Mongol invasion of Russia. Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia and its consequences

In 1237 - 1241. The Russian lands were attacked by the Mongol Empire - the Central Asian state, which conquered in the first half of the 13th century. vast territory of the Eurasian continent from the Pacific Ocean to Central Europe. In Europe, the Mongols began to be called Tatars. This was the name of one of the Mongol-speaking tribes that roamed near the border with China. The Chinese transferred its name to all the Mongol tribes, and the name "Tatars" as a designation of the Mongols spread to other countries, although the Tatars proper were almost completely exterminated during the creation of the Mongol Empire.

The term “Mongol-Tatars”, common in historical literature, is a combination of the self-name of the people with the term that this people was designated by its neighbors. In 1206, at a kurultai - a congress of the Mongol nobility - Temujin (Temuchin), who took the name of Genghis Khan, was recognized as the great khan of all Mongols. In the next five years, the Mongol detachments, united by Genghis Khan, conquered the lands of their neighbors, and by 1215 conquered Northern China. In 1221, the hordes of Genghis Khan defeated the main forces of Khorezm and conquered Central Asia.

Battle on Kalka.

The first clash of Ancient Russia with the Mongols took place in 1223, when a 30,000-strong Mongol detachment with reconnaissance purposes passed from Transcaucasia to the Black Sea steppes, defeating the Alans and Polovtsians. The Polovtsy defeated by the Mongols turned to the Russian princes for help. At their call to the steppe, a united army led by the three strongest princes of South Russia: Mstislav Romanovich of Kyiv, Mstislav Svyatoslavich of Chernigov and Mstislav Metislavich of Galich.

May 31, 1223 in the battle on the river. Kalka (near the Sea of ​​Azov), as a result of uncoordinated actions of their leaders, the allied Russian-Polovtsian army was defeated. Six Russian princes died, three, including the Kyiv prince, were captured and brutally killed by the Mongols. The conquerors pursued the retreating as far as the Russian borders, and then turned back to the Central Asian steppes. Thus, in Russia, for the first time, the military power of the Mongol hordes was felt.

Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia.

After the death of the founder of the Mongol Empire, Genghis Khan (1227), according to his will, at the kurultai of the Mongol nobility in 1235, it was decided to start an aggressive campaign against Europe. Genghis Khan's grandson Batu Khan (called Batu Khan in Russian sources) was placed at the head of the united army of the Mongol Empire. The prominent Mongol commander Subedei, who took part in the Battle of Kalka, was appointed his first commander.

Campaign to North-Eastern Russia (1237 - 1238).

A year after the start of the campaign, having conquered the Volga Bulgaria, the Polovtsian hordes in the interfluve of the Volga and Don, the lands of the Burtases and Mordovians on the Middle Volga in the late autumn of 1237, the main forces of Batu concentrated in the upper reaches of the Voronezh River to invade North-Eastern Russia.

The number of Batu hordes, according to a number of researchers, reached 140 thousand soldiers, and the Mongols proper numbered no more than 50 thousand people. At this time, the Russian princes could collect no more than 100 thousand soldiers from all the lands, and the squads of the princes of North-Eastern Russia amounted to no more than 1/3 of this number.

Inter-princely strife and strife in Russia prevented the formation of a united Russian rati. Therefore, the princes could resist the invasion of the Mongols only one by one. In the winter of 1237, the hordes of Batu ravaged the Ryazan principality, the capital of which was burned, and all its inhabitants were exterminated. Following this, in January 1238, the Mongol troops defeated the rati of the Vladimir-Suzdal land near Kolomna, led by the son of the Grand Duke Vsevolod Yuryevich, captured Moscow, Suzdal, and on February 7 - Vladimir. On March 4, 1238, the army of Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodich was defeated on the City River in the upper Volga. The Grand Duke himself died in this battle.

After the capture of the "suburb" of Veliky Novgorod - Torzhok - which bordered on Suzdal land, the road to North-Western Russia opened before the Mongol hordes. But the approach of spring thaw and significant human losses forced the conquerors to turn back to the Polovtsian steppes. An unprecedented feat was accomplished by the inhabitants of the small town of Kozelsk on the river. Zhizdra. For seven weeks they held the defense of their city. After the capture of Kozelsk in May 1238, Batu ordered to wipe this "evil city" off the face of the earth, and to destroy all the inhabitants.

Batu spent the summer of 1238 in the Don steppes, restoring his strength for further campaigns. In the spring of 1239, he defeated the Principality of Pereyaslav, and in the autumn the Chernigov-Seversk land was devastated.

Conquest of Southern Russia (1240 - 1241).

In the autumn of 1240, Batu's troops moved to Europe through South Russia. In September they crossed the Dnieper and surrounded Kyiv. Kyiv was then owned by the Galician prince Daniil Romanovich, who entrusted the defense of the city to the thousandth Dmitry. The South Russian princes failed to organize a united defense of their lands from the Mongol threat. After a stubborn defense in December 1240 Kyiv fell. Following this, in December 1240 - January 1241, the Mongol hordes ravaged almost all the cities of Southern Russia (except Kholm, Kremenets and Danilov).

In the spring of 1241, having captured the Galicia-Volyn land, Batu invaded Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and reached the borders of Northern Italy and Germany. However, not receiving reinforcements and suffering significant losses, the Mongol troops by the end of 1242 were forced to return to the steppe lower reaches of the Volga. Here the westernmost ulus of the Mongol Empire, the so-called Golden Horde, was formed.

Russian lands after Batu's invasion

The Kiev principality ceased to be the object of the struggle of the Russian princes. The Khan of the Horde assumed the prerogative of delivering the Kyiv prince, and Kyiv was transferred first to the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yaroslav Vsevolodich (1243), and then to his son Alexander Nevsky (1249). Both of them, however, did not sit directly in Kyiv, preferring Vladimir-on-Klyazma.

Kyiv lost the status of a nominal all-Russian capital, which was confirmed in 1299 by the departure of the Metropolitan of All Russia to Vladimir. In Kyiv until the middle of the XIV century. minor princes reigned (apparently, from the Chernigov Olgovichi), and in the 60s of the same century, the Kyiv land came under the authority of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

In the Chernihiv land after the invasion, territorial fragmentation intensified, small principalities were formed, each of which fixed its own line of the Olgovichi branch. The forest-steppe part of the Chernihiv region was systematically devastated by the Tatars. For some time, the Bryansk principality became the strongest in the Chernigov land, whose princes simultaneously occupied the Chernigov table.

But at the end of the XIV century. The Bryansk princedom passed (obviously, at the initiative of the Horde) into the hands of the Smolensk princes and the possibility of integrating the small principalities of Chernigov under the auspices of Bryansk was lost. The Chernihiv reign was not fixed for any of the lines of the Olgovichi, and in the 60s - 70s of the XIV century. Most of the territory of the Chernihiv land was taken over by the Grand Duke of Lithuania Olgerd. Only in its northern, upper Oka, part, the principalities under the control of the Olgovichi remained, which became the object of a long struggle between Lithuania and Moscow.

In the Galicia-Volyn land, Prince Daniel Romanovich (1201-1264) managed to form a large state. In 1254 he assumed the royal title from the papal curia. The Galicia-Volyn principality was almost not crushed and retained its power during the second half of the 13th - early 14th centuries. At the same time, the foreign policy situation of the Galicia-Volyn land was extremely unfavorable. She was surrounded by three opposing state formations - Lithuania, Poland and Hungary - and at the same time was a vassal of the Golden Horde.

In this regard, the Galician-Volyn princes were forced, on the one hand, to participate in the campaigns of the Horde against Lithuanian, Polish and Hungarian lands, and on the other hand, to repel the raids of the Horde khans. After the suppression in the early 20s of the XIV century. the male line of Daniel's descendants in the Galicia-Volyn land was reigned by their heir in the female line Boleslav - Yuri, and after his death (1340) South-Western Russia became the arena of the struggle between Lithuania and Poland. As a result, in the middle of the XIV century. Volyn became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and Galicia went to the Kingdom of Poland.

The Smolensk principality, which did not directly border on the possessions of the Golden Horde, practically did not experience the Mongol-Tatar devastation. But the Smolensk princes, weakened in the internecine war of the 30s of the XIII century, already on the eve of the Batu invasion acted as minor political figures. From the middle of the XIII century. they apparently recognized the suzerainty of the great princes of Vladimir. From the second half of this century, the main foreign policy factor that influenced the Smolensk principality was the onslaught of Lithuania. For a long time, the princes of Smolensk managed to maintain relative independence, maneuvering between Lithuania and the Grand Duchy of Vladimir. But in the end, in 1404, Smolensk fell under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

In the Novgorod land in the second half of the XIII - XIV centuries. finally formed a republican form of government. At the same time, from the time of Alexander Nevsky, Novgorod recognized the Grand Duke of Vladimir as its overlord, i.e. supreme ruler of North-Eastern Russia. In the XIV century. in fact, the Pskov land acquires complete independence, where a form of government similar to that of Novgorod is being formed. At the same time, Pskovians during the XIV century. fluctuated in orientation between the Lithuanian and Vladimir grand dukes.

The Ryazan principality managed in the second half of the XIII - XIV centuries. to maintain relative independence, although from the end of the 14th century the Ryazan princes began to recognize the political seniority of the great princes of Vladimir (from the Moscow house). The small Murom principality did not play an independent role, and at the end of the 14th century. passed under the authority of the Moscow princes.

The Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia is characterized as a bright period in the history of the Fatherland.

In order to conquer new territories, Batu Khan decided to send his army to Russian lands.

The Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia began from the city of Torzhok. The invaders besieged it for two weeks. On March 5, 1238, the enemy took the city. Having penetrated into Torzhok, the Mongol-Tatars began to kill its inhabitants. They did not spare anyone, they killed the elderly, and children, and women. Those who managed to escape from the burning city were overtaken by the Khan's army along the northern road.

The Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia subjected almost all cities to the most severe defeat. Batu's army waged continuous battles. In the battles for the ruin of Russian territory, the Mongol-Tatars were bled and weakened. A lot of strength was taken from them by the conquest of the northeastern Russian lands,

The battles on the territory of Russia did not allow Batu Khan to gather the necessary forces for further campaigns towards the West. In the course of their met the most severe resistance of the Russian and other peoples who inhabited the territory of the state.

History often says that the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars in Russia protected the European peoples from the invasion of hordes. For almost twenty years, Batu established and asserted his dominance on Russian soil. This, in the main, prevented him from moving on with the same success.

After the western campaign, which was very unsuccessful, he founded a fairly strong state on the southern Russian border. He called it the Golden Horde. After some time, the Russian princes came to the khan for approval. However, the recognition of their dependence on the conqueror did not mean the complete conquest of the lands.

The Mongol-Tatars failed to capture Pskov, Novgorod, Smolensk, Vitebsk. The rulers of these cities opposed the recognition of dependence on the khan. The southwestern territory of the country recovered relatively quickly from the invasion, where (the prince of these lands) managed to suppress the rebellions of the boyars and organized resistance to the invaders.

Prince Andrei Yaroslavich, after the murder of his father in Mongolia, received the throne of Vladimir, made an attempt to openly oppose the troops of the Horde. It should be noted that the chronicles do not contain information that he went to the khan to bow or sent gifts. And the tribute by Prince Andrei was not paid in full. In the fight against the invaders, Andrei Yaroslavich and Daniil Galitsky entered into an alliance.

However, Prince Andrei did not find support among many princes of Russia. Some even complained to Batu about him, after which the khan sent a strong army led by Nevruy against the "rebellious" ruler. The forces of Prince Andrei were defeated, and he himself fled to Pskov.

The Russian land was visited by Mongol officials in 1257. They came to carry out a census of the entire population, and also to impose a heavy tribute on the whole people. Only the clergy, who received significant privileges from Batu, were not rewritten. This population census was the beginning of the Mongol-Tatar yoke. The oppression of the conquerors continued until 1480.

Of course, the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia, as well as the long yoke that followed it, caused enormous damage to the state in all areas without exception.

Constant pogroms, devastation of lands, robberies, heavy payments of the people to the khan hampered the development of the economy. The Mongol-Tatar invasion of Russia and its consequences threw the country back several centuries in economic, social and political development. Before the conquest in the cities, it was proposed to destroy. After the invasion, progressive shocks died down for a long time.

1. In 1223 and in 1237 - 1240. Russian principalities were attacked by the Mongol-Tatars. The result of this invasion was the loss of independence by most of the Russian principalities and the Mongol-Tatar yoke that lasted about 240 years - the political, economic and, in part, cultural dependence of Russian lands on the Mongol-Tatar conquerors. Mongol-Tatars are a union of numerous nomadic tribes of East and Central Asia. This union of tribes got its name from the name of the ruling tribe of the Mongols, and the most warlike and cruel tribe of the Tatars.

Tatars of the 13th century should not be confused with modern Tatars - the descendants of the Volga Bulgars, who in the XIII century. along with the Russians, they were subjected to the Mongol-Tatar invasion, but subsequently inherited the name.

At the beginning of the XIII century. under the rule of the Mongols, neighboring tribes were united, which formed the basis of the Mongol-Tatars:

- Chinese;

- Manchus;

- Uighurs;

- Buryats;

- Transbaikal Tatars;

- other small peoples of Eastern Siberia;

- later - the peoples of Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East.

The consolidation of the Mongol-Tatar tribes began at the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th centuries. A significant strengthening of these tribes is associated with the activities of Genghis Khan (Temujin), who lived in 1152/1162 - 1227.

In 1206, at the kurultai (congress of the Mongol nobility and military leaders), Genghis Khan was elected the all-Mongol kagan (“khan of khans”). With the election of Genghis Khan as kagan, the following significant changes occurred in the life of the Mongols:

- strengthening the influence of the military elite;

- overcoming internal disagreements within the Mongol nobility and its consolidation around military leaders and Genghis Khan;

- rigid centralization and organization of the Mongolian society (census of the population, unification of the mass of disparate nomads into paramilitary units - tens, hundreds, thousands, with a clear system of command and subordination);

- the introduction of strict discipline and collective responsibility (for disobedience to the commander - the death penalty, for the faults of an individual soldier, the entire ten were punished);

- the use of advanced scientific and technological achievements for that time (Mongolian specialists studied in China the methods of storming cities, wall-beating guns were also borrowed from China);

- a radical change in the ideology of Mongolian society, the subordination of the entire Mongolian people to a single goal - the unification of neighboring Asian tribes under the rule of the Mongols, and aggressive campaigns against other countries in order to enrich and expand the habitat.

Under Genghis Khan, a single and binding written legislation was introduced - Yasa, the violation of which was punishable by painful forms of death.

2. From 1211 and in the next 60 years, the Mongol-Tatar conquests were carried out. Conquest campaigns were carried out in four main areas:

- the conquest of Northern and Central China in 1211 - 1215;

- the conquest of the states of Central Asia (Khiva, Bukhara, Khorezm) in 1219 - 1221;

- Batu's campaign in the Volga region, Russia and the Balkans in 1236 - 1242, the conquest of the Volga region and Russian lands;

- Kulagu Khan's campaign in the Near and Middle East, the capture of Baghdad in 1258.

The empire of Genghis Khan and his descendants, which stretched from China to the Balkans and from Siberia to the Indian Ocean and included Russian lands, existed for about 250 years and fell under the blows of other conquerors - Tamerlane (Timur), the Turks, as well as the liberation struggle of the conquered peoples.

3. The first armed clash between the Russian squad and the Mongol-Tatar army took place 14 years before the invasion of Batu. In 1223, the Mongol-Tatar army under the command of Subudai-Bagatur went on a campaign against the Polovtsy in the immediate vicinity of the Russian lands. At the request of the Polovtsy, some Russian princes provided military assistance to the Polovtsy.

On May 31, 1223, a battle took place between the Russian-Polovtsian detachments and the Mongol-Tatars on the Kalka River near the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov. As a result of this battle, the Russian-Polovtsian militia suffered a crushing defeat from the Mongol-Tatars. The Russian-Polovtsian army suffered heavy losses. Six Russian princes were killed, including Mstislav Udaloy, the Polovtsian Khan Kotyan and more than 10 thousand militias.

The main reasons for the defeat of the Russian-half army were:

- the unwillingness of the Russian princes to act as a united front against the Mongol-Tatars (most of the Russian princes refused to respond to the request of their neighbors and send troops);

- underestimation of the Mongol-Tatars (the Russian militia was poorly armed and did not properly tune in to the battle);

- inconsistency of actions during the battle (Russian troops were not a single army, but disparate squads of different princes acting in their own way; some squads left the battle and watched from the side).

Having won a victory at Kalka, the army of Subudai-Bagatur did not develop success and left for the steppes.

4. After 13 years, in 1236, the Mongol-Tatar army led by Batu Khan (Batu Khan), the grandson of Genghis Khan and the son of Jochi, invaded the Volga steppes and Volga Bulgaria (the territory of modern Tataria). Having defeated the Polovtsy and the Volga Bulgars, the Mongol-Tatars decided to invade Russia.

The conquest of Russian lands was carried out during two campaigns:

- the campaign of 1237 - 1238, as a result of which the Ryazan and Vladimir-Suzdal principalities - the north-east of Russia were conquered;

- the campaign of 1239 - 1240, as a result of which the Chernigov and Kiev principalities, other principalities of the south of Russia were conquered. The Russian principalities offered heroic resistance. Among the most important battles of the war with the Mongol-Tatars are:

- the defense of Ryazan (1237) - the very first large city attacked by the Mongol-Tatars - almost all the inhabitants participated and died during the defense of the city;

- the defense of Vladimir (1238);

- the defense of Kozelsk (1238) - the Mongol-Tatars stormed Kozelsk for 7 weeks, for which they called it the "evil city";

- the battle on the City River (1238) - the heroic resistance of the Russian militia prevented the further advance of the Mongol-Tatars to the north - to Novgorod;

- the defense of Kyiv - the city fought for about a month.

December 6, 1240 Kyiv fell. This event is considered the final defeat of the Russian principalities in the struggle against the Mongol-Tatars.

The main reasons for the defeat of the Russian principalities in the war against the Mongol-Tatars are:

- feudal fragmentation;

- the absence of a single centralized state and a single army;

- enmity between princes;

- transition to the side of the Mongols of individual princes;

- the technical backwardness of the Russian squads and the military and organizational superiority of the Mongol-Tatars.

5. Having defeated most of the Russian principalities (except Novgorod and Galicia-Volyn), Batu's army in 1241 invaded Europe and marched through the Czech Republic, Hungary and Croatia.

Having reached the Adriatic Sea, in 1242 Batu stopped his campaign in Europe and returned to Mongolia. The main reasons for the cessation of the expansion of the Mongols into Europe

- fatigue of the Mongol-Tatar army from a 3-year war with the Russian principalities;

- a clash with the Catholic world under the rule of the Pope, which, like the Mongols, had a strong internal organization and became a strong rival of the Mongols for over 200 years;

- the aggravation of the political situation within the empire of Genghis Khan (in 1242, the son and successor of Genghis Khan, Ogedei, who became the all-Mongol kagan after Genghis Khan, died, and Batu was forced to return to take part in the struggle for power).

Subsequently, at the end of the 1240s, Batu was preparing a second invasion of Russia (on Novgorod land), but Novgorod voluntarily recognized the power of the Mongol-Tatars.

One of the most tragic pages of Russian history is the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars. A passionate appeal to the Russian princes about the need to unite, sounded from the lips of the unknown author of the Tale of Igor's Campaign, alas, was never heard ...

Causes of the Mongol-Tatar invasion

In the XII century, nomadic Mongolian tribes occupied a significant territory in the center of Asia. In 1206, the congress of the Mongolian nobility - kurultai - proclaimed Timuchin the great Kagan and named him Genghis Khan. In 1223, the advanced troops of the Mongols, led by commanders Jabei and Subidei, attacked the Polovtsians. Seeing no other way out, they decided to resort to the help of the Russian princes. Having united, both of them marched towards the Mongols. The squads crossed the Dnieper and moved east. Pretending to retreat, the Mongols lured the consolidated army to the banks of the Kalka River.

The decisive battle took place. The coalition troops acted in isolation. The disputes of the princes with each other did not stop. Some of them did not take part in the battle at all. The result is complete destruction. However, then the Mongols did not go to Russia, because. did not have sufficient strength. In 1227 Genghis Khan died. He bequeathed to his fellow tribesmen to conquer the whole world. In 1235, the kurultai decided to start a new campaign in Europe. It was headed by the grandson of Genghis Khan - Batu.

Stages of the Mongol-Tatar invasion

In 1236, after the ruin of the Volga Bulgaria, the Mongols moved to the Don, against the Polovtsy, defeating the latter in December 1237. Then the Ryazan principality stood in their way. After a six-day assault, Ryazan fell. The city was destroyed. The detachments of Batu moved north, in, ruining Kolomna and Moscow along the way. In February 1238, Batu's troops began the siege of Vladimir. The Grand Duke tried in vain to gather a militia for a decisive rebuff to the Mongols. After a four-day siege, Vladimir was taken by storm and set on fire. The residents and the princely family who were hiding in the Assumption Cathedral of the city were burned alive.

The Mongols split up: part of them approached the Sit River, and the second laid siege to Torzhok. On March 4, 1238, the Russians suffered a severe defeat in the City, the prince died. The Mongols moved to, however, before reaching a hundred miles, they turned. Devastating the cities on the way back, they met unexpectedly stubborn resistance from the city of Kozelsk, whose inhabitants repelled the Mongol attacks for seven weeks. Still, taking it by storm, the khan called Kozelsk an "evil city" and razed it to the ground.

Batu's invasion of South Russia dates back to the spring of 1239. Pereslavl fell in March. In October - Chernihiv. In September 1240, the main forces of Batu besieged Kyiv, which at that time belonged to Daniil Romanovich of Galicia. The people of Kiev managed to hold back the hordes of the Mongols for three whole months, and only at the cost of huge losses were they able to capture the city. By the spring of 1241, Batu's troops were on the threshold of Europe. However, bloodless, they were soon forced to return to the Lower Volga. The Mongols no longer decided on a new campaign. So Europe was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Consequences of the Mongol-Tatar invasion

The Russian land lay in ruins. The cities were burned and plundered, the inhabitants were captured and taken to the Horde. Many cities after the invasion were never restored. In 1243, Batu organized the Golden Horde in the west of the Mongol Empire. The captured Russian lands were not included in its composition. The dependence of these lands on the Horde was expressed in the fact that they were obligated to pay tribute annually. In addition, it was the Golden Horde Khan who now approved the Russian princes to rule with his labels-letters. Thus, the Horde dominion was established over Russia for almost two and a half centuries.

• Some modern historians are inclined to assert that there was no yoke, that the "Tatars" were from Tartaria, the crusaders, that the battle of the Orthodox with the Catholics took place on the Kulikovo field, and Mamai is just a pawn in someone else's game. Is this really so - let everyone decide for himself.

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

Mongol invasion of Russia- invasion of the troops of the Mongol Empire on the territory of the Russian principalities in 1237-1240. during the Western campaign of the Mongols ( Kipchak campaign) 1236-1242 under the leadership of Chingizid Batu and commander Subedei.

background

For the first time, the task of reaching the city of Kyiv was assigned to Subedei by Genghis Khan in 1221: He sent Subetai-Baatur on a campaign to the north, commanding him to reach eleven countries and peoples, such as: Kanlin, Kibchaut, Bachzhigit, Orosut, Machjarat, Asut, Sasut, Serkesut, Keshimir, Bolar, Raral (Lalat), cross the high-water Idil and Ayakh rivers, 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 this the first Mongol invasion of Russia), but abandoned the plan to march on Kyiv, and then were defeated in the 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 the Volga Bulgars. In connection with these events, in 1229 the name of the Tatars reappears in the Russian chronicles: Bulgarian watchdog came running from the Tatars near the river, her name is Yaik"(and in 1232 Pridosha Tatarov and Zimovasha did not reach the Great City of Bulgaria).

The "Secret Tale" in relation to the period 1228-1229 reports that Ogedei

However, in 1231-1234, the Mongols waged a second war with the Jin, and the westward movement of the combined forces of all uluses begins immediately after the decision of the kurultai of 1235.

Similarly (30-40 thousand people), Gumilyov L.N. estimates the number of the Mongol army. 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 Mönke dissuaded him. In addition to Batu, the following Genghisides participated 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 Kulkhan, the grandson of Genghis Khan’s brother Argasun. The importance given by Genghisides 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 under the year 1230: “ The same year, the Bolgars bowed to the 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 Russia, famine broke out due to a two-year crop failure, and the Bulgars brought vessels with food to the Russian cities free of charge. Under 1236: " Tatarov came to the Bulgarian land and took the glorious Great City of Bulgaria, slaughtered everyone from old and young to the existing baby and burned their city and the land of all their captivity". Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich of Vladimir received Bulgarian refugees on his land and settled them in Russian cities. The battle on 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 of Vladimir with his brother Yaroslav of Novgorod, who had the largest military potential in Russia (under 1229 in the annals we read: “ and bowed down to Yury all, having a father to himself and a master”), did not send troops to help the Volga Bulgars, but used them to establish control over Kyiv, thereby putting an end to the Chernihiv-Smolensk struggle for it and taking over the reins of the traditional Kyiv collection, which at the beginning of the 13th century was still recognized by all Russian princes . The political situation in Russia in the period 1235-1237 was also determined by the victories of Yaroslav Novgorodsky over the Order of the Sword in 1234 and Daniil Romanovich Volynsky over the Teutonic Order in 1237. Lithuania also acted against the Order of the Sword (Battle of Saul in 1236), as a result of which its remnants united with the Teutonic Order.

First stage. North-Eastern Russia (1237-1239)

Invasion 1237-1238

The fact that the attack of the Mongols on Russia at the end of 1237 did not come as a surprise is evidenced by the letters of the Hungarian missionary monk, Dominican Julian:

The Mongols sent the main blow to the Ryazan principality (see Defense of Ryazan). Yuri Vsevolodovich sent a united army to help the Ryazan princes: his eldest son Vsevolod with all people, governor Yeremey Glebovich, retreating from Ryazan forces led by Roman Ingvarevich and 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 the 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 regiments of his brothers Yaroslav (who was in Kyiv) and Svyatoslav (before that, he was last mentioned in the annals under 1229 as a prince sent by Yuri to reign in Pereyaslavl-South) . " Within the land of Suzdal» The Mongols were overtaken by those returning from Chernigov « in a small group"The Ryazan boyar Evpaty Kolovrat, along with the remnants of the Ryazan troops, and thanks to the surprise of the attack, was able to inflict significant losses on them (in some editions of the Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu, it tells about the solemn funeral of Evpaty Kolovrat in the Ryazan Cathedral on January 11, 1238). On January 20, after 5 days of resistance, Moscow fell, which was defended by the youngest son of Yuri Vladimir and the governor Philip Nyanka " with a small army”, Vladimir Yurievich was captured and then killed in front of the walls of Vladimir. Vladimir himself was taken on February 7 after five days of siege (see Defense of Vladimir), the entire family of Yuri Vsevolodovich died in it. 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 had Pereyaslavl-Zalessky (taken by the Genghisides together in 5 days), Tver and Torzhok (defense February 22 - March 5), lying on the direct route of the main Mongol forces from Vladimir to Novgorod. In Tver, one of the sons of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich died, whose name has not been preserved. On the Volga cities, the defenders of which left with their princes Konstantinovich to Yuri on the Sit, the secondary forces of the Mongols, led by the temnik Burundai, fell upon them. On March 4, 1238, they unexpectedly attacked the Russian army (see the Battle on the City River) and were able to defeat it, however, they themselves " suffered a great plague, and their considerable multitude fell". Vsevolod Konstantinovich Yaroslavsky died in the battle together 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, the first Russian historian Tatishchev V.N. says that the losses of the Mongol 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 closed their doom), which at that time turned out to be more than the Mongols themselves ( and more than prisoners). In particular, the assault on Vladimir was launched only after one of the Mongol detachments, which had taken 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 Russia and Central Europe.

After the capture of Torzhok on March 5, 1238, the main forces of the Mongols, having joined with the remnants of the Burundai army, before reaching 100 miles to Novgorod, turned back into the steppes (according to different versions, due to spring thaw or due to high losses). On the way back, the Mongol army moved in two groups. The main group passed 30 km east of Smolensk, making a stop in the area of ​​Dolgomostye. The literary source - "The Word about Mercury of Smolensk" - tells about the defeat and flight of the Mongol troops. Then 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, laid siege to 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, having suffered heavy losses both in equipment and in human resources during the sorties of the besieged.

Yaroslav Vsevolodovich succeeded Vladimir after his brother Yuri, and Mikhail Chernigov occupied Kyiv, 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 - the beginning of 1239, the Mongols led by Subedei, having suppressed the uprising in the Volga Bulgaria and the Mordovian land, again invaded Russia, devastated the environs of Nizhny Novgorod, Gorokhovets, Gorodets, Murom, and again - Ryazan. On March 3, 1239, a detachment under the command of Berke ravaged Pereyaslavl South.

This period also includes the invasion of the Lithuanians into the Grand Duchy of Smolensk and the campaign of the Galician troops against Lithuania with the participation of 12-year-old Rostislav Mikhailovich (taking advantage of the absence of the main Galician forces, Daniil Romanovich Volynsky captured Galich, finally establishing himself in it). Given 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 offensive against Novgorod land, in the battle on the river. Neve, the son of Yaroslav, Alexander of Novgorod, stops the Swedes with the forces of his squad, and the beginning of successful independent actions of the troops of North-Eastern Russia after the invasion refers only to the period 1242-1245 (Battle on the Ice and victories over the Lithuanians).

Second stage (1239-1240)

Chernihiv Principality

After the siege that began on October 18, 1239, with the use of powerful siege equipment, Chernigov was taken by the Mongols (the army under the leadership of Prince Mstislav Glebovich unsuccessfully tried to help the city). After the fall of Chernigov, the Mongols did not go north, but engaged in robbery and ruin in the east, along the Desna and the Seim - archaeological research showed that Lyubech (in the north) was not touched, but the towns of the principality bordering on the Polovtsian steppe, such as Putivl, Glukhov, Vyr and Rylsk were destroyed and devastated. At the beginning of 1240, an army led by Munch went to the left bank of the Dnieper opposite Kyiv. An embassy was sent to the city with an offer to surrender, but was destroyed. Prince of Kyiv Mikhail Vsevolodovich left for Hungary in order to marry the daughter of King Bela IV Anna to his eldest son Rostislav (the marriage will take place only in 1244 to commemorate the alliance against Daniel of Galicia).

Daniil Galitsky captured in Kyiv the Smolensk prince Rostislav Mstislavich, who tried to take the great reign, and planted his thousandth Dmitri in the city, returned to Mikhail his 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 Mongols had devastated the Dnieper left bank, Ogedei decided to recall Munke and Guyuk from the western campaign.

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

Southwestern Russia

On September 5, 1240, the Mongol army, led by Batu and other Genghisides, besieged Kyiv and only on November 19 (according to other sources, December 6; perhaps it was on December 6 that the last stronghold of the defenders fell - the Church of the Tithes) took it. Daniil Galitsky, who owned Kyiv at that time, was in Hungary, trying - like Mikhail Vsevolodovich a year earlier - to enter into 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 will take place only in 1247) . The defense of the "mother of Russian cities" was led by a thousand Dmitr. The "Biography of Daniel of Galicia" says about Daniel:

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

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

The Ipatiev Chronicle under 1241 mentions the princes of Ponysia ( Bolokhov's), who agreed to pay tribute to the Mongols with grain and thereby avoided the ruin 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 - a campaign of two commanders of Batu to 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 Russia was destroyed.

For several decades, stone construction practically ceased in Russian cities. Complex crafts, such as the production of glass jewelry, cloisonne enamel, niello, granulation, and polychrome glazed ceramics, have 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 pass part of the historical path that had been done before Batu for the second time.”

The southern Russian lands lost almost the entire settled population. The surviving population went to the forest northeast, concentrating in the interfluve of the Northern Volga and Oka. Here there were poorer soils and a colder climate than in the southern completely devastated regions of Russia, and trade routes were under the control of the Mongols. In its socio-economic development, Russia was significantly thrown back.

“Historians of military affairs also note the fact that the process of differentiation of functions between formations of shooters and detachments of heavy cavalry, which specialized in a direct strike with melee weapons, was interrupted in Russia immediately after the invasion: there was a unification of these functions in the person of one and the same warrior - the feudal lord, forced to shoot from a bow, and fight with a spear and a sword. Thus, the Russian army, even in its elite, purely feudal in composition (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 military branches, their unification (or rather, reunification) is a clear sign of regression. Be that as it may, the Russian chronicles of the 14th century do not contain even a hint of separate detachments of shooters, like the Genoese crossbowmen, the English archers of the Hundred Years War era. This is understandable: such detachments of “subjective people” cannot be formed, professional shooters were required, that is, people who had come off production and sold their art and blood for hard money; But Russia, thrown back economically, mercenarism was simply not affordable.