The invasion of the Tatar-Mongols into Russia began in 1237, when Batu's cavalry invaded the territory of the Ryazan lands. As a result of this attack, Russia found itself under the yoke of a two-century yoke. This interpretation is set out in most history books, but in reality the relationship between Russia and the Horde was much more complicated. In the article, the yoke of the Golden Horde will be considered not only in the usual interpretation, but also taking into account its controversial points.
Beginning of the Mongol-Tatar invasion
For the first time, the squads of Russia and the Mongol hordes began to fight at the end of May 1223 on the Kalka River. The Russian army was led by Prince Mstislav of Kyiv, and the Horde was commanded by Jebe-noyon and Subedey-bagatur. The army of Mstislav was not just defeated, but almost completely destroyed.
In 1236, the Tatars launched another invasion of the Polovtsians. In this campaign, they won many victories and by the end of 1237 came close to the lands of the Ryazan principality.
Mongol conquest of Russia, which took place from 1237 to 1242, is divided into two stages:
- 1237 - 1238 - invasion of the northern and eastern territories of Russia.
- 1239 - 1242 - a campaign in the southern territories, which led to a further yoke.
Chronology of events up to 1238
The Horde cavalry was commanded by Batu Khan (Batu Khan), the grandson of the famous Genghis Khan, who subordinated about 150 thousand soldiers. Together with Batu, Subedei-bagatur, who fought with the Russians earlier, participated in the invasion. The invasion began in the winter of 1237, its exact date is unknown. Some historians claim that the attack took place in the late autumn of the same year. Batu's cavalry moved at high speed across the territory of Russia and conquered cities one after another.
The chronology of Batu's campaign against Russia is as follows:
- Ryazan was defeated in December 1237 after a six-day siege.
- Before the conquest of Moscow, Vladimir Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich tried to stop the Horde near Kolomna, but was defeated.
- Moscow was conquered in January 1238, the siege lasted four days.
- Vladimir. After an eight-day siege, it was conquered in February 1238.
The capture of Ryazan - 1237
At the end of the autumn of 1237, an army of about 150 thousand, led by Khan Batu, invaded the territory of the Ryazan principality. Arriving at Prince Yuri Igorevich, the ambassadors demanded tribute from him - a tenth of what he owns. They were refused, and the Ryazans began to prepare for defense. Yuri turned to Vladimir Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich for support, but received no help.
At the same time, Batu defeated the vanguard of the Ryazan squad and in mid-December 1237 laid siege to the capital of the principality. The first attacks were repulsed, but after the use of battering rams by the invaders, the fortress, which had held out for 9 days, was defeated. The Horde broke into the city, arranging a massacre in it.
Even though the prince and almost all the inhabitants of the fortress were killed, the resistance of the Ryazans did not stop. Boyar Evpaty Kolovrat gathered an army of about 1,700 people and went in pursuit of Batu's army. Having caught up with her, the warriors of Kolovrat defeated the rearguard of the nomads, but subsequently they themselves fell in an unequal battle.
Battle of Kolomna, capture of Moscow and Vladimir - 1238
After the fall of Ryazan, the Tatars attacked Kolomna, a city that at that time was an important strategic center. Here was the vanguard of the troops of Prince Vladimir, commanded by Vsevolod. Having entered into an unequal battle with the troops of Batu, the Russians suffered a crushing defeat. Most of them died, and Vsevolod Yurievich with the surviving squad retreated to Vladimir.
Batu reached Moscow in the third decade of 1237. At that time, there was no one to defend Moscow, since the basis of the Russian army was destroyed near Kolomna. At the beginning of 1238, the Horde broke into the city, completely ruined it and killed everyone, young and old. Prince Vladimir was taken prisoner. After the defeat of Moscow, the troops of the invaders went on a campaign against Vladimir.
In early February 1238, an army of nomads approached the walls of Vladimir. The Horde attacked him from three sides. Destroying the walls, using wall-beating devices, they broke into the city. Most of the inhabitants were killed, including Prince Vsevolod. And eminent citizens were locked in the temple of the Virgin and burned . Vladimir was plundered and destroyed.
How did the first invasion end?
After the conquest of Vladimir, almost the entire territory of the northern and eastern lands was in the power of Batu Khan. He took cities one after another: Dmitrov, Suzdal, Tver, Pereslavl, Yuriev. In March 1238, Torzhok was taken, which opened the way for the Tatar-Mongols to Novgorod. But Batu Khan decided not to go there, but sent an army to storm Kozelsk.
The siege of the city went on for seven weeks and ended only when Batu offered to surrender to the defenders of Kozelsk in exchange for saving their lives. They accepted the conditions of the Tatar-Mongols and surrendered. Batu Khan did not keep his word and gave the order to kill everyone, which was done. Thus ended the first invasion of the Tatar-Mongols on the lands of Russia.
Invasion of 1239 - 1242
A year and a half later, in 1239, a new campaign of troops under the command of Batu began in Russia. This year the main events unfold in Chernigov and Pereyaslav. Batu did not advance as rapidly as in 1237, due to the fact that he was actively fighting against the Polovtsy in the Crimean lands.
In the autumn of 1240, Batu leads the army directly to Kyiv. The ancient capital of Russia was not able to resist for a long time, and in early December 1240 the city fell under the onslaught of the Horde. There was nothing left of him, Kyiv was actually "wiped off the face of the earth." Historians speak of particularly cruel atrocities perpetrated by the invaders. The Kyiv that has survived to this day, has absolutely nothing to do with a city destroyed by the Horde.
After the destruction of Kyiv, the Tatar troops were divided into two armies, one headed for Galich, and the other for Vladimir-Volynsky. After the capture of these cities, the Tatar-Mongols set off on a European campaign.
The consequences of the invasion of Russia
All historians give an unambiguous description of the consequences of the invasion of the Tatar-Mongols:
- The country was divided and was completely dependent on the Golden Horde.
- Russia paid tribute to the Khanate every year (in people, silver, gold and furs).
- The state stopped its development due to the most difficult situation.
The list can go on and on, but the overall picture of what is happening is already clear.
In short, this is how the period of the Horde yoke in Russia is presented in the official historical interpretation found in textbooks. Further, the arguments cited by L. N. Gumilyov, a historian-ethnologist and orientalist, will be considered. And also a number of important issues will be touched upon, giving an understanding of how much more complex the relations between Russia and the Horde were than is commonly believed.
How did nomads conquer half the world?
Scholars often question whether how a nomadic people, who only a few decades ago lived in a tribal system, was able to create a huge empire and conquer almost half the world. What goals did the Horde pursue in the campaign against Russia? Historians claim that the purpose of the invasion was to plunder the lands and subjugate Russia, and it is also said that the Tatar-Mongols achieved this.
But in reality it's not quite like that., because in Russia there were three very rich cities:
- Kyiv is one of the largest European cities, the capital of ancient Russia, captured and destroyed by the Horde.
- Novgorod is the largest trading city and, at that time, the richest. From the invasion of the Tatar-Mongols, he did not suffer at all.
- Smolensk, like Novgorod, was a trading city, and in terms of wealth it was compared with Kyiv. He also did not suffer from the Horde.
It turns out that two of the three largest cities of ancient Russia did not suffer from the Golden Horde in any way.
Historians' explanations
If we consider the version of historians - to ruin and rob, as the main goal of the Horde's campaign against Russia, then there is no logical explanation. Batu captures Torzhok, the siege of which takes two weeks. This is a poor city, its main task was to guard and protect Novgorod. After the capture of Torzhok Batu goes not to Novgorod, but to Kozelsk. Why is it necessary to waste time and energy on the siege of an unnecessary city, instead of just going to Kozelsk?
Historians give two explanations:
- Heavy losses during the capture of Torzhok did not allow Batu to go to Novgorod.
- Spring floods prevented the move to Novgorod.
The first version seems logical only at first glance. If the Mongols suffered heavy losses, then it was advisable to leave Russia to replenish the troops. But Batu goes to besiege Kozelsk. It suffers colossal losses and rapidly leaves the lands of Russia. The second version is also difficult to accept, since in the Middle Ages, according to climatologists, it was even colder in the northern regions of Russia than now.
Paradox with Kozelsk
An inexplicable and paradoxical situation has developed with Smolensk. As described above, Batu Khan, after conquering Torzhok, went to besiege Kozelsk, which in its essence was a simple fortress, a poor and small town. The Horde tried to capture it for seven weeks, while suffering many thousands of losses. There was absolutely no strategic and commercial benefit from the capture of Kozelsk. Why such sacrifices?
Just a day of riding on horseback and you could be at the walls of Smolensk, one of the richest cities of ancient Russia, but Batu for some reason does not go in this direction. It is strange that all the above logical questions are ignored by historians.
Nomads do not fight in winter
There is another interesting fact that orthodox history simply ignores because it cannot explain it. And one and the other Tatar-Mongolian invasions of Ancient Russia were made in winter or late autumn. Let's not forget that the army of Batu Khan consisted of nomads, and they, as you know, began their military campaigns only in the spring and tried to finish the battle before the onset of winter.
This is due to the fact that the nomads traveled on horses, which need food every day. How was it possible to feed tens of thousands of Mongolian horses in the conditions of snowy winter Russia? Many historians call this fact insignificant, but it cannot be denied that the success of a long campaign directly depends on the supply of troops.
How many horses did Batu have?
Historians say that the army of nomads ranged from 50 to 400 thousand cavalry. What kind of support should such an army have?
As far as is known, going on a military campaign, each warrior took three horses with him:
- riding, on which the rider constantly moved during the campaign;
- a pack-house, on which weapons, ammunition and things of a warrior were transported;
- fighting, which went without any load, so that at any time the horse with fresh forces could enter the battle.
It turns out that 300 thousand riders is 900 thousand horses. Plus the horses involved in the transportation of rams and other tools, provisions. That's over one million. How is it possible to feed such a herd in a snowy winter, during the Little Ice Age?
What was the number of nomads?
There is conflicting information about this. It is said about 15, 30, 200 and 400 thousand people. If we take a small number, then it is difficult to conquer a principality with such a number, the squad of which includes 30-50 thousand people. Moreover, the Russians resisted desperately, and many nomads died. If we talk about large numbers, then the question arises of providing food.
Thus, apparently, things happened differently. The main document, according to which the invasion was studied, is the Laurentian Chronicle. But she is not without a flaw, which was recognized by official history. Three pages of the annals describing the beginning of the invasion have been changed, which means they are not original.
In this article, contradictory facts were considered, and it is proposed to draw conclusions on your own.
When the Russian-Polovtsian struggle was already on the decline, in the steppes of Central Asia, on the territory of present-day Mongolia, an event occurred that had a serious impact on the course of world history, including the fate of Russia: the Mongol tribes roaming here united under the rule of the commander Genghis Khan. Having created from them the best army then in Eurasia, he moved it to conquer foreign lands. Under his leadership, the Mongols in 1207-1222 conquered Northern China, Central and Central Asia, Transcaucasia, which became part of Mongol Empire created by Genghis Khan. In 1223, the advanced detachments of his troops appeared in the Black Sea steppes.
Battle of the Kalka (1223). In the spring of 1223, a 30,000-strong detachment from the troops of Genghis Khan, led by commanders Dzhebe and Subede, invaded the Northern Black Sea region and defeated the troops of the Polovtsian Khan Kotyan. Then Kotyan turned to his father-in-law, the Russian prince Mstislav Udaly, with a request for help, saying: "Today they have taken our land, tomorrow they will take yours." Mstislav Udaloy gathered a council of princes in Kyiv and convinced them of the need to fight the new nomads. He reasonably suggested that by subduing the Polovtsy, the Mongols would attach them to their army, and then Russia would face a much more formidable invasion than before. Mstislav proposed not to wait for such a turn of events, but to unite with the Polovtsy before it was too late, go to the steppe and defeat the aggressors on their territory. The assembled army was led by the senior prince Mstislav of Kyiv. The Russians set out on a campaign in April 1223.
Having crossed to the left bank of the Dnieper, they defeated the Mongol vanguard in the Oleshya region, which began to quickly retreat deep into the steppes. The persecution lasted eight days. Having reached the Kalka River (Northern Azov), the Russians saw large Mongol forces on the other side and began to prepare for battle. However, the princes were never able to develop a unified plan of action. Mstislav of Kyiv adhered to defensive tactics. He offered to fortify himself and wait for an attack. Mstislav Udaloy, on the contrary, wanted to attack the Mongols first. So without reaching agreement, the princes separated. Mstislav of Kyiv camped on a hill, on the right bank. The Polovtsy, under the command of the commander Yarun, as well as the Russian regiments led by Mstislav Udaly and Daniil Galitsky, crossed the river and entered the battle with the Mongols on May 31. The Polovtsians were the first to waver. They rushed to run and crushed the ranks of the Russians. Those, having lost their battle order, also could not resist and fled back in the direction of the Dnieper. Mstislav Udaloy and Daniil Galiiky with the remnants of their squads managed to reach the Dnieper. Having crossed, Mstislav ordered the destruction of all ships in order to prevent the Mongols from crossing to the right bank of the river. But by doing so, he put other Russian units fleeing the chase in a difficult situation.
While one part of the Mongol army pursued the remnants of the defeated regiments of Mstislav the Udaly, the other surrounded Mstislav of Kyiv, who was sitting in a fortified camp. Surrounded fought back for three days. Unable to take the camp by storm, the attackers offered Mstislav Kievsky a free pass home. He agreed. But when he left the camp, the Mongols destroyed all his army. According to legend, the Mongols strangled Mstislav of Kyiv and two other princes captured in the camp under boards, on which they held a feast in honor of their victory. According to the chronicler, the Russians have never suffered such a brutal defeat. Under Kalka, nine princes perished. And only every tenth warrior returned home. After the Battle of Kalka, the Mongol army made a raid to the Dnieper, but did not dare to move on without careful preparation and turned back to join the main forces of Genghis Khan. Kalka - the first battle of the Russians with the Mongols. Her lesson, unfortunately, was not learned by the princes to prepare a worthy rebuff to the new formidable aggressor.
The invasion of Batu Khan (1237-1238)
The battle of Kalke turned out to be only a reconnaissance in the geopolitical strategy of the leaders of the Mongol Empire. They did not intend to limit their conquests only to Asia, but sought to subdue the entire Eurasian continent. The grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu, who led the Tatar-Mongolian army, tried to realize these plans. The main corridor for the movement of nomads to Europe was the Black Sea steppes. However, Batu did not immediately use this traditional way. Knowing perfectly well about the situation in Europe through excellent intelligence, the Mongol Khan decided first to secure the rear for his campaign. After all, having retired deep into Europe, the Mongol army left in its rear the Old Russian state, whose armed forces could cuta blow from the north to the Black Sea corridor, which threatened Batu with an imminent catastrophe. The Mongol Khan directed his first blow against North-Eastern Russia.
By the time of the invasion of Russia, the Mongols had one of the best armies in the world, which had accumulated the richest thirty years of combat experience. It had an effective military doctrine, a significant number of skillful and hardy warriors, strong discipline and coherence of actions, skillful leadership, as well as excellent, diverse weapons (siege engines, fire shells stuffed with gunpowder, easel crossbows). If the Polovtsy usually gave in to fortresses, then the Mongols, on the contrary, perfectly mastered the art of siege and assault, as well as various techniques for capturing cities. In the Mongolian army, there were special engineering units for this, using the richest technical experience of China.
The moral factor played a huge role in the Mongolian army. Unlike most other nomads, the warriors of Batu were inspired by the grandiose idea of conquering the world and firmly believed in their high destiny. This attitude allowed them to act aggressively, energetically and fearlessly, with a sense of superiority over the enemy. An important role in the campaigns of the Mongolian army was played by intelligence, which in advance actively collected data on the enemy and studied the proposed theater of military operations. Such a strong and numerous army (up to 150 thousand people), carried away by a single idea and armed with advanced technology for those times, approached the eastern borders of Russia, which at that time was in a stage of fragmentation and decline. The clash of political and military weakness with a streamlined, strong-willed and energetic military force produced disastrous results.
Capture (1237). Batu planned his campaign against North-Eastern Russia in the winter, when numerous rivers and swamps froze. This made it possible to ensure the mobility and maneuverability of the Mongolian cavalry. On the other hand, this also achieved the surprise of the attack, since the princes, accustomed to the summer-autumn attacks of nomads, were not ready for a major invasion in winter.
In the late autumn of 1237, the army of Batu Khan, numbering up to 150 thousand people, invaded the Ryazan principality. Khan's ambassadors came to the Ryazan prince Yuri Igorevich and began to demand tribute from him in the amount of a tenth of the property (tithe). “When none of us is left alive, then take everything,” the prince proudly answered them. Preparing to repel the invasion, the people of Ryazan turned to the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich for help. But he did not help them. Meanwhile, Batu's troops defeated the avant-garde detachment of the Ryazans sent forward and on December 16, 1237 besieged their capital city. The townspeople beat off the first attacks. Then the besiegers set in motion wall-beating machines and with their help destroyed the fortifications. Breaking into the city after a 9-day siege, Batu's soldiers staged a massacre there. Prince Yuri and almost all the inhabitants died.
With the fall, the resistance of the Ryazans did not stop. One of the Ryazan boyars, Yevpaty Kolovrat, gathered a detachment of 1,700 people. Having overtaken Batu's army, he attacked him and crushed the rear regiments. Those in amazement thought that it was the dead warriors of the land of Ryazan who had resurrected. Batu sent the hero Khostovrul against Kolovrat, but he fell in a duel with a Russian knight. However, the forces were still unequal. The huge Batu army surrounded a handful of heroes, who almost all died in the battle (including Kolovrat himself). After the battle, Batu ordered the surviving Russian soldiers to be released as a sign of respect for their courage.
Battle of Kolomna (1238). After the capture of Batu, he set about fulfilling the main goal of his campaign - the defeat of the armed forces of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality. The first blow was dealt to the city of Kolomna - an important strategic center, taking which the Tatar-Mongols cut off the direct connection between the northeastern and southwestern regions of Russia. In January 1238, Batu's army approached Kolomna, where the vanguard of the troops of the Grand Duke of Vladimir was located under the command of his son Vsevolod Yuryevich, who was joined by Prince Roman, who had fled from the Ryazan land. The forces turned out to be unequal, and the Russians suffered a severe defeat. Prince Roman and most of the Russian soldiers died. Vsevolod Yurievich with the remnants of the squad fled to Vladimir. Behind him, the army of Batu moved, which along the way captured and burned, where another son of the Grand Duke of Vladimir, Vladimir Yuryevich, was taken prisoner.
Capture of Vladimir (1238). On February 3, 1238, Batu's army approached the capital of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality - the city of Vladimir. Batu sent part of his forces to Torzhok in order to cut off the connection between the Vladimir-Suzdal principality and Novgorod. Thus, North-Eastern Russia was cut off from help from both the north and the south. Grand Duke Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich was absent from his capital. She was defended by a squad under the command of his sons - princes Mstislav and Vsevolod. At first, they wanted to go out into the field and fight Batu's army, but they were restrained from such a reckless impulse by an experienced voivode, Pyotr Oslyadyukovich. In the meantime, having built forests opposite the city walls and pulling wall-beating guns to them, Batu's army on February 7, 1238 stormed Vladimir from three sides. With the help of wall-beating machines, the soldiers of Batu broke through the fortress walls and broke into Vladimir. Then its defenders retreated to the Old City. Having lost by that time the remnants of his former arrogance, Prince Vsevolod Yurievich tried to stop the bloodshed. With a small detachment, he went to Batu, hoping to propitiate the khan with gifts. But he ordered to kill the young prince and continue the assault. After the capture of Vladimir, eminent citizens and part of the common people were burned in the Church of the Mother of God, previously looted by the invaders. The city was severely destroyed.
Battle of the River City (1238). Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich, meanwhile, was gathering regiments in the north, hoping for help from other principalities. But it was already too late. Having cut off Yuri's army from the north and south, Batu's troops were rapidly approaching their location on the City River (a tributary of the Mologa River), in the area of the road junction to Novgorod and Belozersk. On March 4, 1238, a detachment under the command of the temnik Burundai was the first to reach the City and decisively attacked the regiments of Yuri Vsevolodovich. The Russians fought stubbornly and valiantly. Neither side could take the upper hand for a long time. The outcome of the battle was decided by the approach to the Burundai army of fresh forces led by Batu Khan. Russian warriors could not withstand the new blow and suffered a crushing defeat. Most of them, including Grand Duke Yuri, died in a brutal slaughter. The defeat in the City put an end to the organized resistance of North-Eastern Russia.
Having dealt with the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, Batu gathered all his forces at Torzhok and on March 17 set out on a campaign against Novgorod. However, at the tract Ignach Krest, not having reached Novgorod about 200 km, the Tatar-Mongol army turned back. Many historians see the reason for such a departure in the fact that Batu was afraid of the onset of spring thaw. Of course, the heavily swampy terrain, crossed by small rivers, along which the path of the Tatar-Mongol army ran, could do him a disservice. Another reason is no less important. Probably, Batu was well aware of the strong fortifications of Novgorod and the readiness of the Novgorodians for a staunch defense. Having suffered considerable losses during the winter campaign, the Tatar-Mongols were already far removed from their rear. Any military failure in the conditions of the flood of the Novgorod rivers and swamps could turn the day of Batu's army into a catastrophe. Apparently, all these considerations influenced the decision of the khan to start a retreat.
Defense of Kozelsk (1238). The fact that the Russians were far from broken and ready to defend themselves courageously was evidenced by the heroism of the inhabitants of Kozelsk. Its glorious defense was, perhaps, the most striking event in the tragic Russian campaign of 1237/38. On the way back, the troops of Batu Khan laid siege to the city of Kozelsk, which was ruled by the young prince Vasily. To the demand to surrender, the townspeople replied: "Our prince is a baby, but we, as faithful Russians, must die for him in order to leave a good reputation in the world, and to accept the crown of immortality behind the coffin."
For seven weeks, the courageous defenders of the small Kozelsk steadfastly repulsed the onslaught of a huge army. In the end, the attackers managed to break through the walls and break into the city. But even here the invaders met with a fierce rebuff. The townspeople cut themselves with the attackers at knives. One of the detachments of the defenders of Kozelsk escaped from the city and attacked Batu's regiments in the field. In this battle, the Russians destroyed ramming machines and killed 4,000 people. However, despite desperate resistance, the city was taken. Of the inhabitants, no one surrendered, all died fighting. What happened to Prince Vasily is unknown. According to one version, he drowned in blood. Since then, the chronicler notes, Batu gave Kozelsk a new name: "The Evil City".
Invasion of Batu (1240-1241) North-Eastern Russia lay in ruins. It seemed that nothing prevented Batu from starting his campaign in Western Europe. But despite significant military successes, the winter-spring campaign of 1237/38, apparently, was not easy for the Khan's troops. In the next two years, they did not conduct large-scale operations and recuperated in the steppes, reorganizing the troops and collecting supplies. At the same time, with the help of reconnaissance raids by individual detachments, the Tatar-Mongols strengthened their control over the lands from the banks of the Klyazma to the Dnieper - they captured Chernigov, Pereyaslavl, Gorokhovets. On the other hand, Mongolian intelligence was actively collecting data on the situation in Central and Western Europe. Finally, at the end of November 1240, Batu, at the head of 150,000 hordes, undertook his famous campaign in Western Europe, dreaming of reaching the end of the universe and dipping the hooves of his horses in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
The capture of Kyiv by the troops of Batu (1240). The princes of Southern Russia showed enviable carelessness in this situation. Being for two years next to a formidable enemy, they not only did nothing to organize a joint defense, but also continued to be at enmity with each other. Without waiting for the invasion, Prince Mikhail of Kyiv fled from the city in advance. This was used by the Smolensk prince Rostislav, who captured Kyiv. But soon he was driven out of there by Prince Daniel of Galicia, who also left the city, leaving Dmitry of the Thousand in his place. When, in December 1240, the army of Batu, having crossed the ice of the Dnieper, approached Kyiv, ordinary Kievans had to pay for the insignificance of their leaders.
The defense of the city was headed by Tysyatsky Dmitry. But how could civilians really resist the huge hordes? According to the chronicler, when Batu's troops surrounded the city, the people of Kiev could not hear each other because of the creak of carts, the roar of camels, and the neighing of horses. The fate of Kyiv was decided. Having destroyed the fortifications with wall-beating machines, the attackers broke into the city. But its defenders continued to stubbornly defend themselves and, under the leadership of their thousand man, managed to erect new wooden fortifications near the Church of the Tithes during the night. On the morning of December 6, 1240, a fierce battle broke out here again, in which the last defenders of Kyiv died. The wounded governor Dmitry was taken prisoner. For courage, Batu gave him life. Batu's army completely destroyed Kyiv. Five years later, the Franciscan monk Plano Carpini, who visited Kyiv, counted no more than 200 houses in this once majestic city, the inhabitants of which were in terrible slavery.
The capture of Kyiv opened the way for Batu to Western Europe. Encountering no serious resistance, his troops passed through the territory of Galicia-Volyn Rus. Leaving a 30,000-strong army on the occupied lands, Batu crossed the Carpathians in the spring of 1241 and invaded Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. Having achieved a number of successes there, Batu reached the shores of the Adriatic Sea. Here he received news of the death of the ruler of the Mongol Empire, Ogedei, in Karakorum. According to the laws of Genghis Khan, Batu had to return to Mongolia for the election of a new head of the empire. But most likely, that was just a reason to stop the campaign, since the offensive impulse of the army, thinned from the fighting and detached from its rear, was already drying up.
Batu failed to create an empire from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, but he nevertheless founded a huge nomadic state - the Horde, with its center in the city of Saray (in the lower reaches of the Volga). This Horde became part of the Mongol Empire. Fearing new invasions, the Russian princes recognized their vassal dependence on the Horde.
The invasions of 1237-1238 and 1240-1241 became the largest catastrophe in the history of Russia. Not only the armed forces of the principalities were defeated, but to a much greater extent material culture Old Russian state. Archaeologists have calculated that out of 74 ancient Russian cities of the pre-Mongolian period they studied, 49 (or two-thirds) were devastated by Batu. Moreover, 14 of them never rose from the ruins, another 15 could not restore their former significance, turning into villages.
The negative consequences of these campaigns were of a protracted nature, since, unlike the previous nomads (,), the new invaders were no longer interested only in booty, but also in the subjugation of the conquered lands. Batu's campaigns led to the defeat of the East Slavic world and the further separation of its parts. Dependence on the Golden Horde most affected the development of the northeastern lands (Great Russia). Here the Tatar orders, customs and customs were most deeply rooted. In the Novgorod lands, the power of the khans was felt less, and the southern and southwestern parts of Russia a century later left the Horde, becoming part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. So the ancient Russian lands in the XIV century were divided into two spheres of influence - the Golden Horde (eastern) and Lithuanian (western). On the territory conquered by the Lithuanians, new branches of the Eastern Slavs formed: Belarusians and Ukrainians.
The defeat of Russia after the invasion of Batu and the foreign domination that followed him deprived the East Slavic world of independence and a favorable historical perspective. It took centuries of incredible efforts and persistent, sometimes tragic struggle of the "all-enduring Russian tribe" so that it could destroy foreign power, create a mighty state and join the ranks of the great peoples.
According to the materials of the portal "
1. In 1223 and in 1237 - 1240. Russian principalities were attacked by the Mongol-Tatars. The result of this invasion was the loss of independence by most of the Russian principalities and the Mongol-Tatar yoke that lasted about 240 years - the political, economic and, in part, cultural dependence of the Russian lands on the Mongol-Tatar conquerors. Mongol-Tatars are a union of numerous nomadic tribes of East and Central Asia. This union of tribes got its name from the name of the ruling tribe of the Mongols, and the most warlike and cruel tribe of the Tatars.
Tatars of the 13th century should not be confused with modern Tatars - the descendants of the Volga Bulgars, who in the XIII century. along with the Russians, they were subjected to the Mongol-Tatar invasion, but subsequently inherited the name.
At the beginning of the XIII century. under the rule of the Mongols, neighboring tribes were united, which formed the basis of the Mongol-Tatars:
- Chinese;
- Manchus;
- Uighurs;
- Buryats;
- Transbaikal Tatars;
- other small peoples of Eastern Siberia;
- later - the peoples of Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East.
The consolidation of the Mongol-Tatar tribes began at the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th centuries. A significant strengthening of these tribes is associated with the activities of Genghis Khan (Temujin), who lived in 1152/1162 - 1227.
In 1206, at the kurultai (congress of the Mongol nobility and military leaders), Genghis Khan was elected the all-Mongol kagan (“khan of khans”). With the election of Genghis Khan as kagan, the following significant changes occurred in the life of the Mongols:
- strengthening the influence of the military elite;
- overcoming internal disagreements within the Mongol nobility and its consolidation around military leaders and Genghis Khan;
- rigid centralization and organization of Mongolian society (census of the population, unification of the mass of disparate nomads into paramilitary units - tens, hundreds, thousands, with a clear system of command and subordination);
- the introduction of strict discipline and collective responsibility (for disobedience to the commander - the death penalty, for the faults of an individual soldier, the entire ten were punished);
- the use of advanced scientific and technological achievements for that time (Mongolian specialists studied in China the methods of storming cities, and wall-beating guns were also borrowed from China);
- a radical change in the ideology of Mongolian society, the subordination of the entire Mongolian people to a single goal - the unification of neighboring Asian tribes under the rule of the Mongols, and aggressive campaigns against other countries in order to enrich and expand the habitat.
Under Genghis Khan, a single and binding written legislation was introduced - Yasa, the violation of which was punishable by painful forms of death.
2. From 1211 and in the next 60 years, the Mongol-Tatar conquests were carried out. Conquest campaigns were carried out in four main areas:
- the conquest of Northern and Central China in 1211 - 1215;
- the conquest of the states of Central Asia (Khiva, Bukhara, Khorezm) in 1219 - 1221;
- Batu's campaign in the Volga region, Russia and the Balkans in 1236 - 1242, the conquest of the Volga region and Russian lands;
- Kulagu Khan's campaign in the Near and Middle East, the capture of Baghdad in 1258.
The empire of Genghis Khan and his descendants, which stretched from China to the Balkans and from Siberia to the Indian Ocean and included Russian lands, existed for about 250 years and fell under the blows of other conquerors - Tamerlane (Timur), the Turks, as well as the liberation struggle of the conquered peoples.
3. The first armed clash between the Russian squad and the Mongol-Tatar army took place 14 years before the invasion of Batu. In 1223, the Mongol-Tatar army under the command of Subudai-Bagatur went on a campaign against the Polovtsy in the immediate vicinity of the Russian lands. At the request of the Polovtsy, some Russian princes provided military assistance to the Polovtsy.
On May 31, 1223, a battle took place between the Russian-Polovtsian detachments and the Mongol-Tatars on the Kalka River near the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov. As a result of this battle, the Russian-Polovtsian militia suffered a crushing defeat from the Mongol-Tatars. The Russian-Polovtsian army suffered heavy losses. Six Russian princes were killed, including Mstislav Udaloy, the Polovtsian Khan Kotyan and more than 10 thousand militias.
The main reasons for the defeat of the Russian-half army were:
- the unwillingness of the Russian princes to act as a united front against the Mongol-Tatars (most of the Russian princes refused to respond to the request of their neighbors and send troops);
- underestimation of the Mongol-Tatars (the Russian militia was poorly armed and did not properly tune in to the battle);
- inconsistency of actions during the battle (Russian troops were not a single army, but disparate squads of different princes acting in their own way; some squads left the battle and watched from the side).
Having won a victory at Kalka, the army of Subudai-Bagatur did not develop success and left for the steppes.
4. After 13 years, in 1236, the Mongol-Tatar army led by Batu Khan (Batu Khan), the grandson of Genghis Khan and the son of Jochi, invaded the Volga steppes and Volga Bulgaria (the territory of modern Tataria). Having defeated the Polovtsy and the Volga Bulgars, the Mongol-Tatars decided to invade Russia.
The conquest of Russian lands was carried out during two campaigns:
- the campaign of 1237 - 1238, as a result of which the Ryazan and Vladimir-Suzdal principalities - the north-east of Russia were conquered;
- the campaign of 1239 - 1240, as a result of which the Chernigov and Kiev principalities, other principalities of the south of Russia were conquered. The Russian principalities offered heroic resistance. Among the most important battles of the war with the Mongol-Tatars are:
- the defense of Ryazan (1237) - the very first large city attacked by the Mongol-Tatars - almost all the inhabitants participated and died during the defense of the city;
- the defense of Vladimir (1238);
- the defense of Kozelsk (1238) - the Mongol-Tatars stormed Kozelsk for 7 weeks, for which they called it the "evil city";
- the battle on the City River (1238) - the heroic resistance of the Russian militia prevented the further advance of the Mongol-Tatars to the north - to Novgorod;
- the defense of Kyiv - the city fought for about a month.
December 6, 1240 Kyiv fell. This event is considered the final defeat of the Russian principalities in the struggle against the Mongol-Tatars.
The main reasons for the defeat of the Russian principalities in the war against the Mongol-Tatars are:
- feudal fragmentation;
- the absence of a single centralized state and a single army;
- enmity between princes;
- transition to the side of the Mongols of individual princes;
- the technical backwardness of the Russian squads and the military and organizational superiority of the Mongol-Tatars.
5. Having defeated most of the Russian principalities (except Novgorod and Galicia-Volyn), Batu's army in 1241 invaded Europe and marched through the Czech Republic, Hungary and Croatia.
Having reached the Adriatic Sea, in 1242 Batu stopped his campaign in Europe and returned to Mongolia. The main reasons for the cessation of the expansion of the Mongols into Europe
- fatigue of the Mongol-Tatar army from a 3-year war with the Russian principalities;
- a clash with the Catholic world under the rule of the Pope, which, like the Mongols, had a strong internal organization and became a strong rival of the Mongols for over 200 years;
- the aggravation of the political situation within the empire of Genghis Khan (in 1242, the son and successor of Genghis Khan, Ogedei, who became the all-Mongol kagan after Genghis Khan, died, and Batu was forced to return to take part in the struggle for power).
Subsequently, at the end of the 1240s, Batu was preparing a second invasion of Russia (on Novgorod land), but Novgorod voluntarily recognized the power of the Mongol-Tatars.
MONGOLO-TATAR INVASION
Formation of the Mongolian state. At the beginning of the XIII century. in Central Asia, in the territory from Lake Baikal and the upper reaches of the Yenisei and Irtysh in the north to the southern regions of the Gobi Desert and the Great Wall of China, the Mongolian state was formed. By the name of one of the tribes that roamed near Lake Buirnur in Mongolia, these peoples were also called Tatars. Subsequently, all the nomadic peoples with whom Russia fought began to be called Mongolo-Tatars.
The main occupation of the Mongols was extensive nomadic cattle breeding, and in the north and in the taiga regions - hunting. In the XII century. among the Mongols there was a disintegration of primitive communal relations. From the environment of ordinary community members-cattle breeders, who were called karachu - black people, noyons (princes) stood out - to know; having squads of nukers (warriors), she seized pastures for livestock and part of the young. The noyons also had slaves. The rights of the noyons were determined by "Yasa" - a collection of teachings and instructions.
In 1206, a congress of the Mongolian nobility, the kurultai (Khural), took place on the Onon River, at which one of the noyons was elected the leader of the Mongolian tribes: Temuchin, who received the name Genghis Khan - "great khan", "sent by God" (1206-1227). Having defeated his opponents, he began to rule the country through his relatives and the local nobility.
Mongolian army. The Mongols had a well-organized army that maintained tribal ties. The army was divided into tens, hundreds, thousands. Ten thousand Mongol warriors were called "darkness" ("tumen").
Tumens were not only military, but also administrative units.
The main striking force of the Mongols was the cavalry. Each warrior had two or three bows, several quivers with arrows, an ax, a rope lasso, and was proficient with a saber. The warrior's horse was covered with skins, which protected it from the arrows and weapons of the enemy. The head, neck and chest of the Mongol warrior from enemy arrows and spears were covered with an iron or copper helmet, leather armor. The Mongolian cavalry had high mobility. On their undersized, shaggy-maned, hardy horses, they could travel up to 80 km per day, and up to 10 km with carts, wall-beating and flamethrower guns. Like other peoples, passing through the stage of state formation, the Mongols were distinguished by their strength and solidity. Hence the interest in expanding pastures and in organizing predatory campaigns against neighboring agricultural peoples, who were at a much higher level of development, although they experienced a period of fragmentation. This greatly facilitated the implementation of the conquest plans of the Mongol-Tatars.
Defeat of Central Asia. The Mongols began their campaigns with the conquest of the lands of their neighbors - Buryats, Evenks, Yakuts, Uighurs, Yenisei Kirghiz (by 1211). Then they invaded China and in 1215 took Beijing. Three years later, Korea was conquered. Having defeated China (finally conquered in 1279), the Mongols significantly increased their military potential. Flamethrowers, wall-beaters, stone-throwing tools, vehicles were taken into service.
In the summer of 1219, almost 200,000 Mongol troops led by Genghis Khan began the conquest of Central Asia. The ruler of Khorezm (a country at the mouth of the Amu Darya), Shah Mohammed, did not accept a general battle, dispersing his forces over the cities. Having suppressed the stubborn resistance of the population, the invaders stormed Otrar, Khojent, Merv, Bukhara, Urgench and other cities. The ruler of Samarkand, despite the demand of the people to defend himself, surrendered the city. Mohammed himself fled to Iran, where he soon died.
The rich, flourishing agricultural regions of Semirechye (Central Asia) turned into pastures. Irrigation systems built up over centuries were destroyed. The Mongols introduced a regime of cruel requisitions, artisans were taken into captivity. As a result of the conquest of Central Asia by the Mongols, nomadic tribes began to inhabit its territory. Sedentary agriculture was supplanted by extensive nomadic pastoralism, which slowed down the further development of Central Asia.
Invasion of Iran and Transcaucasia. The main force of the Mongols with the loot returned from Central Asia to Mongolia. The 30,000-strong army under the command of the best Mongol commanders Jebe and Subedei set off on a long-range reconnaissance campaign through Iran and Transcaucasia, to the West. Having defeated the united Armenian-Georgian troops and causing enormous damage to the economy of Transcaucasia, the invaders, however, were forced to leave the territory of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, as they met with strong resistance from the population. Past Derbent, where there was a passage along the coast of the Caspian Sea, the Mongolian troops entered the steppes of the North Caucasus. Here they defeated the Alans (Ossetians) and Polovtsy, after which they ravaged the city of Sudak (Surozh) in the Crimea. The Polovtsy, led by Khan Kotyan, the father-in-law of the Galician prince Mstislav Udaly, turned to the Russian princes for help.
Battle on the Kalka River. On May 31, 1223, the Mongols defeated the allied forces of the Polovtsian and Russian princes in the Azov steppes on the Kalka River. This was the last major joint military action of the Russian princes on the eve of the invasion of Batu. However, the powerful Russian prince Yuri Vsevolodovich of Vladimir-Suzdal, the son of Vsevolod the Big Nest, did not participate in the campaign.
Princely strife also affected during the battle on the Kalka. The Kyiv prince Mstislav Romanovich, having fortified himself with his army on a hill, did not take part in the battle. Regiments of Russian soldiers and Polovtsy, having crossed the Kalka, struck at the advanced detachments of the Mongol-Tatars, who retreated. The Russian and Polovtsian regiments were carried away by the persecution. The main Mongol forces that approached, took the pursuing Russian and Polovtsian warriors in pincers and destroyed them.
The Mongols laid siege to the hill, where the prince of Kyiv fortified. On the third day of the siege, Mstislav Romanovich believed the promise of the enemy to honorably release the Russians in the event of voluntary surrender and laid down his arms. He and his warriors were brutally killed by the Mongols. The Mongols reached the Dnieper, but did not dare to enter the borders of Russia. Russia has not yet known a defeat equal to the battle on the Kalka River. Only a tenth of the troops returned from the Azov steppes to Russia. In honor of their victory, the Mongols held a "feast on the bones". The captured princes were crushed with boards on which the victors sat and feasted.
Preparation of a campaign to Russia. Returning to the steppes, the Mongols made an unsuccessful attempt to capture Volga Bulgaria. Reconnaissance in force showed that wars of conquest against Russia and its neighbors could be waged only by organizing a general Mongol campaign. At the head of this campaign was the grandson of Genghis Khan - Batu (1227-1255), who inherited from his grandfather all the territories in the west, "where the foot of the Mongol horse sets foot." His main military adviser was Subedei, who knew the theater of future military operations well.
In 1235, at the Khural in the capital of Mongolia, Karakorum, a decision was made on a general Mongol campaign to the West. In 1236 the Mongols captured the Volga Bulgaria, and in 1237 they subjugated the nomadic peoples of the Steppe. In the autumn of 1237, the main forces of the Mongols, having crossed the Volga, concentrated on the Voronezh River, aiming at the Russian lands. In Russia, they knew about the impending formidable danger, but the princely feuds prevented the sips from uniting to repel a strong and treacherous enemy. There was no unified command. Fortifications of cities were erected for defense against neighboring Russian principalities, and not from steppe nomads. The princely cavalry squads were not inferior to the Mongol noyons and nukers in terms of armament and fighting qualities. But the bulk of the Russian army was made up of the militia - urban and rural warriors, inferior to the Mongols in weapons and combat skills. Hence the defensive tactics, designed to deplete the enemy's forces.
Defense of Ryazan. In 1237, Ryazan was the first of the Russian lands to be attacked by invaders. The Princes of Vladimir and Chernigov refused to help Ryazan. The Mongols laid siege to Ryazan and sent envoys who demanded obedience and one-tenth "in everything." The courageous answer of the people of Ryazan followed: "If we are all gone, then everything will be yours." On the sixth day of the siege, the city was taken, the princely family and the surviving inhabitants were killed. In the old place, Ryazan was no longer revived (modern Ryazan is a new city located 60 km from the old Ryazan, it used to be called Pereyaslavl Ryazansky).
Conquest of North-Eastern Russia. In January 1238, the Mongols moved along the Oka River to the Vladimir-Suzdal land. The battle with the Vladimir-Suzdal army took place near the city of Kolomna, on the border of the Ryazan and Vladimir-Suzdal lands. In this battle, the Vladimir army died, which actually predetermined the fate of North-Eastern Russia.
Strong resistance to the enemy for 5 days was provided by the population of Moscow, led by the governor Philip Nyanka. After the capture by the Mongols, Moscow was burned, and its inhabitants were killed.
February 4, 1238 Batu besieged Vladimir. The distance from Kolomna to Vladimir (300 km) was covered by his troops in a month. On the fourth day of the siege, the invaders broke into the city through gaps in the fortress wall near the Golden Gate. The princely family and the remnants of the troops closed in the Assumption Cathedral. The Mongols surrounded the cathedral with trees and set it on fire.
After the capture of Vladimir, the Mongols broke into separate detachments and crushed the cities of North-Eastern Russia. Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich, even before the approach of the invaders to Vladimir, went to the north of his land to gather military forces. Hastily assembled regiments in 1238 were defeated on the Sit River (the right tributary of the Mologa River), Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich himself died in the battle.
The Mongol hordes moved to the north-west of Russia. Everywhere they met stubborn resistance from the Russians. For two weeks, for example, a distant suburb of Novgorod, Torzhok, defended itself. North-Western Russia was saved from defeat, although it paid tribute.
Having reached the stone Ignach Cross - an ancient sign on the Valdai watershed (one hundred kilometers from Novgorod), the Mongols retreated south, to the steppe, in order to restore losses and give rest to tired troops. The retreat was in the nature of a "raid". Divided into separate detachments, the invaders "combed" the Russian cities. Smolensk managed to fight back, other centers were defeated. Kozelsk, which held out for seven weeks, put up the greatest resistance to the Mongols during the "raid". The Mongols called Kozelsk an "evil city".
Capture of Kyiv. In the spring of 1239, Batu defeated South Russia (Pereyaslavl South), in the fall - the Chernigov principality. In the autumn of the next 1240, the Mongol troops crossed the Dnieper and laid siege to Kyiv. After a long defense, led by the governor Dmitr, the Tatars defeated Kyiv. In the next 1241, the Galicia-Volyn principality was attacked.
Batu's campaign against Europe. After the defeat of Russia, the Mongol hordes moved to Europe. Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and the Balkan countries were devastated. The Mongols reached the borders of the German Empire, reached the Adriatic Sea. However, at the end of 1242 they suffered a series of setbacks in Bohemia and Hungary. From distant Karakorum came the news of the death of the great Khan Ogedei - the son of Genghis Khan. It was a convenient excuse to stop the difficult campaign. Batu turned his troops back to the east.
A decisive world-historical role in saving European civilization from the Mongol hordes was played by the heroic struggle against them by the Russians and other peoples of our country, who took the first blow from the invaders. In fierce battles in Russia, the best part of the Mongol army perished. The Mongols lost their offensive power. They could not but reckon with the liberation struggle unfolding in the rear of their troops. A.S. Pushkin rightly wrote: "Russia was assigned a great destiny: its boundless plains absorbed the power of the Mongols and stopped their invasion on the very edge of Europe ... the emerging enlightenment was saved by torn to pieces by Russia."
Fight against the aggression of the crusaders. The coast from the Vistula to the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea was inhabited by Slavic, Baltic (Lithuanian and Latvian) and Finno-Ugric (Ests, Karelians, etc.) tribes. At the end of the XII - beginning of the XIII centuries. the peoples of the Baltic states are completing the process of disintegration of the primitive communal system and the formation of an early class society and statehood. These processes were most intense among the Lithuanian tribes. The Russian lands (Novgorod and Polotsk) exerted a significant influence on their western neighbors, who did not yet have a developed state of their own and church institutions (the peoples of the Baltic were pagans).
The attack on Russian lands was part of the predatory doctrine of the German chivalry "Drang nach Osten" (onslaught to the East). In the XII century. it began the seizure of lands belonging to the Slavs beyond the Oder and in the Baltic Pomerania. At the same time, an offensive was carried out on the lands of the Baltic peoples. The Crusaders' invasion of the Baltic lands and Northwestern Russia was sanctioned by the Pope and the German Emperor Frederick II. German, Danish, Norwegian knights and troops from other northern European countries also took part in the crusade.
Knightly orders. In order to conquer the lands of the Estonians and Latvians, the knightly Order of the Sword-bearers was created in 1202 from the Crusaders defeated in Asia Minor. The knights wore clothes with the image of a sword and a cross. They pursued an aggressive policy under the slogan of Christianization: "Whoever does not want to be baptized must die." Back in 1201, the knights landed at the mouth of the Western Dvina (Daugava) River and founded the city of Riga on the site of the Latvian settlement as a stronghold for subjugating the Baltic lands. In 1219, the Danish knights captured part of the Baltic coast, founding the city of Revel (Tallinn) on the site of an Estonian settlement.
In 1224 the crusaders took Yuriev (Tartu). To conquer the lands of Lithuania (Prussians) and the southern Russian lands in 1226, the knights of the Teutonic Order, founded in 1198 in Syria during the Crusades, arrived. Knights - members of the order wore white cloaks with a black cross on the left shoulder. In 1234, the Swordsmen were defeated by the Novgorod-Suzdal troops, and two years later, by the Lithuanians and Semigallians. This forced the crusaders to join forces. In 1237, the swordsmen united with the Teutons, forming a branch of the Teutonic Order - the Livonian Order, named after the territory inhabited by the Liv tribe, which was captured by the crusaders.
Neva battle. The offensive of the knights especially intensified due to the weakening of Russia, which bled in the fight against the Mongol conquerors.
In July 1240, the Swedish feudal lords tried to take advantage of the plight of Russia. The Swedish fleet with an army on board entered the mouth of the Neva. Having risen along the Neva to the confluence of the Izhora River, the knightly cavalry landed on the shore. The Swedes wanted to capture the city of Staraya Ladoga, and then Novgorod.
Prince Alexander Yaroslavich, who was 20 years old at that time, with his retinue quickly rushed to the landing site. "We are few," he turned to his soldiers, "but God is not in power, but in truth." Covertly approaching the Swedes' camp, Alexander and his warriors struck at them, and a small militia led by Misha from Novgorod cut off the Swedes' path along which they could flee to their ships.
Alexander Yaroslavich was nicknamed Nevsky by the Russian people for the victory on the Neva. The significance of this victory is that it stopped the Swedish aggression to the east for a long time, retained Russia's access to the Baltic coast. (Peter I, emphasizing the right of Russia to the Baltic coast, founded the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in the new capital on the site of the battle.)
Battle on the Ice. In the summer of the same 1240, the Livonian Order, as well as Danish and German knights, attacked Russia and captured the city of Izborsk. Soon, due to the betrayal of the posadnik Tverdila and part of the boyars, Pskov was taken (1241). Strife and strife led to the fact that Novgorod did not help its neighbors. And the struggle between the boyars and the prince in Novgorod itself ended with the expulsion of Alexander Nevsky from the city. Under these conditions, individual detachments of the crusaders found themselves 30 km from the walls of Novgorod. At the request of the veche, Alexander Nevsky returned to the city.
Together with his retinue, Alexander liberated Pskov, Izborsk and other captured cities with a sudden blow. Having received the news that the main forces of the Order were coming at him, Alexander Nevsky blocked the way for the knights, placing his troops on the ice of Lake Peipsi. The Russian prince showed himself as an outstanding commander. The chronicler wrote about him: "Winning everywhere, but we won't win at all." Alexander deployed troops under the cover of a steep bank on the ice of the lake, eliminating the possibility of enemy reconnaissance of his forces and depriving the enemy of freedom of maneuver. Taking into account the construction of the knights as a "pig" (in the form of a trapezoid with a sharp wedge in front, which was heavily armed cavalry), Alexander Nevsky arranged his regiments in the form of a triangle, with a point resting on the shore. Before the battle, part of the Russian soldiers were equipped with special hooks to pull the knights off their horses.
On April 5, 1242, a battle took place on the ice of Lake Peipsi, which was called the Battle of the Ice. The knight's wedge broke through the center of the Russian position and hit the shore. The flank strikes of the Russian regiments decided the outcome of the battle: like pincers, they crushed the knightly "pig". The knights, unable to withstand the blow, fled in panic. The Novgorodians drove them for seven versts across the ice, which by the spring had become weak in many places and collapsed under heavily armed soldiers. The Russians pursued the enemy, "flashed, rushing after him, as if through air," the chronicler wrote. According to the Novgorod chronicle, "400 Germans died in the battle, and 50 were taken prisoner" (German chronicles estimate the death toll at 25 knights). The captured knights were led in disgrace through the streets of the Lord Veliky Novgorod.
The significance of this victory lies in the fact that the military power of the Livonian Order was weakened. The response to the Battle of the Ice was the growth of the liberation struggle in the Baltic states. However, relying on the help of the Roman Catholic Church, the knights at the end of the XIII century. captured a significant part of the Baltic lands.
Russian lands under the rule of the Golden Horde. In the middle of the XIII century. one of the grandsons of Genghis Khan, Khubulai moved his headquarters to Beijing, founding the Yuan dynasty. The rest of the Mongol state was nominally subordinate to the great khan in Karakorum. One of the sons of Genghis Khan - Chagatai (Jagatai) received the lands of most of Central Asia, and the grandson of Genghis Khan Zulagu owned the territory of Iran, part of Western and Central Asia and Transcaucasia. This ulus, singled out in 1265, is called the Hulaguid state after the name of the dynasty. Another grandson of Genghis Khan from his eldest son Jochi - Batu founded the state of the Golden Horde.
Golden Horde. The Golden Horde covered a vast territory from the Danube to the Irtysh (Crimea, the North Caucasus, part of the lands of Russia located in the steppes, the former lands of Volga Bulgaria and nomadic peoples, Western Siberia and part of Central Asia). The capital of the Golden Horde was the city of Sarai, located in the lower reaches of the Volga (a shed in Russian means a palace). It was a state consisting of semi-independent uluses, united under the rule of the khan. They were ruled by the Batu brothers and the local aristocracy.
The role of a kind of aristocratic council was played by the "Divan", where military and financial issues were resolved. Being surrounded by the Turkic-speaking population, the Mongols adopted the Turkic language. The local Turkic-speaking ethnic group assimilated the newcomers-Mongols. A new people was formed - the Tatars. In the first decades of the existence of the Golden Horde, its religion was paganism.
The Golden Horde was one of the largest states of its time. At the beginning of the XIV century, she could put up a 300,000th army. The heyday of the Golden Horde falls on the reign of Khan Uzbek (1312-1342). In this era (1312), Islam became the state religion of the Golden Horde. Then, just like other medieval states, the Horde experienced a period of fragmentation. Already in the XIV century. the Central Asian possessions of the Golden Horde separated, and in the 15th century. the Kazan (1438), Crimean (1443), Astrakhan (mid-15th century) and Siberian (end of the 15th century) khanates stood out.
Russian lands and the Golden Horde. The Russian lands devastated by the Mongols were forced to recognize vassal dependence on the Golden Horde. The unceasing struggle waged by the Russian people against the invaders forced the Mongol-Tatars to abandon the creation of their own administrative authorities in Russia. Russia retained its statehood. This was facilitated by the presence in Russia of its own administration and church organization. In addition, the lands of Russia were unsuitable for nomadic cattle breeding, in contrast, for example, to Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, and the Black Sea region.
In 1243, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (1238-1246), the brother of the Grand Duke of Vladimir, who was killed on the Sit River, was called to the Khan's headquarters. Yaroslav recognized vassal dependence on the Golden Horde and received a label (letter) for the great reign of Vladimir and a golden plaque ("paydzu"), a kind of pass through the Horde territory. Following him, other princes reached out to the Horde.
To control the Russian lands, the institution of Baskak governors was created - the leaders of the military detachments of the Mongol-Tatars, who monitored the activities of the Russian princes. The denunciation of the Baskaks to the Horde inevitably ended either with the summoning of the prince to Sarai (often he lost his label, and even his life), or with a punitive campaign in the unruly land. Suffice it to say that only in the last quarter of the XIII century. 14 similar campaigns were organized in Russian lands.
Some Russian princes, in an effort to quickly get rid of vassal dependence on the Horde, took the path of open armed resistance. However, the forces to overthrow the power of the invaders were still not enough. So, for example, in 1252 the regiments of the Vladimir and Galician-Volyn princes were defeated. This was well understood by Alexander Nevsky, from 1252 to 1263 the Grand Duke of Vladimir. He set a course for the restoration and recovery of the economy of the Russian lands. The policy of Alexander Nevsky was also supported by the Russian Church, which saw a great danger in Catholic expansion, and not in the tolerant rulers of the Golden Horde.
In 1257, the Mongol-Tatars undertook a census of the population - "recording the number." Besermens (Muslim merchants) were sent to the cities, and the collection of tribute was paid off. The size of the tribute ("exit") was very large, only the "royal tribute", i.e. tribute in favor of the khan, which was first collected in kind, and then in money, amounted to 1300 kg of silver per year. The constant tribute was supplemented by "requests" - one-time extortions in favor of the khan. In addition, deductions from trade duties, taxes for "feeding" the khan's officials, etc. went to the khan's treasury. In total there were 14 types of tributes in favor of the Tatars. Census of the population in the 50-60s of the XIII century. marked by numerous uprisings of Russian people against the Baskaks, Khan's ambassadors, tribute collectors, scribes. In 1262, the inhabitants of Rostov, Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Suzdal, and Ustyug dealt with the tribute collectors, the Besermen. This led to the fact that the collection of tribute from the end of the XIII century. was handed over to the Russian princes.
The consequences of the Mongol conquest and the Golden Horde yoke for Russia. The Mongol invasion and the Golden Horde yoke became one of the reasons for the Russian lands lagging behind the developed countries of Western Europe. Huge damage was done to the economic, political and cultural development of Russia. Tens of thousands of people died in battle or were driven into slavery. A significant part of the income in the form of tribute went to the Horde.
The old agricultural centers and the once developed territories were abandoned and fell into decay. The border of agriculture moved to the north, the southern fertile soils were called the "Wild Field". Russian cities were subjected to mass ruin and destruction. Many handicrafts were simplified and sometimes disappeared, which hampered the creation of small-scale production and ultimately delayed economic development.
The Mongol conquest preserved political fragmentation. It weakened the ties between the various parts of the state. Traditional political and trade ties with other countries were disrupted. The vector of Russian foreign policy, passing along the "south - north" line (the fight against the nomadic danger, stable ties with Byzantium and through the Baltic with Europe) radically changed its direction to the "west - east". The pace of cultural development of the Russian lands slowed down.
What you need to know about these topics:
Archaeological, linguistic and written evidence about the Slavs.
Tribal unions of the Eastern Slavs in the VI-IX centuries. Territory. Lessons. "The Way from the Varangians to the Greeks". Social system. Paganism. Prince and squad. Campaigns to Byzantium.
Internal and external factors that prepared the emergence of statehood among the Eastern Slavs.
Socio-economic development. Formation of feudal relations.
Early feudal monarchy of the Rurikids. "Norman theory", its political meaning. Management organization. Domestic and foreign policy of the first Kyiv princes (Oleg, Igor, Olga, Svyatoslav).
The heyday of the Kievan state under Vladimir I and Yaroslav the Wise. Completion of the unification of the Eastern Slavs around Kyiv. Border defense.
Legends about the spread of Christianity in Russia. Adoption of Christianity as the state religion. The Russian Church and its role in the life of the Kyiv state. Christianity and paganism.
"Russian Truth". The establishment of feudal relations. organization of the ruling class. Princely and boyar estates. Feudal-dependent population, its categories. Serfdom. Peasant communities. City.
The struggle between the sons and descendants of Yaroslav the Wise for the grand ducal power. fragmentation tendencies. Lyubech Congress of Princes.
Kievan Rus in the system of international relations in the 11th - early 12th centuries. Polovtsian danger. Princely feuds. Vladimir Monomakh. The final collapse of the Kievan state at the beginning of the XII century.
Culture of Kievan Rus. Cultural heritage of the Eastern Slavs. Folklore. Epics. The origin of Slavic writing. Cyril and Methodius. Beginning of chronicle. "The Tale of Bygone Years". Literature. Education in Kievan Rus. Birch letters. Architecture. Painting (frescoes, mosaics, iconography).
Economic and political reasons for the feudal fragmentation of Russia.
feudal landownership. Urban development. Princely power and boyars. The political system in various Russian lands and principalities.
The largest political formations on the territory of Russia. Rostov-(Vladimir)-Suzdal, Galicia-Volyn principality, Novgorod boyar republic. Socio-economic and internal political development of principalities and lands on the eve of the Mongol invasion.
International position of Russian lands. Political and cultural ties between Russian lands. Feudal strife. Fighting external danger.
The rise of culture in the Russian lands in the XII-XIII centuries. The idea of the unity of the Russian land in the works of culture. "The Tale of Igor's Campaign".
Formation of the early feudal Mongolian state. Genghis Khan and the unification of the Mongol tribes. The conquest by the Mongols of the lands of neighboring peoples, northeastern China, Korea, Central Asia. Invasion of Transcaucasia and South Russian steppes. Battle on the Kalka River.
Campaigns of Batu.
Invasion of North-Eastern Russia. The defeat of southern and southwestern Russia. Campaigns of Batu in Central Europe. Russia's struggle for independence and its historical significance.
Aggression of the German feudal lords in the Baltic. Livonian order. The defeat of the Swedish troops on the Neva and the German knights in the Battle of the Ice. Alexander Nevskiy.
Formation of the Golden Horde. Socio-economic and political system. Control system for conquered lands. The struggle of the Russian people against the Golden Horde. The consequences of the Mongol-Tatar invasion and the Golden Horde yoke for the further development of our country.
The inhibitory effect of the Mongol-Tatar conquest on the development of Russian culture. Destruction and destruction of cultural property. Weakening of traditional ties with Byzantium and other Christian countries. Decline of crafts and arts. Oral folk art as a reflection of the struggle against the invaders.
- Sakharov A.N., Buganov V.I. History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the 17th century.
In August 1227 Genghis Khan died. But his death did not put an end to the Mongol conquests. The successors of the great kagan continued their aggressive policy. They significantly expanded the boundaries of the empire and turned it from a huge to an immense power. A significant contribution to this was made by the grandson of Genghis Khan Batu Khan. It was he who started the Great Western Campaign, which is also referred to as invasion of Batu.
Start of the hike
The defeat of Russian squads and Polovtsian troops on Kalka in 1223 did not mean at all for the Mongols that the Polovtsians were completely defeated, and their main ally in the person of Kievan Rus was demoralized. It was necessary to consolidate the success, and replenish their bins with new wealth. However, the war with the Jurchen empire of Kin and the state of the Tanguts Xi-Xia prevented the start of a campaign to the west. Only after the capture of the city of Zhongxi in 1227 and the fortress of Caizhou in 1234 did the great conquerors have the opportunity to start a western campaign.
In 1235, a kurultai (congress of the nobility) gathered on the banks of the Onon River. It was decided to resume expansion to the west. This campaign was entrusted to lead the grandson of Genghis Khan Batu Khan (1209-1256). Under him, one of the best commanders, Subedei-bagatur (1176-1248), was appointed commander of the troops. He was an experienced one-eyed warrior who accompanied Genghis Khan in all his campaigns and defeated the Russian squads on the Kalka River.
Mongol Empire on the map
The total number of troops moving on a long journey was small. In total, there were 130 thousand cavalry soldiers in the empire. Of these, 60,000 were in China all the time. Another 40,000 served in Central Asia, where there was a constant need to pacify the Muslims. At the rate of the great khan there were 10 thousand soldiers. So for the western campaign, the Mongols were able to allocate only 20 thousand horsemen. These forces were certainly not enough. Therefore, they mobilized and took the eldest son from each family, recruiting another 20 thousand soldiers. Thus, the entire army of Batu numbered no more than 40 thousand people.
This figure is given by the outstanding Russian archaeologist and orientalist Nikolai Ivanovich Veselovsky (1848-1918). He motivates her by the fact that every warrior on a campaign had to have a riding horse, combat and pack. That is, for 40 thousand soldiers there were 120 thousand horses. In addition, carts and siege weapons moved behind the army. This is again horses and people. All of them had to be fed and watered. The steppe was supposed to fulfill this function, since it was simply impossible to carry provisions and fodder in huge quantities.
The steppe, despite the vast expanses, is not omnipotent. She could only feed the specified number of people and animals. For her, this was the optimal number. If a larger number of people and horses went on a campaign, they would very soon begin to die of hunger.
An example of this is the raid of General Dovator on the German rear in August 1941. His body was always in the woods. By the end of the raid, people and horses almost died of hunger and thirst, as the forest could not feed and water the huge mass of living creatures gathered in one place.
The commanders of Genghis Khan turned out to be much smarter than the command of the Red Army. They were practitioners and knew the possibilities of the steppe perfectly. This shows that the figure of 40,000 horsemen is the most probable.
The great invasion of Batu began in November 1235. Batu and Subedei-bagatur chose the time of year for a reason. Winter began, and snow always replaced water for people and horses. In the XIII century, it could be fearlessly eaten in any corner of the planet, as the ecology met the best standards and was in perfect condition.
The troops crossed Mongolia, and then, through the passes in the mountains, went to the Kazakh steppes. In the summer months, the great conquerors found themselves near the Aral Sea. Here they had to overcome a very difficult section along the Ustyurt plateau to the Volga. People and horses were saved by springs dug in the ground, and caravanserais, which from time immemorial provided shelter and food for numerous merchant caravans.
A huge mass of people and horses walked 25 km a day. The path covered a distance of 5 thousand kilometers. Therefore, in the lower reaches of the Volga, the glorious bagaturs appeared only in the autumn of 1236. But on the fertile banks of the great river, they did not have a well-deserved rest.
The great conquerors were driven by a thirst for vengeance against the Volga Bulgars, who in 1223 defeated the waxes of Subedei-bagatur and Dzhebe-noyon. The Mongols stormed the city of Bulgar and destroyed it. The Bulgars themselves were mostly slaughtered. The survivors recognized the power of the great khan and bowed their heads before Batu. Other Volga peoples also submitted to the invaders. These are Burtases and Bashkirs.
Leaving behind grief, tears and destruction, Batu's troops crossed the Volga in 1237 and moved towards the Russian principalities. Along the way, the army split up. Two tumen (tumen - a military unit in the Mongolian army numbering 10 thousand people) went south towards the Crimean steppes and began to pursue the Polovtsian Khan Kotyan, pushing him towards the Dniester River. These troops were led by Genghis Khan's grandson Möngke Khan. Batu himself and Subedei-bagatur moved with the remaining people to the borders of the Ryazan principality.
Kievan Rus in the XIII century was not a single state. In the first half of the XII century, it broke up into separate principalities. These were absolutely independent formations that did not recognize the power of the Kyiv prince. There were constant wars between them. As a result, cities were destroyed and people died. This time is called the period of feudal fragmentation. It is characteristic not only for Russia, but also for the rest of Europe.
Some historians, including Lev Gumilyov, argue that the Mongols did not set themselves the goal of capturing and conquering Russian lands. They only wanted to get food and horses to fight the main enemies - the Polovtsians. It is difficult to argue anything here, but, in any case, it is best to rely on facts and not draw any conclusions.
The invasion of Batu into Russia (1237-1240)
Once on the Ryazan lands, Batu sent parliamentarians demanding food and horses to be given to him. Ryazan Prince Yuri refused. He led his squad out of the city to fight the Mongols. Princes from the city of Murom came to his aid. But when the Mongols turned around like lava and went on the attack, the Russian squads faltered and fled. They locked themselves in the city, and the troops of Batu set up a siege around him.
Ryazan was poorly prepared for defense. It was only recently rebuilt after the destruction by the Suzdal prince Vsevolod the Big Nest in 1208. Therefore, the city lasted only 6 days. At the beginning of the third decade of December 1237, the Mongols took it by storm. The princely family perished, and the invaders plundered the city itself.
By this time, Vladimir Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich had gathered an army. It was headed by the son of Prince Vsevolod and Vladimir Governor Yeremey Glebovich. This army also included the remnants of the Ryazan squad, the Novgorod and Chernigov regiments.
The meeting with the Mongols took place on January 1, 1238 near Kolomna in the floodplain of the Moscow River. This battle lasted 3 days and ended with the defeat of the Russian squads. The Vladimir voivode Yeremey Glebovich was killed, and Prince Vsevolod with the remnants of the army fought off the enemies and reached Vladimir, where he appeared before the strict eyes of his father Yuri Vsevolodovich.
But as soon as the Mongols celebrated their victory, the Ryazan boyar Yevpaty Kolovrat hit them in the rear. His detachment numbered no more than 2 thousand soldiers. With this handful of people, he courageously resisted the two Mongol tumens. The cutting was terrible. But the enemy, in the end, won the victory, thanks to their numbers. Yevpaty Kolovrat himself was killed, and many of his warriors were killed. As a sign of respect for the courage of these people, Baty released the survivors in peace.
After that, the Mongols besieged Kolomna, and another part of the troops surrounded Moscow. Both cities fell. Batu's troops took Moscow by storm on January 20, 1238 after a siege that lasted 5 days. Thus, the invaders ended up on the land of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality and moved towards the city of Vladimir.
Prince Vladimirsky Yuri Vsevolodovich did not shine with military leadership talents. He did not have very much strength, but the prince divided this smallness into two parts. One was charged with the duty to defend the city from the invaders, and the second to leave the capital city and fortify in the dense forests.
The prince entrusted the protection of the city to his son Vsevolod, and he himself left with the second detachment to the banks of the Mologa River and set up camp in the place where the Sit River flowed into it. Here he began to expect an army from Novgorod, so that together with him he would strike at the Mongols and utterly defeat the invaders.
Batu's troops, meanwhile, laid siege to Vladimir. The city lasted only 8 days and fell in early February 1238. The whole family of the prince died, a large number of residents, and the invaders burned and destroyed many buildings.
After that, the main forces of the Mongols moved to Suzdal and Pereslavl, and Batu ordered his commander Burundai to find the Vladimir prince and destroy his troops. He did not long search for the combat squad of Yuri Vsevolodovich. The prince, sitting out on the City River, did not even bother to set up patrols and send patrols.
The Mongols accidentally stumbled upon an unguarded camp. They surrounded him and suddenly attacked. The Russians courageously resisted, but were killed. Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich himself also died. This event happened on March 4, 1238.
Meanwhile, an army led by Batu and Subedei-bagatur besieged Torzhok. Its inhabitants were under siege, since Novgorod promised them help. But the saviors never showed up. While the Novgorodians were holding a veche, while they were gathering, on March 5 Batu took Torzhok. The population of the city was completely slaughtered. But the invaders did not go to Novgorod, but turned south. The spring thaw has said its weighty word, and the Mongols' strength has diminished.
The invaders also moved south in two detachments. These are the main forces and several thousand horsemen led by Burundai. On the way of the main group of troops was the city of Kozelsk. Its inhabitants refused to open the gates. The Mongols organized a siege and began to storm the walls. But their military efforts proved fruitless. For a long 7 weeks, the inhabitants of a small town held back the frenzied attacks of the enemy. At the same time, they themselves made regular sorties and inflicted significant damage on the aggressor.
In mid-May, a detachment of Burundai approached. The enemy grouping intensified, and the final assault began. It continued almost without interruption for 3 days. Finally, when there were no more adult men left on the walls, and they were replaced by women and teenagers, the Mongols managed to take over the city. They completely destroyed it, and slaughtered the surviving inhabitants.
The courageous defense of Kozelsk finally undermined the strength of the Mongol army. With a quick march, practically without stopping anywhere, the Mongols crossed the borders of the Chernigov Principality, and went to the lower reaches of the Volga. Here they rested, gained strength, replenished their tumens with human resources at the expense of the Bulgars and Russians and began the second campaign to the west.
It should be noted that not all Russian cities offered resistance to the invaders. The inhabitants of some of them negotiated with the Mongols. So, for example, rich Uglich supplied the invaders with horses and provisions, and Batu did not touch the city. Some Russian people willingly went to the service of the Mongols. The chroniclers called such "heroes" the "worst Christians."
The second invasion of Batu into Russian lands began in the spring of 1239. The invaders marched through the already devastated cities, and then laid siege to Pereslavl and Chernigov. Having captured these cities and plundered them, the Mongols rushed to the Dnieper. Now their goal was the city of Kyiv. The same languished from princely strife. At the time of the siege, there was not even a single prince in the capital city. The defense was led by the thousand Dmitra.
The siege began on September 5, 1240. The city's garrison was small, but it held out until mid-November. Only on the 19th the Mongols took the city, and Dmitra was captured. Next came the turn of the Volyn principality. The inhabitants of the city of Volyn at first wanted to resist the invaders, but the Bolkhov princes, who had houses in the southern part of the city, agreed with the Mongols. The townspeople gave Batu horses, provisions and thus saved their lives.
Batu's invasion of Europe
Having defeated the Russian principalities individually, the invaders reached the western borders of the once united and mighty Kievan Rus. Before them lay Poland and Hungary. Batu sent a Tumen to Poland, headed by the grandson of Genghis Khan Baydar. In January 1241, the Mongols approached Lublin and sent their ambassadors. But they were killed. Then the invaders took the city by storm. Then they moved towards Krakow and defeated the Polish troops who tried to stop them. Krakow fell on March 22. The Krakow prince Boleslav V (1226-1279) fled to Hungary, where he hid for some time.
In April, the Battle of Liegnitz in Silesia took place. Polish and German troops came out against the Baydar Tumen. In this battle, the Mongols won a complete victory and moved further west. In May, they occupied the town of Meissen, but the subsequent advance was stopped by Batu's order. He ordered Baydar to turn south and join the main forces.
The main forces were led by Batu himself and Subedei-bagatur. They consisted of two tumens and operated in the southern regions. Here they stormed the city of Galich and moved to Hungary. Forward, the invaders sent their ambassadors, but the Hungarians killed them, thereby aggravating the situation. The Mongols stormed the cities one by one, and the prisoners were ruthlessly killed, avenging their ambassadors.
The decisive battle with the Hungarian troops took place on the river Chaio on April 11, 1241. The Hungarian king Bela IV (1206-1270) came out against the tumens under the command of Batu and Subedey-bagatura. The Croatian army came to his aid. It was headed by the king's brother Duke Coloman (1208-1241).
The Hungarian army outnumbered the Mongol army twice. It numbered at least 40 thousand soldiers. For sparsely populated Europe, such an army was considered a very serious force. The crowned persons had no doubts about victory, but they were not familiar with the tactics of the Mongol troops.
Subedei-bagatur sent forward a 2,000-strong detachment. He appeared in the field of view of the Hungarians, and they began to pursue him. This went on for almost a whole week, until the warriors clad in armor found themselves in front of the Shio River.
Here the Hungarians and Croats set up camp, and at night the main forces of the Mongols secretly crossed the river and entered the rear of the allied army. In the morning, stone-throwing machines began shelling the camp from the opposite bank of the river. Huge blocks of granite flew towards the Hungarian army. There was a panic, which was aggravated by the archers of Subedei-bagatur. From the nearby hills, they began to shoot arrows at the people rushing around the camp.
Having demoralized the allies, the Mongols broke into their location, and felling began. The Hungarian army managed to break through the encirclement, but this did not save him. The Mongols retreating in panic units caught up and destroyed. All this massacre lasted 6 days, until the troops of Batu broke into the city of Pest on the shoulders of those fleeing.
In the battle on the river Shajo, the Croatian duke Koloman was mortally wounded. He died a few days after the end of the battle, and his brother King Bela IV fled to the Austrians for help. At the same time, he gave the Austrian Duke Frederick II almost all of his treasury.
The Hungarian state was under the rule of the Mongols. Batu Khan waited for the fog coming from Poland, led by Baydar, and turned his gaze to the lands of the Holy Roman Empire. During the summer and autumn of 1241, the Mongols fought on the right bank of the Danube and practically reached the Adriatic Sea. But after the defeat from the Austrian-Czech troops near the city of Neustadt, they left for the Danube.
The forces of the aggressors have weakened after many years of exhausting war. In March 1242, the Mongols turned their horses and moved east. Thus, the invasion of Batu into Europe ended. Khan of the Golden Horde returned to the Volga. Here he founded his main headquarters, the city of Sarai. This is 80 km north of modern Astrakhan.
Initially, the headquarters of the khan was an ordinary camp, but in the early 50s it turned into a city. It stretches along the Akhtuba River (the left branch of the Volga) for 15 km. In 1256, when Batu died, the population of Sarai reached 75 thousand people. The city existed until the end of the 15th century.
The results of the Batu invasion
The invasion of Batu is, of course, a grandiose event. The Mongols traveled a long way from the Onon River to the Adriatic Sea. At the same time, the campaign to the west cannot be called aggressive. It was more of a raid, typical of nomads. The Mongols destroyed cities, killed people, robbed, but after that they left and did not pay tribute to the conquered areas.
Russia is an example of this. There was no talk of any tribute for 20 years after the invasion of Batu. The only exceptions were the Kiev and Chernigov principalities. Here the invaders collected taxes. But the population quickly found a way out. People began to move to the northern principalities.
This is the so-called Zalessky Rus. It included Tver, Kolomna, Serpukhov, Murom, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir. That is, just those cities that Batu destroyed in 1237-1238. Thus, the original Russian traditions moved north. As a result, the south lost its significance. This affected the further history of the Russian state. Less than 100 years have passed, and the main role began to play no longer the southern cities, but Moscow, which eventually turned into the capital of a new strong state.
