3.2. Mongol-Tatar invasion and its consequences At the end of the 12th century. A powerful Mongol-Tatar state was formed in the steppes of Central Asia. The struggle for power between tribal leaders brought victory to Temujin, who, under the name of Genghis Khan, was proclaimed

While the foreign tradition of studying the history of the Golden Horde dates back to the middle of the 19th century. and grows in an ascending line over time, in Russian historiography the Golden Horde theme, if not forbidden, was clearly undesirable. This feature is explained by the fact that in Russian historical science for a long time the dominant approach was that the Mongol and then the Horde campaigns were a purely destructive, destructive phenomenon that not only delayed universal historical progress, but also “overturned” the civilized world, turning back the historical forward movement back.

Interactions of the Golden Horde with the Russian principalities

The beginning of the closest Horde-Russian relations in science is usually associated with the arrival of Grand Duke Yaroslav Vsevolodovich in 1243 to the headquarters of Batu Khan, mentioned in the Laurentian Chronicle, where he received a label for reign. Batu, thus, put himself in an equal position with the Mongol khans of Karakorum, although only almost a quarter of a century later under Khan Mengu-Timur it became independent. Following Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, the Batu labels were received by princes Vladimir Konstantinovich, Boris Vasilyevich, Vasily Vsevolodovich and the Armenian prince Sumbat.

Before the construction of his own capital, Batu had his headquarters in the “Bulgarian lands, in the city of Bryagov” (Great Bulgar), as the “Kazan Chronicler” calls it. , including the Kyiv land. A year later, all Russian princes received khan's labels for reign. Thus began the process of consolidating Russian lands and overcoming feudal-territorial fragmentation. L.N. Gumilyov saw in these processes a continuation of the tradition of subordination of power among the Russian princes.

In the process of long-term interaction between the Golden Horde and the Russian principalities, a certain system of relations was established between them. Russian imperial church-noble historiography, which created the concept of the (“Tatar yoke”), unilaterally interpreted these relations exclusively from a negative point of view, assessing the Horde factor as the root cause of historical backwardness and all the problems of the subsequent development of Russia.

Soviet historiography (especially the Stalin period) not only did not revise the myth of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, but also aggravated its vices with class and political arguments. Only in recent decades has there been a change in approaches to assessing the place and role of the Golden Horde in both global and national histories of peoples.

Yes, Horde-Russian (Turkic-Slavic) relations have never been unambiguous. Nowadays there is more and more reason to assert that they were built on the basis of a well-thought-out “center-provinces” scheme and responded to the imperatives of a specific historical time. Therefore, the Golden Horde entered world history as an example of a breakthrough in this direction of historical progress. The Golden Horde was never a colonialist, and “Rus' entered into its composition voluntarily by force, and was not conquered, as was trumpeted at all crossroads. This empire needed Rus' not as a colony, but as an allied power.”

So, the special nature of the Golden Horde’s relations with Rus' is undeniable. In many ways, they are characterized by the formal nature of vassalage, the establishment of a policy of religious tolerance and protection of the privileges of the Russian Church, the preservation of the army and the right to conduct foreign affairs by the Russian principalities, including the right to declare war and make peace. The allied nature of Horde-Russian relations was also dictated by considerations of a geopolitical nature. It is not at all accidental that Batu’s army numbered almost 600,000 people, of which 75% were Christians. It was precisely this kind of power that restrained Western Europe from the desire to carry out a crusade against the Tatars and “Catholicize” Rus'.

An unbiased analysis of the relationship between the Horde and Rus' shows that the Golden Horde managed to create a system of governance in which the traditional power of Russian princes over their subjects even strengthened, relying on the military power of the Horde “Khan-Tsar”. The “Horde factor” moderated the ambition of the appanage princes, who were pushing the Russian lands towards bloody and ruinous strife. At the same time, the tolerant nature of the Golden Horde made it possible to strengthen the influence of the church on the development of centripetal processes in Rus'.

The role of the Golden Horde in the transformation of the Russian church system

The Orthodox Church in the Middle Ages was one of the state-forming principles. Its capabilities increased as it received within the Golden Horde what it could not receive from its spiritual foremother - the Byzantine Church. We are talking about a shortage (lack) of living space, which delayed the process of transformation of the basis of Russian spiritual culture - the church and its transformation from a local-regional system of values ​​into a universalist one.

It is known that one of the factors in the death of Byzantium was the internal contradiction between the universalist intention of Christianity and the growing localism of a shrinking space, ultimately reduced to a singular point - Constantinople. “The very geographical location of Constantinople-Istanbul seems to have been specially designed to demonstrate Byzantine uniqueness - and therefore doom: Christian universalism, which does not have an adequate form for itself and therefore finds itself in a local shell, is essentially reduced to the localism of Asian civilizations.”

It’s paradoxical, note Yu. Pivovarov and A. Fursov, but it’s a fact: it was the Mongol-Horde who provided the Russian church with living space and created the conditions for its transformation. They were not just ordinary steppe conquerors, another release of “social radiation” from the nomadic zone. The gigantic scale and global scope of the Mongol-Horde conquests (the Mongol Empire and the Golden Horde were the first truly world empires that united the then Eurasian Universe) were also due to the fact that the conquests were based on all the main Asian settled societies, on their military, social and organizational and cultural achievements. In this sense, if the Great Mongol Empire, having become the Great Steppe summing up the results of the Asian civilized world of the Coastal Belt, achieved by it by the 12th century, created the possibility of transforming the Russian church system, then the Golden Horde “did for the Orthodox Church the work that the latter was not able to do it yourself." She broke “for her and for her the original factual localism, gave her a universalist intention.”

Horde-Russian relationships and mutual influences

When assessing the nature and consequences of Horde-Russian relations, it is important to emphasize that over the centuries of cohabitation and mutual assimilation, especially in the elite strata of society, there was an interpenetration of some very significant mental traits. Interesting are the thoughts of one of the pillars of the concept of Eurasianism, Prince N.S. Trubetskoy, who argued that the “huge Russian power” arose “largely thanks to the grafting of Turkic traits.” As a result of being under the rule of the Tatar khans, a “wrongly tailored” but “strongly sewn” was created. Yuri Pivovarov and Andrei Fursov are right when they claim that “Rus borrowed the technology of power, fiscal forms, and centralized structures from the Horde.” But the technology of power, the centralized government of the country, the tolerant nature of the Horde civilization also influenced the choice of direction for the development of Russian statehood, the Russian language, and the national mentality. “The Horde fracture of Russian history,” they wrote, “is one of the richest, if not the richest in terms of abundance of rocks.”

The nature of the Golden Horde favorably distinguished it from the colonialist policies of Rus''s Western European neighbors, from the aggressive German and Swedish feudal lords who sought a crusade to the East - to the Orthodox Russian lands of Pskov, Novgorod and other adjacent Russian principalities. In the 13th century Rus' faced a choice: who to rely on in the struggle to preserve national identity - on Catholic Europe in the fight against the Golden Horde or on the Golden Horde in opposition to the crusade from Europe. Europe saw the conversion of Rus' to Catholicism or at least recognition of the supremacy of the Pope, that is, the union of Orthodoxy and Catholicism under its rule, as a condition for the union. The example of Western Russian lands showed that such a union could be followed by foreign feudal-religious interference in secular and spiritual life: land colonization, conversion of the population to Catholicism, construction of castles and churches, i.e. strengthening of European cultural and civilizational pressure. An alliance with the Horde seemed less of a danger to Russian princes and church hierarchs.

It is also important to note that the Horde-Russian model of interaction ensured not only intrastate autonomy and independence from the outside world. The Golden Horde influence was broad and multifaceted. It “settled” in the deep niches of the historical memory of the Russian people and was preserved in its cultural traditions, folklore, and literature. It is also imprinted in modern Russian, where a fifth or sixth part of its vocabulary is of Turkic origin.

The list of elements that make up the Horde heritage in quantities significant for the formation and development of Russian statehood, culture and civilization is wide and voluminous. It can hardly be limited to noble families of Tatar origin (500 such Russian surnames); coats of arms of the Russian Empire (where three crowns symbolize, and); linguistic and cultural borrowings; the experience of creating a complex centralized state in ethno-confessional, economic, cultural and civilizational terms and the formation of a new ethnic group.

Avoiding the temptation to enter into the discussion field of the problem of Horde-Russian mutual influence, we will try to formulate a generalized opinion. If the Russian factor contributed to the flourishing of the Golden Horde and the duration of its influence on the course of world development, then the Golden Horde, in turn, was a factor in the “gathering” of Russian lands and the creation of a centralized Russian state. At the same time, it should be noted that the path to the unification of Russian lands began with Moscow - the region where the closest fruitful bilateral (Horde-Russian) ties developed and where the course of history predetermined the minimum level of xenophobia among the Russian principalities - hostility to foreign things, including first of all to the Horde beginning. The cultural layer of Horde tolerance was most concentrated, settled and strengthened at the Moscow “point” of Russian civilizational growth.

Today we will talk about a very “slippery” topic from the point of view of modern history and science, but no less interesting.

Disputes about the history of the Tatar-Mongol invasion and the consequences of their invasion, the so-called yoke, do not disappear, and probably will never disappear. Under the influence of numerous critics, including Gumilyov’s supporters, new, interesting facts began to be woven into the traditional version of Russian history Mongol yoke that I would like to develop. As we all remember from our school history course, the prevailing point of view is still the following:

In the first half of the 13th century, Russia was invaded by the Tatars, who came to Europe from Central Asia, in particular China and Central Asia, which they had already conquered by this time. The dates are precisely known to our Russian historians: 1223 - Battle of Kalka, 1237 - fall of Ryazan, 1238 - defeat of the united forces of the Russian princes on the banks of the City River, 1240 - fall of Kyiv. Tatar-Mongol troops destroyed individual squads of the princes of Kievan Rus and subjected it to a monstrous defeat. The military power of the Tatars was so irresistible that their dominance continued for two and a half centuries - until the “Standing on the Ugra” in 1480, when the consequences of the yoke were eventually completely eliminated, the end came.

For 250 years, that’s how many years, Russia paid tribute to the Horde in money and blood. In 1380, Rus' for the first time since the invasion of Batu Khan gathered forces and gave battle to the Tatar Horde on the Kulikovo field, in which Dmitry Donskoy defeated the temnik Mamai, but from this defeat all the Tatar-Mongols did not happen at all, this was, so to speak, a won battle in lost war. Although even the traditional version of Russian history says that there were practically no Tatar-Mongols in Mamai’s army, only local nomads from the Don and Genoese mercenaries. By the way, the participation of the Genoese suggests the participation of the Vatican in this issue. Today, new data, as it were, has begun to be added to the known version of Russian history, but intended to add credibility and reliability to the already existing version. In particular, there are extensive discussions about the number of nomadic Tatars - Mongols, the specifics of their martial art and weapons.

Let's evaluate the versions that exist today:

I suggest starting with a very interesting fact. Such a nationality as the Mongol-Tatars does not exist, and never existed at all. The only thing the Mongols and Tatars have in common is that they roamed the Central Asian steppe, which, as we know, is large enough to accommodate any nomadic people, and at the same time give them the opportunity not to intersect on the same territory at all.

The Mongol tribes lived at the southern tip of the Asian steppe and often raided China and its provinces, as the history of China often confirms to us. While other nomadic Turkic tribes, called from time immemorial in Rus' Bulgars (Volga Bulgaria), settled in the lower reaches of the Volga River. In those days in Europe they were called Tatars, or TatAryans (the most powerful of the nomadic tribes, unbending and invincible). And the Tatars, the closest neighbors of the Mongols, lived in the northeastern part of modern Mongolia, mainly in the area of ​​Lake Buir Nor and up to the borders of China. There were 70 thousand families, making up 6 tribes: Tutukulyut Tatars, Alchi Tatars, Chagan Tatars, Queen Tatars, Terat Tatars, Barkuy Tatars. The second parts of the names are apparently the self-names of these tribes. There is not a single word among them that sounds close to the Turkic language - they are more consonant with Mongolian names.

Two related peoples - the Tatars and the Mongols - fought a war of mutual extermination for a long time with varying success, until Genghis Khan seized power throughout Mongolia. The fate of the Tatars was predetermined. Since the Tatars were the killers of Genghis Khan’s father, destroyed many tribes and clans close to him, and constantly supported the tribes opposing him, “then Genghis Khan (Tei-mu-Chin) ordered the general massacre of the Tatars and not leave even one alive until the limit determined by law (Yasak); so that women and small children should also be killed, and the wombs of pregnant women should be cut open in order to completely destroy them. …”.

That is why such a nationality could not threaten the freedom of Rus'. Moreover, many historians and cartographers of that time, especially Eastern European ones, “sinned” to call all indestructible (from the point of view of Europeans) and invincible peoples TatAriev or simply in Latin TatArie.
This can be easily seen from ancient maps, for example, Map of Russia 1594 in the Atlas of Gerhard Mercator, or Maps of Russia and TarTaria by Ortelius.

One of the fundamental axioms of Russian historiography is the assertion that for almost 250 years, the so-called “Mongol-Tatar yoke” existed on the lands inhabited by the ancestors of the modern East Slavic peoples - Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians. Allegedly, in the 30s - 40s of the 13th century, the ancient Russian principalities were subjected to a Mongol-Tatar invasion under the leadership of the legendary Batu Khan.

The fact is that there are numerous historical facts that contradict the historical version of the “Mongol-Tatar yoke.”

First of all, even the canonical version does not directly confirm the fact of the conquest of the northeastern ancient Russian principalities by the Mongol-Tatar invaders - supposedly these principalities became vassals of the Golden Horde (a state formation that occupied a large territory in the southeast of Eastern Europe and Western Siberia, founded Mongol prince Batu). They say that the army of Khan Batu made several bloody predatory raids on these very northeastern ancient Russian principalities, as a result of which our distant ancestors decided to go “under the arm” of Batu and his Golden Horde.

However, historical information is known that the personal guard of Khan Batu consisted exclusively of Russian soldiers. A very strange circumstance for the lackey vassals of the great Mongol conquerors, especially for the newly conquered people.

There is indirect evidence of the existence of Batu’s letter to the legendary Russian prince Alexander Nevsky, in which the all-powerful khan of the Golden Horde asks the Russian prince to take in his son and make him a real warrior and commander.

Some sources also claim that Tatar mothers in the Golden Horde frightened their naughty children with the name of Alexander Nevsky.

As a result of all these inconsistencies, the author of these lines in his book “2013. Memories of the Future” (“Olma-Press”) puts forward a completely different version of the events of the first half and mid-13th century on the territory of the European part of the future Russian Empire.

According to this version, when the Mongols, at the head of nomadic tribes (later called Tatars), reached the northeastern ancient Russian principalities, they actually entered into quite bloody military clashes with them. But Khan Batu did not achieve a crushing victory; most likely, the matter ended in a kind of “battle draw”. And then Batu proposed an equal military alliance to the Russian princes. Otherwise, it is difficult to explain why his guard consisted of Russian knights, and why Tatar mothers frightened their children with the name of Alexander Nevsky.

All these terrible stories about the “Tatar-Mongol yoke” were invented much later, when the Moscow kings had to create myths about their exclusivity and superiority over the conquered peoples (the same Tatars, for example).

Even in the modern school curriculum, this historical moment is briefly described as follows: “At the beginning of the 13th century, Genghis Khan gathered a large army of nomadic peoples, and, subordinating them to strict discipline, decided to conquer the whole world. Having defeated China, he sent his army to Rus'. In the winter of 1237, the army of “Mongol-Tatars” invaded the territory of Rus', and subsequently defeating the Russian army on the Kalka River, went further, through Poland and the Czech Republic. As a result, having reached the shores of the Adriatic Sea, the army suddenly stops and, without completing its task, turns back. From this period the so-called “ Mongol-Tatar yoke"over Russia.

But wait, they were going to conquer the whole world... so why didn't they go further? Historians answered that they were afraid of an attack from behind, defeated and plundered, but still strong Rus'. But this is just funny. Will the plundered state run to defend other people's cities and villages? Rather, they will rebuild their borders and wait for the return of the enemy troops in order to fight back fully armed.
But the weirdness doesn't end there. For some unimaginable reason, during the reign of the House of Romanov, dozens of chronicles describing the events of the “time of the Horde” disappear. For example, “The Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land,” historians believe that this is a document from which everything that would indicate the Ige was carefully removed. They left only fragments telling about some kind of “trouble” that befell Rus'. But there is not a word about the “invasion of the Mongols.”

There are many more strange things. In the story “about the evil Tatars,” the khan from the Golden Horde orders the execution of a Russian Christian prince... for refusing to bow to the “pagan god of the Slavs!” And some chronicles contain amazing phrases, for example: “Well, with God!” - said the khan and, crossing himself, galloped towards the enemy.
So, what really happened?

At that time, the “new faith” was already flourishing in Europe, namely Faith in Christ. Catholicism was widespread everywhere, and governed everything, from the way of life and the system, to the state system and legislation. At that time, crusades against infidels were still relevant, but along with military methods, “tactical tricks” were often used, akin to bribing authorities and inducing them to their faith. And after receiving power through the purchased person, the conversion of all his “subordinates” to the faith. It was precisely such a secret crusade that was carried out against Rus' at that time. Through bribery and other promises, church ministers were able to seize power over Kiev and nearby regions. Just relatively recently, by the standards of history, the baptism of Rus' took place, but history is silent about the civil war that arose on this basis immediately after the forced baptism. And the ancient Slavic chronicle describes this moment as follows:

« And the Vorogs came from overseas, and they brought faith in alien gods. With fire and sword they began to implant in us an alien faith, shower the Russian princes with gold and silver, bribe their will, and lead them astray from the true path. They promised them an idle life, full of wealth and happiness, and remission of any sins for their dashing deeds.

And then Ros broke up into different states. The Russian clans retreated north to the great Asgard, and named their empire after the names of their patron gods, Tarkh Dazhdbog the Great and Tara, his Sister the Light-Wise. (They called her the Great TarTaria). Leaving the foreigners with the princes purchased in the Principality of Kiev and its environs. Volga Bulgaria also did not bow to its enemies, and did not accept their alien faith as its own.
But the Principality of Kiev did not live in peace with TarTaria. They began to conquer the Russian lands with fire and sword and impose their alien faith. And then the military army rose up for a fierce battle. In order to preserve their faith and reclaim their lands. Both old and young then joined the Ratniki in order to restore order to the Russian Lands.”

And so the war began, in which the Russian army, the land of the Great Aria (tattAria) defeated the enemy and drove him out of the primordially Slavic lands. It drove away the alien army, with their fierce faith, from its stately lands.

By the way, the word Horde translated by initial letters ancient Slavic alphabet, means Order. That is, the Golden Horde is not a separate state, it is a system. "Political" system of the Golden Order. Under which the Princes reigned locally, planted with the approval of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army of Defense, or in one word they called him KHAN (our defender).
This means that there was not more than two hundred years of oppression, but there was a time of peace and prosperity of the Great Aria or TarTaria. By the way, modern history also has confirmation of this, but for some reason no one pays attention to it. But we will definitely pay attention, and very closely:

The Mongol-Tatar yoke is a system of political and tributary dependence of the Russian principalities on the Mongol-Tatar khans (until the early 60s of the 13th century, the Mongol khans, after the khans of the Golden Horde) in the 13th-15th centuries. The establishment of the yoke became possible as a result of the Mongol invasion of Rus' in 1237-1241 and occurred for two decades after it, including in lands that were not devastated. In North-Eastern Rus' it lasted until 1480. (Wikipedia)

Battle of the Neva (July 15, 1240) - a battle on the Neva River between the Novgorod militia under the command of Prince Alexander Yaroslavich and the Swedish army. After the victory of the Novgorodians, Alexander Yaroslavich received the honorary nickname “Nevsky” for his skillful management of the campaign and courage in battle. (Wikipedia)

Doesn’t it seem strange to you that the battle with the Swedes is taking place right in the middle of the “Mongol-Tatars” invasion of Rus'? Rus', blazing in fires and plundered by the “Mongols,” is attacked by the Swedish army, which safely drowns in the waters of the Neva, and at the same time the Swedish crusaders do not encounter the Mongols even once. And the Russians, who defeated the strong Swedish army, lose to the Mongols? In my opinion, this is just nonsense. Two huge armies are fighting on the same territory at the same time and never intersect. But if you turn to the ancient Slavic chronicles, then everything becomes clear.

Since 1237 Rat Great TarTaria began to win back their ancestral lands, and when the war was coming to an end, the losing representatives of the church asked for help, and the Swedish crusaders were sent into battle. Since it was not possible to take the country by bribery, then they will take it by force. Just in 1240, the army of the Horde (that is, the army of Prince Alexander Yaroslavovich, one of the princes of the ancient Slavic family) clashed in battle with the army of the Crusaders, which came to the rescue of its minions. Having won the Battle of the Neva, Alexander received the title of Prince of the Neva and remained to rule Novgorod, and the Horde Army went further to drive the adversary out of the Russian lands completely. So she persecuted “the church and the alien faith” until she reached the Adriatic Sea, thereby restoring her original ancient borders. And having reached them, the army turned around and went north again. Having installed 300 year period of peace.

Again, confirmation of this is the so-called end of the Yoke. Battle of Kulikovo"Before which 2 knights Peresvet and Chelubey took part in the match. Two Russian knights, Andrei Peresvet (superior light) and Chelubey (beating the forehead, Telling, narrating, asking) Information about which was cruelly cut out from the pages of history. It was Chelubey’s loss that foreshadowed the victory of the army of Kievan Rus, restored with the money of the same “Churchmen” who nevertheless penetrated Rus' from the dark, albeit more than 150 years later. It will be later, when all of Rus' is plunged into the abyss of chaos, all sources confirming the events of the past will be burned. And after the Romanov family came to power, many documents will take on the form we know.

By the way, this is not the first time that the Slavic army defends its lands and expels infidels from its territories. Another extremely interesting and confusing moment in History tells us about this.
Army of Alexander the Great, consisting of many professional warriors, was defeated by a small army of some nomads in the mountains north of India (Alexander’s last campaign). And for some reason, no one is surprised by the fact that a large trained army that crossed half the world and redrew the world map was so easily broken by an army of simple and uneducated nomads.
But everything becomes clear if you look at the maps of that time and just even think about who the nomads who came from the north (from India) could have been. These are precisely our territories that originally belonged to the Slavs, and where to this day the remains of the Eth-Russian civilization are found .

The Macedonian army was pushed back by the army Slavyan-Ariev who defended their territories. It was at that time that the Slavs “for the first time” walked to the Adriatic Sea, and left a huge mark on the territories of Europe. Thus, it turns out that we are not the first to conquer “half the globe.”

So how did it happen that even now we don’t know our history? Everything is very simple. The Europeans, trembling with fear and horror, never ceased to be afraid of the Rusichs, even when their plans were crowned with success and they enslaved the Slavic peoples, they were still afraid that one day Rus' would rise up and shine again with its former strength.

At the beginning of the 18th century, Peter the Great founded the Russian Academy of Sciences. Over the 120 years of its existence, there were 33 academic historians in the historical department of the Academy. Of these, only three were Russians (including M.V. Lomonosov), the rest were Germans. It turns out that the history of Ancient Rus' was written by the Germans, and many of them did not know not only the way of life and traditions, they did not even know the Russian language. This fact is well known to many historians, but they do not make any effort to carefully study the history that the Germans wrote and get to the bottom of the truth.
Lomonosov wrote a work on the history of Rus', and in this field he often had disputes with his German colleagues. After his death, the archives disappeared without a trace, but somehow his works on the history of Rus' were published, but under the editorship of Miller. At the same time, it was Miller who oppressed Lomonosov in every possible way during his lifetime. Computer analysis confirmed that Lomonosov’s works on the history of Rus' published by Miller are falsifications. Little remains of Lomonosov's works.

This concept can be found on the website of Omsk State University:

We will formulate our concept, hypothesis immediately, without
preliminary preparation of the reader.

Let's pay attention to the following strange and very interesting
data. However, their strangeness is based only on generally accepted
chronology and the version of ancient Russian instilled in us from childhood
stories. It turns out that changing the chronology removes many oddities and
<>.

One of the main moments in the history of ancient Rus' is this
called the Tatar-Mongol conquest by the Horde. Traditionally
it is believed that the Horde came from the East (China? Mongolia?),
captured many countries, conquered Rus', swept to the West and
even reached Egypt.

But if Rus' had been conquered in the 13th century with any
was from the sides - or from the east, as modern ones claim
historians, or from the West, as Morozov believed, would have to
remain information about the clashes between the conquerors and
Cossacks who lived both on the western borders of Rus' and in the lower reaches
Don and Volga. That is, exactly where they were supposed to pass
conquerors.

Of course, in school courses on Russian history we are intensively
they convince that the Cossack troops allegedly arose only in the 17th century,
allegedly due to the fact that the slaves fled from the power of the landowners to
Don. However, it is known, although this is usually not mentioned in textbooks,
- that, for example, the Don Cossack state existed STILL IN
XVI century, had its own laws and history.

Moreover, it turns out that the beginning of the history of the Cossacks dates back to
to the XII-XIII centuries. See, for example, the work of Sukhorukov<>in DON magazine, 1989.

Thus,<>, - no matter where she came from, -
moving along the natural path of colonization and conquest,
would inevitably have to come into conflict with the Cossacks
regions.
This is not noted.

What's the matter?

A natural hypothesis arises:
NO FOREIGN
THERE WAS NO CONQUEST OF Rus'. THE HORDE DIDN'T FIGHT WITH THE COSSACKS BECAUSE
THE COSSACKS WERE AN COMPONENT PART OF THE HORDE. This hypothesis was
not formulated by us. It is substantiated very convincingly,
for example, A. A. Gordeev in his<>.

BUT WE ARE SAYING SOMETHING MORE.

One of our main hypotheses is that the Cossacks
the troops not only formed part of the Horde - they were regular
troops of the Russian state. Thus, THE HORDE WAS
JUST A REGULAR RUSSIAN ARMY.

According to our hypothesis, the modern terms ARMY and WARRIOR,
- Church Slavonic in origin, - were not Old Russian
terms. They came into constant use in Rus' only with
XVII century. And the old Russian terminology was: Horde,
Cossack, khan

Then the terminology changed. By the way, back in the 19th century
Russian folk proverbs words<>And<>were
interchangeable. This can be seen from the numerous examples given
in Dahl's dictionary. For example:<>and so on.

On the Don there is still the famous city of Semikarakorum, and on
Kuban - Hanskaya village. Let us remember that Karakorum is considered
THE CAPITAL OF GENGIZ KHAN. At the same time, as is well known, in those
places where archaeologists are still persistently searching for Karakorum, there is no
For some reason there is no Karakorum.

In desperation, they hypothesized that<>. This monastery, which existed back in the 19th century, was surrounded
an earthen rampart only about one English mile long. Historians
believe that the famous capital Karakorum was located entirely on
territory subsequently occupied by this monastery.

According to our hypothesis, the Horde is not a foreign entity,
captured Rus' from the outside, but there is simply an Eastern Russian regular
army, which was an integral part of the ancient Russian
state.
Our hypothesis is this.

1) <>IT WAS JUST A WAR PERIOD
MANAGEMENT IN THE RUSSIAN STATE. NO ALIENS Rus'
CONQUERED.

2) THE SUPREME RULER WAS THE COMMANDER-KHAN = TSAR, AND B
CIVIL GOVERNORS SITTED IN THE CITIES - PRINCE WHO WERE DUTY
WERE COLLECTING TRIBUTE IN FAVOR OF THIS RUSSIAN ARMY, FOR ITS
CONTENT.

3) THUS, THE ANCIENT RUSSIAN STATE IS REPRESENTED
A UNITED EMPIRE, IN WHICH THERE WAS A STANDING ARMY CONSISTED OF
PROFESSIONAL MILITARY (HORDE) AND CIVILIAN UNITS THAT DID NOT HAVE
ITS REGULAR TROOPS. SINCE SUCH TROOPS WERE ALREADY PART OF THE
COMPOSITION OF THE HORDE.

4) THIS RUSSIAN-HORDE EMPIRE EXISTED SINCE THE XIV CENTURY
UNTIL THE BEGINNING OF THE 17TH CENTURY. HER STORY ENDED WITH A FAMOUS GREAT
THE TROUBLES IN Rus' AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 17TH CENTURY. AS A RESULT OF THE CIVIL WAR
RUSSIAN HORDA KINGS, - THE LAST OF WHICH WAS BORIS
<>, - WERE PHYSICALLY EXTERMINED. AND THE FORMER RUSSIAN
THE ARMY-HORDE ACTUALLY SUFFERED DEFEAT IN THE FIGHT WITH<>. AS A RESULT, POWER IN Rus' CAME TO PRINCIPALLY
NEW PRO-WESTERN ROMANOV DYNASTY. SHE SEIZED POWER AND
IN THE RUSSIAN CHURCH (FILARET).

5) A NEW DYNASTY WAS NEEDED<>,
IDEOLOGICALLY JUSTIFYING ITS POWER. THIS NEW POWER FROM THE POINT
THE VIEW OF THE PREVIOUS RUSSIAN-HORDA HISTORY WAS ILLEGAL. THAT'S WHY
ROMANOV NEEDED TO RADICALLY CHANGE THE COVERAGE OF THE PREVIOUS
RUSSIAN HISTORY. WE NEED TO GIVE THEM THEM'S DEPENDENCE - IT WAS DONE
COMPETENTLY. WITHOUT CHANGING MOST OF THE ESSENTIAL FACTS, THEY COULD BEFORE
UNRECOGNITION WILL DISTORT ENTIRE RUSSIAN HISTORY. SO, PREVIOUS
HISTORY OF Rus'-HORDE WITH ITS CLASS OF FARMERS AND MILITARY
THE CLASS - THE HORDE, WAS DECLARED BY THEM AN ERA<>. AT THE SAME TIME, THERE IS OWN RUSSIAN HORDE-ARMY
TURNED, - UNDER THE PENS OF ROMANOV HISTORIANS, - INTO MYTHICAL
ALIENS FROM A DISTANT UNKNOWN COUNTRY.

Notorious<>, familiar to us from Romanovsky
history, was simply a GOVERNMENT TAX inside
Rus' for the maintenance of the Cossack army - the Horde. Famous<>, - every tenth person taken into the Horde is simply
state MILITARY RECRUITMENT. It’s like conscription into the army, but only
from childhood - and for life.

Next, the so-called<>, in our opinion,
were simply punitive expeditions to those Russian regions
who for some reason refused to pay tribute =
state filing. Then the regular troops punished
civilian rioters.

These facts are known to historians and are not secret, they are publicly available, and anyone can easily find them on the Internet. Skipping scientific research and justifications, which have already been described quite widely, let us summarize the main facts that refute the big lie about the “Tatar-Mongol yoke.”

1. Genghis Khan

Previously, in Rus', 2 people were responsible for governing the state: the Prince and the Khan. The prince was responsible for governing the state in peacetime. The khan or “war prince” took the reins of control during war; in peacetime, the responsibility for forming a horde (army) and maintaining it in combat readiness rested on his shoulders.

Genghis Khan is not a name, but a title of “military prince,” which, in the modern world, is close to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the army. And there were several people who bore such a title. The most outstanding of them was Timur, it is he who is usually discussed when they talk about Genghis Khan.

In surviving historical documents, this man is described as a tall warrior with blue eyes, very white skin, powerful reddish hair and a thick beard. Which clearly does not correspond to the signs of a representative of the Mongoloid race, but completely fits the description of the Slavic appearance (L.N. Gumilyov - “Ancient Rus' and the Great Steppe.”).

In modern “Mongolia” there is not a single folk epic that would say that this country once in ancient times conquered almost all of Eurasia, just as there is nothing about the great conqueror Genghis Khan... (N.V. Levashov “Visible and invisible genocide").

2. Mongolia

The state of Mongolia appeared only in the 1930s, when the Bolsheviks came to the nomads living in the Gobi Desert and told them that they were the descendants of the great Mongols, and their “compatriot” had created the Great Empire in his time, which they were very surprised and happy about. . The word "Mughal" is of Greek origin and means "Great". The Greeks used this word to call our ancestors – the Slavs. It has nothing to do with the name of any people (N.V. Levashov “Visible and Invisible Genocide”).

3. Composition of the “Tatar-Mongol” army

70-80% of the army of the “Tatar-Mongols” were Russians, the remaining 20-30% were made up of other small peoples of Rus', in fact, the same as now. This fact is clearly confirmed by a fragment of the icon of Sergius of Radonezh “Battle of Kulikovo”. It clearly shows that the same warriors are fighting on both sides. And this battle is more like a civil war than a war with a foreign conqueror.

4. What did the “Tatar-Mongols” look like?

Note the drawing of the tomb of Henry II the Pious, who was killed on the Legnica field. The inscription is as follows: “The figure of a Tatar under the feet of Henry II, Duke of Silesia, Cracow and Poland, placed on the grave in Breslau of this prince, killed in the battle with the Tatars at Liegnitz on April 9, 1241.” As we see, this “Tatar” has a completely Russian appearance, clothes and weapons. The next image shows “the Khan’s palace in the capital of the Mongol Empire, Khanbalyk” (it is believed that Khanbalyk is supposedly Beijing). What is “Mongolian” and what is “Chinese” here? Once again, as in the case of the tomb of Henry II, before us are people of a clearly Slavic appearance. Russian caftans, Streltsy caps, the same thick beards, the same characteristic blades of sabers called “Yelman”. The roof on the left is an almost exact copy of the roofs of old Russian towers... (A. Bushkov, “Russia that never existed”).

5. Genetic examination

According to the latest data obtained as a result of genetic research, it turned out that Tatars and Russians have very close genetics. Whereas the differences between the genetics of Russians and Tatars from the genetics of the Mongols are colossal: “The differences between the Russian gene pool (almost entirely European) and the Mongolian (almost entirely Central Asian) are really great - it’s like two different worlds...” (oagb.ru).

6. Documents during the period of the Tatar-Mongol yoke

During the period of existence of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, not a single document in the Tatar or Mongolian language has been preserved. But there are many documents from this time in Russian.

7. Lack of objective evidence confirming the hypothesis of the Tatar-Mongol yoke

At the moment, there are no originals of any historical documents that would objectively prove that there was a Tatar-Mongol yoke. But there are many fakes designed to convince us of the existence of a fiction called the “Tatar-Mongol yoke.” Here is one of these fakes. This text is called “The Word about the Destruction of the Russian Land” and in each publication it is declared “an excerpt from a poetic work that has not reached us intact... About the Tatar-Mongol invasion”:

“Oh, bright and beautifully decorated Russian land! You are famous for many beauties: you are famous for many lakes, locally revered rivers and springs, mountains, steep hills, high oak forests, clean fields, marvelous animals, various birds, countless great cities, glorious villages, monastery gardens, temples of God and formidable princes, honest boyars and many nobles. You are filled with everything, Russian land, O Orthodox Christian faith!..»

There is not even a hint of the “Tatar-Mongol yoke” in this text. But this “ancient” document contains the following line: “You are filled with everything, Russian land, O Orthodox Christian faith!”

More opinions:

The plenipotentiary representative of Tatarstan in Moscow (1999 - 2010), Doctor of Political Sciences Nazif Mirikhanov, spoke in the same spirit: “The term “yoke” appeared in general only in the 18th century,” he is sure. “Before that, the Slavs did not even suspect that they were living under oppression, under the yoke of certain conquerors.”

“In fact, the Russian Empire, and then the Soviet Union, and now the Russian Federation are the heirs of the Golden Horde, that is, the Turkic empire created by Genghis Khan, whom we need to rehabilitate, as we have already done in China,” Mirikhanov continued. And he concluded his reasoning with the following thesis: “The Tatars at one time frightened Europe so much that the rulers of Rus', who chose the European path of development, in every possible way dissociated themselves from their Horde predecessors. Today it is time to restore historical justice.”

The result was summed up by Izmailov:

“The historical period, which is commonly called the time of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, was not a period of terror, ruin and slavery. Yes, the Russian princes paid tribute to the rulers from Sarai and received labels for reign from them, but this is ordinary feudal rent. At the same time, the Church flourished in those centuries, and beautiful white stone churches were built everywhere. What was quite natural: scattered principalities could not afford such construction, but only a de facto confederation united under the rule of the Khan of the Golden Horde or Ulus Jochi, as it would be more correct to call our common state with the Tatars.”

Most history textbooks say that in the 13th-15th centuries Rus' suffered from the Mongol-Tatar yoke. However, recently the voices of those who doubt that the invasion even took place have been increasingly heard. Did huge hordes of nomads really surge into 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 Dlugosz in 1479 called the time of existence of the Golden Horde this way. He was followed in 1517 by the historian Matvey Miechowski, who worked at the University of Krakow. This interpretation of the relationship between Rus' 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 themselves in the Horde troops. It’s just that in Europe the name of this Asian people was well known, and therefore it spread to the Mongols. Meanwhile, Genghis Khan tried to exterminate the entire Tatar tribe, defeating their army in 1202.

The first census of Rus'

The first population census in the history of Rus' was carried out by representatives of the Horde. They had to collect accurate information about the inhabitants of each principality and their class affiliation. The main reason for such interest in statistics on the part of the Mongols was the need to calculate the amount of taxes imposed on their subjects.

In 1246, a 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 Rus' raised popular uprisings and drove out the so-called “besermen” who were collecting tribute for the khans of Mongolia from their land. But the governors of the rulers of the Golden Horde, called Baskaks, lived and worked for a long time in the Russian principalities, sending collected taxes to Sarai-Batu, and later to Sarai-Berke.

Joint hikes

Princely squads and Horde warriors often carried out joint military campaigns, both against other Russians and against residents of Eastern Europe. Thus, in the period 1258-1287, the troops of the Mongols and Galician princes regularly attacked Poland, Hungary and Lithuania. And in 1277, the Russians took part in the Mongol military campaign in the North Caucasus, helping their allies conquer Alanya.

In 1333, Muscovites stormed Novgorod, and the next year the Bryansk squad marched on Smolensk. Each time, Horde troops also took part in these internecine battles. In addition, they regularly helped the great princes of Tver, considered at that time the main rulers of Rus', to pacify the rebellious neighboring lands.

The basis of the horde were Russians

The Arab traveler Ibn Battuta, who visited the city of Saray-Berke in 1334, wrote in his essay “A Gift to Those Contemplating the Wonders of Cities and the Wonders of Travel” 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 20th century. According to the researcher, most of the Horde troops were the so-called Brodniks - ethnic Slavs who inhabited the Azov region and the Don steppes. These predecessors of the Cossacks did not want to obey the princes, so they moved to the south for the sake of a free life. The name of this ethnosocial group probably comes from the Russian word “wander” (wander).

As is known from chronicle sources, in the Battle of Kalka in 1223, the Brodniks, led by the governor Ploskyna, fought on the side of the Mongol troops. Perhaps his knowledge of the tactics and strategy of the princely squads was of great importance for the victory over the united Russian-Polovtsian forces.

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

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

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

Caucasian invaders

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

The Persian scientist Rashid ad-Din wrote in his work “Collection of Chronicles” (beginning of the 14th century) 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 Caucasians. It is likely that representatives of this race predominated among other invaders.

There weren't many of them

We are accustomed to believe that in the 13th century Rus' was invaded by countless hordes of Mongol-Tatars. Some historians talk about 500,000 troops. However, it is not. After all, even the population of modern Mongolia barely exceeds 3 million people, and if we take into account the brutal genocide of fellow tribesmen committed by Genghis Khan on his way to power, the size of his army could not be so impressive.

It is difficult to imagine how to feed an army of half a million, moreover, traveling on horses. The animals simply would not have enough pasture. But each Mongolian horseman brought with him at least three horses. Now imagine a herd of 1.5 million. The horses of the warriors riding at the forefront of the army would eat and trample everything they could. The remaining horses would have starved to death.

According to the most daring estimates, the army of Genghis Khan and Batu could not have exceeded 30 thousand horsemen. While the population of Ancient Rus', according to historian Georgy Vernadsky (1887-1973), before 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 disrespected by cutting off their heads. However, if the condemned person enjoyed authority, then his spine was broken and left to slowly die.

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

The reason for a 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 steppe

The method of burial of a 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 killed in battle were often simply left in the steppe, where their life’s journey ended.

In the alarming conditions of nomadic life, consisting of regular skirmishes with enemies, it was difficult to organize 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 birds and animals did not touch the body for a long time, according to popular beliefs, this meant that the soul of the deceased had a grave sin.

Nikolai Troitsky, political commentator for RIA Novosti.

Was there Alexander Nevsky?

The discussion participants from Ukraine set the tone. Historian and writer Vladimir Belinsky said: “Even in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia it was written that the entire territory of the Golden Horde was divided into uluses between Batu’s brothers. It included the Rostov-Suzdal, Ryazan, and Kyiv lands. They were first conquered, and then simply became part of the Batu state with its capital in Sarai. This is not a yoke, since there cannot be a yoke of a sovereign over his subjects.”

Then the Ukrainian historian put forward another interesting thesis: “There were no Rurikovichs and Slavic princes like Alexander Nevsky or Dmitry Donskoy. Tatar governors sat everywhere, and they ruled the territories of the former Slavic principalities.”
An expert at the Gardarika strategic consulting corporation, political scientist Konstantin Matvienko, did not entirely agree with this. He believes that Alexander Nevsky still existed, but “he fought with the Swedes on the side of the Golden Horde. The prince could not leave enemies behind.”

Matvienko continued his thought: “Already in 1261, the appointment of Bishop Mitrofan of Sarai took place. The Russian Orthodox Church was fully integrated into the statehood of the Golden Horde. This doesn’t look like an occupation at all.” “And such a people as the Mongol-Tatars or Tatar-Mongols have never existed,” added Matvienko. “This fictitious term was invented in the Russian Empire in the 18th century,” Belinsky agreed with his colleague.

It all started in Kyiv

Then experts from Tatarstan entered the conversation. Senior researcher at the National Center for Archaeological Research at the Institute of History named after Shigabutdin Mardzhani of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan, Candidate of Historical Sciences Iskander Izmailov somewhat adjusted the positions of his Ukrainian colleagues: “The yoke, of course, existed, but not in the form as it is presented in textbooks left over from the Soviet times."

“We owe the very term “yoke” to Ukrainian historiography, oddly enough,” Izmailov continued. - This is exactly how the Latin term jugum was translated in the Kiev synopsis, a kind of history textbook for parish schools of the 17th century, which was first used by the Polish historian Jan Dlugosz in relation to the system of rule of the Horde khans over Russia. With his light hand, the events of 1480 - standing on the Ugra River - were talked about as “liberation” from the rule of the Horde. Among other things, in this way they tried to indirectly justify the conquest of the Kazan Khanate by Ivan the Terrible. And the great historian Nikolai Karamzin took this word from the Synopsis.”

Heiress of Genghis Khan

The plenipotentiary representative of Tatarstan in Moscow (1999 - 2010), Doctor of Political Sciences Nazif Mirikhanov, spoke in the same spirit: “The term “yoke” appeared in general only in the 18th century,” he is sure. “Before that, the Slavs did not even suspect that they were living under oppression, under the yoke of certain conquerors.”

“In fact, the Russian Empire, and then the Soviet Union, and now the Russian Federation are the heirs of the Golden Horde, that is, the Turkic empire created by Genghis Khan, whom we need to rehabilitate, as we have already done in China,” Mirikhanov continued. And he concluded his reasoning with the following thesis: “The Tatars at one time frightened Europe so much that the rulers of Rus', who chose the European path of development, in every possible way dissociated themselves from their Horde predecessors. Today it is time to restore historical justice.”

The result was summed up by Izmailov: “The historical period, which is usually called the time of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, was not a period of terror, ruin and slavery. Yes, the Russian princes paid tribute to the rulers from Sarai and received labels for reign from them, but this is ordinary feudal rent. At the same time, the Church flourished in those centuries, and beautiful white stone churches were built everywhere. What was quite natural: scattered principalities could not afford such construction, but only a de facto confederation united under the rule of the Khan of the Golden Horde or Ulus Jochi, as it would be more correct to call our common state with the Tatars.”