At the time when the decline of Kyiv took place and other centers emerged instead of old Kyiv - Novgorod, Vladimir Suzdal and Galich, that is, in the first half of the 13th century, Tatars appeared in Rus'. Their appearance was completely unexpected, and the Tatars themselves were completely unknown and unknowable to the Russian people: “The pagans appeared (says the chronicle), but no one knows clearly who they are and who they are and what their language and tribe are and what their faith is.” their".

The homeland of the Mongolian Tatar tribe was present-day Mongolia. The scattered nomadic and wild Tatar tribes were united by Khan Temujin, who took the title Genghis Khan, otherwise "Great Khan". In 1213, he began his colossal conquests by conquering northern China, and then moved west and reached the Caspian Sea and Armenia, bringing ruin and horror everywhere. The advance detachments of the Tatars from the southern shores of the Caspian Sea passed through the Caucasus to the Black Sea steppes, where they encountered the Cumans. The Polovtsians asked for help from the South Russian princes. The princes of Kiev, Chernigov, Galich (all Mstislavs by name) and many others gathered and went to the steppe to meet the Tatars, saying that it was necessary to help the Polovtsians against the Tatars, otherwise they would submit to the Tatars and thereby increase the power of the enemies of Rus'. More than once the Tatars sent to tell the Russian princes that they were not fighting with them, but only with the Polovtsians. The Russian princes went on and on until they met the Tatars in the distant steppes on the Kalka River (now Kalmius). A battle took place (1223); The princes fought bravely, but unfriendly, and suffered complete defeat. The Tatars cruelly tortured the captured princes and warriors, pursued those who fled to the Dnieper, and then turned back and disappeared into obscurity. “We don’t know these evil Tatar Taurmen, where they came from and where they went again; only God knows,” says the chronicler, struck by the terrible disaster.

A few years have passed. Genghis Khan died (1227), dividing his vast domains among his sons, but giving supreme power to one of them, Ogedei. Ogedei sent his nephew Batu(Batu, son of Jochi) to conquer Western countries. Batu moved with a whole horde of Tatars under his control and entered European Russia through the river. Ural (by the ancient name Yaik). On the Volga he defeated the Volga Bulgarians and ravaged their capital, the Great Bulgar. Having crossed the Volga, at the end of 1237 Batu approached the borders of the Ryazan principality, where, as we know (§18), the Olgovichs reigned. Batu demanded tribute from the Ryazan people - “a tithe of everything,” but was refused. The people of Ryazan asked for help from other Russian lands, but did not receive it and had to repel the Tatars on their own. The Tatars defeated and destroyed the entire Ryazan region, burned the cities, beat and captured the population and went further north. They ravaged the city of Moscow, which was a cover from the south to Suzdal and Vladimir, and invaded the Suzdal region. The Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich, leaving his capital Vladimir, went to the northwest to gather an army. The Tatars took Vladimir, killed the princely family, burned the city with its wonderful temples, and then devastated the entire Suzdal land. They overtook Prince Yuri on the river. City (flowing into the Mologa River, a tributary of the Volga). In the battle (March 4, 1238), the Russians were defeated and the Grand Duke was killed. The Tatars moved further to Tver and Torzhok and entered the Novgorod lands. However, they did not reach Novgorod itself a hundred miles and turned back to the Polovtsian steppes. On the road they had to besiege the town of Kozelsk (on the Zhizdra River) for a long time, which fell after an unusually brave defense. So in 1237–1238. Batu completed the conquest of northeastern Rus'.

"Batu's finding" to Rus'. In the fall of 1236, a huge army moved towards Volga Bulgaria Batu. Its cities and villages were ravaged and burned by the Mongol-Tatars, its inhabitants were killed or taken into captivity; the survivors fled to the forests.

A year later, the same fate befell North-Eastern Rus'. In December 1237, Batu approached the Ryazan land. Why did the conquerors choose this particular time? Obviously, they expected to walk through dense forests unfamiliar to them to Russian cities along the beds of frozen rivers.

Ryazan prince Yuri Ingvarevich, receiving the khan’s ambassadors, heard his demand - to give a tithe (tenth) in everything: “in princes and in people, and in horses, and in armor”. The Council of Ryazan princes gave the answer: “Only when we are no longer [alive] will everything be yours.”

The people of Ryazan sent for help to other lands, but were left alone with the enemy. Old strife and disagreements did not allow us to unite forces, “not one of the Russian princes, according to the chronicle, came to the aid of another... Each thought to gather a separate army against the godless.”

The Ryazan regiments gave battle to the Tatars on the Voronezh River, but were defeated due to inequality of forces. Prince Yuri also died in the battle. On December 21, 1237, after five days of siege, Ryazan fell. Then Pronsk and other cities were taken. The principality lay in ruins.

Having taken Kolomna, the conquerors entered the borders. After the defeat of Moscow, they turned east and approached Vladimir. In February 1238, the capital of the principality was taken by storm. At the same time, separate detachments, scattered throughout the principality, captured Suzdal and Rostov, Yaroslavl and Pereyaslavl, Yuryev and Galich, Dmitrov and Tver, and other cities. Their inhabitants were mercilessly exterminated or taken prisoner, which in winter conditions for most of them also equaled death. On March 4, 1238, on the City River, a tributary of the Mologa, northwest of Yaroslavl, in a bloody battle, the army of the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich suffered a terrible defeat, he himself was killed.

After a two-week siege, the Mongols took the small town of Torzhok and moved towards. However, 100 miles from the city Batu gave the order to turn south. Historians suggest that the reason for this was the beginning of the spring thaw and, most importantly, the heavy losses suffered by the conquerors in previous battles.

On the way to the southern steppes, the small town of Kozelsk caused a lot of trouble for the khan. For seven weeks the Mongol-Tatars, despite multiple numerical superiority and constant assaults, could not take it. Their losses amounted to several thousand people, including Batu’s relatives. "Evil City"- that’s what they called Kozelsk, which was finally captured; all its inhabitants, down to infants, as everywhere else, were mercilessly killed. At the same time, according to legend, one of the Mongol detachments was defeated by Smolensk warriors led by the brave young man Mercury.

In 1239, Batu, having finished off the Polovtsy and gained strength in the Black Sea steppes, reappeared in Rus'. First, the Principality of Murom and the lands along the Klyazma River were devastated. But the main forces of the khan operated in the south. After fierce battles, the Mongols took and destroyed Pereyaslavl. In 1240, a huge army of conquerors approached Kyiv and, overcoming the desperate resistance of its inhabitants, captured the city. Almost all the Kyivians fell under the arrows and sabers of the enemy or were captured.

Then the invaders came. Many cities (Galich, Vladimir-Volynsky, etc.), “they are countless,” were completely destroyed. Prince Daniil Galitsky, fleeing from the enemy, fled to Hungary, then to Poland. Only near the cities of Danilov and Kremenets, fortified with stone walls, were the Mongols defeated.

In 1241, Batu walked through the lands of Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, and the following year - through Croatia and Dalmatia. The Tatars defeated the Hungarian and combined German-Polish knightly troops. However, in 1242, having reached the Adriatic Sea, the conquerors turned back. Batya’s army was too weakened by assaults, battles and losses. Having reached the lower reaches of the Volga, the khan decided to establish his headquarters here. Tens of thousands of captives, primarily artisans, from Rus' and other countries were herded here, and looted goods were brought here. This is how the city of Sarai-Batu appeared - the capital of the Western Ulus of the Mongol Empire.

Invasion of Khan Batu in Rus'.

Invasion of Batu (chronicle)

In the summer of 1237. In winter, the atheist Tatars came from the eastern side to the Ryazan land through the forest and began to fight the Ryazan land and captured it as far as Pronsk, captured all of Ryazan and burned it and killed their prince. Some of those captured were cut to pieces, others were shot with arrows, and others had their hands tied back. Many holy churches were set on fire, monasteries and villages were burned... then they went to Kolomna. That same winter. [Prince] Vsevolod son Yuryev, grandson of Vsevolod, went against the Tatars and met near Kolomna, and there was a great battle, and they killed Vsevolod’s governor Eremey Glebovich and many other men... and Vsevolod ran to Vladimir with a small squad, and the Tatars let's go to Moscow. In the same winter, the Tatars took Moscow and the governor killed Philip Nank, [who fell] for the orthodox Christian faith, and they grabbed Prince Vladimir Yuryevich with their hands, and they killed people from an old man to a mere babe, and the city and holy churches and monasteries They burned everything and the villages and, seizing a lot of property, retreated. That same winter. [Prince] Yuri left Vladimir with a small retinue, leaving his sons Vsevolod and Mstislav in his place, and went to the Volga with his nephews, Vasilko, and Vsevolod, and Vladimir, and camped on the [river] City, waiting for his brother to come to him his Yaroslav with his regiments and Svyatoslav with his squad.

This is an article about the Mongol invasions of Rus' in 1237-1240. For the 1223 invasion, see Battle of the Kalka River. For later invasions, see List of Mongol-Tatar campaigns against Russian principalities.

Mongol invasion of Rus'- invasions of the troops of the Mongol Empire into the territories of the Russian principalities in 1237-1240. during the Western campaign of the Mongols ( Kipchak campaign) 1236-1242 under the leadership of Genghisid Batu and the military leader Subedei.

Background

For the first time, the task of reaching the city of Kyiv was set to Subedei by Genghis Khan in 1221: He sent Subeetai-Baatur on a campaign to the north, ordering him to reach eleven countries and peoples, such as: Kanlin, Kibchaut, Bachzhigit, Orosut, Machzharat, Asut, Sasut, Serkesut, Keshimir, Bolar, Rural (Lalat), to cross the high-water the rivers Idil and Ayakh, as well as reach the city of Kivamen-kermen When the united Russian-Polovtsian army suffered a crushing defeat in the battle on the Kalka River on May 31, 1223, the Mongols invaded the southern Russian border lands (the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary calls it the first Mongol invasion of Russia), but abandoned the plan to march on Kyiv, and then were defeated in Volga Bulgaria in 1224.

In 1228-1229, having ascended the throne, Ogedei sent a 30,000-strong corps to the west, led by Subedei and Kokoshay, against the Kipchaks and Volga Bulgars. In connection with these events, in 1229 the name of the Tatars reappears in Russian chronicles: “ Bulgarian watchmen came running from the Tatars near the river, whose name is Yaik"(and in 1232 Tatarov arrived and winter did not reach the Great Bulgarian City).

The “Secret Legend”, in relation to the period 1228-1229, reports that Ogedei

He sent Batu, Buri, Munke and many other princes on a campaign to help Subeetai, since Subeetai-Baatur encountered strong resistance from those peoples and cities whose conquest he was entrusted with under Genghis Khan, namely the peoples of Kanlin, Kibchaut, Bachzhigit, Orusut, Asut, Sesut, Machzhar, Keshimir, Sergesut, Bular, Kelet (the Chinese “History of the Mongols” adds ne-mi-sy) as well as cities beyond the high-water rivers Adil and Zhayakh, such as: Meketmen, Kermen-keibe and others...When the army is numerous, everyone will rise up and walk with their heads held high. There are many enemy countries there, and the people there are fierce. These are the kind of people who accept death in rage, throwing themselves on their own swords. Their swords, they say, are sharp.”

However, in 1231-1234 the Mongols waged a second war with Jin, and the movement to the west of the united forces of all uluses began immediately after the decision of the kurultai of 1235.

Gumilyov L.N. estimates the size of the Mongol army similarly (30-40 thousand people). In modern historical literature, another estimate of the total number of the Mongol army in the western campaign is dominant: 120-140 thousand soldiers, 150 thousand soldiers.

Initially, Ogedei himself planned to lead the Kipchak campaign, but Munke dissuaded him. In addition to Batu, the following Genghisids took part in the campaign: the sons of Jochi Orda-Ezhen, Shiban, Tangkut and Berke, the grandson of Chagatai Buri and the son of Chagatai Baydar, the sons of Ogedei Guyuk and Kadan, the sons of Tolui Munke and Buchek, the son of Genghis Khan Kulhan, the grandson of Genghis Khan's brother Argasun. The importance the Chingizids attached to the conquest of the Russians is evidenced by Ogedei’s monologue addressed to Guyuk, who was dissatisfied with Batu’s leadership.

The Vladimir chronicler reports in 1230: “ That same year, the Bulgarians bowed to Grand Duke Yuri, asking for peace for six years, and make peace with them" The desire for peace was supported by deeds: after the conclusion of peace in Rus', famine broke out as a result of a two-year crop failure, and the Bulgars brought ships with food to Russian cities free of charge. Under 1236: " The Tatars came to the Bulgarian land and took the glorious Great Bulgarian City, slaughtered everyone from old to young and even to the last child, and burned their city and captured all their land" Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich Vladimirsky accepted Bulgarian refugees on his land and resettled them in Russian cities. The Battle of the Kalka River showed that even the defeat of the combined forces in a general battle is a way to undermine the forces of the invaders and force them to abandon plans for a further offensive. But in 1236, Yuri Vsevolodovich Vladimirsky and his brother Yaroslav of Novgorod, who had the largest military potential in Rus' (under 1229 in the chronicle we read: “ and bowed to Yuri, who is his father and master"), did not send troops to help the Volga Bulgars, but used them to establish control over Kiev, thereby putting an end to the Chernigov-Smolensk struggle for it and taking into their own hands the reins of the traditional Kiev collection, which at the beginning of the 13th century was still recognized by all Russian princes . The political situation in Rus' in the period 1235-1237 was also determined by the victories of Yaroslav of Novgorod over the Order of the Sword in 1234 and Daniil Romanovich of Volyn over the Teutonic Order in 1237. Lithuania also acted against the Order of the Sword (Battle of Saul in 1236), resulting in its remnants uniting with the Teutonic Order.

First stage. North-Eastern Rus' (1237-1239)

Invasion 1237-1238

The fact that the Mongol attack on Rus' at the end of 1237 was not unexpected is evidenced by the letters and reports of the Hungarian missionary monk, Dominican Julian:

Many report as true, and the Prince of Suzdal conveyed verbally through me to the King of Hungary, that the Tatars are conferring day and night on how to come and seize the kingdom of the Christian Hungarians. For they, they say, have the intention to go to the conquest of Rome and further... Now, being on the borders of Rus', we have closely learned the real truth that the entire army going to the countries of the West is divided into four parts. One part near the Etil (Volga) river on the borders of Rus' from the eastern edge approached Suzdal. The other part in the southern direction was already attacking the borders of Ryazan, another Russian principality. The third part stopped opposite the Don River, near the Oveheruch castle, also a Russian principality. They, as the Russians themselves, the Hungarians and the Bulgarians who fled before them verbally conveyed to us, are waiting for the earth, rivers and swamps to freeze with the onset of the coming winter, after which it will be easy for the entire multitude of Tatars to plunder all of Rus', the entire Russian country.

The Mongols directed the main attack on the Ryazan principality (see Defense of Ryazan). Yuri Vsevolodovich sent a united army to help the Ryazan princes: his eldest son Vsevolod with all the people, the governor Eremey Glebovich, the forces retreating from Ryazan led by Roman Ingvarevich and the Novgorod regiments - but it was too late: Ryazan fell after a 6-day siege on December 21. The sent army managed to give the invaders a fierce battle near Kolomna (on the territory of Ryazan land), but was defeated.

The Mongols invaded the Vladimir-Suzdal principality. Yuri Vsevolodovich retreated to the north and began to gather an army for a new battle with the enemy, waiting for the regiment of his brothers Yaroslav (who was in Kiev) and Svyatoslav (before this, he was last mentioned in the chronicle in 1229 as a prince sent by Yuri to reign in Pereyaslavl-Yuzhny) . " Within the land of Suzdal"The Mongols were caught up by those returning from Chernigov" in a small squad“The Ryazan boyar Evpatiy Kolovrat, together with the remnants of the Ryazan troops and thanks to the surprise of the attack, was able to inflict significant losses on them (some editions of “The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu” tell about the solemn funeral of Evpatiy Kolovrat in the Ryazan Cathedral on January 11, 1238). On January 20, after 5 days of resistance, Moscow fell, which was defended by Yuri’s youngest son Vladimir and governor Philip Nyanka “ with a small army", Vladimir Yuryevich was captured and then killed in front of the walls of Vladimir. Vladimir himself was taken on February 7 after a five-day siege (see Defense of Vladimir), and the entire family of Yuri Vsevolodovich died. In addition to Vladimir, in February 1238, Suzdal, Yuryev-Polsky, Starodub-on-Klyazma, Gorodets, Kostroma, Galich-Mersky, Vologda, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Uglich, Kashin, Ksnyatin, Dmitrov and Volok Lamsky were taken, the most stubborn resistance except Moscow and Vladimir were supported by Pereyaslavl-Zalessky (taken by the Chingizids together in 5 days), Tver and Torzhok (defense of February 22 - March 5), which lay on the direct route of the main Mongol forces from Vladimir to Novgorod. One of the sons of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich died in Tver, whose name has not been preserved. The Volga region cities, whose defenders had gone with their princes Konstantinovich to Yuri on the Sit, were attacked by the secondary forces of the Mongols, led by Temnik Burundai. On March 4, 1238, they unexpectedly attacked the Russian army (see Battle of the City River) and were able to defeat it, however, they themselves “ suffered a great plague, and many of them fell" In the battle, Vsevolod Konstantinovich Yaroslavsky died along with Yuri, Vasilko Konstantinovich Rostovsky was captured (later killed), Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich and Vladimir Konstantinovich Uglitsky managed to escape.

Summing up the defeat of Yuri and the ruin of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, first Russian historian Tatishchev V.N. says that the losses of the Mongolian troops were many times greater than the losses of the Russians, but the Mongols made up for their losses at the expense of prisoners (prisoners covered their destruction), who at that time turned out to be more numerous than the Mongols themselves ( and especially the prisoners). In particular, the assault on Vladimir was launched only after one of the Mongol detachments that took Suzdal returned with many prisoners. However, eastern sources, which repeatedly mention the use of prisoners during the Mongol conquests in China and Central Asia, do not mention the use of prisoners for military purposes in Rus' and Central Europe.

After the capture of Torzhok on March 5, 1238, the main forces of the Mongols, having united with the remnants of Burundai’s army, did not reach 100 versts to Novgorod and turned back to the steppes (according to different versions, due to the spring thaw or due to high losses). On the way back, the Mongol army moved in two groups. The main group traveled 30 km east of Smolensk, stopping in the Dolgomostye area. The literary source - “The Tale of Mercury of Smolensk” - talks about the defeat and flight of the Mongol troops. Next, the main group went south, invaded the Chernigov principality and burned Vshchizh, located in close proximity to the central regions of the Chernigov-Seversky principality, but then turned sharply to the northeast and, bypassing the large cities of Bryansk and Karachev, besieged Kozelsk. The eastern group, led by Kadan and Buri, passed by Ryazan in the spring of 1238. The siege of Kozelsk dragged on for 7 weeks. In May 1238, the Mongols united near Kozelsk and took it during a three-day assault, suffering heavy losses both in equipment and in human resources during the attacks of the besieged.

Yaroslav Vsevolodovich was succeeded by Vladimir after his brother Yuri, and Kyiv was occupied by Mikhail of Chernigov, thus concentrating in his hands the Principality of Galicia, the Principality of Kiev and the Principality of Chernigov.

Invasions 1238-1239

At the end of 1238 - beginning of 1239, the Mongols led by Subedei, having suppressed the uprising in Volga Bulgaria and Mordovian land, again invaded Rus', ravaged the outskirts of Nizhny Novgorod, Gorokhovets, Gorodets, Murom, and Ryazan again. On March 3, 1239, a detachment under the command of Berke ravaged Pereyaslavl South.

The Lithuanian invasion of the Grand Duchy of Smolensk and the campaign of Galician troops against Lithuania with the participation of 12-year-old Rostislav Mikhailovich also date back to this period (taking advantage of the absence of the main Galician forces, Daniil Romanovich Volynsky captured Galich, establishing himself in it completely). Considering the death of the Vladimir army in the City at the beginning of 1238, this campaign played a certain role in the success of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich near Smolensk. In addition, when in the summer of 1240 the Swedish feudal lords, together with the Teutonic knights, launched an attack on Novgorod land, in the battle on the river. Neva, the son of Yaroslav, Alexander Novgorod, stops the Swedes with the forces of his squad, and the beginning of successful independent actions of the troops of North-Eastern Rus' after the invasion dates back only to the period 1242-1245 (Battle of the Ice and victories over the Lithuanians).

Second stage (1239-1240)

Principality of Chernigov

After the siege that began on October 18, 1239, using powerful siege technology, the Mongols captured Chernigov (an army led by Prince Mstislav Glebovich unsuccessfully tried to help the city). After the fall of Chernigov, the Mongols did not go north, but took up robbery and destruction in the east, along the Desna and Seim - archaeological studies showed that Lyubech (in the north) was untouched, but the towns of the principality bordering the Polovtsian steppe, such as Putivl, Glukhov, Vyr and Rylsk were destroyed and devastated. At the beginning of 1240, an army led by Munke reached the left bank of the Dnieper opposite Kyiv. An embassy was sent to the city with a proposal to surrender, but it was destroyed. The Kiev prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich left for Hungary in order to marry the daughter of King Bela IV Anna to his eldest son Rostislav (the wedding would take place only in 1244 to commemorate the alliance against Daniil of Galicia).

Daniil Galitsky captured in Kiev the Smolensk prince Rostislav Mstislavich, who was trying to take over the great reign, and put his thousandth Dmitry in the city, returned Mikhail’s wife (his sister), captured by Yaroslav on the way to Hungary, gave Mikhail Lutsk to feed (with the prospect of returning to Kyiv), his ally Izyaslav Vladimirovich Novgorod-Seversky - Kamenets.

Already in the spring of 1240, after the devastation of the Dnieper left bank by the Mongols, Ogedei decided to recall Munke and Guyuk from the western campaign.

The Laurentian Chronicle records in 1241 the murder of the Rylsky prince Mstislav by the Mongols (according to L. Voitovich, the son of Svyatoslav Olgovich Rylsky).

Southwestern Rus'

On September 5, 1240, the Mongol army led by Batu and other Chingizids besieged Kiev and only took it on November 19 (according to other sources, December 6; perhaps it was on December 6 that the last stronghold of the defenders, the Tithe Church, fell). Daniil Galitsky, who owned Kiev at that time, was in Hungary, trying - like Mikhail Vsevolodovich a year earlier - to conclude a dynastic marriage with the King of Hungary, Bela IV, and also unsuccessfully (the marriage of Lev Danilovich and Constance to commemorate the Galician-Hungarian union would take place only in 1247) . The defense of the “mother of Russian cities” was led by Dmitry Tysyatsky. The “Biography of Daniil Galitsky” says about Daniil:

Dmitry was captured. Ladyzhin and Kamenets were taken. The Mongols failed to take Kremenets. The capture of Vladimir-Volynsky was marked by an important event in internal Mongolian politics - Guyuk and Munke left Batu for Mongolia. The departure of the tumens of the most influential (after Batu) Chingizids undoubtedly reduced the strength of the Mongol army. In this regard, researchers believe that further movement to the west was undertaken by Batu on his own initiative.
Dmitry advised Batu to leave Galicia and go to the Ugrians without cooking:

The main forces of the Mongols, led by Baydar, invaded Poland, the rest led by Batu, Kadan and Subedei, taking Galich to Hungary in three days.

The Ipatiev Chronicle under 1241 mentions the princes of Ponizhye ( Bolokhovsky), who agreed to pay tribute to the Mongols in grain and thereby avoided the destruction of their lands, their campaign together with Prince Rostislav Mikhailovich against the city of Bakota and the successful punitive campaign of the Romanovichs; under 1243 - the campaign of two military leaders Batu against Volyn up to the city of Volodava in the middle reaches of the Western Bug.

Historical meaning

As a result of the invasion, about half of the population died. Kyiv, Vladimir, Suzdal, Ryazan, Tver, Chernigov, and many other cities were destroyed. The exceptions were Veliky Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk, as well as the cities of Polotsk and Turov-Pinsk principalities. The developed urban culture of Ancient Rus' was destroyed.

For several decades, stone construction practically ceased in Russian cities. Complex crafts, such as the production of glass jewelry, cloisonne enamel, niello, grain, and polychrome glazed ceramics, disappeared. “Rus was thrown back several centuries, and in those centuries, when the guild industry of the West was moving to the era of primitive accumulation, the Russian handicraft industry had to go back through part of the historical path that had been made before Batu.”

The southern Russian lands lost almost their entire settled population. The surviving population fled to the forested northeast, concentrating in the area between the Northern Volga and Oka rivers. There were poorer soils and a colder climate than in the completely devastated southern regions of Rus', and trade routes were under the control of the Mongols. In its socio-economic development, Rus' was significantly thrown back.

“Military historians also note the fact that the process of differentiation of functions between formations of riflemen and detachments of heavy cavalry, specializing in direct strikes with cold weapons, in Rus' stopped immediately after the invasion: there was a unification of these functions in the person of the same warrior - a feudal lord forced to shoot with a bow and fight with a spear and sword. Thus, the Russian army, even in its selected, purely feudal in composition part (princely squads), was thrown back a couple of centuries: progress in military affairs was always accompanied by the division of functions and their assignment to successively emerging branches of the military, their unification (or rather, reunification) is a clear sign of regression. Be that as it may, Russian chronicles of the 14th century do not contain even a hint of separate detachments of riflemen, similar to the Genoese crossbowmen, the English archers of the Hundred Years' War. This is understandable: such detachments of “dacha people” cannot be formed; professional shooters were required, that is, people separated from production who sold their art and blood for hard cash; Rus', thrown back economically, simply couldn’t afford mercenaries.”

Battle of Kalka.

At the beginning of the 13th century. There was a unification of the nomadic Mongol tribes, which began their campaigns of conquest. The tribal union was headed by Genghis Khan, a brilliant commander and politician. Under his leadership, the Mongols conquered Northern China, Central Asia, and steppe territories stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Caspian Sea.

The first clash between the Russian principalities and the Mongols occurred in 1223, during which a Mongol reconnaissance detachment descended from the southern slopes of the Caucasus mountains and invaded the Polovtsian steppes. The Polovtsians turned to the Russian princes for help. Several princes responded to this call. The Russian-Polovtsian army met the Mongols on the Kalka River on May 31, 1223. In the ensuing battle, the Russian princes acted uncoordinatedly, and part of the army did not participate in the battle at all. As for the Polovtsians, they could not withstand the onslaught of the Mongols and fled. As a result of the battle, the Russian-Polovtsian army was completely defeated, the Russian squads suffered heavy losses: only every tenth warrior returned home. But the Mongols did not invade Rus'. They turned back to the Mongolian steppes.

Reasons for the Mongol victories

The main reason for the victories of the Mongols was the superiority of their army, which was well organized and trained. The Mongols managed to create the best army in the world, which maintained strict discipline. The Mongol army consisted almost entirely of cavalry, so it was maneuverable and could cover very long distances. The Mongol's main weapon was a powerful bow and several quivers of arrows. The enemy was fired at from a distance, and only then, if necessary, selected units entered the battle. The Mongols made extensive use of military techniques such as feinting, flanking, and encirclement.

Siege weapons were borrowed from China, with which the conquerors could capture large fortresses. Conquered peoples often provided military contingents to the Mongols. The Mongols attached great importance to reconnaissance. An order was emerging in which, before the proposed military actions, spies and intelligence officers penetrated into the country of the future enemy.

The Mongols quickly dealt with any disobedience, brutally suppressing any attempts at resistance. Using the policy of “divide and rule,” they sought to fragment the enemy forces in the conquered states. It was thanks to this strategy that they managed to maintain their influence in the occupied lands for a fairly long period of time.

Batu's campaigns in Rus'

Batu's invasion of North-Eastern Rus' (Batu's 1st campaign)

In 1236, the Mongols undertook a grandiose campaign to the west. The army was led by the grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu Khan. Having defeated Volga Bulgaria, the Mongol army approached the borders of North-Eastern Rus'. In the fall of 1237, the conquerors invaded the Ryazan principality.

The Russian princes did not want to unite in the face of a new and formidable enemy. The Ryazan people, left alone, were defeated in a border battle, and after a five-day siege, the Mongols took the city itself by storm.

Then the Mongol army invaded the Principality of Vladimir, where it was met by the Grand Duke's squad under the leadership of the son of the Grand Duke. In the battle of Kolomna, the Russian army was defeated. Taking advantage of the confusion of the Russian princes in the face of impending danger, the Mongols successively captured Moscow, Suzdal, Rostov, Tver, Vladimir and other cities.

In March 1238, a battle took place on the Sit River between the Mongols and the Russian army, gathered throughout North-Eastern Rus'. The Mongols won a decisive victory, killing the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri in battle.

Then the conquerors headed towards Novgorod, but, fearing to get stuck in the spring thaw, they turned back. On the way back, the Mongols took Kursk and Kozelsk. Kozelsk, called the “Evil City” by the Mongols, offered especially fierce resistance.

Batu's campaign against Southern Rus' (Batu's 2nd campaign)

During 1238 -1239 The Mongols fought with the Polovtsians, after whose conquest they set off on a second campaign against Rus'. The main forces here were sent to Southern Rus'; In North-Eastern Rus', the Mongols captured only the city of Murom.

The political fragmentation of the Russian principalities helped the Mongols quickly seize the southern lands. The capture of Pereyaslavl and Chernigov was followed by the fall of the ancient Russian capital, Kyiv, on December 6, 1240, after fierce fighting. Then the conquerors moved to the Galicia-Volyn land.

After the defeat of Southern Rus', the Mongols invaded Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and reached Croatia. Despite his victories, Batu was forced to stop, since he did not receive reinforcements, and in 1242 he completely recalled his troops from these countries.

In Western Europe, which was awaiting imminent ruin, this was perceived as a miracle. The main reason for the miracle was the stubborn resistance of the Russian lands and the damage suffered by Batu’s army during the campaign.

Establishment of the Tatar-Mongol yoke

After returning from the western campaign, Batu Khan founded a new capital in the lower reaches of the Volga. The state of Batu and his successors, covering lands from Western Siberia to Eastern Europe, was called the Golden Horde. All the surviving Russian princes who were at the head of the devastated lands were summoned here in 1243. From the hands of Batu they received labels - letters of authorization for the right to govern one or another principality. So Rus' fell under the yoke of the Golden Horde.

The Mongols established an annual tribute - “exit”. Initially the tribute was not fixed. Its supply was monitored by tax farmers, who often simply robbed the population. This practice caused discontent and unrest in Rus', so in order to fix the exact amount of tribute, the Mongols conducted a population census.

The collection of tribute was monitored by the Baskaks, supported by punitive detachments.

The great devastation caused by Batu, subsequent punitive expeditions, and heavy tribute led to a protracted economic crisis and the decline of the Russian land. During the first 50 years of the yoke, there was not a single city in the principalities of North-Eastern Rus', a number of crafts disappeared in other places, serious demographic changes occurred, the area of ​​settlement of the Old Russian people decreased, and the strong Old Russian principalities fell into decay.

Lecture 10.

The struggle of the peoples of North-Western Rus' against the aggression of Swedish and German feudal lords.

Simultaneously with the Tatar-Mongol invasion of the Russian people in the 13th century. had to wage a fierce fight against the German and Swedish invaders. The lands of Northern Rus' and, in particular, Novgorod attracted invaders. They were not ruined by Batu, and Novgorod was famous for its wealth, since the most important trade route connecting Northern Europe with the countries of the East passed through it.

XIV. MONGOL-TATARS. – GOLDEN HORDE

(continuation)

The rise of the Mongol-Tatar Empire. – Batu’s campaign against Eastern Europe. – Military structure of the Tatars. - Invasion of Ryazan land. - Devastation of Suzdal land and the capital city. – Defeat and death of Yuri II. – Reverse movement to the steppe and the ruin of Southern Rus'. - Fall of Kyiv. – Trip to Poland and Hungary.

For the invasion of the Tatars into Northern Rus', the Lavrentievsky (Suzdal) and Novgorod chronicles are used, and for the invasion of Southern Russia - the Ipatievsky (Volynsky). The latter is told in a very incomplete manner; so we have the most scant news about the actions of the Tatars in the Kyiv, Volyn and Galician lands. We find some details in later vaults, Voskresensky, Tverskoy and Nikonovsky. In addition, there was a special legend about Batu’s invasion of Ryazan land; but published in Vremennik Ob. I. and Dr. No. 15. (About him, in general about the devastation of the Ryazan land, see my “History of the Ryazan Principality,” Chapter IV.) Rashid Eddin’s news about Batu’s campaigns was translated by Berezin and supplemented with notes (Journal of M.N. Pr. 1855. No. 5 ). G. Berezin also developed the idea of ​​the Tatar method of operating by raid.

For the Tatar invasion of Poland and Hungary, see the Polish-Latin chronicles of Bogufal and Dlugosz. Ropel Geschichte Polens. I. Th. Palatsky D jiny narodu c "eskeho I. His Einfal der Mongolen. Prag. 1842. Mailata Ceschichte der Magyaren. I. Hammer-Purgstal Geschichte der Goldenen Horde. Wolf in his Geschichte der Mongolen oder Tataren, by the way (chap. VI) , critically reviews the stories of the named historians about the Mongol invasion; in particular tries to refute Palacki’s presentation in relation to the modus operandi of the Czech king Wenzel, as well as in relation to the well-known legend about the victory of Jaroslav Sternberk over the Tatars at Olomouc.

Mongol-Tatar Empire after Genghis Khan

Meanwhile, a menacing cloud moved in from the east, from Asia. Genghis Khan assigned the Kipchak and the entire side to the north and west of the Aral-Caspian to his eldest son Jochi, who was to complete the conquest of this side begun by Jebe and Subudai. But the attention of the Mongols was still diverted by the stubborn struggle in eastern Asia with two strong kingdoms: the Niuchi empire and the neighboring Tangut power. These wars delayed the defeat of Eastern Europe for more than ten years. Moreover, Jochi died; and he was soon followed by Temujin [Genghis Khan] himself (1227), having managed to personally destroy the Tangut kingdom before his death. Three sons survived after him: Jagatai, Ogodai and Tului. He appointed Ogodai as his successor, or supreme khan, as the most intelligent among the brothers; Jagatai was given Bukharia and eastern Turkestan, Tula - Iran and Persia; and Kipchak was to come into the possession of the sons of Jochi. Temujin bequeathed to his descendants to continue the conquests and even outlined a general plan of action for them. The Great Kurultai, assembled in his homeland, that is, on the banks of Kerulen, confirmed his orders. Ogodai, who was still in charge of the Chinese War under his father, tirelessly continued this war until he completely destroyed the Niuchi empire and established his rule there (1234). Only then did he turn his attention to other countries and, among other things, began to prepare a great campaign against Eastern Europe.

During this time, the Tatar temniks, who commanded the Caspian countries, did not remain inactive; and tried to keep the nomads subdued by Jebe Subudai in subjection. In 1228, according to the Russian chronicle, “from below” (from the Volga) the Saksins (a tribe unknown to us) and Polovtsi, pressed by the Tatars, ran into the borders of the Bulgarians; The Bulgarian guard detachments they had defeated also came running from the country of Priyaitskaya. Around the same time, in all likelihood, the Bashkirs, fellow tribesmen of the Ugrians, were conquered. Three years later, the Tatars undertook a reconnaissance campaign deep into Kama Bulgaria and spent the winter there somewhere short of the Great City. The Polovtsians, for their part, apparently took advantage of the circumstances to defend their independence with weapons. At least their main khan Kotyan later, when he sought refuge in Ugria, told the Ugric king that he had defeated the Tatars twice.

Beginning of Batu's invasion

Having put an end to the Niuchi Empire, Ogodai moved the main forces of the Mongol-Tatars to conquer Southern China, Northern India and the rest of Iran; and for the conquest of Eastern Europe he allocated 300,000, the leadership of which he entrusted to his young nephew Batu, the son of Dzhuchiev, who had already distinguished himself in the Asian wars. His uncle appointed the famous Subudai-Bagadur as his leader, who, after the Kalka victory, together with Ogodai, completed the conquest of Northern China. The Great Khan gave Batu and other proven commanders, including Burundai. Many young Genghisids also took part in this campaign, by the way, the son of Ogodai Gayuk and the son of Tului Mengu, the future successors of the Great Khan. From the upper reaches of the Irtysh, the horde moved westward, along the nomadic camps of various Turkish hordes, gradually annexing significant parts of them; so that at least half a million warriors crossed the Yaik River. One of the Muslim historians, speaking about this campaign, adds: “The earth groaned from the multitude of warriors; wild animals and night birds went mad from the enormity of the army.” It was no longer the selected cavalry that launched the first raid and fought on Kalka; now a huge horde with its families, wagons and herds was slowly moving. She constantly migrated, stopping where she found sufficient pasture for her horses and other livestock. Having entered the Volga steppes, Batu himself continued to move to the lands of the Mordovians and Polovtsians; and to the north he separated part of the troops with Subudai-Bagadur for the conquest of Kama Bulgaria, which the latter accomplished in the fall of 1236. This conquest, according to Tatar custom, was accompanied by a terrible devastation of the land and the massacre of the inhabitants; by the way, the Great City was taken and set on fire.

Khan Batu. Chinese drawing from the 14th century

By all indications, Batu’s movement was carried out according to a premeditated method of action, based on preliminary intelligence about those lands and peoples that it was decided to conquer. At least this can be said about the winter campaign in Northern Rus'. Obviously, the Tatar military leaders already had accurate information about what time of year is most favorable for military operations in this wooded area, replete with rivers and swamps; among them, the movement of the Tatar cavalry would be very difficult at any other time, with the exception of winter, when all the waters are covered with ice, strong enough to endure horse hordes.

Military organization of the Mongol-Tatars

Only the invention of European firearms and the establishment of large standing armies brought about a revolution in the attitude of sedentary and agricultural peoples to nomadic and pastoral peoples. Before this invention, the advantage in the fight was often on the side of the latter; which is very natural. Nomadic hordes are almost always on the move; their parts always more or less stick together and act as a dense mass. Nomads have no differences in occupations and habits; they are all warriors. If the will of an energetic khan or circumstances united a large number of hordes into one mass and directed them towards sedentary neighbors, then it was difficult for the latter to successfully resist the destructive impulse, especially where the nature was flat. The agricultural people, scattered throughout their country, accustomed to peaceful occupations, could not soon gather into a large militia; and even this militia, if it managed to set out on time, was far inferior to its opponents in speed of movement, in the habit of wielding weapons, in the ability to act in harmony and onslaught, in military experience and resourcefulness, as well as in a warlike spirit.

The Mongol-Tatars possessed all such qualities to a high degree when they came to Europe. Temujin [Genghis Khan] gave them the main weapon of conquest: unity of power and will. While nomadic peoples are divided into special hordes, or clans, the power of their khans, of course, has the patriarchal character of the ancestor and is far from unlimited. But when, by force of arms, one person subjugates entire tribes and peoples, then, naturally, he rises to a height unattainable for a mere mortal. Old customs still live among these people and seem to limit the power of the Supreme Khan; The guardians of such customs among the Mongols are kurultai and noble influential families; but in the hands of the clever, energetic khan many resources have already been concentrated to become a limitless despot. Having imparted unity to the nomadic hordes, Temujin further strengthened their power by introducing a uniform and well-adapted military organization. The troops deployed by these hordes were organized on the basis of strictly decimal division. The tens united into hundreds, the latter into thousands, with tens, hundreds and thousands at the head. Ten thousand made up the largest department called “fogs” and were under the command of the temnik. The place of the previous more or less free relations with the leaders was replaced by strict military discipline. Disobedience or premature removal from the battlefield was punishable by death. In case of indignation, not only the participants were executed, but their entire family was condemned to extermination. The so-called Yasa (a kind of code of laws) published by Temuchin, although it was based on old Mongol customs, significantly increased their severity in relation to various actions and was truly draconian or bloody in nature.

The continuous and long series of wars started by Temujin developed among the Mongols strategic and tactical techniques that were remarkable for that time, i.e. generally the art of war. Where terrain and circumstances did not interfere, the Mongols operated in enemy soil by round-up, in which they are especially accustomed; since in this way the Khan usually hunted wild animals. The hordes were divided into parts, marched in encirclement and then approached the pre-designated main point, devastating the country with fire and sword, taking prisoners and all kinds of booty. Thanks to their steppe, short, but strong horses, the Mongols were able to make unusually fast and long marches without rest, without stopping. Their horses were hardened and accustomed to endure hunger and thirst just like their riders. Moreover, the latter usually had several spare horses with them on campaigns, which they transferred to as needed. Their enemies were often amazed by the appearance of barbarians at a time when they considered them to be still far away from them. Thanks to such cavalry, the Mongols' reconnaissance unit was at a remarkable stage of development. Any movement of the main forces was preceded by small detachments, scattered in front and on the sides, as if in a fan; Observation detachments also followed behind; so that the main forces were secured against any chance or surprise.

Regarding weapons, although the Mongols had spears and curved sabers, they were predominantly riflemen (some sources, for example, Armenian chroniclers, call them “the people of riflemen”); They used bows with such strength and skill that their long arrows, tipped with an iron tip, pierced hard shells. Usually the Mongols first tried to weaken and frustrate the enemy with a cloud of arrows, and then rushed at him hand-to-hand. If at the same time they met a courageous resistance, they turned to feigned flight; As soon as the enemy began to pursue them and thereby upset their battle formation, they deftly turned their horses and again made a united attack from all sides, if possible. They were covered with shields woven from reeds and covered with leather, helmets and armor, also made of thick leather, some even covered with iron scales. In addition, wars with more educated and rich peoples brought them a considerable amount of iron chain mail, helmets and all kinds of weapons, which their commanders and noble people wore. The tails of horses and wild buffalos fluttered on the banners of their leaders. The commanders usually did not enter the battle themselves and did not risk their lives (which could cause confusion), but controlled the battle, being somewhere on a hill, surrounded by their neighbors, servants and wives, of course, all on horseback.

The nomadic cavalry, having a decisive advantage over sedentary peoples in the open field, however, encountered an important obstacle in the form of well-fortified cities. But the Mongols were already accustomed to dealing with this obstacle, having learned the art of taking cities in the Chinese and Khovarezm empires. They also started up battering machines. They usually surrounded a besieged city with a rampart; and where the forest was at hand, they fenced it off with a tine, thus stopping the very possibility of communication between the city and the surrounding area. Then they set up battering machines, from which they threw large stones and logs, and sometimes incendiary substances; in this way they caused fire and destruction in the city; They showered the defenders with a cloud of arrows or put up ladders and climbed onto the walls. In order to tire out the garrison, they carried out attacks continuously day and night, for which fresh detachments constantly alternated with each other. If the barbarians learned to take large Asian cities, fortified with stone and clay walls, the easier they could destroy or burn the wooden walls of Russian cities. Crossing large rivers did not make it particularly difficult for the Mongols. For this purpose they used large leather bags; they were stuffed tightly with clothes and other light things, tied tightly and tied to the tail of the horses, and thus transported. One Persian historian of the 13th century, describing the Mongols, says: “They had the courage of a lion, the patience of a dog, the foresight of a crane, the cunning of a fox, the farsightedness of a crow, the rapacity of a wolf, the battle heat of a rooster, the care of a hen for its neighbors, the sensitivity of a cat and the violence of a boar when attacked.” .

Rus' before the Mongol-Tatar invasion

What could ancient, fragmented Rus' oppose to this enormous concentrated force?

The fight against nomads of Turkish-Tatar origin was already a familiar thing for her. After the first onslaughts of both the Pechenegs and the Polovtsians, fragmented Rus' then gradually became accustomed to these enemies and gained the upper hand over them. However, she did not have time to throw them back to Asia or to subjugate them and return to their former borders; although these nomads were also fragmented and also did not submit to one power, one will. What a disparity in strength there was with the menacing Mongol-Tatar cloud now approaching!

In military courage and combat courage, the Russian squads, of course, were not inferior to the Mongol-Tatars; and they were undoubtedly superior in bodily strength. Moreover, Rus' was undoubtedly better armed; its complete armament of that time was not much different from the armament of the German and Western European armaments in general. Among her neighbors she was even famous for her fighting. Thus, regarding Daniil Romanovich’s campaign to help Konrad of Mazovia against Vladislav the Old in 1229, the Volyn chronicler notes that Konrad “loved Russian battle” and relied on Russian help more than on his Poles. But the princely squads that made up the military class of Ancient Rus' were too few in number to repel the new enemies now pressing from the east; and the common people, if necessary, were recruited into the militia directly from the plow or from their crafts, and although they were distinguished by the stamina common to the entire Russian tribe, they did not have much skill in wielding weapons or making friendly, quick movements. One can, of course, blame our old princes for not understanding all the dangers and all the disasters that were then threatening from new enemies, and not joining their forces for a united rebuff. But, on the other hand, we must not forget that where there was a long period of all kinds of disunity, rivalry and the development of regional isolation, no human will, no genius could bring about a rapid unification and concentration of popular forces. Such a benefit can only be achieved through the long and constant efforts of entire generations under circumstances that awaken in the people the consciousness of their national unity and the desire for their concentration. Ancient Rus' did what was in its means and methods. Every land, almost every significant city bravely met the barbarians and desperately defended themselves, hardly having any hope of winning. It couldn't be otherwise. A great historical people does not yield to an external enemy without courageous resistance, even under the most unfavorable circumstances.

Invasion of the Mongol-Tatars into the Ryazan Principality

At the beginning of the winter of 1237, the Tatars passed through the Mordovian forests and camped on the banks of some river Onuza. From here Batu sent to the Ryazan princes, according to the chronicle, a “sorceress wife” (probably a shaman) and with her two husbands, who demanded from the princes part of their estate in people and horses.

The eldest prince, Yuri Igorevich, hastened to convene his relatives, the appanage princes of Ryazan, Pron and Murom, to the Diet. In the first impulse of courage, the princes decided to defend themselves, and gave a noble answer to the ambassadors: “When we do not survive, then everything will be yours.” From Ryazan, Tatar ambassadors went to Vladimir with the same demands. Seeing that the Ryazan forces were too insignificant to fight the Mongols, Yuri Igorevich ordered this: he sent one of his nephews to the Grand Duke of Vladimir with a request to unite against common enemies; and sent another with the same request to Chernigov. Then the united Ryazan militia moved to the shores of Voronezh to meet the enemy; but avoided battle while waiting for help. Yuri tried to resort to negotiations and sent his only son Theodore at the head of a ceremonial embassy to Batu with gifts and a plea not to fight the Ryazan land. All these orders were unsuccessful. Theodore died in the Tatar camp: according to legend, he refused Batu’s demand to bring him his beautiful wife Eupraxia and was killed on his orders. Help didn't come from anywhere. The princes of Chernigovo-Seversky refused to come on the grounds that the Ryazan princes were not on Kalka when they were also asked for help; probably the Chernigov residents thought that the thunderstorm would not reach them or was still very far from them. And the slow Yuri Vsevolodovich Vladimirsky hesitated and was just as late with his help, as in the Kalka massacre. Seeing the impossibility of fighting the Tatars in an open field, the Ryazan princes hastened to retreat and took refuge with their squads behind the fortifications of the cities.

Following them, hordes of barbarians poured into the Ryazan land, and, according to their custom, engulfing it in a wide raid, began to burn, destroy, rob, beat, captivate, and commit desecration of women. There is no need to describe all the horrors of ruin. Suffice it to say that many villages and cities were completely wiped off the face of the earth; some of their famous names are no longer found in history after that. By the way, a century and a half later, travelers sailing along the upper reaches of the Don saw only ruins and deserted places on its hilly banks where once flourishing cities and villages stood. The devastation of the Ryazan land was carried out with particular ferocity and mercilessness also because it was in this regard the first Russian region: the barbarians came to it, full of wild, unbridled energy, not yet satiated with Russian blood, not tired of destruction, not reduced in number after countless battles. On December 16, the Tatars surrounded the capital city of Ryazan and surrounded it with a tyn. The squad and citizens, encouraged by the prince, repelled the attacks for five days. They stood on the walls, without changing their positions and without letting go of their weapons; Finally they began to grow exhausted, while the enemy constantly acted with fresh forces. On the sixth day the Tatars made a general attack; They threw fire on the roofs, smashed the walls with logs from their battering guns and finally broke into the city. The usual beating of residents followed. Among those killed was Yuri Igorevich. His wife and her relatives sought salvation in vain in the cathedral church of Boris and Gleb. What could not be plundered became a victim of the flames. Ryazan legends decorate the stories about these disasters with some poetic details. So, Princess Eupraxia, hearing about the death of her husband Feodor Yuryevich, threw herself from the high tower together with her little son to the ground and killed herself to death. And one of the Ryazan boyars named Evpatiy Kolovrat was on Chernigov land when the news of the Tatar pogrom came to him. He hurries to his fatherland, sees the ashes of his native city and is inflamed with a thirst for revenge. Having gathered 1,700 warriors, Evpatiy attacks the rear detachments of the Tatars, overthrows their hero Tavrul and finally, suppressed by the crowd, perishes with all his comrades. Batu and his soldiers are surprised at the extraordinary courage of the Ryazan knight. (The people, of course, consoled themselves with such stories in past disasters and defeats.) But along with examples of valor and love for the homeland, among the Ryazan boyars there were examples of betrayal and cowardice. The same legends point to a boyar who betrayed his homeland and handed himself over to his enemies. In each country, Tatar military leaders knew how to first of all find traitors; especially those were among the people captured, frightened by threats or seduced by caresses. From noble and ignorant traitors, the Tatars learned everything they needed about the state of the land, its weaknesses, the properties of the rulers, etc. These traitors also served as the best guides for the barbarians when moving into countries hitherto unknown to them.

Tatar invasion of Suzdal land

Capture of Vladimir by the Mongol-Tatars. Russian chronicle miniature

From the Ryazan land the barbarians moved to Suzdal, again in the same murderous order, sweeping this land in a raid. Their main forces went the usual Suzdal-Ryazan route to Kolomna and Moscow. Just then they were met by the Suzdal army, going to the aid of the Ryazan people, under the command of the young prince Vsevolod Yuryevich and the old governor Eremey Glebovich. Near Kolomna, the grand ducal army was completely defeated; Vsevolod escaped with the remnants of the Vladimir squad; and Eremey Glebovich fell in battle. Kolomna was taken and destroyed. Then the barbarians burned Moscow, the first Suzdal city on this side. Another son of the Grand Duke, Vladimir, and the governor Philip Nyanka were in charge here. The latter also fell in battle, and the young prince was captured. With how quickly the barbarians acted during their invasion, with the same slowness military gatherings took place in Northern Rus' at that time. With modern weapons, Yuri Vsevolodovich could put all the forces of Suzdal and Novgorod in the field in conjunction with the Murom-Ryazan forces. There would be enough time for these preparations. For more than a year, fugitives from Kama Bulgaria found refuge with him, bringing news of the devastation of their land and the movement of the terrible Tatar hordes. But instead of modern preparations, we see that the barbarians were already moving towards the capital itself, when Yuri, having lost the best part of the army, defeated piecemeal, went further north to gather the zemstvo army and call for help from his brothers. In the capital, the Grand Duke left his sons, Vsevolod and Mstislav, with the governor Peter Oslyadyukovich; and he drove off with a small squad. On the way, he annexed three nephews of the Konstantinovichs, appanage princes of Rostov, with their militia. With the army that he managed to gather, Yuri settled down beyond the Volga almost on the border of his possessions, on the banks of the City, the right tributary of the Mologa, where he began to wait for the brothers, Svyatoslav Yuryevsky and Yaroslav Pereyaslavsky. The first one actually managed to come to him; but the second one did not appear; Yes, he could hardly have appeared on time: we know that at that time he occupied the great Kiev table.

At the beginning of February, the main Tatar army surrounded the capital Vladimir. A crowd of barbarians approached the Golden Gate; the citizens greeted them with arrows. "Do not shoot!" - the Tatars shouted. Several horsemen rode up to the very gate with the prisoner and asked: “Do you recognize your prince Vladimir?” Vsevolod and Mstislav, standing on the Golden Gate, together with those around them, immediately recognized their brother, captured in Moscow, and were struck with grief at the sight of his pale, sad face. They were eager to free him, and only the old governor Pyotr Oslyadyukovich kept them from a useless desperate sortie. Having located their main camp opposite the Golden Gate, the barbarians cut down trees in the neighboring groves and surrounded the entire city with a fence; then they installed their “vices”, or battering machines, and began to destroy the fortifications. The princes, princesses and some boyars, no longer hoping for salvation, accepted monastic vows from Bishop Mitrofan and prepared for death. On February 8, the day of the martyr Theodore Stratilates, the Tatars made a decisive attack. Following a sign, or brushwood thrown into the ditch, they climbed onto the city rampart at the Golden Gate and entered the new, or outer, city. At the same time, from the side of Lybid they broke into it through the Copper and Irininsky gates, and from Klyazma - through the Volzhsky. The outer city was taken and set on fire. Princes Vsevolod and Mstislav with their retinue retired to the Pecherny city, i.e. to the Kremlin. And Bishop Mitrofan with the Grand Duchess, her daughters, daughters-in-law, grandchildren and many noblewomen locked themselves in the cathedral church of the Mother of God in the tents, or choirs. When the remnants of the squad with both princes died and the Kremlin was taken, the Tatars broke down the doors of the cathedral church, plundered it, took away expensive vessels, crosses, vestments on icons, frames on books; then they dragged the forest into the church and around the church, and lit it. The bishop and the entire princely family, hiding in the choir, died in smoke and flames. Other churches and monasteries in Vladimir were also plundered and partly burned; many residents were beaten.

Already during the siege of Vladimir, the Tatars took and burned Suzdal. Then their detachments scattered throughout the Suzdal land. Some went north, took Yaroslavl and captured the Volga region all the way to Galich Mersky; others plundered Yuryev, Dmitrov, Pereyaslavl, Rostov, Volokolamsk, Tver; During February, up to 14 cities were taken, in addition to many “settlements and churchyards.”

Battle of the City River

Meanwhile, Georgy [Yuri] Vsevolodovich still stood on the City and waited for his brother Yaroslav. Then terrible news came to him about the destruction of the capital and the death of the princely family, about the capture of other cities and the approach of Tatar hordes. He sent a detachment of three thousand for reconnaissance. But the scouts soon came running back with the news that the Tatars were already bypassing the Russian army. As soon as the Grand Duke, his brothers Ivan and Svyatoslav and nephews mounted their horses and began to organize regiments, the Tatars, led by Burundai, attacked Rus' from different sides, on March 4, 1238. The battle was brutal; but the majority of the Russian army, recruited from farmers and artisans unaccustomed to battle, soon mixed up and fled. Here Georgy Vsevolodovich himself fell; his brothers fled, his nephews also, with the exception of the eldest, Vasilko Konstantinovich of Rostov. He was captured. The Tatar military leaders persuaded him to accept their customs and fight the Russian land together with them. The prince firmly refused to be a traitor. The Tatars killed him and threw him into some Sherensky forest, near which they temporarily camped. The northern chronicler showers Vasilko with praise on this occasion; says that he was handsome in face, intelligent, courageous and very kind-hearted (“he is light at heart”). “Whoever served him, ate his bread and drank his cup, could no longer be in the service of another prince,” the chronicler adds. Bishop Kirill of Rostov, who escaped during the invasion of the remote city of his diocese, Belozersk, returned and found the body of the Grand Duke, deprived of his head; then he took Vasilko’s body, brought it to Rostov and laid it in the cathedral church of the Mother of God. Subsequently, they also found the head of George and placed him in his coffin.

Batu's movement to Novgorod

While one part of the Tatars was moving to Sit against the Grand Duke, the other reached the Novgorod suburb of Torzhok and besieged it. The citizens, led by their mayor Ivank, courageously defended themselves; For two whole weeks the barbarians shook the walls with their guns and made constant attacks. The novotors waited in vain for help from Novgorod; at last they were exhausted; On March 5, the Tatars took the city and terribly devastated it. From here their hordes moved further and went to Veliky Novgorod along the famous Seliger route, devastating the country right and left. They had already reached the “Ignach-cross” (Kresttsy?) and were only a hundred miles from Novgorod, when they suddenly turned south. This sudden retreat, however, was very natural under the circumstances of that time. Having grown up on the high planes and mountain plains of Central Asia, characterized by a harsh climate and variable weather, the Mongol-Tatars were accustomed to cold and snow and could quite easily endure the Northern Russian winter. But also accustomed to a dry climate, they were afraid of dampness and soon fell ill from it; their horses, for all their hardiness, after the dry steppes of Asia, also had difficulty withstanding swampy countries and wet food. Spring was approaching in Northern Russia with all its predecessors, i.e. melting snow and overflowing rivers and swamps. Along with disease and horse death, a terrible thaw threatened; the hordes caught by it could find themselves in a very difficult situation; the beginning of the thaw could clearly show them what awaited them. Perhaps they also found out about the preparations of the Novgorodians for a desperate defense; the siege could be delayed for several more weeks. There is, in addition, an opinion, not without probability, that there was a raid here, and Batu recently found it inconvenient to make a new one.

Temporary retreat of the Mongol-Tatars to the Polovtsian steppe

During the return movement to the steppe, the Tatars devastated the eastern part of the Smolensk land and the Vyatichi region. Of the cities they devastated at the same time, the chronicles mention only one Kozelsk, due to its heroic defense. The appanage prince here was one of the Chernigov Olgovichs, young Vasily. His warriors, together with the citizens, decided to defend themselves to the last man and did not give in to any flattering persuasion of the barbarians.

Batu, according to the chronicle, stood near this city for seven weeks and lost many killed. Finally, the Tatars smashed the wall with their cars and burst into the city; Even here the citizens continued to desperately defend themselves and cut themselves with knives until they were all beaten, and their young prince seemed to have drowned in blood. For such defense, the Tatars, as usual, nicknamed Kozelsk “the evil city.” Then Batu completed the enslavement of the Polovtsian hordes. Their main khan, Kotyan, with part of the people, retired to Hungary, and there he received land for settlement from King Bela IV, under the condition of the baptism of the Polovtsians. Those who remained in the steppes had to unconditionally submit to the Mongols and increase their hordes. From the Polovtsian steppes, Batu sent out detachments, on the one hand, to conquer the Azov and Caucasian countries, and on the other, to enslave Chernigov-Northern Rus'. By the way, the Tatars took Southern Pereyaslavl, plundered and destroyed the cathedral church of Michael there and killed Bishop Simeon. Then they went to Chernigov. Mstislav Glebovich Rylsky, Mikhail Vsevolodovich’s cousin, came to the aid of the latter and courageously defended the city. The Tatars placed throwing weapons from the walls at a distance of one and a half arrow flights and threw such stones that four people could hardly lift them. Chernigov was taken, plundered and burned. Bishop Porfiry, who was captured, was left alive and released. In the winter of the following 1239, Batu sent troops north to complete the conquest of the Mordovian land. From here they went to the Murom region and burned Murom. Then they fought again on the Volga and Klyazma; on the first they took Gorodets Radilov, and on the second - the city of Gorokhovets, which, as you know, was the possession of the Assumption Cathedral of Vladimir. This new invasion caused a terrible commotion throughout the entire Suzdal land. The residents who survived the previous pogrom abandoned their homes and ran wherever they could; mostly fled to the forests.

Mongol-Tatar invasion of Southern Rus'

Having finished with the strongest part of Rus', i.e. with the great reign of Vladimir, having rested in the steppe and fattened their horses, the Tatars now turned to Southwestern, Trans-Dnieper Rus', and from here they decided to go further to Hungary and Poland.

Already during the devastation of Pereyaslavl Russky and Chernigov, one of the Tatar detachments, led by Batu’s cousin, Mengu Khan, approached Kyiv to scout out its position and means of defense. Stopping on the left side of the Dnieper, in the town of Pesochny, Mengu, according to the legend of our chronicle, admired the beauty and grandeur of the ancient Russian capital, which picturesquely rose on the coastal hills, shining with white walls and gilded domes of its temples. The Mongol prince tried to persuade the citizens to surrender; but they did not want to hear about her and even killed the messengers. At that time, Kiev was owned by Mikhail Vsevolodovich Chernigovsky. Although Menggu left; but there was no doubt that he would return with greater forces. Mikhail did not consider it convenient for himself to wait for the Tatar thunderstorm, he cowardly left Kyiv and retired to Ugria. Soon afterwards the capital city passed into the hands of Daniil Romanovich of Volyn and Galitsky. However, this famous prince, with all his courage and the vastness of his possessions, did not appear for the personal defense of Kyiv from the barbarians, but entrusted it to the thousandth Demetrius.

In the winter of 1240, a countless Tatar force crossed the Dnieper, surrounded Kyiv and fenced it off with a fence. Batu himself was there with his brothers, relatives and cousins, as well as his best commanders Subudai-Bagadur and Burundai. The Russian chronicler clearly depicts the enormity of the Tatar hordes, saying that the inhabitants of the city could not hear each other due to the creaking of their carts, the roar of camels and the neighing of horses. The Tatars directed their main attacks on that part that had the least strong position, i.e. to the western side, from which some wilds and almost flat fields adjoined the city. The battering guns, especially concentrated against the Lyadsky Gate, beat the wall day and night until they made a breach. The most persistent slaughter took place, “spear breaking and shields clumping together”; clouds of arrows darkened the light. The enemies finally broke into the city. The people of Kiev, with a heroic, albeit hopeless defense, supported the ancient glory of the first throne of the Russian city. They gathered around the Tithe Church of the Virgin Mary and then at night hastily fenced themselves off with fortifications. The next day this last stronghold also fell. Many citizens with families and property sought salvation in the choirs of the temple; the choirs could not withstand the weight and collapsed. This capture of Kyiv took place on December 6, on St. Nicholas’ day. The desperate defense embittered the barbarians; sword and fire spared nothing; the inhabitants were mostly beaten, and the majestic city was reduced to one huge heap of ruins. Tysyatsky Dimitri, captured wounded, Batu, however, left alive “for the sake of his courage.”

Having devastated the Kyiv land, the Tatars moved to Volyn and Galicia, took and destroyed many cities, including the capital Vladimir and Galich. Only some places, well fortified by nature and people, they could not take in battle, for example, Kolodyazhen and Kremenets; but they still took possession of the first, persuading the inhabitants to surrender with flattering promises; and then they were treacherously beaten. During this invasion, part of the population of Southern Rus' fled to distant countries; many took refuge in caves, forests and wilds.

Among the owners of South-Western Rus' there were those who, at the very appearance of the Tatars, submitted to them in order to save their inheritance from ruin. This is what the Bolokhovskys did. It is curious that Batu spared their land on the condition that its inhabitants sow wheat and millet for the Tatar army. It is also remarkable that Southern Rus', compared to Northern Russia, offered much weaker resistance to the barbarians. In the north, the senior princes, Ryazan and Vladimir, having gathered the forces of their land, bravely entered into an unequal struggle with the Tatars and died with weapons in their hands. And in the south, where the princes have long been famous for their military prowess, we see a different course of action. The senior princes, Mikhail Vsevolodovich, Daniil and Vasilko Romanovich, with the approach of the Tatars, left their lands to seek refuge either in Ugria or in Poland. It’s as if the princes of Southern Rus' had enough determination for a general resistance only during the first invasion of the Tatars, and the Kalka massacre brought such fear into them that its participants, then young princes, and now older ones, are afraid of another meeting with wild barbarians; they leave their cities to defend themselves alone and perish in an overwhelming struggle. It is also remarkable that these senior southern Russian princes continue their feuds and scores for the volosts at the very time when the barbarians are already advancing on their ancestral lands.

Campaign of the Tatars to Poland

After Southwestern Rus', it was the turn of the neighboring Western countries, Poland and Ugria [Hungary]. Already during his stay in Volyn and Galicia, Batu, as usual, sent detachments to Poland and the Carpathians, wanting to scout out the routes and position of those countries. According to the legend of our chronicle, the aforementioned governor Dimitri, in order to save South-Western Rus' from complete devastation, tried to speed up the further campaign of the Tatars and told Batu: “Don’t hesitate long in this land; it’s time for you to go to the Ugrians; and if you hesitate, then there They will have time to gather strength and will not let you into their lands." Even without this, the Tatar leaders had the custom of not only obtaining all the necessary information before a campaign, but also with quick, cunningly planned movements to prevent any concentration of large forces.

The same Dimitri and other southern Russian boyars could tell Batu a lot about the political state of their western neighbors, whom they often visited together with their princes, who were often related to both the Polish and Ugric sovereigns. And this state was likened to fragmented Rus' and was very favorable for the successful invasion of the barbarians. In Italy and Germany at that time, the struggle between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines was in full swing. The famous grandson of Barbarossa, Frederick II, sat on the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. The aforementioned struggle completely distracted his attention, and in the very era of the Tatar invasion, he was diligently engaged in military operations in Italy against the supporters of Pope Gregory IX. Poland, being fragmented into appanage principalities, just like Rus', could not act unanimously and present serious resistance to the advancing horde. In this era we see here the two eldest and most powerful princes, namely, Konrad of Mazovia and Henry the Pious, ruler of Lower Silesia. They were on hostile terms with each other; moreover, Conrad, already known for his short-sighted policy (especially calling on the Germans to defend their land from the Prussians), was least capable of a friendly, energetic course of action. Henry the Pious was related to the Czech king Wenceslaus I and the Ugric Bela IV. In view of the threatening danger, he invited the Czech king to meet the enemies with joint forces; but did not receive timely help from him. In the same way, Daniil Romanovich had long been convincing the Ugric king to unite with Russia to repel the barbarians, and also to no avail. The Kingdom of Hungary at that time was one of the strongest and richest states in all of Europe; his possessions extended from the Carpathians to the Adriatic Sea. The conquest of such a kingdom should have especially attracted the Tatar leaders. They say that Batu, while still in Russia, sent envoys to the Ugric king demanding tribute and submission and reproaches for accepting the Kotyanov Polovtsians, whom the Tatars considered their runaway slaves. But the arrogant Magyars either did not believe in the invasion of their land, or considered themselves strong enough to repel this invasion. With his own sluggish, inactive character, Bela IV was distracted by various disorders of his state, especially feuds with rebellious magnates. These latter, by the way, were dissatisfied with the installation of the Polovtsians, who carried out robberies and violence, and did not even think of leaving their steppe habits.

At the end of 1240 and the beginning of 1241, the Tatar hordes left Southwestern Rus' and moved on. The campaign was maturely thought out and organized. Batu himself led the main forces through the Carpathian passes directly to Hungary, which was now his immediate goal. Special armies were sent in advance on both sides to engulf Ugria in a huge avalanche and cut off all help from its neighbors. On the left hand, in order to get around it from the south, Ogodai's son Kadan and the governor Subudai-Bagadur took different roads through Sedmigradia and Wallachia. And on the right hand moved another cousin of Batu, Baydar, the son of Jagatai. He headed along Lesser Poland and Silesia and began to burn their cities and villages. In vain, some Polish princes and commanders tried to resist in the open field; they suffered defeats in unequal battles; and most of them died the death of the brave. Among the devastated cities were Sudomir, Krakow and Breslau. At the same time, individual Tatar detachments spread their devastation far into the depths of Mazovia and Greater Poland. Henry the Pious managed to prepare a significant army; received the help of Teutonic, or Prussian, knights and waited for the Tatars near the city of Liegnitz. Baidarkhan gathered his scattered troops and attacked this army. The battle was very stubborn; Unable to break the Polish and German knights, the Tatars, according to the chroniclers, resorted to cunning and confused the enemies with a deft cry fired through their ranks: “Run, run!” The Christians were defeated, and Henry himself died a heroic death. From Silesia, Baydar went through Moravia to Hungary to connect with Batu. Moravia was then part of the Czech kingdom, and Wenceslaus entrusted its defense to the courageous governor Yaroslav from Sternberk. Ruining everything in their path, the Tatars, among other things, besieged the city of Olomouc, where Yaroslav himself locked himself up; but here they failed; the governor even managed to make a lucky sortie and inflict some damage on the barbarians. But this failure could not have a significant impact on the general course of events.

Mongol-Tatar invasion of Hungary

Meanwhile, the main Tatar forces were moving through the Carpathians. The detachments sent forward with axes partly chopped up, partly burned out those forest axes with which Bela IV ordered to block the passages; their small military coverings were scattered. Having crossed the Carpathians, the Tatar horde poured onto the plains of Hungary and began to brutally devastate them; and the Ugric king was still sitting at the Diet in Buda, where he consulted with his obstinate nobles about defense measures. Having dissolved the Diet, he now only began to gather an army, with which he locked himself in Pest, adjacent to Buda. After a futile siege of this city, Batu retreated. Bela followed him with an army, the number of which had grown to 100,000 people. In addition to some magnates and bishops, his younger brother Coloman, the ruler of Slavonia and Croatia (the same one who in his youth reigned in Galich, from where he was expelled by Mstislav the Udal), also came to his aid. This army carelessly settled down on the banks of the Shayo River, and here it was unexpectedly surrounded by the hordes of Batu. The Magyars succumbed to panic and crowded in disorder in their cramped camp, not daring to join the battle. Only a few brave leaders, including Koloman, left the camp with their troops and, after a desperate battle, managed to break through. The rest of the army was destroyed; the king was among those who managed to escape. After that, the Tatars raged unhindered in Eastern Hungary for the whole summer of 1241; and with the onset of winter they crossed to the other side of the Danube and devastated its western part. At the same time, special Tatar detachments also actively pursued the Ugric king Bela, as before the Sultan of Khorezm Mohammed. Fleeing from them from one region to another, Bela reached the extreme limits of the Ugric possessions, i.e. to the shores of the Adriatic Sea and, like Mohammed, also escaped from his pursuers to one of the islands closest to the shore, where he remained until the storm passed. For more than a year, the Tatars stayed in the Hungarian kingdom, devastating it far and wide, beating the inhabitants, turning them into slavery.

Finally, in July 1242, Batu gathered his scattered troops, burdened with countless booty, and, leaving Hungary, headed back through the Danube valley through Bulgaria and Wallachia to the southern Russian steppes. The main reason for the return campaign was the news of the death of Ogodai and the accession of his son Gayuk to the supreme khan throne. This latter had left Batu’s hordes earlier and was not on friendly terms with him at all. It was necessary to provide for his family in those countries that fell to Jochi’s share in the division of Genghis Khan. But besides the too great distance from their steppes and the threatening disagreements between the Genghisids, there were, of course, other reasons that prompted the Tatars to return to the east without consolidating the subordination of Poland and Ugria. For all their successes, the Tatar military leaders realized that further stay in Hungary or movement to the west was unsafe. Although Emperor Frederick II was still keen on the fight against the papacy in Italy, a crusade against the Tatars was preached everywhere in Germany; The German princes made military preparations everywhere and actively fortified their cities and castles. These stone fortifications were no longer as easy to take as the wooden cities of Eastern Europe. The iron-clad, military-experienced Western European knighthood also did not promise an easy victory. Already during their stay in Hungary, the Tatars more than once suffered various setbacks and, in order to defeat their enemies, often had to resort to their military tricks, such as: a false retreat from a besieged city or a feigned flight in an open battle, false treaties and promises, even forged letters, addressed to the residents as if on behalf of the Ugric king, etc. During the siege of cities and castles in Ugria, the Tatars very sparingly spared their own forces; and more they took advantage of the crowds of captured Russians, Polovtsians and the Hungarians themselves, who, under the threat of beating, were sent to fill up ditches, make tunnels, and go on an attack. Finally, the most neighboring countries, with the exception of the Middle Danube Plain, due to the mountainous, rugged nature of their surface, already provided little convenience for the steppe cavalry.