek-Khojayu

The document belonged to the Crimean owner and was presented as a document of ownership to Prince M. S. Vorontsov.

The label is a scroll glued together from four sheets of thick, yellowish paper, polished on both sides, without filigree. The sheets are 33, 36, 35.5 and 18 cm long. The scroll itself is 119 cm long and 25.2 cm wide. The text is written in black ink in an elegant diwani-jali script. The text has a size of 21×90 cm, there are 5 cm margins on the right. The length of full lines reaches up to 21 cm, short lines - up to 11 cm. By alif average height letters is 1.5-2 cm. Max Height letters in the invocation - is 4-6 cm. The distance between the lines of the text is 6-7 cm. The distance between the invocation and the intitulation and between the intitulation and the main text is 10-12 cm. The invocation, intitulation, the word “khan” and those replacing it are written in gold pronoun word.

There are two imprints of a scarlet seal on the label square shape(12cm×12cm). The text of the seal generally corresponds to the text in the seal on the label of Khan Toktamysh to Yagail, with the exception that unreadable symbols are observed in front of the word “Sultan” in the inner square.

The first print is located on the right, opposite 7-8 lines of text and falls on the place of the glued joint of 2 and 3 sheets of paper. The second print is located on the 4th sheet of paper, on the left, at the ends of 14-15 lines.

Already at the end of the 70s of the last century, despite the restoration carried out in 1970, researchers noted the poor preservation of the document compared to its original state (a facsimile copy was made of it in 1843).

I surrender to God and trust in his mercy and goodness! Tokhtamysh’s word.
of the Crimean region to the chiefs, headed by Kutlu-Bug, Beks, spiritual judges, spiritual lawyers, abbots, elders, secretaries of chambers, customs officers, weighers, bukauls, logistics officers, any kind of masters, everyone.
Since Timur-Pulad commanded this: “Bek Haji, who owns this label, and the people belonging to him, were all granted by us (they paid to the state treasury annually all any required expenses with allowances). From now on, let them not impose the so-called “capitation” taxes on Sutkul, and don’t demand supplies and stern; let them not demand grain grub for the barns; let the regional authorities not touch any person subordinate to Sutkul inside Crimea, outside, at stopping places; to all of them together in existence, for the sake of freeing them from the required expenses, providing patronage and assistance, writing a paizovago tarhan label, in this case, you all provide unquestioning assistance to Bek Hadji,” therefore, those who make the distribution of regional capitation payments will certainly be afraid to cause anxiety and offense. But if you are Bek Hadji, saying: “I am this way,” you will begin to inflict violence on the pitiful poor, and no good will come to you. So saying, they gave a red-printed label to keep. The Horde was on the Don, on Ur-tuba, on the steppe. Written in the summer of the monkey of the ninety-fourth year of the month of Zulqaad the twenty-fourth.
- Tarkhan labels of Tokhtamysh, Timur-Kutluk and Saadet-Girey with introduction, census and notes, published by I. Berezin, professor at Kazan University. - Kazan, 1851.

The document is kept at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Family

Toktamysh is the son of Tuy-Khoja, the son of Kutluk-Khoja, the son of Kunchek, the son of Sarichi, the son of Uran-Timur, the son of Tuk-Timur, the son of Jochi.

Wives of Toktamysh: Tagai-byka; Shukr-byka-aga - daughter of Amir Arsak; Urun-byka;

Toktamysh Khan had eight sons and five daughters:

Jalal ad-Din;
Jabbar-Birdi;
Kepek;
Karim-Berdi;
Iskandar;
Bou Said;
Kuchik;
Kadir-Berdi.
Malika-hancha;
Haninka;
Janinka-hancha;
Saadat-bek (Say-byka-khancha);
Kadija.

Golden Horde in -1395, Khan of the Tyumen Khanate from 1400, one of the descendants of Jochi, the eldest son of Genghis Khan.

Rise to power

The reign of Tokhtamysh dates back to the revival of the Golden Horde cities in the Lower Volga region.

The fight against Tamerlane

Fight with Edigei

Soon, with the assistance of Emir Edigei, Timur-Kutlug reigned on the Golden Horde throne, defeating Tokhtamysh, who then fled with his family to Kyiv to the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas. Tokhtamysh was received by the Grand Duke, who wanted to use him as a conductor of his political influence in the Horde.

Vitovt began to prepare a large-scale campaign against the Tatars with the goal of placing Tokhtamysh on the Golden Horde throne, who, with a detachment of several thousand Tatars, also took part in the campaign. Having marched on the Horde, Vytautas in 1399 set up a camp on the Vorskla River, and Timur-Kutlug, frightened by the large number of the enemy, asked for peace. Meanwhile, Edigei and his troops arrived at the river and broke off the negotiations, convincing Timur-Kutlug to continue the fight. Having led the Horde troops, Edigei inflicted a crushing defeat on Vytautas.
Tokhtamysh finally lost his political influence, but in recent years he began to lean towards peace with Timur, to whom he even sent an embassy. Therefore, after this resounding victory, Edigei did not leave Tokhtamysh alone and fought him for a long time with varying success.

In 1405, Timur died, and Tokhtamysh was finally defeated and killed in the 16th battle with Edigei and Chokre. Under 1406, the Arkhangelsk Chronicler (part of the Ustyug Chronicle Code) reports (fol. 215 vol. - 216):

Labels of Khan Toktamysh

Label of Khan Toktamysh Yagailu

The original label consists of two sheets of polished paper. The length of the first sheet is 39.6 cm, width - 19.8 cm. The length of the second sheet is 41.8 cm, width - 19.8 cm. Both sheets have the sign of a bull's head. The text is written in ink in the Uyghur script in the Chagatai language on the front sides of the sheets - 13 lines on the first sheet and 12 lines on the second. On the first sheet, the first line and the first word of the sixth line are written in gold. The third, fourth and fifth lines following the mention of the addressee's name are shifted “down” (to the left). Next to these lines on the right side is a gold imprint of a quadrangular seal (6x6 cm). The seal consists of two squares, one of which is located inside the other with text in Arabic written in Kufic script. The inscription in the inner square is “Justice Sultan Toktamysh.” The inscription in the outer square is “In the name of Allah, the merciful, the merciful! There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. May Allah bless him and welcome him!” On the second sheet the beginning of the first and sixth lines are written in gold. The label was written on May 20, 1393 (year of the chicken, 8 Rajab 795).

At the same time, another label was discovered, made on similar paper (the sign of the bull's head is upside down), written in Western Russian semi-charter, which has similar content, but is not a translation.

There are a number of known translations of the label into Russian. In 1835, such a translation was carried out by O. M. Kovalevsky, in 1837 - by A. K. Kazem-Bek, in 1850 - by I. N. Berezin, in 1888 - by V. V. Radlov. In 1927, A. N. Samoilovich published a work in which he made some clarifications to the translations of I. N. Berezin and V. V. Radlov.

The most frequently cited translations of the label are those by I. N. Berezin and V. V. Radlov.

I, Toktamysh, speak to Yagail.
To inform us about how We sat down in a great place, We first sent ambassadors under the leadership of Kutlu Buga and Hassan, and then you sent your petitioners to Us. In the third year, some oglans, headed by Bekbulat and Kojamedin, and beks, headed by Bekish, Turduchak-berdi and Davud, sent a man named Edugu to Temir to call him secretly. He came to this call and, according to their malicious intent, sent them a message. We learned about this (only) when it reached the borders of (our) people, we gathered, and at the time when We wanted to enter the battle, those evil people were shaken from the very beginning and as a result of this, confusion occurred among the people. The whole thing happened this way. But God was merciful and punished the oglans and beks hostile to us, led by Bekbulat, Kojamedin, Bekish, Turduchak-berdi and Davud.
To report these matters, we are now sending envoys under the leadership of Hassan and Tuulu Khoja. Now there is another matter: You collect tribute from the peoples subject to Us and convey it to the ambassadors who came to you; let them deliver it to the treasury. Let your merchant artels travel around again as before; it will be better for the condition of the great people.
We published such a label with a golden sign. In the year of the chicken, according to chronology 795, on the 8th day of the month of Rejeb, when the horde was in Tana, we wrote (this).
- Radlov V.V. Labels of Toktamysh and Temir-Kutlug//ZVORAO. 1888. T.3., pp.1-17

Jogaila.
We sent envoys, of which the main ones were Kotlubuga and Asan, to let us know about the accession to the great place, and you also sent an envoy to us. In the third year, not a few Uglans, of which the most important were Bekbulat and Khoja Medin, and Beki, of which the main ones were Bekgich and Turduchak Berdi Davud, sending ahead a man named Idikgiya, they sent (without my knowledge) to Temir. At that request he spoke. When he, believing in their evil heart and the same tongue, came secretly ahead, we, having learned, gathered together; During the battle before, those bad people left the place, which is why the people also left the place. This is what was the reason for what had happened until then. God, having granted us favor, handed over to us the warring Ughlans and Beks, of whom the main ones were Bekbulat, Khoja Medin, Bekgich and Turduchak Berdi Davud. Now we sent ambassadors, of which the main ones were Asan and Tulu Oja, to let us know about this happening. And then
Collect the exits from the volosts of Our subjects, hand them over to the en route ambassadors for delivery to the treasury. According to the previous rule, let (my) merchants and your merchants go one to another: recognizing this as good for the Great Ulus, we approved a charter with a gold sign. It was ordered to write the Kuryak year of Gijra, the seven hundred and ninety-fifth new lunar month of Rejeb, on the eighth day, when the Horde was on the Don.
- Berezin I.N. Khan's labels. 1. Label of the Khan of the Golden Horde Tokhtamysh to the Polish king Jagiel. 1392-1993 Kazan, 1850, S. 12

Related to the problem of translation accuracy is the question of where the letter was written. O. M. Kovalevsky, A. K. Kazem-Bek, I. N. Berezin in their translations mark this place with the phrase “when the Horde was on the Don.” In the translations of V. G. Tizenhausen and V. V. Radlov, Tan is indicated as the place where the letter was written, by which the translators understand the city near the mouth of the Don (Azov). In the latter case, the interpretation is more convincing, since in known cases when a document was compiled on the bank of a river (Timur-Kutluk's label, Ulug-Muhammad's letter, Mahmud Khan's letter), other words are used to designate the place.

The original was transferred to Poland in 1921.

Label of Tokhtamysh Bek-Khojayu

The document belonged to the Crimean owner and was presented as a document of ownership to Prince M. S. Vorontsov.

The label is a scroll glued together from four sheets of thick, yellowish paper, polished on both sides, without filigree. The sheets are 33, 36, 35.5 and 18 cm long. The scroll itself is 119 cm long and 25.2 cm wide. The text is written in black ink in an elegant diwani-jali script. The text has a size of 21×90 cm, with margins of 5 cm on the right. The length of full lines reaches up to 21 cm, short ones - up to 11 cm. According to alif, the average height of letters is 1.5-2 cm. The maximum height of letters in an invocation is 4 -6 cm. The distance between the lines of the text is 6-7 cm. The distance between the invocation and the intitulation and between the intitulation and the main text is 10-12 cm. The invocation, intitulation, the word “khan” and the pronouns replacing this word are written in gold.

The label has two square-shaped scarlet seal prints (12cm×12cm). The text of the seal generally corresponds to the text in the seal on the label of Khan Toktamysh to Yagail, with the exception that unreadable symbols are observed in front of the word “Sultan” in the inner square.

I surrender to God and trust in his mercy and goodness!
Tokhtamysh's word.
of the Crimean region to the chiefs, headed by Kutlu-Bug, Beks, spiritual judges, spiritual lawyers, abbots, elders, secretaries of chambers, customs officers, weighers, bukauls, logistics officers, any kind of masters, everyone.
Since Timur-Pulad commanded this: “Bek Haji, who owns this label, and the people belonging to him, were all granted by us (they paid to the state treasury annually all any required expenses with allowances). From now on, let them not impose the so-called “capitation” taxes on Sutkul, and don’t demand supplies and stern; let them not demand grain grub for the barns; let the regional authorities not touch any person subordinate to Sutkul inside Crimea, outside, at stopping places; to all of them together in existence, for the sake of freeing them from the required expenses, providing patronage and assistance, writing a paizovago tarhan label, in this case, you all provide unquestioning assistance to Bek Hadji,” therefore, those who make the distribution of regional capitation payments will certainly be afraid to cause anxiety and offense. But if you are Bek Hadji, saying: “I am this way,” you will begin to inflict violence on the pitiful poor, and no good will come to you. So saying, they gave a red-printed label to keep. The Horde was on the Don, on Ur-tuba, on the steppe. Written in the summer of the monkey of the ninety-fourth year of the month of Zulqaad the twenty-fourth.
- Tarkhan labels of Tokhtamysh, Timur-Kutluk and Saadet-Girey with introduction, census and notes, published by I. Berezin, professor at Kazan University. - Kazan, 1851.

The document is kept at the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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Notes

Literature

Grigoriev A.P.// Historiography and source studies of Asian and African countries: collection. - L.: Leningrad State University named after A. A. Zhdanov, 1983. - Issue. VII.
Mirgaleev I. M. Political history Golden Horde during the reign of Toktamysh Khan. - 1st ed. - Kazan: Alma-Lit, 2003. - 164 p. - 500 copies.
- ISBN 5-98245-007-3. Pochekaev R. Yu.
Essay tenth. Toktamysh, or “New Genghis Khan” // Kings of the Horde. Biographies of khans and rulers of the Golden Horde. - 1st ed. - St. Petersburg. : EURASIA, 2010. - pp. 155-177. - 408 p. - 1,000 copies.- ISBN 978-5-91852-010-9.
Safargaliev M. G.
Collapse of the Golden Horde. - 1st ed. - Saransk: Mordovian book publishing house, 1960. - P. 137-182. - 278 p. - 1,500 copies.// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
Trepavlov V.V. History of the Nogai Horde. - 1st ed. - M.: Eastern literature, 2002. - P. 75-77. - 752 s. - ISBN 5-02-018193-5.

Yakubovsky A. Yu.

// Grekov B.D., Yakubovsky A.Yu. The Golden Horde and its fall. - 2nd ed. - M.-L. : Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1950. - pp. 316-384. - 478 p. - 10,000 copies.
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- translation and photo on the website "" Excerpt characterizing Tokhtamysh Thirdly, it was pointless to lose your troops to destruction French armies in such a progression that without any blocking of the way they could not cross the border Furthermore that they transferred in the month of December, that is, one hundredth of the entire army.
Fourthly, it was pointless to want to capture the emperor, kings, dukes - people whose captivity was highest degree would complicate the actions of the Russians, as the most recognized skilled diplomats of that time (J. Maistre and others). Even more senseless was the desire to take the French corps when their troops had melted halfway to Krasny, and convoy divisions had to be separated from the corps of prisoners, and when their soldiers did not always receive full provisions and the already taken prisoners were dying of hunger.
The entire thoughtful plan to cut off and catch Napoleon and his army was similar to the plan of a gardener who, driving cattle out of the garden that had trampled his ridges, would run to the gate and begin to beat this cattle on the head. One thing that could be said to justify the gardener would be that he was very angry. But this could not even be said about the drafters of the project, because they were not the ones who suffered from the trampled ridges.
But, besides the fact that cutting off Napoleon and the army was pointless, it was impossible.
This was impossible, firstly, because, since experience shows that the movement of columns over five miles in one battle never coincides with plans, the likelihood that Chichagov, Kutuzov and Wittgenstein would converge on time at the appointed place was so insignificant , that it amounted to impossibility, as Kutuzov thought, even when he received the plan, he said that sabotage over long distances does not bring the desired results.
Secondly, it was impossible because, in order to paralyze the force of inertia with which Napoleon’s army was moving back, it was necessary without comparison large troops than those that the Russians had.
Thirdly, it was impossible because cutting off a military word has no meaning. You can cut off a piece of bread, but not an army. There is no way to cut off an army - to block its path, because there is always a lot of space around where you can go around, and there is night, during which nothing is visible, as military scientists could be convinced of, even from the examples of Krasny and Berezina. It is impossible to take prisoner without the person being taken prisoner agreeing to it, just as it is impossible to catch a swallow, although you can take it when it lands on your hand. You can take prisoner someone who surrenders, like the Germans, according to the rules of strategy and tactics. But French troops Quite rightly, they did not find this convenient, since the same hungry and cold death awaited them on the run and in captivity.
Fourthly, and most importantly, this was impossible because never since the world existed has there been a war under the terrible conditions under which it took place in 1812, and the Russian troops, in pursuit of the French, strained all their strength and did not could have done more without being destroyed themselves.
In the movement of the Russian army from Tarutino to Krasnoye, fifty thousand were left sick and backward, that is, a number equal to the population of a large provincial city. Half the people dropped out of the army without fighting.
And about this period of the campaign, when troops without boots and fur coats, with incomplete provisions, without vodka, spend the night for months in the snow and at fifteen degrees below zero; when there are only seven and eight hours of the day, and the rest is night, during which there can be no influence of discipline; when, not like in a battle, for a few hours only people are introduced into the realm of death, where there is no longer discipline, but when people live for months, every minute struggling with death from hunger and cold; when half the army dies in a month - historians tell us about this and that period of the campaign, how Miloradovich was supposed to make a flank march this way, and Tormasov there that way, and how Chichagov was supposed to move there that way (move above his knees in the snow), and how he knocked over and cut off, etc., etc.
The Russians, half dying, did everything that could be done and should have been done to achieve a goal worthy of the people, and are not to blame for the fact that other Russian people who were sitting in warm rooms, assumed to do what was impossible.
All this strange, now incomprehensible contradiction of fact with the description of history occurs only because the historians who wrote about this event wrote history wonderful feelings and the words of various generals, and not the history of events.
For them, the words of Miloradovich, the awards that this and that general received, and their assumptions seem very interesting; and the question of those fifty thousand who remained in hospitals and graves does not even interest them, because it is not subject to their study.
Meanwhile, one has only to turn away from studying the reports and master plans, but delve into the movement of those hundreds of thousands of people who took direct, immediate participation in the event, and all the questions that previously seemed insoluble suddenly with extraordinary ease and simplicity receive an undoubted solution.
The goal of cutting off Napoleon and his army never existed except in the imagination of a dozen people. It could not exist because it was meaningless and achieving it was impossible.
The people had one goal: to cleanse their land from invasion. This goal was achieved, firstly, by itself, since the French fled, and therefore it was only necessary not to stop this movement. Secondly, this goal was achieved by actions people's war, which destroyed the French, and, thirdly, the fact that a large Russian army followed the French, ready to use force if the French movement was stopped.
The Russian army had to act like a whip on a running animal. And an experienced driver knew that it was most beneficial to hold the whip raised, threatening it, and not to whip a running animal on the head.

When a person sees a dying animal, horror seizes him: what he himself is, his essence, is obviously destroyed in his eyes - ceases to be. But when the dying person is a person, and the loved one is felt, then, in addition to the horror of the destruction of life, one feels a gap and a spiritual wound, which, just like a physical wound, sometimes kills, sometimes heals, but always hurts and is afraid of an external irritating touch.
After the death of Prince Andrei, Natasha and Princess Marya felt this equally. They, bent morally and closing their eyes from the menacing cloud of death hanging over them, did not dare to look life in the face. They carefully protected their open wounds from offensive, painful touches. Everything: a carriage driving quickly down the street, a reminder about lunch, a girl’s question about a dress that needs to be prepared; even worse, the word of insincere, weak sympathy painfully irritated the wound, seemed like an insult and violated that necessary silence in which they both tried to listen to the terrible, strict chorus that had not yet ceased in their imagination, and prevented them from peering into those mysterious endless distances that opened for a moment In front of them.
Just the two of them, it wasn't offensive or painful. They spoke little to each other. If they talked, it was about the most insignificant subjects. Both of them equally avoided mentioning anything related to the future.
To admit the possibility of a future seemed to them an insult to his memory. They were even more careful to avoid in their conversations everything that could be related to the deceased. It seemed to them that what they experienced and felt could not be expressed in words. It seemed to them that any mention in words of the details of his life violated the greatness and sacredness of the sacrament that had taken place in their eyes.
Incessant abstentions of speech, constant diligent avoidance of everything that could lead to a word about him: these stops with different sides on the border of what could not be said, what they felt was brought before their imagination even more purely and clearly.

But pure, complete sadness is just as impossible as pure and complete joy. Princess Marya, in her position as one independent mistress of her destiny, guardian and educator of her nephew, was the first to be called to life from the world of sadness in which she lived for the first two weeks. She received letters from relatives that had to be answered; the room in which Nikolenka was placed was damp, and he began to cough. Alpatych came to Yaroslavl with reports on affairs and with proposals and advice to move to Moscow to the Vzdvizhensky house, which remained intact and required only minor repairs. Life did not stop, and we had to live. No matter how hard it was for Princess Marya to leave the world of solitary contemplation in which she had lived until now, no matter how pitiful and as if ashamed she was to leave Natasha alone, the worries of life demanded her participation, and she involuntarily surrendered to them. She checked accounts with Alpatych, consulted with Desalles about her nephew, and made orders and preparations for her move to Moscow.
Natasha remained alone and since Princess Marya began making preparations for her departure, she avoided her too.
Princess Marya invited the Countess to let Natasha go with her to Moscow, and mother and father joyfully agreed to this proposal, noticing the decline every day physical strength daughter and considering both a change of place and the help of Moscow doctors useful for her.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Natasha answered when this proposal was made to her, “just please leave me,” she said and ran out of the room, barely holding back tears not so much of grief as of frustration and anger.
After she felt abandoned by Princess Marya and alone in her grief, Natasha most time, alone in her room, she sat with her feet in the corner of the sofa, and, tearing or kneading something with her thin, tense fingers, looked with a persistent, motionless gaze at what her eyes rested on. This solitude exhausted and tormented her; but it was necessary for her. As soon as someone came in to see her, she quickly stood up, changed her position and expression, and took up a book or sewing, obviously impatiently awaiting the departure of the one who had disturbed her.
It seemed to her that she would now understand, would penetrate, what her soulful gaze was directed at with a terrible question beyond her power.
At the end of December, in a black woolen dress, with a braid carelessly tied in a bun, thin and pale, Natasha sat with her legs in the corner of the sofa, tensely crumpling and unraveling the ends of her belt, and looked at the corner of the door.
She looked where he had gone, to the other side of life. And that side of life, which she had never thought about before, which had previously seemed so distant and incredible to her, was now closer and dearer to her, more understandable than this side of life, in which everything was either emptiness and destruction, or suffering and insult.
She looked to where she knew he was; but she could not see him otherwise than as he was here. She saw him again the same as he was in Mytishchi, at Trinity, in Yaroslavl.
She saw his face, heard his voice and repeated his words and her words spoken to him, and sometimes she came up with new words for herself and for him that could then be said.
Here he is lying on an armchair in his velvet fur coat, leaning his head on his thin pale hand. His chest is terribly low and his shoulders are raised. The lips are firmly compressed, the eyes shine, and a wrinkle jumps up and disappears on the pale forehead. One of his legs is trembling almost noticeably quickly. Natasha knows that he is struggling with excruciating pain. “What is this pain? Why pain? How does he feel? How it hurts!” - Natasha thinks. He noticed her attention, raised his eyes and, without smiling, began to speak.
“One terrible thing,” he said, “is to bind yourself forever to a suffering person. This is eternal torment." And he looked at her with a searching look—Natasha now saw this look. Natasha, as always, answered then before she had time to think about what she was answering; she said: “This cannot go on like this, this will not happen, you will be healthy - completely.”
She now saw him first and now experienced everything that she had felt then. She remembered his long, sad, stern look at these words and understood the meaning of the reproach and despair of this long look.
“I agreed,” Natasha was now telling herself, “that it would be terrible if he remained always suffering. I said it that way only because it would have been terrible for him, but he understood it differently. He thought it would be terrible for me. He still wanted to live then - he was afraid of death. And I told him so rudely and stupidly. I didn't think that. I thought something completely different. If I had said what I thought, I would have said: even if he were dying, dying all the time before my eyes, I would be happy compared to what I am now. Now... Nothing, no one. Did he know this? No. Didn't know and never will. And now it will never, never be possible to correct this.” And again he told her the same words, but now in her imagination Natasha answered him differently. She stopped him and said: “Terrible for you, but not for me. You know that I have nothing in life without you, and it is for me to suffer with you best happiness" And he took her hand and squeezed it as he had squeezed it on that terrible evening, four days before his death. And in her imagination she told him other tender things, love speeches, which she could have said then, which she said now. “I love you... you... I love you, I love you...” she said, convulsively squeezing her hands, gritting her teeth with fierce effort.
And sweet grief overwhelmed her, and tears were already welling up in her eyes, but suddenly she asked herself: to whom is she telling this? Where is he and who is he now? And again everything was clouded with dry, hard bewilderment, and again, tensely knitting her eyebrows, she peered at where he was. And so, it seemed to her that she was penetrating the secret... But at that moment, just as something incomprehensible was opening up to her, the loud knock of the door lock handle painfully struck her ears. Quickly and carelessly, with a frightened, uninterested expression on her face, the maid Dunyasha entered the room.
“Come to daddy, quickly,” said Dunyasha with a special and animated expression. “It’s a misfortune, about Pyotr Ilyich... a letter,” she said, sobbing.

In addition to the general feeling of alienation from all people, Natasha at this time experienced a special feeling of alienation from her family. All her own: father, mother, Sonya, were so close to her, familiar, so everyday that all their words and feelings seemed to her an insult to the world in which she lived Lately, and she was not only indifferent, but looked at them with hostility. She heard Dunyasha’s words about Pyotr Ilyich, about misfortune, but did not understand them.
“What kind of misfortune do they have there, what kind of misfortune can there be? Everything they have is old, familiar and calm,” Natasha mentally said to herself.
When she entered the hall, the father was quickly leaving the countess's room. His face was wrinkled and wet with tears. He apparently ran out of that room to give vent to the sobs that were crushing him. Seeing Natasha, he desperately waved his hands and burst into painful, convulsive sobs that distorted his round, soft face.
- Pe... Petya... Come, come, she... she... is calling... - And he, sobbing like a child, quickly mincing with weakened legs, walked up to the chair and fell almost on it, covering his face with his hands.
Suddenly how electricity ran through Natasha's entire being. Something hit her terribly painfully in the heart. She felt terrible pain; It seemed to her that something was being torn away from her and that she was dying. But following the pain, she felt an instant release from the ban on life that lay on her. Seeing her father and hearing her mother’s terrible, rude cry from behind the door, she instantly forgot herself and her grief. She ran up to her father, but he, helplessly waving his hand, pointed to her mother’s door. Princess Marya, pale, trembling lower jaw, came out the door and took Natasha by the hand, telling her something. Natasha didn’t see or hear her. She entered the door with quick steps, stopped for a moment, as if in a struggle with herself, and ran up to her mother.
The Countess lay on an armchair, stretching out strangely awkwardly, and banging her head against the wall. Sonya and the girls held her hands.
“Natasha, Natasha!..” shouted the countess. - It’s not true, it’s not true... He’s lying... Natasha! – she screamed, pushing those around her away. - Go away, everyone, it’s not true! Killed!.. ha ha ha ha!.. not true!
Natasha knelt on the chair, bent over her mother, hugged her, lifted her with unexpected strength, turned her face towards her and pressed herself against her.
- Mama!.. darling!.. I’m here, my friend. “Mama,” she whispered to her, without stopping for a second.
She did not let her mother go, gently struggled with her, demanded a pillow, water, unbuttoned and tore her mother’s dress.
“My friend, my dear... mamma, darling,” she whispered incessantly, kissing her head, hands, face and feeling how uncontrollably her tears flowed in streams, tickling her nose and cheeks.
The Countess squeezed her daughter's hand, closed her eyes and fell silent for a moment. Suddenly she stood up with unusual speed, looked around senselessly and, seeing Natasha, began squeezing her head with all her might. Then she turned her face, wrinkled in pain, towards her and peered at it for a long time.
“Natasha, you love me,” she said in a quiet, trusting whisper. - Natasha, won’t you deceive me? Will you tell me the whole truth?
Natasha looked at her with tear-filled eyes, and in her face there was only a plea for forgiveness and love.
“My friend, mamma,” she repeated, straining all the strength of her love in order to somehow relieve her of the excess grief that was oppressing her.
And again, in a powerless struggle with reality, the mother, refusing to believe that she could live when her beloved boy, blooming with life, was killed, fled from reality in a world of madness.
Natasha did not remember how that day, that night, the next day, the next night went. She did not sleep and did not leave her mother. Natasha’s love, persistent, patient, not as an explanation, not as a consolation, but as a call to life, every second seemed to embrace the countess from all sides. On the third night, the Countess fell silent for a few minutes, and Natasha closed her eyes, resting her head on the arm of the chair. The bed creaked. Natasha opened her eyes. The Countess sat on the bed and spoke quietly.
– I’m so glad you came. Are you tired, would you like some tea? – Natasha approached her. “You have become prettier and more mature,” the countess continued, taking her daughter by the hand.
- Mama, what are you saying!..
- Natasha, he’s gone, no more! “And, hugging her daughter, the countess began to cry for the first time.

Princess Marya postponed her departure. Sonya and the Count tried to replace Natasha, but they could not. They saw that she alone could keep her mother from insane despair. For three weeks Natasha lived hopelessly with her mother, slept on an armchair in her room, gave her water, fed her and talked to her incessantly - she talked because her gentle, caressing voice alone calmed the countess.
The mother's mental wound could not be healed. Petya's death took away half of her life. A month after the news of Petya’s death, which found her a fresh and cheerful fifty-year-old woman, she left her room half-dead and not taking part in life - an old woman. But the same wound that half killed the countess, this new wound brought Natasha to life.
A mental wound that comes from a rupture of the spiritual body, just like a physical wound, no matter how strange it may seem, after a deep wound has healed and seems to have come together at its edges, a mental wound, like a physical one, heals only from the inside with the bulging force of life.
Natasha’s wound healed in the same way. She thought her life was over. But suddenly love for her mother showed her that the essence of her life - love - was still alive in her. Love woke up and life woke up.
The last days of Prince Andrei connected Natasha with Princess Marya. The new misfortune brought them even closer together. Princess Marya postponed her departure and for the last three weeks, like a sick child, she looked after Natasha. The last weeks Natasha spent in her mother’s room had strained her physical strength.
One day, Princess Marya, in the middle of the day, noticing that Natasha was trembling with a feverish chill, took her to her place and laid her on her bed. Natasha lay down, but when Princess Marya, lowering the curtains, wanted to go out, Natasha called her over.

On August 26, 1382, the troops of Khan Tokhtamysh burned Moscow. After this, Tatar troops captured Vladimir, Pereyaslavl, Yuryev, Zvenigorod, Mozhaisk and other Russian cities, imposing tribute on them. The campaign of 1382 was aimed at restoring the power of the Golden Horde “tsar” over Vladimir-Moscow Russia, which gained independence after the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380.

Tokhtamysh

Khan Tokhtamysh

Tokhtamysh was one of the descendants of the Jochi clan, the eldest son of Genghis Khan. His father was Tui-Khoji Oglan, ruler of Mangyshlak (a peninsula on the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea), an influential prince under Khan Urus. After Tokhtamysh’s father was executed by order of the khan for disobedience, the young prince, saving his life, fled to the Samarkand ruler Timur (Tamerlane) in 1376. A year later, with the support of the troops of the ruler of Transoxiana (historical region in Central Asia, the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers), began to conquer the Golden Horde.

His position was made easier by the fact that the Golden Horde was weakened during the period of unrest. Tokhtamysh suffered several defeats from the troops of Urus, but Timur continued to support him, allocating new troops. After the death of Urus, Tokhtamysh was able to defeat Timur-Melik and became the ruler of the White Horde (the eastern part of the Jochi ulus) with its center in Sygnak. In 1378, Tokhtamysh began a war with Mamai, who controlled the western part of the Golden Horde.

The Battle of Kulikovo, where Mamai lost his main forces, finally tipped the scales in favor of Tokhtamysh. Mamai was able to gather another army, but when meeting with enemy forces on the river. Kalka, his Murzas went over to the side of Tokhtamysh, who was of “royal blood.” Mamai fled with treasures to Crimea, where he was killed former allies- Italians. The prince captured the lands of Mamai all the way to Azov, including the capital of the Golden Horde - Sarai-Berke and occupied royal throne. This was Tokhtamysh’s finest hour; he united the Jochi ulus under his rule.

Tokhtamysh's invasion of Rus'

Having led the Golden Horde, Tokhtamysh naturally wanted to restore power over North-Eastern Russia. The Khan sent ambassadors to Moscow Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and other Russian princes with news of his victory over the enemy of Rus' Mamai, as well as his accession to the Golden Horde. Moscow was informed that Tsar Tokhtamysh was grateful to Prince Dmitry for defeating Mamai on the Kulikovo field, since Russian soldiers defeated not the Khan of the Golden Horde, but Temnik, the usurper khan's power. Now that a legitimate king from the Chingizid family has come to power in the Golden Horde, Rus' must pay tribute in the old days, for which Tokhtamysh promised Dmitry Ivanovich his mercy and protection from enemies (Lithuania). The Grand Duke greeted the Tatar ambassadors warmly, gave them gifts, and sent gifts to the khan, but Emperor Dmitry deviated from tribute (“exit”) and obedience.

In the summer of 1381, another Tatar embassy led by Ak-Khozy was sent to Rus'. However, the ambassadors only reached Nizhny Novgorod Apparently, there the Tatars received news that Dmitry was not in the mood to pay tribute and returned to the Horde. Then Tokhtamysh decided to use military force. His decision was confirmed by the denunciation received from Suzdal princes Vasily and Semyon. Dmitry invited Metropolitan Cyprian of Kyiv to Moscow. The Suzdal princes presented this step as a conspiracy between Moscow and Lithuania, an ally of his enemy - Mamai.

Tokhtamysh raised an army, and in the summer of 1382 occupied the land Volga Bulgaria. Russian merchants, in order to prevent leakage of information, were killed or arrested, their ships and goods were confiscated. Tokhtamysh crossed the Volga and, taking the Suzdal princes as guides, set out on a campaign “in exile,” that is, without convoys. The Tatar army bypassed the Ryazan land from the south-east and reached the Oka River. Some researchers believe that Prince Oleg Ryazansky showed Tokhtamysh the fords across the Oka.

The news of the approach of enemy troops, it was received “from some well-wishers living within the Tatar borders,” found Moscow government taken by surprise. Dmitry Ivanovich brought out the available forces (and his troops suffered huge losses on the Kulikovo field) to meet the Horde. However, not receiving support from other princes, seeing the weakness of the available forces and lack of unity, he went north to Kostroma to gather a stronger army. His cousin Prince of Serpukhov and Borovsk Vladimir Andreevich headed to Volok Lamsky. The Grand Duke entrusted Moscow and his family to Metropolitan Cyprian. Apparently, Dmitry Donskoy was confident in the inaccessibility of the new stone walls of the city built in 1367. In addition, the fortifications were equipped with long-range crossbows and “mattresses” (city artillery). The light Horde cavalry did not have the opportunity to take such a first-class fortress. The city had sufficient food supplies to withstand a possible siege.

The problem was different, the Grand Duke overestimated managerial qualities Cyprian, did not leave experienced governors in the city. The defenders also lacked the strength of military spirit - the small professional squad left with the prince, the warriors who won the victory on the Kulikovo Field were dismissed to their homes. A few boyars with servants and Moscow artisans remained in the city. This mass was not inclined to military discipline, order and long-term military operations. A tendency toward self-will, arbitrariness, and irresponsibility dominated their consciousness.

Fall of Moscow

Cyprian did not organize a defense and began to prepare for departure. Riots began in the city, some wanted to close the gates and hold the defense, others wanted to immediately leave the city, and clashes began between them. At the gathering, it was decided not to let anyone out of the city. The “Defenders” destroyed the boyars’ cellars with wine and honey, and widespread drunkenness and robbery began. The townspeople were not even able to carry out the decision of the meeting - Metropolitan Cyprian and the Grand Duchess were released from Moscow, however, their luggage was first looted. Princess Evdokia and her family went to see her husband in Kostroma, and Bishop Cyprian went to Tver.

The Lithuanian prince, the grandson of Olgerd Ostey, who was in Russian service, tried to organize a temporary defense of the city. Researchers do not know whose son Ostey was. Perhaps Ostey was the son of one of the two Olgerdovich brothers, the sons of the famous Olgerd, the son of Gediminas - Andrei and Dmitry, heroes of the battle on the Kulikovo field. He was able to pacify the rebels, encourage the doubters, and appointed commanders to the militia units. Under his leadership, Muscovites were able to burn out the settlements and prepare the walls for defense; they prepared stones, resin, and tar. Each defender was assigned his place on the wall.

The army of Tokhtamysh, having crossed the Oka River, captured Serpukhov and headed for Moscow, “the volosts and villages are burning and fighting, and the Christian race is cutting and killing, and other people are full of crap.” August 23 advanced forces Tokhtamysh's troops approached Moscow. The city was not blocked; hundreds of Tatars only circled around the city, plundering the villages. Several Tatars drove up to the walls and they inquired from the defenders whether Prince Dmitry Ivanovich was in the city. Having received a negative answer, the Tatars began to conduct reconnaissance. Muscovites subjected them to insults and ridicule.

On the morning of August 24, the main forces of Tokhtamysh reached the walls. After the shootout, the Tatars stormed the city, hoping to take the city on the move, taking advantage of the absence of the Grand Duke and his forces. However, the townspeople repelled all attacks with great damage to the attackers. The Horde residents were fired at from “mattresses”, crossbows, and doused with boiling water and tar. The walls, with a sufficient number of defenders and means of defense, were impregnable. On August 25, the enemy launched a second assault, but this was also repelled.

Tokhtamysh's army suffered significant losses and could not waste time on the siege, at this moment princes Dmitry and Vladimir Serpukhovsky gathered troops, peasants gathered in detachments and attacked the enemy, the situation was changing unfavorably every day Tatar army. Tokhtamysh decided to use military stratagem. On August 26, through the Suzdal princes, they were siblings of the wife of the Moscow Grand Duke, Grand Duchess Evdokia, he offered the townspeople an honorable peace, provided that the Tatar embassy was allowed into Moscow. It was very stupid to believe the enemy and traitors, but the drunken crowd (the townspeople had been drunk for several days) accepted Tokhtamysh’s condition. Princes Vasily Kirdyapa and Semyon took an oath on the cross.

The Tatar embassy came out to meet Prince Ostey, the clergy, nobles and simple people. The gate was not protected. The Tatar embassy entered the city, and the rest of the enemy army rushed after it, and a massacre began. Prince Ostey was the first to be hacked to death. Behind him they began to cut down the clergy and other people. The townspeople were taken by surprise and were unable to organize resistance; massacres and looting took place throughout the city. The Tatars seized the grand ducal treasury, a huge number of valuables, and burned the city. The entire population was slaughtered, burned or carried away. Upon further calculation, it turned out that the dead townspeople alone amounted to about 24 thousand people. When the Grand Duke of Moscow and Vladimir Dmitry Ivanovich returned to Moscow, he saw only “smoke, ashes, bloody ground, corpses and empty burnt churches.”

To capture more booty and people, Tokhtamysh scattered his troops throughout the Russian land. Tatar troops ravaged Vladimir, Zvenigorod, Mozhaisk, Yuryev and Pereyaslavl. He forbade touching the Tver land, so a stream of refugees rushed there. Part of Tokhtamysh’s army approached Volok Lamsky, where the hero of the Battle of Kulikovo, Vladimir Andreevich the Brave, was located. The Russian army under his command attacked and completely defeated the enemy forces, many Tatars were captured. This was enough that Tokhtamysh hastily gathered troops and left the Russian land. On the way back, Tokhtamysh’s army ravaged Kolomna and Ryazan land. Tokhtamysh returned to the Horde with huge booty and food, further strengthening his power.

The Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich began to restore the destroyed settlements. In the fall, the Tatar embassy arrived in Moscow with a proposal for peace. In the spring of 1383, Tsar Dmitry sent his eldest son Vasily to the Horde as a hostage. Tokhtamysh gave the label for the Great Reign to Dmitry Ivanovich, although Mikhail Tverskoy asked for it. Moscow-Vladimir Rus' was again forced to pay tribute to the Golden Horde kings and fulfill military service(send Russian squads to help the Horde). Victory over Moscow did not bring good luck to Tokhtamysh - he began a fight with his patron Timur and was defeated in it.

Samsonov Alexander