Name: Batu Khan

Date of Birth: 1209

Age: 46 years old

Date of death: 1255

Height: 170

Activity: military leader, statesman

Family status: was married

Batu: biography

The death of the great Khan of the Mongol Empire did not put an end to the wars of conquest of the Golden Horde. The grandson of the brilliant commander continued the traditions of the famous grandfather and organized the most treacherous campaign of the Golden Horde in history, called the Great Western Campaign. The invasion of Batu expanded the empire of Genghis Khan to incredible borders.

In one of the surviving documents from the time of Batu's campaign there are lines:

“He entered the northern shore of the Meotian swamps with a huge army into Europe and, having first conquered North-Eastern Rus', destroyed the richest city of Kiev, defeated the Poles, Silesians and Moravians, and finally rushed to Hungary, which he ruined to the end and brought through that into horror and the whole Christendom will tremble."

The devastating campaign of Batu against Rus' and the ensuing 250-year-old Tatar-Mongol yoke left an indelible mark on the history of the state.

Childhood and youth

There is no exact date of Batu's birth. Historical documents indicate a different year of birth. Batu, the son of Jochi, was born at the very beginning of the 13th century. Batu's father is the eldest son of Genghis Khan, who inherited all the lands to the west of the Irtysh River. Also, Jochi received lands that had not yet been conquered: Europe, Rus', Khorezm and Volga Bulgaria. Genghis Khan ordered his son to expand the boundaries of the ulus (empire) by conquering Russian lands and Europe.

Jochi was not loved by relatives. Father Batu lived a solitary life, on his lands. After Jochi's death under unclear circumstances in 1227, troops west of the Irtysh named Batu as heir. Genghis Khan approved the choice of heir. Batu shared power in the state with his brothers: Horde-Ichen got most of the troops and the eastern part of the state, and Batu shared the rest with his younger brothers.

hiking

The biography of Batu Khan is the life story of a great warrior. In 1235, near the river Onon, the kurultai (council of the nobility) decided to resume the campaign to the West. The first attempt to reach Kyiv was made by the troops of Genghis Khan in 1221. Having suffered a defeat in 1224 from the Volga Bulgars (Volga-Kama Bulgaria - a state in the Middle Volga), the troops of Genghis Khan stopped the advance. The grandson of Genghis Khan, Khan Batu, was entrusted to lead the new campaign. The right hand of Batu was appointed Subedei-bagatur. Subedey went on all campaigns with Genghis Khan, participated in the victorious battle with the Polovtsians and Russian troops on the Kalka River (present-day Donetsk region, Ukraine).

In 1236, Batu led the troops in the Great Western Campaign. The first conquest of the Golden Horde was the Polovtsian lands. Volga Bulgaria became part of the Mongol Empire. There were several invasions of Rus'. Batu personally led the seizure of the lands of Ryazan and Vladimir in 1238, in 1240 - Kyiv. Having conquered the Volga Bulgaria, Batu with an army went to the Polovtsy on the Don. The last Polovtsy troops were defeated by the Mongols in 1237. Having defeated the Polovtsy, the Tatar-Mongols of Batu moved to Ryazan. The city fell on the sixth day of the assault.

The Old Russian story “On the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu”, dating from the end of the 16th century, has survived to this day. The ancient lists tell of the Tatar-Mongol invasion of Ryazan in 1237. Khan Batu with a horde stood on the Voronezh River near Ryazan. Prince Yuri Igorevich sent for help to the Grand Duke of Vladimir Georgy Vsevolodovich. At the same time, Yuri tried to get rid of Batu with gifts. Khan found out about the beauty living outside the walls of Ryazan, and demanded to send the daughter-in-law of Prince Eupraxia to him. Eupraxia's husband resisted and was killed. The woman committed suicide by jumping off the tower. The refusal served as a signal for the start of the battle. The result of the battle was the capture and destruction of Ryazan by the Tatars of Batu. Yuri's army was defeated, the prince died.

According to legend, the governor of Ryazan, returning home from Chernigov, saw the city destroyed by the Tatars. Gathering a detachment of 177 people, he set off in the footsteps of the Mongols. Having entered into an unequal battle with the army of Batu near Suzdal, the squad was defeated. Batu, paying tribute to the courage of Kolovrat, shown in an unequal battle, gave the body of the murdered governor to the surviving Russians with the words: “Oh, Evpaty! If you served me, I would keep you close to my heart! The name of the Ryazan governor is inscribed in the history of Russia next to other, no less glorious heroes.

Having destroyed Ryazan, Batu's army went to Vladimir. Moscow and Kolomna, which stood in the way of the khan, were devastated. The siege of Vladimir began in the winter of 1238. Four days later, the Tatars stormed the city. Batu ordered Vladimir to be set on fire. In the fire, the inhabitants died along with the Grand Duke. Having ruined Vladimir, the horde split in two. One part of the army went to capture Torzhok, the other went to Novgorod, defeating the Russian army on the Sit River along the way. Before reaching Novgorod 100 miles, Batu turned back. Passing through the city of Kozelsk, the horde met stubborn resistance from the locals. The siege of Kozelsk lasted seven weeks. Having captured the city, the Tatars did not leave even a stone from it.

Batu captured the southern direction in 1239. On the way to the main goal - Kyiv - the khan destroyed the Pereyaslav and Chernigov principalities. The siege of Kyiv lasted three months and ended with the victory of Batu Khan. The consequences of the Tatar-Mongol invasion of Rus' are terrible. The earth lay in rubble. Many cities are gone. The inhabitants were taken into slavery in the Horde.

As a result of the Mongol invasion of Rus' in 1237-1248, the Grand Dukes had to accept the political and tributary dependence of the principalities on the Mongol Empire. The Russians paid tribute annually. The Khan of the Golden Horde appointed princes in Rus' with labels. The yoke of the Golden Horde of the North-Eastern lands of Rus' lasted two and a half centuries, until 1480.

In 1240, Kyiv, defeated by the Horde, was transferred to Vladimir Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. In 1250, the prince went as a representative to the kurultai in Karakorum, where he was poisoned. The sons of Yaroslav Andrey went after their father to the Golden Horde. Andrei received the principality of Vladimir, and Alexander - Kyiv and Novgorod. The occupation of Kyiv opened the way for the Golden Horde to Europe. At the foot of the Carpathians, the Western campaign was divided into two troops. One group, led by Baidar and the Horde, set off on a campaign against Poland, Moravia and Silesia.

The other, led by Batu, Kadan and Subudei, conquered Hungary: on April 11, 1241, the troops of King Bel IV were defeated by the Mongols in the battle on the Shaio River. With the victory over Hungary, Batu opened the way to the conquest of Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, and Dalmatia. In 1242, the troops of the Golden Horde entered Central Europe and stopped at the gates of the Saxon city of Meissen. The journey to the West is over. The invasion of Rus' severely battered the hordes of Tatars. Batu returned to the Volga.

Another reason for the end of the Long March was the death of the great Khan Ogedei, the successor of Genghis Khan. Guyuk, an old enemy of Batu, became the new kagan. After Guyuk came to power, inter-clan battles began. In 1248, the great khan went on a campaign against Batu. But, having reached Samarkand, the great Khan Guyuk suddenly died. According to historians, the khan was poisoned by Batu's supporters. The next Great Khan in 1251 was a supporter of Batu Munke.

In 1250, Batu founded the city of Sarai-Batu (now - the area of ​​​​the village of Selitrennoye in the Kharabalinsky district of the Astrakhan region). According to contemporaries, Saray-Batu is a beautiful city full of people. Bright bazaars and streets struck the imagination of the guests of the city. Later, during the reign of Khan Uzbek, the city fell into decay and was dismantled into bricks for the construction of new settlements.

Personal life

Khan Batu had 26 wives. The elder wife is Borakchin Khatun. Borakchin comes from a tribe of Tatars who roamed in the east of Mongolia. According to unconfirmed reports, Borakchin is the mother of Batu's eldest son, Sartak. In addition to Sartak, two more sons of the khan are known: Tukan and Abukan. There is evidence that there was another heir of Batu - Ulagchi.

Death

Batu died in 1255. There is no exact information about the causes of Khan's death. There are versions of death from poisoning or rheumatic disease. Batu's heir was the eldest son Sartak. Sartak learned about his father's death while at the court of Munki Khan in Mongolia. Returning home, the heir suddenly died. The young son of Sartak Ulagchi became Khan. Borakchin-khatun became the regent under the khan and the ruler of the ulus. Soon Ulagchi died.

Borakchin opposed the coming to power in the Juchi ulus of the son of Juchi, the grandson of Genghis Khan Berke. The plot was revealed, and Borakchin was executed. Berke is a follower of the policy of brother Batu in expanding the independence of the ulus. He is the first Khan to convert to Islam. During the reign, the ulus gained independence. The oppression of the Golden Horde over Russia was established.

Memory

Batu left a terrible memory of himself in Rus'. In the ancient chronicles, the khan was called "impious", "godless". In one of the legends that have survived to this day, you can read:

"The wicked Tsar Batu captured the Russian land, shedding innocent blood, like water, abundantly, and torturing Christians."

In the East, Khan Batu is treated with respect. In Astana and Ulaanbaatar, streets are named after Batu Khan. The name of Batu Khan is found in literature and cinema. The writer Vasily Yan has repeatedly addressed the biography of the great commander. The writer's books "Genghis Khan", "Batu", "To the "last" sea" are known to readers. Batu is mentioned in the books of Alexei Yugov and Ilyas Esenberlin.

The campaigns of the Golden Horde and Batu Khan are dedicated to the 1987 Soviet film directed by Yaroslav Lupiy "Daniel - Prince of Galicia". In 2012, Andrey Proshkin's film "The Horde" was released on the screens of Russia. The picture consecrates the events that took place in Rus' and the Golden Horde in the XIII century.

In 1207, which the Mongols considered the year of the earth-snake, Jochi, the eldest son and heir of Genghis Khan, had a son Batu (in the Russian tradition of pronunciation - Batu). Shortly before the boy was born, Jochi conquered the Transbaikal "forest peoples" and the Kirghiz from the Yenisei, and his family apparently accompanied him on the campaign. Therefore, it is very likely that the birthplace of Batu is the territory of the modern Altai Territory or Buryatia.

The famous grandfather Batu, having begun to divide his possessions between his sons, gave the most huge inheritance to Jochi. This inheritance included Western Siberia, Khorezm, the Urals, and the promise of all the western lands that Mongolian horses would only reach. But Jochi did not have a chance to rejoice at his father's generosity for a long time. Genghis Khan suspected his son of treason, and soon Jochi was killed - perhaps indeed on his father's orders. After the death of his son, Genghis Khan ordered to elect his grandson Batu as the ruler of the Jochi ulus, which surprised many noyons very much. Batu was about eighteen years old, he was not the eldest son of Jochi and did not have time to distinguish himself in any special merits. However, the noyons did not dare to violate the will of Genghis Khan.

Unanimously elected as his father's successor, Batu, however, did not receive any real power, or even his own inheritance: he had to distribute all areas of his father's ulus to his brothers as a token of gratitude for his election as chief. Ordu-Ichen, the eldest brother, became the ruler of the troops, and Batu's power was then purely symbolic.

After the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, his third son, Ogedei, inherited his throne, after his election, he confirmed the title of Batu and even promised to help in the conquest of the western lands. But in 1230 the Mongols went to conquer China, and Batu, of course, accompanied his uncle on this campaign. The Qin Empire fell in 1234, and a year later it was decided to finally go to the West. The appointed group of conquerors included all the eldest grandchildren of Genghis Khan, and thus the conquest of the West turned into a common cause. The conquered lands were now to be divided among themselves by twelve Chingizid princes.

The campaign to the West was actually commanded by Subedei-batur, the most experienced commander of Genghis Khan, but the princes did not want to recognize him as a real leader. The cunning Ogedei left it to his nephews to elect the commander-in-chief, and Batu won the election, as he had already taken part in campaigns against the Polovtsians and Khorezm. It must be assumed that the reason for the election was still not so much military experience as the fact that the troops were collected mainly in the possessions of Batu.

The number of these troops was about one hundred and thirty thousand soldiers. Some of them were sent to the lands of the Southern Volga region - to fight with the Kipchaks, Alans and other tribes. Most of the army moved in 1236 to the once powerful state of Volga Bulgaria, now consisting of semi-independent principalities. Their rulers were at enmity with each other, and some even united with the Mongols - and a year later the Volga Bulgaria became a Mongol territory. Judging by the Russian chronicles, Batu passed through these lands with a sword and fire, ruthlessly exterminating the population. Having completed the subjugation of the Bulgars, he continued his campaign to the West - and now he had to conquer Rus'.

The Ryazan principality was the first to be invaded - at the end of 1237, Batu defeated the main troops of the Ryazan princes and captured the most important cities, including Ryazan itself, in two weeks. The remnants of the Ryazan army retreated to Kolomna, located on the border of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, and then Yuri Vsevolodovich, the Grand Duke of Vladimir and Suzdal, came to their aid.

It is curious that when Batu was smashing the Bulgars, Yuri was at war with the Mordovian prince Purgas, the main Bulgarian ally. And the ruin of the Ryazan principality was very beneficial to the Suzdal prince. But on his own territory, the Mongols, of course, were useless to him, and therefore, near Kolomna, Batu's troops met not only with the Ryazans, but also with the squad of Yuri Vsevolodovich, reinforced by the people's militia. The advanced detachments of the Mongols were first thrown back, and in the battle, one of his main opponents, Kulkan, the youngest son of Genghis Khan, perished very successfully for Batu. But soon the main forces appeared, and the steppe cavalry defeated the foot Russian troops. Then Batu took Moscow in five days and moved to the city of Vladimir, the capital of North-Eastern Rus'.

In February 1238, Vladimir fell, and then Batu captured and burned fourteen cities. On March 4, Yuri Vsevolodovich was killed in a fierce battle on the City River, and with the defeat of this last army, Rus' could no longer resist the Mongols in an organized manner. Only Veliky Novgorod remained, and in March the Mongols took Torzhok, the Novgorod advanced outpost. It was a show of force, but the prince of Novgorod did not respond to the provocation, and Batu turned his troops to the south.

By mid-May, the Mongols took the border Kozelsk, and by the summer Batu was already in the Volga region, where he intended to create his own ulus, considering his campaign completed. Unfortunately, Ogedei, the great Khan of the Mongols, did not think so and demanded to continue the conquests. Batu's comrades-in-arms also wished for military glory. In 1239, Batu limited himself to raids on Moksha and Mordvins, went to the devastated Ryazan principality, but by the end of the next summer it became impossible to postpone a serious campaign, and the Mongols invaded South Rus' - it was through it that the road to Hungary lay. Batu made an attempt to negotiate with Kiev, but Prince Mikhail ordered the death of his ambassadors, for which Kyiv paid a heavy price. In December, after a three-month siege, Kyiv fell.

In Hungary, the Mongols wanted to settle long-standing scores with Kotyan, the Polovtsian Khan who had fled there, and therefore they were in a hurry, and Galicia-Volyn Rus suffered less than Northern Rus - Batu did not touch some cities at all. On the other hand, he brilliantly carried out the European campaign of the Mongols thought out by Subedei. The army of the Mongols, reinforced, by the way, by representatives of the conquered peoples, was divided into three columns, and each of them successfully completed its task.

The northern column, commanded by the grandsons of Genghis Khan Baydar and Kadan, went to Poland, where in April 1241 they defeated the combined army of Czechs, Poles and German knights, and then moved to Slovakia and further to Hungary. The second column was led by Batu himself - this part of the army, having crossed the Carpathians, entered Hungary and on April 11 defeated the Hungarian king Bela IV on the Shaio River. The king at that moment had already managed to deal with the Polovtsian khan, and therefore lost forty thousand Polovtsian soldiers who had left him. Subedei Bagatur with a third column captured the territory of modern Romania, after which he joined Batu, who was pursuing the Hungarian king. However, Batu, apparently, was not going to destroy Hungary and even ordered to restore the economy, but, nevertheless, this period in the history of the Hungarians is considered one of the most difficult.

The rulers of Western Europe, not ready to resist the Mongols, were preparing for the worst, but in the spring of 1242, Batu unexpectedly ordered to turn back. This order still remains a mystery of his biography. Some historians argue that the reason for the departure of the Mongols from Europe was the struggle of the Russians in the rear of Batu. However, the South Russian warriors gladly went along with the Mongols against the "Polyakhs" and "Ugrians", their ancient enemies. Most likely, Batu simply did what he intended: after all, Khan Kotyan was destroyed one way or another, and the borders of the new possessions were protected. Do not forget that in December 1241 Khan Ogedei died. Upon learning of this, three influential Genghisides from Batu's army left the army and went to Mongolia to fight for the vacant throne. Guyuk, the son of Ogedei and the worst enemy of Batu, had the greatest chances to become the Great Khan, and Batu preferred to meet his accession in his own ulus, and not in distant Europe.

Guyuk was elected the Great Khan only five years later. By that time, the last son of Genghis Khan, Jaghatai, had died, and Batu became the head of the Borjigin clan, from which Genghis Khan himself and all his descendants originated. The authority of the head of the Chingizid clan was very great, and the new great khan was forced to recognize Batu as co-ruler of the western destinies. Guyuk did not like this situation very much, and in January 1248 he went with a significant army to the borders of the Golden Horde (as the Ulus of Jochi is now called). Officially, he did not want so much - for Batu to come to him and express his obedience, since he was not present at the kurultai, which elected the Great Khan. In fact, both Guyuk and Batu understood that an internecine war had begun, and only the death of one of the rulers would stop it. Apparently, Batu turned out to be quicker - somewhere in the Samarkand region, Khan Guyuk died very timely, and everyone remained convinced that Batu sent the poisoners to him.

In 1251, another coup d'état took place: Berke, Batu's brother, and Sartak, his son, came to Mongolia with an army from the Golden Horde, gathered the Mongolian Chingizids and forced them to make Monke, Batu's best friend, the Great Khan. The new khan, of course, recognized Batu as a co-ruler. A year later, supporters of the Guyuk family tried to plot, but Monke executed most of the conspirators, and sent some of Batu's old opponents to the Ulus of Jochi, so as not to deprive Batu of the pleasure of dealing with them personally. True, in the future, Monke turned out to be not at all so complaisant, he began to strengthen the central government, and restrict the rights of the ulus rulers. Batu could not do anything with this - after all, he himself spoke for the election of Monke as the Great Khan and now he could not disobey. It must be said that both rulers were primarily statesmen and did not want another split in the Mongol Empire at all, and therefore managed to reach a compromise. Batu allowed a population census to be conducted in the Ulus of Jochi and sent part of his army to march on Iran. In turn, Monke recognized the right of control over Russia, Volga Bulgaria and the northern Caucasus for Ulus Jochi. Batu's activities for the autonomy of his possessions bore fruit very soon - already under the rule of his grandson Mengu-Timur (seventies), the Golden Horde turned into a completely independent state.

Created this state, stretching from the Irtysh to the Danube, Batu Khan. He made Sarai-Bata, a city in the Volga delta, near modern Astrakhan, the capital of the Golden Horde. Russian principalities for several centuries became tributaries of the Golden Horde, and the ruler of the Mongols issued labels for princely possessions.

Khan Batu lived, according to foreign diplomats, like an emperor, having all the necessary officials and developing the military art of the Mongols, famous for surprise attacks, swiftness of cavalry and avoidance of major battles that threatened the loss of soldiers and horses. Batu became famous for his cruelty, which, however, was not at all surprising for that time.

The founder and first ruler of the Golden Horde died in 1255. His throne was occupied by Sartak, the eldest son, approved in hereditary rights by the Great Khan Monke.

Information about Batu is extremely scarce, and the personality of this great Mongol is surrounded by legends and mysteries, many of which arose during his lifetime. Batu went down in history as a "filthy" and "cursed" destroyer of the lands of Rus' and Eastern Europe. But there were also positive aspects in his activities - the first khan of the Golden Horde patronized trade, developed cities and, apparently, was fair in resolving disputes of his vassals. In addition, Batu was without a doubt an outstanding statesman - after all, the Golden Horde did not fall apart after his death, like many powers that lost their founders.

Three Lives of Batu Khan

Batu (Batu Khan) is one of the outstanding political figures of the XIII century, who played a significant role in the history of many countries of the East, Rus', Eastern Europe. But there is still no biography of him. Despite his importance in history, he remains Batu the Unknown, Batu the Forgotten.

How did it happen that historians ignored such a famous figure? Why didn't the chroniclers of his day give him a place in the pages of their works, commensurate with his deeds?

In fact, what is known about Batu today? "Batu (Batu) (1208-55), Mongol khan, grandson of Genghis Khan. The leader of the all-Mongol campaign against Rus' and Eastern Europe (1236-43), Khan of the Golden Horde" - that's all you can learn about Batu from any encyclopedic or biographical dictionary.

Of course, Batu was not such a spectacular personality, a symbol of the Middle Ages, as, for example, Richard the Lionheart or Saint Louis, Sultan Saladdin or St. Thomas Aquinas, Genghis Khan or Cesare Borgia. He did not become famous for his exploits on the battlefield, piety in matters of faith, did not leave behind scientific works or works of art.

But he left something more significant - the state, which today is known as the Golden Horde. A state that outlived its founder for many years, and whose successors at different times were considered the Muscovite kingdom and the Russian Empire, and today Russia and Kazakhstan also consider themselves to be among them.

Dividing the possessions between his sons, Genghis Khan gave Jochi the largest inheritance, which included Khorezm, Western Siberia, and the Urals. He was also promised all the lands farther in the West, as far as the hooves of the Mongol horses would reach. But Father Batu did not have to take advantage of his father's generosity. Soon the relationship between Genghis Khan and his first-born son escalated. Jochi did not approve of his father's excessive conquest aspirations and, under the pretext of illness, repeatedly refused to participate in his campaigns. Having become very suspicious in his old age, Genghis Khan easily believed the enemies of Jochi, who claimed that his eldest son was plotting a rebellion against him. And when in the spring of 1227 Jochi, who went hunting, was found in the steppe with a broken spine (according to other sources, he was poisoned), everyone immediately suspected that he had been killed on the orders of his father, and some Mongolian chronicles even speak directly about this. But the killers themselves were never found.

Soon, Daniel of Galicia also opposed the Mongols, deciding to take Ponysia from them. This region was formerly part of the Kyiv principality, and then came under the direct control of the Golden Horde; The Horde authorities established such tax benefits for the population in Ponysia that Russians constantly ran there even from “natural” princes - from Kyiv, Chernigov, Galich, and Volyn. Daniel decided to put an end to this. In 1255 he invaded Ponysya, drove out small detachments of the Mongols from there and annexed these lands to his possessions. He calculated correctly: Batu, who concentrated on eastern affairs, chose to ignore this attempt on his possessions for the time being, deciding to punish Daniel later. But only after his death, his brother Berke managed to return Ponysia and significantly weaken the military power of the Galicia-Volyn state.

Thus, although Batu laid the foundation for the centuries-old ties between Rus' and the Horde, he himself did not play a very noticeable role in the development of these relations. It can even be said that the affairs of Rus' worried him only to the extent that they influenced relations with other states that were in the sphere of his interests. And only after his death, the Horde khans began to show more attention to the "Russian ulus".

But the name of Batu was preserved in Russian folklore. In epics, he, of course, appears as an enemy of Rus', the leader of a cruel Horde. The repeatedly mentioned expression "Batu's pogrom" even today means desolation, destruction, great disorder. However, back in the 19th century. in the Vologda and Kostroma provinces, the Milky Way was called "Batu's Road". It is strange that the galaxy was named after the worst enemy! Who knows, maybe the attitude of the Russian people towards Batu differed from that which the chroniclers tried to reflect in their writings?

Batu is also known by the title "Sain Khan". This title-nickname reflected his qualities, which aroused the greatest respect of his subjects and contemporaries: "sain" in Mongolian has many meanings - from "generous", "generous" to "kind" and "fair". A number of researchers believe that he received this nickname during his lifetime, just as the Mongol khans bore nickname titles: Sechen Khan (“Wise Khan”, Kublai), Biligtu Khan (“Pious Khan”, Ayushridar), etc. e. Other authors believe that "Sain Khan" became Batu's posthumous title. It is difficult to say which of them is right, but it should be noted that the first mentions of the title are found in chronicles that appeared after his death.

Batu in history

Batu died in 1256, and his death became another mystery: there were versions about poisoning, and even about death during the next campaign (which is completely implausible). Contemporaries simply could not allow the thought that a figure of such a magnitude would die somehow simply and routinely. However, it is most likely that Batu died of natural causes - apparently from some kind of rheumatic disease from which he suffered for many years: various sources report that he suffered from "weakness of the members", that his face was covered reddish spots, etc.

But why is Batu given so little space in historical chronicles and research? Why is information about him scarce and unsystematic? Finding the answer is no longer so difficult.

The Mongolian and Chinese official chronicles contain practically no information about Batu: during his stay in China, he did not show himself, and the Mongolian chroniclers saw him as an opponent of the Great Khans from Karakorum and, naturally, preferred not to remember him, so as not to provoke the wrath of their overlords .

The same applies to the Persian chronicles: since the heirs of Sain Khan fought for more than a hundred years for the possession of the lands of Iran and Azerbaijan with the Persian Mongols, the Hulaguid court chroniclers also did not risk paying too much attention to the founder of the power of their enemies. And under such circumstances, the flattering characteristics of Batu, which are nevertheless found among the Persian chroniclers, seem objective: after all, it was not in their interests to praise the enemy, to attribute to him some fictitious positive traits.

Western diplomats who visited Batu's court generally prefer not to show their attitude towards him, but they provide some information about his political position and personal qualities: he is affectionate with his people, but inspires them with great fear, knows how to hide his feelings, strives to demonstrate his unity with other Genghisides, etc.

Russian chroniclers and Western chroniclers, who created their works "in hot pursuit" - after the Mongol raids, of course, could not write anything positive about Batu. So he went down in history as "evil", "cursed", "filthy", the destroyer of Rus' and the destroyer of Eastern Europe. And later Russian historians, based on the reports of the chronicles, continued to strengthen just such an image of Batu.

This stereotype is so firmly established that when already in the twentieth century. Soviet orientalists tried to point out the positive aspects of Batu's activities (protection of trade, urban development, justice in resolving disputes between vassal rulers), official history and ideology met their views with hostility. Only towards the end of the twentieth century. historians were allowed to have an opinion that Batu, perhaps, was not quite such a monster as the chroniclers presented him. And L.N. Gumilyov, known for his sympathy for the Mongol rulers, even allowed himself to put Batu on the same level as Charlemagne, and noted that the power of Charles collapsed shortly after his death, and the Golden Horde outlived its founder for many years.

Nevertheless, not a single significant study has yet been devoted to Batu: probably, historians are still stopped by the scarcity of information about him, the inconsistency of the available materials, which do not allow to restore a complete picture of his life and work. Therefore, even today he remains a mysterious and mysterious person for us.

1. Astaykin A. A. Experience of comparative research. Mongol Empire // World of Lev Gumilyov. "Arabesques" of history. Book II: Tartari Desert. - M.: DI-DIK, 1995. S. 597; History of the peoples of East and Central Asia. - M.: Nauka, 1986. S. 286

2. See, for example: Grousset R. Genghis Khan. Conqueror of the Universe. - M .: Young Guard, 2000. S. 63; Gumilyov L. N. Ancient Rus' and the Great Steppe. - M .: Partnership "Klyshnikov, Komarov and Co", 1992. S. 289; Kozin S. A. Secret legend. Yuan chao bi shi. - M.-L.: Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1941, § 254.

3. Lubsan Danzan. Altan Tobchi ("Golden Ska

THE LEGENDARY PEOPLE OF MONGOLIA

KHAN BATY (1208-1255)

Batu (Batu Khan, 1205-1255) - Mongol commander and state leader, Chingizid, Khan of the Golden Horde, son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. According to the division made by Temuchin (Genghis Khan) in 1224, the eldest son, Jochi, got the Kipchak steppe, Khiva, part of the Caucasus, Crimea and Rus' (the ulus of Jochi). Having done nothing to actually take possession of the part assigned to him, Jochi died in 1227.

At the kurultais of 1229 and 1235, it was decided to send a large army to conquer the spaces north of the Caspian and Black Seas. Khan Ogedei put Batu at the head of this campaign. With him were Ordu, Shiban, Tangkut, Kadan, Buri and Paydar (descendants of Genghis Khan) and the best Mongol commander Subedei-bagatur.

In its movement, this invasion captured not only the Russian principalities, but also part of Western Europe. The first target was Hungary, where the Cumans (Polovtsy) left the Tatars, and then it spread to Poland, the Czech Republic, Moravia, Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia and Dalmatia.

Rising along the Volga, Batu defeated the Volga Bulgaria, then turned west, ruined Ryazan (December 1237), Moscow, Vladimir-on-Klyazma (February 1238), moved to Novgorod, but from the spring thaw went to the Polovtsian steppes, according to on the way, having dealt with Kozelsk. In 1239, Batu conquered Pereyaslavl, Chernigov, ruined Kyiv (December 6, 1240), Kamenets, Vladimir-Volynsky, Galich and Lodyzhin (December 1240). Here the horde of Batu was divided. A part led by Kadan and the Horde went to Poland (Sandomierz was defeated on February 13, 1241, Krakow on March 24, Opole and Wroclaw), where the Polish forces suffered a terrible defeat near Liegnitz.

The extreme western point of this movement was Meissen (Meissen (German: Meißen) - a city in Germany, northwest of Dresden, on the Elbe River). Europe was taken by surprise and offered no united and organized resistance. The Czech forces were late at Liegnitz and were sent to Lusatia to cut across the alleged path of the Mongols to the west. The turn of the latter to the south fell on defenseless Moravia, which was devastated.

Another large part, with Batu at the head, went to Hungary, where Kadan and the Horde soon joined with it. The Hungarian king Bela IV was utterly defeated by Batu and fled. Batu went through Hungary, Croatia and Dalmatia, inflicting defeats everywhere. In December 1241 Khan Ogedei died; this news, received by Batu at the height of his European successes, forced him to rush to Mongolia to take part in the election of a new khan. In March 1242, the opposite, no less devastating, movement of the Mongols began through Bosnia, Serbia and Bulgaria.

Later, Batu did not make any attempts to fight to the west, settling on the banks of the Volga in the city of Saraichik, which became under him the capital of the vast state of the Golden Horde (50 km upstream from the modern city of Atyrau, the Ural River). At present, the village of Sarayshyk (Sarayshik) of the Makhambet district of the Atyrau region is located near the settlement. As a result of washing away by the Ural River, the historical layer is irretrievably destroyed. In 1999, the memorial complex "Khan's headquarters - Sarayshyk" was erected in these places.

Temujin - that was the name of the founder of the Mongol Empire, one of the largest and bloodiest conquerors in world history. Better known by the name of Genghis Khan.

About this man, we can say that he was born with a weapon in his hands. A skilled warrior, a talented commander, a competent ruler who managed to assemble a powerful state from a handful of disunited tribes. His fate was so filled with important events not only for him, but for the whole part of the world, that it is rather problematic to compile a short biography of Genghis Khan. We can say that his whole life was one, almost continuous war.

The beginning of the path of the great warrior

Scientists have not been able to find out the exact date when Temujin was born, it is only known that this happened in the period from 1155 to 1162. But the place of birth is considered to be the tract Delyun-Baldok on the banks of the river. Onon (near Lake Baikal).

Temuchin's father - Yesugei Bugator, the leader of the Taichiuts (one of the numerous Mongol tribes) - from an early age raised his son as a warrior. As soon as the boy turned nine, ten-year-old Borte, a girl from the Urgenat clan, was married to him. Moreover, according to the Mongolian tradition, after the ritual, the groom had to live with the bride's family until he came of age. Which was done. The father, leaving his son, went back, but soon after arriving home he died unexpectedly. According to legend, he was poisoned, and his family, both wives and six children were expelled from the tribe, forcing them to wander around the steppe.

Upon learning of what had happened, Temujin decided to share the troubles of his relatives by joining her.

The first battles and the first ulus

After several years of wandering, the future ruler of Mongolia married Bort, receiving a rich sable fur coat as a dowry, which he later presented as a gift to Tooril Khan, one of the most influential leaders of the steppe, thus endearing the latter to himself. As a result, Tooril became his patron.

Gradually, largely thanks to the "guardian", the influence of Temujin began to grow. Starting literally from scratch, he managed to create a good and strong army. With each new day, more and more warriors joined him. With his army, he constantly raided neighboring tribes, increasing his possessions and the number of livestock. Moreover, even then, by his actions, he differed from other steppe conquerors: attacking the uluses (hordes), he tried not to destroy the enemy, but to attract them to his army.

But his enemies did not doze off either: once, during the absence of Temujin, the Merkits attacked his camp, capturing his pregnant wife. But retribution was not long in coming. In 1184, Temujin, together with Tooril Khan and Jamukha (the leader of the Jadaran tribe), returned it, defeating the Merkits.

By 1186, the future ruler of all of Mongolia created his first full-fledged horde (ulus), numbering about 30 thousand soldiers. Now Genghis Khan decided to act on his own, leaving the custody of his patron.

The title of Genghis Khan and a single state - Mongolia

To oppose the Tatars, Temujin again teamed up with Tooril Khan. The decisive battle took place in 1196 and ended in a crushing defeat for the enemy. In addition to the fact that the Mongols received good booty, Temujin acquired the title of jautkhuri (corresponding to a military commissar), and Tooril Khan became a Mongol van (prince).

From 1200 to 1204, Temujin continued to fight the Tatars and the Mongols who had not yet conquered, but on his own, winning victories and following his tactics - increasing the number of troops at the expense of enemy forces.

In 1205, more and more warriors join the new ruler, and as a result, in the spring of 1206, he is proclaimed the Khan of all Mongols, giving him the appropriate title - Genghis Khan. Mongolia became a single state with a powerful, well-trained army and its own laws, according to which the subjugated tribes became part of the army, and the resisting enemies were to be destroyed.

Genghis Khan practically eradicated the tribal system, mixing the tribes, in return dividing the entire horde into tumens (1 tumen = 10 thousand people), and those, in turn, into thousands, hundreds and even tens. As a result, his army reached a strength of 10 tumens.

Subsequently, Mongolia was divided into two separate wings, at the head of which Genghis Khan placed his most faithful and experienced companions: Boorchu and Mukhali. In addition, military positions could now be inherited.

Death of Genghis Khan

In 1209, the Mongols conquered Central Asia, and until 1211, almost all of Siberia, whose peoples were subject to tribute.

In 1213 the Mongols invaded China. Having reached its central part, Genghis Khan stopped, and a year later he returned the troops back to Mongolia, concluding a peace treaty with the emperor of China and forcing them to leave Beijing. But as soon as the ruling court left the capital, Genghis Khan returned the army, continuing the war.

Having defeated the Chinese army, the Mongol conqueror decided to go to Semirechye, and in 1218 it was captured, and at the same time the entire eastern part of Turkestan.

In 1220, the Mongol Empire found its capital - Karakorum, and in the meantime, the troops of Genghis Khan, divided into two streams, continued their aggressive campaigns: the first part invaded the South Caucasus through Northern Iran, while the second rushed to the Amu Darya.

Having crossed the Derbent passage in the North Caucasus, the troops of Genghis Khan defeated first the Alans, and then the Polovtsians. The latter, having united with the squads of the Russian princes, attacked the Mongols on the Kalka, but they were defeated here too. But in the Volga Bulgaria, the Mongol army received a serious blow and retreated to Central Asia.

Returning to Mongolia, Genghis Khan made a campaign along the western side of China. At the end of 1226, having crossed the river. Huanhe, the Mongols moved east. The 100,000-strong army of the Tanguts (the people who in 982 created an entire state in China, called Xi Xia) was defeated, and by the summer of 1227 the Tangut kingdom had ceased to exist. Ironically, Genghis Khan died along with the state of Xi Xia.

The heirs of Genghis Khan must be told separately, since each of them deserves special attention.

The ruler of Mongolia had many wives, and even more offspring. Despite the fact that all the children of the emperor were considered legitimate, only four of them could become his true heirs, namely those who were born by the first and beloved wife of Genghis Khan - Borte. Their names were Jochi, Chagatai, Ogedei and Tolui, and only one could take the father's place. Although all of them were born from the same mother, they differed greatly from each other in character and inclinations.

firstborn

The eldest son of Genghis Khan, Jochi, was very different in character from his father. If the ruler was inherent in cruelty (without a drop of pity he destroyed all the defeated, who did not submit and did not want to enter his service), then the hallmark of Jochi was kindness and humanity. A misunderstanding constantly arose between father and son, which eventually grew into Genghis Khan's distrust of the firstborn.

The ruler decided that by his actions his son was trying to gain popularity among the conquered peoples, and then, having led them, oppose his father and secede from Mongolia. Most likely, such a scenario was far-fetched, and Jochi did not pose any threat. Nevertheless, in the winter of 1227, he was found dead in the steppe, with a broken spine.

Second son of Genghis Khan

As mentioned above, the sons of Genghis Khan were very different from each other. So, the second of them, Chagatai, was the opposite of his older brother. He was characterized by strictness, diligence and even cruelty. Thanks to these character traits, the son of Genghis Khan, Chagatai, took the position of “guardian of Yasa” (Yasi is the law of power), that is, in fact, he became both the prosecutor general and the supreme judge in one person. Moreover, he himself strictly observed the provisions of the law and demanded its observance from others, mercilessly punishing violators.

Another offspring of the great khan

The third son of Genghis Khan, Ogedei, was similar to his brother Jochi in that he was reputed to be kind and tolerant of people. In addition, he had the ability to persuade: it was not difficult for him to win over the doubter in any dispute in which he took part.

An extraordinary mind and good physical development - perhaps it was these features inherent in Ogedei that influenced Genghis Khan in choosing a successor, which he made long before his death.

But with all his virtues, Ogedei was known as a lover of entertainment, devoting a lot of time to steppe hunting and drinking with friends. In addition, he was strongly influenced by Chagatai, who often forced him to change seemingly final decisions to the opposite.

Tolui - the youngest of the emperor's sons

The youngest son of Genghis Khan, who at birth received the name Tolui, was born in 1193. There was gossip among the people that he was allegedly illegitimate. After all, as you know, Genghis Khan came from the Borjigin family, whose distinguishing feature was blond hair and green or blue eyes, but Tolui had a Mongolian, quite ordinary appearance - dark eyes and black hair. Nevertheless, the ruler, contrary to slander, considered him his own.

And it was the youngest son of Genghis Khan, Tolui, who possessed the greatest talents and moral dignity. Being an excellent commander and a good administrator, Tolui retained nobility and boundless love for his wife, the daughter of the head of the Keraites who served Wang Khan. He not only organized a “church” yurt for her, since she professed Christianity, but even allowed her to conduct rituals there, for which she was allowed to invite priests and monks. Tolui himself remained faithful to the gods of his ancestors.

Even the death that the youngest son of the ruler of the Mongols took says a lot about him: when Ogedei was overtaken by a serious illness, in order to take his illness upon himself, he voluntarily drank a strong potion prepared by the shaman and died, in fact, giving his life for the chance of his brother's recovery .

Transfer of power

As mentioned above, the sons of Genghis Khan had equal rights to inherit everything that their father left them. After the mysterious death of Jochi, there were fewer contenders for the throne, and when Genghis Khan died, and the new ruler had not yet been formally elected, Tolui replaced his father. But already in 1229, as Genghis himself wanted, Ogedei became the great khan.

However, as mentioned above, Ogedei had a rather kind and gentle character, that is, not the best and most necessary features for a sovereign. Under him, the management of the ulus was greatly weakened and kept “afloat” thanks to the other sons of Genghis Khan, more precisely, the administrative and diplomatic abilities of Tolui and the strict disposition of Chagatai. The emperor himself preferred to spend time wandering around Western Mongolia, which was certainly accompanied by hunting and feasting.

Grandchildren of Genghis

The children of Genghis Khan also had their sons, who were entitled to a share of the conquests of the great grandfather and fathers. Each of them received either a part of the ulus or a high position.

Despite the fact that Jochi was dead, his sons did not remain deprived. So, the eldest of them, Orda-Ichen, inherited the White Horde, which was located between the Irtysh and Tarbagatai. Another son, Sheibani, got the Blue Horde, which roamed from Tyumen to the Aral Sea. From Jochi, the son of Genghis Khan, Batu - perhaps the most famous khan in Rus' - received the Golden, or Great Horde. In addition, 1-2 thousand fighters were allocated to each brother from among the Mongolian army.

The children of Chagatai received the same number of soldiers, but the offspring of Tului, being almost inseparable at the court, ruled the grandfather's ulus.

Guyuk, the son of Ogedei, did not remain deprived either. In 1246, he was elected Great Khan, and it is believed that from that moment the decline of the Mongol Empire began. There was a split between the descendants of the sons of Genghis Khan. It got to the point that Guyuk staged a military campaign against Batu. But the unexpected happened: Guyuk died in 1248. One version says that Batu himself had a hand in his death, sending his people to poison the great khan.

Descendant of Jochi, son of Genghis Khan - Batu (Batu)

It was this Mongol ruler who "inherited" more than others in the history of Rus'. His name was Batu, but in Russian sources he is more often referred to as Batu Khan.

After the death of his father, who three years before his death received the Kipchatskaya steppe, Rus' with the Crimea, a share of the Caucasus and Khorezm, and by the time of his death had lost most of them (his possessions had decreased to the Asian part of the steppe and Khorezm), the heirs especially divided there was nothing. But Batu was not embarrassed, and in 1236, under his leadership, a general Mongol campaign began in the West.

Judging by the nickname given to the commander-ruler - “Sain Khan”, meaning “good-natured”, - he had some character traits that his father was famous for, only Batu Khan did not interfere with his conquests: by 1243, Mongolia received the western side the Polovtsian steppe, the peoples of the Volga region and the North Caucasus, and in addition, the Volga Bulgaria. Several times Khan Byty made raids on Rus'. And in the end, the Mongolian army reached Central Europe. Batu, approaching Rome, demanded obedience from its emperor, Frederick II. At first, he was going to resist the Mongols, but changed his mind, resigned to his fate. There were no clashes between the troops.

After some time, Batu Khan decided to settle on the banks of the Volga, and he no longer conducted military campaigns to the West.

Batu died in 1256 at the age of 48. The Golden Horde was headed by the son of Batu - Saratak.