Genghis Khan(in childhood and adolescence - Temujin, Temujin) is the founder and also the first great khan Mongol Empire . During his reign, he, like Prince Oleg and other Russian princes, united many disparate tribes (in this case, Mongolian and partly Tatar) into one powerful state.

The whole life of Genghis Khan after gaining power consisted of many aggressive campaigns in Asia and later in Europe. Thanks to this, in 2000, the American edition of The New York Times named him the man of the millennium (meaning the period from 1000 to 2000 - during this time he created the largest empire in the history of mankind).

By 1200, Temujin had united all the Mongol tribes, and by 1202, the Tatars as well. By 1223-1227, Genghis Khan simply wiped out many ancient states from the face of the earth, such as:

  • Volga Bulgaria;
  • Caliphate of Baghdad;
  • Chinese Empire ;
  • the state of Khorezmshahs (the territories of present-day Iran (Persia), Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Iraq and many other small states of Central and Southwestern Asia).

Genghis Khan died in 1227 from inflammation after an injury while hunting (either from a virus or a bacterium not characteristic of East Asia- let's not forget about the level of medicine at that time) at the age of about 65 years.

Beginning of the Mongol invasion.

By the early 1200s, Genghis Khan was already planning a conquest of Eastern Europe. Later, after his death, the Mongols reached Germany and Italy, conquering Poland, Hungary, Ancient Rus', and so on, including attacking the Baltic states and other lands of northern and northeastern Europe. Long before that, on behalf of Genghis Khan, his sons Jochi, Jebe and Subedey set off to conquer the territories adjacent to Rus', simultaneously probing the soil of the Old Russian state .

The Mongols, by force or by threats, conquered the Alans (present-day Ossetia), the Volga Bulgars and most of the Polovtsian lands, as well as the territories of the South and North Caucasus, and the Kuban.

After the Polovtsy appealed to the Russian princes for help, a council gathered in Kyiv under the leadership of Mstislav Svyatoslavovich, Mstislav Mstislavovich and Mstislav Romanovich. All Mstislavs then came to the conclusion that, having finished off the Polovtsian princes, Tatar-Mongols they will take over Rus', and in the worst case scenario, the Polovtsy will go over to the side Mongols, and together they will attack the Russian principalities. Guided by the principle “it is better to beat the enemy on a foreign land than on your own”, the Mstislavs gathered an army and moved south along the Dnieper.

Thanks to intelligence Mongol-Tatars learned about this and began to prepare for the meeting, having previously sent ambassadors to the Russian army.

The ambassadors brought the news that the Mongols did not touch the Russian lands and were not going to touch them, they say they only had accounts with the Polovtsy, and expressed a desire that Rus' would not interfere in their own affairs. Genghis Khan was often guided by the principle of "divide and conquer", but the princes did not fall for this move. Historians also admit that stopping the campaign could, at best, delay the Mongol attack on Rus'. One way or another, the ambassadors were executed, and the campaign continued. A little later, the Tatar-Mongols sent a second embassy with a second request - this time they were released, but the campaign continued.

Battle on the Kalka River.

In the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, somewhere on the territory of the present Donetsk region, a clash took place, known in history as Battle on the Kalka. Before that, the Russian princes defeated the advance detachment of the Mongol-Tatars and, encouraged by success, entered the battle near the river, now known as Kalchik (flowing into Kalmius). The exact number of troops of the parties is unknown. Russian historians call the number of Russians from 8 to 40 thousand, and the number of Mongols from 30 to 50 thousand. Asian chronicles speak of almost a hundred thousand Russians, which is not surprising (remember how Mao Zedong boasted that Stalin served him at the tea ceremony, although the Soviet leader only showed hospitality and served him a mug of tea). Adequate historians, based on the fact that Russian princes usually gathered from 5 to 10 thousand soldiers on a campaign (maximum 15 thousand), came to the conclusion that there were about 10-12 thousand Russian troops, and about 15-25 thousand Tatar-Mongols ( given that Genghis Khan sent 30 thousand to the west, but some of them were defeated as part of the advance detachment, as well as in previous battles with the Alans, Polovtsians, etc., plus a discount for the fact that not all available to the Mongols could participate in the battle reserves).

So, the battle began on May 31, 1223. The beginning of the battle was successful for the Russians, Prince Daniel Romanovich defeated the advanced positions of the Mongols and rushed to pursue them, despite being wounded. But then he encountered the main forces of the Mongol-Tatars. Part of the Russian army by that time had already managed to cross the river. The Mongol troops closed in and defeated the Russians and Cumans, while the rest of the Cuman forces fled. The rest of the Mongol-Tatar forces surrounded the troops of the Prince of Kyiv. The Mongols offered to surrender with the promise that then “no blood would be shed. The longest fought Mstislav Svyatoslavovich, who surrendered only on the third day of the battle. The Mongol leaders kept their promise extremely conditionally: they took all the ordinary soldiers into slavery, and executed the princes (as they promised - without shedding blood, they covered them with boards, along which the entire Mongol-Tatar army passed in formation).

After that, the Mongols did not dare to go to Kyiv, and set off to conquer the remnants of the Volga Bulgars, but the battle progressed unsuccessfully, and they retreated and returned to Genghis Khan. The battle on the Kalka River was the beginning

The first principality to undergo ruthless ruin was the Ryazan land. In the winter of 1237, the hordes of Batu invaded its borders, ruining and destroying everything in their path. The Princes of Vladimir and Chernigov refused to help Ryazan. The Mongols laid siege to Ryazan and sent envoys who demanded obedience and one-tenth "of everything." Karamzin also points out other details: “Yuri Ryazansky, left by the Grand Duke, sent his son Theodore, with gifts to Batu, who, having learned about the beauty of Feodorova’s wife Evpraksia, wanted to see her, but this young prince answered him that Christians do not show their wives wicked pagans. Batu ordered to kill him; and the unfortunate Eupraxia, having learned about the death of her beloved husband, together with her baby, John, threw herself from the high tower to the ground and lost her life. The bottom line is that Batu began to demand from the Ryazan princes and nobles "daughters and sisters in his bed."

Everything was followed by the courageous answer of the Ryazantsev: "If all of us are not there, then everything will be yours." On the sixth day of the siege, December 21, 1237, the city was taken, the princely family and the surviving inhabitants were killed. In the old place, Ryazan was no longer revived (modern Ryazan is new town located 60 km from old Ryazan, earlier it was called Pereyaslavl Ryazan).

in grateful people's memory the story about the feat of the Ryazan hero Yevpaty Kolovrat, who entered into an unequal battle with the invaders and earned the respect of Batu himself for his valor and courage, has been preserved.

Having devastated the Ryazan land in January 1238, the Mongol invaders defeated the grand duke guard regiment of the Vladimir-Suzdal land near Kolomna, led by the son of the Grand Duke Vsevolod Yuryevich. Actually it was all the Vladimir army. This defeat predetermined the fate of North-Eastern Rus'. During the battle for Kolomna, the last son of Genghis Khan Kulkan was killed. Genghisides, as usual, did not take direct part in the battle. Therefore, the death of Kulkan near Kolomna suggests that the Russians; probably managed to inflict in some place swipe along the Mongolian rear.

Then moving along the frozen rivers (Oka and others), the Mongols captured Moscow, where for 5 days all its population put up strong resistance under the leadership of the governor Philip Nyanka. Moscow was completely burned, and all its inhabitants were killed.

On February 4, 1238, Batu laid siege to Vladimir. Grand Duke Yuri Vsevolodovich left Vladimir in advance in order to organize a rebuff to uninvited guests in northern forests on the River Sit. He took with him two nephews, and left the Grand Duchess and two sons in the city.

The Mongols were preparing for the assault on Vladimir in accordance with all the rules military science learned by them back in China. They built siege towers near the walls of the city in order to be on the same level with the besieged and at the right time to throw “strings” over the walls, they installed “vices” - wall-beating and throwing machines. At night, a "tyn" was erected around the city - an external fortification to protect against attacks by the besieged and in order to cut off all their escape routes.

Before the assault on the city at the Golden Gate, in front of the besieged Vladimirites, the Mongols killed the younger prince Vladimir Yuryevich, who had recently defended Moscow. Mstislav Yurievich soon died on the defensive line. Last son Grand Duke, Vsevolod, who fought with the horde in Kolomna, during the assault on Vladimir, decided to enter into negotiations with Batu. With a small retinue and large gifts, he left the besieged city, but the khan did not want to talk with the prince and "like a ferocious beast, do not spare his youth, he ordered to be slaughtered in front of him."

After that, the horde rushed to the last assault. Grand Duchess, Bishop Mitrofan, other princely wives, boyars and part of ordinary people, the last defenders of Vladimir, took refuge in the Assumption Cathedral. On February 7, 1238, the invaders broke into the city through gaps in the fortress wall and set it on fire. Many people died from fire and suffocation, not excluding those who took refuge in the cathedral. The most valuable monuments of literature, art and architecture perished in the fire and ruins.

After the capture and devastation of Vladimir, the horde spread throughout the Vladimir-Suzdal principality, ruining and burning cities, villages and villages. During February, 14 cities were plundered in the interfluve of the Klyazma and the Volga: Rostov, Suzdal, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Galich, Dmitrov, Tver, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Yuryev and others.

On March 4, 1238, beyond the Volga on the City River, a battle took place between the main forces of North-Eastern Rus', led by the Grand Duke of Vladimir Yuri Vsevolodovich, and the Mongol invaders. 49-year-old Yuri Vsevolodovich was a brave fighter and a fairly experienced military leader. Behind him were victories over the Germans, Lithuanians, Mordovians, Kama Bulgarians and those Russian princes who claimed his grand princely throne. However, in the organization and preparation of Russian troops for the battle on the City River, he made a number of serious miscalculations: he showed carelessness in the defense of his military camp, did not pay due attention to intelligence, allowed his governors to disperse the army over several villages and did not establish reliable communication between scattered detachments.

And when a large Mongol formation under the command of Barendey quite unexpectedly appeared in the Russian camp, the result of the battle was obvious. The chronicles and excavations of archaeologists in the City testify that the Russians were defeated in parts, fled, and the horde whipped people like grass. Yuri Vsevolodovich himself also died in this unequal battle. The circumstances of his death remain unknown. Only the following testimony about the Prince of Novgorod, a contemporary of that sad event, has come down to us: “God knows how he died, others say a lot about him.”

Since that time in Rus' began Mongolian yoke: Rus' became obliged to pay tribute to the Mongols, and the princes were to receive the title of Grand Duke from the hands of the Khan. The very term "yoke" in the meaning of oppression was first used in 1275 by Metropolitan Kirill.

Mongolian hordes moved to the north-west of Rus'. Everywhere they met stubborn resistance from the Russians. For two weeks, for example, the suburb of Novgorod, Torzhok, was defended. However, the approach of the spring thaw and significant human losses forced the Mongols, not reaching Veliky Novgorod about 100 miles, from the stone Ignach Cross to turn south, into the Polovtsian steppes. The retreat was in the nature of a "raid". Divided into separate detachments, the invaders "combed" the Russian cities from north to south. Smolensk managed to fight back. Kursk was destroyed, like other centers. The greatest resistance to the Mongols was small town Kozelsk, which held out for seven (!) weeks. The town stood on a steep, washed by two rivers - Zhizdra and Druchusnaya. In addition to these natural barriers, it was reliably covered by wooden fortress walls with towers and a moat about 25 meters deep.

Before the arrival of the horde, the Kozeltsy managed to freeze a layer of ice on the floor wall and the entrance gate, which greatly complicated the assault on the city for the enemy. The inhabitants of the town wrote a heroic page in Russian history with their blood. Yes, it is not for nothing that the Mongols called it the "evil city". The Mongols stormed Ryazan for six days, Moscow for five days, Vladimir for a little longer, Torzhok for fourteen days, and little Kozelsk fell on the 50th day, probably only because the Mongols - for the umpteenth time!-- applied their favorite trick - after another unsuccessful assault, they simulated a stampede. The besieged Kozeltsy, in order to complete their victory, made a general sortie, but were surrounded by superior enemy forces and all were killed. The Horde, finally, broke into the city and drowned in the blood of the inhabitants who remained there, including the 4-year-old Prince Kozelsk.

Having devastated Northeast Rus', Khan Batu and Subedei-Bagatur took their troops to the steppes near the Don to rest. Here the horde spent the entire summer of 1238. In the fall, Batu's detachments repeated raids on Ryazan and other Russian cities and towns that had so far survived from devastation. Murom, Gorokhovets, Yaropolch (modern Vyazniki), Nizhny Novgorod were defeated.

And in 1239, the hordes of Batu invaded the borders of Southern Rus'. They took and burned Pereyaslavl, Chernigov and other settlements.

On September 5, 1240, the troops of Batu, Subedei and Barendei crossed the Dnieper and surrounded Kyiv from all sides. At that time, Kyiv was compared with Tsargrad (Constantinople) in terms of wealth and population. The population of the city was approaching 50 thousand people. Shortly before the arrival of the horde, the Galician prince Daniel Romanovich took possession of the throne of Kyiv. When she appeared, he went west to protect his ancestral possessions, and entrusted the defense of Kyiv to the thousand Dmitry.

The city was defended by artisans, suburban peasants, merchants. There were few professional soldiers. Therefore, the defense of Kyiv, as well as Kozelsk, can rightly be considered popular.

Kyiv was well fortified. The thickness of its earthen ramparts reached 20 meters at the base. The walls were oak, with earth filling. Stone defensive towers with gate openings stood in the walls. A moat filled with water stretched along the ramparts, 18 meters wide.

Subedei, of course, was well aware of the difficulties of the impending assault. Therefore, he first sent his ambassadors to Kyiv demanding his immediate and complete surrender. But the people of Kiev did not negotiate and killed the ambassadors, and we know what this meant for the Mongols. Then the systematic siege of the most ancient city in Rus' began.

The Russian medieval chronicler described it as follows: “... Tsar Batu came to the city of Kyiv with many soldiers and surrounded the city ... and it was impossible for anyone to leave the city or enter the city. And it was impossible to hear each other in the city from the creak of carts, the roar of camels, from the sounds of trumpets ... from the neighing of horse herds and from the screams and screams of countless people ... Many vices beat (on the walls) incessantly, day and night, and the townspeople fought hard, and there were many dead ... the Tatars broke through the city walls and entered the city, and the townspeople rushed to meet them. And one could see and hear the terrible crack of spears and the sound of shields; the arrows darkened the light, so that the sky behind the arrows was not visible, but there was darkness from the many arrows of the Tatars, and the dead lay everywhere, and everywhere blood flowed like water ... and the townspeople were defeated, and the Tatars climbed the walls, but from great fatigue sat down on city ​​walls. And the night came. The townspeople that night created another city, near the Church of the Holy Mother of God. The next morning, the Tatars came to them, and there was an evil slaughter. And people began to faint, and ran with their belongings into the church vaults and the church walls fell down from the weight, and the Tatars took the city of Kyiv in the month of December on the 6th day ... "

In the works of the pre-revolutionary years, such a fact is cited that the Mongols seized the courageous organizer of the defense of Kyiv, Dimitra, and brought him to Batu.

“This formidable conqueror, having no idea about the virtues of philanthropy, knew how to appreciate extraordinary courage and with an air of proud pleasure said to the Russian governor: “I give you life!” Demetrius accepted the gift, because he could still be useful for the fatherland and was left under Batu.

Thus ended the heroic defense of Kyiv, which lasted 93 days. The invaders looted the church of St. Sophia, all other monasteries, and the surviving Kyivans killed everyone to the last, regardless of age.

In the next 1241, the Galicia-Volyn principality was defeated. On the territory of Rus', the Mongol yoke was established, which lasted 240 years (1240-1480). This is the point of view of historians of the Faculty of History of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov.

In the spring of 1241, the horde rushed to the West to conquer all the "evening countries" and extend its power to the whole of Europe, right down to the last sea, as Genghis Khan bequeathed.

Western Europe, like Rus', was going through a period of feudal fragmentation at that time. Torn apart by internal strife and rivalry between small and large rulers, she could not unite in order to stop the invasion of the steppes with common efforts. Alone at that time, not a single European state was able to withstand the military onslaught of the horde, especially its fast and hardy cavalry, which played a decisive role in hostilities. Therefore, despite the courageous resistance of the European peoples, in 1241 the hordes of Batu and Subedei invaded Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Moldavia, and in 1242 they reached Croatia and Dalmatia - the Balkan countries. This is a critical moment for Western Europe. However, at the end of 1242, Batu turned his troops to the east. What's the matter? The Mongols had to reckon with incessant resistance in the rear of their troops. At the same time, they suffered a number of, albeit small, but failures in the Czech Republic and Hungary. But most importantly, their army was exhausted by battles with the Russians. And from the distant Karakorum, the capital of Mongolia, came the news of the death of the great khan. On the subsequent division of the empire, Batu must be himself. It was a very convenient excuse to stop the difficult campaign.

About the world-historical significance of the struggle of Rus' with the Horde conquerors, A.S. Pushkin wrote:

“Russia was assigned a high destiny ... its boundless plains absorbed the power of the Mongols and stopped their invasion on the very edge of Europe; the barbarians did not dare to leave enslaved Rus' in their rear and returned to the steppes of their east. The emerging enlightenment was saved by a torn and dying Russia…”.

Reasons for the success of the Mongols.

The question of why the nomads, who were significantly inferior to the conquered peoples of Asia and Europe in economic and cultural terms, subordinated them to their power for almost three centuries, has always been in the center of attention, both of domestic historians and foreign ones. No textbook, study guide; historical monograph, to some extent considering the problems of the formation of the Mongol empire and its conquests, which would not reflect this problem. Presenting it in such a way that if Rus' were united, it would show the Mongols is not a historically justified idea, although it is clear that the level of resistance would be an order of magnitude higher. But the example of a united China, as mentioned earlier, destroys this scheme, although it is present in the historical literature. Quantity and quality can be considered more reasonable military force each side has other military factors. In other words, the Mongols outnumbered their opponents military power. As already noted, the Steppe militarily always surpassed the Forest in ancient times. After this short introduction to the "problem", let's list the factors of the victory of the steppes, cited in the historical literature.

The feudal fragmentation of Rus', Europe and the weak interstate relations of the countries of Asia and Europe, which did not allow, by combining their forces, to repulse the conquerors.

Numerical superiority of the conquerors. There were many disputes among historians about how much Batu brought to Rus'. N.M. Karamzin indicated the number of 300 thousand soldiers. However, a serious analysis does not allow even close approach to this figure. Each Mongol horseman (and they were all horsemen) had at least 2, and most likely 3 horses. Where in the forest of Rus' to feed 1 million horses in winter? Not a single chronicle even raises this topic. Therefore, modern historians call the figure a maximum of 150 thousand Moghuls who came to Rus', more cautious ones stop at the figure of 120-130 thousand. And all of Rus', even if united, could put up 50 thousand, although there are figures up to 100 thousand. So in reality, the Russians could put up 10-15 thousand soldiers for battle. Here the following circumstance should be taken into account. The strike force of the Russian squads - the princely ratis were in no way inferior to the Mughals, but the bulk of the Russian squads - these are militia warriors, not professional warriors, but ordinary people who took up arms, not like professional Mongols warriors. The tactics of the warring parties also differed.

The Russians were forced to stick to defensive tactics designed to exhaust the enemy. Why? The fact is that in a direct military clash in field conditions the Mongol cavalry had clear advantages. Therefore, the Russians tried to sit out behind the fortress walls of their cities. However, wooden fortresses could not withstand the onslaught of the Mongol troops. In addition, the conquerors used the tactics of continuous assault, successfully used siege weapons and equipment perfect for their time, borrowed from the peoples of China, Central Asia and the Caucasus they conquered.

The Mongols conducted good reconnaissance before the start of hostilities. They had informants even among the Russians. In addition, the Mongol commanders did not personally participate in the battles, but led the battle from their headquarters, which, as a rule, was in a high place. The Russian princes, up to Vasily II the Dark (1425-1462), themselves directly participated in the battles. Therefore, very often, in the event of even the heroic death of a prince, his soldiers, deprived of professional leadership, found themselves in a very difficult situation.

It is important to note that Batu's attack on Rus' in 1237 came as a complete surprise to the Russians. The Mongol hordes undertook it in the winter, attacking the Ryazan principality. The Ryazans, on the other hand, are accustomed only to the summer and autumn raids of enemies, mainly Polovtsy. Therefore, no one expected a winter blow. What did the steppe dwellers pursue with their winter attack? The fact is that the rivers, which were a natural barrier to enemy cavalry in summer period, were covered with ice in winter and lost their protective functions.

In addition, in Rus', stocks of food and fodder for livestock were prepared for the winter. Thus, the conquerors were already provided with fodder for their cavalry before the attack.

These, according to most historians, were the main and tactical reasons for the Mongol victories.

Consequences of Batu's invasion.

The results of the Mongol conquest for the Russian lands were extremely difficult. In terms of the scale of destruction and the victims suffered as a result of the invasion, they could not be compared with the damage caused by the raids of nomads and princely civil strife. First of all, the invasion caused huge damage all lands at the same time. According to archaeologists, out of 74 cities that existed in Rus' in the pre-Mongolian period, 49 were completely destroyed by the hordes of Batu. At the same time, a third of them were depopulated forever and were no longer restored, and 15 former cities became villages. Only Veliky Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk, Polotsk and the Turov-Pinsk principality did not suffer, primarily due to the fact that the Mongol hordes bypassed them. The population of Russian lands also sharply decreased. Most of the townspeople either died in battles, or were taken away by the conquerors to "full" (slavery). Handicraft production was particularly affected. After the invasion in Rus', some handicraft industries and specialties disappeared, stone construction stopped, the secrets of making glassware, cloisonne enamel, multi-colored ceramics, etc. Professional Russian warriors suffered huge losses - princely combatants, and many princes who died in battles with the enemy .. Only after half a century did the service class begin to recover in Rus', and, accordingly, the structure of the patrimonial estate was recreated and only emerging landlord economy.

However, the main consequence of the Mongol invasion of Rus' and the establishment of Horde dominion from the middle of the 13th century was a sharp increase in the isolation of the Russian lands, the disappearance of the old political and legal system and the organization of the power structure that was once characteristic of the Old Russian state. For Rus' of the 9th-13th centuries, located between Europe and Asia, it was extremely important in which direction it would turn - to the East or to the West. Kievan Rus managed to maintain a neutral position between them, it was open to both the West and the East.

But the new political situation of the 13th century, the invasion of the Mongols and crusade European Catholic knights, who called into question the continued existence of Rus', its Orthodox culture, forced the political elite of Rus' to make a certain choice. The fate of the country for many centuries, including modern times, depended on this choice.

Disintegration of political unity Ancient Rus' marked the beginning of the disappearance of the ancient Russian nationality, which became the progenitor of the three currently existing East Slavic peoples. Since the 14th century, the Russian (Great Russian) nationality has been formed in the northeast and northwest of Rus'; on the lands that became part of Lithuania and Poland - Ukrainian and Belarusian nationalities.

The Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus' 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 Rus' 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 Rus' 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 Rus' 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 enough strong state. 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 Rus'. 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 Rus', 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 Rus' 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.

Time, the history of events, undoubtedly, have their own internal, often bizarre, cyclically, spirally repeating bases. Otherwise, how to explain the fact that in most of the territory of the largest continental state over the millennia of human development - the Mongol Empire, which enslaved great amount peoples and the lands that captured them, in a few centuries another empire will be born, another empire will come into force, a little more modest in size, but no less strong, formidable for enemies -. How and in what way is it related? From this point of view, the beginning of Batu's invasion of Rus', the date of which would not have been better, becomes Starting point to understanding the changes in the character of the Russian people, worldview, goals and objectives of its rulers, Orthodox church leaders.

Batu, nicknamed Batu by the Russian people, was the natural grandson of the great khan of the Mongol Empire, Genghis Khan ( given name- Temujin). His father Jochi was the eldest son of Genghis Khan and his first wife Borte. Heir, continuer of the "family business" of seizing foreign lands, Jochi conquered by order of Genghis Khan Central Asia, and as a legacy military merit received the western part of the Mongol Empire. It was called Ulus Jochi, notorious to the Russian people as the Golden Horde.

What is known about Batu from the surviving Mongolian chronicles of the history of Genghisides - the heirs of Genghis Khan, Russian monastic chronicles:

After the death of his grandfather, the great khan of the Mongol Empire, the ruler of the Golden Horde, Batu, at the kurultai - the congress of the rulers of the uluses, prominent military leaders, was recognized as the eldest among the Genghisides, which made his power even wider. In 1235, at the next congress of khans, it was decided to start the Great Western Campaign to seize the lands of the Volga Bulgaria, the Polovtsian tribes, the principalities of Rus', Poland, Hungary, Dalmatia, which was planned, but never took place for various reasons during the life of Genghis Khan.

The first military clash between the armed forces of the Russian people and the joined Polovtsian tribes took place on May 31, 1223 in the battle on the Kalka River, which ended in a crushing defeat of the allied troops, as a result of which many soldiers died, several princes who led them into battle. Fortunately, the Mongol conquerors, numbering about 30 thousand nomads under the command of comrades-in-arms, commanders of Genghis Khan - Subedei and Jebe, did not move further deep into the Russian lands, since it was a reconnaissance campaign of a reconnaissance nature to collect information about lands, rivers, troops, weapons , fortifications of the countries of Eastern Europe, considered as a future theater of operations.

The beginning of Batu's invasion of Rus' is a sad date, from which the second wave of mass raids of now dozens of tumens of nomads (up to 500 thousand soldiers) begins on the lands of the Russian princes, divided, living mainly with problems of their own allotments.

The chronology of events is as follows:

After the capture of Rus', a free path to the west of Europe was opened before the troops of Batu, and a cruel occupation regime set in throughout its territory, later called by historians the Tatar-Mongol yoke, which lasted almost two and a half centuries and threw back the Russian people in its historical development far back.

In history, the great Khan Batu was noted, in addition to the capture of Rus', by the fact that in 1250 he founded the stationary capital of the Golden Horde - Old Barn or Sarai-Batu, located about 80 km from the current Astrakhan. Nature and Russian people did not subsequently leave a trace of the metropolis of the Jochi ulus.

History put everything in its place, allowing the Russian people, forced to receive labels for the reign of rulers, paying an unbearable tribute, gradually, gradually accumulate strength, means, arm and train the fighting princely squads. It is noteworthy that as a result of the Battle of Kulikovo (1380), the troops of Dmitry Donskoy not only defeated the army of the temnik commander Mamai, who led them on behalf of the young Mukhamed Bulak, great-great-grandson of Batu, but the khan himself died. , not knowing subjunctive moods, struck a real retaliatory blow from the past of Rus', conquered by the grandson of Genghis Khan.

Historically, the Tatar-Mongol yoke will finally end only exactly one century later, when in 1480 the army of the Golden Horde is afraid to attack the army of the great Moscow prince Ivan III after a long “standing on the Ugra” and cowardly returns to the steppe, burying all the conquests of Batu.

The Mongol feudal lords who lived long before Batu had plans to conquer Eastern European territory. In the 1220s. some kind of preparation was made for the future conquest. An important part of it was the campaign of the thirty-thousandth army of Jebe and Subedei to the territory of Transcaucasia and South-Eastern Europe in 1222-24. Its purpose was exclusively reconnaissance, the collection of information. In 1223, the Battle of the Kalka took place during this campaign. The battle ended with the victory of the Mongols. As a result of the campaign, the future conquerors studied the future battlefields well, learned about the fortifications and troops, and received information about the location of the principalities of Rus'. From the Polovtsian steppes, the army of Jebe and Subedei went to the Volga Bulgaria. But there the Mongols were defeated and returned to Central Asia through the steppes of modern Kazakhstan. The beginning of Batu's invasion of Rus' was quite sudden.

The invasion of Batu into Rus', in short, pursued the goal of enslaving the people, capturing and annexing new territories. The Mongols appeared on the southern borders of the Ryazan Principality demanding to pay tribute to them. Prince Yuri asked for help from Mikhail of Chernigov and Yuri of Vladimir. At Batu's headquarters, the Ryazan embassy was destroyed. Prince Yuri led his army, as well as the Murom regiments, to the border battle, but the battle was lost. Yuri Vsevolodovich sent a united army to the aid of Ryazan. In it were the regiments of his son Vsevolod, the people of the voivode Yeremey Glebovich, the Novgorod detachments. This army was joined by the forces that retreated from Ryazan. The city fell after a six-day siege. The sent regiments managed to give battle to the conquerors near Kolomna, but were defeated.


The beginning of Batu's invasion of Rus' was marked by the destruction of not only Ryazan, but also the ruin of the entire principality. The Mongols captured Pronsk, captured Prince Oleg Ingvarevich the Red. The invasion of Batu into Rus' (the date of the first battle is indicated above) was accompanied by the destruction of many cities and villages. So, the Mongols destroyed Belgorod Ryazan. This city was never subsequently rebuilt. Tula researchers identify it with a settlement near the Polosnya River, near the village of Beloroditsa (16 km from modern Veneva). Was wiped off the face of the earth and Voronezh Ryazan. The ruins of the city stood deserted for several centuries. Only in 1586 a prison was built on the site of the settlement. Destroyed by the Mongols and enough famous city Dedoslavl. Some researchers identify it with a settlement near the village of Dedilovo, on the right bank of the river. Shat.


After the defeat of the Ryazan lands, Batu's invasion of Rus' was somewhat suspended. When the Mongols invaded the Vladimir-Suzdal lands, they were suddenly overtaken by the regiments of Yevpaty Kolovrat, the Ryazan boyar. Thanks to this suddenness, the squad was able to defeat the invaders, inflicting heavy losses on them. On January 20, 1238, after a five-day siege, Moscow fell. Vladimir (the youngest son of Yuri) and Philip Nyanka stood on the defense of the city. At the head of the thirty thousandth detachment that defeated the Moscow squad, according to sources, was Shiban. Yuri Vsevolodovich, moving north, to the Sit River, began to gather a new squad, while waiting for help from Svyatoslav and Yaroslav (his brothers). In early February 1238, Vladimir fell after an eight-day siege. The family of Prince Yuri died in it. In the same February, in addition to Vladimir, cities such as Suzdal, Yuryev-Polsky, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Starodub-on-Klyazma, Rostov, Galich-Mersky, Kostroma, Gorodets, Tver, Dmitrov, Ksnyatin, Kashin, Uglich, Yaroslavl fell . The Novgorod suburbs of Volok Lamsky and Vologda were also captured.


The invasion of Batu into Rus' was very large-scale. In addition to the main ones, the Mongols also had secondary forces. With the help of the latter, the capture of the Volga region was carried out. Secondary forces led by Burundai covered twice as much distance in three weeks as the main Mongol detachments during the siege of Torzhok and Tver, and approached the City River from Uglich. The Vladimir regiments did not have time to prepare for battle, were surrounded and almost completely destroyed. Some of the soldiers were taken prisoner. But at the same time, the Mongols themselves suffered serious losses. The center of Yaroslav's possessions lay directly in the path of the Mongols, advancing towards Novgorod from Vladimir. Pereyaslavl-Zalessky was taken within five days. During the capture of Tver, one of the sons of Prince Yaroslav died (his name has not been preserved). The chronicles do not contain information about the participation of the Novgorodians in the battle on the City. There is no mention of any actions of Yaroslav. Some researchers quite often emphasize that Novgorod did not send help to Torzhok.

The historian Tatishchev, speaking about the results of the battles, draws attention to the fact that the losses in the units of the Mongols were several times greater than those of the Russians. However, the Tatars made up for them at the expense of prisoners. There were more of them at that time than the invaders themselves. So, for example, the assault on Vladimir began only after a detachment of Mongols returned from Suzdal with prisoners.


Batu's invasion of Rus' from the beginning of March 1238 proceeded according to a certain plan. After the capture of Torzhok, the remnants of Burundai's detachment, having joined with the main forces, suddenly turned into the steppes. The invaders did not reach Novgorod for about 100 miles. Various sources provide various versions this turn. Some say that the reason was the spring thaw, others - the threat of famine. One way or another, the invasion of Batu's troops into Rus' continued, but in a different direction.


Now the Mongols were divided into two groups. The main detachment passed east of Smolensk (30 km from the city) and made a stop in the lands of Dolgomostye. In one of the literary sources there is information that the Mongols were defeated and fled. After that, the main detachment moved south. Here, the invasion of Rus by Khan Batu was marked by an invasion of the Chernigov lands, the burning of Vshchizh, located in close proximity to the central regions of the principality. According to one of the sources, 4 sons of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich died in connection with these events. Then the main forces of the Mongols turned sharply to the northeast. Bypassing Karachev and Bryansk, the Tatars took possession of Kozelsk. The eastern group, meanwhile, passed in the spring of 1238 near Ryazan. Buri and Kadan were at the head of the detachments. At that time, Vasily reigned in Kozelsk - the 12-year-old grandson of Mstislav Svyatoslavovich. The battle for the city dragged on for seven weeks. By May 1238, both groups of Mongols united near Kozelsk and captured it three days later, albeit with heavy losses.


The invasion of Rus' by Batu Khan by the middle of the 13th century began to take on an episodic character. The Mongols invaded only the border lands, in the process of suppressing uprisings in the Polovtsian steppes and the Volga region. In the annals, at the end of the story about the campaign in the northeastern territories, mention is made of the lull that accompanied Batu's invasion of Rus' ("the year of peace" - from 1238 to 1239). After him, on October 18, 1239, Chernigov was besieged and taken. After the fall of the city, the Mongols began to plunder and ravage the territories along the Seim and the Desna. Rylsk, Vyr, Glukhov, Putivl, Gomiy were devastated and destroyed.

A corps led by Bukdai was sent to help the Mongolian detachments involved in the Transcaucasus. This happened in 1240. Around the same period, Batu decides to send Munk, Buri and Guyuk home. The remaining detachments regrouped, replenished a second time at the expense of captured Volga and Polovtsy. The next direction was the territory of the right bank of the Dnieper. Most of them (Kiev, Volyn, Galicia and, presumably, the Turov-Pinsk principality) by 1240 were united under the rule of Daniil and Vasilko, the sons of Roman Mstislavovich (Volyn ruler). The first, considering himself unable to resist the Mongols on his own, set off on the eve of the invasion of Hungary. Presumably, Daniel's goal was to ask King Bela VI for help in repelling the attacks of the Tatars.


As a result of the barbarian raids of the Mongols, a huge number of the population of the state died. A significant part of large and small towns and villages was destroyed. Chernigov, Tver, Ryazan, Suzdal, Vladimir, Kyiv suffered significantly. The exceptions were Pskov, Veliky Novgorod, the cities of Turov-Pinsk, Polotsk and Suzdal principalities. As a result of the invasion of relatively development, the culture of large settlements suffered irreparable damage. Within a few decades, stone construction was almost completely stopped in cities. In addition, such complex crafts as the manufacture of glass jewelry, the production of granulation, niello, cloisonne enamel, and glazed polychrome ceramics have disappeared. Rus' lagged behind in its development. It was thrown back several centuries ago. And while the Western guild industry was entering the stage of primitive accumulation, Russian craft had to go through that segment again. historical path that was done before the invasion of Batu.


On southern lands the settled population disappeared almost completely. The surviving inhabitants left for the forest territories of the northeast, settling along the interfluve of the Oka and the Northern Volga. In these areas there were more cold climate and not as fertile soils as in the southern regions, destroyed and devastated by the Mongols. Trade routes were controlled by the Tatars. Because of this, there was no connection between Russia and other overseas states. The socio-economic development of the Fatherland in that historical period was at a very low level.

Researchers note that the process of formation and merging of rifle detachments and regiments of heavy cavalry, which specialized in direct strikes with melee weapons, ended in Rus' immediately after the invasion of Batu. During this period, there was a unification of functions in the person of a single feudal warrior. He was forced to shoot with a bow and at the same time fight with a sword and spear. From this we can conclude that even the exceptionally selective, feudal part of the Russian army in its development was thrown back a couple of centuries ago. Chronicles do not contain information about the existence of individual rifle detachments. This is quite understandable. For their formation, people were needed who were ready to break away from production and sell their blood for money. And in that economic situation, in which Rus' was located, mercenarism was completely unaffordable.