Most history textbooks say that in the XIII-XV centuries Russia suffered from the Mongol-Tatar yoke. Recently, however, voices of those who doubt that the invasion took place at all have been heard more and more often. Did the huge hordes of nomads really flood the peaceful principalities, enslaving their inhabitants? Let's analyze historical facts, many of which may be shocking.

The yoke was invented by the Poles

The term "Mongol-Tatar yoke" itself was coined by Polish authors. The chronicler and diplomat Jan Dlugosh in 1479 called the time of the existence of the Golden Horde so. He was followed in 1517 by the historian Matvey Mekhovsky, who worked at the University of Krakow. This interpretation of the relationship between Russia and the Mongol conquerors was quickly picked up in Western Europe, and from there it was borrowed by domestic historians.

Moreover, there were practically no Tatars in the Horde troops themselves. It’s just that in Europe they knew the name of this Asian people well, and therefore it spread to the Mongols. Meanwhile, Genghis Khan tried to exterminate the entire Tatar tribe by defeating their army in 1202.

The first census of the population of Russia

The first census in the history of Russia was carried out by representatives of the Horde. They had to collect accurate information about the inhabitants of each principality, about their class affiliation. The main reason for such an interest in statistics on the part of the Mongols was the need to calculate the amount of taxes that were levied on subjects.

In 1246, the census took place in Kyiv and Chernigov, the Ryazan principality was subjected to statistical analysis in 1257, the Novgorodians were counted two years later, and the population of the Smolensk region in 1275.

Moreover, the inhabitants of Russia raised popular uprisings and drove out from their land the so-called "besermen", who collected tribute for the khans of Mongolia. But the governors of the rulers of the Golden Horde, called Baskaks, lived and worked in the Russian principalities for a long time, sending the collected taxes to Saray-Batu, and later to Saray-Berka.

Joint trips

The princely squads and the Horde warriors often made joint military campaigns, both against other Russians and against the inhabitants of Eastern Europe. So, in the period 1258-1287, the troops of the Mongols and Galician princes regularly attacked Poland, Hungary and Lithuania. And in 1277, the Russians participated in the military campaign of the Mongols in the North Caucasus, helping their allies conquer Alania.

In 1333 Muscovites stormed Novgorod, and the following year the Bryansk squad went to Smolensk. Each time, the Horde troops also participated in these internecine wars. In addition, they regularly helped the great princes of Tver, who were considered at that time the main rulers of Russia, to pacify the recalcitrant neighboring lands.

The basis of the horde was the Russians

The Arab traveler Ibn Battuta, who visited the city of Saray-Berke in 1334, wrote in his essay “A Gift to those who contemplate the wonders of cities and the wonders of wanderings” that there are many Russians in the capital of the Golden Horde. Moreover, they make up the bulk of the population: both working and armed.

This fact was also mentioned by the white émigré author Andrei Gordeev in the book “History of the Cossacks”, which was published in France in the late 20s of the twentieth century. According to the researcher, most of the Horde troops were the so-called wanderers - ethnic Slavs who inhabited the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov and the Don steppes. These predecessors of the Cossacks did not want to obey the princes, so they moved south for the sake of a free life. The name of this ethno-social group probably comes from the Russian word "roam" (to wander).

As is known from chronicles, in the Battle of Kalka in 1223, roamers fought on the side of the Mongol troops, led by the voivode Ploskynya. Perhaps his knowledge of the tactics and strategy of the princely squads was of great importance for defeating the combined Russian-Polovtsian forces.

In addition, it was Ploskinya who lured the ruler of Kyiv, Mstislav Romanovich, along with two Turov-Pinsk princes, by cunning, and handed them over to the Mongols for execution.

However, most historians believe that the Mongols forced the Russians to serve in their army, i.e. the invaders forcibly armed the representatives of the enslaved people. Although this seems unlikely.

And Marina Poluboyarinova, a senior researcher at the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in her book “Russian people in the Golden Horde” (Moscow, 1978) suggested: “Probably, the forced participation of Russian soldiers in the Tatar army stopped later. There were mercenaries who had already voluntarily joined the Tatar troops.”

Caucasian Invaders

Yesugei-bagatur, the father of Genghis Khan, was a representative of the Borjigin clan of the Mongolian tribe Kiyat. According to the descriptions of many eyewitnesses, both he himself and his legendary son were tall fair-skinned people with reddish hair.

The Persian scholar Rashid-ad-Din in his work "Collection of Chronicles" (beginning of the 14th century) wrote that all the descendants of the great conqueror were mostly blond and gray-eyed.

This means that the elite of the Golden Horde belonged to the Caucasians. Probably, representatives of this race also predominated among other invaders.

There were few

We are accustomed to believe that in the XIII century, Russia was filled with countless hordes of Mongol-Tatars. Some historians speak of a 500,000-strong army. However, it is not. After all, even the population of modern Mongolia barely exceeds 3 million people, and given the brutal genocide of fellow tribesmen committed by Genghis Khan on the way to power, the size of his army could not be so impressive.

It is difficult to imagine how to feed the half-million army, which also traveled on horseback. Animals simply would not have enough pasture. But each Mongolian horseman led at least three horses with him. Now imagine a herd of 1.5 million. The horses of the warriors riding in the vanguard of the army would have eaten and trampled everything they could. The rest of the horses would die of starvation.

According to the most daring estimates, the army of Genghis Khan and Batu could not exceed 30 thousand horsemen. While the population of Ancient Russia, according to the historian Georgy Vernadsky (1887-1973), before the start of the invasion was about 7.5 million people.

Bloodless executions

The Mongols, like most peoples of that time, executed people who were not noble or respected by cutting off their heads. However, if the sentenced person enjoyed authority, then his spine was broken and left to die slowly.

The Mongols were sure that blood is the seat of the soul. Shedding it means complicating the afterlife of the deceased to other worlds. Bloodless execution was applied to rulers, political and military figures, shamans.

The reason for the death sentence in the Golden Horde could be any crime: from desertion from the battlefield to petty theft.

The bodies of the dead were thrown into the steppes

The method of burial of the Mongol also directly depended on his social status. Rich and influential people found peace in special burials, in which valuables, gold and silver jewelry, and household items were buried along with the bodies of the dead. And the poor and ordinary soldiers who died in battle were often simply left in the steppe, where their life path ended.

In the disturbing conditions of a nomadic life, consisting of regular skirmishes with enemies, it was difficult to arrange funeral rites. The Mongols often had to move on quickly, without delay.

It was believed that the corpse of a worthy person would be quickly eaten by scavengers and vultures. But if the birds and animals did not touch the body for a long time, according to popular beliefs, this meant that a serious sin was registered behind the soul of the deceased.

In the XII century, the Mongols wandered in Central Asia and were engaged in cattle breeding. This type of activity required a constant change of habitat. To acquire new territories, a strong army was needed, which the Mongols had. It was distinguished by good organization and discipline, all of which ensured the victorious march of the Mongols.

In 1206, a congress of the Mongolian nobility - kurultai - took place, at which Khan Temuchin was elected great khan, and he received the name Chingis. At first, the Mongols were interested in vast territories in China, Siberia and Central Asia. They then headed west.

The Volga Bulgaria and Russia were the first to stand in their way. The Russian princes "met" the Mongols in a battle that took place in 1223 on the Kalka River. The Mongols attacked the Polovtsy, and they turned to their neighbors, the Russian princes, for help. The defeat of the Russian troops on the Kalka was due to the disunity and disorganized actions of the princes. At this time, the Russian lands were significantly weakened by civil strife, and the princely squads were more busy with internal disagreements. A well-organized army of nomads won the first victory relatively easily.

P.V. Ryzhenko. Kalka

Invasion

The Kalka victory was only the beginning. In 1227, Genghis Khan died, and his grandson Batu became the head of the Mongols. In 1236, the Mongols decided to finally deal with the Polovtsy and the next year they defeated them near the Don.

Now it is the turn of the Russian principalities. Ryazan resisted for six days, but was captured and destroyed. Then came the turn of Kolomna and Moscow. In February 1238, the Mongols approached Vladimir. The siege of the city lasted four days. Neither the militias nor the princely warriors were able to defend the city. Vladimir fell, the princely family perished in a fire.

After that, the Mongols split up. One part moved to the northwest, laid siege to Torzhok. On the City River, the Russians were defeated. Not reaching a hundred kilometers to Novgorod, the Mongols stopped and moved south, ruining cities and villages along the way.

Southern Russia felt the brunt of the invasion in the spring of 1239. The first victims were Pereyaslavl and Chernihiv. The Mongols began the siege of Kyiv in the autumn of 1240. The defenders fought back for three months. The Mongols were able to take the city only with heavy losses.

Effects

Batu was going to continue the campaign already in Europe, but the state of the troops did not allow him to do this. They were drained of blood, and the new campaign never took place. And in Russian historiography, the period from 1240 to 1480 is known as the Mongol-Tatar yoke in Russia.

During this period, all contacts, including trade, with the West practically ceased. The Mongol khans controlled foreign policy. The collection of tribute and the appointment of princes became obligatory. Any disobedience was severely punished.

The events of these years caused significant damage to the Russian lands, they lagged far behind the European countries. The economy was weakened, the farmers went north, trying to protect themselves from the Mongols. Many artisans fell into slavery, and some crafts simply ceased to exist. Culture suffered no less damage. Many temples were destroyed and no new ones were built for a long time.

Capture of Suzdal by the Mongols.
Miniature from the Russian chronicle

However, some historians believe that the yoke stopped the political fragmentation of the Russian lands and even gave further impetus to their unification.

Dayankhan. After the victory of the Oirots over Yolja-Timur, Khubilai's house was almost destroyed by bloody civil strife. Mandagol, the 27th successor of Genghis Khan, died in battle against his nephew and heir. When the latter was killed three years later, the only surviving member of the once large family was his seven-year-old son, Batu Myongke of the Chahar tribe. Abandoned even by his mother, he was taken under the protection of the young widow of Mandagol, Mandugai, who achieved his proclamation as Khan of Eastern Mongolia. Throughout his younger years, she acted as regent and married him at 18.

During the long reign of Dayankhan (14701543), under this name he went down in history, the Oirots were pushed to the west, and the eastern Mongols united into a single state. Following the traditions of Genghis Khan, Dayan divided the tribes into the "left wing", i.e. the eastern, directly subordinate to the khan, and the "right wing", i.e. Western, subordinate to one of the Khan's relatives. Most of these tribes have survived to the present day. Of the tribes of the eastern wing, the Khalkhas make up the majority of the population of Mongolia, and the Chahars live in China, in the eastern part of Inner Mongolia. From the western wing, the ordos occupy the region of the large Yellow River bend in China, which bears their name, the Tumuts inhabit the area north of the bend in Inner Mongolia, and the Kharchins live north of Beijing.

Conversion to Lamaism. This new Mongol empire did not long outlive its founder. Its collapse was possibly associated with the gradual conversion of the Eastern Mongols to the pacifist Lamaist Buddhism of the Tibetan Yellow Hat sect.

The first converts were the Ordos, a right wing tribe. One of their leaders converted his powerful cousin Altankhan, the ruler of the Tumets, to Lamaism. The great lama of the Yellow Hat was invited in 1576 to a meeting of the Mongol rulers, established the Mongol church and received the title of Dalai Lama from Altankhan (Dalai is the Mongolian translation of the Tibetan words meaning "wide as the ocean", which should be understood as "comprehensive"). Since then, the successors of the Great Lama have held this title. The next to be converted was the Great Khan of the Chahars himself, and the Khalkhas also began to accept the new faith from 1588. In 1602, the Living Buddha was declared in Mongolia, presumably believed to be the reincarnation of the Buddha himself. The last Living Buddha died in 1924.

The conversion of the Mongols to Buddhism is explained by their rapid subjugation to a new wave of conquerors, the Manchus. Before the attack on China, the Manchus already dominated the area later called Inner Mongolia. Chakhar Khan Lingdan (r. 1604-1634), who bore the title of Great Khan, the last independent successor of Genghis Khan, tried to consolidate his power over the tumets and hordes. These tribes became vassals of the Manchus, Lingdan fled to Tibet, and the Chahars submitted to the Manchus. The Khalkhas held out longer, but in 1691 the Manchu Emperor Kang-Qi, an opponent of the Dzungarian conqueror Galdan, called the Khalkha clans to a meeting, where they recognized themselves as his vassals.

Chinese rule and independence. Until the late 1800s, the Manchus resisted Chinese colonization of Mongolia. The fear of Russian expansion forced them to change their policy, which caused discontent among the Mongols. When the Manchu Empire collapsed in 1911, Outer Mongolia broke away from China and declared its independence.

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How empires arise and where they disappear. The Mongol Empire was nothing outstanding compared to its predecessors, such as the Turkic Khaganate, the Tang Empire, the Hunnic state, which were many times larger than the Roman Empire at the peak of its power.

Everything that the Mongols could need: a nomadic lifestyle, bows and weapons, horse attack tactics, siege of fortresses, education and maintenance of the army had already been developed and tested for thousands of years by successful conquerors like the Huns, Turks, Khitan, Jurgeni, etc. It was not the Mongols who came up with the idea of ​​including the conquered peoples in their horde, even the word horde is borrowed, it was not the Mongols who began to use Chinese defectors in governing the state.

The Mongols were a kind of Romans who absorbed all the best from the surrounding peoples and lived by conquering and plundering the surrounding countries, brutally and decisively suppressing any resistance.

The Mongols, like the Romans or the same Chukchi (the cruelest aggressors of the north) sincerely did not understand why their racial and military superiority was being contested, in their minds God created the earth for them to own it, and the rest to serve them. Just like the previous empires, the Mongols fell victims of their own ambitions, the struggle for power of the pampered descendants of cruel and uncompromising conquerors and the hatred of the conquered peoples.

Temujin (name, Genghis Khan - his position) was born in the tract Delyun-Boldok, neither the year, nor even the date of birth is known. After the death of their father, for several years widows with children robbed by their fellow tribesmen lived in complete poverty, wandered in the steppes, eating roots, game and fish. Even in summer, the family lived from hand to mouth, making provisions for the winter. At this time, Temujin lived in the family of his bride (he was married to him from the age of 10, he had to live in the family of his father-in-law until he came of age) and then another relative seized the camp.

Temujin was beaten into stocks, but he fled and joined his family, acquiring future associates, due to friendship with noble families and successful predatory raids, differing in that he included the opponents' uluses in his own. In 1184, Temujin defeated the Merkits and founded his first small ulus two years later, having 3 tumens (in fact, it is not necessarily a tumen of 10,000 people, it was quite possible that they were tumens of 600 people, but for that time this figure was impressive), with with them he suffered his first defeat.

The Tatars fought with China and in 1196 Temujin defeated the Tatars, and the Chinese awarded him the title of "Jauthuri" (military commissar), and Toorila - "Van" (prince), from that time he became known as Wang Khan. Temujin became a vassal of Wang Khan, in whom Jin saw the most powerful of the rulers of Eastern Mongolia. In 1200, Temujin set out on a joint campaign against the Taijiuts, the Merkits came to the rescue, in this battle Temujin was wounded by an arrow, the well-aimed shooter Jirgoadai, who confessed that it was he who shot, was accepted into Temujin's army and received the nickname Jebe (arrowhead).

Having won numerous victories over the Tatars and Kereites, having subjugated the east of the Great Steppe, Temujina began to streamline his people-army. In the winter of 1203-1204, a series of reforms were prepared that laid the foundation for the Mongol state. In March 1206, a kurultai gathered near the headwaters of the Onon River, where Temujina was elected great khan with the title of Genghis Khan. The creation of the Great Mongol State was proclaimed.

The war with the Jin Empire was considered by the Mongols as sacred, as an act of blood feud and as a personal vendetta of Temujin to the Tatars, Jurchens, Chinese and others who managed to annoy him. The conflict with the Jin was preceded by serious military and diplomatic preparations, campaigns were undertaken to eliminate the intervention of potential Jin allies in the conflict. In 1207, two tumens were sent to the northern border under the command of the eldest son of Genghis Khan, Jochi and Subedei.

Many Siberian tribes, who were tributaries of the Kyrgyz, swore allegiance to the great khan. Having conquered many peoples without a struggle and having secured the northern border of the state, Jochi returned to his father's headquarters. At the beginning of 1208, a battle took place in the Irtysh valley, the Mongols defeated the Merkit princes, in 1209 the Tunguts were conquered, the Mongol troops gained experience in taking fortresses with the help of siege weapons and actions against the Chinese-style army, at the same time the Uighurs joined without a single shot.

The Mongols were well prepared, and the Qin waged a war on three fronts: in the south - with the Song Empire, in the west - with the Tanguts, and in the interior of the country - with the popular movement of the "Red Chefs". Since 1211, the Mongols have been invading Jin, besieging and capturing fortresses and a passage in the Great Wall of China, in 1213 they invaded directly the Chinese state of Jin, despite resistance (many months of fierce sieges, garrisons reached cannibalism, but did not give up), an epidemic of pestilence , in 1215 captured the capital.

While still at war with the Jin Empire, Genghis Khan sent ambassadors to the Khorezmshah with a proposal of an alliance, but the latter decided not to stand on ceremony with the Mongol representatives and ordered their execution.

For the Mongols, the execution of ambassadors was a personal insult and 1219 was the beginning of the conquest of Central Asia. Having passed Semirechye, the Mongol army attacked the flourishing cities of Central Asia. The cities of Otrar and Sygnak on the Syr Darya, Khojent and Kokand in the Ferghana Valley, Dzhend and Urgench on the Amu Darya, and finally, Samarkand and Bukhara fell under the blows of the troops of Genghis Khan.

The state of Khorezm collapsed, Khorezmshah Mohammed fled, a pursuit was organized for him under the leadership of Jebe and Subedei. After Muhammad's death, Jebe and Subedei were given a new task. They ravaged Transcaucasia, then the Mongols managed to defeat the Alans by bribing their ally, the Polovtsian Khan Kotyan, who himself soon had to ask for help against the Mongols from the Russian princes.

The Russian princes of Kyiv, Chernigov and Galich joined forces to jointly repel aggression. On May 31, 1223, on the Kalka River, Subedei defeated the Russian-Polovtsian troops due to the inconsistency in the actions of the Russian and Polovtsian squads. The Grand Duke of Kyiv Mstislav Romanovich Stary and the Prince of Chernigov Mstislav Svyatoslavich died, and the Galician Prince Mstislav Udatny, famous for his victories, returned home empty-handed.

During the return to the east, the Mongol army was defeated by the Volga Bulgars in the area of ​​Samarskaya Luka (1223 or 1224). After a four-year campaign, Subedei's troops returned to join the main Mongol troops.

Approximately sixty-five years old (no one knows the date of his birth) Temujin died in 1227 on the territory of the Tangut state immediately after the fall of the capital Zhongxing (the modern city of Yinchuan) and the destruction of the Tangus state. There is a version that Genghis Khan was stabbed to death by a young wife at night, whom he took by force from her husband. It is useless to look for the grave of the khan - they were buried secretly, relatives, they plowed up the ground and drove a herd of horses from above, therefore it is pointless to look for any burial mounds, the graves of khans (unless they accidentally stumble upon).

According to the will, Genghis Khan's third son Ogedei became the successor, he became the khan, but many were against it (if it were not for disagreements in the Mongol ranks, they would have conquered the whole world). In the spring of 1235, a great kurultai was convened in the Talan-daba area to sum up the results of difficult wars with the Jin Empire and Khorezm.

It was decided to conduct a further offensive in four directions. Directions: to the west - against the Polovtsians, Bulgars and Russians; to the east - against Korea (Korea); to the southern Chinese Song empire; Significant reinforcements were sent to Noyon Chormagan, who was operating in the Middle East.

In the photo: The Secret History of the Mongols, a document of the 13th century.

The lands that were to be conquered in the west were supposed to be included in the Ulus of Jochi, so Batu, the son of Jochi, stood at the head of the campaign. The most experienced Subedei, an expert on Eastern European conditions, was given to help Batu. Under the supreme command of Batu came military contingents from all the Mongol uluses: Baidar and Buri, the son and grandson of Chagatai, commanded the army of the Chagatai ulus, the sons of the great Khan Guyuk and Kadan - the army of the ulus Ogedei; the son of Tolui Mongke - the army of the Tolui ulus (indigenous yurt), the western campaign became a pan-imperial event.

In the summer of 1236, the Mongol army approached the Volga. Subedey defeated the Volga Bulgaria, Batu waged a war against the Polovtsians, Burtases, Mordovians and Circassians for a year. In December 1237, the Mongols invaded the Ryazan principality. On December 21, Ryazan was taken, after the battle with the Vladimir troops - Kolomna, then - Moscow. On February 8, 1238, Vladimir was taken, on March 4, in the battle on the Sit River, the troops of Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich, who died in battle, were defeated.

Then Torzhok and Tver were taken, and a seven-week siege of Kozelsk began. In 1239, the main part of the Mongol army was in the steppe, in the region of the lower Don. Small military operations were conducted by Mongke against the Alans and Circassians, Batu - against the Polovtsians.

About forty thousand Polovtsy, led by Khan Kotyan, escaped from the Mongols by fleeing to Hungary.

Uprisings were suppressed in the Mordovian land, Murom, Pereyaslavl and Chernigov were taken.

In 1240, the offensive of the Mongol army began in the south of Kievan Rus. Kyiv, Galich and Vladimir-Volynsky were taken.

The military council decided to launch an offensive against Hungary, which had given shelter to the Polovtsy of Kotyan. There was a quarrel between Batu and Guyuk and Buri, who returned to Mongolia.

In 1241 Baidar's corps operated in Silesia and Moravia. Krakow was taken, the Polish-German army was defeated at Legnica (April 9). Baydar moved through the Czech Republic to connect with the main forces.

At the same time, Batu carried out the ruin of Hungary. The Croatian-Hungarian army of King Bela IV was defeated on the river. Shio. The king fled to Dalmatia, a detachment of Kadan was sent to pursue him.

In 1242, the Mongols captured Zagreb and reached the shores of the Adriatic Sea near Split. At the same time, the Mongolian reconnaissance detachment reached almost Vienna.

In the spring, Batu received from Mongolia the news of the death of the great Khan Ogedei (December 11, 1241) and decided to retreat back to the steppes through Northern Serbia and Bulgaria.

In the summer of 1251, a kurultai was assembled in Karakorum (one might say a huge yurt city, the capital of Mongolia) to proclaim Mongke the Great Khan, since Guyuk Khan, who had usurped power from the legitimate Shiramun, died trying to start a civil war with Batu and engaged in executions of opponents. To support him, Batu sent his brothers Berke and Tuka-Timur with troops.

The conquest of the Middle East began in 1256 with the Hulagu campaign in the Middle East, in 1258 Baghdad was taken and destroyed, in 1260 the Mongols were defeated in the battle of Ain Jalut by the Egyptian Mamluks, the conquest of South China began, however, the death of Mongke in (1259 ) delayed the fall of the Song state.

After the death of the great Khan Mongke (1259), a struggle for supreme power broke out between his brothers Khubilai and Arig-Buga. In 1260, Khubilai was proclaimed great khan at the kurultai in Kaiping, Arig-Buga - in Karakorum. Hulagu, who fought in the Middle East, declared support for Kublai; Ulus ruler Jochi Berke supported Arig-Buga.

As a result, Khubilai defeated Arig-Bug, founded the Yuan Empire (according to tradition, copying the earlier empires of nomads who ruled China with the help of Chinese officials). Khubilai's empire was in normal relations with the Ulus of Jochi, which occupied the European part of modern Russia, fought with the Chagatai ulus (approximately the territory of present-day Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan) and was in allied relations with the Khalugid state (conditionally the territory of Persia), and the rest fought among themselves, sometimes combined.

Yuan included Mongolia, China, Korea, Tibet, twice unsuccessfully invaded Japan (1274 and 1281), tried to capture Burma, Indonesia. The Middle Eastern campaign of the Mongols under the command of Hulagu (1256-1260), even to some extent participated in the seventh crusade.

The Mongol Empire, which was at war with each other, was recreated in 1304 as a federation of independent states under the nominal supremacy of the great khan, Emperor Yuan, which did not prevent a constant civil war, vying for power. In 1368, the Mongol Yuan empire collapsed in China as a result of the Red Turban Rebellion.

In 1380, the Battle of Kulikovo took place, weakening the influence of the Golden Horde on the territory of the Moscow principality. Standing on the Ugra River in 1480 led to the final rejection of even a symbolic tribute to the Horde. The period of feudal fragmentation and internecine wars in Central Asia led to the fall of the Chagatai ulus by the beginning of the 16th century.

Paiza (not to be confused with a label), made of gold or silver, ranked according to images and functions, a kind of identity card, epaulette, pass and travel tickets.

Thus, the Mongols, having dissolved in the conquered peoples and cutting off the remnants of each other because of power, disappeared in a fairly short period of time, because even if we consider the existence of the Mongol Empire in 280 years, this is negligible by historical standards.

And considering that from the time of the invasion of the Ryazan principality in 1237 to the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, 143 years have passed, then there is no question of any “thousand-year yoke”. Yes, this is an unpleasant episode of history, but they invaded before (for a much longer period), they invaded after that (for a shorter time).

From the benefits of the Mongols for Russia: the scale of the Chinese-style state thinking, the cessation of the strife of the princes and the creation of a large unified state; advanced advanced weapons; orderliness of transport and mail; tax collection and population census, stemming from an advanced Chinese-style bureaucracy; the termination of the crusades of the knights and their conservation in the Baltic states.

From harm: in addition to destruction and killings during raids, a large decline in the population from the slave trade; the impoverishment of the population from taxes and consequently the inhibition of the sciences and arts; strengthening and enrichment of the church - in fact the agent and conductor of Mongolian decisions. The Mongols did not leave any traces in the genetics of Russians, since there were few ethnic Mongols even in 1237, they were mostly conquered peoples from a neighboring principality or nearby lands.

It doesn’t make sense to consider the Mongol invasion a worldwide disaster, it’s like the Gallic War for Rome - an episode of history, in the same France or Britain they are also proud that they were conquered by the Romans, and the capitals are Roman bath-laundry plants for legionnaires.

Banknotes of the Mongol Empire - yes, even then the surviving print, naturally paper, circulation of the coin was prohibited.

The “Mongol-Tatar yoke” was invented by the Polish chronicler Jan Dlugosh (“iugum barbarum”, “iugum servitutis”) in 1479; for Poland, even such a brief acquaintance with the gigantic Mongol Empire was so terrible that it made one shake, and a year later the Russians from cannons drove the Mongols on the Ugra River.

Where did the Tatars come from? The Mongols destroyed their enemies, the Tatars, but the Tatars were known, so a mixture of different peoples preferred to be called a revered name, and the Mongols did not interfere. And then the Mongols and Tatars gradually turned into Tatars and Mongols, and since there were no Mongols left at all, soon there were only Tatars who had nothing to do with either ethnic Mongols, let alone Tatars.

Looking for "Mongolian" roots in modern Mongols is about the same as looking for "Roman" roots in modern Italians. It is pointless to somehow identify the lifestyle of modern, rather peaceful Mongols and those Mongols, any Mongol reveres Genghis Khan, there is a huge monument in Mongolia, Temujin looks from portraits on 5000 tugriks, but conquest campaigns are not started, although they can gather to buzz.

To look for genetic traces of the then Mongols in modern Russians or Tatars is as stupid as to look for genetic traces of the ancient Egyptians in modern Egyptians.

Speculation on the Mongols and Tatars only makes it possible to enrich oneself on the dubious content of books and programs, inflating interethnic conflicts that are completely unnecessary to anyone. There is no need to look for burial mounds and graves, it is pointless to look for burials of real Mongols, since they buried the noble Mongols so that there was no grave to be found, they plowed the field and let the herd pass, and the privates could simply be folded in a row, taking off their clothes. There are also Mongolian swords in museums, these sabers had a great influence on the armament of China, Korea and the same Japan, the Mongolian bow is world famous, as are the hardy, shaggy, unpretentious Mongolian horses.

Such is briefly the history of the Mongol Empire.