It has long been no secret that there was no “Tatar-Mongol yoke”, and no Tatars and Mongols conquered Rus'. But who falsified history and why? What was hidden behind the Tatar-Mongol yoke? Bloody Christianization of Rus'...
Exists a large number of facts that not only clearly refute the hypothesis of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, but also indicate that history was distorted deliberately, and that this was done for a very specific purpose... But who and why deliberately distorted history? What real events did they want to hide and why?
If we analyze historical facts, it becomes obvious that the “Tatar-Mongol yoke” was invented in order to hide the consequences of the “baptism” of Kievan Rus. 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 subsequently fabricated history, juggling historical facts to suit 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. Skipping scientific research and justifications, which have already been described quite widely, let us summarize the main facts that refute the big lie about the “Tatar-Mongol yoke.”
1. Genghis Khan
Previously, in Rus', 2 people were responsible for governing the state: the Prince and the Khan. The prince was responsible for governing the state in peacetime. The khan or “war prince” took the reins of control during war; in peacetime, the responsibility for forming a horde (army) and maintaining it in combat readiness rested on his shoulders.
Genghis Khan is not a name, but a title of “military prince”, who, in modern world, close to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Army. And there were several people who bore such a title. The most outstanding of them was Timur, it is he who is usually discussed when they talk about Genghis Khan.
In surviving historical documents, this man is described as a tall warrior with blue eyes, very white skin, powerful reddish hair and a thick beard.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 Mongoloid race, but completely fits the description of Slavic appearance (L.N. Gumilyov - “ Ancient Rus' and the Great Steppe.").
In modern “Mongolia” there is not a single folk epic that would say that this country once in ancient times conquered almost all of Eurasia, just as there is nothing about the great conqueror Genghis Khan... (N.V. Levashov “Visible and invisible genocide").
2. Mongolia
The state of Mongolia appeared only in the 1930s, when the Bolsheviks came to the nomads living in the Gobi Desert and told them that they were the descendants of the great Mongols, and their “compatriot” had created the Great Empire in his time, which they were very surprised and happy about. . The word "Mughal" is of Greek origin and means "Great". The Greeks used this word to call our ancestors – the Slavs. It has nothing to do with the name of any people (N.V. Levashov “Visible and Invisible Genocide”).
3. Composition of the “Tatar-Mongol” army
70-80% of the army of the “Tatar-Mongols” were Russians, the remaining 20-30% were made up of other small peoples of Rus', in fact, the same as now. This fact is clearly confirmed by a fragment of the icon of Sergius of Radonezh “Battle of Kulikovo”. It clearly shows that the same warriors are fighting on both sides. And this battle is more like civil war than going to 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, Cracow and Poland, placed on the grave in Breslau of this prince, killed in the battle with the Tatars at Liegnitz on April 9, 1241.” As we see, this “Tatar” has a completely Russian appearance, clothes and weapons. The next image shows “the Khan’s palace in the capital of the Mongol Empire, Khanbalyk” (it is believed that Khanbalyk is supposedly Beijing). What is “Mongolian” and what is “Chinese” here? Once again, as in the case of the tomb of Henry II, before us are people of a clearly Slavic appearance. Russian caftans, Streltsy caps, the same thick beards, the same characteristic blades of sabers called “Yelman”. The roof on the left is an almost exact copy of the roofs of old Russian towers... (A. Bushkov, “Russia that never existed”).
5. Genetic examination
According to the latest data obtained as a result of genetic research, it turned out that Tatars and Russians have very close genetics. While 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 entirely European) and the Mongolian (almost entirely Central Asian) are really great - it’s like two different worlds..." (oagb.ru).
6. Documents during the period of the Tatar-Mongol yoke
During the period of existence of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, not a single document in the Tatar or Mongolian language has been preserved. But there are many documents from this time in Russian.
7. Lack of objective evidence confirming the hypothesis of the Tatar-Mongol yoke
On this moment there are no originals of any historical documents that would objectively prove that there was a Tatar-Mongol yoke. But there are many fakes designed to convince us of the existence of a fiction called the “Tatar-Mongol yoke.” Here is one of these fakes. This text is called “The Word about the Destruction of the Russian Land” and in each publication it is declared “an excerpt from a text that has not reached us intact.” poetic work... About the Tatar-Mongol invasion":
“Oh, bright and beautifully decorated Russian land! You are famous for many beauties: you are famous for many lakes, locally revered rivers and springs, mountains, steep hills, high oak forests, clean fields, marvelous animals, various birds, countless great cities, glorious villages, monastery gardens, temples of God and formidable princes, honest boyars and many nobles. You are filled with everything, Russian land, oh Orthodox faith Christian!..”
There is not even a hint of the “Tatar-Mongol yoke” in this text. But this “ancient” document contains the following line: “You are filled with everything, Russian land, O Orthodox Christian faith!”
Before Nikon’s church reform, which was carried out in the mid-17th century, Christianity in Rus' was called “orthodox.” It began to be called Orthodox only after this reform... Therefore, this document could have been written no earlier than the mid-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 subsequently corrected, you can see the following picture. The western part of Rus' is called Muscovy, or Moscow Tartary... This small part of Rus' was ruled by the Romanov dynasty. 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 Rus', which occupied almost the entire continent of Eurasia in the east and south of Muscovy at that time, is called Tartaria or the Russian Empire (see map).
In the 1st edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica of 1771 the following is written about this part of Rus':
“Tartaria, a huge country in the northern part of Asia, bordering Siberia in the north and west: which is called Great Tartary. Those Tartars living south of Muscovy and Siberia are called Astrakhan, Cherkasy and Dagestan, those living in the northwest 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, Tibetans, living northwest of China..."
Where does the name Tartary 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 went much further than others in their development, and who could control space and matter (control the weather, heal diseases, see the future, etc.) were called Magi. Those 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 completely different from what it is now. The gods were people who went much further in their development than the vast majority of people. For ordinary person their abilities seemed incredible, however, the gods were also people, and the capabilities of each god had their own limits.
Our ancestors had patrons - God Tarkh, he was also called Dazhdbog (the giving God) and his sister - Goddess Tara. These Gods helped people solve 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 disaster and eventually restore civilization.
Therefore, quite recently our ancestors told strangers “We are the children of Tarkh and Tara...”. They said this because in their development, they really were children in relation to Tarkh and Tara, who had significantly advanced in development. And residents of other countries called our ancestors “Tarkhtars”, and later, due to the difficulty of pronunciation, “Tartars”. This is where the name of the country came from - Tartaria...
Baptism of Rus'
What does the baptism of Rus' have to do with it? – some may ask. As it turned out, it had a lot to do with it. After all, baptism did not take place in a peaceful way... Before baptism, people in Rus' were educated, almost everyone knew how to read, write, and count. Let us recall from the school history curriculum, 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 gave people precisely an understanding of the real laws of 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 not all of them...
Everyone understood perfectly well what the “Greek Religion” carried, into which Prince Vladimir the Bloody and those who stood behind him were going to baptize Kievan Rus. Therefore, none of the residents of the then Principality of Kyiv (a province that broke away from Great Tartary) accepted this religion. But Vladimir had great forces behind him, and they were not going to retreat.
In the process of “baptism” over 12 years of forced Christianization, almost the entire adult population of Kievan Rus was destroyed, with rare exceptions. Because such a “teaching” could be imposed only on unreasonable children who, due to their youth, could not yet understand that such a religion turned them into slaves both physically and spiritual sense this word. Everyone who refused to accept the new “faith” was killed. This is confirmed by the facts that have reached us. If before the “baptism” there were 300 cities and 12 million inhabitants on the territory of Kievan Rus, then after the “baptism” only 30 cities and 3 million people remained! 270 cities were destroyed! 9 million people were killed! (Diy Vladimir, “Orthodox Rus' 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 the slaves, and she herself continued to live according to the Vedic tradition, although without flaunting it. 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.
But the Vedic Slavic-Aryan Empire (Great Tartaria) could not calmly look at the machinations of its enemies, who destroyed three quarters of the population of the Principality of Kyiv. Only its response could not be instantaneous, due to the fact that the army of Great Tartaria was busy with conflicts on its Far Eastern borders. But these retaliatory actions of the Vedic empire were carried out and entered into modern history in a distorted form, under the name of the Mongol-Tatar invasion of the hordes of Batu Khan on Kievan Rus.
Only by the summer of 1223 did the troops of the Vedic Empire appear on the Kalka River. And the united army of the Polovtsians and Russian princes was completely defeated. This is what they taught us in history lessons, and no one could really explain why the Russian princes fought the “enemies” so sluggishly, and many of them even went over to the side of the “Mongols”?
The reason for such absurdity was that the Russian princes, who accepted an alien religion, knew perfectly well who came and why...
So, there was no Mongol-Tatar invasion and yoke, but there was a return of the rebellious provinces under the wing of the metropolis, the restoration of the integrity of the state. Khan Batu had the task of returning the Western European province-states under the wing of the Vedic empire and stopping the invasion of Christians into Rus'. But the strong resistance of some princes, who felt the taste of the still limited, but very large power of the principalities of Kievan Rus, and new unrest on the Far Eastern border did not allow these plans to be brought to completion (N.V. Levashov “Russia in Crooked Mirrors”, Volume 2.).
conclusions
In fact, after baptism in the Principality of Kiev, only children and a very small part of the adult population remained alive, which accepted the Greek religion - 3 million people out of a population of 12 million before baptism. The principality was completely devastated, most of the cities, towns and villages were plundered and burned. But the authors of the version about the “Tatar-Mongol yoke” paint exactly the same picture for us, the only difference is that these same cruel actions were allegedly carried out there by “Tatar-Mongols”!
As always, the winner writes history. And it becomes obvious that in order to hide all the cruelty with which the Principality of Kiev was baptized, and in order to suppress all possible questions, the “Tatar-Mongol yoke” was subsequently invented. The children were raised 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”...
Restore rigid dependence.
This article examines the elimination of the Horde yoke only in the territories of the emerging Russian state at the end of the 15th century. For the end of the yoke in the southwestern Russian lands in the 14th century, see Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Encyclopedic YouTube
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See also: Moscow-Horde Union
A significant part of the territory of the Russian principalities, which became dependent on the Mongol Empire and the Golden Horde in the middle of the 13th century, was annexed by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland in -1404, thereby ending the political dependence of these lands on the Golden Horde, however, a temporary resumption of tributary dependence is known from the Horde of southern Russian lands as part of Lithuania in the 2nd half of the 14th century.
The Moscow princes, starting from 1327, almost continuously owned the title to the great reign of Vladimir, and from 1383 - the great reign itself, and recognized the supremacy of the khans of the Golden Horde, with the exception of the proteges of the beklyarbek Mamai and the temnik Edigei.
Ivan III had disagreements with the brothers Boris and Andrei Bolshoi over the division of the estates of the deceased Yuri Vasilyevich. In 1479, an open conflict almost arose when the servants of Ivan III captured a boyar who had left Moscow service right in Boris’s courtyard. Boris and Andrey with their troops retreated to the western border and tried to establish contacts with Novgorod and Lithuania.
Ivan III re-entered an alliance with the enemy of the Great Horde, the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey, who promised to strike Lithuania if Moscow rose against Akhmat.
In May 1480, Akhmat's campaign began. Russian troops began to take positions on the Oka. In June, the Horde ravaged the lands between Kaluga and Serpukhov. Ivan the Young advanced towards the Horde. The main forces of the Horde were rising up the Don. Small skirmishes between guard detachments took place on the Oka River. Ivan the Great set out from Moscow, leading a large detachment to Kolomna. Meanwhile, Pskov was besieged by German knights. The Livonian chronicler reported that Master Bernd von der Borch
In anticipation of Casimir's army, Akhmat moved through Mtsensk and Odoev to the mouth of the Ugra River and settled on its right, southern bank, that is, on Lithuanian territory. Detachments soon arrived on the opposite bank of the Ugra
For several centuries, Russian lands paid tribute to the Golden Horde. Princes from generation to generation went to the Horde to pay money, exchange hostages and take labels for reign. The liberation of Rus' from the Horde yoke occurred in 1480. This date became a turning point in the history of our state.
Mongol-Tatar yoke
The occupation of the entire northeastern region of Russian territory was beyond the capabilities of the Golden Horde. But the invaders needed these lands as a constant reliable source of tribute. The Tatars did not have garrisons on Russian territory; they did not establish their permanent power. But, despite the annual cash offerings, the Tatar-Mongols did not at all guarantee the protection of the principalities. The borders of Rus' were constantly subject to invasion by Swedish and Lithuanian troops. From within, the country was torn apart by contradictions and civil strife. The invaders understood that a fragmented state would not be able to give them a worthy rebuff, so they carefully incited hatred between neighboring principalities.
Ivan Kalita
In 1327, the only uprising of the people against the Horde yoke took place. Rus' fearfully awaited a new punitive raid. At this moment, Ivan Kalita appears on the political horizon. Unable to retreat before the Tatar-Mongols, he decides on the only correct, from his point of view, solution - to lead the army of the Golden Horde against Moscow's longtime enemy - the Tver Principality.
For this, Kalita received a label from the Horde khan and became So the liberation of Rus' from the Horde yoke did not take place.
Age of Strengthening
In the end, Moscow rose above other cities and became the center of the lands of South-Eastern Rus'. Prince Ivan Kalita did a lot to strengthen the city and to ensure that hordes of Horde robbers no longer appeared on Russian lands. His policy was successfully continued by Simeon the Proud. In 1346, he achieved reconciliation with Tver and even married one of the daughters of Tver Prince Vsevolod. This is how the reconciliation of the Russian princes gradually began.
The second memorable date in the liberation of Rus' from the Horde yoke was 1362. At this time, the khan gave a label for the great reign to the nephew of Simeon the Proud, Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy. In the same year, the name Mamai appeared in Russian chronicles. No one could then admit that many years later they would have to meet, and this battle would be one of the greatest battles of the Middle Ages. Donskoy brought closer the liberation of Rus' from the Horde yoke. Mamai defended the state once created by Batu. The question was as follows: will Dmitry Ivanovich have time to gather Russian lands around Moscow or will Mamai come with his army to strangle Moscow sedition.
Battle of Kulikovo
Donskoy was only 20 years old when the need arose to repel the Golden Horde. The Russian state developed trade and cultural relations with Western countries, this contributed to the development of military affairs and the growth of industry. It took time to develop tactics and retrain troops. We should not forget that strong centralized power was required by the liberation of Rus' from the Horde yoke.
The year and century of the Battle of Kulikovo were carefully chosen. Muscovy already had economic and military leverage over the allies, so the consolidation of the forces of the Russian army and the development of tactical techniques were quite successful.
The Battle of Kulikovo took place on September 8, 1380. For the first time, the Russian army managed to give a worthy rebuff. The Horde had a numerical advantage over Donskoy's troops, but the correct tactics bore fruit - Mamai's main forces were destroyed, and the khan had to retreat. But, despite the fact that the liberation of Rus' from the Horde yoke did not take place this time, the Battle of Kulikovo became the beginning of the revival of national identity. And the Golden Horde continued to try to restore its influence and stop the unification of Russian lands.
The era of Ivan III
The period became a time of strengthening the Russian army and the cordons of the state. The Kazan kingdom was the tsar's first conquest, after which he was able to subjugate Veliky Novgorod. Such military activity worried him and he began to prepare an invasion. By 1480, everything was ready for the liberation of Rus' from the Horde yoke to finally take place. The year and century for this were not chosen by chance - Rus' became a major political and economic center with its own, quite strong army.
The news that Khan Akhmat was preparing for battle came to Moscow in the early autumn of 1480. Grand Duke Ivan III stationed his strongest regiments on the Oka River. Khan Akhmat learned that he was being met and turned to Kaluga to unite with his ally Casimir. Having correctly determined the direction of movement of the Golden Horde troops, Ivan III intercepted the enemy on Akhmat and threatened to launch an offensive when the river was covered with ice. On October 26, Ugra rose. Akhmat was also standing. On November 11, despite the fact that all paths to the offensive were open, the khan turned back. On this day, the liberation of Rus' from the Horde yoke is celebrated.
Conclusion
The heroic struggle of the Russian people against the invaders ensured the breakdown of the Tatar-Mongol expansion. For 240 years, the Russian state protected Europe from the dark Asian horde, took upon itself the full brunt of the foreign invasion and repelled the blows of the invaders. The year of Rus''s liberation from the Horde yoke allowed our state to follow the path of its own development.
o (Mongol-Tatar, Tatar-Mongol, Horde) - the traditional name for the system of exploitation of Russian lands by nomadic conquerors who came from the East from 1237 to 1480.
This system was aimed at carrying out mass terror and robbing the Russian people by levying cruel exactions. She acted primarily in the interests of the Mongolian nomadic military-feudal nobility (noyons), in whose favor the lion's share of the collected tribute went.
The Mongol-Tatar yoke was established as a result of the invasion of Batu Khan in the 13th century. Until the early 1260s, Rus' was under the rule of the great Mongol khans, and then the khans of the Golden Horde.
The Russian principalities were not directly part of the Mongol state and retained the local princely administration, the activities of which were controlled by the Baskaks - the khan's representatives in the conquered lands. The Russian princes were tributaries of the Mongol khans and received from them labels for ownership of their principalities. Formally, the Mongol-Tatar yoke was established in 1243, when Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich received from the Mongols a label for the Grand Duchy of Vladimir. Rus', according to the label, lost the right to fight and had to regularly pay tribute to the khans twice annually (in spring and autumn).
There was no permanent Mongol-Tatar army on the territory of Rus'. The yoke was supported by punitive campaigns and repressions against rebellious princes. The regular flow of tribute from Russian lands began after the census of 1257-1259, conducted by Mongol “numerals”. The units of taxation were: in cities - yard, in rural areas - “village”, “plow”, “plough”. Only the clergy were exempt from tribute. The main “Horde burdens” were: “exit”, or “tsar’s tribute” - a tax directly for the Mongol khan; trade fees (“myt”, “tamka”); carriage duties (“pits”, “carts”); maintenance of the khan's ambassadors (“food”); various “gifts” and “honors” to the khan, his relatives and associates. Every year, a huge amount of silver left the Russian lands as tribute. Large “requests” for military and other needs were periodically collected. In addition, the Russian princes were obliged, by order of the khan, to send soldiers to participate in campaigns and in round-up hunts (“lovitva”). In the late 1250s and early 1260s, tribute was collected from the Russian principalities by Muslim merchants (“besermen”), who bought this right from the great Mongol Khan. Most of the tribute went to the Great Khan in Mongolia. During the uprisings of 1262, the “besermans” were expelled from Russian cities, and the responsibility for collecting tribute passed to the local princes.
Rus''s struggle against the yoke became increasingly widespread. In 1285, Grand Duke Dmitry Alexandrovich (son of Alexander Nevsky) defeated and expelled the army of the “Horde prince”. At the end of the 13th - first quarter of the 14th century, performances in Russian cities led to the elimination of the Baskas. With the strengthening of the Moscow principality, the Tatar yoke gradually weakened. Moscow Prince Ivan Kalita (reigned in 1325-1340) achieved the right to collect “exit” from all Russian principalities. From the middle of the 14th century, the orders of the khans of the Golden Horde, not supported by a real military threat, were no longer carried out by the Russian princes. Dmitry Donskoy (1359-1389) did not recognize the khan's labels issued to his rivals and seized the Grand Duchy of Vladimir by force. In 1378, he defeated the Tatar army on the Vozha River in the Ryazan land, and in 1380 he defeated the Golden Horde ruler Mamai in the Battle of Kulikovo.
However, after Tokhtamysh’s campaign and the capture of Moscow in 1382, Rus' was forced to again recognize the power of the Golden Horde and pay tribute, but already Vasily I Dmitrievich (1389-1425) received the great reign of Vladimir without the khan’s label, as “his patrimony.” Under him, the yoke was nominal. Tribute was paid irregularly, and the Russian princes pursued independent policies. The attempt of the Golden Horde ruler Edigei (1408) to restore full power over Russia ended in failure: he failed to take Moscow. The strife that began in the Golden Horde opened up the possibility for Russia to overthrow the Tatar yoke.
However, in the middle of the 15th century, Muscovite Rus' itself experienced a period of internecine war, which weakened its military potential. During these years, the Tatar rulers organized a series of devastating invasions, but they were no longer able to bring the Russians to complete submission. The unification of Russian lands around Moscow led to the concentration in the hands of the Moscow princes of such political power that the weakening Tatar khans could not cope with. The Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III Vasilyevich (1462-1505) refused to pay tribute in 1476. In 1480, after the unsuccessful campaign of the Khan of the Great Horde Akhmat and “standing on the Ugra”, the yoke was finally overthrown.
The Mongol-Tatar yoke had negative, regressive consequences for the economic, political and cultural development of the Russian lands, and was a brake on the growth of the productive forces of Rus', which were at a higher socio-economic level compared to the productive forces of the Mongol state. It was artificially preserved for long time purely feudal natural character of the economy. Politically, the consequences of the yoke were manifested in the violation natural process state development of Rus', in artificially maintaining its fragmentation. The Mongol-Tatar yoke, which lasted two and a half centuries, was one of the reasons for the economic, political and cultural lag of Rus' from Western European countries.
The material was prepared based on information from open sources.
However, with all the power of the army and the splendor of the khan's court, the Golden Horde was not an independent state politically, but formed part of a single empire ruled from Karakorum.
Obedience consisted of the obligatory transfer to Karakorum of a portion of all collected taxes and tribute. To accurately establish this amount, special officials, the so-called “chislenniks,” were sent to census the population. In Rus', “numerals” appeared in 1257. The khans of the Golden Horde did not have the right to confirm Russian grand dukes on the Vladimir throne, but could only appoint holders of lower ranks. That is why the Russian princes Yaroslav and his son Alexander Nevsky were forced to make a long journey from Rus' to Mongolia. The capital of the Golden Horde was Sarai (near modern Astrakhan).(3)
Real terror was used against the Russian princes, which was supposed to intimidate them and deprive them of even the thought of opposing the ruler of Sarai. Many Russian princes were killed, in particular, in 1387 Mikhail Yaroslavich Tverskoy was killed. In Rus', punitive detachments of the Golden Horde appeared every now and then. In a number of cases, the intimidated Russian princes themselves brought tribute to the khan’s headquarters.
When merciless military pressure was replaced by no less heavy, but more sophisticated economic pressure, the Tatar-Mongol yoke in Rus' entered a new stage.
In the spring of 1361, a tense situation developed in the Golden Horde. The situation was aggravated by civil strife, the struggle for dominance between individual khans. Mamai became one of the central figures in the Golden Horde during this period. Pursuing an energetic policy, he was able to achieve the liquidation of all the isolated feudal lords of the territory that belonged to them. A decisive victory was needed, which would not only guarantee the unification of the state, but also provide a greater opportunity to manage vassal territories. There were not enough resources and strength for such a decisive turn. Mamai demanded both from the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich, but was refused. Rus' began to prepare for the fight against Mamai.
Despite all the terrible hardships, losses and losses, the Russian farmer, with his hard work, created the material basis for consolidating forces for liberation from Tatar-Mongol oppression. And finally, the time came when the united regiments of northeastern Rus', led by the Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich, entered the Kulikovo field. They challenged the Tatar-Mongol rule and entered into open battle with the Horde.(5)
The growing power of northeastern Rus' was demonstrated already in 1378, when on the Vozha River (a tributary of the Oka) the Grand Duke of Moscow defeated a large Mongol-Tatar detachment and captured prominent military leaders of Mamai. In the spring of 1380, having crossed the “great” Volga, Mamai and his hordes invaded the Eastern European steppes. He reached the Don and began to wander in the area of its left tributary - the Voronezh River, intending to go to Rus' closer to autumn. His plans were of a particularly sinister nature: he wanted to carry out not just a raid for the purpose of robbery and increasing the size of the tribute, but to completely capture and enslave the Russian principalities.(1)
Having learned about the impending threat, Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich hastily took measures to strengthen Moscow, Kolomna, Serpukhov and other cities. Moscow becomes the organizing center for preparing resistance to the new invasion. Soon numerous princes and governors of the nearest principalities arrive here.
Dmitry Ivanovich energetically began to form the Russian army. An order was sent out to assemble in Kolomna on August 15.
- On August 18, Dmitry Ivanovich visited the Trinity-Sergius Monastery and received the blessing of Abbot Sergius of Radonezh for the battle with the Horde. This elder, the founder of the monastery, who with his ascetic life gained enormous authority among various segments of the population, played a prominent role in the social and spiritual life of Rus'.
- On August 27, the army left Moscow for Kolomna, where a combined arms review took place, at which a governor was assigned to each regiment. The Grand Duke takes his first decisive step towards the enemy - he crosses the Oka River - the main southern defensive line of Rus' against the nomads.
Conducting constant reconnaissance, the Russians were well aware of the location and intentions of the enemy. Mamai, believing in his complete superiority, made a serious miscalculation in this regard. He was taken by surprise as his plans were thwarted by the quick actions of the Russians.
It is unclear how many warriors gathered. According to prof. ON THE. Khotinsky, set out in the book “History and Geography of the Battle of Kulikovo” (5), ancient written sources brought to us opposite information on this matter: from the clearly exaggerated figure of 400 thousand to 150 thousand fighters. Probably, a more realistic number of troops was indicated by A.N. Tatishchev, estimating it at approximately 60 thousand people. (5) Most modern military historians are inclined to the same opinion, determining the total number of Russian troops at 50-60 thousand warriors. The Horde regiments apparently numbered 80-90 thousand soldiers. Regiments of almost all the principalities of North-Eastern Rus' came to the Kulikovo field.
Mamai's army of thousands was defeated in 1380 on the Kulikovo Field. Rus' celebrated victory. However, two years later, the Golden Horde Khan Tokhtamysh, at the head of a huge army, unexpectedly attacked Rus', which had not yet fully recovered from the consequences of the Battle of Kulikovo. The Horde were able to capture Moscow. On August 26, 1382, Moscow was completely ruined and devastated.
After the capture of Moscow, Tokhtamysh's hordes scattered throughout the area, plundering and killing, burning everything in their path. But this time the Horde did not rampage for long. In the Volokolamsk region they were unexpectedly attacked by Prince Vladimir Andreevich with an army of seven thousand. The Tatars ran. Having received a message about the strength of the Russian army, and remembering the lesson of the Battle of Kulikovo, Tokhtamysh began to hastily go south.
From that time on, the Horde began to fear an open clash with the Russian army and began to act with great cunning and caution, trying in every possible way to kindle the internecine struggle of the Russian princes. The heavy burden of tribute, although in a smaller volume than Mamai demanded, again fell on Rus'. But the fruits of victory in the Battle of Kulikovo were not completely lost. Thanks to this victory, Mamai’s plan for the complete enslavement of Rus' was not carried out either by him or by the subsequent rulers of the Horde. On the contrary, from that time on the centripetal forces in the unification of the Russian principalities around Moscow became increasingly stronger. After the Battle of Kulikovo, Rus' strengthened its faith in its national strength, which played a role important role in her final victory over the Horde.
From that time on, the Russians stopped looking at the Horde as force majeure, as an inevitable and eternal punishment of God. Dmitry Ivanovich, nicknamed “Donskoy” for his victory in the Battle of Kulikovo, led a generation of people who overcame the age-old fear inspired by Batu’s invasion. And the Horde themselves, after the Battle of Kulikovo, stopped looking at the Russians as unrequited slaves and gift-givers.(1)
After the Battle of Kulikovo, Rus' irreversibly began to strengthen, its dependence on the Horde weakened more and more. Already Dmitry Donskoy emphasized his independence from the khan’s will and, violating the order established by the Horde, in his spiritual testament he transferred the right to the great reign of Vladimir to his eldest son Vasily Dmitrievich.
Since then, a method of transferring supreme power in northeastern Rus', independent of the Horde, has become the hereditary right of the Moscow princely family. A strong and experienced enemy was crushed on the Kulikovo Field. Although the Horde continued their campaigns of conquest later, they were never able to fully recover from the defeat in the Battle of Kulikovo. Its consequences largely determined the future fate of the horde. 1395 - almost Last year existence of the Golden Horde. The agony of the collapse of this once powerful state lasted until the middle of the 15th century.
In place of the Golden Horde, new political formations appeared. 200 years later, after the creation of the Golden Horde by Batu Khan, it broke up into the following components: the Great Horde, the Astrakhan Khanate, the Kazan Khanate, the Crimean Khanate, the Siberian Khanate, and the Nogai Horde. They all existed separately, fighting and making peace with each other and with their neighbors. The story lasted longer than others Crimean Khanate, which ceased to exist in 1783. This was the last fragment of the Golden Horde that came from the Middle Ages into modern times.(5)
For Rus', the victory on the Kulikovo Field over a strong and cruel enemy was of great importance. The Battle of Kulikovo not only significantly enriched the Russian army with military-strategic experience of major battles, but also affected the entire subsequent political history of the Russian state. The victory on the Kulikovo Field cleared the way for national liberation and consolidation of Rus'.
