Standing on the river Ugra In 1476, Ivan III stopped paying the Horde the annual cash "exit", which had been collected from the Russian lands since the time of Batu. Khan of the Golden Horde Akhmat was busy with the war with the Crimea and could not take decisive measures to "pacify" Moscow, waiting for a favorable moment. It came for him by 1480. First, the Polish-Lithuanian king Casimir promised him military assistance; secondly, in the Grand Duchy of Moscow itself, a difficult internal situation was created: fearing the strengthening of the power of Ivan III, his brothers Boris and Andrei Bolshoi opposed him. When at the beginning of 1480 the Livonian Order attacked the western borders of the Russian state, Akhmat moved his troops to Moscow. In the fall, the main forces set out on a campaign. Knowing that the regiments of Ivan III were on the Oka, in Serpukhov, Tarusa, Kolomna, the Tatar-Mongols went to the Ugra, bypassing, intending to join the troops of Casimir and attack Moscow from the west. On October 3, the Grand Duke of Moscow, after lengthy strife, finally agreed , with his brothers Boris and Andrei Bolshoi on joint actions against the Tatars. The Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey, having an agreement with Ivan III, in turn attacked the Podolsk lands and thus forced Casimir to go to war with him. As a result, Kazimir could no longer come to the aid of Akhmat. The first Sophian chronicle on this occasion says that Akhmat, standing at Vorotynsk, could not wait for help and then on October 8 he approached the Ugra, stopped on its right bank opposite the mouth of the Vori. On the left bank, the regiments of Ivan III were secretly placed under the leadership of his son Ivan the Young and brother Andrei the Less. The Grand Duke himself established his headquarters in the city of Kremenets, where he concentrated the main forces to cover the central regions from a possible attack by Lithuania and the Golden Horde. Akhmat made an attempt to cross the Ugra near Opakov and Dmitrovets. The vanguard of the Tatar troops was met by the Russian army. A particularly large battle unfolded at the mouth of the Vori. Every Russian warrior fought until his last breath. But the Tatars kept coming and coming. By the end of the day, they occupied the left bank. The next day, at dawn, the Tatar horsemen rushed forward again to clear the way for the main forces into the Vori floodplain. Through the forests and dales their battle cry was heard. And suddenly, as if from under the ground, Russian regiments appeared. The bloody battle began. The Russian soldiers fought courageously, many enemies were beaten, but the Tatars pressed on like locusts. The battle for the crossings on the Ugra went on for four days; The Russians used light cannons (regimental attire), squeaked and self-propelled guns. "The firearms of that time were not distinguished by their rate of fire and accuracy, but the fire and the roar of shots caused panic on the Horde cavalry and often put them to flight before hand-to-hand combat." Meanwhile, cold weather set in. The Golden Horde froze without winter clothes; there was also a shortage of food and fodder. And the whole district has long been plundered. Discord began among the Murzas. On October 20, the brothers of Ivan III arrived at the head of their regiments in Kremenets. Squads and militias from remote cities of the Grand Duchy of Moscow approached the Ugra River. On October 26, the Ugra was covered with ice. Akhmat could now easily cross it, but did not risk it. On November 11, without waiting for Casimir's help, he began to retreat. Nevertheless, the ruler of the Golden Horde considered his flight a temporary failure. He sent a "label" to Moscow demanding to pay tribute, threatening a new invasion. He didn't carry out his threat. He was dealt with by his close Nagai murzas: they killed Akhmat. The Golden Horde was unable to restore its former power. The year 1480 was the year of the liquidation of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, which had gravitated over Russia for 240 years.

Standing on the river Ugra

The year 1476 in the history of Russia was marked by the fact that the Principality of Moscow refused to pay tribute to the Horde. Disobedience could not go unpunished and Khan Akhmat, having gathered an army, went on a campaign in the spring of 1480. However, the Tatars managed to reach only the mouth of the Ugra, where the Russian rati were able to stop the enemies.

All existing fords were blocked, as a result of which the Tatars spent several days on completely unsuccessful attempts to force the river. Then, deciding to wait for help from the troops of Casimir 4, the prince of the Polish-Lithuanian, Akhmat withdrew to Luza. These events marked the beginning of the confrontation, known as standing on the Ugra River.

Negotiations with Akhmat Ivan 3 were not productive. Ivan 3 retreated to Borovsk, where his troops took a more advantageous position for battle. Akhmat, who was waiting for help, soon realized that he would not receive the 4 troops promised by Casimir. At the same time, he was informed about the appearance of a powerful Russian army in the rear of the Tatars. These circumstances led to the decision to retreat. It should be noted that none of the parties resorted to active actions during the Great Stand.

The great standing on the Ugra River was of great importance. It marked the final deliverance from the Tatar-Mongol yoke, the acquisition of not only formal, but also actual independence from the Horde of the Moscow Principality.

Akhmat was killed in 1491. It happened during the wintering at the mouth of the Donets during a battle with the soldiers of Khan Irbak. The death of Khan Akhmat resulted in a fierce struggle for power in the Horde and its subsequent disintegration. Standing on the Ugra was so important that in honor of the 500th anniversary of this event, a memorial monument was erected on the banks of the river.

Great standing on the river Ugra

In 1476, the Moscow principality refused to pay tribute to the Tatars. Khan Akhmat, who was then the ruler of the Horde, set out on a campaign in the spring of 1480. But the Mongol army was stopped by the Russian army in the region of the mouth of the Ugra, all the fords through which were blocked. The attempts of the Tatars to seize the crossing, which continued for several days, were unsuccessful. After that, Akhmat's troops retreated to Luza, deciding to wait for help from the Polish-Lithuanian prince Casimir 4. Thus began the Great Stand on the Ugra River.

Negotiation Ivana 3 with Akhmat were unsuccessful and, as a result, the prince withdrew his troops to Borovsk, which allowed him to fight in more favorable conditions if the Tatars forced the river. However, none of the parties dared to take active steps. Khan Akhmat, not having received the help promised by the Lithuanian ruler and having learned that the Russian army was in his rear, decided to retreat.

Standing on the Ugra River marked the acquisition of not only formal, but also the actual independence of the Moscow principality, the final fall of the Mongol-Tatar yoke. At the mouth of the Donets, on January 6, 1481, during the winter, Khan Akhmat was killed during a clash with the soldiers of the Siberian Khan Irbak. As a result of the struggle for power that began after this, the Horde broke up into smaller independent khanates. The Russian state fought these fragments of the Horde until the 18th century. In honor of the 500th anniversary of standing on the Ugra River, a monument dedicated to the event was opened on its bank.

The Ugra River is located on the territory of the Smolensk and Kaluga regions of Russia. The Ugra belongs to the Volga basin and flows into the Oka, being its left tributary. Ugra is known primarily due to the historical event of 1480 called: "Standing on the Ugra River." This "standing" put an end to the Mongol-Tatar yoke and made the Muscovite state completely independent.

River length: 399 kilometers.

Drainage basin area: 15,700 km. sq.

Where it flows: The source of the river is located in the southeastern part of the Smolensk region on the Smolensk Upland. Almost throughout its course, the Ugra is surrounded by high banks overgrown with forests. In some places there are still treeless places. In the lower reaches, sandy beaches are quite common. The Ugra flows into the Oka, 15 km above Kaluga.

Inhabitants, fishing on the Ugra: the fish in the river are mostly the same as in the Oka. These are such commercial species: burbot, bream, pike, podust, roach, chub. In the lower reaches you can meet pike perch, sterlet, catfish.

Video: Cool place. River Ugra fishing.

Food: the river has a mixed type of food. Melt water accounts for 60% of its nutrition, 30% of its nutrition comes from groundwater, and approximately 5% from rainwater. Due to the feeding habits, with the predominance of melt waters, the river regime is characterized by a high spring flood. Summer low water can be interrupted by rain floods. Winter low water is more stable and low.

The width of the river bed is 70-80 m. The depth at low water on the riffles is 0.4-0.6 and on the reaches up to 4 meters.

Now briefly about the so-called "standing on the river Ugra". This event took place in 1480, as a result of the war between the Moscow prince Ivan III and the khan of the Great Horde Akhmat. Ivan III refused to pay tribute to the Horde in 1476 and was forced to fight.

Akhmat's attempts to cross the Oka were unsuccessful. Therefore, he made an attempt to go from the flank. To do this, enlisting the support of the Polish-Lithuanian king Casimir IV. Casimir himself was unable to provide military assistance, as he was distracted by Moscow's ally, the Crimean Tatars. In addition, Ivan III, taking advantage of the fact that Akhmat gathered all his forces on the Ugra, sent a sabotage group into the possessions of the Khan in order to make a devastating raid and, possibly, capture and plunder the capital of the Horde - Sarai.

Both troops stood on the river for almost a month without entering into a decisive battle. In the end, on October 28, 1480, Ivan III began to withdraw troops to Kremenets and then concentrated at Borovsk in order to meet the Tatars here in a favorable environment if they decide to force the river, but Akhmat did not dare and on November 11 began returning to the Horde. The Ugra River after these events was called the "Belt of the Virgin".

If you like historical reenactments, you can visit the festival of historical reenactment and fencing: "Standing on the Ugra River".

Here is a video from the festival:

The final stage in the overthrow of the Horde yoke, which lasted almost 2 centuries, was Great standing on the river Ugra. However, little attention is paid to this opposition in modern literature. Much more famous is the Battle of Kulikovo, but it is precisely standing on the river Ugra ended complete overthrow of the Horde yoke.

Causes and prerequisites for standing on the Ugra in 1480

In 1480 there was Great standing on the river Ugra. The decisive events of this confrontation took place in October-November, but the preparatory work, especially on the part of the Horde, began much earlier. In fact, the entire year 1480 was a military year for Russia, when the whole country was preparing for a decisive battle to overthrow the Horde yoke.

The evidence that the Horde was starting a major campaign against Moscow became clear as early as the beginning of March 1480. It was at this time that not far from the Oka River, which at that time was the border southwestern territory of the Russian state, a small detachment of the Horde was seen, which was defeated by the governors from Moscow. But this appearance of the Mongol-Tatars was a sure sign that Khan Ahmed was gathering strength for a campaign against Russia.

At that time, the famous Golden Horde lost its former status and integrity. It was torn apart by local khans into many separate syndicates within the country. Each independent territory received the name Horde, but the geographical location of this khanate was also added to it. The largest fragment of the great Golden Horde was the Great Horde. It was she who ruled Khan Ahmed. The chroniclers say that Ahmed gathered all the troops he had to march on Moscow. Literally the entire male population of the Horde was summoned to march on Moscow.

Why did the confrontation happen, which marked great standing on the river Ugra? And why did it happen exactly in 1480? The answer to these questions is simple. Khan Ahmed could never have had a better moment to march on Moscow. After all, it was at this time that Prince Ivan III of Moscow was in a quarrel with his brothers Andrei and Boris, who threatened that their troops would leave for the service of Prince Casimir of Lithuania. At the same time, Kazimir and his army invaded the territory of Pskov. As a result, in the event of an attack by Khan Ahmed, Prince Ivan 3 threatened to get bogged down not only in a war with him, but also with the prince of Lithuania, and with his brothers, who wanted to strengthen their power in the country.

Preparation of the parties for the battle of 1480

From the spring of 1480, a strong army began to be assembled throughout the Russian land, which could withstand the size of the army of Khan Ahmed. Ivan 3, realizing that he would have to fight not only with Khan Ahmed, but also with Prince Casimir, began looking for an ally. This was the Crimean Khan Mengi Giray. He promised that in the event of an attack on Russia by the Horde and Lithuanians, the Crimean Khan would send his troops into the territory of the Principality of Lithuania, thereby forcing Casimir to return to his possessions. After that, Ivan 3 made peace with the brothers, who provided him with their troops, for a joint fight against Khan Ahmed. It happened on October 20, when it was already underway.

The course of the great standing on the Ugra River

In August 1480, news spread through Russia that Ahmed was moving with a huge army to the southern borders of Russia, but it was moving not to the north, but to the west, which indicated Khan Ahmed's intention to attack Russia from the Lithuanians so that they could help him with troops .

Only at the beginning of October 1480, the Horde army approached the borders of Russia and began great standing on the river Ugra. The Russian army was located in the Kaluga region, in the town of Kremenets, from where it could respond in a timely manner to all enemy movements, and also blocked the path to Moscow. This position of the troops allowed the governors of Prince Ivan 3 to quickly respond to any maneuvers of the light cavalry of Khan Ahmed.

Standing on the river Ugra 1480 continues. Russian troops do not seek to go on the attack. The troops of the Great Horde are looking for, but until a certain time unsuccessfully, good fords to force the river. Most of the fords, of which there were a sufficient number on the Ugra River, were not suitable for crossing the river with cavalry, since the gently sloping banks gave a clear advantage to the Russian army. Only a place near the mouth of the Ugra was suitable for the transition, where the enemy stood. Ivan 3 does not rush the battle also because of the fact that every day Ahmed's army runs out of food and hay for horses. In addition, winter was approaching, which also had to play for the Russians.

During October 1480, the army of Khan Ahmed tried several times to ford the Ugra River, but to no avail. This was mainly due to the fact that the Mongols used the old tactic - to shower the enemy with arrows, and then chop them up in a horse attack. Standing on the river Ugra 1480 The Horde did not have the opportunity to attack like that, since the powerful armor of the Russian infantrymen and the long range between the banks made the arrows safe for the Russian troops. And the wading horse attacks were easily repulsed by the Russians due to good weapons, as well as the use of artillery, which mainly consisted of cannons and squeakers. This artillery was called "armor".

After unsuccessful attempts to ford the Ugra, Khan Ahmed began to wait for the cold weather to cross the river on ice. As a result, almost the entire October 1480 lasted great standing on the river Ugra. But by October 22, the Ugra River began to be covered with a crust of ice. Winter came earlier than usual that year. Prince Ivan 3 decided to retreat to the city of Borovsk and there give the enemy a decisive battle.

October 26, 1480 Ugra rose. The Russians were waiting for the attack of the Horde at any moment, but it still did not follow. On November 1, 1480, Russian scouts brought news to Borovsk that the army of Khan Ahmed had retreated and set off back to the steppe. This is how it ended great standing on the river Ugra. Together with him, the Horde yoke in Russia ended.

In 1476, the Principality of Moscow refused to pay tribute to the Tatars. Khan Akhmat, at that time the ruler of the Horde, in the spring of 1480, the horde set out on a campaign. But the Mongol army was stopped by the Russian army in the region of the mouth of the Ugra, all crossings through which were closed. The Tatar attempts to seize the crossing, which continued for several days, failed. After that, Akhmat's army withdrew to Luza, deciding to wait for help from the Lithuanian-Polish prince Casimir 4. Thus began the Great Stand on the Ugra River. Negotiations between Akhmat and Ivan 3 were unsuccessful and, as a result, the prince retreated to Borovsk, which gave him the opportunity to fight in more convenient conditions if the Tatar army crosses the river. But, none of the parties dared to take active steps. Khan Akhmat decided to retreat when he learned that the Lithuanian ruler would not help him, and that the Russian army was in his rear.

The main result of standing on the Ugra River is that the Moscow principality gained independence. It should also be noted that after this event, the final stage of the fall of the Mongol-Tatar yoke took place. On the territory of the mouth of the Donets, in 1481 (January 6), in winter period, Khan Akhmat died as a result of a military clash with soldiers belonging to the Siberian Khan Irbak. Subsequently, the struggle for power that began, the Horde was divided into smaller, independent from each other, khanates. The Russians fought against these fragments of the Horde until the 18th century. On the coast of the Ugri River, a monument was opened in honor of the 500th anniversary of Standing.

Bad news came from the horde. There, preparations were actively made for a new and large campaign on the territory of Russia. Khan Akhmat agreed with the Lithuanian-Polish king Casimir on a joint offensive against Russia. Inside the Russian state, things were not so smooth either. The brothers of Ivan III, princes Boris Volotsky and Andrei Bolshoy, got out of obedience, united against the tsar, and decided on an open rebellion. Ivan III tried to negotiate with the brothers, but the negotiations failed. The brothers were dissatisfied with the fact that the influence of Moscow came from their own specific possessions. The king, on the other hand, sought to unite in order to make the state powerful and strong. After all, the return to the old specific system was a danger to Russia.

Akhmat had a desire to restore Horde domination in Russia, and began the campaign in 1480. At that time, the Russian ambassador signed an agreement with the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray. In the event of Akhmat's attack on the territory of Russian lands, the Crimean Khan is obliged to strike in the rear, or advance on Lithuania in order to dilute the king's forces. The Russian regiments were stationed on the banks of the Oka River, creating a barrier to Moscow. Ivan III accepted the campaign on June 23. For two months, Akhmat tried to find weaknesses among the Russians, but was forced to withdraw his army to the Lithuanian border. After some time, Akhmat with his troops began an active retreat from this territory.

According to the traditional story, in 1476 the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III stopped paying tribute to the Horde, and in 1480 he refused to recognize the dependence of Russia on it. Despite this, according to the American historian Charles Halperin, the lack of evidence in the annals that fixes the exact date when the tribute was stopped does not allow us to prove that the tribute was stopped in 1476; the dating and the very authenticity of the label of Khan Akhmat to Grand Duke Ivan III, containing information about the cessation of paying tribute, remains the subject of discussion in the academic environment. According to the Vologda-Perm Chronicle, Khan Akhmat in 1480, during negotiations, reproached Ivan III for not paying tribute for the ninth year. On the basis, in particular, of this document, A. A. Gorsky concluded that the payment of tribute was stopped in 1472, on the eve of the battle of Aleksin.

Khan Akhmat, busy fighting the Crimean Khanate, only in 1480 began active operations against the Grand Duchy of Moscow. He managed to negotiate with the Polish-Lithuanian king Casimir IV on military assistance. Meanwhile, the Pskov land was attacked by the Livonian Order in early 1480. The Livonian chronicler reported that Master Bernhard von der Borg:

“... he gathered such a force of the people against the Russian that no master had ever collected before him or after ... This master was involved in a war with the Russians, took up arms against them and gathered 100 thousand troops from foreign and native soldiers and peasants; with these people, he attacked Russia and burned the suburbs of Pskov, without doing anything else. .

In January 1480, his brothers Boris Volotsky and Andrei Bolshoy rebelled against Ivan III, dissatisfied with the strengthening of the power of the Grand Duke.

Course of events in 1480

Start of hostilities

Using the current situation, Khan Akhmat in June 1480 organized reconnaissance of the right bank of the Oka River, and in the autumn he set out with the main forces.

« The same summer, the evil-named Tsar Akhmat ... went to Orthodox Christianity, to Russia, to the holy churches and to the Grand Duke, boasting of destroying the holy churches and capturing all Orthodoxy and the Grand Duke himself, as if under Batu Besh.»

The boyar elite in the Grand Duchy of Moscow split into two groups: one (“ money-loving rich and belly”), led by the devious Ivan Oshchera and Grigory Mamon, advised Ivan III to flee; the other defended the need to fight the Horde. Perhaps Ivan III was influenced by the position of the Muscovites, who demanded decisive action from the Grand Duke.

Ivan III began to draw troops to the banks of the Oka, sending his brother, Prince Andrei the Less of Vologda, to his fiefdom, Tarusa, and his son Ivan the Young to Serpukhov. The Grand Duke himself arrived on June 23 to Kolomna, where he stopped in anticipation of further developments. On the same day, the miraculous Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was brought from Vladimir to Moscow, with whose intercession the salvation of Russia from the troops of Tamerlane was associated back in 1395.

Meanwhile, the troops of Khan Akhmat moved freely across the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and, accompanied by Lithuanian guides, through Mtsensk, Odoev and Lubutsk to Vorotynsk. Here the khan expected help from King Casimir IV, but did not wait for it. The Crimean Tatars, allies of Ivan III, distracted the Lithuanian forces by attacking Podolia. Knowing that Russian regiments were waiting for him on the Oka, Khan Akhmat decided, having passed through the Lithuanian lands, to invade Russian territory through the river Ugra. Grand Duke Ivan III, having received information about such intentions, sent his son Ivan and brother Andrei the Less to Kaluga and to the banks of the Ugra. However, according to Michael Khodarkovsky, Khan Akhmat had no intention of using the effect of surprise and ravaging the Principality of Moscow, relying instead on the traditional tactics of intimidating with superior numbers of troops and forcing him into submission.

Standing on the Ugra

On September 30, Ivan III returned from Kolomna to Moscow. for advice and thought with the metropolitan and the boyars. The Grand Duke received a unanimous reply, " to stand firmly for Orthodox Christianity against bezsernosti". On the same days, ambassadors from Andrei the Great and Boris Volotsky came to Ivan III, who announced the end of the rebellion. The Grand Duke forgave the brothers and ordered them to move with their regiments to the Oka. On October 3, Ivan III left Moscow and headed for the city of Kremenets (now the village of Kremenskoye, Medynsky district, Kaluga region), where he remained with a small detachment, and sent the rest of the troops to the banks of the Ugra. At the same time, Russian troops stretched along the river in a thin line for as much as 60 miles. In the meantime, an attempt by one of the detachments of Khan Akhmat to force the Ugra in the area of ​​​​the Opakov settlement, where it was repulsed, failed.

On October 8, Khan Akhmat himself tried to force the Ugra, but his attack was repulsed by the forces of Ivan the Young.

« And the Tatars came and the Muscovites began to shoot, and the Muscovites began to shoot at them and squealed to let go and beat many Tatars with arrows and piercers and repulsed them from the shore ...».

This happened in the area of ​​​​the five-kilometer section of the Ugra, up from its mouth, to the confluence of the Rosvyanka River. Subsequently, the attempts of the Horde to cross over continued for several days, were repelled by Russian artillery fire and did not bring the desired success to the troops of Khan Akhmat. They retreated two versts from the Ugra and stood in Luz. The troops of Ivan III took up defensive positions on the opposite bank of the river. The famous " standing on the Ugra". Skirmishes broke out periodically, but neither side decided on a serious attack.

In this position, negotiations began. Akhmat demanded that the Grand Duke himself or his son come to him with an expression of humility, or at least his brother, and also that the Russians pay the tribute they owe for seven years. As an embassy, ​​Ivan III sent the boyar son Tovarkov Ivan Fedorovich " associates with gifts". On the part of Ivan, the demands for tribute were rejected, the gifts were not accepted by Akhmat - the negotiations were interrupted. It is possible that Ivan went for them, trying to buy time, since the situation was slowly changing in his favor, since

On the same days, October 15-20, Ivan III received a fiery message from the Archbishop of Rostov, Vassian, urging him to follow the example of the former princes:

« ... who not only defended the Russian land from the filthy(i.e. non-Christians) , but other countries also subjugated ... Just take heart and be strong, my spiritual son, like a good warrior of Christ, according to the great word of our Lord in the Gospel: “You are a good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep...»

End of confrontation

Upon learning that Khan Akhmat, in an effort to achieve a numerical advantage, mobilized the Great Horde as much as possible, so that there were no significant reserves of troops left on its territory, Ivan III allocated a small but combat-ready detachment, under the command of the Zvenigorod governor, Prince Vasily Nozdrevaty, who was supposed to go down the Oka, then along the Volga to its lower reaches and commit a devastating sabotage in the possessions of Khan Akhmat. The Crimean prince Nur-Devlet also took part in this expedition with his nukers.

The onset of cold weather and the upcoming freeze-up forced Ivan III to change his previous tactics to prevent the crossing of the Horde across the Ugra by a Russian army stretched for 60 miles. On October 28, 1480, the Grand Duke decided to withdraw troops to Kremenets and further concentrate them at Borovsk in order to fight there in a favorable situation. Khan Akhmat, having learned that a sabotage detachment of Prince Nozdrevaty and the Crimean prince Nur-Devlet was operating in his deep rear, intending to capture and plunder the capital of the Horde (perhaps he also received information about the impending attack of the Nogai Tatars), and also lacking food, did not dare follow the Russians and at the end of October - early November also began to withdraw their troops. On November 11, Khan Akhmat decided to go back to the Horde. On the way back, the Horde plundered the settlements and districts of 12 Lithuanian cities (Mtsensk, Serpeisk, Kozelsk and others), which was revenge on King Casimir IV for unprovided military assistance.

Results

For those who watched from the sidelines as both troops turned back almost simultaneously (within two days), without bringing matters to a decisive battle, this event seemed either strange, mystical, or received a simplified explanation: the opponents were afraid of each other, fearing accept the fight. In Russia, contemporaries attributed this to the miraculous intercession of the Mother of God, who saved the Russian land from ruin. Apparently, this is also why the river Ugra began to be called the “belt of the Virgin”. Grand Duke Ivan III returned to Moscow with all his troops, and rejoicing, and rejoicing all the people with great joy».

The results of “standing” in the Horde were perceived differently. On January 6, 1481, Khan Akhmat was killed as a result of a sudden attack by the Tyumen Khan Ibak (probably carried out by prior agreement with Ivan III) on the steppe headquarters, to which Akhmat retired from Sarai, probably fearing assassination attempts. Civil strife began in the Great Horde.

In "Standing on the Ugra" the Russian army used new tactical and strategic techniques:

• coordinated actions with an ally, the Crimean Khan Mengli I Girey, distracting the military forces of the Polish king Casimir IV from the clash;
• Ivan III sent a detachment to the rear of Khan Akhmat to the Great Horde along the Volga to destroy the defenseless Khan's capital, which was a new military-tactical trick and caught the Horde by surprise;
• the successful attempt of Ivan III to avoid a military clash, in which there was neither military nor political necessity - the Horde was greatly weakened, its days as a state were numbered.

It is traditionally believed that "standing" put an end to the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The Russian state became sovereign not only in fact, but also formally. The diplomatic efforts of Ivan III prevented Poland and Lithuania from entering the war. The people of Pskov also contributed to the salvation of Russia, stopping the German offensive by autumn.

The acquisition of political independence from the Horde, along with the spread of Moscow's influence on the Kazan Khanate (1487), played a role in the subsequent transition under the rule of Moscow of part of the lands that were under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1502, when Ivan III, for diplomatic reasons, flatteringly" pleaded himself a slave of the Khan of the Great Horde, its weakened army was defeated by the Crimean Khan Mengli I Girey, and the Horde itself ceased to exist.

In Russian historiography, the term "Tatar yoke", as well as the provision on its overthrow by Ivan III, originates from N. M. Karamzin, who used the word "yoke" in the form of an artistic epithet in the original meaning of "a collar worn around the neck" (" bowed their necks under the yoke of the barbarians"), possibly borrowing the term from the 16th-century Polish author Maciej Miechowski.

A number of modern American researchers deny the historical significance of "Standing on the Ugra", which goes beyond an ordinary diplomatic incident, and its connection with the overthrow of the Horde yoke (as well as the very concept of the "Tatar yoke") is considered as a historiographical myth. So, according to Donald Ostrovsky, although the payment of tribute was reduced by seven times, it did not stop, and the rest of the changes affected only the minting of coins. The accusation of passivity in relation to the Horde, put forward to Ivan III in the "Message to the Ugra" by Archbishop Vassian, he considers evidence that contemporaries did not see qualitative changes in the position of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Charles Halperin believes that in 1480 there were no texts that raised the issue of Russian liberation from the Tatar yoke (this also applies to the "Message to the Ugra", whose dating to 1480 is also not indisputable).

In contrast to this opinion, V. N. Rudakov writes about a serious struggle surrounded by Ivan III between those who believed that the Grand Duke had the right to fight the "godless king", and those who denied him such a right.

Monument "Standing on the Ugra 1480"

The overthrow of the “Horde yoke”, the idea of ​​which stems from the biblical texts about the “Babylonian captivity”, and in one form or another is found in Russian sources from the 13th century, was applied to the events of 1480 starting from the “Kazan History” (not earlier than 1560- x years). The Ugra River acquired the status of the last and decisive confrontation from the historiographers of the 16th century for the reason that it was the last major invasion of the Great Horde into the lands of the Moscow Principality.

Memory

The stele "Confrontation of the Tatar-Mongol yoke" is located opposite the village of Znamenka, Ugransky district, Smolensk region, at the same time, the location of the cultural heritage object belongs to the Velikopolevsky rural settlement.

In 1980, during the celebration of the 500th anniversary of Standing on the Ugra, a monument was unveiled on the bank of the river in the Kaluga region in honor of this significant event in Russian history.